Bad Disney Advice

[jaci-h]

Heck, I'd be willing to pop out a baby or two for free DVC!

I believe we're workin' on that!

 

[momtosam]

I haven't read all the posts so if this is listed as a suggestion I'll die , but I love the people who do things like bring a loaf of bread and then steal jelly packets from quick serve condiment stations. I read about a family who did that all through Yellowstone Park or some such place. Seriously, if I'm on vacation I don't want to eat like a prisoner to save a few bucks.

 

[kathyell]

A friend of mine (who ended up taking a very fun and successful trip this past March) asked via a Facebook status for advice on visiting WDW. He received the following advice from the first person to comment back:

1) You must stay at a Deluxe level resort to use "early hours", by which she meant EMH. You had to be sure not to stay at the "basic" resorts so that you wouldn't get left out of this perk.

2) Besides, you'd want to stay at a Deluxe because *every* Deluxe hotel has monorail service to all four of the parks.

3) He also got the old classic, "don't bother renting a car because even hotel guests have to pay to park both at the resort and at the parks." (And yes, I know you pay for parking at the Swan and Dolphin, and I told my friend about that when he was considering resorts and said that might be why his other friend thought you had to pay for parking everywhere.)

Another friend of his told him to stay at the "animal hotel" because there is a path you can use to walk from there to the "animal park". I can only imagine someone trying to cut across the savanna with the giraffes to walk into Animal Kingdom from Animal Kingdom Lodge. (!)

A third friend told him not to bother taking his kids until they're older. (They are 10 and 6!)

I sent a private message offering to answer any questions he had, and we sent about 100 FB messages back and forth before they took their trip this past March. I was so happy to see all the pictures of them having a great time that he posted while they were on their trip! His daughter is always so good with mine, who is significantly younger, whenever we're all at the same party or when we all have dinner together, so I was glad to be able to share some of the info we've learned after taking our trips.

(I'm still waiting for those Deluxes to get monorail access to ALL 4 parks! That would be pretty awesome!)

 

[LoriABil]

I'm with you! The worst part is, that the parents are the ones without a plan, and the kids end up suffering IMO. Can you imagine having such a miserable time as a child that you didn't want to go back??? I wanted our first trip to be memorable for our son, not only because it was a bundle of money, but because I thought it was a Once in a Lifetime type trip! Little did I know that we would be hooked! I guess I just want to share the magic with others through advice and planning. I think I'm sharing the magic! They probably think
I'm a kook! Lol!!!

I couldn't imagine going ANYWHERE that costs me a bundle o'bucks without doing some research -- looking at maps, getting a guidebook, whatever. In fact, I like to know something about a place I'm going even when it's relatively cheap! It's amazing that people are willing to do the equivalent of taking a thousand dollars and tossing it up in the air and saying "wherever it lands, we're just fine with it!" And then they see other people picking up their money and running, and they decide that someone else made the mistake, not them. These days, there is NOWHERE you can go that you can't find info on. We're not major planners, not necessarily there for rope-drop -- but we know about it, we know how much we have to spend and how much it will cost us. We've made plans to go less than a month before we leave, knowing that we may have restrictions, and we've made plans a year out. Honestly, these days, I don't feel sorry at all for people who do no research, make no plans, and come back and say they had a lousy time. (of course, if you do no research, make no plans and come back and say you had a great time, then more power to you!)

 

[ekball]

I have a friend (who grew up in FL) who calls the Magic Kingdom "Disney World." She & her boyfriend went down to FL to visit her family over the summer - before they left, she told me they were going to spend a day at Disney World. I asked her which park they were going to. Her answer - "Umm... Disney World."

I give up.

Old habits die hard. For those of us who grew up in FL it's still hard to not call the MK "Disney World"....cause once upon a time that's all there was. I still get tickled when my brother calls the MK "Disney World", 'cause I know where he's coming from (and he lives in Orlando and goes all the time).

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have read some of the Mom's Panel responses about tickets and am appalled at the misinformation they are handing out. If I knew how to contact several of them directly I would have given them a link to my Everything About WDW Tickets sticky in the TPA&S Forum and suggest that they study it before anwsering any more ticket questions.

