Overheard- made me cringe

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Hoo, boy, I'd have a hard time holding onto my temper. LOL.

Oh yeah, and about 10 days into the trip, someone asks to see MIL's husband's MB. He stares blankly. Person asks again, "can I see your magic band?"
"What's a magic band?"
"The rubber bracelet on your wrist"
ARGH

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Hoo, boy, I'd have a hard time holding onto my temper. LOL.

It was also super fun trying to find him overlapping FP+ times/making 4th+ FP+, considering he hadn't friended anyone with his new MDE account.

 

[mamamelody2]

Oh yeah, and about 10 days into the trip, someone asks to see MIL's husband's MB. He stares blankly. Person asks again, "can I see your magic band?"
"What's a magic band?"
"The rubber bracelet on your wrist"
ARGH

Bwahahaha!!

 

[wilkeliza]

These threads are always a you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink situation. When FP+ first rolled out anyone buying a ticket at a ticket window got a very brief spiel in the form of you can book 3 fastpasses here is some information on the app and how to do that. There were even friendly CMs paid to stand with a sign and answer questions (I was one of them!) and people just grumbled and complained at these CMs instead of taking the help. I had a dad spit at my feet for ruining his thousand dollar vacation for telling him he couldn't ride what he wanted to. I tried to politely inform him that he was always welcome to join the standby line of any attraction this was just if he wanted to book a fastpass to "skip" most of the line at a scheduled time. It was insane what some people even in 2014 thought FP was.

Even at Disneyland just a couple weeks ago where they have regular FP I heard people standing in a 90 minute Soarin line say oh you have to pay for those fp things must be nice to be able to skip this long line and get to walk right on. They have it printed on their maps and CMs station at FP machines and people just assume it has to be paid for. They don't bother to read or ask.

You can do Disney with out having to plan a ton like most of us here do. My best friend in the entire world does it that way. They pick a weekend get whatever is left with their DVC points and then if they do FP it is day of or maybe week before. They still have great trips and go back at least once a year. They don't even really book dinning reservations until day of or night before. They prove to me it must be possible to still have an old school Disney vacation as long as you are okay waiting in long lines.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

Being a first timer is no excuse for lack of planning and understanding

I will admit to being a bit more obsessive when planning than others

You do understand that these two statements are irreconcilable. The excuse is that there are first timers who are average-to-below-average planners and others like you who are obsessive planners. Logic does not allow for the outlier to assume that the average must join them.

 

[Felicis]

You do understand that these two statements are irreconcilable. The excuse is that there are first timers who are average-to-below-average planners and others like you who are obsessive planners. Logic does not allow for the outlier to assume that the average must join them.

I disagree. Being a first timer is no excuse for not knowing the basics, which are plastered all over everything you get from Disney. You might not get things done in time, such as ADRs at 180 days out, but to not have a basic knowledge of fast passes, or that Harry Potter land is not Disney, is not being average or even below, it is borderline wilful ignorance. And that is as much a choice as the other end of the scale.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm here right now and we have used a total of 2 FP and that was for Navi River Journey. We rode FOP twice on Sunday with no FPs, rode EE and safari the same day no FPs. We went to MK Sat. afternoon after we arrived and had a FP for Peter Pan, rode Winnie the Pooh and Pirates with no FPs and were just dog tired so left the park but we could have ridden BTM and HM no problems that night. We have done SE, the Land and The Living Seas today and will be back over to MK tonight, again no FP. Yesterday we were at HS and rode TT, GMR ,Star Tours and TSMM no FPs. It's totally doable if you don't mind in standing in line, which we don't. We just don't like to plan so we rarely use FPs.

 

[gina2000]

It's overwhelming for a first timer. A family member is planning for a trip next year. He knows a lot and he has read a lot. He just can't put all the pieces together. He's frustrated and is going to turn the planning over to a hopefully well informed travel agent. Between trying to pick a good hotel, restaurants that his family will enjoy, and ride planning for a small 7 year old, he doesn't know what to grab first. He's willing to spend a ton of time and money to get it right. But his head is whirling.

I can remember feeling that way 20 years ago going on our first few trips. I can remember having a late breakfast at Wilderness Lodge after check in and wondering why the waiter was goofing with us. It took awhile to make the connection. I hadn't planned on eating there and there are only so many restaurants and rides you can remember. We had a great trip but it was a very different time and place.

 

[Felicis]

It's overwhelming for a first timer. A family member is planning for a trip next year. He knows a lot and he has read a lot. He just can't put all the pieces together. He's frustrated and is going to turn the planning over to a hopefully well informed travel agent. Between trying to pick a good hotel, restaurants that his family will enjoy, and ride planning for a small 7 year old, he doesn't know what to grab first. He's willing to spend a ton of time and money to get it right. But his head is whirling.

I can remember feeling that way 20 years ago going on our first few trips. I can remember having a late breakfast at Wilderness Lodge after check in and wondering why the waiter was goofing with us. It took awhile to make the connection. I hadn't planned on eating there and there are only so many restaurants and rides you can remember. We had a great trip but it was a very different time and place.

This I can totally understand! It is huge, and if you are struggling with taking everything in, getting help is a great idea. I do know someone going in January next year who is struggling with the enormity of it all. She is getting advice from so,done she knows who has been before, which is helping.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

Being a first timer is no excuse for not knowing the basics

But now you are ascribing your paradigm of "basics" to everyone. An average planner might know the basics, but those are his basics and not yours. When you start to get into the weeds of fast pass availability, 60 day booking windows, length of stay + 60 days, dessert parties, optimal viewing areas for fireworks, etc., you might be thinking that these are all very basic but are they? To a rookie?

