Go with the flow vs. Type A personality

[Second Star to the Right]

Hello everyone! I am taking a first time visitor to WDW this September/October. I am very much a planner and like to have things mapped out (even down to which rides we will go on and when). However, he would be just as content to walk around, look in all the shops, eat and maybe go on a ride or 2 if the lines are only a 20 minute wait.
Since this is his first trip, I really want him to enjoy it as I have been lucky enough to have been to WDW at least a dozen times. However, I would love to try and find a nice balance between the two.
Has anyone else run into this "problem", any suggestions on how I can try to keep my planner personality from driving him crazy? haha

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Make a plan, but plan to deviate from it as things present themselves.

 

[Weather_Lady]

In my family, we adjust for both types by dividing up our days. We start with a morning itinerary consisting of rope drop and a well-planned, detailed itinerary that has us hitting most or all of the headliners in a given park or group of lands. (Even then, we avoid criss-crossing parks, build in snack breaks and bathroom breaks, and will deviate from the plan when we see a line for an attraction that is unexpectedly short.)

After lunch, we go back to the resort for a 2-3 hour nap/swim break. We return to the parks around 4pm for a relaxing, largely unplanned evening of "anytime" attractions, with the only scheduled event being a dinner ADR.

This way, the commandos in the group can relax in the evening because they've already gotten the headliners out of the way, and the "go with the flow" folks don't feel frustrated by the morning rush, because they know that the pace will slow down and they can meander to their heart's content in the evening (plus, if they prefer, they can skip rope drop altogether and just join the rest mid-morning, at their leisure).

However you decide to do it, make sure to have a chat with your friend ahead of time so they know what to expect (and can rest assured that you're doing your best to accommodate both of your touring styles.)

 

[belledream]

I think it's good to have a plan for the day (i.e. what park to do for the day, dining reservations, FP+) but once we get there, it's very much "oh let's look in this shop, take a few pictures here, going on our way to our FP destination-oh-but-this-ride-has-no-line-let's-stop-in-quickly). I don't really believe in minute-by-minute touring plans, yet I consider it a great service to myself to at least make sure I have the essentials planned. Everything else can fall into place using your veteran-savvy + tour-guide mentality.

 

[JohnD]

I do a little bit of both. I look ahead to see the park hours and decide which day I plan to visit each park (exception: AK shows through 5pm in late October--I'm assuming closure at 11pm by then). Then I make ADRs to work around that. Everything else is pretty much left open until 60 days out when you can pick 1-3 FP+ in advance.

 

[Second Star to the Right]

In my family, we adjust for both types by dividing up our days. We start with a morning itinerary consisting of rope drop and a well-planned, detailed itinerary that has us hitting most or all of the headliners in a given park or group of lands. (Even then, we avoid criss-crossing parks, build in snack breaks and bathroom breaks, and will deviate from the plan when we see a line for an attraction that is unexpectedly short.)

After lunch, we go back to the resort for a 2-3 hour nap/swim break. We return to the parks around 4pm for a relaxing, largely unplanned evening of "anytime" attractions, with the only scheduled event being a dinner ADR.

This way, the commandos in the group can relax in the evening because they've already gotten the headliners out of the way, and the "go with the flow" folks don't feel frustrated by the morning rush, because they know that the pace will slow down and they can meander to their heart's content in the evening (plus, if they prefer, they can skip rope drop altogether and just join the rest mid-morning, at their leisure).

However you decide to do it, make sure to have a chat with your friend ahead of time so they know what to expect (and can rest assured that you're doing your best to accommodate both of your touring styles.)

Thank you so much, I really like that idea. I think that might work well for the two of us. I know there are attractions that I absolutely must do when there, so this feels like it can solve both "problems".

 

[Second Star to the Right]

I think it's good to have a plan for the day (i.e. what park to do for the day, dining reservations, FP+) but once we get there, it's very much "oh let's look in this shop, take a few pictures here, going on our way to our FP destination-oh-but-this-ride-has-no-line-let's-stop-in-quickly). I don't really believe in minute-by-minute touring plans, yet I consider it a great service to myself to at least make sure I have the essentials planned. Everything else can fall into place using your veteran-savvy + tour-guide mentality.

