Maybe I just got lucky on the Paris planning front.
And…for sure I am a vacation planner.
It definitely took me one very full day (in my pajamas!) with Rick Steves guidebook at my side to figure out my itinerary, book walking tours, buy my Paris Museum Pass, and book timed entry reservations for places like the Louvre and Versailles. (Full disclosure: I did have to get up at 12.30am MST to book the Eiffel Tower at my 60 day mark) but only because I had my heart set on a VERY specific sunset time. I exchanged one email with our tour guide in Normandy (my kiddos are going to lose it when they find out we are touring in a renovated WWII army jeep!) and one email with our hotel (to confirm a roll away bed). That’s it.
My itinerary is set…and there’s really no tweaking- for the reasons you stated above. Certain walking tours are only offered on certain days or I wanted a very specific time, certain museums are closed on Certain days. No point in revisiting it. My focus now is replacing / updating my various security and anti theft gear (money belt, locks for back packs, a travelon ‘anti theft’ purse, etc) to avoid as best as possible a pick pocket incident. I also needed to check to be sure I have dual voltage devices (I did have to buy a new straightening iron) and a compatible plug. The latter of course are not issues at WDW. I also needed to turn myself into a pretzel for my kiddos passports (which had expired during the pandemic). So there’s that too!
However, all hours are published UPFRONT very clearly on their website and in the guidebook (and don’t change 2-4 weeks out).
Alternatively…
I thought I might go next spring break to WDW so as a trial run I set up 9 days of Touring Plans for my exact same dates of travel in March, 2022 (now I’m planning for Thanksgiving, 2023)
Trying to determine any itinerary for any day past the first 45 minutes or so is like creating a financial forecast —sooo many assumptions! the big unknown is what G+ you may or may not snag for what TBD time. But as we got closer to the dates, all the park hours and even the extended evening hours changed…sometimes quite dramatically! So, back to the TP drawing board. Each TP seems to take me quite some time (novice I know).
The logistics of having to book (and commit to) my rooms 11 months out to take advantage of DVC rental (the only way to make staying deluxe affordable), (and I have my heart set on staying on property for this trip, first time ever), the possibility of needing to do leading reservations to get the restaurants and times that work for us (especially for WAT) and/or have a 4am MST plan of attack for booking restaurants (which tabs on which browser need to be open and what to book first), and even then not knowing if all restaurants will be released on the stated time), the unknown of what the G+ offering will even be next year, keeping abreast of latest drop times (ie. whether 7, 7,07, or 7.17 is best), and the anticipation of sweating out the ‘will he/won’t he’ mid day drop times. The possibility of needing to download a (genius) BG1 code to make using G+ easier.
So many moving parts and variables that keep moving every darn minute of every day you are there!
So, for me, WDW wins the most complicated and time consuming vacation to plan award.
Not saying it won’t be worth it!
But yes, complicated.