Buyer's Remorse?

[pwdebbie]

Ignore all the people who come here to gripe and complain. The only thing I think you will complain about when you get home is that your trip was too short and you didn't get to do everything you wanted. My first trip was in 2007, albeit five years ago, but the crowds were non-existent. If I liked fall decor, it would probably be my favorite time to go. No more worrying! Just go and enjoy yourselves.

 

[Tomh]

1) Crowds are massive, uncontrollable, and be prepared for lines - because it'll start at the front gates where it will take 2 hours just to get INTO the park with waiting for the ferry, then security, then the turnstyles.

It has never taken us two hours to get into a park. Maybe two hours from the time we leave our room, the wait for the bus can take a while sometimes, but it isn't nearly as bad as you are suggesting here.



2) The park is out-dated, old, and suffers from a lot of mechanical problems. Monorail gets mentioned a lot. Up to half the rides will be down.

There are ride failures in EVERY amusement park, things happen. The monorail does seem to get mentioned frequently. Over the course of the past four trips to Disney World, a total of 42 days in the world, I can think of only one time that the monorail was down when I really wanted to use it though. As for half the rides being closed at the same time, maybe during storms, there are a lot of rides that can't operate if there is lightning potential, but I don't think I ever remember half the rides being down at the same time due to mechanical failures.



3) CM's are rude more often than not. The magic is gone from the staff.

CM's are sometimes rude, it happens, even to the best CM. More often than not though, that is a big exaggeration. I would say that the magic is still alive, but if you are looking to be angry and disappointed, then that is what you will be.


4) Fastpass is broken. Large tour groups gobble up all the tickets, and the standby line runs extremely slow (1 person for every 20 FP). Also anyone with a wheelchair or scooter gets to bypass the line along with 10 of their friends. This gets easily abused.


Fastpass was not broken last summer when I was there, it worked fantastically for us. We hardly ever waited more than 15 to 20 minutes for any ride, and many were just a 5 or 10 minute wait. I can not comment on what the fastpass situation is like since the changes though.


Unfortunately, the negativity seems to get amplified here a LOT. Those that are happy go about being happy . . . those that are not happy spread the word. I bet if more of the satisfied visitors spoke up, you would see it is really only a small percentage of park visitors that complain about things, most are quite satisfied with the experience, otherwise the lines wouldn't be so long

Go, enjoy, I don't think you will regret it. We are returning for our 5th trip in just a few days now, no remorse, no regrets, no worries. I know we will have a fantastic time.

 

[amberpi]

I've never had a problem with CMs.

Rides under long maintence are noted on the website, so shouldn't be any surprises there. I got stuck on EE for a long while one time and they gave out FP's to everyone involved on the way out. Honestly, me and my GF I was with thought it was pretty fun until she needed to go with the powder room - about 30 seconds before we got moving

We've only seen tour groups in April.

Other than Soarin' and TSMM, I don't notice the FP's being gone too early and this is just due to demand. They are pretty awesome rides!

Go, have a great time. Don't worry too much! I do sometimes, but its just silliness we have at chase away!

 

[Phatoomch]

1) Crowds are massive, uncontrollable, and be prepared for lines - because it'll start at the front gates where it will take 2 hours just to get INTO the park with waiting for the ferry, then security, then the turnstyles.

As per my previous post ....

Was my grandmother posting on the boards?!?

 

[Mousemommy1]

I last visited WDW in 1999. It was in October, and we were celebrating our Honeymoon. It was a great trip! I just reserved a trip for this fall (Oct 19-21) for the family (which includes are kids, 4YO, and 1YO). We are staying at AoA/Cars and will be spending 2 days at MK and 1 day at AK.

But I'm suffering from buyer's remorse.

