The unneccessary planning and scheduling

[BayouMickey]

I plan on not planning...... but plans may change....

 

[JRawkSteady]

I don't get it. I saw one woman who had their schedule set to the minute that they are going to get in line for Dumbo and how long it will take them to get on the ride and off(like that is really going to happen) I don't understand why people can't just enjoy it as it comes.

I have been going to Disney World almost every year since 1980 when my parents first started taking us. We have NEVER had a set schedule except for dinner show reservations, have NEVER done a single rope drop and I don't think there was a single trip that we didn't do everything that we wanted to do.

I can understand having a playbook to go by, especially if this is your first or only trip to the World, but many of those who do this crazy planning are repeaters.

Okay, I have to disagree, because each person has their own ideas of fun.
My DGF and I always theme our trips. It always keeps us on our toes and makes for a great video at the end of our trip. I love to edit, so I make little movies out of the theme. For instance, one year, we went through our trip as if we were Indiana Jones-style adventurers on an expedition to find a rare Golden Giraffe. We filmed it in Spinal Tap-mockumentary style and treated the entire trip as if we were filming a real documentary... and we had SOOOO much fun.

And yes, we did a trip where we swore to do EVERYTHING that was not closed for renovation in all four parks and Blizzard Beach (Typhoon was closed at the time) in 6 nights, 7 days...(this was to prove a bunch of Dis people wrong back in 2005) So we DID have to plan like the lady in your example. But A) We did it! AND still had time to stop and rest/smell the roses (And I have the video to prove it! ) and B) WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!

That's all it's about. Having whatever your idea of fun is. So before you judge people based on how they tour the parks, remember, they may be having a GREAT time!! (or they could just be doing it wrong, who's to say...LOL)

 

[Bullseye]

Exactly!!

If Disney is going to make me plan and schedule everything 6 months in advance I will simply stop giving them my money. I have seen it plenty of times, I enjoy it, but I don't NEED it

Not go to WDW ... we'll now you're just talking crazy!!!

But while we are playing the semantics game, in your opinion is there a difference between calling a person insane and calling what they do insane? I find that many people on these boards feel that if their opinion is being questioned, that they are being personally attacked....

 

[KorieDWnut]

I am much like you. I have been many, many, many times and aside from Dining reservations, have not planned more than having a rough outline of what park we wanted to go to each day, which usually changed on our mood.
But that is us. I don't plan much in my daily life, either. I just go with it.

But I know many people who are compulsive planners and it works for them, keeps them happy, makes them feel happy and productive, or whatever adjective is proper. I couldn't do it because the rigidness of it would aggravate my family, but everyone vacations differently. I don't tell them they should loosen up, and they dont tell me to plan more.

In essence, it is none of my business! lol

 

[heyitsmejosh]

i dont plan a single thing other than maybe what park what day.. and thats always up in the air, i never get ADR's outside the day off... and what most people dont know is that a lot of times you can walk up and eat pretty much anywhere sometimes you will get turned away but if you ask later lots of times they will have room, not to mention being extra friendly to the people seating people goes a long way.. ive walked up to BOG the last two times ive gone and the last time was 4th of july weekend. i really hate having to plan anything i have a lot more fun just going with the flow, thats one reason i cant stand this fast pass plus thing i dont want to plan what time i want to go on what ride 60 days in advance... honestly i dont even plan trips that far ahead of time...

all that being said i have no problem with people dont whatever it is they like to do, its your vacation and you should enjoy it the way youd like to enjoy, just keep in mind sometimes its more fun to go off plan and try things you never thought youd try like playing sorcerers of the magic kingdom.. you might notice things you never noticed before

 

[GeneralTso]

Sometimes......shhhhh......

we don't even choose what park we are going to until the night before!

We check the crowd predictors, calendars, weather, etc.

