How do you plan your disney trip

[sueuk]

We get to the Beach Club at about 4.30 pm so our only plan then is walk over and watch Illuminations on the first night. MK is always our first full day (cinnamon rolls at the Bakery for breakfast!), but after that we only really plan ADRs, and because we usually eat about 8pm and often double up (on dining plan) to Signature dining, it leaves most days very flexible. This year though we are also planning to do Keys to the Kingdom and Cirque. Can't wait.

 

[sueuk]

Final Itinerary:
Day One - leave Texas, drive to Florida
Day Two - Magic Kingdom, lunch and swim, check in at Movies, dinner at Ohana's
Day Three - Hollywood Studios, dinner at Primetime, hoping to be able to stay for Fantasmic
Day Four - (Anniversary) - Magic Kingdom, kids have Tea in Wonderland in afternoon, dinner at The Wave
Day Five - Epcot - dinner at Teppan Edo
Day Six - Magic Kingdom - dinner at Crystal Palace
Day Seven - Animal Kingdom - swim day, dinner at Boatright's
Day Eight - Epcot - dinner at Le Celliar
Day Nine - leave Florida, drive back to Texas

Plan requirements suggested:
- 1 day at AK and DHS, just feel like we can't ignore those parks, but the other 2 just have more to them
- basic ideal that through dining plan counter service meals for lunch and ADR for Table service credits for dinners, set for some time before 6pm.
- MK on day we get there and our anniversary

Action in place:
The last 3 days got all switched around based on when we could get in at Le Celliar - did want to have last day at MK but couldn't get Le Celliar any other time.
Any day can be ditched/back to room for swim given children are 7, 5 and 2.

Past results:
We've planned this way before - having most planned out - we get the Magic out of it by getting the most out of the planning.

Trick this time:
Have been planning this trip since November - and children have no idea it is occuring.

How do you plan to tell them? :wave:

 

[Susan Savia]

We plan one breakfast and one lunch or dinner. We avoid the parks with the EMHs and visit others, making sure we get 3 days in at Epcot at least during our 8 days. Mid week we visit Downtown Disney. Thats about all the planning we do. We don't like to be tied down because of ADRs and so we eat whenever we feel like it, sometimes outside the parks. Our daily lives are full of schedules and such and so we prefer our vacations not be.

 

[zurgandfriend]

Planning

I have found a general plan works best for our family. Plan where you want to go each morning and evening and then make any desired ADR’s accordingly.
One thing I have learned is to not make too many ADRs at the Resort restaurants
One trip we had an ADR in a different resort almost every night. (i.e. Artist Point Monday, Yachtsman Steakhouse Tuesday, California Grill –Wednesday, Jiko Thursday, etc.)
That ate a lot of time in getting ready for dinner and traveling to and from the resort in question. Plus my son felt he always had to use his Sunday going to church manners. Manners are important but sometimes a kid wants to be a kid as they say at Chucky Cheese. One night on that trip we went to dinner at Whispering Canyon and you could see a visible difference in my son. He relaxed and enjoyed himself. He informed our wait-person that “today is Mom’s birthday” a fact my wife was trying to hide. And that of course was the most memorable meal of the trip.
Now we plan any ADRs in or near the park we are planning to visit. If we are going to the Magic Kingdom the Liberty Tavern, or Crystal Palace are great. We enjoyed our last visit much more because of this

 

[stitchsMom]

We do plan it because that's part of the fun of the build-up to the trip. When we get there though, there's a lot of winging it that occurs instead of going by the pre-plan.

This is what we do too - our first trip we did the, "now what do we do" upon arrival. The whole trip was a nightmare, we missed out on so much. I guess I go a bit overboard as I put a spread sheet together of the park hours with parade and showtimes. But we always travel with 6+ people so this helps us decide which parks we are going to, where we want to make our ADR's. From there we pick out our "must do's", and put those into our "plan". After that it is just winging it, because of course things don't always go according to plan. But, we all feel better knowing that we have an idea of what we are doing and where we are going, because then no one is wasting time deciding what to do.

 

[Lucky]

How do you guys plan your Disney trip? What I do is we go on a 7 day trip.

Day One - Relax at the resort after 2 days of driving to Florida
Day Two -Magic Kingdom (full day)
Day Three - Hollywood Studios plus Fantasmic! (full day)
Day Four - Rest and possibly go to Downtown Disney!
Day Five - Animal Kingdom (morning) and Epcot (evening)
Day Six - Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon
Day Seven - More Downtown Disney or some attractions outside of Disney property

What do you guys do?

Less resting, less DHS, less DTD, more MK, more AK, more Epcot, more water parks.

 

[Edisto Pluto]

We will arrive 8/2 so it will be very hot. The only planning we do is for the time we are not in the parks between the hours of 12 to 5. We usually read, swim, shop or just stay in the our room (BC) until the day cools down.

 

[David]

I'll admit that I probably overplan, but it helps me with my daily Disney fix until we are actually on property. As soon as the park hours are out, we base the parks we go to on early entry, as that is where we always go, but others swear that is the park NOT to go to. I form a spreadsheet with park hours, parade times and nights that they and fireworks shows are running, so to be sure not to miss Spectro or Fantasmic, for example. And we NEVER have a day to rest or go back to the hotel for a nap of swim. If we are there 9 days, we are in the parks 9 days. This would not suit everyone, but it works for us.

