This post is part of the Destination Disney Blog Hop. This week’s theme is “Anticipating Disney.”
To me, half the fun of a vacation is the planning. I’ll spend hours poring through books and the internet researching the best places to stay and things to see.
While many people show up at Disney World and fly by the seat of their pants, I think that Disney World is a destination that needs to be planned. A bit of research can save you hours in line as well as enlightening you about Disney activities that you might not stumble on yourself.
We used to arrive at a WDW park at least 15 minutes before opening time, schedule in hand. My husband was always a good sport about sticking to the schedule and moving quickly about the parks in those first few hours after opening with his “Disney Commando wife.” Later in the day, after we had hit the busier attractions, we would slow down, relax, and enjoy the surroundings while we visited the less busy attractions.
We’ve been to WDW so many times now that we’re not as rigid. We still try to arrive early and visit the most popular attractions first, but we don’t mind if we don’t see everything in a day either.
I still do some planning and research before trips, though. We like to stay at the Fort Wilderness campground, so I check out the movie schedule and any changes there, find out which attractions are new or closed for refurbishment, and make note of early entrance days for on-site visitors and park hours to help decide which parks we’ll visit on which days. I also just love to read Disney message boards to put myself in the Disney mood!
Some of my favorite resources are:
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (This was my “Bible” in our early days!)
Mousesavers.com (This site is a must-visit for saving money at WDW. Sign up for the newsletter, too!)
Great post, Debbie. The more we go, the more relaxed I get too. But, I still like to plan - just for the fun of it!
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