Planning (or Lack Thereof) Blues

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We have a trip booked to the Darkside mid Nov. Our third trip. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish there was more planning. I'm not a planner by nature. Before Disney for vacations we'd research the area a little, decide on some things we'd like to see or do and go. Then came Disney and my DH said it was as bad as planning a wedding. Yep. Almost. I love how laid back our Uni visits have been, but right now is about when I'd be putting together plans to decide on FPs. And I kind of wish I had something like that to do for our Uni trip. I actually created a couple of TP plans the other night. I know I don't need them, I won't ever pull them up in the park (my subscription will be expired by then - it's still active from last year's trip). I did it anyway. Sad.

So anyone have this issue? Any advice for me? (like how I get my old non-planner self back)

 

[skylock]

I stopped going to disney because of all the planning that had to be done, needing to make rope drop, or you didn't get to do half the stuff. And I started to feel frustrated on every trip. It used to not be like that. Basically the only plans I had back when was get there early, do all the slow loading rides first thing, then the continuous loading rides. A general plan on where we would be for each meal and parade time and I was set.

I became a universal lover instead, (still love disney too, but I miss it less and less every year). 4 years now.

You can still plan somewhat for Universal.

Decide what your family likes to eat, and decide if the dining plan is a good deal for you. We get it one. sometimes 2 days out of 4 because we usually prefer to snack thru the parks rather than a full meal but I still like a meal at 3 broomsticks. At least once. This year it will be our thanksgiving meal.

If you will have express pass, plan on other things to do with your saved time. We have discovered loads of things to do outside the parks which has enriched our vacations.

I alway do a check on groupon for any deals. Half my group really like go carts and stuff and those are almost always available. This time we are going to do the Orlando eye and stuff in that area.

We much prefer the sleeping late in the morning.

If you are staying on property, you can plan a pool hopping time. We have a pool so that really holds no excitement for us. In fact, I try not to do anything on vacation that I can do at home and that pretty much includes shopping.

I have been dieting for the past few months and have not cheated one time, but boy is that going to change when I get let loose in Orlando. So I have been planning how many good things to eat I can realistically fit in to my 7 days, because once back home, it is straight back to the diet.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I stopped going to disney because of all the planning that had to be done, needing to make rope drop, or you didn't get to do half the stuff. And I started to feel frustrated on every trip. It used to not be like that. Basically the only plans I had back when was get there early, do all the slow loading rides first thing, then the continuous loading rides. A general plan on where we would be for each meal and parade time and I was set.

I became a universal lover instead, (still love disney too, but I miss it less and less every year). 4 years now.

You can still plan somewhat for Universal.

Decide what your family likes to eat, and decide if the dining plan is a good deal for you. We get it one. sometimes 2 days out of 4 because we usually prefer to snack thru the parks rather than a full meal but I still like a meal at 3 broomsticks. At least once. This year it will be our thanksgiving meal.

If you will have express pass, plan on other things to do with your saved time. We have discovered loads of things to do outside the parks which has enriched our vacations.

I alway do a check on groupon for any deals. Half my group really like go carts and stuff and those are almost always available. This time we are going to do the Orlando eye and stuff in that area.

We much prefer the sleeping late in the morning.

If you are staying on property, you can plan a pool hopping time. We have a pool so that really holds no excitement for us. In fact, I try not to do anything on vacation that I can do at home and that pretty much includes shopping.

I have been dieting for the past few months and have not cheated one time, but boy is that going to change when I get let loose in Orlando. So I have been planning how many good things to eat I can realistically fit in to my 7 days, because once back home, it is straight back to the diet.

My husband and I went to Disney in the late 90's and we showed up the first day, bought a 4 day ticket (I feel like you had to specify which parks back then but I could be wrong), and went on some rides. No planning, no research, nothing. We didn't know what we may have missed and didn't really care. Different days (for us and for Disney).

I can plan meals but I can't make reservations for like … 2 more months! 18 days instead of 180.

Thanksgiving at 3 Broomsticks sounds awesome. Last trip we ate there twice and LC once so maybe a meal plan makes sense. The kids love both places so we've taken to eating dinner there multiple nights (and having a sit down lunch).

Interesting idea about other things in the area. I will look into that. The kids are into mini golf at the moment and I think there's a place in City Walk.

I have also been dieting but only started the last 5 weeks. I've lost my goal for each week (1 lb) but … there has been cheating. I admire your will power! I will be right there with you in ditching the diet for our time at Uni. There will be butterbeer in multiple forms and ice cream at florian fortescues and if the kids get a say, a meal at Toothsome. The trick is getting back on the diet after all that.

 

[skylock]

There is mini golf at city walk, but to be honest, for me to pay the price they want, there would have to be real space aliens and monsters there. If you have a car, there are lots of places in the area to play mini golf.