Why? Because I've been reading a lot of complaints about WDW - to the point where I'm worried that instead of a great trip, we're going to end up having a horrible time. Here's what seems to come up frequently:

1) Crowds are massive, uncontrollable, and be prepared for lines - because it'll start at the front gates where it will take 2 hours just to get INTO the park with waiting for the ferry, then security, then the turnstyles.
2) The park is out-dated, old, and suffers from a lot of mechanical problems. Monorail gets mentioned a lot. Up to half the rides will be down.
3) CM's are rude more often than not. The magic is gone from the staff.
4) Fastpass is broken. Large tour groups gobble up all the tickets, and the standby line runs extremely slow (1 person for every 20 FP). Also anyone with a wheelchair or scooter gets to bypass the line along with 10 of their friends. This gets easily abused.

This sounds horrible. Buyer's remorse is kicking in...

My thoughts?

1) Most of the crowd complaints come from December, April, June, and July - which are red/purple/black days in Dad's Guide. So no real surprise I guess.
2) I know what to expect about the "classic" rides, but the maintenance issues doesn't sound good at all.
3) I don't know what's going on with CM's. But the stories are really distressing. Perhaps it is combined with large crowds and heat?
4) FP issues, line hoping, and slow moving standbys are really frustrating. By design you can't have more than a few FP's issued to you in a day. Does this mean that Disney really only expects you to be able to ride a couple of rides a day?!? And what's up with the line-skipping?

I'd love to hear people's honest thoughts. Anxiety is running pretty high...

Step away from the boards!!!

I have gone to WDW 6 times since 2000, the last 3 times in the past 2.5 years....our trip last month was by far our best trip ever!!!!

You will read some horror stories here, but I have not found any of this stuff to be the case on any of our trips. Will bad trips happen?? Possibly, but Disney is still a wonderful vacation destination, and I can't wait to go back in April!!!

 

[North of Mouse]

I last visited WDW in 1999. It was in October, and we were celebrating our Honeymoon. It was a great trip! I just reserved a trip for this fall (Oct 19-21) for the family (which includes are kids, 4YO, and 1YO). We are staying at AoA/Cars and will be spending 2 days at MK and 1 day at AK.

But I'm suffering from buyer's remorse.

Why? Because I've been reading a lot of complaints about WDW - to the point where I'm worried that instead of a great trip, we're going to end up having a horrible time. Here's what seems to come up frequently:

1) Crowds are massive, uncontrollable, and be prepared for lines - because it'll start at the front gates where it will take 2 hours just to get INTO the park with waiting for the ferry, then security, then the turnstyles.
2) The park is out-dated, old, and suffers from a lot of mechanical problems. Monorail gets mentioned a lot. Up to half the rides will be down.
3) CM's are rude more often than not. The magic is gone from the staff.
4) Fastpass is broken. Large tour groups gobble up all the tickets, and the standby line runs extremely slow (1 person for every 20 FP). Also anyone with a wheelchair or scooter gets to bypass the line along with 10 of their friends. This gets easily abused.

This sounds horrible. Buyer's remorse is kicking in...

My thoughts?

1) Most of the crowd complaints come from December, April, June, and July - which are red/purple/black days in Dad's Guide. So no real surprise I guess.
2) I know what to expect about the "classic" rides, but the maintenance issues doesn't sound good at all.
3) I don't know what's going on with CM's. But the stories are really distressing. Perhaps it is combined with large crowds and heat?
4) FP issues, line hoping, and slow moving standbys are really frustrating. By design you can't have more than a few FP's issued to you in a day. Does this mean that Disney really only expects you to be able to ride a couple of rides a day?!? And what's up with the line-skipping?

I'd love to hear people's honest thoughts. Anxiety is running pretty high...

Wow, sounds like you've been reading too much from the negative bunch. If that's what you want to see/hear you will find lots of it on these boards.
But, if you read enough you will also see what makes a lot of us so happy and continue to go year after year.

We don't look for problems, and we don't see them. We have never had a bad trip or anything to complain about in more years than I can count quickly

If I did have any complaints, it would be with some of the inconsiderate people that go in the parks, not Disney or the CMs there.

