After planning your trip, do you actually follow your plan during the trip?

[ldc12377]

I LOVE planning our Disney trips. I make calendars, and spreadsheeets, and charts, and print out itineraries for everyone, and...I think you get the picture. I plan what park/or parks we will be at each day, where we will eat,...even what color we will wear each day. (We color coordinate our shirts. I know...little overboard but it makes our pictures look so neat, makes it easier to find everyone in the crowds, and if any of the kids would ever get lost, it would be easier to remember what they are wearing.)
However, when comes to actually following the plan once we are at WDW, we never seem to follow it very closely at all. We usually end up change more than we keep the same. About the only thing that we don't change is our dining plans and that is only because we have reservations for those.
So now I have come to a realization, my obsessive planning is really just my way of entertaining myself until our trip gets here. I get so excited waiting for our trip that I need something to fill my time so I don't go crazy waiting. Any one else like this or do you ACTUALLY follow your planned itinerary? Am I the only person who put that much time into planning just for the fun of it?

[faline]

I don't plan to that level of detail. Generally, my plans are which park I will be in on which day and where we will dine that day. Also included are any special activities such as tours. Because our plans are so loosely structured, I can say that we mostly follow our plans though there are times when we deviate from plan after we arrive.

[LauraF]

I'm like Faline - what park and what food we're eating when is about as precise as I get.

Occasionally if there's a special event that day I'll make plans to see it at a certain time (like when HM reopened last year), but usually it's whatever order the family feels like doing things. I have to leave room for spontenaity for my family or else they revolt.

And yes, we have deviated from the plans, but never by much. Usually it's something unexpected that comes up, like soemone gets sick or tired that causes us to change in midstride. It's always been something that's easy to handle. I've never yet missed anything I really wanted to see.

[Gregandmel]

I personally love to plan vacations and this Disney trip in October has consumed my "spare time". I consider it an "arm chair exercise" which just means I love dreaming about it and thinking about it, picking up helpful hints along the way, flipping through Disney books in the bookstore, etc....(these boards are AWESOME!) . I know that we need to have a PLAN, but that we are flexible and if things need to change, that's ok. But a guideline, no matter how loose or detailed, is much better (for us anyways) then just playing it by ear. You need to remember to live in the moment, and not constantly be worried about the clock and what you need to be doing next (unless you have ADR) Our friends detail out every minute of every day for their vacations (no kidding - they even have "bathroom breaks" listed) and I sometimes wonder if they even enjoy where they are going!! Have fun planning - for me - that's just part of the vacation!!

[Mickey91]

Well, we make itineraries. (I'd probably do spread sheets too if I knew how:D) I usually don't put a lot on them as we do tend to change our minds some once we are there. But I do put the basics. Which park/parks for the day, where and what time we are dining, what time we are heading to each park etc. Mine is also more about the planning and having fun before we actually get to go. It is so much easier to wait when I'm consumed with planning all the details. Most of those details get scrapped long before we leave, but they were fun to plan anyway. We look at itineraries as we are driving down. The kids have fun seeing what we are going to be doing while there. Then, except for confirmation #s, the itineraries get left in the room and forgotten until we get home and decide which one looks best for the scrapbook!:mickey:

[Gottaluvgoof]

We don't get park hoppers, so a plan is almost a must. I plan which parks on which days and of course our ADR's. Other than that, I write down show times and parade times just so we know when those are. We pretty much stick to that plan, but we aren't the type to plan every ride for every day. I like to go with the flow once I'm in the park.

[MickeyMomof2]

I make very detailed plans as well. I find that I generally follow my plans very closely until about lunchtime. Then we are a little more flexible. Of course, if we follow our plan until lunch, we have usually done quite a bit because we always get to the park when it opens. Then we loosen up. We do, however, still follow our plans for meals if we have any reservations for the rest of the day.

I am like you! I think planning is half the fun, and it is such a great way to get excited about the trip!

[Marker]

I do make a spreadsheet, but mostly with just park hours, fireworks/parade times & ADRs. I might also note ideas as to where we might start our day or finish our day usually based on ADRs and EMH. But those ideas are merely suggestions, not really a plan.

Other than that, it's pretty much play it by ear.

