Really can't face Fastpass and OTT planning.

[Sue]

You have to do what is right for your family. The first time I went we just went with the flow, I didn’t know the Dibb existed and it was only when we got home and were planning to go again that I found out we had missed so much.
I love to plan and find that doing it all in advance means less stress when we are there. I do get what you are saying about being tied to the FP+ and we have not done WDW since 2012 so this will be new to us.
This time we are all adults though and early risers so we’ll do the headliners and things we haven’t done first thing and then just see what’s available later. We are also there at a not busy time of year so hopefully lines will be shorter. We are only doing one week in WDW and with DDP so the rest of the holiday will be much less regimented.

Seems like you have thought things through and are going to do the best for your family - enjoy it

[john2202]

It's a holiday not a military exercise, just go with the flow. Hate all the planning thing and just take each day as it comes. Too much stress involved when you think I need to do this need to do that, most importantly just go and enjoy yourself.

[YorkshireT]

I've stopped virtually all ADRs and we had a better holiday for it. The few I had booked we ended up cancelling all but 2. Ate much more quick serve and the Landry Card is great.
Re Fast passes, early morning starts and Fastpasses on the fly is the key .
Probably best day we had this year was when the night before we decided to go to MK the next morning. This was so my wife and daughter could go on the 'slow rides'. So I secured some fast passes for Small World, Pirates and Winnie the Pooh.
In for 8, rode Space,Splash, Haunted, Thunder, philharmonic all by 10. Then did the FP (I was amending on the fly and bringing forward the next one as we checked into the one before). Lunch at Columbia Harbour House, more FP on the fly, Speedway, Buzz Light-year, a few others. Went back to Boardwalk about 2 for pool time.
Perfect day, no queuing at all, no planning beforehand apart from 3 FPs the night before.

[Picalily]

We never plan just decide the evening before or even on the day where to go and we have a great HOLIDAY. We all have routines at home that we have to stick to, going to work,getting meals, waiting for buses etc. On holiday we just do what takes our fancy and not have to rush to be at a certain point at a certain time and we enjoy ourselves. Couldn't bare to decide what to have for dinner 6 months in advance!

[DaftOnDisney]

Yes I’m the same,we go in 3 weeks and I’ve only booked one ADR for Homecomin before we go to the MNSSHP.
I’ve made a rough plan by using the busy day guide but I’ve not booked any FP yet,I don’t want my whole park day to be regimented as it just stresses me out.

Ruth

[klr15]

I think it’s just personal choice, for some people planning makes it feel like a “military style operation” and for others it really helps them to have an amazing time. We are a young couple and I do plan a fair few bits like fastpasses, but we always go for qsdp as trying to get to loads of adrs and in different hotels would make me stressed! The only adr we book is be our guest breakfast for our first MK morning. We do enjoy planning the fast passes and having a day by day guide of what to do so we don’t miss anything, it helps my anxiety when I’m organised and my other half actually commented how happy he was that I’d planned so well! Different things for different people, I wouldn’t go on the rides in a particular order though (other than fastpasses). Our plan for the week at Disney usually looks something like:

Thursday 09th May: MK morning and fast passes for (...) and ADR for Be our guest

Friday 10th May: Head to Typhoon lagoon and then have evening fastpasses for Epcot.

Works for us, we don’t feel like we have to stick to it though, if we are too tired after typhoon lagoon then it’s back to the hotel and a relax around the pool. I just find I’m more relaxed with fastpasses booked as I know I’ll get on the rides I want without a huge queue.

[3family]

I really don’t get how it can upset anybody. It’s your holiday, do what you like

[Guest]

I've fast passed what I really want to go on ... but other rides meals and days out, we will do what we feel like, it is meant to be a holiday after all

[duchy]

If you aren't using the DAS pass you aren't doing it right.
My son is on the spectrum and it made a massive difference.

Special needs aside there's a bit of a myth on the dibb that everything needs to be planned to the nth degree whilst that works for some, equally there are many who have rough plans with corresponding fastpasses but it's fluid and plans are always changeable .

[Bolto6]

For us I’ve always done a small amount of planning. Literally research the best parks for each day, and which headliners we want to see. One year we completely missed TSM (it hadn’t been open long,) as we knew nothing about it and the queue was ridiculously long, we didn’t make that mistake again, we rope dropped to secure our fast passes.

I never used to bother with FP for Kilimanjaro Safari, again we used to rope drop and get on it by 9.30, then work our way around the rest of AK.

We have only done one trip with FP+ and didn’t find it restrictive, as you can still chop and change even on the day. My FP+ window for our first park day opens today, I am planning for AK, if I only manage Na’vi River, Kilimanjaro Safari’s and Kali River Rapids that’s fine. We’re going over 2 visits, so I can try for FOP for our 2nd day or I can chop and change. I also won’t try to make them so that we have to dart from attraction to attraction in the park.

For us, now we have a 3 year old with us I think it will actually enhance our holiday and mean we can enjoy it more, I also enjoy planning. But if you prefer to go with the flow then you can do, but you can still book FP on the day if that’s how you want to play it.