Anyone else feeling overwhelmed during planning?

[SpringBreak]

I sure am!

Buying the airline tickets was the easy part. Now I find myself almost paralyzed, unable to make decisions. Where to stay, using which pin codes, or which DVC rental points? Where do I want to eat and at exactly what time? Which park will I be in on which day at what time? What attractions will I experience and when and where? To park hop or not?

And then the worries...
What if I can't make my dining reservations? Or what if I technically could make them, but one of the kids is asleep or having a melt-down? What if the lines are horrible because of FP+.

We were so excited about our WDW trip, but I'm starting to feel yucky about the whole thing. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I mean really. Part of me just wants to scrap the whole thing and head for the coast.

 

[Dawg91]

Relax! Is this a once in a lifetime trip or possibly the first of many? When are you going?

When I spend too much time on here, I get unnecessarily worked up about planning.

We went in mid December with our kids and my parents when my kids were 2.5 and 5.5 and it was the best trip! We really didn't have lots of plans and didn't worry about what we got done. We had a few dining reservations and a BBB appt but really enjoyed the atmosphere and decorations.

 

[cannonboys]

I'm right there with you!! We are experiencing this FP+ for the first time next week. We are AP holders and go about 4 times a year. We love the old system because we like to plan a couple days before. This is because of due to weather, kids are feeling etc. Sunny days are great for MK...rainy days, Epcot. You get the idea. Now, I have to plan far in advance and book my fp+ and I once my 3 choices are used up, that's it!! What is someone wants to go back to the resort and rest, what if we want to Parkhop?? Well if we Parkhop, we have to wait in long lines because we have no more fastpasses? NO WAY will my kids go for that!! So frustrated and stressed!! Not only am I planning for my family, I have added my parents to the mix for the first time. They have to be added to my FP+. It's too much to decide on which 3 attractions this far in advance.

 

[PrincessJo]

I think maybe you've read too much of the doom and gloom here on the Dis. We just got back 2 weeks ago from WDW and we had a wonderful time. We were also there one of the busiest weeks of the year (New Year's).

We LOVED FP+. I schedule our FPs later in the day so we could sleep in and get to the parks about 10am or later. Because we were all able to get proper sleep, there were no melt downs or grumpy-gusses. We made all of our reservations and had no issues with the magic bands.

One more important note... the FP+ lines were not long. At all. Our usual time in the FP+ line was 10 minutes or less. The longest wait was Test Track and that was about 20 minutes.

I checked the crowd calendars and it seemed to work fine. When the parks got busy, we just did something else. Either the Boardwalk (which was empty every day) or putt-putt or we just hung out in the room for a bit. We went back in the evening after Wishes and never waited more than 20 minutes for anything.

It's really not that bad. Don't freak out... you'll have a fabulous time

 

[JillianMarie]

Honestly, walk away from the Dis for a few days and make your plans away from here. You'll see time and again - the folks around here are outliers. We like discussing (or in my case, lurking around discussing) everything to death. Watch the DVD, check out Disneyfoodblog, watch some youtube videos of rides. Get a sense for what you actually want to do then come back and start worrying about the obsessive planning.

Personally, I never plan that much because I don't have the patience for it. We booked our fp+ stuff the night before we went to each park without any issues. If you really want a specific restaurant and you can't get a reservation keep watching the reservation board which I always found to be extremely helpful.

If all else fails and you're trying to decide between hotels or something and no clear winner emerges, just write them down on slips of paper and draw them out of a hat. It's Disney World - no matter what you do you're going to be a winner.

 

[Canooknic]

I totally agree with the other posters....

I started to get overwhelmed by it all on our first family trip last year but then I took a step back and reevaluated what was important. For us it didn't matter about 'seeing it all', it was about spending some valuable time together and making memories.

I wrote a list of the top 3 or 4 rides/characters etc for each park and as long as we managed those anything else was a bonus, we managed everything and much much more.

I had really wanted to eat at BOG but it never happened, so on our upcoming trip that is my one 'must-do' and I have reservations for our first day. We have booked a couple of FP+ for the afternoons on most of our days, but for me it's about making memories together not exhausting myself in order to eat everywhere/ride everything and run around the park - we like to stop and smell the roses!!

 

[jaman12]

I was initially stressing but after reading on DIS and other websites, I feel better. I am going to the happiest place on earth and staying offsite. Do I get all the perks that onsite guests get? Nope, not at this time. But I am going with an open mind and plan to have a great time regardless of what unfolds. If someone goes to Disney and has a horrible time, shame on them! The only reason I keep "researching/planning" is to know what's going on so that I can make better decisions once I arrive. My only concern is whether or not offsite guests will get a chance to pre-book FP+. That's why I keep checking because I want to do it if possible. If not, I will have my list ready for a kiosk/CM. I have 5 meals planned for a week long trip. So I am hardly over-booked or over-planned. Everything else....we gonna wing it. And have a great time doing it!

 

[larryz]

I sure am!

Buying the airline tickets was the easy part. Now I find myself almost paralyzed, unable to make decisions. Where to stay, using which pin codes, or which DVC rental points? Where do I want to eat and at exactly what time? Which park will I be in on which day at what time? What attractions will I experience and when and where? To park hop or not?

And then the worries...
What if I can't make my dining reservations? Or what if I technically could make them, but one of the kids is asleep or having a melt-down? What if the lines are horrible because of FP+.

We were so excited about our WDW trip, but I'm starting to feel yucky about the whole thing. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I mean really. Part of me just wants to scrap the whole thing and head for the coast.

