All The New Developments

[WDSearcher]

You're seriously comparing this?

Broadway plays = fixed seating and scheduled performances. Rides, not so much. You're really comparing a Broadway play to POTC.

Savvy?

Yup, I am. (Although I didn't use POTC as one of my examples. But I get your point.) But it is the CONCEPT that I'm talking about, not whether or not a Broadway show and POTC are the same from the standpoint of access or capacity. When you look at any given ride, if you want to ride it first thing in the morning or just before your lunch ADR or right before you leave the park at 10pm, then it does very much have fixed seating and a scheduled performance. There are only so many seats available during each given ride window. That's why lines form.

As I am looking at it, both things -- the play and my ride time on (for sake of argument) POTC -- are two things that I want to do at finite times. I know I want to see "Newsies" on Friday night at 8pm. I know I want to go on POTC as my very first ride on my very first MK day, because that's the tradition my kids and I have.

So for Newsies, I get online months in advance so that I can get the right seats on the right night and not have to pay a gazillion dollars for them. I have planned and scheduled and reserved those theater seats in advance. Everything else that day is in the wind -- I can do what I want and roam as I wish, as long as I get to the theatre in time for curtain. No other part of my day needs to be planned.

For POTC, I get online months in advance so that I can set up my FPs on the right day at the right time so that I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to be at MK at rope drop and run through the park to get on the ride or pull the proper FP time. I can even sleep in on my first MK day, secure in the knowledge that I already have my ride time reserved, even if I decide that I want to enter MK at 11am. I have planned and scheduled and reserved those ride seats in advance. Everything else that day is in the wind -- I can do what I want and roam as I wish, as long as I get to the ride in time for my FP. No other part of my day needs to be planned.

Again ... how is that different?

 

[WDSearcher]

And it does seem perfect, and if you can make it so I can switch this around and have that great day on Friday bc Tues is going to be a really rainy day or really cold (we go in Dec) but then end of the week will be warmer. If I can easily switch things around and not miss out on the headliners if something comes up, than I love FP+. If I cant, and I paid all that money and I cant ride our favorites without standing in a 60 minute wait than I will be longing for FP- when I planned but I did not have to forgo flexibility.

But isn't that true of anything?

I could micro-manage my entire trip to NYC and be thwarted by a last-minute blizzard. I could fly on a whim to Cozumel with no planning at all and end up spending my spontaneous unplanned weekend on a grey rainy beach even though the forecast said "sunny and warm".

Nothing is ever going to be 100% foolproof.

 

[MichiganDVC]

And it does seem perfect, and if you can make it so I can switch this around and have that great day on Friday bc Tues is going to be a really rainy day or really cold (we go in Dec) but then end of the week will be warmer. If I can easily switch things around and not miss out on the headliners if something comes up, than I love FP+. If I cant, and I paid all that money and I cant ride our favorites without standing in a 60 minute wait than I will be longing for FP- when I planned but I did not have to forgo flexibility.

Here's my problem with this scenario. The park is still open if it is rainy or cold. And if you were planning on going on Kali in December, you'd really have to hope for an unseasonably warm day regardless, so I don't think it's fair to assume that you would definitely go on Kali with FP- either.
And what are you going to do instead on that rainy or cold day? Stay in your resort? I think weather throws a wrench in all of our WDW plans regardless of seasons! You might plan to go to Typhoon Lagoon in October because last year it was really warm still, but this year it is really cold. Or you may plan to watch the MSEP, but it starts pouring and you don't get to see it.

Having said all that, if Disney is going to restrict your other FP opportunities if you use FP+ and for some reason you can't use your FP+ that day or make suitable changes, plenty of people are going to be mad. So this is another reason why I think there will be plenty of day-of Fastpasses available and the amount for FP+ will be limited to a few.
Just my opinion.

 

[MichiganDVC]

If I had the funds I'd book a trip to my favorite resort in the Riviera Maya right now. I could be packed and on the plane in less than 24 hrs. No planning needed.

What do you do when you get there? Do NOT tell me it is all-inclusive....

 

[drgnfly30]

Again ... how is that different?

Coming from someone that has never even done an ADR in 15 trips, it's completely different.

Planning what I'll be doing on a particular evening while on a weekend trip to NYC (e.g. Broadway show & Dinner) is not the same as planning to ride POTC on October 1st between the hours of 10:35-11:35 when I may want to go to HS instead of MK like I thought I wanted to do 2 months prior. But, YMMV!

 

[drgnfly30]

What do you do when you get there? Do NOT tell me it is all-inclusive....

