Anyone else hate having to reserve dates, etc?

[HeatherC]

We have always loved going to Disney and basing which park we visited on crowd calendars and how we actually felt on any given day. We are looking to go in February again and I hate that I have to know which park we want to go to in which day ahead of time. Between booking park days and ride times, etc, I am almost tempted to say we will just do an Orlando trip. It seems to take away all the spontaneous fun we have always had. Am I the only one who dislikes this?

 

[jennyq87]

Totally agree with you. We've spent less and less time in the parks recently.. less ADRs.. less FastPasses (or whatever it's called now?). We used to get Hoppers and we were able to still be pretty spontaneous with our plans. Now with the 2pm hopping limitation and the park reservations, it all just feels too scheduled. I know a lot of people like that structure, but it's not for me -- I don't like being on a strict schedule on my vacation. We're going next month and we just doing one park day. The rest of the time we will do Disney Springs and hop around the resorts and come/go as we please

 

[Disneylover99]

It’s funny. I never minded making ADR’s and fastpasses, but having to pick my park days in advance bugs the heck out of me. Lol.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I don't love it... but I used to plan ADR's and FP+, so it's really not THAT different. I had to know what park I was going to be in to do those things anyway.

 

[jennyq87]

If you're used to doing one park per day, then I can see where it's not a huge difference. We have always been Hopper people and one of our traditions was to go to an early breakfast at Be Our Guest and then monorail over to Epcot for our actual park day (there's just not a lot for us in MK). That's not really an option for us anymore, because I don't want to be stuck in MK until 2pm. Or just the freedom to make a last minute adjustment if you walk into a park in the morning and it's crazy busy that day. Or it's getting super hot in AK. So it's not a massive deal, but it's just one more scheduling hurdle that makes any sort of spontaneity more challenging for us personally.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm not crazy about it and wish they would up the hopping to earlier in the day but am still pretty much a no planning in advance person. I always have hoppers so I just randomly book a park a day for my trip knowing I'm going to hop at some point. I have been on two trips since the new rules and have made it work. I just go to the reserved park whatever time on its day, stay until I'm ready to move on. If it's not 2, which it usually isn't, I go back to the resort for some pool or rest time then head out to park #2. I did used to enjoy being able to just move on whenever but it's not horrible to work around it. Otherwise, it's just about the same for me. I never (or rarely) made FPs in advance, or at all. If I made them it was day of and only one at a time and never longer than 1/2 hour in advance. I never make ADRs in advance, just day of. I've had no problems doing that the last two times I've been there. I don't plan on buying Genie + or the pay per ride. I'm not ride centric and don't mind waiting in line.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

Yes, I hate it. Last trip, we had planned to do an AK day but went to HS last minute because DGD had not felt well on our HS day earlier in the trip and stayed at the hotel w/her dad.

I realize now, we won't be able to make these changes anymore.

 

[CynBeth]

I do not like having to make theme park reservations and the 2 pm hopper time. We visit every few years for about 9 or 10 days including a few at other area attractions. We did plan things like ADRs ate at mostly TS due to food allergies but never did the original FP really liked the FP+ that you could book in advance which we worked around our meals. Certain days of a trip especially the later ones we would go to one park for a few hours to fit in more of what we did not get to and then go to another park or we would leave Thanksgiving open and decide spur of the moment where we wanted to go. I also am not happy about Genie+. I would rather if they wanted us to pay have a set price and allow us to go on any ride that has the special line than to constantly be on the phone. Barring anything happening I will be there in a few weeks and will be thrilled just to be there.

 

[HeatherC]

I'm not crazy about it and wish they would up the hopping to earlier in the day but am still pretty much a no planning in advance person. I always have hoppers so I just randomly book a park a day for my trip knowing I'm going to hop at some point. I have been on two trips since the new rules and have made it work. I just go to the reserved park whatever time on its day, stay until I'm ready to move on. If it's not 2, which it usually isn't, I go back to the resort for some pool or rest time then head out to park #2. I did used to enjoy being able to just move on whenever but it's not horrible to work around it. Otherwise, it's just about the same for me. I never (or rarely) made FPs in advance, or at all. If I made them it was day of and only one at a time and never longer than 1/2 hour in advance. I never make ADRs in advance, just day of. I've had no problems doing that the last two times I've been there. I don't plan on buying Genie + or the pay per ride. I'm not ride centric and don't mind waiting in line.

Unfortunately, we are going President’s Week when parks will be crowded so I’m afraid if I don’t “book”everything we may wind up not being able to do many rides and just waiting in long lines. It is almost enough of a pain for me to say forget it and do other things around Orlando.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Park reservations seemed like a very sensible idea when drastically restricting the number of people in each park every day was necessary, along with the temperature checks, etc. It helped manage expectations and prevent people being turned away in inconvenient places. However, I believe it should be retired NOW.

