12/25/18+ here now!

[b2k1121]

We are headed home today after 8 days in the parks. I have never seen more families exasperated and asking CMs what fastpasses were, how to get FPs, and how to get the app. I overheard at least 10 such conversations. There is no way those people had a magical trip, unless they think super long lines are magical.

I still don't get how there are so many people in this situation. Who pays that much for a vacation at Disney and does exactly zero research on it? These are the first things they would learn if they did one google search.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I still don't get how there are so many people in this situation. Who pays that much for a vacation at Disney and does exactly zero research on it? These are the first things they would learn if they did one google search.

Sadly for the system to function there needs to remain a large amount of ignorance around the process. Not ideal for those not in the know in any way, but if everyone were fully knowledgable FP+ would be unusable. This is why Disney puts the info out there, but shouts nothing from the roof tops.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

If I squint I think I see exactly one smile.

Same here............I think I saw one verifiable smile.

 

[Dave F1000]

Happy New year's Eve to everyone. We are at Epcot it is very crowded but still manageable. The Odyssey looks great new carpet beautiful clean bathrooms for those in need I wish you all a wonderful 2019!!!

 

[Dave F1000]

Sorry about the back-to-back posts I just saw Disneylover99s picture of the dance party with me and my DW in it (somewhere) we genuinely had a ball, it was a lot of fun. For those of you at Epcot I hope to see you back in the America gardens theater I'll be the guy with the great looking wife and two left feet.

 

[Disneylover99]

Sorry about the back-to-back posts I just saw Disneylover99s picture of the dance party with me and my DW in it (somewhere) we genuinely had a ball, it was a lot of fun. For those of you at Epcot I hope to see you back in the America gardens theater I'll be the guy with the great looking wife and two left feet.

Awesome!
I still can’t believe how fun that dance party was last night.
I’ll look for you tonight!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I still don't get how there are so many people in this situation. Who pays that much for a vacation at Disney and does exactly zero research on it? These are the first things they would learn if they did one google search.

I don't understand that either. And most look so annoyed and upset with those of us walking right by them in Standby in our FP line. MANY times I've heard, how much does that cost? Or that must be for resort guests only. I just shake my head in amazement. How do you go on a Disney trip and not know??!! If you visit the website itself, it is RIGHT there.....and says it's FREE. I can remember a time when I explained to one family what FP was and how to use it. This was back in 2015 when the paper FPs were long gone. When they heard it was a simple as downloading an app and searching for one they were just flabberghasted they had NO clue. I showed them the ones I had and they were like, you prebooked those? BEFORE you came? I just laughed softly and said...yup.

I guess, if everyone knew then FP would be much harder to navigate.

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

Back @ MK. Very crowded. I would guess from languages I'm hearing that well over half of tonight's guests are from over seas. Much confusion with walking on right vs. left.

Arrived back @ MK @ 3:30.
Parade
Haunted mansion fp
Peter Pan fp
Enchanted Tales Belle fp
Dumbo fp
Aladdin fp
Fireworks
Dinner liberty tree tavern (now)
Aladdin fp
Back to Poly for NYE late fireworks

If you don't mind a lot of planning ahead MK on NYE is quite enjoyable with several refresh fp available through 7pm...we'll see about availability later...

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

I don't understand that either. And most look so annoyed and upset with those of us walking right by them in Standby in our FP line. MANY times I've heard, how much does that cost? Or that must be for resort guests only. I just shake my head in amazement. How do you go on a Disney trip and not know??!! If you visit the website itself, it is RIGHT there.....and says it's FREE. I can remember a time when I explained to one family what FP was and how to use it. This was back in 2015 when the paper FPs were long gone. When they heard it was a simple as downloading an app and searching for one they were just flabberghasted they had NO clue. I showed them the ones I had and they were like, you prebooked those? BEFORE you came? I just laughed softly and said...yup.

I guess, if everyone knew then FP would be much harder to navigate.

