Please tell me it's true...

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seeing_eye_child
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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by seeing_eye_child » Thu May 26, 2011 8:16 pm

GRUMPY PIRATE wrote:I think a lot of SG's are born from the commando method of visiting the aprks.
Uh oh....see, I was born from the commando Disney school. Literally. I've had certain rules ingrained in me from the tender age of 3 mo old:

1. Thou shalt be at rope drop. Preferably actually right behind said rope as it drops.
2. Thou shalt ride headliners first.
3. Thou shalt not enter any line with a posted wait time greater than 30 min.
4. Thou shalt leave the park after lunch to escape the crowd and rest.

And when your father was training to be a priest prior to meeting your mother, those "thou shalts" are VERY SERIOUS INDEED. But I PROMISE we were good guests! (Except those two times. But I learned my lesson!)


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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by Goofyernmost » Thu May 26, 2011 9:19 pm

I understand that people enjoy planning. My sister is one. She has admitted that she enjoys planning a Disney trip actually more than she enjoys going there. It is a fun project, filled with happy things...what could be better.

I, on the other hand, never plan (I do understand the things that I will not get to do because of it), but I just don't want to plan everything out. I just do whatever feels right at the moment. If it's rope drop...I will go. If it's MK instead of AK...that where I go.

One time when staying off site (which I do most of the time) I really couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do. As I drove on 197 toward the World Drive entrance, I thought that I hadn't been to Silver Springs in a long time, but was not sure if that was what I wanted to do. This may sound strange, but what I did was tell myself that when I arrive at the World Drive entrance, I will let my brain make the decision. As I approached I found that I couldn't make myself turn into WDW, the car went straight with me in it and I ended up a couple of hours later at Silver Springs. Had a great day and went to WDW the next day.

Now that's lack of planning at it most glorious.


:goofy: :goofy:

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PatchOBlack
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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by PatchOBlack » Fri May 27, 2011 12:41 pm

Kylara wrote:Patch, I agree that it is not a bad thing to have a plan. Some people's personality is that they would not be able to relax without one. But some of the people at Board X, Y and Z go way overboard. They have things timed out to the minute and god forbid one of their touring mate wants to use the bathroom...their whole day is ruined.

Having a plan is not a bad thing...not realizing even the best laid plans go wrong at times is...that slavishly following the plan that you mention. There does seem to be a number of people at those boards who do that and then cry that their entire trip was ruined....and usually to the closest CM to try and get something for free.

Um....I believe I actually said that same thing, regarding overdoing it with planning. Perhaps I should give examples, that might make things clearer:

A good example of having a plan would be something along the lines of "Okay, since we want to make sure we get to ride Star Tours without a long wait, we will need to show up early and go directly there after the rope drop. After that, we can ride another popular ride in that area, as the lines should still be pretty short..." and so on. Also, planning ahead places you want to eat is probably a good idea.

An example of overdoing a plan is "We arrive at 8:30AM, hugging the right-hand side of Main Street. We take exactly 5 minutes to get to Star Tours, using this path. This will allow us to ride Star Tours. After the ride, we have 3 minutes to get to...." and so on. One should not be so fixated on accomplishing the plan that it becomes the focus of the trip, rather than having fun.

I guess what I'm trying to say is while a plan should help you to have fun, the fun shouldn't be in completing the plan. If you had planned to go on Splash Mountain, but decide that it is too cold for a wet ride, then one should feel free to go on another ride instead.

Of course, if one wants to, they can completely for-go any plan and go were they want at a whim. However, just as a plan-user shouldn't be upset when something causes them to have to go off-plan, a person without a plan shouldn't complain when they find they don't have sufficient time to do something they wanted to do because they were off doing something else.



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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by hhsrat » Fri May 27, 2011 2:19 pm

PatchOBlack wrote: An example of overdoing a plan is "We arrive at 8:30AM, hugging the right-hand side of Main Street. We take exactly 5 minutes to get to Star Tours, using this path.
Well, if you're at WDW, and you can get to Star Tours exactly 5 minutes after rope drop using Main Street to get there ... THAT is pretty impressive.


The views and opinions expressed in this post do not represent those of the Walt Disney Company. This post was written while off the clock and off WDW property. Caution: The moving rubber line is travelling at the same speed as you.

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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by seeing_eye_child » Fri May 27, 2011 2:25 pm

hhsrat wrote:Well, if you're at WDW, and you can get to Star Tours exactly 5 minutes after rope drop using Main Street to get there ... THAT is pretty impressive.
We planners are geniuses. We made plans for a transporter long ago. It seems the secret is out now...


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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by February » Fri May 27, 2011 3:59 pm

hhsrat wrote:Well, if you're at WDW, and you can get to Star Tours exactly 5 minutes after rope drop using Main Street to get there ... THAT is pretty impressive.
ROFLMAO!!!

