I seriously need help. I’m ruining everything. I had everything all set Sun including FPP. Than I realized I had nothing else to do and felt so lost. I started changing things and moving things and know I’m just ruining everything. I’ve treated this disney trip and the planning stages as a crutch and I’m aware of that but now it’s at the expense of the rest of my family. Please just help.
I have 10 day tickets , no park the first day or last day. I have adrs up the who-who because I can’t stop making them. I’m a mess. This is no longer fun for me. Someone just please help!
I have BOG (b) & crt (lunch or dinner) on 8/21 that would be the only definite thing I need to keep. Also dessert party on 8/22 & 8/23 that I don’t even know if I want. Frozen party on 8/30 but that can be easily changed. Also Pirates & pals cruise on 8/30 so one of them has to go.
Please if anyone can see me thru this I would be so grateful. So confused about doing/not doing emh and just everything.
Hello! First things first…take a deep breath…we are here to help save the day! We always do EMH if we can, especially morning EMH. That extra hour makes a big difference in how much you can do. If you post your plans I can take a look and see if there are things I can suggest to help.
First of all, Don’t Panic!
Second of all, Know Where Your Towel Is.
Now that I have the Hitchhiker’s Guide references out of the way, here is what I suggest. Do nothing. At all. For at least a week. Don’t think about WDW, your plans, your ADRs, your FPPs - they will all still be there when you come back to them. You have passed all the major milestones (except for making the final payment on a package, if that’s the way you went), so you won’t miss out on anything.
Once you have finished your mini-break, start off slowly. Plan out what park(s) you want to go to each day, using your ADRs and FPP reservations as a guide. Look at the Crowd Calendar as well, taking into account EMH and overall park hours.
Once you have a plan that you are happy with, then start making TPs. Start off reviewing the ready-made plans - you may find that some of them meet your needs for a particular day. If not, you can still use them as a basis/guideline for making Personalized TPs. Take your time with this, and post your plans if you have any questions about particular days.
We usually do the second week in sept with crowds 1-2, now I’m being faced with much higher crowd levels. So that’s stressing me. I hear such conflicting info with emh hours that I don’t know if I should bother. Also it’s our longest trip. How do I really divide up 10 days worth of tickets. I’m thinking 4 days mk and 2 everywhere else? So I want to do dessert party or fireworks cruise or just keep my fpp?
Relax! You got this! First, make sure you are giving yourself enough time between your meals! Do you also have a list of snacks you want to try? I over planned my ADRs and I found I almost made myself sick.
Tell us- what are you most looking forward to? Do you want to do as many things as possible? Do you want to try new things? Do you want to ride attractions? I hope we can help you put together a combination that just makes you want to laugh and skip😄!
I can totally relate to what you’re feeling! I’m in the middle of an ADR Anxiety attack myself.
I think 4 days in MK and two days at each of the other parks might be too much. One bit of advice that I gleaned and I’m sticking to with my plan is: two days in theme parks, one day off. For the days off we can hang by the pool, visit DTD, hit the waterslides, explore other resorts, etc.
We will be doing breaks during the day. I’m not as concerned about what to do at the parks. I just can’t seem to get a handle on which park/which day. We won’t have park hoppers. If I can get a basic plan going I think I can fill on the blanks. I’ve tried before attempting a rest day but we like to go to the parks, even if it’s only for a short time. I’m fine with sleeping in/going in late or getting up early and taking the afternoon off.
Then I would go to MK in my 1st and last day, I would ignore the CL for all my days ( you are late enough in the month) and it’s way the crowds have been it really is not worth worrying about (did @brklinck just fall to he flloor with that statement?). If you may do some shorter days I think I would do each of the other parks twice like you said (one day focus earlier, all parks one night with maybe a DTD after an early AK day? I would do one dessert party (can you say Ghiradelli?) so that is day 3 MK.
Ok. So I have dessert party on sat or sun, sat has pm emh until 2am, Thinking of doing dtd and Raglan rd brunch in the am first, than heading to mk. So which day? Or I have pirates & pals on last night. Or do Frozen last night?
Agree with everyone else. Deep breath. It’ll be fine.
- Where are you staying?
- What’s your touring style? RD, afternoon break, then back most evenings, or go all day? Car or Disney transport? Are you morning people?
- What’s your family composition?
- What’s your favourite park?
Agree with @br, step away for ONE WEEK. then revisit.
Staying at pofq. Me, dh,dd11. No car. Usually plan breaks. Generally early birds (I’m at work at 430am) dd11 on bus at 730 (dh up to get her on). Favorite parks are mk and ak, but enjoy ep & hs.
Is this an either/or? Will you either do the dessert party or the cruise?
You know your daughter best. I know a lot of 1 year olds ( 400 or so just finished the school yer, but you know your daughter). Most 11 year olds would be going through the “grown up” period and I think the new dessert party may be more “grown up” ( table clothes and all).
