That Trip Planning List...

hey fergus

as you know we are they when you are but for 14 days. our last trip was 7 dye and we managed to to a lot. we split it like so

day 1- arrival, magic kingdom and wishes. we then rode all the must do fantasyland rides and night with zero wait times

day 2 - animal kingdom early start and early ADR for tusker house, thanks to it have no night time show we headed over to MK and rode everything with long waits during the electric light parades and wishes as we had seen them the night before.

day3 - Epcot left before illuminations because of heat stroke

day 4 - hollywood studios, resort break, fantasmic

day 5 - Universal we did both parks and then headed to downtown disney

day 6- Morning at Magic kingdom, afternoon at typhoon lagoon, night at down town disney

day 7 - 24 hour disney day! early morning to Hollywood Studios for star wars weekend, epcot after lunch stayed for illuminations, monorail to magic kingdom at 11pm arrived at 11:30pm and stayed till 6am

day 8- slept all morning and back home

this year we are hoping to have 2 days per park so thats 10 days, 2 universal days and 2 full water park/rest days (one a week) other in our group want to do shopping malls and the space centre and I don't mind if they do but I am happy to stay in the bubble. My plan is to find out park hours, book my MNSSHP, and then work out my ADR's, when I know where we want to eat I will put them together with the location they are nearest to, So for example Ohana/ magic kingdom and we will then do our fast pass plus. so our plan will be food/park/rides

Also I hope to do this trip a little more laid back and spend a morning to lunch in future world at epcot and then maybe visit a eater park or other activity and then a day in world show case. and maybe a few lands at a time in magic kingdom. animal kingdom and hollywood studios to me are one day parks but no rout we might do their evening magic hours for the headliner rides.

hope that helps

Well, never did a "commando style" vacation. I think that would ruin the vacation for us. One thing that is said around here a lot is " do not over plan, you cannot do everything so don't try" . It ruins the fun factor and that's when people start complaining that they had a terrible vacation, especially the people that are going for the first time.

Secondly, those of us that live in the states and are lucky enough to be able to go on a regular basis don't really have to make a list of what we "have to do" each trip, we can just put it off until the next one, and as long as I'm breathing, there will always be a next one. Don't care how far off it may be.

We enjoy the break from reality no mater how short. Here many people only get 1 or 2 weeks of vacation to begin with so a 4-5 day vacation is all they can take away.

Never done a Commando trip ...
We normaly have the first week or so roughly planned out but after that its just go with the flow.

I only do commando drinking. Around The World. Around Crescent Lake. Around the Monorail. Around the Pool.

Our November trip is 5 days well really 7 but I'll explain that ....

we are arriving Sunday and checking out Saturday BUT... we are leaving Friday and staying off property a couple nights. The hubby is an avid golfer and even though it is MY BIRTHDAY trip , I am being nice and letting him have his time too LOL. He is also going to play a Disney course again this trip.

We are going for Food and Wine so I am planning 2 FULL days in EPCOT and one day each in the other 3 parks. We will probably park hop the AK and HS days to go back to EPCOT and MK or maybe just hit Downtown one of the nights. I'm not a big park hopper, I know many people do it but I like to stay put. For me it's less stress and less anxiety getting from one place to the other.

I also want to do a couple of the behind the scenes tours but still deciding on which ones for that too...

Of course I have to have pizza from my favorite place in Orlando but we usually order in so we don't have to leave the bubble, International is SCARY in the evenings way too many people for this girl!!!

As far as ADRs... We want to do the Parisian breakfast associated with F&W and I am still narrowing down the rest. Still thinking its going to be CG for dinner and fireworks for our "nice dinner" and maybe a couple others. Considering Be Our Guest also...

*side note* (I read and article that the addition of BOG has changed the face of ADRs at the Castle and Le Cellier)

Other than that I really want to have fun and relax, I love to plan but not over plan, I like things to happen!!!!

So just what is on this list of yours King Fergus???

Ok..Interesting points of view here..First I should explain when I say " Commando " I don't mean we put paint on our faces first thing in the morning whilst shouting at the characters " I'll be back " ... ...It's more of a planning each day out..If we need to get to a rope drop,our alarm is set for 6.30am..I've noticed some people have worked out each day like a school time table...example...Monday..7.00am breakfast..8.00 am MK...Buzz 8.15...speedway 8.30am...Lunch 11.30am..etc..etc..It's never like that with us..As far as the parks go..On our 2012 visit we only did AK once ( not a big safari hunter ) The next least visited park was DHS...Then Epcot..and finally MK...I suppose everyone will have their favourite things to do and see...For example, I do not do coasters, nor does my DS now..He used to jump on everything that moved when he was younger, not anymore..Now to answer JMed....Phew!....Without boring you folk to death..Here's a wee snippet for our forth coming trip in October..Film the new Parade..Get tickets for MNSSHP...See all our favourite live shows...Watch and film ELP from the beach at WL...Eats & Drinks section include..The Lapu Lapu...Hot Dogs at Casey's..Bananas Fosters at Roaring Fork..The Fondue at Territory Lounge..The Kobe Burger at Yak & Yeti..Taste our way round the F & W at Epcot..Meet & Greets...I want to get as many photos with the characters as possible...Meet up with friends on this site...The list goes on and on...Time for a coffee break..

awesome list King Fergus. Food is big with us no matter where we travel and with it being F&W time, food and alcohol is high on our list. I have scoured websites and books for all the bars and restaurants (ok ok ok it's an adult trip this time, mostly bars) on property. I have a pretty hefty list going. MAYBE I should take lots of water to hydrate and take an extra couple days for rest when we get back! LOL

Oh as far as commando goes..... All I ever think about is the episode of Friends where Joey wears all of Chandlers clothes with no underwear.... all I thought at first was commando in a kilt! Priceless for Disney!

