When do you stop tinkering with the plans?

i'm 45 days out tigger. I stopped and will begin unofficial packing soon. when i begin unofficial packing, i'm basically done and just enjoy the packing and such. unofficial packing means i toss things in a big pile randomly if i c something i don't need in the next month.
So glad I’m not the only one thinking about packing this far out . We’re 50 days out and I keep eyeing up my suitcases and wonder if my DH will kill me if I bring them up from the basement already hahaha
 
So my 'tinkering' (I prefer to call it 'fine tuning') ends after I've completed that day at the World. Really, I spend the last night doing any final massages to the touring plan, then print it off (yes, I bring a laptop and a printer on my vacation!). The next day, I'm still working the times and changing things up as extra time becomes available or a ride is down or a ride suddenly has no line up. So, yeah, the final product is always changing.
Reading this made Monica from friends pop in my head :rotfl2::rotfl2:
 
I am at the 2 month mark and I have been planning for about 4 months, only slowing down this past 6 weeks or so to tweak. But I am indeed always going into my plans (MS WORD) and re-reading for tweaking. The bottom line is that even though I have pretty much stopped... I go back in to tweak. I check MDE to see if a park adds an EMH, etc. For example, on one of my dates, an EMM popped up. I tried to get tickets but it was sold out. Oh well. Afterwards, I was glad, because I realized that I really didn't need it and it now serves and an additional 70 dollars in my pocket for whatever.

Anyway, I plan like crazy, but near the end I do slow down. Those last 8 weeks or so go so quickly, that very little is going to change - especially since they are MY plans... I am (Solo) not planning for others.
 


Never. Literally, never. When one trip is complete I almost always immediately start planning the next one :rotfl2:
But in all seriousness. I make a lot of last minute changes during my trips. My kids are still little and their moods, likes/dislikes change on a daily basis. I modify ADR's constantly (providing there is availability). Sometimes I'll push them back and hour or so or sometimes I'll move them up. Sometimes I switch a FP for something we just rode because my kids loved it so much and want to do it again. Sometimes we end up returning to a park in the evening when we weren't originally planning to do so. I really follow my kids' lead.

I'd say I probably stop messing with my plans a few weeks out and just wait for the actual trip to happen and then make adjustments in the moment.
 
I'm the kind of person that is never really done! While we are there, I'm constantly tinkering.

I find it close to impossible to have a bad time at WDW. Enjoy!
 
I would probably tinker with my plans less if lol the information as out at 180 days. For example, they released the narrators for CP after I booked, so I reshuffled our days to see NPH (who both my kids love and were so excited to see). Then I had to reshuffle because they released DAH. I wanted to see if I could reshuffle due to the HS EMM, but I couldn’t get an ADR for sci-fi which was my son’s only request. Once I book by FP in 5 days I will be done other that trying to move a couple of reservations up. My park days will be fixed though.
 


I stop tinkering a week or so before. By then I'm pretty confident in what I've done, and we're not commando park tourers, so plans really just consist of FP and ADRs.

But I have GOT to say: 4 weeks, 4 families?!? I AM SO JEALOUS! You're gonna have an absolute blast!
 
okay tigger. i was done. then just now it said plaza restaurant is offering breakfast...so i had of course to check into this but i didn't love the breakfast options so staying the same.....
 
We went the last 2 weeks of August. Honestly, I played with ours and tweaked them almost every day we were there! I would leave what you have now and wait and see how things go. I would change FP night before based on weather, what the kids loved or didn't, book or move reservations as we were on the bus in the morning!
 
OP, you said "I think much of my anxiety is from the fact that I have never been there before, so maybe I will calm down once I arrive." I'd like to recommend that you take a deep breath and relax. It is really easy to over plan and that can make for some added stress on the planner if the parks are more crowded than expected, weather doesn't cooperate or rides break down. With a large group, I would advise planning to meet for some meals and some rides, but it might be easier to have some separation as well. This is especially true if some groups are early morning people while others are not, or if some want a midday break while others want to be in the parks from open to close. You'll find out early in your trip what works for your group so don't be afraid to make changes on the fly or to let the other families modify their own plans. With a month long trip, you really will be able to see everything you want. Have a great trip!
 
Since DW was bitten by the Disney bug (It only took 17 trips - so have faith if you have a spouse that isn’t a huge Disney fan) she has been adjusting plans everyday and sometimes multiple times a day!
 
Why stop? I'll be tweaking plans during the trip! I'll cancel or modify ADRs, switch up FP times, maybe even change parks. My motto is plan but be flexible.
 
OP, you said "I think much of my anxiety is from the fact that I have never been there before, so maybe I will calm down once I arrive." I'd like to recommend that you take a deep breath and relax. It is really easy to over plan and that can make for some added stress on the planner if the parks are more crowded than expected, weather doesn't cooperate or rides break down. With a large group, I would advise planning to meet for some meals and some rides, but it might be easier to have some separation as well. This is especially true if some groups are early morning people while others are not, or if some want a midday break while others want to be in the parks from open to close. You'll find out early in your trip what works for your group so don't be afraid to make changes on the fly or to let the other families modify their own plans. With a month long trip, you really will be able to see everything you want. Have a great trip!
I agree with this. When we go with extended family we only get together for big meals and special events like fireworks or something. Don’t forget to take your time and really enjoy. First visits can be overwhelming and even with 4 weeks you probably won’t see everything. Have a great time!!!
 
sister is there now. brief trip. coronado. already this morning, day one, mb isn't opening her door, she wants a room switch for other reasons, and the pepper market qs restaurant she didn't realize opens at 7, when she had already wants to be up and out and on the bus. so there you go. you're done. then there's the tweaks and the glitches and flexibility. but i think OP means like done with major stuff, and can take a breath, not glitches/tweaks/minor changes.
 
Planning stops after the fast passes are booked. I try to let go of all the planning activities so I can just let the trip happen without the plans getting in the way of our fun.
 
I adjust something nearly every day of the trip. Sometimes we want more resort time or to sleep in or to close a park out instead of open it.

We leave in 60 days for our Thanksgiving Trip and I am already pulling the information I need together for a 1 week trip in January and 2 week trip in March.
 

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