To plan, or not to plan: that is the theme park question!
As a Disney World and Universal Studios fanatic, I'm the go-to person for any questions my loved ones have about their upcoming vacations. Here's one of the top questions I get: "Should I have a complete itinerary for my trip?"
I get it! It's natural to want to make a step-by-step plan, especially if you're a Type-A person like me! If your travel anxiety is soothed by making a color-coded binder with hour-by-hour (or minute-by-minute) plans, more power to you.
However--and it pains me to say it--a detailed itinerary won't fly at Disney or Universal.
Wait, what? Why not?
It's simple: at these huge parks, everything changes constantly--and, for the most part, without notice.
There are so many factors that can throw a wrench into the "perfect" plan. Shows get delayed. Line times go from 10 minutes to 110. Lightning lanes close. And who even knows what time you'll be able to snag that dinner reservation! Before you know it, your meticulously planned day can turn into utter chaos, and you'll be more frustrated than ever.
It happened to me...
The first time my family and I went to Disney World, I planned everything: every ride, every hour, every single snack. And everything... Went horribly wrong.
The parade was moved due to weather. My first ride's FastPass ended up being for later that night. The snack stand sold out of the one treat I was most excited about. It was a disaster.
I felt like such a failure. Here we were in Magic Kingdom, the happiest place on earth, and I was having an internal meltdown because our day was "ruined." But while I was battling with myself, there was my one year old, dancing to the piped-in music with the biggest smile on her face. He was having an incredible time... Doing nothing that I had planned.
The moral of the story?
Once I was able to move past the grief of my ruined "perfect day," I actually had the perfect day.
We finally ignored the times on my printed Itinerary and just went with the flow. By the end of the day, we had crossed off about 95% of the rides, shows, experiences, and snacks we had planned to enjoy. They just happened at different times than I had expected.
Here's how I plan the perfect trip now (no itinerary required!)
These days, when my family and I are headed to a Disney or Universal park, I start my planning the night before. Yes, really! This is the best way to avoid disappointment from last-minute changes.
My husband and I have the apps for each park downloaded, and we check those out right before we head to bed. Now that our kids are old enough to voice opinions, we include them in this process, too. It's so much fun to do this together!
(Psst! If your kids want their own activities, here's a free journal page where they can document their favorite part of each day on vacay!)
We split our night-before planning into three important categories:
The rides! We make a list of our MUST-DOs. These are the ones we have to ride, no questions asked. Anything else will be bonuses!
The characters! We love the apps since they show which characters were there that day. That gives us a good idea of who we can expect to see when we arrive. Then, we make a list of every character we MUST get a photo with--the ones we're willing to wait in line for, no matter what.
The food! The app lists all restaurants and quick services with their menus, and we take some time to pick out our must-try snacks. But beyond the app, I always take a few minutes to Google "must try snacks at _____" and read a few blogs. I LOVE doing this because I find plenty of snacks that I A. would never think to try or B. didn't even know existed!
When we arrive in the park the next day, it's go time!
As we enjoy our favorite rides, characters, and snacks, I check each one off the list on my phone. By using this simple list instead of an uber-detailed itinerary, I can keep our thoughts organized without forgetting anything in the magic of the moment. And it's flexible enough to help even if schedules change, shows are postponed, and snacks are unavailable.
We've been using this planning method for the past four years and I'll never look back. It's our sure-fire way to have the most magical time with the least amount of stress!
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