When we set out to change the way to plan a Disney World trip it was important to us to share methods that we had success with. We’ve been there, staring at the computer screen with hundreds of options to consider and an endless list of things to do and see. The overwhelm starts creeping up and you don’t even want to plan. We don’t want those feelings of uncertainty and overwhelm for you, instead we want to empower you to make decisions that fit your intentions.
Yes Intentions, it’s the third pillar in our core values and it’s what sets our method apart.
What are intentions?
Intentions are a thing intended, an aim or a plan. Intentions are like goals, they are what we want to accomplish, in this case the things we want to do on our Disney World trip. You might be asking yourself why this matters, in fact we wondered why too, but we realized just how important it was to reduce the stress levels while planning and during our trips.
We all want a magical trip, but what we’re not told is that doing EVERYTHING is “nay impossible” as Jack Sparrow would say. Before you go all Hades “Maim you after my meeting on me”, hear me out…..Every travel party is different so setting intentions creates the groundwork for your entire trip plan.
Pillar 3: Intentions
It happened accidentally really, we were surprising our kids with a long weekend trip to Disney World for our son’s 3rd birthday. We wanted to be sure we did everything each of us wanted to do without telling them so we could plan ahead. Since it was a short trip, planning was important to ensure we hit our “Must Do” items. We asked some simple questions, prepared a list and got started planning.
While it wasn’t perfect it was the start of the intention setting model we would use going forward. Being in the corporate world for 15+yrs I’ve set goals more times than I can count. Most of the companies I worked for used the SMART Goals Method. If you’re not familiar with it, SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable , Relevant and Time-Bound. We took these concepts and applied them to the Intention setting Method that we use.
You’re still skeptical, we get it, so here’s an example….During our long weekend trip we knew that two of the must do attractions for our family was Frozen and The Land, (our daughter’s favorites at the time). When we planned our Epcot Day we included both. We started our day with breakfast at Garden Grill and rode The Land afterwards along with the rest of the rides in the Land/Sea/Imaginations sections. We booked a Fastpass* for Frozen for 1pm, giving us plenty of time to eat and ride the attractions we wanted.
Unfortunately, by the time we headed over to Frozen our daughter was not feeling well and decided she did not want to ride Frozen. both kids fell asleep while we were exciting the park. Keeping in mind our intentions, we pivoted and took the monorail over to the Polynesian Resort to check off my Must Do List item – Dole Whip!
By being specific with our intentions upfront we were able to be flexible and stay relevant to our plan. In the above example, timing became important so we could strategically hit the attractions in the park between our achievable pre-planned items – breakfast and the fastpass*. When we set intentions it creates a roadmap to our goals, reduces stress and provides focus for planning and scheduling.
Coming Soon!
While we’re not quite ready to spill all our secrets yet we’re working hard behind the scenes to create pre-planning pages to guide you to set intentions. These will be included in the Foolish Mortal Digital Planner which launches 9/1!
The Foolish Mortal Digital Planner is a customizable planning experience to support you on your trip planning process. It’s designed to fit any Disney World Trip Planner’s needs and planning time frame with Monthly, Weekly and Daily Templates. Get on the Waitlist HERE and be the first to know when it launches!
*Disney Genie is replacing the Fastpass+ System! for information on Disney Genie head over to our Free Facebook Community and download our Disney Genie Cheat Sheet and check out our live overview.