I definitely agree with that! I'm resisting the temptation to have it planned minute by minute, but I at least want to know which parks to do on each day, along with having dining reservations. We love to eat, so I basically planned our trip around the dining! From the research I've done it seems fairly important to have FP+ for certain rides, so that will most likely be part of the plan, but otherwise I can be open to jumping in a line that has a 10 minute wait, or going to check out a fun shop. It's so tempting to try and squeeze everything in while there, especially when traveling with someone who has never been there. I just want him to see it all!

 

[belledream]

I definitely agree with that! I'm resisting the temptation to have it planned minute by minute, but I at least want to know which parks to do on each day, along with having dining reservations. We love to eat, so I basically planned our trip around the dining! From the research I've done it seems fairly important to have FP+ for certain rides, so that will most likely be part of the plan, but otherwise I can be open to jumping in a line that has a 10 minute wait, or going to check out a fun shop. It's so tempting to try and squeeze everything in while there, especially when traveling with someone who has never been there. I just want him to see it all!

I hear ya! Food is more than half of the fun. I just look at park hours and choose where we will go everyday, and plan ADRs off of that. We don't park hop so I guess that makes things easier.

Being a ride addict myself (need to ride the favorites like 10 times a day!) I am always surprised to find how long a day at WDW is. We'll go through a whirlwind of fun and then be like...it's only 2?!

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

When we go...we have our FPs scheduled out and typically eat lunch between 11 and 1 (depending on FPs) and then usually have a dinner reservation or will eat when we're hungry.

It's tough to schedule the day and try to stick to it because stuff always comes up that makes you deviate from the plan. If this is their first time, they will want to enjoy it and take it all in...not run from attraction to attraction.

If it were me, schedule your 3 FPs and then play the rest by ear.

 

[Chernaboggles]

I just want him to see it all!

Give up on that idea. Seriously, give it up RIGHT NOW. He can't see it all in one visit, there's just no way. Change your goal to showing him just enough that he has a great time and wants to go back. To that end:

1) Find out when he likes to get up and what type of morning he wants. If he says "I like to get up around noon and have a relaxing breakfast, then maybe take a swim before we head to the parks.", you should plan your own morning and then meet up with him in the afternoon for rides, parade and fireworks. If he likes to get up early and jump right into action, plan a busy morning and then a free-form evening, as someone else suggested.

2) Don't be afraid to split up if he wants to sit somewhere with a drink and people watch for a while and you're desperate to ride Thunder Mountain.

3) Don't worry about what he's "missing", because he's not missing it. He doesn't even know about it! Let ignorance be bliss and focus on enjoying whatever you do see, not stressed out about stuff you can't fit in. To that end, DON'T spend all your time looking ahead and talking about what you're doing next, or later, or tomorrow. Focus on one thing at a time. It's tough (I'm also a planner!) but it really does improve the day.

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Give up on that idea. Seriously, give it up RIGHT NOW. He can't see it all in one visit, there's just no way. Change your goal to showing him just enough that he has a great time and wants to go back. To that end:

1) Find out when he likes to get up and what type of morning he wants. If he says "I like to get up around noon and have a relaxing breakfast, then maybe take a swim before we head to the parks.", you should plan your own morning and then meet up with him in the afternoon for rides, parade and fireworks. If he likes to get up early and jump right into action, plan a busy morning and then a free-form evening, as someone else suggested.

2) Don't be afraid to split up if he wants to sit somewhere with a drink and people watch for a while and you're desperate to ride Thunder Mountain.

3) Don't worry about what he's "missing", because he's not missing it. He doesn't even know about it! Let ignorance be bliss and focus on enjoying whatever you do see, not stressed out about stuff you can't fit in. To that end, DON'T spend all your time looking ahead and talking about what you're doing next, or later, or tomorrow. Focus on one thing at a time. It's tough (I'm also a planner!) but it really does improve the day.

