Itinerary or Sponatneous?

[SuperSaint]

On my last trip to Disney World, I planned much of our trip very carefully. I had a spreadsheet, suggested times to ride rides, which parks to go to on which days, and everything I could think. I even had routes laid out to get fastpasses and get to rides early enough to get on them.

However, I found when those usual instances of "life happening" delayed my itinerary, I unfortunately found myself being mildly bitter at one of my favorite places to go. This was entirely my own fault and something I still am mildly ashamed of.

However, my girlfriend loves to gloat about how we had such a productive trip, got to see a ton of attractions and rides, and generally did more than we could have ever dreamed of doing. So, despite the pointless and mild bitterness my itinerary may have created when things didn't go to plan, it did help create a more successful and productive trip.

So, what do you do? Do you plan every step and moment? Do you just go with the flow? Throw a dart at a map of Disney World and go where it lands? Combine the two? Anything else?

 

[NYwdwfan]

I plan - incessantly - for the months before we go. I have spreadsheets and double check park hours and research menus for ADRs (TS for dinner), etc. But once we get there, I really don't follow everything planned. We use the ADRs as a general guide to where we need to be at dinnertime but aside from that let the kids moods and the weather dictate where we are on any given day. Part of the excitement for me is in the actual PLANNING - it helps me feel close to Disney. Once I'm there - the plans are not as important - since I am there!!

 

[Kev1417]

My wife and I literally choose where we want to go the morning we wake up. Once we are in the park we just say we want to do "x" ride and go there. Off that ride we'll say we feel like doing "x" ride and walk over. Sometimes we end up going from Space Mountain, to Haunted Mansion, to Splash and back to Space without doing anything in between. Then we feel like going to Studios to close the night out. Every park of our trip is decided by what we feel like doing. No need for any planning. Going with the wind ensures you are relaxed and do what you will enjoy next. We can't imagine having the day planned to a T. That just puts more stress during your vacation to make sure you are going according to plan.

Then again we go in Sept when crowds are very low. I can maybe see some planning being done during peak season. Each their own.

 

[mickeysshoes]

We take advantage of EMH in the am...at MK and HS. So we start by making a list of where we would like to eat this trip and i do a general list of where on what days..then once the park hours come out I finish the ADR bassed on park hours. THen once we get there we do EMH for MK and HS andt then pretty much go withw the flow and our moods. Normally i plan a late morning breakfast in the middle of the week...so family can sleep in and do laundry. This day we will do a late breast and head downtown for a movie and shopping!!!

 

[Master Yoda]

We plan a little. We will schedule TS meals, special events and a few must do attractions. Other than that we follow our nose.

 

[Becky]

Plan then often "go with the wind". AP or Hopper helps when I get bored I hop.

 

[wm49rs]

Plan. That much scratch, we want to make certain to get our money's worth.






Of course, all that careful decision-making goes out the window around Day 3......

 

[sublimesting]

I plan - incessantly - for the months before we go. I have spreadsheets and double check park hours and research menus for ADRs (TS for dinner), etc. But once we get there, I really don't follow everything planned. We use the ADRs as a general guide to where we need to be at dinnertime but aside from that let the kids moods and the weather dictate where we are on any given day. Part of the excitement for me is in the actual PLANNING - it helps me feel close to Disney. Once I'm there - the plans are not as important - since I am there!!

Exactly! I have so many pages of spreadsheets and plans but once there we go pretty leaisurely.

 

[WDWmazprty]

We only plan our meals and the shows we want to see. Other than that, we go with the flow. Of course, we know the parks like the back of our hand so we already know what rides to do when.

 

[Disney_Belle]

I too, plan our table service meals and go around that. Though I often ahead of time will see what evenings at MK are open latest and/or have evening EMH, as well as evening EMH at the other parks and plan around that too. Other than that, we sleep until we want (which isn't usually late because I'm ready to go hit the parks lol!). We take our time and do what we want to do. I have realized too much planning is always a let down because it never works the way I plan it to lol.

 

[wdwfan22]

We have always found that the less we plan the more fun we have. The most we ever plan anymore are dinning reservations.

