[garada3]

We plan for months, squirrel away every extra penny, plan for months, shop for all the bargains, plan for months, pay the bills, plan for months.

I have a great plan ready to put into action during our trip. I now need advice on dealing with my disappointment in not being able to accomplish all that I have planned.

I know that if I don't do it now, I can always plan it for another trip. But for our family, especially DH, another Disney trip will be a long ways off in the future, my guess is 6 + years away.

I am trying to take WVWISEGUY's advice to heart and decide who the trip is for, me or the kids. I guess I am also confessing to being a park commando in the making, for example, we have a 4:30 start on arrival day - sure we can do TL, PS at Crystal Palace, Spectro and FitS that evening with a 4 year old!

How do you all deal with the letdown that comes for seeing your carefully planned vacation go not the way you planned it?

Thanks!

[goofygal1975]

I can speak from experience. Just read my trip reports from the past June. I planned my ds 8th bday trip there for a week. NOTHING went as planned except for the first evening. My ds got sick from the heat/his meds,and we missed alot at the parks. Never made it to AK, and only went on one attraction at MGM! I was so dissapointed, depressed, upset, you name it, i felt it. I learned that you have to "let it go". Do what you can, and ENJOY EACH MOMENT you are in the parks, no matter what you do. I am a commando type person too in the mornings...trying to get on every ride. I had to slow my pace down, go slow, and just *relax* and enjoy it. It's hard to do, but you just have to remember you are in the parks, and the atmosphere alone is the most wonderful thing.

I realize it was easier for me to deal with this because i do have AP's and even if i can't go back during the hot months (which in florida is March-October )because of my son's problems, I do have a chance to go back and see missed rides and attractions during the cooler months.

I think what you should do, is look at what you have planned/scheduled. Talk with your family and decide the top 10 things you want to do as a family. Highlight those, and no matter what happens on the trip, do those 10 things. Then take another color highlighter, and highlight the next 10 things that would be cool to see, but ok if missed. Just know going in that you can't possibly see *everything* in one trip. But go in thinking "I will see and do these 10 things!"

:whistle: WOW,I'm sorry this is so long:bandit I'm going through a *moment* and this is helping me keep my mind off of things!:whistle:

[LRTJS]

Please don't let stress spoil the magic for you. Heather gave you some good advice. Remember that it is a family trip and time to make precious memories. Take it easy. For years when my kids were small we didn't worry about too many PS. They can really reak havoc on things. We just made sure they saw plenty of characters. I also tended to plan too much. Our last 2 trips were much better and we just went with the flow! If it is going to be your last trip for a while it will be important to keep the little one happy so they don't get grumpy. :)

[MickeyMac]

The problem with plans and itineraries is that they live in golden expectation in our minds, sitting and growing like Midas' pile. They don't take into account unexpected bathroom stops, blisters, nerves, crying jigs, surly attitudes. When someone pits such high hopes on a vacation, there's no where to go but down.

Relax, be willing to break from your carefully laid plans, and print and stick GoofyGal's line to your itinerary:

Do what you can, and ENJOY EACH MOMENT you are in the parks, no matter what you do.

Also, I've found a dash of humor really helps! Nothing brings me up like a good belly-laugh. :D

[jmouse]

When my kids were young and the WDW trips farther apart, I always asked the kids what they most wanted to do. One trip we had gone with another family so we had 4 kids to please. Halfway into the trip, I asked each child what ride or attraction was most important for them to experience. The adults were also asked. We made sure that each person's choice was accomplished by the trip's end. That way no one could go home and say, "Yes we went to Walt Disney World but I didn't get to do ***." Missing what they most wanted to do would have turned the trip into a disappointment rather than a good memory.

You'd be surprised what most young kids remember as their favorite thing they did at Walt Disney World. To some, just swimming with their parents at the hotel pool becomes their favorite memory! Take your time instead of rushing to cram it all in. A relaxing trip will be remembered much more favorably than a trip where you are rushing all the time so you can do it all. Walt Disney World isn't going anywhere. It'll still be there when your ready to go back.

[mickaholic4077]

All of you have given such good advice. I just can't comprehend not being able to go back for 6 years. I can't even deal with not going back for 6 weeks!!!!

[CaribBeachNut]

We usually go without plans. That way, no one feels rushed. A true vacation where we can wake up when we want and truly ask, "What do you want to do today?", and delight in the answer, "I don't know. Nothing is planned." Makes for a nice, leisurely, restful vacation.

[jbtoursejg]

I let each familt member pick 2 things that are must do in each
park and make sure we do those. Others things then pop up to fill in the time at each park. I agree with an earlier comment that too many PS's really kill the flow of fun. Morning or mid day (late luch are cheaper than dinner and less crowded) PS"s are best, we found.