Go, and have a fabulous time

 

[pmaurer74]

You would base your trip on what other people say? I have been 4 times in 2 years... so about 4 weeks total and had a great time. If the CMs wer rude and crowds uncontrollable and the parks run down then it would not be over crowded would it?

Have a great time and stop reading reviews. It has never taken me more than 20 minutes to get into a park. I go early stay until lunch then go back later. I use fast passes and rarely wait in long lines. I have been in March, May, June, July.

If your expectations are for te perfect vacation, you can only be disappointed, things do go wrong. We have had people sick, kidney stones, and bad days but the good always out weighs the bad.

 

[Kat&Dom]

Ignore the negative reviews - you are going to have a wonderful vacation. My son turns 7 next month and we have his 6th Disneyworld trip in 6 days. He has been going since he was 2 1/2. Here are a few tips that worked great for me:

1. Stroller - it was a lifesaver when you wanted to be at the park early and your child was still tired. Kids are amazingly adaptable and a stroller will be your best friend with the ages your children are. Plus at night, it is nice to have them contained and not have to worry about them getting lost in the crowds.

2. Our park plan was to be at park opening - it is incredible how much you can accomplish in the first couple of hours. Definitely worth the sacrifice of being at the park early.

3. Fastpass is amazing - it helps you accomplish so much. We went with friends for their first visit last Thanksgiving. We utilized fastpass so much and so well that we had hardly any waits in line - as a matter of fact, my friend's husband said at 2pm on Thanksgiving day at Magic Kingdom that he was fastpassed out. We had done so many rides on some of the busiest days of year by arriving at the park early and using the Fastpass system that all he wanted to do was watch parades and enjoy all the little extra shows that you sometimes miss when you are just focused on rides.

4. Take time to just relax - let the kids play in the little playground areas that you will come across - it will give you a much needed rest and let the kids burn energy in a good way.

5. My son loves his pool time so we would go to the parks early and leave around lunch time then return late afternoon or early evening - this worked really well for us as it gave everyone some down time away from the heat and crowds.

All my friends laugh at me because I always say how much I dislike waiting in line and being in crowds and yet I vacation at Disney a lot. If you arrive at park opening, take a break mid-day when crowds/heat are their worst and come back in the evening - use fastpass on as many rides as possible then you will find crowds have very little factor on your trip.

Enjoy making memories but do be careful - Disney is highly addictive. We have our 6th trip to Disneyworld in 6 days and 3rd trip to Disneyland in November - I love, love, love Disney - it gives you the opportunity as a parent to enjoy having fun with your child! Disney truly is magical because it gives families a chance to just have fun together. Love every minute of your family vacation!

 

[kerplop]

It's funny but last summer/fall before we went I was on the Dis like crazy. I read every thread, asked a bajillion questions and what I walked away with was that Disney World was not that great. But when we went, we honestly saw a miniscule fraction of what everyone claimed was going "downhill". Everyone was friendly, we had an amazing time, and sure sometimes it was busier and we got less done but we saw everything we wanted in a week! So when I came back to the Dis it finally dawned on me - people here love Disney World so much and have been so many times that they notice the flaws. They can't be there constantly, so they talk about it a ton and expound on the flaws. It's kind of how after being married to someone for 50 years you know every single thing they do and some of the flaws drive you crazy BUT YOU LOVE THEM ANYWAY more than life itself. I equate Disers to that kind of relationship and I take everything said with a big grain of salt, then decide for myself on the next trip!

 

[nansmama]

Of course now that I've just read through the "will October be crowded" thread I'm not very happy...

Again, I will tell you that we were there in February during a 7/8/9 level week on the various crowd calendars (or RED on the dad's guide). IT WASN'T THAT BAD. We were still able to do tons of stuff! The longest line we waited in was 60 minutes for Soarin', but all the rest of our waits were under 30 minutes, even for the big rides. We do not use a touring plan, we just eyeball the queues instead. Just remember that there really aren't any rides worth waiting an hour for (especially Soarin' ) and you'll be fine.

