Overheard- made me cringe

[sets14]

Sitting at a McD's on our way home from an awesome two week trip. There is a family with young kids sitting across from us and the mom just said "if we ever decide to go back to Disney we will try to get fast passes next time!"

They apparently didn't have a great trip from the snippets I am hearing.

So right now the planner in me is cringing at the thought of not even using fastpass on a trip....

 

[Robo]

"if we ever decide to go back to Disney we will try to get fast passes next time!"

Ouch!

 

[Parker Clan]

Total newb's.. Can't imagine going without using FP!

 

[10CJ]

That is just sad.

 

[DebbieB]

I was just out at Disneyland, we got fast passes with practically instant return times when standby was 30 minutes or more. Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Toy Story. Why? People have no clue.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Disney is no longer a quick trip joint.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Ugh just no excuse for that. Why pay all that money? It's not even hardcore planning to get 3 FP...

 

[mousehockey37]

Some people just don't know. It is possible to do Disney without FP's. It is.

Given the amount of info Disney sends you though, it's hard to think they "didn't know" but not everyone is on a message board, so yea.

 

[DisneyCAL]

I just don't get people who don't do any research. Hello...internet..google ring a bell? Would you go to a foreign country and not do any research? It's like "oh lets go from NYC to CA without planning a route and seeing how that goes with a several kids in the back seat and no snacks packed".

 

[revdon64]

????
How do you do any kind of pleasure trip anymore without at least planning something?
We just went to visit our adult daughter for a week in South Carolina - planned our driving route, planned how much money we'd have for the week, planned a two day jaunt to Carowinds amusement park, planned a waterpark cabana rental. And all that was without an app or a website sending me reminders to do anything.
It boggles the mind.

 

[Coral Reef Diver]

Even without advance planning, the same day FP+ machines are everywhere. They must have walked past dozens of them.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I just don't get people who don't do any research. Hello...internet..google ring a bell? Would you go to a foreign country and not do any research? It's like "oh lets go from NYC to CA without planning a route and seeing how that goes with a several kids in the back seat and no snacks packed".

People who have been to WDW before but not recently may not do a ton of research because they are already familiar with the place.

I have cousins who went regularly while growing up but stopped after they were in college (stopped going in late 90s/early 00s.)

If they booked a trip now, they would not think they needed to research a whole ton because their family is already familiar with WDW. They would book their hotel - same one they love that they always stayed at (GF.)

They'd see that you could book ADRs at 180 and FP at 60 but they might not understand how competitive it is to get popular ADRs and FP these days. It just didn't used to be like that and without being on a message board may not know that they really should book at 180 and 60 if they are set on doing certain things.

That said, no clue why these people OP mentioned wouldn't even book same day FP. Bizarre.

 

[CAS239]

Even without advance planning, the same day FP+ machines are everywhere. They must have walked past dozens of them.

They either probably thought FP's are an extra price (heard that before), or had no clue what the kiosks were for

 

[goofyernmost]

I just don't get people who don't do any research. Hello...internet..google ring a bell? Would you go to a foreign country and not do any research? It's like "oh lets go from NYC to CA without planning a route and seeing how that goes with a several kids in the back seat and no snacks packed".

No, it's not anything like that. We are obsessed with Disney Parks. Most of us know all the in's and outs, but, the majority of the population thinks they are just going to a fancy amusement park. There is no reason for them to think about it or even research it. It can be compared to not planning a route or going to a foreign country, only because we know what is involved. If we didn't we would be showing up just like they did, thinking that everything will be fine and not knowing any better. They do now though and will not make that mistake again.

I went on a road trip with someone that felt that they had to stock up on everything that might be needed for two weeks. I had to point out that we weren't going to the middle of the Amazon, that they have stores in Florida too and that you can buy thing once you get there if you don't stay onsite and pay through the nose for everything.