 

[SeeDisney]

yeah, I can relate.....always feel bad when I hear people coming from their WDW trips that they didn't know about stnadout missed attractions and not using the FP!!!! But, they still seem to have a great time.

 

[ammag]

I was standing in line for a ride and DH and I were looking at the MK map and the woman in front of us turned around and said, "Oh! There's a map for this place?"

LMAO!!!! I know a family who went for three days, two at MK where they basically wandered around confused fir 5 hours ride like 6 things and left. They said they couldn't find any maps. Of course they had declined my help in planning. They didn't take. Map, asked no CMs...the good thing is they still thougHt it was magical.

I will never understand this mentality..esoecially when it's an expensive trip for you!

 

[Felicis]

But now you are ascribing your paradigm of "basics" to everyone. An average planner might know the basics, but those are his basics and not yours. When you start to get into the weeds of fast pass availability, 60 day booking windows, length of stay + 60 days, dessert parties, optimal viewing areas for fireworks, etc., you might be thinking that these are all very basic but are they? To a rookie?

I AM a rookie. And no- those things aren't basic. I gave the example of what I considered basic. Understanding what is at the place you are holidaying at, and reading the emails the place you are visiting send you. Choosing to do nothing with that is completely up to the individual, but if you don't know the basics - the starting point, then you are willfully choosing not to. Which again is fine - just don't complain about it. Not quite sure why out of everyone saying that they don't understand how people can not understand these systems you choose me to argue semantics with, but hey ho.

 

[LSUmiss]

During our most recent trip last week, a family overheard me discussing our next FP w/ my DH. She asked how much I had to pay for those & if I had to stay in a WDW resort to get them. I explained the whole process & she was totally shocked. She hadn't even heard of MDE or the app! But, on a side note her teenage or so DD came back to meet them after having rode Splash. The mom asked if they wanted to do Tom Sawyer island & the DD said "No Way! That's a river rapid ride & you get soaked to the bone!" I didn't have the energy to correct that error & figured she wasn't missing anything anyway. LOL!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

There are also first timers (and some who visited years and years ago) who just can't believe all the planning that can and probably should be done now. You can tell them but until they experience it they just can't believe it may take that much to enjoy a trip to some parks.

Frankly, I can't disagree with them.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

These threads are always a you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink situation.

I am perfectly fine with those horses staying away from my FP water.

 

[LSUmiss]

I am perfectly fine with those horses staying away from my FP water.

After I helped that family I thought the same thing. I have been during some of the most crowded times & I never wait in any lines at MK now. I am usually able to get real time FPs for every ride by continuing to refresh. I usually preplan Mine Train but can get the rest. I can do most things this way in other 3 parks too except for the tiers.

 

[goofyernmost]

Besides a huge website with tons of links and info on it. Besides all the emails they send you with helpful hints and links to read more in them. Etc.

I have several friends who have planned first-time visits in the last two years who have read their emails (why wound Disney send them if they didn't intend them to be read?) and have checked out the website. They have had terrific trips.

You only say that because you have been before. Most people think of a theme park as an amusement park, I know I did on my first trip. They could have sent me a truckload of emails (although they didn't exist back then) and all I would have thought was... well they are pushing stuff to get me to spend money and hit delete. They have no point of reference that would make them think that they have to do anything other then show up and enjoy the day. Should they have done more.. of course, we know that. They don't until they get there and it is to late.

 

[goofyernmost]

I agree. You don't know what you don't know until you learn what you don't know. After that, you know what you don't know and then take steps to know it. But this rarely happens on your first outing. The first outing is when you first learn what you don't know. Know what I mean? (Read that again. It will make sense.)

99% of the people here are well past the stage of not knowing what they don't know. At worst, we are at the stage of knowing that there are things that we don't know and take steps to learn. Take Pandora as an example. If you haven't been yet, you don't know the ins and outs. But the very act of participating here has informed you that there are things you don't know and need to learn. And so you do. People who don't participate here or on similar sites don't know what it is they need to learn. If they are Disney veterans but Pandora novices, they may be clued in to the fact that they better learn. But if they are Disney novices, why would they instinctively deduce or guess that they need to plan like the Allies in Normandy? That may be intuitive to people here but it isn't inherently intuitive. It is illogical to conclude: "If you plan intensively for a trip to France, you should know to do the same for a trip to WDW." While it turns out that this statement will ultimately prove true, it is not instinctive nor should it be.

Didn't have to read it again... that is exactly what I was attempting to say. You don't know what you don't know!

 

[goofyernmost]

Maybe 25 years ago, that could easily be the case. But now, with all the information available online, I don't see how someone wouldn't do the bare basics of research for any vacation. I'm not saying someone should go to the depths of what Disboarders do. But just in the course of searching for the hotel/resort, tickets, and attractions they will likely stumble upon more information. I do think it's not great for the spontaneous folks but a lot of places can be that way as well.

It doesn't matter how much information is on line. What matters is if they think that they need to know what it is or if they feel that they already know what to expect from an amusement park. To repeat @Disney_and_Wine one doesn't know what they do not know. It's that simple. We may look down at them smugly knowing better, but, that doesn't mean that they realize that they have any reason to spend time researching things. It's just a Theme Park, not a trip around the world.