People underestimate Disney

[Someone28624]

One of my good friends is on vacation in Orlando right now. They knew they wanted to do one day at Disney. Knowing how busy this week is I strongly encouraged AK After Hours. Today she texted me that they decided against that, they're going to go tomorrow. Should they do their fast passes online today or at the kiosks tomorrow? Also how do we get a reservation at Yak and Yeti?

Oh boy. I kindly told her she should have done her fast passes 30 days ago. Luckily tomorrow isn't EMH so I told her to get there early. I taught her the ways of MDE refreshing and she was able to get one fast pass she wanted. I'm amazed she was able to get a Yak and Yeti reservation.

I am sure she and her family will be able to have a great day, but I can't help but think how far a little planning further out would have gone, especially on a busy week. I do occasionally have spontaneous days at Disney, but solo and on slower times.

Just wanted to share with people who understand.

 

[nco91590]

Yes, so THIS is why people hate on Disney. They show up expecting to go on rides and eat at restaurants.

Now, we could have an entire novel written about how you SHOULD or SHOULD NOT have to plan a trip to WDW, but it doesn't change the fact that currently, you absolutely must do some prep before coming to the busiest theme park on earth.

 

[lovethattink]

It’s not your typical amusement park experience. So it comes as a shock to someone who doesn’t know about FP+, ADR, or MDE. Also the size of WDW has surprised some of my family members. My mom originally thought a park hopper meant you walk next door to the next park. She was so surprised when we had to bus or boat somewhere on her first trip.

 

[Someone28624]

It’s not your typical amusement park experience. So it comes as a shock to someone who doesn’t know about FP+, ADR, or MDE. Also the size of WDW has surprised some of my family members. My mom originally thought a park hopper meant you walk next door to the next park. She was so surprised when we had to bus or boat somewhere on her first trip.

I remember my mom thinking I could walk to the magic kingdom since I was staying on property. At Coronado Springs. To be fair, my first trip I thought to go back to the hotel to take a nap would be maybe 15 minutes of travel. Not an hour.

 

[KayaWildfire]

This is definitely why people hate Disney. Right or wrong, Disney requires a lot of planning to get the most out of your time. But I'll never understand people that do no research at all prior to a vacation. How do you know what things to see or do? Good places to eat? I cannot imagine just showing up for any vacation we have ever taken-including cruises, trips to the national parks, etc. I have researched them all.

 

[sponica]

Eh I've done a last minute (bought tix the day before) trip and survived. I think as long as a) it's not your first trip and B) you're not expecting to get on the newest shiniest rides, where's the harm?

 

[jbish]

I do occasionally have spontaneous days at Disney, but solo and on slower times.

Just wanted to share with people who understand.

Oh we understand. Also, sure, you can have a "spontaneous day" at Disney, but if you've been plenty of times before, and you're solo or with other veterans, you can probably have a decent day. But, if you're anything like me, I bet that "planning" is actually going on in your head anyway. You're thinking of a few places you know you could hit without a FP, play the refresh game, and can navigate around the parks fairly easily. The average guest can't do that.

But, as a side note, this is also why WDW has such a high repeat factor for me. I know I can't see everything in one trip. And even after numerous trips for all of us, there are things that my family or I haven't even experienced. It's just that big.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

While I understand the pros/cons and frustrations of planning out a Disney vacation - it can get crazy - it's a little foolish to go there without doing any research or planning before showing up. There are many, many places people visit around the world where you wouldn't show up the day before and expect to ride attractions and eat dinner without a reservation. That's just as extreme having to plan out your entire stay 11 months / 180 days / 60 days in advance.

I just try to find some middle ground in here when planning out our trips!

 

[Jonfw2]

Every time we go, I spend MONTHS making charts about specific days and then put multiple planning dates in my calendar. I regularly check back with the travel agent to see if anything better than what we've reserved has opened. I check multiple boards almost daily for updates.

And I tell my wife: I plan like crazy so you and the kid get to have a spontaneous vacation.

 

[Tormania]

I think of it like this, just think about how HUGE the economy of WDW planning is? From guidebooks, YT channels, blogs, boards like this.......there is literally millions of dollars in business generated solely for the purpose of helping people plan a WDW vacation. There is reason for all of that.

 

[Thecouch]

This is more a disney world specific thing. The other park research gives a advantages but only a few restaurants will be difficult to get

 

[DisSurfer878]

It’s not your typical amusement park experience. So it comes as a shock to someone who doesn’t know about FP+, ADR, or MDE. Also the size of WDW has surprised some of my family members. My mom originally thought a park hopper meant you walk next door to the next park. She was so surprised when we had to bus or boat somewhere on her first trip.

