I thought it would be interesting and fun to compare the different ways you can plan for a Disney World vacation and look at the advantages and pitfalls of each approach .  Lots of people are asking how Optimal Magic compares to other planning strategies.  So in today's post, I'm going to talk a little bit about exactly what to expect with each type of Disney planning.  You'll see what type of planning makes the most sense for you! 

Let's look at four different families for this example.  While everyone is different, this is a good spectrum of the types of people who head to Disney World:

• The "Just wing it" family - they're heading to Disney with little or no knowledge.  Maybe they visited Disney in the past, or learned a little from a Disney vacation DVD, or got some tips from a friend who "knows Disney", but for the most part they're going in blind.
• The "Some research" family - These people may have bought a guidebook, or looked around on the internet for advice.  They've gotten some tips and tricks, and know the basics. They've probably made a few reservations for dining in advance.
• The "Obsessive research" family - these people have likely been to Disney many times before.  They obsessively plan out all the details for their trips, researching park maps, guidebooks, websites, and web forums.  They were up at 6am 180 days before their trip began to get their dining reservations
  
• The "Optimal Magic" family - while our customers all all sorts of people, for this example, let's assume they're a family with professionals as parents, who want to take their children to Disney World, don't have the time (or desire) to obsessively plan, but want to have the best trip possible, do everything they want, but avoid the lines and crowds.

So what are the pros and cons of each strategy? Let's look at four areas - 1) Preparation time, 2) Attractions visited, 3) wait time, and 4) stress level.

Preparation time:

• "Just Wing It Family" - almost none.  They want to enjoy Disney "spur of the moment" - they may not even decide which park to go to each day until they finish breakfast!
• "Some Research" family - Maybe 3-4 hours, skimming a few books and visiting websites.  They will usually at least have an idea of which park they want to visit each day.
• "Obsessive Research" family - 30-40 hours or more.  They read all the sites.  They listen to all the podcasts.  They build spreadsheets to determine their plan of attack each day.
• "Optimal Magic" family - 1-2 hours.  One conversation with me to learn exactly what they want to do, and their constraints.  Perhaps a few emails back and forth.  Then, I build their park plans based on this information and send them along.  It takes maybe 30 minutes while on the plane to fully understand the plans, and then there's an easy guide for each day of the trip.

Attractions visited:

• "Just Wing It Family" - very few. They're going to be either standing in line all day, or going from attraction to attraction trying to find one with a wait shorter than 45 minutes.
• "Some Research" Family - A handful more - they know not to visit the big-line attractions in the afternoon, for instance, and can add in a few more attractions.
• "Obsessive Research" Family - Lots of attractions. All the research pays off!  They will know several good touring strategies, and generally get on most of the attractions they want.
• "Optimal Magic" Family - Lots of attractions.  This family will get to go on everything they want, often multiple times (if that's what they want to do!)  

Wait Time

• "Just Wing It" Family - extreme.  These are the poor people waiting 45 minutes for Splash Mountain, 60 minutes for Peter Pan, 75 minutes for Soarin', or 120 minutes for Toy Story Mania.  They'll come back with the horror stories of extreme wait times.
• "Some Research" Family - high.  Hopefully these people won't be in too many of the extreme lines, but they're going to be waiting for most attractions.  Some Fastpass usage will decrease it a little, but still, they're going to be spending hours in line each day.
• "Obsessive Research" Family - low.  Once again, the research pays off.  They've learned many of the tips to avoid lines, and will avoid most of the longest lines, and use Fastpass in a smart manner.
• "Optimal Magic" Family - very low.  The Optimal Magic plans are designed to help you avoid ALL the long lines.  Optimal Magic families simply don't wait in any lines.

Stress level

• "Just Wing It" Family - extreme.  All the long lines, the heat, and the heavy crowds lead to cranky kids and crankier adults.
• "Some Research" Family - high.  Long lines, heat and crowds lead to the same issues as the "Just Wing It" family.
• "Obsessive Research" Family - Varies.  Some obsessive planners stress out as their planning, but others enjoy it.  some families are all obsessive planners, which can mean less stress because everyone is on the same page.  More often, however, you have one obsessive planner with others who are not.  This can lead to significant stress.
• "Optimal Magic" Family - none.  Every day is laid out in a nice, simple to understand format, and custom-built for your group and your situation.  And if you ever get into trouble (if, say, an attraction is down, or something else goes wrong), a quick call or text to Optimal Magic will get you going again right away!

So which is the right strategy?


First, let's discuss what is NOT the right strategy.  The "Just Wing It" approach is a disaster waiting to happen.  Sure, there may be some fun moments here and there, but these are the people who come back from Disney World with horror stories.  You really don't want to be one of them!  The "Some Research" approach really isn't much better.  I call it the "know just enough to be dangerous" approach.  Sure, you may know one or two tips, but you'll still encounter lines, crowds, and stress.

That leaves two strategies - "Obsessive Research" and "Optimal Magic."  You probably expect me to say that Optimal Magic is appropriate for all families.  However, that really isn't the case - there are cases where the "Obsessive Research" route makes sense.

If you actually enjoy the research, and if you are willing to put in the significant time to research the best touring strategies, and if all members of your family are on board, then being an "Obsessive Planner" can work pretty well for you.  But you really need to commit to it.  Visit all the sites.  Buy (and read) all the guidebooks.  Study the maps.  Make the spreadsheets. You'll probably be able to put together a reasonably decent plan.  But if you don't do the obsessive planning, you're just fooling yourself, and you're in the "Some Research" group, and going to be waiting in lines or missing out on experiences.

However, if the idea of spending 40 hours researching your Disney trip sounds awful, or if you want to ensure you have the absolute best plan for a Disney trip, with the least waiting and the most attractions visited, then you want to be an Optimal Magic family! The advantages are many:

• You get all the advantages of being an Obsessive Planner and more! (Obsessive Planners may tout their great park plans, I'll put my plans up against any other plan as being the best, easiest to use, most flexible, most personalized and customized, and most fun!)  
  
• You don't spend 40 hours planning your days at the park.  Doesn't 1-2 hours sound easier and more relaxing than 40+ hours?
• You can be assured that you will get to do everything you want to do without waiting, and without stress.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section of the blog, or drop me a line.  Thanks!

Clark

If you're planning an upcoming trip to Walt Disney World, you probably know about the upcoming major expansion to Fantasyland, nearly doubling the size of this popular land.  And if you have been planning a trip to Disneyland, for sure you have heard about "Cars Land" and the major expansion and renovation of California Adventure.

These are major expansions, but the fact of the matter is things are constantly changing at all the Disney parks.  New attractions open, older attractions close, attractions go down for refurbishment or are enhanced.  It's a constantly changing world.

If you're planning a trip to a Disney park, the big question you may have is this - how do these changes affect my trip?

When there is a major change, it not only affects the new attractions, but will affect the crowds and the waits for other attractions as well, both positively and negatively.  For example, if a major new attraction or land opens, it has a tendency to siphon off lots of visitors, which can mean lower crowd levels at other attractions.  However, the new attraction may also generate larger overall crowds for the parks, which makes crowds worse for other attractions as well.

So what can you do about it?  Any time a new attraction opens or there is a major change, other park visitors tend to become even less efficient.  The majority of park visitors that are clueless with remain clueless.  But the small portion that are a little better informed will also be touring less efficiently when their strategies (which are already much less than optimal) are out of date.

This is good news for Optimal Magic clients! When other people are touring less efficiently, we can make your plan even more efficiant.  We carefully craft each plan individually tailored to you and your individual situation, and tailored to the exact park situation for the day.  Can't wait to try out the new Fantasyland attractions?  No problem - we'll put together a plan that will get you through them (and anything else you want to do) with little or no wait.  Don't want to be anywhere near Fantasyland?  Once again, no problem - we'll take into account the changes in traffic patterns in OTHER parts of the park due to this change, and once again, get you through all the attractions you want to do with little or no wait.

The fact of the matter is that with a carefully researched, well analyzed, day-by-day plan, you can pretty much handle any situation at the Disney parks.  And a custom-built Optimal Magic plan will be the most up-to-date, best plan possible for your Disney World trip, and will give you a much better trip than any do-it-yourself strategy.

Clark

It's a crowded world out there when it comes to providing advice to Walt Disney World and Disneyland. As I've mentioned elsewhere on the site, there is a lot of bad advice out there - advice that not only isn't optimal, but will help you have a worse time!  I thought it would be fun to point out some of the more egregious examples out there. Today's examples come from the Walt Disney company itself!

About a month ago, I got an email from Disney, linking to an article - "Insider's Secrets to Exploring Disney Parks" - I'm sure many people think "wow - this is from Disney - it MUST be good advice!

To make a long story short, it isn't.  Sure, there are some common sense suggestions like "bring sunscreen and wear comfy sneakers", but many of their pieces of advice will ensure you have a WORSE time!  The amount of what I call BDTs ("Bad Disney Tips") is astonishing! Let's look at five of these BDTs from this single article!