We make a few dining reservations but not daily. We don't want to be tied to something every day. If we're there a week, we'll have maybe 3 set up. We do a lot of walk ups and lo and behold--get in! O'hana, Prime Time, Sci Fi. It just works for us. I don't know, part of it is luck and I think the other part is we have zero stress about it. None.

I think we all know that people have very different levels of comfort and joy in the planning process. The spreadsheet people would be miserable doing it my way. I wouldn't do it their way, even for money. No way.

Part of Disney fun is all the different ways we approach this vacation.

 

[Laura66]

The only time this mentality bothers me is when people come here to complain that the other family members (friends, etc) dont want to get up early to make rope drops or tour like the OP described.
They just don't get that not everyone likes to tour like that - refuse to comprimse - ask what's wrong with them and how to bully (my word) them into doing everything their way.
You useuly get tons of responses about how clueless and inconsiderate these people are with suggestions to get them to tour the OP's way!

 

[jsebsirois]

This is for sure a hate / love debate! I started a thread last year about too much planning and it's either you plan a lot or you go with the flow...

I do understand though that for a first visit or someone who doesn't know if he will ever get back to Disney World, you might want to plan your trip.

My concern is that it will just get worst in the future with the Magic Bands : not only will you decide months in advance where you will have dinner, but now, you will also choose what attractions you will ride.

 

[luv2sleep]

This is for sure a hate / love debate! I started a thread last year about too much planning and it's either you plan a lot or you go with the flow...

I do understand though that for a first visit or someone who doesn't know if he will ever get back to Disney World, you might want to plan your trip.

My concern is that it will just get worst in the future with the Magic Bands : not only will you decide months in advance where you will have dinner, but now, you will also choose what attractions you will ride.

I don't understand the magic bands. So if you don't plan any rides in advance then you won't get to go on any?

 

[estherhead]

Many, many Disney fans have kids or family members with health issues. And let me assure you, plans are needed. Whether it is physical emotional or mental, not everyone in the world can be spontaneous and free. Those that can't go with the flow love WDW because it can be planned out.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Just so we are all perfectly clear here.....I did not plan to read this thread again.

 

[Hayliesmom]

We went last year in September and it was supposed to be a slow time of the year. We had never been before and didn't know a lot what to expect. We picked which parks to go to each day and had adr's but we didn't really have a schedule on when to get to the parks and we stayed late and wore ourselves out!! We waited in A LOT of lines that we probably didn't need to. So this time i am following a touring plan. I have scheduled in "breaks" in order to give my daughter time to do character meets, as I learn more information about the best time to visit a ride and such I go back and adjust our schedule. The touring plan has given me a per minute way of doing it. Saying all of this, we know that we may not be able to stick to it completely. That's ok... the plan says for every 15 minutes you lose, just skip a step. So we'll follow the really important things and skip the ones that aren't as important to us, and go back to them later. Using this plan we are able to leave the parks before closing most nights. (The nights that we don't we will not be at emh the next morning) We want to do EVERYTHING without getting too worn out. We missed so much last time and just really don't want a repeat.

 

[ShayBells]

I just skimmed replies but I have to say for me it's fun and that's why I do it. Another good reason is because if I didn't have a plan I'd be full of anxiety when I got to the park looking at that map not knowing where to start or what to do first. My excitement would be overwhelming.

That being said. I also understand the minute by minute not to stick to the plan but to understand how everything gets done. For example I didn't use touring plans but I took my list of rides I wanted to do first to last and timed everything (over estimatedly) to make sure everything fit in one day BUT its just a guide and no big deal if not everything gets done or we get off track. For me I get no stress this way.

:shrugs:

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[ShayBells]

I just have to say one thing after more reading...

If you say you aren't going because you have to plan and don't want to give disney your money. That's dollars to doughnuts people. They aren't going to lose out by your "protest."

Get over it.

