Please tell me it's true...

[seeing_eye_child]

Could we all possibly agree that "To Plan or Not to Plan" (that is the question) is perhaps a question of personal taste...and that whatever its that I/we/you personally DON'T do is not inherently 1. stressful or 2. the general cause of SGs?

To Plan: This person would like to be able to eat at a selection of their favorite restaurants, including CRT, and to do his/her best to avoid crowds. This person books ADRs (one at a time) in advance and researches park attendance. He/she may then arrive at a chosen park early, and relax while enjoying short lines and a good meal. Spontaneity is reduced, but not eliminated.

Not to Plan: This person likes to go with the flow, not with whatever he/she thought would be appealing to do/eat 6 mo ago. But he/she knows the score: if a mood brings him/her to MK on July 4th at 11am, street entertainment might be the order of the day rather than headliner attractions. And that's just fine. After all, that magical experience with the Dapper Dans never would've happened on a regimented tour of the rides.

The key isn't to do things "the right way to make a vacation." It's about knowing what works for you, and adjusting your expectations accordingly. SG's with unrealistic expectations and entitlement attitudes come from BOTH camps: the planner who didn't expect Space Mt to go 101 but feels that any deviation from the plan is a disaster and Disney's to blame, the un-planner who expected to get TSMM FP's at 4pm and it's a CM's fault that they're out.

We can has peace nao?

[PatchOBlack]

Could we all possibly agree that "To Plan or Not to Plan" (that is the question) is perhaps a question of personal taste...and that whatever its that I/we/you personally DON'T do is not inherently 1. stressful or 2. the general cause of SGs?

To Plan: This person would like to be able to eat at a selection of their favorite restaurants, including CRT, and to do his/her best to avoid crowds. This person books ADRs (one at a time) in advance and researches park attendance. He/she may then arrive at a chosen park early, and relax while enjoying short lines and a good meal. Spontaneity is reduced, but not eliminated.

Not to Plan: This person likes to go with the flow, not with whatever he/she thought would be appealing to do/eat 6 mo ago. But he/she knows the score: if a mood brings him/her to MK on July 4th at 11am, street entertainment might be the order of the day rather than headliner attractions. And that's just fine. After all, that magical experience with the Dapper Dans never would've happened on a regimented tour of the rides.

The key isn't to do things "the right way to make a vacation." It's about knowing what works for you, and adjusting your expectations accordingly. SG's with unrealistic expectations and entitlement attitudes come from BOTH camps: the planner who didn't expect Space Mt to go 101 but feels that any deviation from the plan is a disaster and Disney's to blame, the un-planner who expected to get TSMM FP's at 4pm and it's a CM's fault that they're out.

We can has peace nao?

Actually, Seeing-Eye, I think you have my sentiment pretty much on the nose. GrumpyPirate seems to keep misinterpreting my posts as "You Must Plan and Never Deviate From The Plan", which is a bunch of bushwa.

My view is that, if one is not worried that they might not be able to do certain things within the time they have to visit, then there is no reason to do any sort of planing. However, if they are like me, and they want to make sure they get to do certain things because they know they won't be back to do them for years at a time, then it is a good idea to put some thought into planning out the trip. However, even if one does have a plan, it should be flexible enough to not only deal with unforeseen circumstances, but also to allow for one to simply change one's mind.

[shilohmm]

My view is that, if one is not worried that they might not be able to do certain things within the time they have to visit, then there is no reason to do any sort of planing. However, if they are like me, and they want to make sure they get to do certain things because they know they won't be back to do them for years at a time, then it is a good idea to put some thought into planning out the trip.

The other thing is that it's a lot easier to go with the flow if you're traveling by yourself or in a very small group of people who tend to have very similar tastes. I travel with hubby and five kids, and we are all over the map in terms of likes, dislikes, and planning style. One of my kids is not into planning so I ask him if there's anything he "has" to see, and if that's something tough to get onto I tell him to do it first, and if it's not a big deal I tell him he can do it whenever he wants, and we're done. He's old enough to wander a park on his own and he generally wanders off as soon as we get there.

OTOH, when middle daughter and I went to the Magic Kingdom on the Give A Day thingie, I had a very precise plan that we followed to the letter pretty much, until she decided that it was too hot and she was tired and we left around noon. Since it was just the two of us, she had four or five "must dos" and a bunch of "want to dos" and we did them all but one.