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

I too like to plan. It keeps me busy while I wait for my trip. I've already started to plan everything out for Oct. More like rough times of where to be and where to start in the parks.

I've found that when we go to most of the parks we follow what we have planned. Not always but a lot of the time. I have more of a route set than actually a plan of what time what ride. However I did try that for DHS because of the show times but it didn't work....we couldn't get into the first show and it threw everything off. We had to miss one of the shows we wanted to see.

[IloveDisney71]

I make a detailed list of all the park times & EMH's for all our trips. However, I don't pre-plan which day we will do which parks. We decide that once we arrive.
The only things I plan in advance are our ADR's and which night I want to see Fantasmic and Wishes & Spectro. Those plans don't change unless weather interferes with Fant., Wishes, or Spectro.

[kakn7294]

Like Faline, I plan a schedule that consists only of which park we will attend that day, where we will dine as far as TS locations, and any special events such as the parties and such. I also make up a page that has a comprehensive list of each parks' operation hours, parade and fireworks times, EMH's, and special events. We use that to be sure we don't miss favorite events (Spectromagic!!!) and to decide if we are going to park hop. So I guess this means we generally stick to our itinerary since we have it so loosely planned. It's going to be odd hanging out with Kristen in August - her itinerary is much more planned out than mine!

[LandFan]

I do make a spreadsheet, but mostly with just park hours, fireworks/parade times & ADRs. I might also note ideas as to where we might start our day or finish our day usually based on ADRs and EMH. But those ideas are merely suggestions, not really a plan.

Other than that, it's pretty much play it by ear.

Yep, like that. Pretty much what Marker said... My spreadsheet highlights things like park hours, parade hours, Confirmation#'s and times and which parks we will most likely be in for that day. I don't get into which rides in which order. I like that part to just happen in a random fashion - it keeps it relaxed.

[goofysbabe]

I too plan for my trips - what day, which park and dinner plans. After that we pretty much just go with the flow. HOWEVER we are planning a trip at Christmas time this year, SO I will be planning in much more detail for this one. I want to be able to get into the parks before rope drop so we are ready to go at the word go and get what we can done and then head out for some resort touring and relaxing while the masses are there, then maybe head back for some late evening action. So hopefully my plan will pay off!

[Aggie97]

I do develop a plan for which park we will visit each day, as well as our ADRs (we generally do not do a TS every day). However, we seem to follow the plan for the first few days and then change it for the rest of the trip, based on things like crowds, weather and our energy level. :mickey:

[NJGIRL]

We always follow our plan because it's pretty relaxed to begin with. We only make one ADR per day and we don't get park hoppers so we go where ever we are eating for that day. The color coordinating cloths gave me a laugh. That is something that we would never be able to do.

[DDuck66]

I don't plan to that level of detail. Generally, my plans are which park I will be in on which day and where we will dine that day. Also included are any special activities such as tours. Because our plans are so loosely structured, I can say that we mostly follow our plans though there are times when we deviate from plan after we arrive.:ditto: Occasionally we change our plans, but usually it is because we have worn ourselves out. We actually have a couple of empty evenings for our trip in May (Lighning has not struck yet), so hopefully that will give us a chance to do something in the spur of the moment.

[c&d]

My spreadsheet includes ADR's and park hours. I may put in which park I'd like to go to on a particular day, but we're pretty much free wheeling once we get down there.

[sleepingbooty]

I love planning just for the fun of it! For the last four trips, I've done a lot of planning, usually because we had people traveling with us that were new to the experience. But this year, it'll just be the four of us, and we've decided to take a more relaxed approach. We may even - gasp!- sleep in a few times! But, although I won't plan everything in advance this time, you can bet I will still have a spreadsheet (or two or four) that will have all the park hours, ADRs, times for live entertainment, extra magic hours, etc. I think even being spontaneous requires some planning - unless you want to deal with a lot of frustration and disappointment!

[KylesMom]

Although we rarely change our ADRs, we usually end up switching around our touring plans several different times each trip. It's nice to leave the house with a plan, but it's nice as well to be able to change it at a moments' notice. :mickey: We've made sure that we're flexible and can change plans if we're too tired, if the weather doesn't cooperate or if we just want to be somewhere else other than where our touring plan says! :mickey:

[teambricker04]

I make simple spreadsheets. Days were there, where we are going, hours of all the parks, reservation numbers, and which parks are busiest.