 

[jandersonlj]

I am an "OCD" planner!! I have even been teased that I even schedule bathroom breaks!! :ROFLOLlanning just takes the stress out of the trip for me. Since I start planning early, it gets me more excited about our upcoming trip.

Did I read "rest" and "outside Disney"!?!? You must be kidding!!! We usually need a vacation when we get home, and we are so busy in Disney that I can't imagine going elsewhere! Nowhere is as magical as Disney!!

I plan which park to go to when the EMHs are posted. Then we decide where we want to eat and make our ADRs. We usually stay pretty much on schedule, but I don't stress if things change. I just can't imagine myself going without a tentative schedule. I guess everybody is different, but for us, this just helps us to not waste time trying to decide where to go, at what time, and where to eat. I guess it really helps us too because we are usually a "Grand Gathering" of 12-16 people.

 

[David]

I am an "OCD" planner!! I have even been teased that I even schedule bathroom breaks!! :ROFLOLlanning just takes the stress out of the trip for me. Since I start planning early, it gets me more excited about our upcoming trip.

Did I read "rest" and "outside Disney"!?!? You must be kidding!!! We usually need a vacation when we get home, and we are so busy in Disney that I can't imagine going elsewhere! Nowhere is as magical as Disney!!

I plan which park to go to when the EMHs are posted. Then we decide where we want to eat and make our ADRs. We usually stay pretty much on schedule, but I don't stress if things change. I just can't imagine myself going without a tentative schedule. I guess everybody is different, but for us, this just helps us to not waste time trying to decide where to go, at what time, and where to eat. I guess it really helps us too because we are usually a "Grand Gathering" of 12-16 people.

Sounds like we have a lot in common!!

(But I bet you bleed orange and I bleed crimson.)

 

[PotteryGal]

I try to plan as much as possible, but also have to be as flexible as possible. A lot of our planning revolves around what will work for our autistic son...what he likes, what he only tolerates, and when he needs a break. So for our upcoming trip this Nov., we will probably take turns doing things with his older sister and then with him. I hope to develop a social story book for him as our trip gets closer so that he can contribute to the planning. And as many character meals as we can possibly manage - DS really loves those.
I would love to try the 'plan as you go' method, but it just isn't realistic for us. I'm hoping to have plans firmly in place by the time I make our dining ressies in August.

 

[JWG]

We used to "quasi-plan" and be sure we knew what we wanted to do. Now, it's becoming painful not to plan with what the DDP has done to getting a reservation.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I plan with military precision and total disregard for everyone else. To be fair we plan where to stay, what parks to visit on what days then meals. We plan counter service too so we vary what we are eating.

Oh and I use a spread sheet. though I have gotten over going to extremes like using Disney fonts and hyperlinking to restaurant menus. :lookaroun

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Plan?
Nah, don't need a plan. Why bother?
I just wing it.:shrug:

Agreed!

 

[celticdog]

We plan our trip based upon the operating schedule. Which parks are open the latest and on which ones will have what parades, fireworks, etc. on any given night.

We do put a day of rest/shopping/pool somewhere in the middle.

 

[magicmaya]

Saturday:Break at Hotel
Sun:Universal(I gotta get it over with)
Mon:Magic Kingdom
Tues:Epcot
Wed:Break at hotel
ThursHS
FriAK/Epcot,DHS, or MK
Sat:Water Parks

The next 3 weeks we do whatever we want! We just like to schedule the first week!

I didn't try to do the smiley faces!

 

[CBOMB]

What's a plan?

 

[abug'saunt]

Trips are 10+ days.
We make ADR's for where we like/want to eat. But they aren't set in stone for us.
Arrival Day - each time we've gone, we seem to arrive earlier than the time before but we know we'll never get even a half a day (cross country travel). After we check-in, we take time to check out the resort, eat dinner, return to the room, unpack, and try to get some sleep (3 hour time change Pacific to Eastern). Our first day is usually MK except this year which is DHS - SWW DH big fan .
Last Day - park varies depending on moods, EMH. Although, last trip we figured out that if we take a late afternoon flight, we can get in some last minute shopping in either DTD or a park if we forgot something.

 

[10East75South]

How do you plan to tell them? :wave:

Not sure....have thought about just throwing them in the van, and waiting until they say "Where are we going?", but I don't think we will get that far. The pillows/blankets/stuffed animals would give that away in the van.

- Thought about creating sight word cards for my 5 year old to read out in order "We - are - going - to - get - in - the - car - and - go - to - Disney - World"

- Thought about making a video they can watch on the computer with either wife or I saying "Get ready - we are going to Disney World NOW"

- Thought about leaving Mickey balloons, Disney maps, all sorts of Disney hints blatantly obvious when they wake up

- Thought about "Mickey letters" showing up in the mail suggesting to come see him after a good year of school.

Any suggestions?

 

[mousebymarriage]

We usually plan our trip based on where our dining reservations are booked. It's alot easier to book the dining reservations first and work around them so we are not running like mainiac's all over the place. However, we always try to visit the Magic Kingdom last (and we visit at least 1 other time during the trip) before we go home, I love looking back down main street as we are leaving and seeing the castle.