 

[LilRonGal]

I get the feeling that a lot of people have NO concept of the scope of Walt Disney World. They probably think it's similar to Six Flags or Cedar Point--parks you can go to without a real plan and still have a pretty good time. There are amusement parks that DO charge for FastPass type things, and usually someone can walk right in to a sit down place and have dinner no problem. They just don't know, and they probably don't even think to ask because they don't know they don't know. If that makes any sense.

 

[Ericandjenng]

We must be in the minority, but I don't think the food at the parks is that expensive. Compared to some local amusement parks around here it's a bargain...we just paid $16 for a Subway turkey sub this summer and the drinks are $4.00, so Disney to us isn't that out of line. Plus we have our favorite spots and you can't visit those off site. We did off site once, then we tried onsite and for the past 13 years haven't left! We LOVE not driving and parking.

We live near Dollywood and the people here think it's nothing to go there and spend that money. I have had more than one tell how much more expensive Disney is....Really? When was the last time you went? Most of those same people would be the type to try and go off for lunch at Disney but think nothing of spending the same by staying in at Dollywood...Go figure...oh and they go to the state fairs...have seen the prices on those things lately!?!?!?

 

[hambirg]

Yeah, I agree with the PPs that have said that I think most people don't have any idea of the scope of WDW. My DB, SIL and nephew went in mid July. How bad could it be, right? They stayed offsite and only bought 2-day passes. Seriously if you are going to fly to the opposite corner of the country why wouldn't you at least see all 4 parks? They only went to MK and Epcot. I KNOW how they are. . .they like to shop and eat. I told them that Epcot is at least a 2-day park for them. They were surprised how much bigger MK was than Disneyland. I did explain ALL the details of using Fastpass to my brother. He was very thankful about that, because it was so crowded. He said they probably would have been able to ride very little without it and they probably wouldn't have even bothered with it, if they didn't know beforehand. BUT they did tell me they felt they could have spent at least another 2 days at Epcot! I kinda knew that before they even left. And on the one day they were in Epcot they ate CS at Liberty Inn and got a turkey leg. Really?! With all of those amazing places to eat? Ugh!

I will have to say, being a westcoaster, even seasoned Disneyland folks may find WDW to be a whole other animal. When we go to Disneyland we stay offsite, and even leave the parks to eat sometimes. It's very easy to do that there. The parks are smaller and everything is much closer.

 

[EMom]

Yes, it is sooo odd to see people that haven't been or have been like 3 times that are giving all kind of advice, most of which is wrong!! I saw one the other day telling someone to use the free dining and the gift card codes together.

Well, I've "only" been three times, but those three trips add up to 28 days total. Considering many people take 4 day trips, my three may not make me an expert, but I'm not a novice either. I had the good sense to find this board, allears and read the Unoffical Guide before we took the first trip and that trip was taken with very little notice, because it was my MIL's doing. Even on short notice, I was not going on a major trip "blind" and just wing it.

As far as leaving WDW to eat every meal.....No way. I'm a fairly frugal person, but time is money and I'm not going to waste vaulable park time trying to save a few bucks. Plus, the effort of getting from one place to another would irritate my DH. We usually opt of of much of the Disney transportation (buses mainly) because I refuse to stand and don't want to get the hairy eyeball if I don't want to give up my seat. I'm sitting for a reason thanks, and don't want to have to explain it. So we rent a car. It's not DH's idea of a vacation to have to tromp out of MK, make our way to the car (no easy task right there) and exit WDW to hunt down cheap eats........Only to have to reverse that process after we eat. That adds up to a lot of time. The place is too massive for us to even think about that. Even if the food was free offsite, I'd still stay in the park because it's more convenient. Sure, I'll have breakfast snacks in the room, but I can eat that while I'm getting ready.

So I don't know that it's BAD advice, but it just depends on your priorities. I like to save money as much as the next person, but I didn't fly halfway across the country, use up a good bit of DH's vacation time and get myself in vacation mode only to obsess on saving a few dollars at the expense of the actual vacation. Saving money will not be my focus on vacation.

Those are probably not words DH wants to hear, since we're considering both a 4th trip to WDW and a trip to Australia within a 12 month period.

 

[kelly1218]

My old boss, who was notorious for being wrong even though he swore that he was right, tried telling me there was only Epcot and "Disney World". So when I got back he'd ask "did you go to Epcot or Disney World?" and I'd say "there are 4 parks now actually and I did all 4" And he'd ask again"....so Epcot or Disney World?"

