Got back about a week ago from Disney!

[Amy]

I don't know? I guess a lot of people who go to Disney don't think of going bowling and don't fit it in their schedule. I suggest more people do it. There's a lot worse things to spend $15 a person on at Disney! And really, it's a great place and really enjoyable. Also, they have pool tables where it's $9/hour per table to play. It will definitely be something I fit into my schedule from here on out!

$9/hour for pool? Guess I am going to have to enjoy playing at my friends' house more often ~ I didn't realize it cost that much

[Metalfan]

Amy, of course it's just better to do that if you have it around you!! But when you look at going to a place that's really not a ton of $$ spent on it. It's not per person. It's for the table. If you are on vacation and looking for a fairly cheap way to spend a hour doing something outside of your room it's not a bad idea IMO! I think it's a reasonable price for sure.

[Amy]

Amy, of course it's just better to do that if you have it around you!! But when you look at going to a place that's really not a ton of $$ spent on it. It's not per person. It's for the table. If you are on vacation and looking for a fairly cheap way to spend a hour doing something outside of your room it's not a bad idea IMO! I think it's a reasonable price for sure.

That makes sense. Our entertainment is going to the parks though. I suppose when I live closer to the magic, I would be more interested in bowling, or movies or miniature golf though.

[Metalfan]

Yea I can understand that but I know a lot of people who go for a week and tend to spend a day in the middle just relaxing and stuff. To me, that's a nice relaxing thing. Especially if you go in the winter and it gets chilly. It's just another option for the people who have spare time during their vacation. I know when my girlfriend and I go we're gonna be there for 7 days and plan on taking 2 off days and doing 5 days at the park. Just because we don't want to burn ourselves out.

[Amy]

Yea I can understand that but I know a lot of people who go for a week and tend to spend a day in the middle just relaxing and stuff. To me, that's a nice relaxing thing. Especially if you go in the winter and it gets chilly. It's just another option for the people who have spare time during their vacation. I know when my girlfriend and I go we're gonna be there for 7 days and plan on taking 2 off days and doing 5 days at the park. Just because we don't want to burn ourselves out.

We go, go, go and go some more. The time for relaxing is when you are home again When we never know when the next vacation is, we like to pack in as much as we can while we are there! That is nice that you take the time to relax though.

[Metalfan]

Yea I can understand that! I guess since I used to live right down the highway from Disney and my girlfriend is more into doing what we can and then taking a small break it works. We might cut that down to 1 day. I know she wants to do mini golf, bowling, and DTD. We also still have the option of Universal in there too. But we still have 5 months so we'll make sure we get everything set before we go and decide what we want to do.

[Amy]

Yea I can understand that! I guess since I used to live right down the highway from Disney and my girlfriend is more into doing what we can and then taking a small break it works. We might cut that down to 1 day. I know she wants to do mini golf, bowling, and DTD. We also still have the option of Universal in there too. But we still have 5 months so we'll make sure we get everything set before we go and decide what we want to do.

Plans are good, but being able to be flexible is even better. I'm sure you will have a nice balance of both

[Metalfan]

Yea I can understand that! I guess since I used to live right down the highway from Disney and my girlfriend is more into doing what we can and then taking a small break it works. We might cut that down to 1 day. I know she wants to do mini golf, bowling, and DTD. We also still have the option of Universal in there too. But we still have 5 months so we'll make sure we get everything set before we go and decide what we want to do.

Plans are good, but being able to be flexible is even better. I'm sure you will have a nice balance of both

Yea I always like to have flexibility. I'm never dead set on anything. It's one of the reasons I don't deal with reservations for meals and stuff. Never know what I'll feel like doing when I wake up. It's part of the fun of being on vacation!

[theBIGyowski]

I over-plan my WDW vacations...with the mindset that I will only do 50-75% of what I have planned for. Part of the reason I over-plan is that, for me, planning is half the fun of a WDW trip. So I get all excited planning out exactly what I want to do...and end up having 50+ revisions before the trip actually happens. By the time we get to the parks I know what is flexible in the plan and what isn't.

[Metalfan]

I over-plan my WDW vacations...with the mindset that I will only do 50-75% of what I have planned for. Part of the reason I over-plan is that, for me, planning is half the fun of a WDW trip. So I get all excited planning out exactly what I want to do...and end up having 50+ revisions before the trip actually happens. By the time we get to the parks I know what is flexible in the plan and what isn't.