October will not be nearly as crowded as February vacation week! You'll be fine!

 

[juliebug1997]

When I read reviews of things online (like Yelp! or Yahoo! and the like), I try to take the reviews with a grain of salt. A place might have seven reviews and all are negative. None are positive. Why? Because we generally only tell people about our negative reviews and we get good and steamed up about a bad experience. Please notice I said "generally".

 

[Phatoomch]

If I read and paid attention to reviews I would schedule DHS for 1/2 day (we ended up being there for 14hrs and loved every minute of it), I wouldn't bother with the Nemo show in AK (its my favourite), I'd think there was nothing to do in Epcot World Showcase except eat (I just can't get enough of the place) and I wouldn't eat anywhere in MK because it just isn't that great (I didn't have a bad meal there).

Honestly, I can't urge you enough to Step. Away. From. The. Reviews. ... and don't let crowd calendars scare you

 

[Bertnie20]

I think you will have a great trip, I witnessed none of that late August early sep last yr.

 

[glenpreece]

Exactly!!! Forget what others complain about, some people only see the negative experience. When I've had a bad exp does it ruin my whole trip, No. Do rude guests, crowds, line jumpers etc piss me off, Yes. But it's still better than being at work. I've been going since 2005 well after the so called "golden age" of WDW and still love it

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We have NEVER had a bad vacation at WDW. Sure there maybe a few minor blips but brush it off. I give myself a pep talk before we go. I ignore rude people in general, tour groups - we head the other way, my motto is NO ONE ELSE can ruin MY vacation No worries - no big deal, we are in the parks and have eaten before they open. We are early risers and we take advantage of the lighter morning crowds. Also we don't try to cram too much into one day. We finish park touring at supper time, have a great dinner and watch wishes from our balcony at CR

 

[jcemom]

Of course now that I've just read through the "will October be crowded" thread I'm not very happy...

What do you want/expect out of your trip? If you are expecting to have the parks to yourselves, have every ride running in perfect order, have CMs bowing down to you left and right and offering you freebies, being able to walk on to every attraction with no line, etc. then you are going to be disappointed.

 

[Eosphotog]

What do you want/expect out of your trip? If you are expecting to have the parks to yourselves, have every ride running in perfect order, have CMs bowing down to you left and right and offering you freebies, being able to walk on to every attraction with no line, etc. then you are going to be disappointed.

That's a list of things I didn't say or ask for.

My expectations are that we will thoroughly exhaust the kids while giving all of us (with the exception of the 1 year old) fond memories and having a generally awesome time. Wall-to-wall crowds, inability to ride or see the things we want to ride or see, or CMs who have lost their magic are things I want to avoid.

From what people have said that's certainly possible, even likely

 

[Boog's Mommy]

We go once a year for the past 12 years and have been there different times of the year. We have never had a bad experience with a CM, nor have we ever had a ride break down and close. There are times when a ride is closed for rehab which is understandable to keep them safe. Crowd levels depend on the time of year you go. I hope you and your family have an awesome experience just as my family has had. : )

 

[DJHPMouse]

WDW always surpasses our expectations. Most of the complainers won't have a good time anywhere. Sure bad things can happen, it's how you and your family approach them that can make or break your trip. Just have a good time and enjoy Disney through your kids eyes.:

 

[jcemom]

That's a list of things I didn't say or ask for.

My expectations are that we will thoroughly exhaust the kids while giving all of us (with the exception of the 1 year old) fond memories and having a generally awesome time. Wall-to-wall crowds, inability to ride or see the things we want to ride or see, or CMs who have lost their magic are things I want to avoid.

From what people have said that's certainly possible, even likely

The first part you will certainly get, if that's what you want!

The second part isn't going to happen. I might have missed a post, but I don't think one single person on this thread was of the opinion that you would encounter wall-to-wall crowds, or any of the other things you're worried about, in October. Which people said it's likely that you will encounter those things? You really should stop listening to them.

As long as your expectations are reasonable, then you will have a great time.