We lay on the beach or by the pool and relax. Yes, this one happens to be an AI but we also like a little place in Playa del Carmen that is not.. no planning required there either!

 

[WDSearcher]

Coming from someone that has never even done an ADR in 15 trips, it's completely different.

Planning what I'll be doing on a particular evening while on a weekend trip to NYC (e.g. Broadway show & Dinner) is not the same as planning to ride POTC on October 1st between the hours of 10:35-11:35 when I may want to go to HS instead of MK like I thought I wanted to do 2 months prior. But, YMMV!

What if you get to NYC with your dinner reservations and show tickets and then decide you don't really feel like getting dressed up and going to dinner and a show and would much rather hang out in the bar and watch the Knicks game? That wasn't what you thought you wanted to do two months prior, but there you are in NYC, stuck with dinner reservations and show tickets anyway.

 

[MichiganDVC]

We lay on the beach or by the pool and relax. Yes, this one happens to be an AI but we also like a little place in Playa del Carmen that is not.. no planning required there either!

I do not mean what I am about to say in an offensive way to you, your family or your lifestyle, but.....

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm kidding, of course. Well, sort of. Everyone keeps asking me why I don't go other places...why I only go to WDW for vacation. Well? Because it is so EASY! There is a ton to do...parks, resorts, golf, mini-golf, water sports, DTD, water parks. And with my AP, most of that is included in the price of that pass. And the M.E. picks me up from the airport and drives me back, for free. And WDW buses will drive me to all of these adventures, for free! So I can have a beer or two (or seven) while I'm enjoying these adventures.

I've been to my share of beaches in my life. Florida, CA, Caribbean, etc... I would LOVE it. For a day...then I'd be bored out of my mind.

 

[drgnfly30]

What if you get to NYC with your dinner reservations and show tickets and then decide you don't really feel like getting dressed up and going to dinner and a show and would much rather hang out in the bar and watch the Knicks game? That wasn't what you thought you wanted to do two months prior, but there you are in NYC, stuck with dinner reservations and show tickets anyway.

I don't hang out at bars & hate sports. I go to NYC for 3 things - shopping, shows & eating. ETA: I won't get charged for cancelled ressies & I can sell the tickets on Stubhub.. I don't think you have that option w/ FP+, you can't even give them away to some tired grateful family!

I don't micromanage my vacations.. it's too stressful for me and I take vacations to get away from the stress.

We can agree to disagree.

 

[drgnfly30]

I do not mean what I am about to say in an offensive way to you, your family or your lifestyle, but.....

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm kidding, of course. Well, sort of. Everyone keeps asking me why I don't go other places...why I only go to WDW for vacation. Well? Because it is so EASY! There is a ton to do...parks, resorts, golf, mini-golf, water sports, DTD, water parks. And with my AP, most of that is included in the price of that pass. And the M.E. picks me up from the airport and drives me back, for free. And WDW buses will drive me to all of these adventures, for free! So I can have a beer or two (or seven) while I'm enjoying these adventures.

I've been to my share of beaches in my life. Florida, CA, Caribbean, etc... I would LOVE it. For a day...then I'd be bored out of my mind.

Different strokes for different folks. When my kids were younger I couldn't imagine spending my vacation $ on anything other than Disney.

But there are simply too many other places and experiences out there to not try them out.

As much as I love Disney, for those times I need to simply decompress, Disney is not the place for me!

 

[meggiebeth]

The holidays we took before WDW required very little planning. We booked the hotel and flights and just went. We waited till we arrived before looking out for things to do. It's fun to 'explore'.

Disney is entirely different though and I wouldn't want to not plan. That's half the fun! Not sure about FP+, but I will wait until I've tried it before I make a judgement.

When will FP+ be rolled out? I heard it was later this year. Is it likely to be before November? That's when we are going, and I'd love to have a pink Magic Band. I just saw the accessories sold and they look so neat! We are staying at SSR- so not one of the current test resorts. I hate the vagueness of the whole situation- that's what's annoying. I want to know what is happening, rather than cluelessly wonder! Why can't Disney just set some dates or something?!