:good vibes:

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[GadgetTheInventor]

My family wouldn't be able to do Disney without having a horribly detailed schedule. Some family members can only do a half day in the park for health or age reasons and I don't want them to miss out on their favorite attractions and foods. We also have a wheelchair user with severe mobility problems that makes traveling around the parks verrrrry slow, and also requires us to consider each attraction based on the ease of transfer compared to energy levels. SSE, HM, and Soarin' are first of the day because those are really tough transfers. I rode SMnt for the first time in my life this past year because I only had to leave my family member in the wc for 10 minutes...a wait of almost 2 decades for me only made possible by planning. The new LM ride is quite easy since it a wonderfully smooth roll-on and we could do that any time. We line up for parades normally 90 minutes early in order to get the same viewing location every time because we want a great spot that doesn't require one to turn one's head at all (and no, they aren't in the HC areas, but they are wonderful because you can see the parade in front of you as well as another view in the distance of the parade coming or going). I plan which rides happen on what days and the order and amount of time for breaks in between. This is why the GAC is such a blessing for families like mine. The only time I get off-schedule is when it rains and that is why I have extra free-time built in other places. Oh, and even with my schedule...we still only do about a third of the rides as the average visitor would do in the same amount of time...proof that that GAC doesn't give magical privileges to us.

Obviously, my family is in the very small minority who plan for the reasons I listed above, but I can see why other people like to have at least some plan to use on during their short vacation allowance. We do love our plan-free trips to the Smokies and when visiting family though and have no plan to start planning every vacation.

 

[kittyninja]

So I've read through all the posts and kudos to the OP for coming back and apologizing!

That said: I'm one of the planners!! Not super-planning!! (Okay I do have the binder! lol) But I have the ADRs reserved and we're doing parks based on the ADRs (and the ADRs based on crowd level suggestions).

We also stick to the basic get a TSMM FP first thing so we don't have to wait 2 hours (only because this is a must do for us!)

Basically though, I love to plan!! I don't really even call what I do planning though! I think I just read and learn and I really like to help people with their trips!! But here's a story about my cousins who I wish had had a better plan for DW!

They told me that their day in MK they got there at about 10 and the park was super crowded!! They rode about 3 things and then got a FP for Splash for their older boy. At this point it was about 1:00 and the FP was for 4:00. So they decided they'd had enough of the craziness and went to the hotel! They determined that they don't like Disney World and they doubt they'll ever go back!!



I'm not even saying they should have gone commando and been there at RD and all that, I feel like if they had done some planning and figured out which rides they wanted to do and done them in some kind of order that they probably would have done more stuff and had less stress!!

Thankfully we're moving to Orlando and they will get to stay with us and we'll show them how fun it is!

Loved reading everyone's replies!! There's my story!!

 

[Kalea]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I am a planner. I don't plan things down to the minute, but I LOVE to plan. I LOVE to research. I LOVE to think about different ways of doing things.

We will be at Disney in 2 months. It's our kids (and DH's) first--and probably only--trip. We have ADRs and we have park days set. I have a rough idea of FP/FP+ priorities, and a good idea of our plans entering the parks. I know that we will need to hit the most popular rides in the mornings.

We will be doing rope drops. My kids get up early, and it fits our schedules.

So I am prepared for this trip. But I am also prepared to throw it all out the window if I need to. What works for us is knowing our options. Knowing that we can ride TSM twice in a row if we get there at rope drop. And knowing that if we want to roll in there at noon, we won't.

 

[2girlsmom]

For me, it's a matter of extremes. These days we don't "plan" per se, but for our first trip we did have a general plan. Definitely not as specific as to the minute, but we did read up A LOT so knew to make our ADR's in advance, planned our parks around the ADR schedule, had a list of the rides we especially cared about with a general idea of fast pass order, etc. And we had a wonderful, and very relaxing trip that year. The second trip we planned even more, as we were on deluxe dining and felt that we had missed some things the first trip that we really wanted to capitalize on. However, between the more intense, closer to the minute scheduling and the records colds that year, we did NOT really have a magical relaxing trip. Since then, we moved to Florida, so now we make occasional ADR's and plan general area based on those, but generally speaking we have been enough that we don't stress over things we don't get to. That said, YES, if we are going to HS we still know to go to TSMM first thing to get a fast pass, but generally follow that up with Star Tours and wandering the streets, get breakfast at the writer's stop, etc. We may or may not make it over to ToT or RnR.

