Came across this article from an average guest

[savvy?71]

I couldn't have said it better myself. I think many people just get in a rut and never consider going to Disneyland which is unfortunate. They just assume because DW is bigger that it is better. This couldn't be further from the truth. They are both great it their own way. It is just that Disneyland does not require excessive planning.

And about that whole "WDW is bigger" thing. I think this is a clear case of when bigger doesn't always = better. I went to DL expecting to be underwhelmed but ended up being almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of experiences. I am pretty sure I walked more in DL/DCA. Or maybe it just feels you enjoy more, minute to minute, in DL. I think because at WDW, we took more breaks knowing we had to get to another park so we'd end up vegging out at hotel longer, plus it seems (lately) we'd walk aimlessly in WDW parks just to get to our destination. But at DL, we just kept hopping from DCA to DL (our choice--obviously you don't have to), grabbing FPs, (again our choice but being our first time we wanted to do everything!) ride to show to ride. But how nice knowing I could sprint over to Splash Mountain for a FP & rejoin my family at Jolly Holiday (basically where Crystal Palace is in WDW) within minutes to enjoy a Matterhorn Macaroon, then hop to DCA to make our Radiator Springs Racer FP time MK in DL is just perfectly done. Adventureland definitely bottlenecks more but the awesomeness of Indy & Pirates are acceptable explanations why ha!

 

[ChimCher-ee]

I think I said earlier in this thread that we took 3 trips this summer and didn't plan ahead for any of them. To answer your question, yes, we did the things the places are known for. We are not low key by design people overall, but we don't plan ahead when it isn't necessary to do so. We had no problems doing the tourist attractions in any of the places we went, nor any dining issues (eating all local, no chains). wdw is the only.place we go where we have found it necessary to plan so much in advance (Or accept the consequence of.missing out if you don't plan ahead).

Yes, your reply was one I had been wondering about (but felt too much time had gone by to reply to yours). I'm glad everything went smoothly for you, and you really did do the tourist bit with no problems - - I bought tickets ahead for everything from the baseball game in Seattle, to the ferry to Angel Island/Alcatraz, to the tour at Mystery Spot, and the one location I neglected (Space Needle) turned out to be so difficult that we almost didn't get to go up.

So, as I asked PP, any tips? Do you do anything at all beyond transportation and hotel? Visualize any "what ifs" at all? I really would like to try it your way someday but it's just my personality (and fear and preference play equal parts, too).

 

[GaryDis]

Almost everyone who goes to DW is.

If you believe the oft-quoted numbers that 2/3 of the guests are from off site (technically, 2/3 of the rooms are non-Disney), then the number of people on dining plans is nowhere close to being "most" let alone "almost everyone."

I hope DL never gets it, but believe they inevitably will because of how much Disney has spent on it.
...
12. Having to constantly check my phone to make sure I don't miss my FP+ time.

Don't confuse the money they spent on MagicBands (and the kiosks) with FP+. True, the MagicBands are an enabling technology, but the expense includes many other things, such as redoing the hotel room locks so that you can use the MB to unlock them. Even if you focus on just the MB/FP+ technology, that's the not the same as the policy. They could, for example, re-implement the current DL FP policy with MBs, getting rid of the paper FPs while keeping the current rules for getting DL (legacy-style) FPs for the MB.

As for the "check my phone" problem, even my dumb phones have alarms, though granted that means having it in a place where you can either hear or feel it. Or get one of these nifty new inventions, a miniature clock that you strap on your wrist, so that it's trivial to check the time. They're really cheap, more water resistant than most phones, and you can keep them available on rides instead of stowing beneath your seat.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I think many people just get in a rut and never consider going to Disneyland which is unfortunate. They just assume because DW is bigger that it is better. This couldn't be further from the truth. They are both great it their own way. It is just that Disneyland does not require excessive planning.

I tried convincing DH that DL would be better for our anniversary trip. I have roughly a month to keep trying before we have to book our DVC rental. But I don't expect to succeed, and it's his turn to decide.

But my reasons had little to do with all the FP+ sentiment. DL proper is just a more pleasant park than the MK, due to the more compact size and superior theme-ing. We've been to all the WDW parks (though not recently) but never to DCA. And there are many other worthwhile things to do in the area; the SD Zoo and LaBrea tar pits are both on my list. (When it comes down to it, though, I think WWoHP at UO trumps everything else for us.)