I miss the old way of doing disney. I have been going since my son was 5, so 31 years. I am going back one more time in the spring because we have a disney wedding to attend and there will be lots of family and friends there that whole week. Trying to nudge son to go too, but he doesn't want to go to the wedding for some reason. He likes the sounds of the planned festivities, but not the wedding. Go figure. After that, probably be a long time before I go back. At this stage in my life, I don't do things that makes me irritable.

Sending you will power for the diet. Everytime I want to eat something I shouldn't, I write it down on my pad of paper because I plan to have it while on vacation. A pound a week is good steady progress. I bet you did not gain it a pound a week.

My niece is getting married soon, not at disney, and went to a cake tasting the other day and not thinking she brought me some samplings. I put it in the freezer for now, although sometimes it calls to me at night, I am saving it for vacation time. There will still be time to taste it and give my opinion before the wedding in Jan.

I only have 3 more months to dream of what I am going to be eating. I can hold out that long.

 

[schumigirl]

We never “plan” anything.........apart from meeting friends.

But, doesn’t mean we don’t spend most of our time planning our trips in our mind.........think we know most menus of offsite places we want to eat by heart........ we kinda talk about our trips an awful lot!!!!

We spend a lot of time offsite too, and as Skylock mentioned there are plenty of things to do like the Eye which is fun to do........Escape Rooms if that’s your thing and so much more.

I do think the mini golf at Citywalk is excellent and well worth it........kids will love it especially at night..........it’s lovely all lit up!!

And good luck on the weight loss.......not easy..........

 

[schumigirl]

I stopped going to disney because of all the planning that had to be done, needing to make rope drop, or you didn't get to do half the stuff. And I started to feel frustrated on every trip. It used to not be like that. Basically the only plans I had back when was get there early, do all the slow loading rides first thing, then the continuous loading rides. A general plan on where we would be for each meal and parade time and I was set.

I became a universal lover instead, (still love disney too, but I miss it less and less every year). 4 years now.

You can still plan somewhat for Universal.

Decide what your family likes to eat, and decide if the dining plan is a good deal for you. We get it one. sometimes 2 days out of 4 because we usually prefer to snack thru the parks rather than a full meal but I still like a meal at 3 broomsticks. At least once. This year it will be our thanksgiving meal.

If you will have express pass, plan on other things to do with your saved time. We have discovered loads of things to do outside the parks which has enriched our vacations.

I alway do a check on groupon for any deals. Half my group really like go carts and stuff and those are almost always available. This time we are going to do the Orlando eye and stuff in that area.

We much prefer the sleeping late in the morning.

If you are staying on property, you can plan a pool hopping time. We have a pool so that really holds no excitement for us. In fact, I try not to do anything on vacation that I can do at home and that pretty much includes shopping.

I have been dieting for the past few months and have not cheated one time, but boy is that going to change when I get let loose in Orlando. So I have been planning how many good things to eat I can realistically fit in to my 7 days, because once back home, it is straight back to the diet.

You too Skylock.......well done, weight losss isn’t easy and sounds like you have some fantastic determination there!!!

 

[AntimonyER]

We have only been on one Disney vacation, but I planned the heck out of it, and it was the greatest time. While I don't entirely escape planning with our upcoming Discovery Cove/Sea World/Busch/Aquatica trip, I felt it was too easy, so I added not only a MNSSHP night for the Oct trip, but a 3 day trip to Universal the following month. Expensive way to get my planning fix

Congrats on the weight loss both of you! I know its hard, and it takes forever, but those 1-lb weeks add up over time. Trust me, I am 2.5 years from the start of my journey, but have lost 135 lbs as a result of the slow and steady (avg: 1-lb per week). Don't get discouraged, do splurge on occasion, and if you hate it, try something else BEFORE you give up and start gaining it back. Everyone has their own way to lose, find yours.

 

[klo1335]

We will also be at Universal the week of Thanksgiving. There is hardly anything to plan. I wanted a reservation for a Thanksgiving meal so we are going to Disney Springs the day before Thanksgiving and i have 2 reservations and that has helped quell my planing instinct. I also have my grocery order at Walmart pickup going and was trying to plan something for arrival day but my DD said she just wants to hang at the pools at the condo and order pizza I am an uber planner and the friends we are going with just laugh but someone has to plan meals, etc.

 

[Catvondita]

I actually hate planning in my every day life except when it comes to vacations or a fun night out. I love planning for Disney. I love making the FP+ ahead of time and arranging Magical Express etc. For me it helps the waiting for the vacation to finally begin process go by faster. Idk it feels fun to me for some reason. It's harder to plan for Universal but not impossible. I actually keep a journal to figure out what basic outline I'd want to do for each day. Try to calculate how much time it will take me to get from here to there, look at menus to see if I want to try something new rather than the same thing all the time. I look at vlogs on youtube to see if anyone as any new suggestions I've never heard of, I make packing lists, a list of souvenirs I may want to buy. You can have fun planning with Universal, you just have to try to get a little creative Also something fun to get you excited is looking at street view on google maps of Universal

 

[nkereina]

We are planners so we still make a framework for our Universal days. I like to study the QS and TS restaurant menus and have an idea of the ones we want to go to, and will work those in when we're there. One trip, we had no idea which QS to eat at so now I make it a point to research those and pick out a few worthwhile spots in each park.