The one time we didn't follow the plan and get there by rope drop it cost us over two hours of waiting time, which I knew it would but we just didn't feel like getting going that morning. For me, the advantage of planning is knowing what abandoning the plan will "cost" me. If I don't do Soarin' when it's planned, that's high cost. If I don't do "Living with the Land" when planned, that's low cost.

Well, I also love planning. :whistlng: I do tons of planning for trips when I know full well we're just going to lounge around the condo playing chess or watching videos most of the time. :p:

[Sioban]

I'm of the school of "Not Plan and let Plan, just don't involve me in it."

My family was invited to go down with another family. We initially said yes and let them know that we are very casual with our "touring plans" since we're always there. Fine. Then someone else apparently invited themselves or something and it was let slip that this person was one of those binder carriers that has to do rope drop and run to every fast pass machine and also a self proclaimed Disney Expert (badge carrying and everything). We suddenly had something to do that week,

If you know where and when you want to eat on what day 6 months from now, that's great. I don't. I think the only time I have even been at a park at opening is one day that I picked up a shift because I had to pay for a speeding ticket (not even during training did I open!). Breakfast is never before 10 and maybe we'll hit a park somewhere between 2 and 5 and we may just be there for two or three hours...or just lunch.

With that being said, I did have to make some ADRs for November. We are having a group that will be between 12 and 14 people and if we don't have a couple of reservations the only place we'll be able to eat is Trail's End (which we like, but not every day).

[WEDFan]

We like to plan meals becuase we love the signature dining. :D: We'll also do some preliminary planning to decide if we want to do a tour or anything else that requires a reservation. After that, we kind of wing it, although we are usually there at rope drop since we are habitually early risers, even on vacation.

Every so often we go down with a big group, and we can avoid any conflict between palnners and noon-planners with rule number 1...

"We will make arrangements for one group meal per day, but after that we will make no attempt to have everyone do things together." Some one will declare, "I'm going to EPCOT tomorrow" and people will join or not as they see fit. Much less stressful. And as far as meet ups go, you'll get a few minutes beyond the time, but then the pirates code kicks in... "Those what fall behind, stays behind" :D:

[seeing_eye_child]

"We will make arrangements for one group meal per day, but after that we will make no attempt to have everyone do things together."

Large group numbers come with large varieties of attraction taste, weather tolerance, fears, bladders, and worst of all, opinions. Planning anything more than one group meal per day is simply begging for trouble.

[PatchOBlack]

Large group numbers come with large varieties of attraction taste, weather tolerance, fears, bladders, and worst of all, opinions. Planning anything more than one group meal per day is simply begging for trouble.

I have to disagree to a point. Now, for a large group, it isn't so much that the idea of planning should be abandoned, in my opinion, but I would suggest instead perhaps that, except for certain common events, that the group be broken down into separate smaller groups, based on what various people want to do. Thus, the folks who want to get there early and ride the thrill rides can do so, with another group arriving later and perhaps hooking up for brunch and taking in some of the more relaxing attractions.

Mind you, as I have said before, over-planning anything isn't a good thing, including a trip to a Disney park. However, one should not look upon someone who wants to have even a casual plan as being some sort of freak or kill-joy.

[seeing_eye_child]

I have to disagree to a point. Now, for a large group, it isn't so much that the idea of planning should be abandoned, in my opinion, but I would suggest instead perhaps that, except for certain common events, that the group be broken down into separate smaller groups, based on what various people want to do.

That's actually more or less what I mean. I wouldn't dare plan for the WHOLE group to be at rope drop or something, but smaller, similar-minded groups should do as they please. That may or may not involve planning for them, but not as a directive to the general assembly.

[Cheshire Figment]

Last week, on "Board X" someone posted they were going to one of the Bonnet Creek Resorts for a convention and wanted to know what would be the best place on property, not in a park, to have a dinner for 26 people. This was for this July!

[PatchOBlack]

Last week, on "Board X" someone posted they were going to one of the Bonnet Creek Resorts for a convention and wanted to know what would be the best place on property, not in a park, to have a dinner for 26 people. This was for this July!

I suppose the correct answer is "In your dreams"? :cat1: