We Ignore All the Rides at Magic Kingdom
The world is full of rules. Most people tell you that you can't enjoy yourself at Walt Disney World unless you plan ever nanosecond of your visit. In fact, there's an industry of planners, schedules and tools just to micro-manage your Walt Disney World so you can squeeze every last drop of experience out of the resort.
No wonder so many people there are in a bad mood these days.
On our last trip, we decided to ignore all the rides at Magic Kingdom. We didn't plan any meals with Advance Dining Reservations. Neither did we get any FastPass+ reservations. We did absolutely none of the recommended planning for our trip to Magic Kingdom.
It was the best trip any of us could ever remember.
Enjoying a Magic Kingdom Day Trip
Here's the premise. Sometimes trips to Walt Disney World are for family fun, and sometimes they're working trips to gather information for the blog and podcast. This was one of those strange and rare times when we merged both together and had a great time while being productive.
I had a simple plan. Write a blog post about the Top Ten Instagram Locations in the Magic Kingdom.
One of the things that makes a good Instagram shot, besides the location, is the person in the shot. Let's face it, that's not me. So I invited Lee and our daughter, Tové, to be the talent in this little photoshoot. I let them know the premise for this trip was as a working trip. No fun of any kind!
At the end of the trip, Tové said this was her best day she could remember.
Maybe that's because we included her in our plans and allowed her to be creative. Everyone had their smart phone and we all took photos for Instagram. Uniting with a common purpose was really fun for everyone. The fact that we didn't have to compete with anyone else in the park to get what we wanted made it a very relaxed visit, as well as fun.
There's More to the Magic Kingdom Than You Could Ever Plan
Walt Disney Imagineers create all sorts of nooks, crannies and discoverable things in each park than you may notice on any given day. That's because most people are running from one scheduled appointment to another.
You discover a lot of interesting facets of Disney Parks when you ignore the major attractions and concentrate on the environment. It may not be something you do on every day of your visit, but it's refreshing to do when you get the theme park burnout caused by rushing everywhere.
Maybe it's something that would give you a nice break in the day. Plan a part of your day where you don't have any plans.
You don't have to look for Instagram spots, as we do. Many people like to search for .  Maybe you want to find something that you never knew was there before, even if you've visited Magic Kingdom many times before.
You could do your own version of a pub crawl, except you find interesting treats in each land. It doesn't matter what you decide, as long as it doesn't involve standing in long lines or scheduling appointments. Sometimes it's just fun to find a nice spot and watch everyone else.
You Can Still Wing It at Walt Disney World
We discussed this issue on Episode 27 of The Orlando Local Show. Do you plan every moment or do you relax and wing it?
I prefer my vacations to be relaxing. While I realize that there are times when you need to plan for something or else you miss out, I don't want to micromanage every moment of my vacation. Otherwise, it's just like being at work while paying someone else for your effort.
Your mileage may vary.
There are some things that you probably just can't do without plenty of advance planning. Doesn't mean you have to plan everything, though. Otherwise, you won't make any new discoveries or experience the joy that comes with it.
Having some time without a plan also lets your family concent...