Is part of the fun of a WDW trip the planning?

[nkereina]

Yep! Last night was our 60 day mark and I stayed up til midnight (on a work night!) do make FP+ and online check-in. We didn't want any of the high priority FPs, so DH asked why I wouldn't just do it in the morning. He didn't understand that it's all part of the experience

 

[ParrotBill]

Planning my future vacations (WDW and any other) is how I get through weeks of work and chores.... although I can't say I like scheduling my attractions with so little flexibility to decide which parks to visit each day. I did not mind scheduling SOME meals, and SOME plans... not a fan of scheduling every single day's places and times and meals with penalties for changing plans (can't cancel meals same day if cc guarantee now, and changing Fastpass+ means very limited choices.)

 

[Marbel]

YES! The planning is half the fun! Years ago, before kids, I was one of those people who wandered into the park at whatever time I happened to get there, no map, no plan, nothing. For our trip this past July, I really got into the planning, reading, daydreaming and it was SO FUN. As a result, our trip was over the top fun. Not saying you can't have fun just winging it, but for us, all my planning paid off for a really amazing trip. So amazing that I'm going on an adult trip with my sister in Feb! Yay! The planning has started (never stopped actually) and I'm loving every minute of it.

 

[lucas]

Definitely! The planning is half the fun - if not more. When the trip actually comes, it just flies by. Enjoy the time spent planning - it's much longer than the actual trip! It's the anticipation and dreaming that get me thru daily life until the next trip.

 

[Indio]

Absolutely!!! I LOVE trip planning! It's so exciting and fun to decide what you want to eat and check out menus and such. Just love it.

 

[720L]

Yes!

 

[minnie mum]

OK, I'll be THAT person. No I don't consider it FUN. Going to the beach is fun. Playing with DGS is fun. A movie night with DH is fun. Hunching over a keyboard for hours sifting through resort options, trying to get my ADRs or FPs for the days and times that I want- that's not fun. But its part of the work that has to be done to have a successful trip. I've done it far too many times, and the novelty wore off a couple decades ago. I'm content that it's a job that I don't hate.

 

[lugnut33]

The planning used to be fun the first few times, but now I prefer to not plan as much. Which puts me at a disadvantage under the new system.

 

[PamNC]

definitely feel this way. It's a great distraction / stress reliever from work. And life. And, like someone said earlier, you can save $$$$ if you plan. Heck, I'm renting DVC points and saving about $140 a night on AKV.

 

[artemis908]

I admit I am having a hard time adjusting to the FP+. For one, I gotta stay up late and try to get FPs before they all disappear since it seems like our time is more crowded than I thought it'd be. When I get to the parks I don't want to be stressed and I feel like I might be stressed since we are usually the type of people who get up whenever we feel like and go to the parks, but now I am going to have to set the alarm and make sure we don't miss our FP times.

 

[jacksgirl]

YES!!! I love the planning! However, I do think scheduling actual ride times with FP+ has really complicated things. I wonder if the number of people who use the FP system has decreased drastically. I can see it just being too much for some people to deal with.

 

[angierae]

Definitely. I have spreadsheets and my trip is still over a year away.

 

[MeghanR]

I love the planning! I have no trip to plan for right now, as we're going sometime next year, but aren't sure when. It all depends on SWW dates whether we go in the spring or the fall, and until those are announced, I don't really have any planning I can do. I've analyzed the two various scenarios to death, so now it's just a waiting game. So I've been reading the boards here lately to hold me over because it makes me feel like I'm planning a trip, even though I'm really not.

 

[elaine amj]

I am an optimizer. I have a hard time being content with a "plan". It has to be the "perfect plan". PLUS, I am very budget conscious and absolutely love the thrill of "getting a deal". Not just any deal, but "the best deal". You don't get that without in-depth research and endless planning.

So yes, one of my favorite parts of WDW is being able to plan to the minute detail.

Sometimes I get tired of it and just want to wing it. But that never works out well for me and I never feel satisfied with the outcomes. We just went to DLR in the summer and it felt SO weird not being able to plan forever. The DLR threads are a whole lot quieter and I sure missed my "WDW in this month" thread and the corresponding FB group. I was in the DLR equivalents, but they are so different. I tried winging it in DLR - and by 10am my family was seriously unhappy with me. So we stopped, I scribbled a quick plan out, and all was happy in our world again.

I am in WDW withdrawal and trying to figure out when we will return next.

 

[BudgieMama]

I love the planning, but no matter where I go on holiday, I plan! I had this ridiculously detailed spreadsheet when we spent a week in NYC, and our WDW has a lot less to plan (seriously!) but I still love it. I'm quite anxious generally, and it helps me have a much more enjoyable experience when I get somewhere when I have things planned and I know how things will run (roughly). So for me the planning is part of the ongoing fun between trips, but also helps me have more fun and few anxiety issues when I'm there

 

[Williams5]

Yeah it's a large part of the fun - my family doesn't get into it though. But, they all thank me during the trip when everything is set up and ready to go. I get up early for the ADR & stayed up late for the FP+. I still couldn't get everything we wanted - but very close. I still tweak stuff almost once a week all the way to the end, like if we end up with a 4:30PM reservation and later we are able to get one at 5:30 then I might replace it, etc....

I try to plan the non-Disney trips we take, but they aren't as easy.

 

[epcotty]

It used to be for me. Once they added pinning down actual ride times, that put it over the top into the frustrating chore category for me.

Exactly. Now the excessive planning necessary seems long and tedious and boring and like a chore. I feel more and more tired of doing that each time

 

[pagek83]

Definitely! If I get a slow time at work, I get on the Disney site and play around with different dates to see how cheap I can get a trip. It's a sickness.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

OMG I *love* all the planning that goes into a Disney vacation! My sister and I talk about it endlessly before one of our trips-what will we do, where will we be on which day, what ADRs to make, what FP to try for. It's all fun to us. I don't mind the regimentation at all.

When we were in the talking stages of this upcoming trip, we met with a travel agent to see if she'd be a good fit for us. She told us she'd make all of the ADRs and the FP selections for us, and we wouldn't have to do anything. Most people would jump at this chance to leave all that 'bother' to someone else, but we were a bit horrified. For reasons that had nothing to do with this we ultimately decided on going to someone else, but if we *had* stayed with her we were going to tell her no, we'll do all that ourselves. That's most of the fun for me, the actual trip is just a blip in time (even though we have the time of our lives), but the planning and then the remembrance are what it's all about for me. My sister and I still talk about stuff that happened on our first Sisters Trip in 1994.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Check my signature. It's why I always tease people when they post they are frustrated about adrs and fp plus. All in good fun. Disney is fun all they way around for us. Planning is just the beginning.