Micromanaging your holiday . . . .

[dvc]

We usually don't bother with planning and maybe book a couple of ADRs and get fast passes the day before. However, this year DD who is now 20 and able to organise to the "nth" degree as she's at uni and used to organising her time, is doing it all! We have ADRs already booked (we don't go til July) and she's now working on fast passes. I think my relaxing, potter around the parks holiday has gone!

[CarolynU]

I much preferred the old system of being able to decide on the day which park to go to, and once there which rides we wanted to ride using FP and where to eat when we were hungry.
This worked fantastically for our family along with the parks being open until at least midnight every day until mid/late August and post Christmas.
So, for the past few years I've gone to Orlando stayed on property but not bothered to go to any of the parks and gone on a DCL cruise instead.
If I've needed a park fix I've gone to Disneyland and California Adventure which has recently instigated a FP system which you pay for but you book nothing in advance and it's not activated until you actually enter the park. That works better for me and my family. California Adventure has masses of the best rides of WDW all in the one park and they are not tiered either!
Will I go back to WDW? Yes because my daughter and son in law want to take my granddaughter when she hits three next year, but I have to be honest I don't relish planning in advance at all. However, if we don't I'm not a fan of taking our chances on the day either!

[murdi]

I enjoy planning. It's all part of the anticipation, knowing landmarks have been reached - 180 day ADRs and 60 day fast passes. Everything can be cancelled and rearranged if necessary. If things get too much when you're there just cancel and have a relaxing day and pick up again the next. It's too expensive a holiday not to have an idea of what to do and find the days just drifting.

[Helen & LittleD]

Oh I actually like the whole fastpass system now, it means that I know I will definitely get on 3 of my favourite rides without having to queue, we do love all the planning though and to me it extends my holiday till
Now haha
Just remember though that you can do as much or as little planning as you want and fast passes may still be available on the day too but you just aren't likely to get your first choices.

[chippyminton]

For our first trip, last year, we only had a week, so I planned park days, ADRs and FP to ensure we hit the highlights. The rest of the family didn’t have a clue and were laughing at me telling when to get up, where to go, what to eat. Once they cottoned on that they were breezing past queues and having a great time, the kids took responsibility for finding extra FP and swapping out ADRs on their phones.

I guess my motto is ‘advance plan but don’t be afraid to rip up the plan on the hoof’.

I’m planning like mad this w/e as ADR day is Thursday, and there are a few must do’s - e.g. Cali Grill brunch, BOG lunch - plus a couple of family celebrations to accommodate.

[Gill H]

We loved it. Yes, you do feel a bit 'on schedule' but you sometimes will need to remind yourself that no-one will tell you off if you change your plan!

It means that you can be reasonably sure you get absolutely everything you want done with no queuing. To me, that's worth a lot.

I guess it's different if you go every year, but we've only been twice - once in 2010 and once in 2014. For the 2010 trip we booked ADRs (mostly in the evening so it didn't affect what park we did in the day) and changed our plan quite a bit.

For 2014 we booked ADRs and FP+ but we still found we could change a lot while we were there. Quite often we went to different parks, changed FPs on a whim, got walk up ADRs and cancelled others. Obviously it helped that we were 2 adults going in early November so it was relatively quiet. However, it isn't as regimented as it feels.

In reality there are very few FP+s which you should book as early as possible and not change unless you don't mind queuing for hours or not doing the ride. These would be things like Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Frozen Ever After, the Pandora Rides, Toy Story Midway Mania.

Pretty much all the others you can probably book the night before or on the day, depending on how busy it is when you go.

[Shooby doo]

We don't micro manage but we have been plenty of times, I think when you are reading about "throwaway bookings" just to try to get a FP for FOP, then you know things are getting pretty bad! We still pick our days on a 2 on 1 off basis, then manage FP around those, a bit like Tom, once we have done our 3 then anything else is a bonus - we certainly found that that attitude helps when getting number 4 onwards, as it's fairly slim pickings! But the more you micro manage Disney the less time you are going to spend at the opposition
SD

[toonarmani]

We tend to have a rough plan of which parks on which days and then choose 3 FPs for each (usually the premium ones), however always remain totally flexible when the holiday comes around and move things around as needed.

If you find it becoming overwhelming, just don't let it rule your holiday, you're there to enjoy yourself after-all, so just chill and do what you feel like as a family when there, as you're not obliged to use your FPs (although some will no doubt feel you're wasting them or depriving other guests if you just let them expire).

[llamala]

I am the cheif planner of our trip, we have a family meet discussion usually DD and Ddil and made a loose plan,based on the busy day guide, We have a couple of Character breakfasts booked simply because we have done them in them in the past and wanted our Gkids to experience them.
We are offsite so have to wait to book fast passes. We will try and book our must dos but know this might not be possible so we have planned 2 or 3 early rope drops, and see how we feel for the other days.
Things will go wrong,kids will get kranky, so will some adults. Don’t expect it to be perfect, we always get lost,we always have a duff meal, but dont let it spoil things.

[Gill H]

It's easy to cancel your FP+s on the go, and it's a nice thing to do so someone else can use them.

Be aware that if you cancel an ADR on the day you may be charged $10 per person. Usually Disney are very sympathetic and realise that holidays aren't on a strict schedule, so if you need to cancel on the day (for instance, you're not feeling well, you're too tired etc) go to Guest Services and explain. They should let you reschedule to another day, or cancel without charge if you can't reschedule.