Big mistakes made by SIL

[AlyJoy716]

My SIL and hubby took their two boys, 4 and 7, to Disneyland last week. SIL is not a Diser. Such a shame because I think they practically wasted a trip. The reason I say this is because she had no idea what to do when they got there. It's just killing me to write this. First off, they barely knew what a fastpass was. Luckily, her teenage niece on the other side of the family told them what they were. Can you imagine not using FP's?

Second, as I was looking through their pics, she doesn't have any of the boys with characters. I asked her if they took any and she said, "We didn't see any walking around." What?? I told her that they generally don't "walk around", but that there are meet and greets in designated areas of the park. I just can't believe she didn't know that. Not only did they not get pics with characters, but they didn't get any pics of their family on Main St. in front of the castle. It just boggles my mind that they didn't take a few seconds to get some good pictures that will last a lifetime. Who goes to Disney without at least doing some research? It's a lot of $$$$ to spend (but just between us, she played the pity card and got her in-laws to pay for it, which is another post all together), and to go in and not take full advantage of it, is just crazy!!

 

[Greta]

Don't stress over things you cannot change. I remember one of the people I worked with said their trip to Disneyworld with her hubby and kids wasn't great because the kids were "teenagers now and were too old for Disney now" ?!?! No use saying anything to her because it would just upset me too much, I chalked it up to 1 less family for me to stand in line behind while we are there!

 

[poohfriend77]

We had a friend who had a similar experience. My DH's response: "They didn't do it right, but at least they don't know what a crappy trip they had." He made fun of my obsessive planning before our first trip, but now loves to point out (just to me, of course) all the ways our trips are better than everyone else's.

The point is... YOU know her trip could have been better with some planning, but does she? Was she disappointed at all? If not, just shake your head and don't rub it in when your next trip is absolutely magical.

 

[MichMickey]

These are the same people who think camping in a tent for a week is relaxing or maybe the kind who prefer a trip to the beach(not Blizzard or Caribbean). My DS and BIL, (who I love dearly!) did not get Park Hopper when they went down in May and they only went to the park for 4 days when they were down in Orlando for over a week! I don't get it but different strokes for different folks as my Dad always says. All i know is My DW and I have been looking forward to our trip for over and year!

As far as pictures go everyone has different idea's of what will capture the memory. I know that at this point we are prepaying for the $100 Photo Pass so that we can get the hundreds of pictures we are likely to have taken all professionally done and on 1 CD. We got the Photopass 3 years ago and it was well worth the price.

 

[MerriH807]

The minute I hear ANYONE is going to Disney, I want to tell them everything I know....but sometimes people look at me crazy like, why do I need to know all this stuff? Oh well!

 

[AlyJoy716]

Since being a Dis member, I've gathered a wealth of knowledge that I would have loved to share with her, but like a pp said, basically, she doesn't know what she missed. However, being the type A, controlling planner that I am , it just kills me to think of all the stuff they missed.

 

[cat83]

As long as she had a good time...
It bothers me when people come back complaining what an awful time they had, and its because of their lack of research.

But if she's not complaining, and she had a good time with her family, that really is all that is important
She may not have seen or done everything, and may not have come back an expert, but if she made magical memories with her husband and children and is happy with it, then it was a good vacation

 

[AlyJoy716]

Honestly, it's really non of my business, but again, I blame it on being a type-A personality.

 

[moepanz]

As long as she had a good time...
It bothers me when people come back complaining what an awful time they had, and its because of their lack of research.

But if she's not complaining, and she had a good time with her family, that really is all that is important
She may not have seen or done everything, and may not have come back an expert, but if she made magical memories with her husband and children and is happy with it, then it was a good vacation

OP just be careful not to make her feel like they did something wrong. I think as Disers we want everyone to have the best experience possible in WDW, that being said I had going to WDW many times before I found the Dis and I guess I made a lot of "mistakes" but my trips were non less magical than the ones I took after learning about stuff here.

 

[robinb]

Who goes to Disney without at least doing some research?

I would venture to say the vast majority of people who go to Disney parks.

 

[Tbasko]

I just wanted to say in times gone by, Characters did walk around. I have several pictures of my son with a character that was not at a meet and greet.

 

[seashoreCM]

Do they have visions and dreams of going again not too long from now?

Or maybe some ideas already of what they missed and would want to see next time?

 

[dancer4life22]

delete

 

[diamondpixienc]

Wow! That's just... Wow!

 

[LoveKermit]

DH and I did WDW plenty before I discovered the DIS (and wdwinfo.com for that matter). We always enjoyed our trips. And we do not always take pics in front of the castle. Heck, we do not always even take our camera.