I haven't read the whole thread (apologies if this sentiment is redundant) but I've found that the very, very best WDW experiences I've ever had were not planned-- could not have been planned.

When you just go where your heart tells you- sometimes even changing your mind mid-step onto a bus as to which park you're going to- magical, magical things can happen. I did that last trip and that decision along with the kindness of many, many a CM that had never met me before that day and didn't know me from Eve, set up a moment so magical that I dare not post it openly on the forum for fear poor CMs will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of people asking for the event to be repeated.

That was not the only magic that happened to me in past trips by just playing it by ear, relaxing, and remembering to PLAY in WDW. If you play with the CMs, are kind to them and really appreciate their hard work, magic just seems to happen.

Over planning just leads to stressed out kids, angry adults, and unhappy memories. Who wants that? (I know, somebody will surely tell me...) :D:

~bru



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Courage in your own.
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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by Lasolimu » Fri May 27, 2011 4:18 pm

When I go to DLR I tend to be light on planning with just how many days and getting seating for any table service dining desired. Other than that I don't worry and just do whatever.

I tend to plan a lot more for WDW because I don't get to go nearly as often. Generally it's just which parks we would visit each day(would generally go to EPCOT and MK each 2 days, and Studios and AK 1 day each) but with park hoppers this isn't as important to plan and would just be used to give a general idea of any dining locations we needed to plan for(same as DLR). Of course, if we got a dining reservation at one park but went to a different one in the morning, it's the perfect excuse for a break before going to the dining park.


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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by DisneyMom » Sat May 28, 2011 1:25 am

seeing_eye_child wrote:Uh oh....see, I was born from the commando Disney school. Literally. I've had certain rules ingrained in me from the tender age of 3 mo old:

1. Thou shalt be at rope drop. Preferably actually right behind said rope as it drops.
2. Thou shalt ride headliners first.
3. Thou shalt not enter any line with a posted wait time greater than 30 min.
4. Thou shalt leave the park after lunch to escape the crowd and rest.

And when your father was training to be a priest prior to meeting your mother, those "thou shalts" are VERY SERIOUS INDEED. But I PROMISE we were good guests! (Except those two times. But I learned my lesson!)
ummmmmm,sounds an awful lot like our usual plan....but after we've hit the eating lunch mark, anything else we do is the icing to the cake :)


:flybongo: NO BULL!!!!!:D:

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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by DonutGoddess » Sat May 28, 2011 12:50 pm

Hi! First time poster here. It does seem like it has gotten easier to make reservations, more availability. Just booked for our vacation in July. I also like that they now let you see everything that is available for that time frame.



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Re: Please tell me it's true...

Post by GRUMPY PIRATE » Sat May 28, 2011 2:23 pm

PatchOBlack wrote:Yes, if you rely too heavily on "following the plan" as being your ticket to happiness, to the point were you are unable to cope with any change, then that is just going to end in tears. However, there is a difference between simply having a plan, and slavishly following it.

Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with the "casual" approach to touring the parks. However, not everyone has the luxury of being able to come back in a few days. In my case, it is years between visits to Disneyland. As such, simply going "I'll ride this next time I'm here" isn't really an option. So, in that case, having some sort of plan before hand helps me to make the most of my trips, and avoid missing doing something I wanted to do.

Nothing says you can't schedule some downtime, or even adjust you plan on the fly.

"Relax" is a relative term, and once again, having a plan doesn't equate to having to synchronize watches and move in formation to each way-point at exactly the precise time.

And I can see how a lot of SGs would come from not doing any sort of planning ahead, then complaining about how they weren't able to do something ultra-important to them because they couldn't get to it. SGs will tend to be SGs, no matter what method they use.
:cool:

yeah, I can see that you cannot understand that some people like to relax on vacation.

its evident by the umm, "insistence" that you must plan!!! good for you.

personally, since I pretty much know the layout or the WDW parks, and of course Disneyland! I don't really need to "schedule" anything! :D:

And if I do miss something, even on another visit to the parks during the same vacation, we may pick it up next year, or the year after if we don't make it back for vacation.

I can see that (and read on board "X") that "missing" any one attraction will "RUIN" someones vacation, and of course then, you MUST complain to a CM at City hall that you (the general you) are LIVID that Disney would be so mean as to close down an attraction and thus ruin your vacation! :rolleyes:

I believe that here, on SGT, there have been many a thread concerning SG's complaining about that very fact.

I think that the various web sites that do offer such planning have taken it farther and are doing a bit of disservice to people. It makes them feel that their vacation is a failure if they don't see every square inch of every park, and go on all of the attractions.

I think that all this over planning hype was the beginning of a larger influx of entitled SG's, willing to do anything to achieve the "perfect" vacation! :rolleyes:

after all, Frankie say RELAXX!


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