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I can see the point of the article posted. I too lament "screen time". I didn't find it all that intrusive on our May 2015 trip though, in fact I found it kind of helpful having so much info right at my fingertips in MDE.

As for FP+, I like it because

1. I really like having reservations in a 2nd park of the day where historically regular FPs would be long gone and
2. I really like having reservations for rides I used to formerly have to rope drop and walk fast to
3. I really like not having to be a "FP runner" during my park day

I don't like it because we had gotten pretty good at spamming rides and now we can't really do that. On the flip side there is much we enjoy and we feel less inclined to spam these days. In fact last trip we had "extra" FP+s for SM because some went back to the hotel and we were cool with just letting them go because we had already ridden it twice.

Son on balance I guess I'm ok with FP+.

 

[MillauFr]

I tried convincing DH that DL would be better for our anniversary trip. I have roughly a month to keep trying before we have to book our DVC rental. But I don't expect to succeed, and it's his turn to decide.

The vast choice of DVC properties is one big advantage that DW has over DL. The last time I checked the DVC rentals at the Grand Californian were outrageous. It was going to cost me close to $1000 per night to rent points at stay in a 2 bedroom there.

Have fun on your next vacation.

 

[GaryDis]

The vast choice of DVC properties is one big advantage that DW has over DL. The last time I checked the DVC rentals at the Grand Californian were outrageous. It was going to cost me close to $1000 per night to rent points at stay in a 2 bedroom there.

Have fun on your next vacation.

I forgot the other big advantage that DL has: You can stay within walking distance at off-site locations. While I've always had the desire to stay in one of the Disney resorts in Anaheim, I could never justify the cost. Our last trip there, we stayed at the Anaheim Marriott (where our convention was) and had no regrets or issues with walking to DL. Even made RD for the prized Fantasmic! Dessert Buffet back when it was limited to about 15 people per show.

 

[ArwenMarie]

The Dining Plan cost more and you lose flexibility over what you can order. I cant count the number of times the cashier at Captain Cooks had to explain to people what they could and could not order on the Dining Plan. I just asked the cashier why people would pay top dollar to have their choice taken away from them. The whole plan made no sense to me. I don't want some Disney employee telling me what I can and can not order.

We've never used the dining plan but we have friends who always buy the dining plan (never Free Dining). I asked them why and they said they like having everything paid for, including food, ahead of the trip so they know there will be no bills when they return. And they also like not having to think about the price of food when they are there. Makes it more of an all-inclusive experience for them. They also said they have fun using up their snack credits to bring snacks home which really seemed silly to me since if you don't use the snack credits you obviously didn't need them! but apparently that is something they think is fun.

 

[Turn the Page]

I can see the point of the article posted. I too lament "screen time". I didn't find it all that intrusive on our May 2015 trip though, in fact I found it kind of helpful having so much info right at my fingertips in MDE.

As for FP+, I like it because

1. I really like having reservations in a 2nd park of the day where historically regular FPs would be long gone and
2. I really like having reservations for rides I used to formerly have to rope drop and walk fast to
3. I really like not having to be a "FP runner" during my park day

I don't like it because we had gotten pretty good at spamming rides and now we can't really do that. On the flip side there is much we enjoy and we feel less inclined to spam these days. In fact last trip we had "extra" FP+s for SM because some went back to the hotel and we were cool with just letting them go because we had already ridden it twice.

Son on balance I guess I'm ok with FP+.

When I first heard of FP+ I didn't like the idea at all. We always pulled more than 3 FP's per person every day with the legacy system and I thought I would hate it.

I just made our FP+ selections about two weeks ago for our upcoming trip and while I was not thrilled with having to stay up until midnight to get that A&E FP for the 5 year old I have to say, I may like it better than I anticipated. I was always the FP runner at WDW and I am looking forward to not having to do that. Also, I like knowing for sure that we will be able to do certain rides at certain times.

We will see how it all washes out in the end but so far, I'm liking it better than I thought I would.

We've never used the dining plan but we have friends who always buy the dining plan (never Free Dining). I asked them why and they said they like having everything paid for, including food, ahead of the trip so they know there will be no bills when they return. And they also like not having to think about the price of food when they are there. Makes it more of an all-inclusive experience for them. They also said they have fun using up their snack credits to bring snacks home which really seemed silly to me since if you don't use the snack credits you obviously didn't need them! but apparently that is something they think is fun.