Have you ever eaten a whole pizza? Looks like a lot of food, but if you take it one bite at a time...

 

[TeamSy]

I always find planning a trip to Disney rather stressful. It's usually the very beginning stages because we never know where we want to stay each trip (onsite with transportation or offsite with better amenities) - it's a constant struggle between us.

For us, planning Disney is stressful, but so is the trip itself. It's not a relaxing time for us (ie, you don't sit on a beach and do nothing). For us, they're long, tiring days with a lot of walking! There's meals, and arranging your days at the park. However, for us, that's Disney. We either embrace it and go or choose another location.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

I am actually having fun planning things to do! We went to AAA to book our trip and I have a 7 yr old son and a 8 month old son as well. I knew I wanted to stay on the monorail bc I wanted easy with the baby, lol...AAA was very helpful with picking a resort and trust me I am HORRIBLE with making decisions lol...I usually end up going back and forth between 2 choices. In this case I was back and forth about the contemporary VS the floridian. I wanted easy access to the monorail so I wanted main buildings I didnt want to have to walk, specially with 2 young kids and in the park all day I didnt want to have to walk back to my room. We finally ended up picking the contemporary only bc there was a HUGE difference in price, lol. Basically bc the floridians main building where the monorail station is, is all the special service type stuff, which we really didn't need.

The next decision I ended up making was which park we were going to do on which days. I did a lot of research about what days are better to go to different parks. After I decided that then I decided on Dining. We got the Deluxe Dining Plan so 3 sit down meals a day. I knew I wanted to do all the Character dining bc thats my sons fav...it was actually pretty easy deciding on what to do...Epcot was the hardest bc of all the different places to eat in the World Showcase lol. I did a lot of research again looking at all the different menus to make sure my husband and I and my 7 year old would like stuff to eat off the menu. When I had a pretty good idea which restaurants I wanted I actually called Disney to make the ADRs and the CM I spoke with was EXTREMELY helpful in getting good times for us.

After that was done I took some time off from planning bc I wanted to wait for all the times to be posted for different shows at DHS and parades and fireworks that we wanted to see. I added all that stuff to MDE.

Now I find my self working on the last bit of planning now and thats which fast passes I am going to reserve. My son is 7, and finally meets all the height requirements for most of the rides. So I sat and watched You Tube videos of certain rides to make sure my son would not be too scared of the ride. That was extremely helpful bc I originally wanted to get a FP to Dinosaur but after watching the ride I think my son would be terrified.

Once thats done and our trip is closer I will start working on the driving part. We are driving down from NJ, so I want to map our rest stops and everything. Gotta know where all the rest stops are when u are on a long trip with a 7yr old and a baby, lol.

Anyways I admit planning for Disney is like planning for a wedding, LOL...Just take 1 part of the trip at a time, don't try and plan it all in 1 day bc it will drive you nuts. Also do your research I find these boards very insightful and full of useful information...hope your planning goes well! And you have a great time at WDW...I know I cant wait for our March/April Trip!

 

[rwdavis2]

Try to avoid making this the "perfect" trip. There is no such thing. IMHO the most important things to know/do:

• Choose what park you want to do each day. easywdw.com has excellent recommendations and it's free.
• Have an idea what rides you may want to do in each park AND which ones are likely to be most popular and have longer lines. Do the popular rides first thing.
• Do not fret the dining. You will not ruin your trip if you don't get a specific restaurant. Look at dining as nice way to take a rest and get something to eat and not as an event. Besides, most WDW food is OK but not great.
• Be flexible. If the kids are having a bad day then plan for it.

This is all the planning we ever do. We have never stood in line more than about 20 minutes for anything. Just be flexible.

A lot of this depends on what time of the year you go. If it's not busy then you don't have to worry much about lines. If it is then get to the parks when they open. You can do a lot within 3-4 hours of park opening because most other people are sleeping in.

 

[MichiganDVC]

Resorts:
If your kids are young and you think Magic Kingdom will be your primary park, Bay Lake Tower cannot be beat. Rent points from Davids. Being able to walk to and from MK is an unbeatable convenience for small kids.

Bigger kids? Epcot resorts. Beach/yacht has better pool for kids age 9+, Boardwalk has more to do for older kids 16+, and both are walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, which has the rides most older kids prefer.

As for dining:
Unless there is a place you MUST dine at (Princess character meal, etc..), the food around Disney is fairly uniform. Make a few reservations and wing the rest. You won't go hungry and there are plenty of healthy options other than burgers and chicken nuggets.
I always tell people with kids to plan one sit-down meal a day (unless the kids are under 4 and don't do well in restaurants.) In which case, just sitting down for a while and getting a sensory break at a counter-service place is fine.

As for rides:
Use Josh's crowd calendar to determine recommended parks for each day and try to stick with that. It may or may not be able to work due to weather or illness, etc.. But at least you have some structure. Best part about FP+? Make your reservations 60 days out...AND YOU CAN CHANGE THEM THE NIGHT BEFORE IF YOU WANT TO!
Unlike legacy FP, you're not stuck with the paper you have in your hand or return times 5 hours from now.

Oh, and get away from the Disboards. Seriously. It can get very negative here and before you know it, you'll be staying in a Motel 6 and spending 5 days at Sea World because somehow that's better than what Disney offers.

 

[rwdavis2]

Not necessarily for the reason given but most of the posts here assume people have some prior knowledge of WDW. It's like walking into the middle of a higly technical conversation. It has acronyms, abbreviations, etc.

Start with a guide book.