60 day FP...sigh

[Bullseye]

I'll go the other way and say that it's awesome we can use this time when I'm not on vacation to save a bunch of time in the parks when I AM on vacation. I only get a precious few vacation days every year, so I love being able to reserve times for those really busy rides and save myself from wasting that time in lines. Speaking from my own past experiences, I went to WDW several times as a child and in high school and now have taken my own kids these past 2 years. I much prefer the current system where there are guaranteed times I know I won't be waiting in lines vs the past times where we spent many hours waiting for Space/Splash/Thunder. I compare how much I get done in a day now to the past and can't believe the difference. I understand you give up a little flexibility, but in reality, were you really deciding in the moment which ride to go on or where you merely looking at the size of a line and using that to decide? Maybe I'm in the minority, but my family and I love FP+ as it is now!

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I also remember as a kid waiting for hours and hours for some rides. At least now I know I have three ride reservations. We still have to wait in stand-by lines, but at least three times a day I'm privileged... I get to go to the front of the line. I did my FP selections a few weeks ago and it has never been easier. Same with ADR's. Pick a restaurant, a day/time, and number of guests and in a matter of seconds it tell's you what's available. Click a couple buttons and it's booked...what's so difficult about that .

 

[amcnj]

It has changed the way things can be done, but whether it is better or worse depends on the individual and how they like to tour. Some value spontaneity, others preplanning down to the minute. It also might benefit those who hate to rope drop, which was almost necessary, at least at times, to avoid long lines or to try to get fastpasses from the machines before they ran out or were for a time after your bedtime later that night! I think the crowd levels spurred this attempt to change things up, at least a little. And I have also wondered if it was an attempt to increase the lengths of stays. Do some now have the mindset that they must get as many guaranteed FP+ as they can, and since you can only pre-book 3 per day, are now planning more days in the parks than they used to?

 

[DVCcurious]

I have never made FP reservations the minute they open for my trip and I've always gotten what I wanted.

That may be true, but weren't you writing on another thread that your must dos are the Tiki Birds, Living with the Land, and having lunch at Tony's?

 

[Micca]

I personally think it's nuts to reserve a 2 minute theme park ride 2 months out.

Or where to have dinner six months in advance? I'm actually ok with all of this early planning but it is kinda strange to be thinking about what sounds good for dinner 180 + 10 day in advance.

 

[IrishNYC]

Is there another adult in your party that could do it? Our family prefers that I make all the ADRs and FPs, but if it came down to it, DH is certainly capable. (I think. )

 

[Shanti]

I checked my 60 day FP date and found that it is on a Monday morning. Of course, the 7 AM time is just when I need to be getting to work. Disney, I enjoy your parks but why aren't you such a PITA to schedule for? I went to Universal last year and it was soooo much easier to plan! I have dining reservations but not necessarily the times or restaurants I would like. I will keep looking for better reservations but seriously, it shouldo not be this much work! I have been to Disney plenty of times and know the score. My trips are getting shorter and fewer as a result of the excessive planning that is needed. Done venting!

If you're not visiting over Christmas, it shouldn't be a problem. We just got back from an Easter trip, planned only about 6 weeks in advance. We got all the FP's we wanted (including 7DMT, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Expedition Everest & Soarin'), at good times, & had meals at Be Our Guest (breakfast), Chef Mickey's, Le Cellier, Tusker House ROL Dining Package, etc.

You do not have to nab FP's right at 7am at 60 days out, or reserve most of your dining at 180 days out, to have a great trip. That's a myth. Just because you can do it doesn't mean that you have to.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

I checked my 60 day FP date and found that it is on a Monday morning. Of course, the 7 AM time is just when I need to be getting to work. Disney, I enjoy your parks but why are you such a PITA to schedule for? I went to Universal last year and it was soooo much easier to plan! I have dining reservations but not necessarily the times or restaurants I would like. I will keep looking for better reservations but seriously, it should not be this much work! I have been to Disney plenty of times and know the score. My trips are getting shorter and fewer as a result of the excessive planning that is needed. Done venting!

Have a friend or family member do it

My point was why do we have to reserve FP so early at all, but I don't think I made it clear in my first post. No one is forcing me to go to Disney or anything I just wish so much planning didn't have to go into it. I miss the flexibility that I used to have at Disney.

Because years ago, the sleepyheads complained to Disney that all the FP's were gone by the time they arrived at the park.

 

[North of Mouse]

I checked my 60 day FP date and found that it is on a Monday morning. Of course, the 7 AM time is just when I need to be getting to work. Disney, I enjoy your parks but why are you such a PITA to schedule for? I went to Universal last year and it was soooo much easier to plan! I have dining reservations but not necessarily the times or restaurants I would like. I will keep looking for better reservations but seriously, it should not be this much work! I have been to Disney plenty of times and know the score. My trips are getting shorter and fewer as a result of the excessive planning that is needed. Done venting!

I have never made FP reservations the minute they open for my trip and I've always gotten what I wanted.

This!! I've never been in a hurry to make our FP's and have always had multiple times to choose from in the tier one rides. In fact, I've been changing mine around since then with no problems. Park days begin for us the 25th. I refuse to stress out for vacation.