 

[BigShot2421]

We do a little bit of both.
We plan the first half of the week, like which parks we will be going to, dinner reservations, and then the 2nd half of the week we leave wide open.
That way we get to at least each park once and the 2nd half of the week is just sponatneous!

 

[Mukta]

I plan obsessively. I makes spreadsheets with park hours, EMH info, ADRs. I also make a detailed daily schedule with the order of the attractions I will visit.
When I am there, I follow my daily schedule. There is a 3 hours block each day for rest, free time or to make up for unexpected things. The last day is free time to see repeats or things that got missed.
I like that I get to see everything I want on every trip. I know that not everyone feels that way, making the spreadsheets is half of the fun for me. I love planning!

 

[stratman50th]

We tend to play games prior to leaving, like "what park are we going to first", but in reality, there hasn't been a plan since about our second trip 20 years ago.
We always drive. We're from Maryland so it takes us a full day, then about 4 hours the second day, getting to the property around noon. We always have park hopper passes. We check in and hang around the pool, eat lunch while deciding what to do. We normally go to whatever park has the extend hours and close it the first night. The next three days are going to the remaining parks in the morning, back to the pool, then close out whichever park has extended hours. The remainder of the trip is do-overs, pick up something that got missed, DTD, maybe a water park. Like many people I've seen here, we've been enough that we know what we have to see, and what we can skip or delay. The park hopper passes, and the extended magic hours have been the real liberator for us. We don't feel rushed to be at the park every waking hour. Plus the difference between the 5 day and the 7 day park hopper is like $10.00, so I don't feel guilty if I hang out at the pool one day and skip a park.
So, we really don't plan any farther than what we want to see and do, and as we've gotten older (50) we like to spend some time just relaxing. Our daughter is 16, and knows the parks like a veteran tour guide. We've had her invite a friend the last couple of trips, so they can run themselves ragged while we chill and don't have to keep up.
One thing has been different on this upcoming trip (6-11) we had such a difficult time getting in to dinner as walk-ups to the table service restaurants that we did make reservations for 6 nights this trip.

 

[cowanfamily]

I plan what parks to go to on certain days based off of park hours and EMH. Once in the park anything goes.

 

[thewhitequeen]

We only plan days, and sometimes that even goes out the window. We rarely make ADR's and we've never race across the park to get fastpasses, it's just not a vacation to us. We get to see and do everything we want just fine.

 

[pixiesteno]

we have done trips both ways, okay, just short of the spread sheet, just :ROFLOL:
Anyway, we have had a great time doing both but have a tendency now to just kind of "fly by the seat of our pants". I think when we became AP holders there was a shift for me in the "getting my money's worth". Also knowing that we are going to come back again has put me so much more relaxed about everything. Do I still make some ADRs, oh yesssss! Have we been able to do walk-up TS dining, Yesssss! Would I count on that for dinner at O'Hana - no way!
Actually on our last trip one day when DH and DS were off to DHS I actually decided to stay at the RV and work on the mountain of laundry and relax with a book, it was so peaceful!!! I would never consider going at peak time without a plan, at least for any dining. But I like the mental freedom to say, well this park is just too busy, let's go ____. I try to think of it as this, the parks aren't going to roll up the streets and disappear on me so relax and enjoy.

 

[stratman50th]

Have we been able to do walk-up TS dining, Yesssss! Would I count on that for dinner at O'Hana - no way!

This is what caused us to make reservations for dinner for the week. We were staying at the Polynesian last year (June 2010) and wanted to eat at the restaurant "at our hotel". We tried the walk up at Ohana and they laughed. (well, it was Disney so they didn't actually laugh, but). We did get in but we had to be there at 4:30 when they opened and wait till they had a cancellation. Got in at 6:00 so it wasn't that bad. Just kind of tough for the sit downs!

 

[zooey]

Sponatneous!

 

[disneygirl1]

I guess I could say I plan but at the same time go with the flow each day... I know what parks we are going to what days so that we can coordinate on dining ressies. We pretty much do what we want in the park we are scheduled at on a particular day.