One of my favorite things about Disney is the planning. Now The Hunter family is a little (maybe alot) OCD when it comes to planning our Disney trips - we have already booked the 2012 trip and 2013 trip! But I take it to a whole other extreme. I create a Disney Daily Schedule. And by that I mean I have the entire vacation from the time we leave our house until the minute that we arrive back scheduled down to the minute. I print off copies for every member of the travel party so they can have the schedule with them at all time. I may have a bit of a problem.
But I was talking to a friend that just got back from Disney a couple weeks ago and he said that Disney was a bit overwhelming and that they missed out of doing a lot of things because they didn't know what to do when. His brother, who went to Disney with me last Christmas, gave me quite the compliment by saying that because I had a schedule, we got to maximum amount of Disney in because we didn't have to make decisions once we got there. Score for me!
The point of a schedule is not to schedule every second of everyday, but it is for creating a much more enjoyable experience. Most days each park opens and closes at different times. The first thing that I look at in planning my vacation is to see what the operating times are at for each park. If you stay at a Disney Resort, you also get the benefit of Extra Magic Hours, where a particular park either opens early or stays open late. Personally, I want to maximize my Park Hours. So I schedule to visit the park that is going to open early of EMH and the one that stays open late. Operating hours are usually available on Disney's website about 6 months in advance giving you plenty of time to plan.
I have talked before about dining reservations, ADRs. Disney World is huge so you will probably need to plan to eat in or around the parks that you are going to be going to that particular day. For example, Magic Kingdom is open late so I want to make dinner reservations either at MK or at a resort that is very close to MK so I don't have to spend alot of time traveling to the park after dinner.
After you know what park(s) to attend on what day and where you are going to eat, I suggest making a plan of action. Now after 28+ times to Disney for my family, we really don't need this, it's just automatic for us. But for newbies I would suggest making a list of which rides and shows are must-see, would like to do, and if we have time at each park. That way everyone gets to do what is most important to them. Then you can decide where in the park you are going to start. In Magic Kingdom, we like to start to the right of the Castle, in Tomorrowland and working our way counter-clockwise around the park. The parks are huge so you want to study the maps so you are running around in circles the whole time.
Another big mistake that people tend to make is going until you crash. I have witnessed countless meltdowns at Disney that are easy to avoid. We always go to the park that opens a hour early for Resort guests. There will be a few lines, but they will be minimal. We cram as much as we can in the morning then we eat and we might do a few more rides and then head back to the hotel in the afternoon for naps or swimming or both. Then we get ready for an early dinner and after that head to the park that is open later and do everything else we need to do. I guarantee if you spend all day in the park, especially in the summer, you are going to have some tired, irritated, moody people on your hands. After all, it is a vacation so take the time to relax!
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