Bad Disney Tip #1: "Arrive late afternoon on weekends for the best chance of avoiding super long lines and mid-day peak heat."
This is astonishingly bad advice.  While the early afternoon is the busiest time of the day, the late afternoon is frankly almost as bad!  If you head to Toy Story Midway Mania in the late afternoon, you're going to be waiting 90 minutes or more.  If you head to Splash Mountain, you could be waiting 45 minutes to an hour. Rides are near their peak wait times in the afternoon!

As for the "weekends" part of the tip - for Disney World, there is very little difference in crowd sizes based on weekends versus weekdays (since most people are vacationing out-of-towners).  For Disneyland, especially during the school year, the weekends are more busy!

Frankly, this is possibly the worst piece of Disney advice I've ever seen.

Bad Disney Tip #2: "Guests of select Walt Disney World Resort hotels receive the Extra Magic Hours before or after regular Park hours on certain attractions"

I think this "tip" is implying that Extra Magic Hours are a good time to visit the parks.  The fact of the matter is the morning Extra Magic Hours are sometimes a good time to visit three of the four parks.  However, you need to know what you're giving up - you generally see larger crowds the rest of the day at an Extra Magic Hours park.  That can offset any advantage you get from your extra hours, and then some.  In addition, you're giving up an hour of sleep (which, especially if you stayed up for fireworks the night before, can be a challenge).

At Optimal Magic, sometimes we do put together plans that include Extra Magic Hours, and sometimes we do not.  The optimal strategy and the optimal park depends on many factors, and frankly, vary from family to family. To basically imply that "Extra Magic Hours are great" like this article does is bad advice, and can lead to more lines, more crowds, more waiting, and more stress...

Bad Disney Tip #3: "October's a great time to visit the Walt Disney World Resort"

Actually, this tip is true - October generally has lighter crowds than most times of the year.  However, this is because kids are in school!  That means there's a very good chance you can't go in October!

I wouldn't categorize this as a "bad" tip per se - it's just not useful for most people.  To quote Nicholas Cage in my favorite stupid movie "Honeymoon in Vegas" - "that just doesn't help me at all, but I appreciate the thought!"

Bad Disney Tip #4: "Shhh... Fantasyland attractions might be less crowded during the afternoon parade"

Ah yes - the old "go on rides during the parade" nugget.  I hate this tip. Are the lines shorter during the parade?  The short answer is no.  Maybe marginally, but that means a 40 minute wait for Peter Pan instead of a 45 minute wait! It also means you miss the parade!

The fact of the matter is during the afternoon parade, you should either be at the parade (if you want to see it), or you should be far, far away from Fantasyland (because it's the busiest time of day there, and it's filled with cranky kids and crankier adults - not very magical!) An Optimal Magic plan will ensure you see everything you want at Fantasyland (if that's what you're interested in) without any long waits!

Bad Disney Tip #5: "Use FASTPASS tickets only on rides with a 20-minute plus minute line, then wait for those with shorter lines"

Okay, for someone who is completely clueless, this isn't a bad tip.  But at Optimal Magic, we do so much better!  I would never advise a client to get in a 20 minute line!  It would never happen! Why wait 20 minutes if you can ride the same attraction with no wait?

So what are the good Disney tips?
There are some good tips out there.  But they are surrounded by bad advice, and it can be very hard to recognize what is good and what is bad.

This is where Optimal Magic comes in. I know exactly what works.  And I've tested it myself!  Optimal Magic has three goals for each of our clients:

• Ensuring you do everything you want to do (and skip the stuff you don't want to do), in the most optimal, best way possible
• Never waiting in a long line (and I consider 10 minutes to be a long line!  0 minutes is what I consider "optimal")
• Having your vacation tailored exactly to what best fits you

If a piece of advice doesn't advance one of those three goals, it's not a good piece of advice and I don't include it.  If it does help with one of the goals, you can rest assured it is included in an Optimal Magic plan!

Have you seen bad Disney advice out there?  If so, leave a note in the comments!  Or feel free ask me about a piece of advice you've seen if you're unsure about it!

Hi!  The Optimal Magic website is now open for business.  I am incredibly excited to be able to provide Disney World planning advice to you!

If you haven't read through my site yet, please take a look.  You'll see that we do things very differently at Optimal Magic.  It's all about you.  I put together personalized Disney World plans for you, enabling you to do whatever it is you want to do, avoiding all the lines and having an unbelievable time!

In future posts, I'll talk more about my services, as well as have fun pointing out all the bad advice currently out there.  For now, if you have any questions about Optimal Magic, please feel free to email or call (847-901-3009) any time!