 

[Westcoastwild]

No, it's not anything like that. We are obsessed with Disney Parks. Most of us know all the in's and outs, but, the majority of the population thinks they are just going to a fancy amusement park. There is no reason for them to think about it or even research it. It can be compared to not planning a route or going to a foreign country, only because we know what is involved. If we didn't we would be showing up just like they did, thinking that everything will be fine and not knowing any better. They do now though and will not make that mistake again.

I went on a road trip with someone that felt that they had to stock up on everything that might be needed for two weeks. I had to point out that we weren't going to the middle of the Amazon, that they have stores in Florida too and that you can buy thing once you get there if you don't stay onsite and pay through the nose for everything.

I really, really do not think it's a Disney nerd thing, or expecting a theme park to be easy. Some people just would not pick up a guide book for any reason. Knowing about FP is not any different than knowing about museum passes or national park hiking lotteries. All they have to do it read WDW's own page.

Chances are, that family's trip wasn't great for a variety of reasons. If I had to bet on just one, I think they probably underestimated the size of the resort and just found that everything took longer than they expected. And they took young. Kids in July which would not be my choice. It's totally possible to do a trip without fp. I don't mind standby. But my tolerance for lines goes way way down in the heat.

 

[mamamelody2]

Wow, I would have cringed, too!

 

[1GoldenSun]

The first time I took my kids to Disney I didn't have a clue. My parents had taken us kids a handful of times growing up, and it seemed easy enough. That was back when you needed tickets to ride the individual rides, haha.

When DH and I took our kids for the first time we were living in Florida and decided to go one day. We just drove to the park, walked up to the window, bought our tickets, grabbed a park map, and hopped on the monorail to the MK. By the time we got there we had figured the FP thing out, between the info on the map and by asking questions of our fellow monorail passengers. "Uh, what's FastPass?"

I just didn't think to RESEARH an amusement park in advance. I thought you just go and you do stuff. That seems incredibly naive now, but it was my mentality at the time. I'd no sooner research and plan a trip to the grocery store.

I think most of us learn a lot more quickly than this family apparently did, but I think there are a lot of people like that.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We travel quite a bit and I research and plan everything to the last detail, however, I've never encountered the amount of information one needs to consume and absorb to plan a WDW. We've done 30+ trips there and I'm on these boards every day, mostly, to make sure I don't miss any changes because if I do, I feel like I will end up missing some change that will throw a wrench in our next trip if I don't know the in's and out's (hello FOP RD strategy). We just got our MB's the other day for our next trip and I simply opened them and put them in my "packing spot". I then took out the little instruction card that comes with them (which I didn't read because I've kept up so diligently). The print is so small and there is so much information on it - honestly, for a first-timer, I can't imagine trying to comb through all of this and plan a trip where you felt like you toured effectively and efficiently and enjoyed yourself on top of all of that. So, I do understand someone showing up and not understanding FP+ and even realizing they could utilize it.

 

[danikoski]

I just don't get people who don't do any research. Hello...internet..google ring a bell? Would you go to a foreign country and not do any research? It's like "oh lets go from NYC to CA without planning a route and seeing how that goes with a several kids in the back seat and no snacks packed".

I lived in London and there were many a tourist I ran into who were clueless. Like I ran into folks who didn't know what the Tube was...main thing you need to know. So I would not be surprised by a family going to WDW and not knowing about FP. However, once you get there, I'm not sure why you wouldn't ask.

 

[dodolitsky]

I would guess that this family is actually in the majority. There are so many times that I've seen super long lines for rides that have tons of FPs available at all times of the day. The truth is Disneys FP is a very unique system and the people who don't do their research are left in the dark.

The selfish part of me is very grateful for these people, though. FPs would be so much harder to get if everyone else knew all the ins-and-outs of the system. The same logic applies to RD - its only effective if not everyone knows to do it. I know there are some people that choose not to do RD cause they prefer to sleep in, but most people just have no idea how much time it can save them in line. I can't imagine the majority of the people who show up to AK at 9:30 am and wait in 4-hour lines at FoP wouldn't be willing to get up an hour earlier for a 15-minute wait.