Planning nut.. what should I be doing between 180 and 60 days out?

[robin_brown_664876]

I have our ADRs and TPs made. I have most of the kids tinkerbell gifts bought. What else should I be doing? I am considering a fireworks party of some kind. I am hesitant to book one since until I get our FPP and know how critical the next days RD is. But I guess I could book and cancel later right?

[SillySamsMom]

I use this time to make sure that I have proper clothing. We always travel on the opposite season. Unpacking summer clothes from storage, rewashing if necessary. Trying on for size. Buying kid(s) summer clothes that will fit.

But otherwise, just generally obsessing over the trip.

[seebee]

Here’s what I would do -
Figure out which days you are going to which park. You can base this on all of the data you currently have, which might include:

Are ALL of your adr’s set in stone?
What is your plan for EMH? (you can check the EMH history on the calendar to assume what parks will have emh)
Any special tours / dessert parties?
Hoppers?
What night time spectaculars will you be doing?

If you have a decent plan of which parks on which days, then you be pretty freekin accurate and focused on what exact fp’s you want, AND ALSO, you can know precisely which day to START grabbing fp’s for, when your window opens. EG, perhaps your AK day is on 60+ 4, so then, the FIRST FP you grab is FOP for 60+4, and you know exactly what time you should try to grab.

FWIW, adr’s are completely an afterthought for me. I know that there are 2 or 3 hard to get ones, but outside of those, I would never let an adr limit my park planning. The res finder almost always comes through. I think ADR’s are pretty much a farce outside of the few that are hard to get.

[robin_brown_664876]

FWIW, adr’s are completely an afterthought for me. I know that there are 2 or 3 hard to get ones, but outside of those, I would never let an adr limit my park planning. The res finder almost always comes through. I think ADR’s are pretty much a farce outside of the few that are hard to get.

That is good advice. I was letting them rule my plans but you are right, for the most part they can be changed and/or dropped

[AltaD]

I’m in the same time frame. I have been working on packing organization and making packing/shopping lists. This is something that always causes me stress at the end so I am trying to get organized about it now vs later. I have been purchasing little things like toiletries and activity books as I see them. I currently have a monster Disney stash growing in my closet.

[brklinck]

Here you go - planning broken down stage by stage:

Zen and the Art of WDW Planning

There are frequent posts here from people who are overwhelmed with the amount of planning required for their WDW vacation. This is understandable - for many people it is the first time they are doing what I call a “destination/activity” vacation as opposed to a “relax at the beach” vacation, and this sort of vacation requires a lot more research and planning. Add to this the high cost of a WDW vacation, and there is a lot of pressure to “get it right”. The first thing to acknowledge is that a W…

[robin_brown_664876]

I am looking at fireworks extras, like dessert parties and cruises. We have two days in MK, one in each of the other parks, one day rest in the middle and 1 day at the end of our trip for parks but not sure which one yet.
I can’t decide on what firework add on to do.
We have ROL and Fantasmic Dinner and Seating.
I was considering doing Star Wars the extra day at the end, or doing a cruise our arrival day, Now since I don’t think our DS2 will like Fantasmic, just sending my husband and our DS2 and DS14 over to Star Wars while my DD12 and my parents and I do Fantasmic. How crowded is the Star Wars show?
If I do this I now have to decide between a cruise the night we arrive or a dessert party during our MK day. I worry about crowds and leaving the park but also worry about the not seeing the projection from the cruise. We have dinning plan so the desserts aren’t a huge draw.