 

[Squirlz]

Sometimes we don't decide which park we're going to until we get off the boat!

 

[klo1335]

Sometimes we don't decide which park we're going to until we get off the boat!

Holy cow! The thought of this makes me is anxious! I have to know which park I am going to each day and have some plan laid out . I would love to be able to just "wing it" but it's not in my nature.

 

[skylock]

I mostly wing it too. I mean we can hop parks so no real big deal where we start really.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

There is mini golf at city walk, but to be honest, for me to pay the price they want, there would have to be real space aliens and monsters there. If you have a car, there are lots of places in the area to play mini golf.

I miss the old way of doing disney. I have been going since my son was 5, so 31 years. I am going back one more time in the spring because we have a disney wedding to attend and there will be lots of family and friends there that whole week. Trying to nudge son to go too, but he doesn't want to go to the wedding for some reason. He likes the sounds of the planned festivities, but not the wedding. Go figure. After that, probably be a long time before I go back. At this stage in my life, I don't do things that makes me irritable.

Sending you will power for the diet. Everytime I want to eat something I shouldn't, I write it down on my pad of paper because I plan to have it while on vacation. A pound a week is good steady progress. I bet you did not gain it a pound a week.

My niece is getting married soon, not at disney, and went to a cake tasting the other day and not thinking she brought me some samplings. I put it in the freezer for now, although sometimes it calls to me at night, I am saving it for vacation time. There will still be time to taste it and give my opinion before the wedding in Jan.

I only have 3 more months to dream of what I am going to be eating. I can hold out that long.

But there are real aliens at Uni. Kang and Kodo.

You are going to have one rockin feast on vacation! That seems like a good way of handling cravings. I need to take alcohol out of my budget. There's a suspicious link between eating cookies I'm not allowed and having a glass of wine.

I actually did kind of gain a pound a week. Work became a nightmare a couple years ago. Due to all the stress eating I gained about 40 lbs over the last year. I'm trying to recover from that.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We spend a lot of time offsite too, and as Skylock mentioned there are plenty of things to do like the Eye which is fun to do........Escape Rooms if that’s your thing and so much more.

I do think the mini golf at Citywalk is excellent and well worth it........kids will love it especially at night..........it’s lovely all lit up!!

And good luck on the weight loss.......not easy..........

Is the eye that big ferris wheel?

We will probably cheek or the mini golf. It sounds fun at night.

And thanks!

I added not only a MNSSHP night for the Oct trip,

Hmmm. I never for a moment considered that (we do Disney trips or Uni trips but have never done both. I'm usually a 'wouldn't touch a Disney party with a ten foot pole' type but it actually has some appeal to head over for a night during a Uni trip. Maybe something we'll consider on the next one (not this time around though)

Congrats on the weight loss. That's excellent. Very well done!

I also have my grocery order at Walmart pickup

Oh, you totally reminded me that I need to do my instacart order. Thank you.

See this is the kind of planner I am. While complaining that I have nothing to plan, I forget to plan one of the few things that needs planning.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

For me it helps the waiting for the vacation to finally begin process go by faster. Idk it feels fun to me for some reason.

I think that's what I'm missing. It does help build anticipation but also helps the time feel like it's going faster.

Sometimes we don't decide which park we're going to until we get off the boat!

We let the kids pick where we went and what we did on our last day last year. I think we hopped 4 or 5 times that day. DH drolly asked if we had been there before the last time we stepped out of Hogsmeade station.

Holy cow! The thought of this makes me is anxious! I have to know which park I am going to each day and have some plan laid out . I would love to be able to just "wing it" but it's not in my nature.

I'm definitely the opposite. Usually it stresses me out to plan trips. Now that I know what I'm doing with Disney, it's more fun but the first couple times it just felt stressful.

 

[klo1335]

Oh, you totally reminded me that I need to do my instacart order. Thank you.

See this is the kind of planner I am. While complaining that I have nothing to plan, I forget to plan one of the few things that needs planning.

Glad to help.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I was the organizer for our 12-day Orlando marathon trip. 5 days at WDW were planned to a tee! It was so much fun doing this (I'm Type A) and everyone in our group really appreciated knowing what was coming next and we saw pretty much everything in each park.

The 2-day US/IOA portion came and they all looked at me for direction. I said "I'm off duty now" LOL We knew we had to hit up HP each morning and knock those rides out first thing, but after that we just walked the loop and rode everything, without express passes.