I have to rely on the dis for my information. Disney decided that the UK has no access to the US Disney world site- and since the UK site has no information at all about Magic Bands or even the option to learn about them- we have no way of really knowing. I'm worried we won't get to join in if it is only for those in the US currently. And a trivial worry- I don't want the hideous grey magic band- I want pink! Lol

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[JanaDee]

i do not mean what i am about to say in an offensive way to you, your family or your lifestyle, but.....

zzzzzzzzzzzz

i'm kidding, of course. Well, sort of. Everyone keeps asking me why i don't go other places...why i only go to wdw for vacation. Well? Because it is so easy! There is a ton to do...parks, resorts, golf, mini-golf, water sports, dtd, water parks. And with my ap, most of that is included in the price of that pass. And the m.e. Picks me up from the airport and drives me back, for free. And wdw buses will drive me to all of these adventures, for free! So i can have a beer or two (or seven) while i'm enjoying these adventures.

I've been to my share of beaches in my life. Florida, ca, caribbean, etc... I would love it. For a day...then i'd be bored out of my mind.

nm

 

[WDSearcher]

I don't hang out at bars & hate sports. I go to NYC for 3 things - shopping, shows & eating. ETA: I won't get charged for cancelled ressies & I can sell the tickets on Stubhub.. I don't think you have that option w/ FP+, you can't even give them away to some tired grateful family!

I don't micromanage my vacations.. it's too stressful for me and I take vacations to get away from the stress.

We can agree to disagree.

Absolutely.

As you said, YMMV.

 

[rharper1496]

We lay on the beach or by the pool and relax. Yes, this one happens to be an AI but we also like a little place in Playa del Carmen that is not.. no planning required there either!

That' a completely different kind of vacation though. If you're not doing anything then there's nothing to plan. I'm not knocking it, I'm always down for lying by the pool for a week but if I wanted to go to WDW and hang out by the pool the whole time I could do that in 24 hours too. No advance planning required.

 

[eliza61]

I'm honestly shocked anyone believes otherwise.

Except I remember when this first started, everyone swore that the old fastpass would not change and would still be an option.

So, I have not read 21 pages of comments. I apologize.

I've gotten pretty philosophical about Disney and their changes.
after the last couple years I haven't been a big fan of these changes, for the most part I don't think they come from a desire to enhance guest enjoyment but rather a desire to enhance company's bottom line. That's cool as every one here is fond of saying , Disney is a business.

I still love disney but my love affair is waning. The "don't care for list" is getting long. Yes, I know for some starbucks is not a big deal, for me it's one more reason I think Disney is turning into a glorified 6 flags. No imagination, no originality. Fp+ is simply another brick on that list.

where before I couldn't imagine going any where else, now I've realized there are tons of wonderful places that we have just as much "magic". Disney is pretty much now our weekend, nothing else to do place. we use to go for at least 10 days now 4 is more than enough. we rarely eat on site and we're lucky our dvc has more than paid for itself.

But I also still enjoy hearing from folks who go and still find the magic.

 

[drgnfly30]

That' a completely different kind of vacation though. If you're not doing anything then there's nothing to plan. I'm not knocking it, I'm always down for lying by the pool for a week but if I wanted to go to WDW and hang out by the pool the whole time I could do that in 24 hours too. No advance planning required.

Clearly.. but the question MichiganDVC posed was "What other types of vacations are people going on that require zero advance planning?!" Not "what other type of Disney-esque vacations require zero advance planning?'

I still love disney but my love affair is waning. where before I couldn't imagine going any where else, now I've realized there are tons of wonderful places that we have just as much "magic". Disney is pretty much now our weekend, nothing else to do place. we use to go for at least 10 days now 4 is more than enough.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Mkrop]

Here's my problem with this scenario. The park is still open if it is rainy or cold. And if you were planning on going on Kali in December, you'd really have to hope for an unseasonably warm day regardless, so I don't think it's fair to assume that you would definitely go on Kali with FP- either.
And what are you going to do instead on that rainy or cold day? Stay in your resort? I think weather throws a wrench in all of our WDW plans regardless of seasons! You might plan to go to Typhoon Lagoon in October because last year it was really warm still, but this year it is really cold. Or you may plan to watch the MSEP, but it starts pouring and you don't get to see it.
Having said all that, if Disney is going to restrict your other FP opportunities if you use FP+ and for some reason you can't use your FP+ that day or make suitable changes, plenty of people are going to be mad. So this is another reason why I think there will be plenty of day-of Fastpasses available and the amount for FP+ will be limited to a few.
Just my opinion.