My understanding of Genie+ is very limited, but I don’t think you can make your bookings when you make your park reservations. So, doesn’t that mean you may not get any of the attractions you are willing to pay those extra $ for LL on the day you have your HS reservation… and you won’t know until that day.

Yes, booking FP+s often determined which park you would visit on a given day, however, it was free and you knew well in advance that you had specific times on specific dates. We always made these reservations, and never minded cancelling them if a whim took us into another park, or we opted for a WP day due to the weather.

Another dilemma- I am sitting with expired Cdn 8-day park tickets, which have to be applied into another (and specifically more expensive!) current ticket. I cannot do this on line, but must do so in person or by phone. So, in person, means no lead-in time to make park reservations. Just have to hope for the best. Alternately, I have to call, and eat the long distance costs of possibly being on hold for hours. That is not going to happen. Unless one of the experts on this board knows of an international toll-free number…

I have now cancelled 2 trips at my favourite time of year (Nov/Dec) and lost the hope of making one final trip with my grandsons, as their availability changes drastically next year. It’s been a depressing and distressing time and I am almost ready to give up on WDW, except that I need a fix to help me get over all of this!

 

[sheilafri]

I hate the reservations and 2 pm Hopping delay. The cynical part of me thinks the latter is to encourage people to stay onsite as they can more easily leave a park for a few hours for a midday dip or nap and get back to hop into a different park.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

The lack of flexibility SUCKS!!!!

 

[imbelle]

The lack of flexibility was one of the reasons that I was seriously considering not renewing my annual pass after 20+ years. I always liked scheduling ADRs and Fastpasses in advance so you'd think that the park reservation system wouldn't be a stretch. In practice, it's a real pain. For example, this last trip I got into Orlando late in the evening and I wanted to check a shop at HS for a park specific item before it closed at 9pm. But my park reservation was for Epcot. So I had to scan into Epcot first, power walk to HS (the fastest mode of transportation between the two parks), and power walk back to Epcot to use my Remy boarding group pass before 10pm closing. Or the example where, as an early riser, before the park reservation system, I could go to AK and do several things before the rest of my party rolls out of bed for our 10 am Epcot day. There are so many times where I think "I could go to this park and do this" and then remember that I can't because I have to scan into my park reservation first or wait until the 1pm park hopping time. When you were used to the freedom to go between parks at will, the reservation system makes it so restricting now.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I started dis-liking all the pre-planning before Covid. Didn't what to plan where I'll be and where to eat 160 days out. But at least there were not park reservations like there are now...what a pain. We were at WDW second week of October. I knew it was going to be crowded and working on the 2 p.m. park hopper schedule and no fast passes (and pre Genie), so we went in with zero expectations. Which, if you think of it, is pretty sad because a WDW vacation is not cheap. Lines were long, very long, and did not move faster because of no FP. We find ourselves doing less park time. It's not as much fun anymore. Our last trip was for 5 days. I can see going forward doing 3 days. Definitely no more 7 day trips. Probably do different vacations, like cruises. Not just DCL cruises but definitely going to look into Celebrity and other lines.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Unless one of the experts on this board knows of an international toll-free number…

Make a google voice account, call using a computer with a microphone.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Unfortunately, we are going President’s Week when parks will be crowded so I’m afraid if I don’t “book”everything we may wind up not being able to do many rides and just waiting in long lines. It is almost enough of a pain for me to say forget it and do other things around Orlando.

The "other things around Orlando" are going to be just as crowded.

 

[Experiment262]

This just reminded me to write Disney and implore them to not revert ADRs back to 180 days.

 

[_19disnA]

Part of the reason we go on vacation is to be spontaneous, do things we don't do when at home and get away from the phones/emails/rigid schedules/etc. associated with our jobs. Planning a Disney trip now seems like too much of a hassle or job to be any fun. Have ZERO plans to go back anytime soon, far more choices to vacation we enjoy better. For us, Disney has gotten too expensive, requires too much planning and is way too crowded to be able to enjoy the popular rides in a reasonable amount of time. The whole Genie thing seems annoying and you would end up with your nose stuck in your phone, zig/zagging all over the park to get to your next timeslot instead of enjoying your park/family time together.

 

[Nabz34]

I actually prefer the current system than needing to book ADRs 180 days out and needing to book fast passes for rides 60+ days out (staying onsite). That to me was LESS flexible than the current system. Planning out park days for us is not that big of a deal, but planning what time I needed to go on a certain ride 2 months before was very annoying for us.

 

[michelleiada]

I hate the park reservation system. Why get a park hopper if you can’t park hop until after 2 pm? I miss the flexibility. I don’t like a lot of the recent changes occurring at my happy place.