Not to mention we received no less than 3 emails reminding us to schedule ADR's & fp in advance. The email explains how it all works...

 

[Mambo Junkie]

When we were there last time we overheard people talking about rides and wondering what fps were. We took the time to explain and show them how to download the app, look for fps and ADRs, how to refresh. We were very lucky with refresh, and so successful with last minute ADRs, I don't plan to pre book our meals for our next trip. We were late booking this last trip and I just about drove myself crazy trying (unsuccessfully) for 168 days to get an ADR for Trattoria when 2, 3 days before the date we were able to pick and choose what we wanted. I also picked up 7DMT fps the night before our MK day, and 5 fps for PP (we were a party of 6). Got up the next morning (our MK day) and picked up the 6th PP.
fp.
A lot of people are clueless about fps because they turn all their planning over to agents. Most will book the fps and ADRs for them, but often I run across people who haven't had the process explained to them, or poor choices for fps. We enjoy sharing our knowledge and explaining how to work the system. We know what we know because of people sharing what they know or have experienced, so we pass it on. I always tell them to come here. I tell them there are people here who know just about everything there is to know about Disney, and willing to help them plan.

ETA: We went to a Christmas event at a local amusement park last night. My sister in law had gone previously and complained about how bad it was, crowded, they didn't go on any rides and were very disappointed. We went, had a great time, worked the plan to where we only waited for 2 rides, walked on the rest, and saw a few shows, enjoyed the lights. We were comparing our experience to my SILs; I laughed and said, I guess all the Disney World trips prepared us for events like this.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

When we were there last time we overheard people talking about rides and wondering what fps were. We took the time to explain and show them how to download the app, look for fps and ADRs, how to refresh. We were very lucky with refresh, and so successful with last minute ADRs, I don't plan to pre book our meals for our next trip. We were late booking this last trip and I just about drove myself crazy trying (unsuccessfully) for 168 days to get an ADR for Trattoria when 2, 3 days before the date we were able to pick and choose what we wanted. I also picked up 7DMT fps the night before our MK day, and 5 fps for PP (we were a party of 6). Got up the next morning (our MK day) and picked up the 6th PP.
fp.
A lot of people are clueless about fps because they turn all their planning over to agents. Most will book the fps and ADRs for them, but often I run across people who haven't had the process explained to them, or poor choices for fps. We enjoy sharing our knowledge and explaining how to work the system. We know what we know because of people sharing what they know or have experienced, so we pass it on. I always tell them to come here. I tell them there are people here who know just about everything there is to know about Disney, and willing to help them plan.

ETA: We went to a Christmas event at a local amusement park last night. My sister in law had gone previously and complained about how bad it was, crowded, they didn't go on any rides and were very disappointed. We went, had a great time, worked the plan to where we only waited for 2 rides, walked on the rest, and saw a few shows, enjoyed the lights. We were comparing our experience to my SILs; I laughed and said, I guess all the Disney World trips prepared us for events like this.

I just looked at an updated map of EPCOT and right at the top it talks about obtaining 3 FPs. So again....how and why do people NOT know!

 

[greg9x]

I just looked at an updated map of EPCOT and right at the top it talks about obtaining 3 FPs. So again....how and why do people NOT know!

Some people think they know how amusement parks work.. you pay to go in and stand in lines, why would Disney be different ? So they see wording about FP's and just ignore it, because they don't know what it is and can't be bothered to learn...or as comes up often, they think it's an extra cost.

People frequently go through life doing things the hard way because their brain is locked in to how they do things and they don't want to hear anything different... some people just don't have the smarts to figure things out on their own... some people just want to be contrary, or think it's too much work. There have been many stories here of people trying to help others, but they just ignore what's being said even though it would greatly increase the amount of things they could get done. At some point you just let them be unaware of what they are missing.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Some people think they know how amusement parks work.. you pay to go in and stand in lines, why would Disney be different ? So they see wording about FP's and just ignore it, because they don't know what it is and can't be bothered to learn...or as comes up often, they think it's an extra cost.

