A Planners Nightmare

[marx]

There are planners, and there are those who go with the flow. I am a planner. I make a spreadsheet with the days of my trip, park hours, EMH, crowd calendar predictions from various sources - and I do this months in advance. I then plan my park schedule, choose likely (and backup) ADR's to try at 180 days. Finally, about 90 days out, I plan the rides and attraction my family would like to visit each day and plug everything into a touring plan and evaluate results (and pick likely FP's for each day - since I also track FP availability at 60+ days out using some available online tools).

Part of the joy of my trip is in the planning and this situation of not knowing what's going to come of my August trip is frustrating. On the other hand, the rest of my family hates planning and they are laughing at me

 

[sfbank]

I am the exact same. I have the next three trips planned out and not knowing takes some of the fun out of it. One year when we took my parents they laminated my schedule for a keepsake because I had bathroom breaks scheduled. I kept telling them I did not want them to miss out on anything.

 

[Gypsybear]

I'm the same....spreadsheets and all....the thing I DON'T track is the crowds....other than that, we're on the same page. Oh, I also don't schedule bathroom breaks....lol.

I'm just trying to adjust to this new way of thinking about planning for this trip....I can only guess as to 2021 to CA, and what sort of thing we'll have to contend with for that trip. So for now, just going with the flow, until things settle down a bit.

Oh, I'll also add that I reduce the size of the ADR spreadsheet, and laminate for everyone's lanyards, so they ALL have the time/loc for each ADR. So, if someone arrives before we do, they can check us in, and also no one misses the time/ADR location.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Agreed - planners here, too. It's not like planning for a Disney trip didn't already require a PhD and modern computer software! With all these changes, and all these unknowns, it's like we're doing it now with both arms tied behind our backs.....

 

[marx]

Oh, I'll also add that I reduce the size of the ADR spreadsheet, and laminate for everyone's lanyards, so they ALL have the time/loc for each ADR.

Yea, I take my full spreadsheet and make a condensed one with just ADR’s and FP’s. So, I get it

 

[disneycat321]

I am a planner, too. I’m already (loosely) planning our June 2021 trip, hoping that things will be normalish by then. (I can dream, right?) The uncertainty with even a year to go is frustrating. I really feel for people who have trips this summer or fall. It’s very hard!

We actually are DLR vets and live in CA, so we are used to spontaneous, unplanned Disney trips there, and we love them. But WDW is a whole different experience. We value that both experiences are so different. For me, part of the fun of a WDW vacation is the planning!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

There are planners, and there are those who go with the flow. I am a planner. I make a spreadsheet with the days of my trip, park hours, EMH, crowd calendar predictions from various sources - and I do this months in advance. I then plan my park schedule, choose likely (and backup) ADR's to try at 180 days. Finally, about 90 days out, I plan the rides and attraction my family would like to visit each day and plug everything into a touring plan and evaluate results (and pick likely FP's for each day - since I also track FP availability at 60+ days out using some available online tools).

Part of the joy of my trip is in the planning and this situation of not knowing what's going to come of my August trip is frustrating. On the other hand, the rest of my family hates planning and they are laughing at me

I feel your pain. I am the exact same way. I LOVE planning all our travel and REALLY LOVE our Disney planning. We initially thought we would go in March, and we tabled that for work reasons, then we decided we'd go with June and then of course life got all crazy so now we're looking at November. At this time, if booking a WDW trip isn't feasible in the next month or two, I won't wait on Disney and we'll just go to Universal. I love Disney but I don't want to be waiting and waiting when I can go to Universal's site today and book a trip NOW!! I hate to say this and I realize WDW is a totally different beast, but they've likely lost some guests for the late reopening date and now booking being so uncertain. Not everyone is a total Disney fanatic and willing to wait around. I've heard of two friends that cancelled WDW all together and decided they'd do Universal and other trips instead. As an aside, I hope August is a GO for you. I love going in August for the lower crowds and I suspect we'll see some really low crowds come August.

 

[Rxdr2013]

yes I am gong nuts over here! Then my husband just decided he didn't want to take off work for our trip next month so I had to adjust all the plans. We were originally to go on a cruise for our anniversary next month and of course being a super planner I bought plane tickets over Christmas. We couldn't just leave out of FL where we live, we wanted Puerto Rico. So with having plane tix to use now we are spending part of the week with my parents in VA/NC and I am flying with my oldest son to Disney for rest of the week and my husband will fly home with our youngest son and then drive up on the weekend and pick me up. I did not sleep last night trying to get all the flight credits matched up! Decided between renting DVC points for a night or staying at MCO Hyatt, well DVC room won so we are going atleast for the night even if Disney ends up cancelling my resort stay at ASMo (I hope they don't maybe just move us?) And my sister is joining us the last weekend of the trip.

 

[Naomeri]

I didn’t plan anything for my solo 2017 WDW trip, and I planned extensively for my solo 2020 WDW trip (thankfully completed before the world shut down) and I had so much more fun with the planned trip! My next trip is supposed to be December 2021 and not knowing when the 2021 packages will be released (since I’m guessing they’ll be delayed from their usual third week of June date) is driving me a little crazy.

 

[zacharyt25]

Big planner over here as well! Going in August with my BF (hist first trip!!) so I made planning our trip my big project over quarantine. I've been plenty times so I had everything planned to a T (park days, dining, etc) and now its just all gone, besides our resort of course Luckily he doesnt make fun of me for talking about it (almost) constantly LOL

 

[Marthasor]

There are planners, and there are those who go with the flow. I am a planner. I make a spreadsheet with the days of my trip, park hours, EMH, crowd calendar predictions from various sources - and I do this months in advance. I then plan my park schedule, choose likely (and backup) ADR's to try at 180 days. Finally, about 90 days out, I plan the rides and attraction my family would like to visit each day and plug everything into a touring plan and evaluate results (and pick likely FP's for each day - since I also track FP availability at 60+ days out using some available online tools).