My mother could best be described as cheap and while I'm not as bad as she is I always like to see if I can shave money off a trip. While I understand the appeal of having everything paid for in advance one glance at the DP and all it offers and I know it just isn't a good deal for our family. It's just far too much food.

For our upcoming trip we are planning to bring a lot of food from home and get a grocery delivery. We are planning to eat every breakfast (except one, helloooo tonga toast), most lunches, and about half the dinners in the room. We will bring snacks and things too. I know that there are better options at CS places than there used to be so it's not like if we stuck to CS we would be forced to eat burgers and chicken fingers all week but I want better food than that and I'm not willing to take the time out to eat at TS restaurants all the time. Also, it's just so much cheaper to do it this way and, I am my mothers daughter and am therefore cheap.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Don't confuse the money they spent on MagicBands (and the kiosks) with FP+. True, the MagicBands are an enabling technology, but the expense includes many other things, such as redoing the hotel room locks so that you can use the MB to unlock them. Even if you focus on just the MB/FP+ technology, that's the not the same as the policy. They could, for example, re-implement the current DL FP policy with MBs, getting rid of the paper FPs while keeping the current rules for getting DL (legacy-style) FPs for the MB.

Disney execs have already gone on record saying MBs are boy coming to DLR, and one of the reasons given - by Tom Staggs - was that the infrastructure cost for bringing the MB system there was too high.

If the MyMagic+ system does come to dlr, I expect it will use other tech (whether that's just RFID plastic tickets, or smartphones, etc)

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I haven't been there since FP+ started, but this is the fear I have as to how our next trip at the end of November is going to go.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

And about that whole "WDW is bigger" thing. I think this is a clear case of when bigger doesn't always = better. I went to DL expecting to be underwhelmed but ended up being almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of experiences. I am pretty sure I walked more in DL/DCA. Or maybe it just feels you enjoy more, minute to minute, in DL. I think because at WDW, we took more breaks knowing we had to get to another park so we'd end up vegging out at hotel longer, plus it seems (lately) we'd walk aimlessly in WDW parks just to get to our destination. But at DL, we just kept hopping from DCA to DL (our choice--obviously you don't have to), grabbing FPs, (again our choice but being our first time we wanted to do everything!) ride to show to ride. But how nice knowing I could sprint over to Splash Mountain for a FP & rejoin my family at Jolly Holiday (basically where Crystal Palace is in WDW) within minutes to enjoy a Matterhorn Macaroon, then hop to DCA to make our Radiator Springs Racer FP time MK in DL is just perfectly done. Adventureland definitely bottlenecks more but the awesomeness of Indy & Pirates are acceptable explanations why ha!

People tend to think Two parks vs four, that's half the attractions and many of them are the same. But it isn't the case that DLR has half the attractions. And many of the common rides or similar rides are superior out at DLR. WDW does have more. But much of the extra space is taken up by attractions that require a lot of space. There is no LMA at Disneyland for example. Nor is there an Indy Jones Stunt show. Nor is there a Safari which eats up a huge chunk of space. Disneyland also doesn't have a world showcase but the attractions there are minimal. And even a show like Fantasmic uses its own amphitheater which uses quite a bit of space at WDW whereas at DLR, it's integrated into existing park space. The drawback is it can create some crowd issues that side of the park. At MK, once you get to the furthest side of adventureland, you have the back way to Frontierland. Out at Disneyland, Aventureland has NO Square and Critter Country beyond it in that direction and thus serves as the shortest route between New Orleans Square/Critter country and the hub. Frontierland is an alternate route back to Fantasyland but nobody that didn't want to ride Big Thunder on the way would go through there just to get to the hub. But perhaps when Star Wars gets out there, there will be a path from critter country to SWL to connect through and people won't back track through Adventureland as much. The good news though is you don't have that Splash, Big Thunder bottleneck because they're separate. The biggest thing I like about Disneyland is I can get a hotel a 5 minute walk from the gate. No standing in line for the bus. No having to drive. We can go back for a rest whenever we feel the need because it's so close.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I forgot the other big advantage that DL has: You can stay within walking distance at off-site locations. While I've always had the desire to stay in one of the Disney resorts in Anaheim, I could never justify the cost. Our last trip there, we stayed at the Anaheim Marriott (where our convention was) and had no regrets or issues with walking to DL. Even made RD for the prized Fantasmic! Dessert Buffet back when it was limited to about 15 people per show.

