397 is such a long way away that it might as well be a million. So there’s no stress. (It’s like when I flew to Australia — from the UK — actually. When you get a short flight, you’re always looking at your watch to see how much longer there is left. When you get on a 24 hour flight, you just accept the journey will take forever and you’re never getting off the plane. So you kinda relax and go with it.)
30 days seems simultaneously close and far. Sometimes I think “yay, nearly there!” and others, “ugh, four more weeks to go!”
I think the worst was at about 90 days then at about 50.
I’m not liking my 200+ one very much at the moment. Last year our trip was rather spontaneous (month and a half planning it), so I don’t have very much history to go on. The trip before that was so long ago that I have no recollection.
If my DH tells me one more time that while he is really hoping that we can go ahead with this trip but that there is the possibility that we can’t, I’m going to scream. Things are just tight right now and I may have made things more tight by a stupid mistake.
For me it’s always worse until I officially book because it seems less likely to fall through once I have the official reservation. I can relate to simultaneously feeling like it’s nearly there and also way too far away.
The 48 hours before I go. The frantic rechecking things, making sure everything at home is squared away, figuring out what to eat as I have emptied the house of fresh food (otherwise it’d spoil), needing to budget enough time for sleep, being sure I CAN sleep, final packing checking and rechecking, avoiding anything at all dangerous that might suddenly cause me not to go…
I have two. The first is when you are so far out everything is completely hypothetical because you can’t actually check package prices do touring plans for the actual days, etc. Generally the before the one year mark. And the second is right after you make your FPP reservations (staying onsite) and the related adjustments to your plans. You are still too far out for it to feel like you are almost there but really your plans are pretty much done.
I know the feeling every time I turn around I’m spending money on this or that and it is taking away from Disney. The trip is paid for in full but we still need tip, gas, and secondary hotel money, not to mention knick-knacks and one oop meal.
Essentially all of it, but I think the worst parts are when you’re more than a year out, because you can’t plan, and the massive gap between ADRs and FPs. And the massive gap between FPs and actually going. So yeah, all of it…
Standing there, at RD, waiting for the CMs to ‘walk’ you in to the park area where you’ll ‘walk with purpose’ to be in line for that first ride, because you know you don’t have a FPP for it and this is your only decent chance at it in the Plan. Also, getting there before the throngs means you’ll get to your second ride before someone says they need a potty break and a snack.