Right now I am super sad because we leave for WDW on Saturday and my computer with all my trip info went capoootzzz! ARHGHGHGH! I worked on it for several months (at least) and now I have to do it in less than a week. I guess I should have backed it up!

[#1disneyfan]

Before a trip I spend a ton of time here and in planning. I wait for the park hours to be released, and magic hours, etc. Then I plan which park on which day and which park for EMH, etc. Then I make all our ressies once I know where we will be for the day. I think alot of it is pure excitement and needing something to do that is Disney related prior to my trip. Do we stay on the planned itinerary? I would have to say somewhat. We always do the park and ressies we have previously planned. The EMH and park hopping and late nights are totally up to how we feel while we are there. This year I am vowing to see MK park opening. We have never seen it yet! And we have been there many times!

[yjgirl715]

I had planned my families first trip together. It was a whole lot of fun, but I got a lot of complaints about how much time I spent and how much I read up on our trip. Most of the things I planned for our trip we did. In fact my family was so happy that I did so much planning and had so much knowledge that they have now left me in charge again- wahoo- I was just recovering from last years now they want me to start again! Oh boy. Just kidding I love it- I was not angry or upset when we went off the plan, but I felt geat when things worked out for the good- all depends on what you like to do. At least it keeps you busy! Good luck.

[Bethis26fan]

We plan what park we are going to be at and what TS we are going to have and that's all. So it's easy to stick to that plan. Although I do play around with diffrent ideas for the day but they aren't ever planned out, like you said it just keeps me busy till the trip.

[JenniferS.]

I kind of make plans for some of the week. Like, we are going this Sept. I have made all my breakfast, lunch and dinner ressies that we want for the 10 days. I also have planned which of each of the four parks we will visit for the first four days. The rest of the days we will park hop and end up at the park were our dinner ressie is that night. I like to have things planned, but I also like some spotananity (sp?). We are taking 3 small kids, so we have to have some plans. :)

[azdisneymom]

I don't plan to that level of detail. Generally, my plans are which park I will be in on which day and where we will dine that day. Also included are any special activities such as tours. Because our plans are so loosely structured, I can say that we mostly follow our plans though there are times when we deviate from plan after we arrive.

:yes: Sounds pretty much the way we do it, too.

[Young@Heart]

I'm an obsessed planner. :blush: I not only plan which parks and which rest. for each day, but I plan the attractions, the order of the attractions, and our shopping times.

For the most part, we stick w/ our plan. We very rarely CHOOSE to deviate from it, although we go with the flow if other things come up. :thumbsup:

[BritCody]

I am an obsessed planner also. I have a few spreadsheets that I do. First I went in and looked up the historic Park Hours and EMH's to give me a rough idea of the park hours for our next trip. Then I made a check list of dates for when I have to get my "to do's" done by. Like When the Actual Hours would be posted, when we could make the ADR's, when we could purchase the MNSSHP Tickets, when to preorder the photo pass and so on. Then I sat down and plugged in a loose itinerary including which parks we would go to on what days and the locations of our ADR's we will be making. When the actual hours were posted I changed them accordingly (which wasn't much of a change). Then once I made our ADR's I put in the times and added more detail to the loose itinerary, to build around the ADR's so we are not wasting time. I made cards with all of our ADR's times and confirm numbers on them in case we are split up this way whoever arrives first can get the ball rolling at the restuarant. I also made spreadsheets for times on all of the events, shows, parades and fireworks and I update it once a month until we will go on our trip. I also print out all of the menus of restuarants we have ADR's at and all of the counter service locations in the parks. With picky eaters it is always a bonus to know what is on the menu nearest to you or do you have to move on towards another area of the park. Before we go this October I will print out the park hours, a copy of my event spreadsheet, a copy of our itinerary and put them in a small binder along with all of the menus. I will take this along with us. As for following the plans we try to for the most part. Basically anytime we sit down for a meal or are waiting in a line we discuss our next plans or strategies towards what we will do next.

[Taja]

I'm a "loose" planner! *LOL*

I have spreadsheets with park hours, EMH, parades, fireworks and events. I also list ADRs & confirmation numbers. I usually visit WDW for 10 nights or so, with two or three ADRs for the entire trip. I discovered with free dining that I don't enjoy planning my visit around dining! :)

Beyond that, there are things I want to do in each park. Some because I haven't done them before (still haven't made it on EE!), others because I have and love them!