WHATEVER YOU DO, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE FUN. Its DISNEY WORLD.
THE REST OF THIS POST CAN NOW BE DISREGARDED AS BEING WORTH EXACTLY WHAT YOU PAID FOR IT.
Okay, here’s my initial thought:
Having said that, since you’re morning people, I think it makes sense to embrace EMH as much as possible. Although a nice idea, I might ditch the dessert party due to other reviewers talking about the high cost for limited value. Undoubtedly the plans you’ve made are far better that what I could imagine… but this is what I would consider:
August 21 - MK (BOG b & supper)
August 22 - HS am EMH. Sci Fi or 50’s lunch maybe? Frozen evening if possible
August 23 - AK am EMH. TH or Y&Y Brunch?
August 24 - (Later start 9 am park openings) short MK morning with strategic FPP then afternoon/evening relaxation - Yehaw Bob, DTD, or, if energetic, Wishes/MSEP
August 25 - EP am EMH. Lunch in WS. Lots of grown-up-like experiences to be had by an 11-year-old eating in WS - Marrakesch, Teppan Edo, etc. Could consider Illuminations dessert party.
August 26 - AK EMH
Aug 27 - MK am EMH then Wishes/MSEP at night since no EMH in am.
Aug 28 - MK. BUT All parks have low crowds so change your FPP the night before if you want to do AK or EP again instead.
THEN the last 2 days I would book FPP but plan to change last minute depending on how you feel about the rest of your trip.
Aug 29 - HS EMH if you need two more rides through TSMM, Otherwise MK is a 4/10 and looks like a good bet, too. (BOOK HS FPP - TSMM , or MK - 7DMT)
Aug 30 - MK to close it down with reruns of favourites, AK if you want another EMH, HS if you’re keeping the Frozen party. (BOOK MK FPP - 7DMT, PP, etc, or HS FPP - TSMM)
Nah, I just roll with things. 
CLs are a good guide when you have nothing else to go on, and it can be fun to try and figure out an “optimal” schedule (but only if you like doing puzzles). However, at the end of the day it is best to remember what the TouringPlans gurus have to say about it - having a good TP is 5 times more important than picking the “right” day. So what if you were only able to get a BOG reservation on the day when MK is a “9” - if you really want to go there, make a plan and go for it!
Yes, either/or, I don’t feel the need to keep both. I realize they’re too different experiences but expensive.
I can totally relate to you!!! I did the same thing. My husband was about to go insane with my flip flopping… thankfully this site saved my life!!! SERIOUSLY take everyone’s advice!!!
About 45 days out, I needed to take a week to just step back & not think about any of it! It was hard at first, but once the week went by, I was very ready to make solid decisions. I am going during a super busy time (July 4th week) and was fine being able to switch my FP & reservations within the 30 day time frame. My suggestion would be to decide on the park (I did a poll with my kiddo about what rides she wanted to do & what shows she wanted to see & characters, then I picked the parks based on how much touring we could reasonably do there). After you decide on the park, pick where you want to eat & see what reservations they have available. Then plan your afternoon break. Then decide what rides you want to do & plug them into the Touring Plans & see what rides would have the longest wait, then use your FP on those rides. That worked out for me… as it allowed me to focus on what was important to my family.
As for the decisions on the fireworks party, frozen reservations & pirates cruise… ask your kids which one would be the most fun for them, then chose that one! I was very surprised when I asked my kiddo & she said the Pirates Cruise was one of her top 5 things to do at Disney (I would have never thought that!).
After making the decisions 30 days out, I promised my kids & husband I would not do any more “planning” and I haven’t. It’s been a struggle!!! The only things I’ve been allowed to do prepare the packing & “Disney gear” for the trip… as well as read the trip reports!!! It’s so fun listening to how everyone else’s trip went.
I second all, that say to just relax (I realize that is easier said than done), I too feel over whelmed this time around but I’m finding this forum very helpful. Like you I really don’t know about EMH and finding it hard to decided. I keep trying to remind myself to just breath, so that is my advice to you as well. It will be great, enjoy the ride!
Others have given great advice.
I will only say this much:
I have made the mistake of making too many ADRs at least twice now.
They can get addictive & there’s a rush whenever one makes one, I get that.
But during the actual trip, if there are too many of them, one finds oneself constantly worrying if they’ll make the next ADR.
"When is it? Do we have time for… Where do we have to be by…"
Your mileage may vary, but I’d recommend no more than one ADR per day, or maybe a 2nd if you’re doing a breakfast. Not only that, but lots of ADRs can get very expensive.
This leaves more flexibility during your touring time.
ADRs look amazing in a TP.
But the reality is they can run you, instead of you running them.
Again, that’s simply my experience; your mileage may vary. 
Go well, we’re rooting for you & your family.
You’ll have a magical time regardless.