People frequently go through life doing things the hard way because their brain is locked in to how they do things and they don't want to hear anything different... some people just don't have the smarts to figure things out on their own... some people just want to be contrary, or think it's too much work. There have been many stories here of people trying to help others, but they just ignore what's being said even though it would greatly increase the amount of things they could get done. At some point you just let them be unaware of what they are missing.

Very well said!

 

[WaterLinds]

We went to a Christmas event at a local amusement park last night. My sister in law had gone previously and complained about how bad it was, crowded, they didn't go on any rides and were very disappointed. We went, had a great time, worked the plan to where we only waited for 2 rides, walked on the rest, and saw a few shows, enjoyed the lights. We were comparing our experience to my SILs; I laughed and said, I guess all the Disney World trips prepared us for events like this.

Funnily enough I was thinking the same thing yesterday too! We were at our local “children’s museum” (which doesn’t like to be called a children’s museum and keeps adding adults only events...) “noon year” countdown party. They had about three times the attendance they’ve ever had before and it was a minor madhouse. We rope dropped it (waiting in the parking garage for the doors to open, no pre-show!), then went straight for the cool new exhibits on the upper floors while everyone else started with the lower floors. Had the first exhibit to ourselves for about half an hour. Made our way down through the crowds, and as everyone else was fighting their way up and kids were getting hangry we grabbed a table near the countdown area and ate our packed lunch while the museum staff got set up. We scored the first cups of apple juice for the toast, had a great view of the balloon drop, and didn’t have to fight the crowds.

It was just a little event, nothing like WDW or even a smaller amusement park, but I feel like my Disney strategies served us well.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

The Holiday commercials always look so inviting. "Aw, lets go to Disney for Christmas sometime." It almost gets me sucked in, then I am reminded of reality with pics like above. No thanks, that does not look Magical.

I had a grand plan to surprise the kids next Christmas with a trip to WDW leaving on Christmas Day(always a dream of mine). I told my husband about the crowds and he said, “See... Those are all of the ‘We’re going to DISNEY WORLD!’ Christmas people...”

 

[Dave F1000]

Finally made it home to Ohio, had a fantastic time! After a 30 minute wait for TT after fireworks, we still waited about an hour for the second last bus from Epcot to pop century. Got back to the room just before 3am. In spite of the immense crowds it was so much fun. All of the dance parties were fun. We had fantastic food and the best table ever at the San Angel inn (far corner against the "river of time" or whatever you call it.)

Thanks to all who shared their experience, and best wishes to those still in WDW or waiting for their trip.

 

[kiford]

We got up at 3:45 am on Christmas Day to get to MK. We left BC at 5-ish am and got into the parks slightly before 6 am (they held people at security until at least 5:45 am). We got great photos in front of the castle all lit up. We've never been able to get those kinds of pictures before. Usually by the time it's lit up, there are plenty of people packed into the park by evening. Our friend suggested that we walk up to CP and see if we could get in for breakfast. I figured that was a pipe dream but we got in a few minutes after 7 am when they opened. Totally floored me that this was possible. We did a couple of rides between 6-7 am, breakfast, then a few more using fastpasses. We left the park around 10:30 am. As we drove out to HS, we could see a huge line of cars waiting to get through the gates to the parking lot. I figure that some must have had at least an hour to get in. Crazy. It wasn't too bad in HS. Then over to DS for an early dinner. It was busy (had to keep driving around in the parking garage until a spot became available) but not shoulder-to-shoulder as I expected. We were actually seated about 15 minutes earlier than our ADR time.

It was a great trip and I'm glad we were there over the holidays. I'm not sure I'll do this this time of year again - we'll probably go back to our early December timing - but it wasn't as insane as I expected. Either we had reasonable expectations of what we could accomplish or we planned well.