Oh ya. One of the things I stressed about to my extended family was BUY COMFOTABLE SHOES WELL IN ADVANCE AND WEAR THEM IN. I stated this many times over the last 11 months. What do they do 2 weeks before leaving… They Buy ‘really comfortable’ sandals. What happened the very first day… Blisters, and lots of them.
I just about lost it when tried to tell me that I never told them about foot wear.
I have many examples but the bottom line is that most people just don’t listen until it is time for them to take interest.
You are not alone. I could go on and on but that’s just venting. I will stick to the ‘liners’ when it comes to WDW talk.
My friends did that when we went to Italy. They thought their comfy shoes would be fine. Well, sometimes comfy shoes can’t hold up to pounding the pavement all day- there is a difference.
Fortunately my family is comprised of hikers and they get it. This last trip we had a couple of us who needed moleskin but that was it. It was actually yours truly who had a little bit of trouble but it’s self-inflicted because I like nice sandals. At least I didn’t complain to anyone about it- I’d never be able to live it down!
oh my god yes. And he made a whole bunch of assumptions about things without researching, and I had to tell him “that’s not how Disney works” like a million times!!!
Opposites attract. If you are planning your trip months in advance, you are probably the Yang in your relationship and your significant other is the Yin. Appreciate that your significant other is doing his or her part to keep things balanced in your relationship.
When you ask for input, what is your response when it is given?
Being told what to do can be fatiguing. To achieve harmony on your Disney trip, strategically accept your partners wishes even when it goes against all your research. Remember point #1.
I am blessed with DH who is extremely averse to planning of any kind. He likes surprises.
Our solution to this - he does not know about our plans until the day of. This way it is a complete surprise to him. (He knows we are goimg to Disney, but that is about it).
Our DS12 on the other hand has expressed interest in planning. Will see how it goes in the next 7 months.
OMG yes (meanwhile I put everything into a shared google spreadsheet). To be fair, planning for Disney is ridiculously complicated and the opposite of most of our travel where we can change plans on the fly. DH tried to incorporate a side trip to Tampa for a hockey game in this years trip. The what? Why? I finally told him it’d be cheaper and easier for him to simply book a one off trip to Tampa another weekend. He did give me some specific requests for AK this year (more time and more time there at night). I tried to review the file with DS8 this week and he got bored and wandered away.
We’re at 180 days come Monday.
Me: where would you like to eat in December?
Them: ::crickets::
Me: Any places we need to repeat? Any requests?
Them: ::crickets::
Me: alrighty then
Repeat above with rides and fast passes.
DH did listen to my advice on shoes last year and I was so grateful. I was reminded by this thread to add “Buy new shoes for Disney (and break in)” to our family calendar for 45 days out.
My only minor meltdown moment last year was when DH told me he hadn’t preordered his BOG PPO ADR meal as we were walking down Main Street (we had overlapping ADRs). Argh. You had one job (and 30 days to get it done)!
This is my DH as well. He was appalled that I was watching reviews of the villains after hours-he wants to be completely surprised. I told him that’s great, but I need a general plan of where to go and when at least.
This reminds me of an episode of Home Improvement where Tim’s wife had done EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to make sure he would be ready for some event (I think it was a wedding). She had him get his tuxedo ready, etc. HOWEVER, when the day arrived, he claimed he knew nothing about it. Of course, he had his tuxedo ready as she had stated. In the end, she realized that she had never ACTUALLY SAID the words to him, “We are going to a wedding this date at such and such a time.”
DW has no interest in planning (or even going for that matter). She has said “You know WDW better than anyone, I trust you”. Approaching the 180 day point for our last trip I asked her if there were any restaurants that she especially wanted to go back to or avoid. There was one in the latter category. As we’d been married over 20 years, we’re both “foodies”, and have generally similar tastes in food, it was pretty easy for me to pick our “slate”. She liked every choice I made.
For FPPs, she just tells me to make the ones I want and it will be good with her; if she doesn’t want to ride something, she’ll just sit it out (which she does for most coasters and other rides that might affect her back).
I made an elaborate itinerary booklet with day by day descriptions, meals, etc, menus from all of the restaurants at which we would be eating and maps of all the parks and resorts that we would be visiting. I think she read it once. But absent that, she’s the kind that would ask the night before "where are we going tomorrow, what time are we leaving the room, and do I need to wear “nicer” clothes (or will we be returning to the room before dinner).
When we go together it’s basically planning a solo trip that will have someone along with me. And we both understand that if she wants to sleep in one day, I go early and we met up for lunch. If she’s worn out, she goes back to the room and I follow when I’m ready. I guess I’m pretty lucky.
I actually did that once- but he didn’t know we were going anywhere at all. He thought we were going to take a week to drive up and see my brother. He didn’t know we were flying to WDW and in fact wouldn’t believe it until I showed him the airplane tickets. Many people were in on the secret, including his business partners, but he (and the kids) were completely without a clue.
I actually had to set up a separate bank account to pull this off, so even our bank people were in on it.
Glad you clarified this. I was picturing this: 3am husband is sound asleep. Airhorn blows, lights come on. Pants, shoes and a pair of mickey ears are thrown at husband. "Get up, we’re going to Disney! We leave in 5 minutes! "
I’m planning mine and DBF39’s first vacation together. We’re going down in August for 8 days, and I have everything meticulously planned. I have a beautiful binder, with daily itineraries, FPP selections (tentative as my FPP day is tomorrow ), restaurant lists, show times, and a packing list. I have asked him everything under the sun and all I get is “I don’t know, I’ve never been there, just set it up and I’ll follow your lead”. The only thing he has asked is limited ADR’s (which made me switch from DDP to QSDP) as he doesn’t want our days to be over-planned, and one day with no plans at all, so we can spend one day just winging it. He bought his shoes and has started breaking them in, he’s seen the Disney shirts I’ve picked out (and has grudgingly agreed to wear them), and he’s glanced at the masterpiece that is my planning binder. I’ve lucked out with this one, he seems to be giving me little resistance, and is happy just to be off of work for a week!
My DH is usually really hands-off with planning also. Over the weekend we were on a road trip and I asked him if he was planning on making a custom light saber when we go the World in the fall. I expected a response akin to all the others… “I have no idea what your talking about” or maybe “I didn’t even know that was an option.” Instead, he launched into a monologue about exactly what he wanted, and he knows how to find the black kyber crystals, and all kinds of details I had never even heard about. I literally laughed out loud…I was NOT expecting that!
OMG, can I just tell you how much I can relate?! The whole family does this…gives me grief for being such a planner, and then all of a sudden become quite critical and question what I have chosen and booked months to a year previously…eyes rolling whenever I go on YouTube to see what DFB or dis think of this restaurant or that…oh well they’d be lost without us planners!
), restaurant lists, show times, and a packing list. I have asked him everything under the sun and all I get is “I don’t know, I’ve never been there, just set it up and I’ll follow your lead”. The only thing he has asked is limited ADR’s (which made me switch from DDP to QSDP) as he doesn’t want our days to be over-planned, and one day with no plans at all, so we can spend one day just winging it. He bought his shoes and has started breaking them in, he’s seen the Disney shirts I’ve picked out (and has grudgingly agreed to wear them), and he’s glanced at the masterpiece that is my planning binder. I’ve lucked out with this one, he seems to be giving me little resistance, and is happy just to be off of work for a week!