Are you your family's only planner?

Yep! I'm the Disney expert in my family. I usually go through a list of the attractions and shows with them, and they tell me which ones they would like to do the most. So everyone gives input, but I put everything together.
 
My wife loves disney as much as I. However she relinquishes all planing duties to me.
The little bits and pieces that make up a trip can be overwhelming and these board and
all the supporters really help put those pieces together.
 
I'm the sole planner in my family! I've planned everything from a weekend getaway with just DH and me to a full fledged vacation for a week for DH and I plus 20 relatives! For the most part I don't mind and get a kind of thrill from trying to get the perfect itinerary going and get all those must have ADRs and FPs all while making it feel seamless and not like a planned out day when we are there. However, I will say I get SO frustrated when someone I'm traveling with wants to "be spontaneous" at Disney- especially if they are a first or only timer. Trying to get them to understand all the reasons why this isn't possible is like banging my head off of a wall!

ETA: I don't worry about it if people don't like my planning. If they wanted to do something they should have asked! Enjoy your trip! : )
 
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WDW/DLR trip planning is usually my task. I'll ask DH for input, but whether or not I get it or if it's helpful varies. Our upcoming trip is over Christmas and does include the TS dining plan, so I told him that he needed to provide suggestions for places to eat. He did and tweaked a few that I was looking at because they weren't best bang for the buck. He also got online at 6am EST to help obtain the most elusive dining reservations for our trip. Fast passes will be up to me. Over the years I have learned to just go with the flow. Things will change. It's inevitable. What sounds good at 180+10 days might not be as appealing come 1 week out. I just remind DH of the plans as we approach our trip as well as during the trip.
 
Anyway, how does everyone else handle being the sole planner? What do you do if your plan isn't met with approval once on site?
I think that, sadly, I'm used to it by now. I do take suggestions before I start planning, but when it comes to a Disney vacation, you well know that sometimes what you get is what you get. Thankfully, they haven't complained much on site.

Now I am planning for a trip to HI next year, and while I am taking suggestions, they've never been there before and I'm sure they won't research (hubby, DS12, and DS10), so I'll bet you anything that there will be a ton of complaints!
 
I have done 100% of the planning for myself, my adult daughter and her daughter who is 4 years old. My daughter and I have been on more trips than I can count. I love planning and I don't mind at all. The only thing is if I mention dropping an ADR or adding one all of a sudden my daughter speaks up and disagrees lol If you had discussed the trip at all with me we could have decided together. I tell her I better not hear any complaints when we get there because I did my best. The only thing she seems to be excited about is eating at Boathouse.
 


Yep! DH isn't a big Disney fan, so I can maybe get him to Food and Wine every couple of years. But I go solo 2-3 times annually. When I go with him, we don't do a lot of attractions, so I make sure we do the ones he likes best.
 
Trip dates are usually chosen by DH. DH and I decide on which resort to stay and we book online and he takes care of the flights.
I do all the touring plans and ADR. My DH claims he wants to plan a trip one day, I wont hold my breathe.
 
I'm a firm believer that if I have to do all the planning, even after I've asked for input, you have no right to complain about the end result. But honestly, I've always been the planner in my family and no one seems to mind at all. Can't really remember any complaints over the years.
 
i do all the planning. i ask for input and my H says If i like it, just go with it.
moreso for where we are eating, since i am the picky one. he says if i found something i will eat, book it. :)
 
I do all the planning, but I don't mind. I grew up in FL going to WDW pretty often so I love it! Our first family trip with my kids was last year, and I did a ton of research and planned our days for our family of four and both sets of grandparents. It could not have gone any better (most of that was luck!) but I did a ton of research on everything from fast passes to crowds to tips & tricks and it really paid off. My husband is super grateful, and very appreciative so that helps! He's basically along for the ride (pun intended). For our upcoming trip, both DH and the kids weighed in on where to stay and where to make ADRs, but honestly, they'd be happy with anything I planned. Makes it easy.
 
I'm currently planning our first trip as a family all by myself, but I love planning Disney trips, and have been several times, so I don't mind. DH has not been to Disney since he was a child and our daughter will be turning two during our trip, so she doesn't have too many opinions about planning, lol. I would suggest trying to find one aspect of the trip that each family member is really interested in. For example, DH has shown interest in the dining aspect of our trip and is really looking forward to Tusker House after I explained all of our dining options to him.
 
I am always the one doing the planning for anything and everything in our lives. Both DH and my mom are always asking me what plans we have for the upcoming week/weekend, lol. My mom doesn't even live with us, but she relies on me to keep track of things. One phrase I hear often from them is, "Don't let me forget..." or "Please remind me..."

That being said, I actually really enjoy travel planning. DH is really chill about whatever plans I make, and our sons are too young to complain :thumbsup2
 
I'm definitely the planner for any trip we take, not just Disney. No offense to my husband, but I would probably get very uncomfortable not knowing what was going on. He's not very detail-oriented so I am quite sure he'd forget something (he has in the past). I love him but I'm definitely in charge of planning! I will try to schedule some downtime but never end up actually using that time. I am always go, go, go when it comes to Disney!
 
I took over the family planning from my mom when MDE and FP+ were introduced.. I think I was 19 and now I'm almost 23. She is just not technologically savvy. Back when she planned our family trips she had a rule that if you didn't contribute to the planning you couldn't complain about where we were eating or what park we were at.. now the same rule applies to her :) I do know my family well and know their favorite restaurants and rides, but it does get really annoying when my family asks me to tell them the itenirary every five minutes especially considering I type the itenirary and give them all a copy before we leave.

Planning for my fiancé and I is a struggle LOL. He literally wants NO part in the planning and on our last trip didn't even know how long we were going for until a couple of weeks before. I told him next time he should help with the planning so he knew how long we were going and what we were doing.. but here we are planning our next trip and I bet he couldn't tell you our travel dates.
 
I do all the planning, but I keep asking my husband to help me. He kind of does but I do need suggestions or ideas on how to really help out. Thanks!
 
My DH and I are both retired. If I did not plan trips to WDW we would never go. I LOVE Disney. My DH loves me so he wants me to enjoy what I love. It works for us.
 
I am the only planner, and it's quite honestly a thankless job.

Trying to get anyone's opinions/suggestions is like pulling teeth, and when I just go ahead and make decisions - everyone turns around and gives me the "oh... why would you do that?" routine. MADDENING. On the flip side, I like having the control and knowing it's getting done and done properly.
 

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