 

[Nancyg56]

Last trip: family next to us at Indiana jones. The mom never looks up from her iPad as she feverishly works on her daily schedule - she's swearing under her breath the whole time. Halfway through the show she announces they need to go get fast passes for TSM. So out they go; her son bursts into tears. Sorry, she says, but they have a schedule to keep.

There is a difference between having a detailed plan and refusing to deviate from the schedule if events do not go as planned. In this example, the plan was not the problem...it was the person who was so invested in keeping a schedule that she forgot that the plan was originally designed to enhance the experience. We all see those people in WDW, but don't we see them elsewhere?

Choice is one of my most important principles of vacation. Doesn't matter if soarin is 1hour or 15 mins, what matters is that I can choose to go there or not if I want to or don't want to. That is just how I operate. I understand how others might feel differently, and planning is probably fun for a lot of people, just not me.

This works for you , and I get that Some people (I am one of them) do not choose to stand over an hour for any attraction. If I know there are attractions my family enjoys, I plan to get to them first, and have an order that I know works for us. For instance, I know we like Soarin' so I know that i we want to avoid a long line, r avoid a late FP return time we skedaddle there first thing. For us, this is the best of both Worlds. We choose to experience Soarin', get an early FP, and also a short SB line.

While that may work for you, it seems quite controlling to me. I mean, do you follow that strictly, what happens if one of your kids wants to stop and look at something, or have a snack? Do you pass by something and go back during your scheduled "free" time? What about time in the bathroom, or if someone spills something, or if someone takes too long to eat?

Most of the time these plans are not like time clocks that need to be punched at any given time. They are detailed spreadsheets that give the user a good idea of what the day will look like, which direction to head in, which attractions are normally long wait times, and which can be walked on and which restaurant that will be closeby at lunchtime. I do not write my plans down, but after several trips I know which direction to start in, about how long to allow for any given ride in my path, and still end up whre I want to have lunch. The plans are actually really good to have so that you can have the flexibility to make changes. You ever see "that family" wandering around trying to kill an hour because they have an ADR they do not want to miss, have no clue where to go to use that time, and end up missing a lot of attractions they could have enjoyed?

I don't see Disney as a place that should be stormed through like a military operation. There is so much to see and do. So many times to take a step back and just enjoy the sights and smells around you. One of my favorite things is to just people watch, or meet people from all over the country and world.

I'm glad to see there are many that understood my point and see it from my perspective, but for those who are attack planners I apologize if I offended you.

I understood your point, but I do not understand why you seem to be critical about different touring plans. We are really laid back folks, do nto always make RD, and tour with teh understanding that WDW will be there if we miss something. With that said, i am very comfortable with a very good idea of what we want to accomplish so that we can relax.

I also know people who like to hit the gate running and cruise that way their entire vacation. I would drop, but as long as I am not along for the trek, who cares? I see your apology, but it does seems to be conditional in that you still judge a complex style of touring that does not mirror your own.

 

[Nakkira]

I guess it is a matter of degrees. I have plans, I know what park I am doing each day. I plan to make a priority list and even approximate general order/time for a few of them. That is so I don't miss anything that was important to me, and keep from wasting time going in circles.
That said, I would not enjoy myself as much if my day were planned down to the last minute, in fact then I would get stressed every time there was any sort of delay and my real life can often already be like that.
To some people, I am already over-planning, to others I barely have an outline.
Still there are many people who thrive from exceptionally detailed planning.