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When you drive to Disney do you always know which park you're visiting that day?

hooters dude

hooters dude

Banned
Original Poster
My wife and I go to Orlando for three weeks every year. We have a place near Haines City about thirty minutes drive away and get annual passes so spend quite a bit of time at the parks. On the first day of the holiday we usually have planned which park we are visiting before we set off in the car, but after that a lot of the time when we set off in the morning we don't usually know which park we are going to end up at! I actually love driving towards Disney not quite knowing which park we're going to end up at that day :shrug:, it kind of adds to the excitement.

So do you guys always know which park you're visiting, or do you set off and decide as you arrive at the various Disney exits?

:wave:
 
krankenstein

krankenstein

Well-Known Member
hooters dude said:
My wife and I go to Orlando for three weeks every year. We have a place near Haines City about thirty minutes drive away and get annual passes so spend quite a bit of time at the parks. On the first day of the holiday we usually have planned which park we are visiting before we set off in the car, but after that a lot of the time when we set off in the morning we don't usually know which park we are going to end up at! I actually love driving towards Disney not quite knowing which park we're going to end up at that day :shrug:, it kind of adds to the excitement.

So do you guys always know which park you're visiting, or do you set off and decide as you arrive at the various Disney exits?

:wave:
Click to expand...

I've been known to go to the bus stop and catch which ever bus pulls up first. I'm not that big on planning, I'm more of a fly by the seat of pants WDW guest.
 
hooters dude

hooters dude

Banned
Original Poster
krankenstein said:
I've been known to go to the bus stop and catch which ever bus pulls up first. I'm not that big on planning, I'm more of a fly by the seat of pants WDW guest.
Click to expand...

That's great, it adds to the excitement in my opinion. We rarely know which park we're going to eat in unless we've made reservations as we like to park hop 'as and when' and often find it more fun doing this. The only exception is when we visit a water park when swimming gear has to be planned in advance, though this year we may keep swim suits in the car so we can decide on the spur of the moment one day to do a water park :D
 
M

Mickey-Mommy

New Member
Before we leave home we make an itinerary on which park we're visiting and have our ADR's. We love planning out what we're going to do, which parks, etc. To us it makes it a less stressful vacation. When we get there and have done some of the parks, we may switch the schedule around a bit since it's not carved in stone. One year we went with a couple of our friends. We figured since we were with them (and it was their honeymoon.....wanted a bunch of friends to go since they have never been on vacation before and figured they'd have lots of fun there with friends) we'd let them set the schedule. We spent most of the day just trying to figure out where we were going. Good thing we each rented our own car (stayed off property) so we could just finally give up on them and do what we wanted....if they came along then fine, but I couldn't see waisting the day way just trying to figure out where we're going.

So, a schedule already put in place works best for us!
 
S

Susan Savia

Well-Known Member
We always arrive about 1:00pm and head to Epcot for the remainder of that day. I usually have a general idea where we're going each day. We know AK and HS are parks where we can be finished up with what we want to do in about half a day and so we hop to another park. Most time is spent in Epcot or MK. We only schedule 2 ADRS for entire visit so we are open for any and all changes whether it be because of weather, crowds etc.
 
hooters dude

hooters dude

Banned
Original Poster
Mickey-Mommy said:
Before we leave home we make an itinerary on which park we're visiting and have our ADR's. We love planning out what we're going to do, which parks, etc. To us it makes it a less stressful vacation. When we get there and have done some of the parks, we may switch the schedule around a bit since it's not carved in stone. One year we went with a couple of our friends. We figured since we were with them (and it was their honeymoon.....wanted a bunch of friends to go since they have never been on vacation before and figured they'd have lots of fun there with friends) we'd let them set the schedule. We spent most of the day just trying to figure out where we were going. Good thing we each rented our own car (stayed off property) so we could just finally give up on them and do what we wanted....if they came along then fine, but I couldn't see waisting the day way just trying to figure out where we're going.

So, a schedule already put in place works best for us!
Click to expand...

Everyones different, because we've been so many times it makes it easier for us not to plan so much I suppose.
 
Slipknot

Slipknot

Well-Known Member
The first time I ever drove up here alone was a spur of the moment thing (over 200 mile drive) and I ended up at Animal Kingdom because the newest thing was Primeval Whirl. After AK, took the buses the rest of the day. After that day, I never made a decision until after I was on property.
 
mousebymarriage

mousebymarriage

Active Member
A tradition in our family is to always go to the Magic Kingdom on the first day (we have done this every year for the past 12 years). Walking down Main Street and seeing the castle on the first day of vacation is the best feeling, it always brings a smile to my face.
 
~msminniemouse~

~msminniemouse~

Member
Depending on the trip down, (We drive all night from Alabama):snore: we have went to the MK 1st day, usually already busy, or hang out at the resort and later do the Marketplace and a swim at the pool or a game of mini golf to relax and be ready for the week ahead!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Glasgow

Glasgow

Well-Known Member
Half of my enjoyment comes from the planning. I like to know which park we're going to not necessarily because of personal preference but more due to attendance levels. Also, the park we visit generally will coincide with our ADRs so there is a limitation there too.

I imagine AP holders will have more flexibility since they go more often, whereas we want to be as efficient as possible as we don't visit as often. I'd love to be able to just show up at WDW and just go where the day takes me though!
 
TubaGeek

TubaGeek

God bless the "Ignore" button.
We only go once every few years, so we generally have it pretty well planned out.
It's a balance between having an outline so you don't waste too much time, and having EVery SECond of EVery DAY planned out. If you spend too much time running from attraction to attraction and plotting out your course, you forget to have fun!
 
DisneyChik17

DisneyChik17

Well-Known Member
MK. Every vacation. Without fail. It's the epitome of WDW for us and always our first stop. With that being said, I can get in, see the castle, and turn around to go straight to Epcot. LOL! I just HAVE see that castle first.

Other than that, I hate planning the day out. We make ADRs wherever we'd like and just get there. We park hop, so it's really not a problem to have the day at Epcot with dinner at MK or DHS. We just go with the flow.
 

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