Thank you so much. I know it's pretty much impossible to see/do everything. I'm such a Disney fanatic that I hope I don't overwhelm him. He is definitely not a morning person, so I might have to meet up with him later in the day after riding Splash Mountain 6 times in a row!

 

[TXDisney]

There has to be a common median between both to have a great wdw trip. I'm the planning type. My wife is also but she likes some freedom for us to wing it also at wdw. 1st off it depends who's all in your group going. For instance... My wife and I went just us 2, 2years ago. We advanced planned a lot. Wasn't that big of a deal bc it was only 2 of us. So less opinions on what to do and all. We booked far enough out to get a lot of dining reservations we wanted, which was great. Bc it was just 2 of us we had it planned very well but had a lot of winging it time also.

Fast forward 2years and we went with 10 of us to wdw for a week. We couldn't plan as much. It's especially hard when some in a group don't completely understand how valuable advance planning can be. Harder to get people to agree on certain parks certain days and all. I was put in charge of managing fast passes and dining. We didn't do much dining bc of the size of our group but we did do a few nice dinners. There's slot of winging it when with a group. It's also hard to keep a whole group together for a whole day. You need to be ok with some people not doing everything all day as a group. Obviously of of age.

My advice would be to plan enough to be efficient, but not so much your starting at your watch the whole day yelling at people you need to be at X place 10 times a day.

I got lucky with my family this last trip that though that they noticed it does take time and planning to make a trip better. Bc of that they got my wife and I a couple nice dinners and my favorite a Germany beer stein (I collect them every trip).

 

[Second Star to the Right]

There has to be a common median between both to have a great wdw trip. I'm the planning type. My wife is also but she likes some freedom for us to wing it also at wdw. 1st off it depends who's all in your group going. For instance... My wife and I went just us 2, 2years ago. We advanced planned a lot. Wasn't that big of a deal bc it was only 2 of us. So less opinions on what to do and all. We booked far enough out to get a lot of dining reservations we wanted, which was great. Bc it was just 2 of us we had it planned very well but had a lot of winging it time also.

Fast forward 2years and we went with 10 of us to wdw for a week. We couldn't plan as much. It's especially hard when some in a group don't completely understand how valuable advance planning can be. Harder to get people to agree on certain parks certain days and all. I was put in charge of managing fast passes and dining. We didn't do much dining bc of the size of our group but we did do a few nice dinners. There's slot of winging it when with a group. It's also hard to keep a whole group together for a whole day. You need to be ok with some people not doing everything all day as a group. Obviously of of age.

My advice would be to plan enough to be efficient, but not so much your starting at your watch the whole day yelling at people you need to be at X place 10 times a day.

I got lucky with my family this last trip that though that they noticed it does take time and planning to make a trip better. Bc of that they got my wife and I a couple nice dinners and my favorite a Germany beer stein (I collect them every trip).

It is just going to be the two of us this trip, so it shouldn't really be a problem coordinating what we want to do. I'm slowly adapting to the idea of not having a set schedule for each hour (even though I could easily do that!). I really want him to enjoy himself so I will keep my need to plan at bay. I have our dining reservations, and the general idea of which park we are doing on each day, and I will make our FP+ reservations, but I will limit my planning to that. Hopefully, he enjoys himself so much that he will want to go back soon

 

[JIMINYCR]

Hope it works out for you. We went with people who were new and didnt match our planning personality and it drove me crazy because we were doing Disney on their terms, at their speed, all the while I'm thinking of all the things I'm missing out on. I was trying to please them so much, I wasnt having fun. I returned from my trip thinking... Well this was a wasted trip, when can I go back and do MY trip. The last few days, after they had some idea of the park layouts, we ended up splitting up and we went our separate ways, meeting up later on. What I'm saying is... do things for him but also be sure to do enough things for yourself so you can get some enjoyment out of the trip too. Dont just take the trip and sacrifice your happiness.