Minimal Planning!

[Disneypro1]

Its by far the best way to plan a Disney vacation!! Yes, we always book our 3 FP and maybe 1-4 adr. But we end up cancelling all but one of those. We dont do hoppers and im telling you..its the best of times. NO stress planning no stress while there. One park per day and we spend most if not all of the day in that park.
We almost always just do Counter Service. Save a lot of money also. VS sit down. We stay at the Values and no fuss no muss.
Anyways, minimal planning=a great vacation!
Planning a Disney vacation could not be easier. Folks make it hard...but its really so simple. A to B but alot of people go through the alphabet to get to B.

 

[snoopboop]

Its by far the best way to plan a Disney vacation!! Yes, we always book our 3 FP and maybe 1-4 adr. But we end up cancelling all but one of those. We dont do hoppers and im telling you..its the best of times. NO stress planning no stress while there. One park per day and we spend most if not all of the day in that park.
We almost always just do Counter Service. Save a lot of money also. VS sit down. We stay at the Values and no fuss no muss.
Anyways, minimal planning=a great vacation!
Planning a Disney vacation could not be easier. Folks make it hard...but its really so simple. A to B but alot of people go through the alphabet to get to B.

It’s great that this method works for you! What you perceive as other folks “making it hard” is them doing what works best for them in order to maximize their vacation time and budget. What’s simple to you might seem like a waste of precious vacation time to others. To each their own.

 

[YawningDodo]

All I can speak to is my personal experience. In the past, I've had great luck snagging same-day FPs. In June, either I had absolutely abysmal luck or else there's something in the water.

I did say "YMMV" in my post - my experience is just that, my own anecdotal experience. But it's what happened to me, a seasoned WDW veteran who went in to my vacation assuming that I'd be able to get us lots of same-day FPs and left really, really disappointed.

On a more general note, as a few other posters have mentioned, a WDW vacation isn't cheap, and my time on vacation is MUCH too valuable to me to be OK with waiting in long lines. I think Universal Orlando has it 100% right with their Express Pass system and I wish Disney would do something similar.

I appreciate you speaking up about your own experience with this, because it is worth listening to people for whom one strategy or another hasn't worked. What I'm going to be trying to think about as I plan is what the worst case scenario is--say I'm not able to get more FP+ on the go, will I still be happy with my plans? It's all too far out for me to start planning specifics now, but it's something I'll keep in mind.

For me right now, the challenge is really that I've hit a point in my life where I just want as much flexibility as I can have, and where I recognize my own tendency to sometimes stick with preplanned activities that aren't working when I should abandon them instead.

 

[snoopboop]

I appreciate you speaking up about your own experience with this, because it is worth listening to people for whom one strategy or another hasn't worked. What I'm going to be trying to think about as I plan is what the worst case scenario is--say I'm not able to get more FP+ on the go, will I still be happy with my plans? It's all too far out for me to start planning specifics now, but it's something I'll keep in mind.

For me right now, the challenge is really that I've hit a point in my life where I just want as much flexibility as I can have, and where I recognize my own tendency to sometimes stick with preplanned activities that aren't working when I should abandon them instead.

FWIW, as frustrated as I was with MDE, some of the best memories from the trip came from those moments when we had to wing it for a chunk of time, so I hope that you, too, will find magic in the moment, whether it’s planned months in advance or only seconds in advance!

 

[seb65]

We only go for four days at a time, so we do plan it out to maximize our time. We stayed once for 7 days and that trip we did not plan as much. I also went where someone else was in charge of making the plans. I went with the flow, and it was still fun! I don't think there is a magic way to plan your vacation. It is just important to enjoy while you are there.