how much do you plan?

[jojo]

I know people ask this a lot but how much do you plan? do you know what park youre going to every day, what youre doing each morning/afternoon/evening or do you go into even more detail??

[Suebeattie]

We generally try to plan which park on which day but that's about as much detail as we have gone into before.
After DLRP last month we have decided the big tripmto WDW next year needs a lot of planning especially on what rides we are going to be doing as we will have my nephews with us so want to make sure they get to see everything they can.
There will be 6 adults and 2 kids so it's going to be hard to make a plan and stick to it

[uscwest]

Most of our planning is restricted to the restaurants at which we want to eat.

[lisaw]

I know what we are doing each day and also where we are eating every day. Every day is accounted for, even 'quiet' days like boggy creek, shopping etc. I don't particularly plan how we attck each park although we tend to always do them the same way and as we spend a lot of time at each disney park we have plenty of time to see everything anyway.
I like it this way as it means the thinking and decision making is taken away when we are there, we can roll out of bed at some uneartly hour and know exactly where we need to be!

[foreverducky]

I tend to plan around Extra Magic Hours and restaurants.

[Slowhand]

We tend to take each day as it comes as far as park visiting is concerned.
I hate working to a strict timetable, however if we want to eat at any specific WDW restaurants, then sadly we have to make an ADR 6 months in advance in order to avoid disappointment.

[Bring back the good old [pre dining plan days] when walk ins were the norm. ]

[Keith]

[Bring back the good old [pre dining plan days] when walk ins were the norm. ]

How very very true

Yep we do the same, basic planning around what we want to do each day followed by a nice evening meal somewhere which is also planned/booked.

We don't plan which rides when or anything like that and indeed we sometimes leave a park early knowing we could come back to it later or on another trip even!

We find we're doing less and less in Disney generally to be honest and I think the next trip we'll plan the few essential Disney stuff first, then plan the non-disney days around them.

[chief]

i first planned our character meals so i knew what parks to go to on those days. then i fitted in the rest of the parks while including a couple of rest days where we did evening shows. we did stick to this plan, i think it saved time as i am not very good at making impulse decisions!!

[Wendy]

We don't plan very much at all, we just take each day as it comes Gone are the days when we had a schedule and followed it completely.

We don't tend to go to the parks very much now and there is just too much else to see and do.

[Casey3557]

I think the folks who need to have some type of plan - flexible, but a plan nonetheless - are those who are first-time visitors or who will be with children. Especially if they are visiting at a busy time when lines can be long and tempers short.

WDW can be overwhelming; there is SO MUCH to see and do! It is extremely helpful to do some planning ahead of time and to research things so that time is saved - know what time the various parades/fireworks are scheduled, park hours, where you might want to eat and whether it will require a reservation, etc. I see so many folks just standing around who seem to have no idea what to do once they enter the parks. So planning is a good idea for them, IMHO.

For the veterans, not so much. Planning around meals is one way!