Was his name John? Seriously....when I worked in Morrisville....I had a boss like that.

 

[disneymarie]

Mother in Law:

I heard that buying those quick pass things is really expensive, so be sure to avoid those and just wait in line.



I tried to explain it to her and father in law, but they didn't get it.

Maybe they are confused with Universal. There you can purchase fast passes and it is $$$$
When I tried to explain to dh the last trip the passes were $$$ He was as confused as I first had been.
I use to think,( 1st trip that MGM was Universal), for about 15 minutes until kids explained it all.

There was no second park in Univeral in those days and now the lines are sooooo long.

 

[Poohbear5]

When my kids were 3,3 & 6, we decided to take a trip our first trip to Disney. All of our family members told us it would be waste of money because the kids would not remember.
When I was a child, our family NEVER took a vacation anywhere so I was determined that lack of funds would not keep us from giving our kids vacations!
A neighbor gave us her copy of the Unofficial Guide (which was a thin book at that time!).
We loaded up our station wagon with 180,000 miles on it,drove nearly straight through; we brought in our Peanut butter sandwhiches to the park, snack and juice. At breakfast at the Motel 6, slept all 3 kids in one bed. Got a box of ice cream sandwhiches from the supermarket to eat by the pool at night, We had blast!
I was ever so grateful to that person who gave us the Unofficial Guide! Not sure it would have occurred to me to plan for touring!
We only get back about every 5 years but use the UOG every time.

 

[DawnM]

We take food into the local theme park too!

BUT, here is the difference IMO.......the local park is a one day event. I go home at the end of the day.

At Disney the food prices are for the length of my stay. So, if we are spending $100/day (which is low for a family of 5 and would only include non-character meals)......we have to times that by our number of days.

We do eat some at Disney. Normally we allow ourselves 3 days of cs lunches out of the 5 or so days we are in the parks. Then we will leave around 2pm on a day or two to go to DTD or the waterparks, so we will eat off site or take a break at the condo on the way to other things those days. We bring in food 2-3 days to off-set the cost. We don't have PB&J everyday!

But I think we are also the odd-balls because we really don't like eating out every day. DH and I try to eat fairly healthy and after a day or two of fast food we start feeling a bit sick.

Is it outrageous at Disney for food? Probably not, but times it by 5 and the number of days we are there and we could easily plop down over $1,000 for food and gain a few pounds in the process!

Dawn

We must be in the minority, but I don't think the food at the parks is that expensive. Compared to some local amusement parks around here it's a bargain...we just paid $16 for a Subway turkey sub this summer and the drinks are $4.00, so Disney to us isn't that out of line. Plus we have our favorite spots and you can't visit those off site. We did off site once, then we tried onsite and for the past 13 years haven't left! We LOVE not driving and parking.

 

[tink2dw]

When I first learned about these boards back in the '97's there was a post about a couple sitting on the MK's City Hall, sharing a cold, can of whole kernal corn!!!

 

[djbleach]

What I like Is for people to share with me their "experience". Not really what I need to do. It's been posted and that's usually how you get people to "listen".
We've never done Disney onsite. (I did when I was younger on my parents dime.)
We always get a 3* room or better off priceline anywhere from $35-65 per night. It's been a Holiday Inn, Doubletree, etc.
We might hit Chick Fi La in the morning. Eat at the park for lunch, go back to the room in the afternoon and back to the park.
Again, this is what we do. It works for us. We've only done 1 day tickets. Now that HURTS!!!
Very little planning.....I think the best plan we had was where I read to bypass the rides in the front of the park and work you way Back to Front. It seemed to work.
Sometimes you just have to "let the magic happen". Lets really be honest about Disney. It is a special place. It also has the recipe for disaster!! Hot, Long Lines, Expensive, sleepy kids getting pushed to do more than they normally would, etc..
So at the end of the day it is just best to say how we do it and let them decide on their own.
One other thing that has not been posted. Just because you do Disney onsite tranportation. Doesn't always mean things are going to be fast!! Please take in to account that when you drive your own car, you go where you want. When you do Disney transportation, you are on their schedule. Our friends said they got on a wrong bus and It took HOURS for them to get back?