[alextina]

Forget the planning except for your PS's. Just go with the flow and relax you'll have a great time. You can even sort of forget worrying about the PS's I have many times had a PS and decided at the last minute that we wanted to do something else, no big deal. Just enjoy your trip!:D If you don't mind. Why six years until your next trip?:nooo:

[ajbdk5]

My DH and I have yet to try the biggie rides like TOT and Rocknrollercoaster and BTMR and Test Track and many others, even though we've been there since these attractions have opened. The reason is the CHARACTERS!:) Our little ones could not get enough of them!:) If they saw one we stopped to meet and greet...A LOT!!!! We also rode Dumbo, the Carrousel, Small World, POOH and Buzz Lightyear too many times to count! LOL!:laugh
I had not planned on doing each ride more than once or twice, so this was a HUGE wake-up call for me!:D
I got the giggles when I realized all planning was out the window
because we spent most of our time in Fantasyland and at character meals...the kids LOVED these!

To make a long story short, when my sweet DH sensed I was a little nervous about not getting to do all that I had planned, he pointed out that in a few years they might not care about the characters so much, and might end up thinking Small World is annoying and think Dumbo is dumb (NOT MY KIDS!!! LOL).
I realized that when we bring them back as they get older, they might be more interested in thrill rides than characters, and the rides and the restaurants would most likely still be there to try on some future trip.
....So, taking our time and doing all the little things with them WHILE THEY ARE STILL LITTLE was the best plan of all! :)

Amy

[WVWISEGUY]

Don,t worry about things going wrong.

We just planned what days we wanted to do what parks and then made sure we did the major things our sons wanted. We had PS for almost everyday for dinner, but did not make PSs for lunch. That gave us some flexibility.

Plan time for the kids to stop and look at things along the way. For instance, we had just done the HM and my wife was rushing to get the boys to the boat to go to TSI. There was an alligator along the way that the boys stopped to see. We missed the boat and my DW was a little upset. However, the next boat came in about 5 minutes. We still got there, lost a few minutes, but the boys talked all evening about seeing the alligator. The youngest waned to know if it ever tried to bite Mickey.:laugh

Remember to take it easy and enjoy the magic. You may not get everything done, bit you will have enjoyed the things you did get to do.

Remember my DW's philosophy, " A bad day at WDW is better than a good day at work."

[mattomouseman]

Originally posted by garada3
We plan for months, squirrel away every extra penny, plan for months, shop for all the bargains, plan for months, pay the bills, plan for months.

I have a great plan ready to put into action during our trip. I now need advice on dealing with my disappointment in not being able to accomplish all that I have planned.

I know that if I don't do it now, I can always plan it for another trip. But for our family, especially DH, another Disney trip will be a long ways off in the future, my guess is 6 + years away.

I am trying to take WVWISEGUY's advice to heart and decide who the trip is for, me or the kids. I guess I am also confessing to being a park commando in the making, for example, we have a 4:30 start on arrival day - sure we can do TL, PS at Crystal Palace, Spectro and FitS that evening with a 4 year old!

How do you all deal with the letdown that comes for seeing your carefully planned vacation go not the way you planned it?

Thanks!

HEY! It's OK to plan but you have handle it like you would any other day. Things come up and stuff happens and nothing ever goes as planned. You shrug your shoulders, thank the lord for what you have and remeber, your in the "Happiest place on earth!" Enjoy it and live for the moment!

[phayes93]

I speak from experience.

My family refers to me as their own "Clark W. Griswold." That is, I tend to set things up so that it's tough to live up to expectations. But after several trips to WDW, I have learned what's fun to do, what attractions we can miss if we have to and to - MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL - relax, take your time and enjoy what you can do. It helps to plan, plan, plan, so that you have a basic idea of how much time it's going to take to do what you want. Get a guide book (Birnbaum or Passporter) and read carefuly.
But don't get frustrated if things don't go as you plan. Roll wth the flow. Theer's hardly anything at WDW that isn't fun, so do what you can and enjoy it. Save something for the next trip.
Last December, we spent a week, but we were hit with sickness in our group (I missed two days in bed with the flu myself), cold weather and a lot of rain. We never even made it to MK and all the water parks were closed. But guess what? We had a blast. Relax, and you will too!

Hakkuna matata!! :)

[tinkerbell]

Originally posted by CaribBeachNut
We usually go without plans. That way, no one feels rushed. A true vacation where we can wake up when we want and truly ask, "What do you want to do today?", and delight in the answer, "I don't know. Nothing is planned." Makes for a nice, leisurely, restful vacation.

we are pretty much like that too .. or I am .. I have plans for what we would like to do .. if they dont happen ..oh well, we still enjoy our time there :) Like right now .. the only plan is to go to Chef Mickey's for breakfast the first morning and then to MK .. but we stay very fexible and dont worry because we know .. that no matter what we are going to Disney World!!!

[mickaholic4077]

Hey Mattomouseman,if you're REALLY going to do the hula hula in the Poly when you get there,I'd love to be there to record the event for posterity(and have someone post it here for me!!!):D :D :D