[elmjimmlm]

We usually stay with what we have planned...We like to do late night EMH so we stick with our reservations and what park depends on it...

[SAHDad]

Our plans are usually made months in advance, but they are basically ADRs, and that's about it. I try to keep the ADRs in the same park for a given day, or one park for breakfast and one for dinner, but that's about it. We don't do the "Ride X, Y and Z, then catch the parade, then ride A and B before seeing Show C" kind of schedule.

[myhappyplace]

Before a trip I spend a ton of time here and in planning. I wait for the park hours to be released, and magic hours, etc. Then I plan which park on which day and which park for EMH, etc. Then I make all our ressies once I know where we will be for the day. I think alot of it is pure excitement and needing something to do that is Disney related prior to my trip. Do we stay on the planned itinerary? I would have to say somewhat. We always do the park and ressies we have previously planned. The EMH and park hopping and late nights are totally up to how we feel while we are there. This year I am vowing to see MK park opening. We have never seen it yet! And we have been there many times!

This has been exactly what and all we have done each year. THis year however we have made us a little mini booklet with cards with our ADR #s and what park on what day. We still fly by the seat of our pants though it makes it that much more fun. I have also printed a list of just about everything I could find on Intercot info central. I have hole punched and put it in a booklet we'll take. But that will only be for reference before we head out to each park. The opening show is a must in my opinionn. I hope you make it this year, well worth getting up early for if only once. Good luck. :thumbsup:

[mdricks]

I plan like a crazy man. Spreadsheets with time of activitys, shows, parades, ADR's, peak waits for faviorite rides (to avoid), which park is busiest which day, when the down time will be......

And then we completely ignore it and play by ear. :blush:

[thejens]

I plan in great detail and we follow the Unauthorized Guides plans fairly closely. My family thought I was absolutely nuts and made lots of fun of me until they realized how very smoothly everything goes for us and how much fun we have. I pretend to be very lose and flexible, but they are well trained now to simply ask me what ride we are heading to next and don't even whine when we pass something and I tell them "later." That being said, we do take time to watch the trolley singers and dance with the Toy Story characters and eat Dole Whips while the kids splash etc. This is because I carefully plan "back up" itineraries for times later in the week to catch up on any "must do's" that we may have missed because of some spontaneous moment. This will be my third trip to the World so I am feeling a little more relaxed this time. I realize if I miss something this year...there is always next time. My Mom is sick and I will be just so grateful if she is able to make it at all this year. I know I will be savoring every moment no matter what.

[ltam16]

I'm a planner but try to be flexible when I am there. I list all the park hours and take into account when the busiest days are supposed to be, emh, etc... The I figure out what park we'll go to in the am and pm. We try to go back at lunchtime to rest/swim at hotel. Then I make our ADR's based on where we want to be. I also make a list of all rides we must do and show times for things we really want to see at each park.

When we are on vacation I always have my itinerary and show times in backpack. We always stick to ADR's and we stick to my schedule loosely. This past trip we were able to accomplish AK in one day because we did not rest at hotel. So the other morning I had planned on being there we slept in or some of us slept in I should say... ds and I went to epcot.

The first time we went though I stuck to my schedule. I wanted to see as much as possible. But each time we go back I try to be more relaxed. I struggle with it though. When I am paying that much money I want to do it all!! Plus I just love it all.

[tys_mommy]

I’ve created a spreadsheet type thing for our trip 4 years ago that worked well then and also for last week. On one side are all parks hours with parade/night time shows. The other side has our reservation information and then in table format the date, morning EMH park, evening EMH park, destination park (s), dining location, time, reservation number. I don’t make ADR for every day but if we have one that’s usually the park we try to hit that day, if we don’t then I’ll look at the EMH and plan around them. This past trip we followed the plan for 5 out of 7 days – the other 2 days we only hit 1 of the 2 parks I had planned. I don’t think there is anyway for us to stick to anything more than that and still have a good time while on vacation – this method allows for flexibility yet at the same time I have all information at hand that I can use to make a wise alternative decision if we change the plans.