It is if you use Uber lol but I presume your first trip did not include the current wide spread use of Uber/Lyft

 

[DrummerBoy523]

One of my good friends is on vacation in Orlando right now. They knew they wanted to do one day at Disney. Knowing how busy this week is I strongly encouraged AK After Hours. Today she texted me that they decided against that, they're going to go tomorrow. Should they do their fast passes online today or at the kiosks tomorrow? Also how do we get a reservation at Yak and Yeti?

Oh boy. I kindly told her she should have done her fast passes 30 days ago. Luckily tomorrow isn't EMH so I told her to get there early. I taught her the ways of MDE refreshing and she was able to get one fast pass she wanted. I'm amazed she was able to get a Yak and Yeti reservation.

I am sure she and her family will be able to have a great day, but I can't help but think how far a little planning further out would have gone, especially on a busy week. I do occasionally have spontaneous days at Disney, but solo and on slower times.

Just wanted to share with people who understand.

People who don't plan make things easier on those of us who do IMO.

I'd bet you still planned your spontaneous day somewhat though

 

[Disneypro1]

Planning is as easy as can be. If one doesn’t or doesn’t know how. I have no sympathy.

 

[hopemax]

There are basically no FPs at AK all week, at this late notice. I've been trying, since we can only book FP at 7 days (CM guest passes). If they will be happy with It's Tough to Be A Bug, Finding Nemo show and maybe the Up bird show then go ahead. That's what was available. I spent a half hour this morning, on our drive to AK, hitting refresh, and managed a morning Everest FP. I spent an hour one night while watching TV refreshing and got Safari for Monday afternoon. During today's refresh-a-thon, I did see a couple LK shows pop up, and a Dinosaur time, and a Navi time, but these were after we were planning on leaving for the day. And I was doing nothing but bouncing back and forth between "search morning" 9 am, 10 am, etc for a solid half hour. Oh, and this was for 2 people.

So you can imagine what the lines were like with all the FPs gone.

 

[Someone28624]

There are basically no FPs at AK all week, at this late notice. I've been trying, since we can only book FP at 7 days (CM guest passes). If they will be happy with It's Tough to Be A Bug, Finding Nemo show and maybe the Up bird show then go ahead. That's what was available. I spent a half hour this morning, on our drive to AK, hitting refresh, and managed a morning Everest FP. I spent an hour one night while watching TV refreshing and got Safari for Monday afternoon. During today's refresh-a-thon, I did see a couple LK shows pop up, and a Dinosaur time, and a Navi time, but these were after we were planning on leaving for the day. And I was doing nothing but bouncing back and forth between "search morning" 9 am, 10 am, etc for a solid half hour. Oh, and this was for 2 people.

So you can imagine what the lines were like with all the FPs gone.

For real though. I looked this morning for them and basically told my friend good luck, ya really should have done the after hours

 

[thanxfornoticin]

For real though. I looked this morning for them and basically told my friend good luck, ya really should have done the after hours

After hours was a really good suggestion - separate ticket with better access to the attractions. Maybe they'll try that next time!

 

[5kidsmommy]

This is why I don't offer help to people planning Disney trips. There are a few friends that I know would listen to me but they are the ones that would never go. People generaally just don't listen and that's their problem. You offered suggestions, she ignored you and so be it. Just try to exit it from your mind.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

Eh I've done a last minute (bought tix the day before) trip and survived. I think as long as a) it's not your first trip and B) you're not expecting to get on the newest shiniest rides, where's the harm?

I think the harm is just that if it IS you're first trip and not knowing how to navigate the rides, even barring the newest & shiniest. Lord knows I wouldn't have had a chance on my frist trip had I not did even the minimal of prep (which included 60 day fastpasses...though I did make the mistake of delaying my fastpass booking).

After three trips, I'm relatively confident I COULD navigate the attractions with an impromptu trip knowing what to expect and have realistic expectations on what I could actually achieve. But without the knowledge, I would be lost.

 

[Matt961]

I'd bet you still planned your spontaneous day somewhat though

You know you plan too much when your spontaneous trips get planned. We decided to drive to the beach one day(5hour drive from home) and decided why not just drive a few more hours and be at WDW. Booked reservations and tickets on the phone half way and then started booking FP and dining on the drive down just to get the best stuff we could. Ended up getting everything we wanted done because of that little planning.

So unless you know what to do and expect, it could really ruin a trip. But the planning is the fun part for me.