I go in with a list of a few new things and a few old favorites that are "must do's" for me this trip and make sure to hit those. If I made a list of EVERYTHING I wanted to do and try at Disney World, I'd need to take a several month trip! But like Mr Hub said, even if it's a far ways off, I always have the next trip planned in my head so I just assure myself that I'll get to try things I miss on the next trip.

We did 6 days and I did have a list of things I wanted to try and see. But definitely didn't plan out a schedule that was so strict that we couldn't just enjoy anything we ran into. I tried to plan things that would fit into the park we were planning on being in for the day and just went from there. Did most of it, missed some of it, but enjoyed all of it!

I don't think we ever did a commando-style trip, we basically always stuck with ADRs to determine what park/area would be at any particular day. We do, however, plan a down day every trip, to recharge our batteries. We dont get up before 8am, and spend the day at the pool, and lunch pool side at a quick service, then later on, usually head to Epcot or MK for dinner, fireworks. We hang back from the crowds a bit, instead of rushing with thousands of others, for the monorail or launch. No rush, no fuss, no muss. If its very warm at night, we head back to the pool, with a cocktail, then shower, and sleep like babies, and prepare for the next day

I don't stick to a rigid schedule because I'll probably forget and it'll be too much overload. For the most part, I plan my days based on priority so the things I must do I need to do first. Park days, I feel obligated to be there when it first opens because the crowds and long lines worries me. So I get up early, get ready, have breakfast and then try to be there at rope drop. If not, a few minutes afterwards. Usually on parks, I do all the popular rides and/or the ones I'm interested in all in the morning, character meet and greets and/or seeing entertainment shows in the afternoon, finishing my leftovers and/or some shopping in the evening before the fireworks spectacles, see the firework spectacles, walk like there's no tomorrow to the exits or wait a bit til the crowds empty. But then again, this is from someone who has done solo traveling and planning for one is a lot different than planning for a family!

Is that allowed at WDW...Lapu Lapu and a swim at the same time...LOL...

Hi! I am new here, but not to Disney. DH and I are going to WDW in Sept on our first no choir kids, and not our kids trip with another couple who happen to share our likes and fun. Since the last time they were there was when there was only a MK and you parked in front, they are leaving the arrangements to us. I also have this incredibly patient TA who works with me to set it all up for the price we can afford.
We do this
1. Set dates, resort, and meal plan (and pray for promotions)
2. I order plane tickets (Southwest)
3. As soon as we know EMH, I set up a day-by-day schedule, trying to use the EMH if possible.
4 Arrival day is a partial and that is Hollywood (we don't really want more there)
5. Pick the places to get ADRs and let the TA do the work.
6. At the first day possible, we have the choices of FP+ to lock in.
7. We know what time we want to be there and the latest we need to stay at a park to get the shows.
8. Time away from parks is spent either downtown (we don't do that much shopping there) or crashed poolside in a chair with a drink.
9. This year we have two days at Epoct for Wine & Food (and Beer), so food ADRs isn't a problem there....or the drink.

My DH likes the planning done ahead of time and knowing I have it all on my phone or in my small bag and I like knowing it's all done BEFORE we left, so I can mind-out and absorb what I call the "castle magic".

King Fergus I agree with Mrhub because living in the states affords us the ability to go for a shorter length of the time. Believe me I don't try to see everything because I am at that age that I physically don't want to push myself that hard. I also don't have the finances to go longer than 4-6 days at a time.

We really can't be away any longer than 7 days, but our flight is only 4hrs, so we squeeze in as much as we can. For us, now both retired in the fall, and with other part-time job obligations, it becomes a challenge to schedule too far in advance not knowing if we can get the consecutive days off. It can also be a money issue so we watch for discounts and our flight from Wisconsin to Florida is a buck or two cheaper than yours, I am sure.

Instead, we choose to be grateful for what we do have and can do, the people we share it with, healthy happy sons who are successful in their private and professional lives, being married over 30 yrs and traveling this time with a couple we love dearly and have been married 45yrs and met over 50 yrs ago. I guess what I am saying is that we are truly blessed and try to focus on that. So if we don't get it all done this time, it will be on the list for the next time. A reason to return in a couple....hmm...I would think that is another reason for your majesty to return in a few. Envision, in the not too far future, just you and your queen enjoying the get away. I didn't believe until we tried it;t's a whole new experience! (no marital vows were involved)

On my first (and so far only trip), it was 4 days, 3 nights. Only three days in the parks. I went in with very little idea of what was going on aside from some basic park and ride knowledge, which I think helped since there wasn't anything I HAD to do. The only thing I wanted to do for sure was Space Mountain, which didn't even happen because it kept closing.

This next trip is going to be 5 nights/6 days. Only five days in the parks. I have way more knowledge than I did, so my plan has gotten a bit longer of things I want/need to do! I know I won't be able to do everything so I have to prioritize, and for me right now, that's rides and attractions. I know my sister, who I'm taking with me on this trip for her 18th birthday/graduation, will feel the same way. I only have two ADR's planned, for example, and one I'm thinking about canceling because it cuts into my precious park time. And I do have attractions planned out, but it's a very conservative use of time. And our last park day is pretty much wide open so we can go back and catching things we may have missed!

So for me it's definitely about prioritizing... and I already have my next trip going on in the back of my head for my baby sister's 18th birthday/graduation in two years so I know I'll be going back to experience more and different things!