I do appreciate some of the tips and hints I've found here. But sometimes I find the minute details to which some people plan a trip overwhelming and unnecessary--even setting up people for extreme disappointment when something does not go as planned. It's vacation, not boot camp.

I know what you mean that they didn't prepare. I work with people who I am guessing will start making the trip with their kids soon. I'll only answer the questions they ask and I am sure they will miss something. But to require that they scour the DIS can be overwhelming for people.

I will suggest it, but I can see that it can be too much for that first trip. If they start seeming like they missed stuff, that's when you can subtley suggest the DIS (or the internet in general).

 

[AlexandAndysMom]

Two years ago I took my DH and oldest DS to WDW. We bought our flights and package 3 weeks before. We didn't know anything about fastpass, EMH, or ADRs. We went with my faded memory of being there 20 years ago. I knew there was a Castle and a big ball at Epcot. We rode everything that we wanted to ride (all of the must rides, anyway) and left without feeling like we missed something. AND we got a reservation at a sit down with no problems, just required being a little flexible. We had park hoppers and never used them. And we had a blast! I know...shocking...

We went back last year, and I had everything planned. We had free dining and I had all the ADRs made, the parks planned out, everything. And at the end of that trip, I was exhausted. Just when we got really going for the day it was time to stop and go eat somewhere. My oldest gave up one night and fell asleep standing up in the park.

We are going back in October. Without free dining. Without ADRs. Without park hoppers. And we are all happy as can be about it! We know there will be things we miss. We know there are places we won't get to eat. We know that there will be nights we go back to the hotel early and just hang out. And we are all good with it. We have a list of our MUST DOs and that's it. Everything else will be bonus. I don't need to have every minute of every day planned, because when I do, it just makes me tired and the kids never want to cooporate with that plan...lol.

 

[kamik86]

I went last year for the first time with my DH (also for the first time) without this board I missed quite a bit but we still had a great time. So much that we bought DVC this year and are taking 6 other first timers and one that hasn't been in about 20 years there too!

We didn't do any of the mountains. I thought they were more "normal" roller coasters except Splash and that we just never got to. But we did do TSM twice have some awesome ADRs and see some great shows.

 

[MrsJackSparrow]

DisneyLAND is much different than WDW. We were there last October and were hard pressed to find characters, let alone Photopass photographers! The only photographers we ran into were at the end of the night at the castle and up front on Main Street. The only characters we had pictures with were Jack and Sally from NBC. The only other characters we saw were Mickey and Minnie in Halloween costumes up at the very front of Main Street, and they were completely mobbed. The handlers behave much differently in DL than in WDW, so the lines were chaotic. We didn't wait in the mob for those pictures. And had I not known about Jack and Sally and found their handler prior to their arrival at their picture spot, I would have missed them completely. I talked to several CM's asking about Jack and Sally's arrival time and location and the CM's were pretty clueless.

So don't knock your sis-in-law. Two very different parks so two very different atmospheres!

 

[ZoZo]

Remember that different people have different vacation styles. Here's an example: I hardly take any photos on my WDW trips - it's just not that important to me. That doesn't mean I don't have a wonderful time - I just don't want to spend time taking pictures.

I also don't draw up a detailed plan of what I'm going to do every minute of my day. I just make a fairly loose plan ahead of time (which parks on which days), make a few ADRs, then wing it. Works great for me, but some people couldn't imagine not planning everything they're going to do.

Don't stress about it. Hopefully, they had a great time, even if they didn't research and plan everything as much as many DISers do. If they do decide to go back, you might gently offer to give them a few tips, but don't be surprised if they don't take you up on it. (And don't force information on them if they don't want it! Even if you're only trying to help, many people don't want advice, however well-meaning.)

 

[pigletforever]

I have done both parks. DL is WAY different than WDW. WDW does take planning. We go to DL a couple times a year - we live in NoCal. When we go there I really don't worry about ADR's. You can't even make reservations until 60 days out. There is no dining plan. I just make sure we have reservations for Minnie's before the park opens one morning and Goofy's on our last morning. Other than that they are not needed. They do not have nearly the character greetings that WDW does. And they are in obscure places in tiny out of they way nook and crannies. They are hard to find. There is no need for monorails or buses - the parks are literally right across from each other - less than a 2 minute walk. I have only seen 4 or 5 Photopass people in the past year and 2 of them were at the Halloween party.

After going to DL the first time even my DH who tolerates my obsession was commenting on the differences and saying he preferred WDW anyday over DL. So your relative was right on lots of that stuff. It was a learning lesson for me the first time we went to DL I was so WDW trained that I was stunned at the differnece.