Does Disney FP planning stress you out?

[Oneanne]

After 40+ trips I enjoy the planning but I'm really chill about it. Last few trips its been booking a few ADRs and whatever FP+ are available when I remember to do them, throwing my stuff in the suitcase day of and then off to the airport. Picking up my own luggage has become the norm, since I keep forgetting to pre-book ME.

My upcoming June trip has involved much more planning. I wanted to get FoP and Slinky Dog, so I did do my FP+ at 60 days and got both... but I wasn't signed in during the wee hours of the morning. I have more air conditioned TS meals than normal, because I know it's going to be hot and muggy and I'll want the breaks. And I have three special events booked: Hoop de Doo, DestiNations and Villains After Hours, which is three more than usual. I even remembered to book ME (but will still pick up my bag myself) and remembered to add allergies to my ADRs, but still my approach was chill, whatever I got I got, I've made changes when I've thought of something else I might like to do, and things will get canceled/changed when I there. That's the beauty of having been so many times, and with traveling solo!

 

[DisneyFive]

Yeah, it's stressful. On the other hand, the feeling after getting everything you wanted is euphoric.

Dan

 

[Patches Lee]

Fingers hovering over the keyboard. Eyes intently watching the clock. The nano second of your 60 days comes, you draw your breath, and the fingers do the rest. You get the FP for FOP, Slinky and others.

As many trips as we have made, it truly is like conquering your foe. Almost a game of trying to get the best FP possible after you have finalized your touring schedule. But, the amount of stress of making sure, as the primary planner, that you have everything set to satisfy your group is a LOT.

Am I the only one who stresses (and obsesses) over the ultra level of planning?

I won't say I stress because I have to use a vacation day at work just to book at opening. So sleeping in, get on computer for 45 minutes, then just a chill day is much better. Only this that has annoyed me is DH wanting to plan more than the 3/day ahead of time.

 

[Disneylover99]

No. I don’t stress about them. I don’t get up early at 60 days out to do them either. I usually do them in the evening, when I get a chance.

 

[kdweber]

I do not stress - I will try to get them at 60 days out, but if i don't get exactly what I want - I can change plans (do RD if a key ride) or some other options. There is enough to do and we go often enough (once per year) - that if we missed something we will catch it next time. We know how to work the parks in the morning and busy times. Disney is suppose to be fun - so if I stress too much at planning - then I know I will stress when we are in the parks and something goes wrong. I used to be more stressed when we were going once every 3-4 years....

 

[ErinAlb]

Yes, I find it hard. It was tricky enough to draw up all of these different permutations of times and rides and contingency plans to account for different people's preferences, various height restrictions, ADRs, naps/breaks, high-priority scheduled shows and geographic location in parks I haven't visited in 30 years. Now I'm also trying to make my best guesses for the impact of EEMH and SWGE on crowd flows and hourly schedules, since our FP reservation slot is before Aug. 29.

For example, no one knows when Kilimanjaro Safari will open; on some 7 a.m. EMH days in the past it has opened at 7:45 or so, occasionally with very long lines as soon as it opened. On others it's 7:15. That's a must-do for my whole party, so if we use a FP for that to mitigate the unpredictability of early hours, what FP do we then sacrifice? Do different people sacrifice different FPs — and which schedule barriers (ADRs naps) will play into each second-choice? Time to confer again with all parties.

I've put in a lot of work and time just investigating stuff like "When might Kilimanjaro Safari open?" and planning for both possibilities. It's actually interesting to research and is sort of like a logic puzzle to put together — and I am more excited about the attractions now. But to be honest, I also kind of feel like I'm doing Disney's crowd management work for them. (Magic Kingdom is way less stressful for me because there are just so many rides, so close together.)

I'd be way more chill about this if we weren't coming from so far away and felt like we could just plan on doing some of these things in a future visit. Or if we'd already done them in past visits. The pressure kinda rises when it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

 

[midnight star]

As a DL vet who is having to learn a new fastpass system, yes it is stressful. But I don’t want to stress about it, because vacations shouldn’t be stressful. I’m glad that there is so much information to learn from and advice!

 

[yorkieteacher]

Sure it's stressful-but I feel like I've just topped Mount Everest when I get what I want!-Luckily we usually have someone in our group assigned to make each day's selections, and listed multiple times to shoot for. So I am making for two days, DD is making for a day or two, DSiL and our TA also help out. We especially assign SDD, FOP, and SDMT to separate people and go for those first. It's almost as stressing with ADR's!

 

[yorkieteacher]

Yes, I find it hard. It was tricky enough to draw up all of these different permutations of times and rides and contingency plans to account for different people's preferences, various height restrictions, ADRs, naps/breaks, high-priority scheduled shows and geographic location in parks I haven't visited in 30 years. Now I'm also trying to make my best guesses for the impact of EEMH and SWGE on crowd flows and hourly schedules, since our FP reservation slot is before Aug. 29.