 

[DG25]

I'm with you, except for me, I have to wake up at 4 am to get fp. For the most part Disney has become a high blood pressure vacation, stress out about your room choice and resort choice, we have to book 18 months out because there is only 6 rooms in the catagory we want, stress about the dining reservations at 180 bog at 5pm is impossible, stress out about fast passes, stress out about all the other things, like the stupid perks you get from dvc, which we have never been able to get our hands on, like once a week they allow 20 and only 20 people on a Wednesday and only Wednesday to ride and tour soaring before the park opens. Well with 200,000 people or more owning dvc you chances of getting this is impossible. They also have art classes at contemporary, but only 10 and only on Thursday, the day it came available, I was on phone at 9, which is 6 my time and I still could not get us in. When you pay thousands of dollars and willing to pay more for some of the perks, you should not have to plan every detail. Actually some of the details I would like to be able to plan, they don't allow you to- I would like to say, I want room 1100 in this hotel and be able to know that room is mine when I show up, I would like to call up DSS and say I want this, this and this and have them get it, but everything I asked DSS to get for me, they said someone will be calling you and I have had no phone calls from anyone.

Anyway, I fell your pain and I am with you, this year we have yet to book our 18 months out or even 9 months out. I don't think we will be going in 18 months, and for us we usually have three vacations going at a tome, the one we are heading to, the one 9 months out and the one 18 months out. I think after 25 years of Disney vacations we are seriously looking for something else, something that will keep my blood pressure at normal range. I love Disney, always make two trips to WDW and at least 1 to DL a year, for 25 years, but this amount of planning is rediculous. I have had to call Disney everyday for a week now about something, and I am just tired of it all.

 

[MandLBee]

Totally get that. I personally think it's nuts to reserve a 2 minute theme park ride 2 months out.

I would say the same for sure if it weee just me and my girlfriends or my husband and 1-2 kids. For me, with two separate age groups of kids and some disabilities in the mix, I do have to get up early and plan just to ensure that my ASD people have a schedule. I would rather wing it, if I'm honest!

 

[Sparkly]

It's lunchtime for booking fps for us. No worry about getting up in the wee hours anymore!

 

[Beer Me]

I'm with you, except for me, I have to wake up at 4 am to get fp. For the most part Disney has become a high blood pressure vacation, stress out about your room choice and resort choice, we have to book 18 months out because there is only 6 rooms in the catagory we want, stress about the dining reservations at 180 bog at 5pm is impossible, stress out about fast passes, stress out about all the other things, like the stupid perks you get from dvc, which we have never been able to get our hands on, like once a week they allow 20 and only 20 people on a Wednesday and only Wednesday to ride and tour soaring before the park opens. Well with 200,000 people or more owning dvc you chances of getting this is impossible. They also have art classes at contemporary, but only 10 and only on Thursday, the day it came available, I was on phone at 9, which is 6 my time and I still could not get us in. When you pay thousands of dollars and willing to pay more for some of the perks, you should not have to plan every detail. Actually some of the details I would like to be able to plan, they don't allow you to- I would like to say, I want room 1100 in this hotel and be able to know that room is mine when I show up, I would like to call up DSS and say I want this, this and this and have them get it, but everything I asked DSS to get for me, they said someone will be calling you and I have had no phone calls from anyone.

Anyway, I fell your pain and I am with you, this year we have yet to book our 18 months out or even 9 months out. I don't think we will be going in 18 months, and for us we usually have three vacations going at a tome, the one we are heading to, the one 9 months out and the one 18 months out. I think after 25 years of Disney vacations we are seriously looking for something else, something that will keep my blood pressure at normal range. I love Disney, always make two trips to WDW and at least 1 to DL a year, for 25 years, but this amount of planning is rediculous. I have had to call Disney everyday for a week now about something, and I am just tired of it all.

Jeez. I got an ulcer from just reading that. Maybe WDW has grown too big? It's hard to imagine how they could significantly simplify the planning process without causing a negative impact somewhere else.

Serious question - do you have anything in mind comparable to Disney world in size and scope of choices that will be less stressful to plan?

 

[mom2rtk]

Serious question - do you have anything in mind comparable to Disney world in size and scope of choices that will be less stressful to plan?

I do. It's called Disneyland.

 

[Jaime4004]

I have never made FP reservations the minute they open for my trip and I've always gotten what I wanted.

same here but usually because i've forgotten about it until I get a lovely email from Disney saying my booking window is open (usually late in the day). I obsessively plan for months, then totally forget about the FP+ opening. Every time. Still, it's always worked out. So far, anyway...

 

[DG25]

I do. It's called Disneyland.

I agree DL is far easier on my blood pressure. The last 10 trips we did not plan our meals, we just picked up the phone and asked for a reservation at the Ariels or Goovys and we got it. We also walked up at 9 am and got two BBB's. we call about 4 to 6 weeks ou and we get any of the three resorts, we have stayed at them all, actually if you want a discount at DL you can't book more than 3 months out. But DL is a fast 3 day weekend for us, not a two week vacation.

And to answer Beer me, no other than WDW, I don't know, but if you have to plan this much, is it a vacation from work, or a vacation from planning. I am thinking about what comes next, I want to take a cruise, not Disney, but a cruises to Denmark and Copenhagen, maybe a trip back to the poconos, or maybe to Massachusetts when the tall ships are there. I spent more on Disney vacations in the last 25 years than I did buying my house. We will always be Disney fans, we own DVC so we will keep going, but I think for us it is time to look for some stress free, less planning trips. Like our trip to the poconos 30 years ago for our honeymoon, we did not have reservations. We had no idea were we were going or when we would get there, no planning, but we had the best time. Or when I was a kid, and we jumped in a boat dad owned and went out and saw the tall ships, no planning, we just all jumped in the truck, hooked up the boat and away we went.

 

[Farro]

I love ADR day, I love fast pass day, I love the whole year leading up to the trip. It's like the whole time is sort of the vacation.
This year I took the Friday off to make our ADRs (I will use ANY excuse to use a vacation day!) and my fast pass day falls on a Saturday. My job is stressful. Vacation planning (for me) is not.

I only do WDW every few years (and really only just started doing that, before it was a long time between WDW trips) and other trips in between. I have to say, I do miss the planning when I'm booking other vacations.