 

[cjnix29]

I would say staying off site is more conducive to having your meals off site. If staying on site, there is no real reason to leave. but grabbing dinner on the way back to the condo is fairly convenient. I honestly think first timers really have no idea how large Walt Disney World is. That it can take you a half an hour to get back to your car and off property. I am an OCD planner, and ther are still things I don't know. And it can be overwhelming. But I do think it is crazy to go for the first time and expect to wing it. I will wing it now, but winging it for me is different because I never have to look at a map, or understand what a fast pass is. I know what the good CS meals are and what the best value is, without having to look at it for each trip. But winging it now means going without ADRs, and deciding that morning what park we are going to. Bu I don't have any must do TS either. If I did, I know enough to make an ADR.

Had a friend that went over Labor Day weekend. She stayed at Doubletree offsite. I talked to her before she left, and she didn't understand that she wasn't actually on site, because the hotel is billed as "in the Walt Disney World Resort". or whatever it is. So she didn't understand she wouldn't have the same perks, etc. Fortunately, she was there instead of some other hotel. They atleast have somewhat decent transportation to and from the parks. But her biggest complaint was how much they spent on food. Without planning, you do spend a WHOLE lot more!

But we have other friends that are actually going to be at Disney the same time we are. They are ONLY going to the Magic Kingdom for three days, staying at the Poly, and having about every meal at Kona. We will meet them for the Halloween Party, but I have realized that they have only been once before and do things WAY differently than we do. But...we have embraced our differences, and realized....it's their vacation, and we have ours! They probably would be crazy doing it our way. What really makes me sad is those that say they didn't have a great time because they spent no time planning, or swear they won't go back because of it. But....then I guess I'll get their great hotel room or their ADR they didn't make! Different strokes for different folks...and fortunately, Disney has lots of options!

 

[Mickeypooh99]

When my kids were 3,3 & 6, we decided to take a trip our first trip to Disney. All of our family members told us it would be waste of money because the kids would not remember.
When I was a child, our family NEVER took a vacation anywhere so I was determined that lack of funds would not keep us from giving our kids vacations!
A neighbor gave us her copy of the Unofficial Guide (which was a thin book at that time!).
We loaded up our station wagon with 180,000 miles on it,drove nearly straight through; we brought in our Peanut butter sandwhiches to the park, snack and juice. At breakfast at the Motel 6, slept all 3 kids in one bed. Got a box of ice cream sandwhiches from the supermarket to eat by the pool at night, We had blast!
I was ever so grateful to that person who gave us the Unofficial Guide! Not sure it would have occurred to me to plan for touring!
We only get back about every 5 years but use the UOG every time.

I'm so glad to read this this morning. It just made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Those are the best memories. We have had some bare bones trips too, and still had fun. We stayed in a hotel for like $25.00 per night one time. I remember as a teenager with my family my dad's really old mini van broke down in Tennessee in the middle of the night. That was an ordeal, but the trip turned out great.

I totally agree about people saying don't take the young kids because they wont remember it. That to me is the worst advice. My kids maybe don't remember when they were 1 and 2 years old, but I do. They were so cute, and it was a great trip. We also have picture that are priceless. If I had it to do again I would do it the same.

 

[JB2K]

I get the feeling that a lot of people have NO concept of the scope of Walt Disney World. They probably think it's similar to Six Flags or Cedar Point--parks you can go to without a real plan and still have a pretty good time. There are amusement parks that DO charge for FastPass type things, and usually someone can walk right in to a sit down place and have dinner no problem. They just don't know, and they probably don't even think to ask because they don't know they don't know. If that makes any sense.

You will get that response from a lot of people who have either never visited WDW, or from "40-something" adults who visited there as a child in the 70's (when WDW was only the MK and 3 resort hotels -- everything else within 10 miles was still all undeveloped swampland!).

My non-visiting relatives tend to think of it as "a big amusement park somewhere in the middle of Florida", and nothing more -- that's where the confusion tends to set-in...

 

[Planogirl]

Maybe they are confused with Universal. There you can purchase fast passes and it is $$$$
When I tried to explain to dh the last trip the passes were $$$ He was as confused as I first had been.
I use to think,( 1st trip that MGM was Universal), for about 15 minutes until kids explained it all.

There was no second park in Univeral in those days and now the lines are sooooo long.

It's not too bad if you know how to work the lines. We stay offsite, go during the summer and never buy Express passes. We always ride what we want to. Harry Potter was the only pain but that would be true no matter what.