For example, no one knows when Kilimanjaro Safari will open; on some 7 a.m. EMH days in the past it has opened at 7:45 or so, occasionally with very long lines as soon as it opened. On others it's 7:15. That's a must-do for my whole party, so if we use a FP for that to mitigate the unpredictability of early hours, what FP do we then sacrifice? Do different people sacrifice different FPs — and which schedule barriers (ADRs naps) will play into each second-choice? Time to confer again with all parties.

I've put in a lot of work and time just investigating stuff like "When might Kilimanjaro Safari open?" and planning for both possibilities. It's actually interesting to research and is sort of like a logic puzzle to put together — and I am more excited about the attractions now. But to be honest, I also kind of feel like I'm doing Disney's crowd management work for them. (Magic Kingdom is way less stressful for me because there are just so many rides, so close together.)

I'd be way more chill about this if we weren't coming from so far away and felt like we could just plan on doing some of these things in a future visit. Or if we'd already done them in past visits. The pressure kinda rises when it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Yes! This exactly! But planning and researching anything Disney is so much fun for me! But we are incredibly blessed that we do get to go more frequently since we live in Georgia and vicinity. And getting that fourth fastpass for anything besides SDD, FOP, and SDMT is very possible using the refresh method on MDE. One suggestion from someone who goes with many adults-have an initial conference to determine what most of our party wants to do, what they can forgo without a heart attack, and then assign them a day to make fast passes for if they will give you grief after you have done your best. In fact, assign every adult with common sense with access to MDE a day to make fast passes for and share the journey!

 

[ktlm]

Yes- I completely stress out about it even though usually I wind up able to get the rides we want, even if the times aren't optimal. Then after I have booked them, I spend 60 days stressing about whether I have them at good times, and whether it is going to mess with where we are going to be at the park at the time we need to ride. Then,the day of while we are there, I stress in the morning out about how I am going to get us on the other tiered rides that we want to do. I stress out about where we are in the parks if we are not near where our next FP+ is going to be. What are we 5 or 6 years into FP+? My stress level has not improved- except that I tell myself we have ridden everything before and will likely have another trip so if we have to miss something it isn't a huge deal. I can't imagine trying to deal with it on a first trip. DH prefers Disneyland because it is so much more flexible and so much less stressful. Actually one of my co-workers started trying to plan her first WDW trip with their little one, and she flat out cancelled it when FP+ time got near. She said it was way too overwhelming- that she could deal with dining, but the FP+ was pure craziness. I told her I could help her out if she wanted as I was used to planning them, and she said she didn't want to have to plan out her whole day in advance and worrying about having to be at rides she had booked 2 months in advance. She said a meal reservation yes, but not the rides. She was done. I told her to go to Disneyland instead-- they did and she had a great time!

 

[tsme]

YES! I totally stress out. I have multiple devices opened, waiting for clock to tick. And the site always seems to go down, which doesn’t help my stress levels.

 

[MrKnight]

Not necessarily stressful but it can be very irritating and frustrating especially for locals and AP holders who do not plan their park visits so far out in advance, the entire FP system makes it very challenging to make spontaneous visits to the parks.

 

[ErinAlb]

Planning is hard but I'm actually looking forward to The Morning Of Selection and seeing what we get. Kinda like fishing or playing the slots. At that point I can just commit to living without whatever I didn't get, and start getting pumped about whatever I did.

I'm really only stressed about planning Animal Kingdom, since that's by far the most complicated day of our trip. There are lots of conflicting priorities among party members, lots of unknown attraction hours — and it looks pretty spread out, so walking time/distance is a concern. There also are a lot of high-priority things that just take a lot of time. A half hour on Safari, a half hour in this trail or that trail, a few shows that are a half hour or more. I'm not sure how we'll build in time for those without darting back and forth all over the park to squeeze in whatever FP rides we get, and I'm not sure how to schedule FPs to avoid that, especially since availability is so unpredictable for Pandora. Honestly, if I could pretend away the FPs and just do Wilderness Explorers all day and then get semi-drunk at Nomad Lounge, that sounds great. AK looks extremely cool even without rides. But the FOMO is real!

By contrast Magic Kingdom has SO many rides, and they all look equally fun (except the Aladdin Carpet which for some reason irritates me on sight) — so apart from 7DMT I'm happy with whatever FP we get. RD/EEMH strategy is MUCH more straightforward there, so I'm confident we can hit the must-dos even if we don't get FPs. It's also easier to miss things there because I've done the DLR versions — and we'll be back the next day for the Halloween Party thing, so we get a second chance.

My brother is excited about DHS, but I'm anticipating a bit of a mess after SWGE opens. So my position on those FPs is whatever, I'm just happy we have two ADRs to take refuge from the hordes, the shows look fun, and any rides are just gravy. The plan is to switch to EPCOT if DHS proves to be Too Much in the 3-4 weeks after Aug. 29. At that point, we'll just take whatever EPCOT FPs we get — but the weirdly high number of Tier 1 FPs creates a pleasantly-neutral sense of helplessness anyway. Like, we wouldn't have been able to do everything no matter what, so it's not on us to Get It Right.

 

[TaraS29]

It’s our first trip this Oct so I was a bit nervous until I read that great idea above about just doing Wilderness Explorers and hitting Nomad Lounge - that sounds perfect!