Very Nervous This Trip

[PixieDust62]

Has your trip been booked yet? If not try a good travel agent, I’d recommend Dreams Unlimited. They’re great at helping you plan.
Keep the kids ages in mind, how tall are they? That will affect what rides they can go on.
Give the adults some time to split from the group, too much together time can add to the stress. Have fun, do your planning but don’t overthink it. Like others have said you won’t be able to do everything, especially the newer stuff but there is so much to do you will find plenty to keep you busy. If the kids are young don’t over do it, little ones can’t do rope drop to close (neither can many adults).
Good luck!

 

[Littleclown]

With over 17 trips to WDW I am still not an expert but I do know that this is a vacation that will live in your memory and those of your group longer then you will expect. If you live on the edge the entire time you will miss out in enjoying the Magic that is all around you. If you make ADR for every meal you will miss the spontaneity of picking up a hot dog on main street at Magic Kingdom or a dole whip or even that Mickey Bar. This is about enjoying yourself and the time with family. The youngsters will bring these memories into their adult lives. Just remember this is where dreams come true and enjoy your 8 days in the most magical place on earth. When you get there tell Mickey I said HI! This message is for the original post that started this Thread. She needs help in relaxing a bit.

 

[mmnw]

You don’t have to do everything. Like everyone is saying, make a list of what you want to do. Some people are attracted to one park over another. Maybe spend more time in that park. Maybe you like shows. Schedule that. Maybe you don’t. That’s ok. It’s your trip. If you are traveling with young kids you might find yourself choosing certain rides. So, you tailor your trip to them. But, you don’t have to. There are ways for kids of all ages to enjoy all the rides. Books give a description of the rides. Even the internet can show you what rides are like. Watch a few of those to decide what might work. Talk to Disney friends who know you. They can help advise what rides you might or might not like. You don’t need to do it all. Even if you can’t come back soon. Just choose what looks good and works for your group. It’s your trip.

 

[SamPR810]

If your plan is to see and do everything, you will be disappointed. Make a list of must do's, then everything else will be beyond expectations

Tell people this all the time

 

[graphite1326]

When I was planning I bought Birnbaums book. I gave it to my wife and kids and told them to look over the attractions/rides and write your name next to the ones you want to got on and planned from there.

Surprisingly, even though they were quite young at the time, they wanted to do more adult rides rather than the ones geared more for kids.

It worked out well.

 

[Shouldigo12]

With equal respect, that's EXACTLY what this thread is about... OP is expressing huge trepidation about planning what's supposed to be a relaxing experience. They're probably going to spend an amount of money equal to a year of college at a medium-ranked state school, or a fairly recent used car, and they're "seriously anxious" about it.

I don't blame them. One false move (witness those first 5 mornings of Rise of the Resistance) and at least one whole day of their vacation is severely impacted. Rely on the Skyliner for transport to get to dinner at Monsieur Paul, and if it goes down, the evening is ruined. Pick the wrong day to visit the MK and you could be stuck armpit-to-armpit in the mosh pit the Hub has become.

The only saving grace is that they're not total noobs at WDW, so OP has a good idea of what the resort complex is about. But it's a shame most of the advice on this thread has been "don't expect to do everything" and "temper your expectations."

Realistic advice. And sad.

You can't go into a vacation with that line of thinking. At least not in my family, who follows Murphy's Law to the letter (whatever can go wrong, will). If you go into this thinking that the first thing to go wrong completely ruins your day, yeah, you're going to be in for a bad time. And that goes for any vacation or major event. Things are going to go wrong, you're likely going to have to skip on something you wanted to do, and that's ok. Just take a breath, remember all the fun things you did get to do, and keep moving.

There's nothing sad about realistic advice. It's much more sad, to me, when people work their expectations into something impossible and then can't enjoy a vacation they spent good money for.

 

[kwoodfan1]

The planning is a blast. Put on some Disney Parks music, make your version of Cheddar Cheese Soup, break out the white board and have some fun. We break every day down into Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Late Night while trying to come up with a baseline idea of where we want to eat as well as if there is something unique we want to hit. The planning extends the enjoyment of the vaca if you get everyone engaged.

...and to the dude that said its supposed to be a relaxing vacation...Really? Relaxing?