Part of the joy of my trip is in the planning and this situation of not knowing what's going to come of my August trip is frustrating. On the other hand, the rest of my family hates planning and they are laughing at me

LOL! My family doesn't laugh - they just give me the side-eye! I am so with you. I plan, then re-plan, then throw everything out and re-plan again. I keep drafts and drafts and drafts and then, when it's "final" (it never really is), I finally e-mail it to myself, print out hard copies and then stash multiple copies in my bags in case I happen to lose one (I'm not very technologically savvy so I still use paper, LOL!). I have to say, I'm so glad I don't have anything booked until November because I have time to watch all of this take shape. If I had something booked for this summer, I would be going NUTS right now!

 

[Brett Wyman]

I too am a vacation planner and enjoy it. Really enjoy it. Anytime I hear someone speak about using a TA I think "why would they want to do that!". But knowing how Disney has to be right now due to the world we live in, Im fine just letting it all go and visiting Disney with a different point of few this next time. Im sure we will all be back to planning our 180 day ADRs before you know it.

 

[maltdizzy]

I prefer "go with the flow," we find it so much more relaxing to do what we feel like and not what is scheduled.

I don't hate planning, it's great divertion and adds a sense of anticipation. And I do plan and schedule a lot, if just in case the crowds are heavy. But I do hate being scheduled when all I want to do is unwind. So, I may enjoy our August trip.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I too am a vacation planner and enjoy it. Really enjoy it. Anytime I hear someone speak about using a TA I think "why would they want to do that!". But knowing how Disney has to be right now due to the world we live in, Im fine just letting it all go and visiting Disney with a different point of few this next time. Im sure we will all be back to planning our 180 day ADRs before you know it.

Same here, I have a friend and she is a TA and she's always telling me how she can help. Finally had to tell her not to steal my joy!

 

[nco91590]

Just started contemplating a mid-Sept trip and I literally just thought to myself that I have no idea how to NOT plan a Disney vacation lol. To be honest, when we got home from our Jan 2020 trip I swore to myself I would not plan things at all and just wing it next time I went down. So I guess that's what I'll have to do. Just feels super uncomfortable.

 

[TTA Rider Matt]

I'm a big time planner too. I go on average every other year for 10-12 days, and I probably actually spend more time planning than I do on WDW property for my trips lol. Initially I was really stressed about my fastpasses, dining reservations, which park I was going to be in which day...That said, it's kind of nice to not have to plan so far ahead. The only thing I'm worried about is getting into the parks at this point. I am in WDW from 7/20-7/31 and we were planning on 10 park days. I hope I can access the parks the majority, if not all, of those days. I feel like it will undoubtedly be virtual queues, so it'll feel more like the old FP system, which I preferred over the FP+ system. It's better for people with little kids, in that I don't have to predict what my 6 year old daughter will like or not like 2 months in advance, when scheduling fastpasses. I'm choosing to be optimistic right now, and hoping that the best case scenario happens, where I can get into the parks every day, and crowds will be minimal.

 

[julietsstars]

oh my gosh! I found my tribe!!!! Hi, Planners!!
So what Im trying to balance with this new change, is what do I focus on first. So here is my list:

1. Get my dang park reservation for each day
   1. Based on if my dang park reservation was accepted, I:
2. Move on to booking dining reservations OR
   1. Move everything around which will be a heckin nightmare SO
      1. I will have an alternate agenda for each day
3. Book my other experiences
4. Have a cocktail because at this point, its probably 8am and I've been waiting since the early morning hours due to anxiety

This is all also contingent if the Dining Plan happens to come back at all in October because if it doesn't, we probably wont go.

 

[marx]

oh my gosh! I found my tribe!!!! Hi, Planners!!
So what Im trying to balance with this new change, is what do I focus on first. So here is my list:

1. Get my dang park reservation for each day
   1. Based on if my dang park reservation was accepted, I:
2. Move on to booking dining reservations OR
   1. Move everything around which will be a heckin nightmare SO
      1. I will have an alternate agenda for each day
3. Book my other experiences
4. Have a cocktail because at this point, its probably 8am and I've been waiting since the early morning hours due to anxiety

This is all also contingent if the Dining Plan happens to come back at all in October because if it doesn't, we probably wont go.

I have a similar action plan. But, what if...

The Park Reservation system is finally implemented within 60 days of your vacation, then you’ll have to juggle making Park Reservations and Dinning at the same time all the while hoping you don’t get locked out of something your aiming for.

The Park Reservation system is implemented with a 180 day window and now you have multiple trips to deal with.

Not only am I a planner, but I’m also always looking at worst case scenario.

 

[jennyq87]

Yes! Planners unite! We're supposed to stay in a CL tower suite at Gran Destino in August and there so are many unknowns - it's driving me b.a.n.a.n.a.s. Apparently the NBA is taking over the hotel and we will likely be moved, and I'm reading club level likely won't be a thing. We're so disappointed -- we picked this room specifically for our anniversary trip . And I'm nervous they're going to bump us to a lesser room. I'm just not sure how that will be handled and if we will have any say in the matter. My planning mojo is all thrown off not knowing where we will be. And then if I can't get my Kona breakfast ADR back I will riot -- I need those macadamia pancakes!

 

[julietsstars]

The Park Reservation system is finally implemented within 60 days of your vacation, then you’ll have to juggle making Park Reservations and Dinning at the same time all the while hoping you don’t get locked out of something your aiming for.

EXACTLY!!!! so thats why Im thinking I get my park reservations done first and THEN do dining....nightmare.