Oh I agree! We plan what parks we want to go to, where we want to eat, what we want to snack on, when we want to hit each ride, etc. But most of it is pretty much flexible. Planning and looking into things are some of the most fun parts of the time leading up to the trip! I mean, for me everything is flexible on the trip. Right now the only thing that seems set in stone is heading to Hollywood Studios when we get to Disney after we get off the plane. Besides that, almost everything is just what we feel like.

[Amy]

I over-plan my WDW vacations...with the mindset that I will only do 50-75% of what I have planned for. Part of the reason I over-plan is that, for me, planning is half the fun of a WDW trip. So I get all excited planning out exactly what I want to do...and end up having 50+ revisions before the trip actually happens. By the time we get to the parks I know what is flexible in the plan and what isn't.

As long as you don't forget to cancel ressies at those restaurants that have the new cancellation policies in place ~ that could be costly

[theBIGyowski]

I over-plan my WDW vacations...with the mindset that I will only do 50-75% of what I have planned for. Part of the reason I over-plan is that, for me, planning is half the fun of a WDW trip. So I get all excited planning out exactly what I want to do...and end up having 50+ revisions before the trip actually happens. By the time we get to the parks I know what is flexible in the plan and what isn't.

As long as you don't forget to cancel ressies at those restaurants that have the new cancellation policies in place ~ that could be costly

Yeah...that was back when you could make a ton of ADRs and just pick the one you want to go to while you are there. Don't worry...we always went in a downtime when you could easily get any ADR or even walk up...so we weren't keeping others from eating where they wanted to.

DW and I consider DHS and AK to be "daytime" parks and we usually end up at Epcot for our evenings. So the days we are at those parks are somewhat rigid...knowing the evenings are flexible while we are back at Epcot for dinner/drinks/Illuminations. We also make sure we are at MK for rope drop one day...and on that day probably just spend the first half of the day at MK and then it's back to Epcot for the evening.

We really should try to stay at an Epcot resort this next time...it would save us a lot of bus time.

[jrcohen]

I over-plan my WDW vacations...with the mindset that I will only do 50-75% of what I have planned for. Part of the reason I over-plan is that, for me, planning is half the fun of a WDW trip. So I get all excited planning out exactly what I want to do...and end up having 50+ revisions before the trip actually happens. By the time we get to the parks I know what is flexible in the plan and what isn't.

Oh I agree! We plan what parks we want to go to, where we want to eat, what we want to snack on, when we want to hit each ride, etc. But most of it is pretty much flexible. Planning and looking into things are some of the most fun parts of the time leading up to the trip! I mean, for me everything is flexible on the trip. Right now the only thing that seems set in stone is heading to Hollywood Studios when we get to Disney after we get off the plane. Besides that, almost everything is just what we feel like.

When my wife and I went in January one of the things we found helpful was to use the Touring Plans app put out by Touringplans.com (who put out the yearly unofficial guide). we set up touring plans for each day prior to going including what we wanted to do, and where we wanted to eat each day for the park we were in on a given day. While walking through the parks we would check things off the list. If at any point we wanted to do something spur of the moment (say we were near a show that was on our list to do later) we would do that item anyway. Afterwards we'd check off the item on our list and recompile what was left. We landed up still hitting everything and the app really helps cut down wait times.

[theBIGyowski]

I am a loyal user of TouringPlans.com...and have been for years. I know whenever we go down to WDW with DS for the first time, the Touring Plans app will come in handy in avoiding lines. I've also used my membership to give Touring Plans to friends and family over the years to help them avoid lines.

If nothing else...the crowd calendar is worth it to find the perfect time(s) to take a WDW vacation where the crowds are the lowest.

[Metalfan]

I actually came up with a question that maybe someone here can help with. The dining plans. My girlfriend and I are completely different eaters (I love food, she loves a little bit of food) and those plans confuse me. Funny enough I have a degree in journalism and had to take many English classes, etc yet reading has never been my big thing. I don't enjoy books. Is there anywhere that explains it easily or anyone have any idea someone to call that can explain exactly what they do and where you can use it, etc?