Maybe that is the day we sleep in, maybe that is the day we go to DTD, or a park that is more indoors like Epcot. We had this EXACT scenario in Dec 2010. Record lows in the beg of the week, in the 30s, it was warmer at home in PA then FL. We switched our entire vacation around bc the beg of the week was freezing, and the end of the week was in the 80s. At the beg of the week, we were wearing coats and gloves, come Sat we were able to finally go to AK, and we were swimming at CR/BLT. I want to be able to change things if I want/need to, I was able to change all my ADRS bc I did not have any of the hard to get ones booked. The only thing we could not change was the CP package, and while it was beautiful, we were quite miserable. I would not want a whole vacation like that, where I could not change things or my only choice will be long SB lines. And this is why we buy parkhoppers so we can change things on whim or bc it is raining and we think Wishes might not happen. If there are NO FP+ for the day of and standby lines are long, we may be rethinking our vacation destination. I am already annoyed with the $10/charge for cancelling ADRs. Charge me if I am a true no show, dont charge me if I call you at 8am to cancel a 6pm ADR bc my kid is sick.

 

[MichiganDVC]

...where before I couldn't imagine going any where else, now I've realized there are tons of wonderful places that we have just as much "magic".

Like where?

I mean this seriously.... because I think the latest posts in this thread have been implying that they expect the same non-planning they do in other vacations to be available to them at a WDW vacation...and of course, FP+ interferes with that idea. And I, of course, agree with a PP that you have to plan just as much for most comparable vacations. (Laying at the beach not withstanding.)

So can you name a few places off the top of your head that you find just as enjoyable as WDW?

 

[luvmy3]

I don't hang out at bars & hate sports. I go to NYC for 3 things - shopping, shows & eating. ETA: I won't get charged for cancelled ressies & I can sell the tickets on Stubhub.. I don't think you have that option w/ FP+, you can't even give them away to some tired grateful family!

I don't micromanage my vacations.. it's too stressful for me and I take vacations to get away from the stress.

We can agree to disagree.

Yes, this! I have micro-managed some vacations before, and you know they were more stress for me and my family than the ones where we just go with the flow.

 

[eliza61]

Like where?

I mean this seriously.... because I think the latest posts in this thread have been implying that they expect the same non-planning they do in other vacations to be available to them at a WDW vacation...and of course, FP+ interferes with that idea. And I, of course, agree with a PP that you have to plan just as much for most comparable vacations. (Laying at the beach not withstanding.)

So can you name a few places off the top of your head that you find just as enjoyable as WDW?

Wow I could name 7 and disney would come in dead last among them.

Let's see just this past May my family (9 people gasp!!) and I spent 2 weeks in London and Paris. Yes, we took small kids. guess what people in france and england have children and there are tons of things you can do. Nope we did not have to make dinner reservations 6 months in advance. In fact Paris, it's pretty darn hard to walk more than a block with passing 4 places to eat. very liberating, very freeing. Don't need a fp+ to ride tour effiel. and get this. we spent LESS than we did at disney (not including airfare). Our hotel was cheaper (and better), food in Paris (sorry London, food sucked there) was sublime and cheaper and most of the attractions were free for the kids and with a museum pass darn cheap for the adults. Now we had a TA for our European trip but outside of getting opening and closing times. You pretty much wake up and decide where you want to go. in fact for much of Europe, simply letting your feet do the deciding is the charm.

We took 9 folks to Europe and not once did I need a reservation, have to get some where at opening in order to have a good time or need an excel spreadsheet. Many times the hotel concierge made suggestions that we were able to do that morning.
A cruise down the Seine runs continually, a double decker hop on hop off bus in London runs all day.

Now in January we went to vegas. See the above.
1) hotels on strip, magnificient and 1/2 the cost. I should say I stay deluxe so I'm comparing them to deluxes
2) food cheaper and better
3) tons of stuff to do and we don't gamble. My kids did rock climbing, some type of attraction where it seems like you are skydiving but you're indoor, go kart racing in the dessert and a helicopter tour of the grand canyon. I didn't go on that one but my sons could not stop raving about it. (lol, I went shopping!!)
4) about the only thing we had to really plan was getting tickets to the many cirque du soliel shows.

4th of July we hit Washington DC.
Food here was pricey.

Next year,
we're investigating our first cruise. can't wait.
we're also planning a white water trip to Yellowstone.

every one of the above you can pretty much do last minute, you can eat well less expensively and not have to have adrs. You can do the attractions without scheduling and without crowds.

Sorry but while I do investigate my vacations prior to deciding what to do. Disney is now the only place on earth where you need a excel spreadsheet to enjoy. How sad is that. I want a vacation, I don't want to plan like I'm the commander of the allied invasion into Normandy.

And that's totally cool, like I said the last couple of years my family and I have been traveling around the globe and like I said, we've had just as magical vacations.