We did the balcony way back when too. It was awesome. The poor people that booked the desert and special seating area down below got a box. HAHAHA!!!
Unfortunately, there are no value resorts in Anaheim. But I think I'd rather have a 5 minute walk across Harbor Blvd, than a 20 minute Muni Bus ride from Pop.

 

[MillauFr]

I forgot the other big advantage that DL has: You can stay within walking distance at off-site locations. While I've always had the desire to stay in one of the Disney resorts in Anaheim, I could never justify the cost. Our last trip there, we stayed at the Anaheim Marriott (where our convention was) and had no regrets or issues with walking to DL. Even made RD for the prized Fantasmic! Dessert Buffet back when it was limited to about 15 people per show.

Agreed. I can walk from our room at the Candy Cane Inn to the front gate at DL in 10 minutes. It took us longer staying at the Poly to get to Magic Kingdom.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Yes, your reply was one I had been wondering about (but felt too much time had gone by to reply to yours). I'm glad everything went smoothly for you, and you really did do the tourist bit with no problems - - I bought tickets ahead for everything from the baseball game in Seattle, to the ferry to Angel Island/Alcatraz, to the tour at Mystery Spot, and the one location I neglected (Space Needle) turned out to be so difficult that we almost didn't get to go up.

So, as I asked PP, any tips? Do you do anything at all beyond transportation and hotel? Visualize any "what ifs" at all? I really would like to try it your way someday but it's just my personality (and fear and preference play equal parts, too).

For the specific trips this summer, all we did prior was accommodations and travel to. Part of that is that for 2 out of the 3 destinations, we are pretty familiar with them, so we know that it's possible to do no planning and still be able to see everything we might want to see (and yes, we did new things at those destinations this year, so it's not like we're just visiting old favorites or something).

I do want to say that we do research where we are going before the trip if it's an unfamiliar destination - in order to try and get that familiarity with the area that we have with places we've been before. That, to us, is different than planning. Planning, to us, is a daily schedule of what we're going to do, or doing things like buying tickets ahead of time, etc. For example, if I was going to visit Washington D.C. and wanted to visit the White House, I would have done enough research to know that that is something I need to arrange in advance, as it isn't possible to do on the fly anymore. We would not, however, plan which days we would go to which Smithsonian museums, which day(s) we'd tour the monuments, etc. We would know what our options were and what we were interested in, but we would not have each day planned out with where we were going/eating. Those are decisions that would get made day of (maybe night before in the case of where we were heading the next day).

So I guess my tip would be to research where you're going and know what you need to plan and what you don't. I'm not totally anti-planning (I'm a pretty type A person by nature), but we are so scheduled in our day-to-day lives that we don't want to be as scheduled on our vacations. We will schedule what we need to, but try to minimize it as much as we can so that the vacation is truly more of a vacation, and not just an extension of the scheduled-ness we have in our daily lives.

As for visualizing "what-if" situations - TBH, for the trips this summer and our upcoming DLR trip, I can't say I've done that at all. Which is odd for me, as with a type-A personality I am usually a bit prone to that, it just didn't happen this summer. I will also say, I think the internet has also helped this a bit. Say we get rained out or shut out of something for some reason (didn't happen this summer, but hypothetically) - it's easy to hop online and do a search of things to do in the immediate area you're in. That was a bit more difficult back in the days of traveling with AAA guide books in the back seat

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

You got a lot out of your trips, and all I can say is, I wish I could lay off sometimes. But it's so difficult for me! And no one in my family would let it slide if we got there and, say, couldn't get on the airboat (for us it was the Everglades one time, but I even read up on that enough to let the ticket purchase slide until we got there). Maybe I'll try a different approach someday. Without hijacking the thread--any quick tips? Is it a mindset, do you travel this way all the time, or do you plan some but not others? Is it a matter of expectations? Just curious how people pull it off.

Well maybe it is a mindset, at least some of the time. There are some destinations which require some planning if you want to do everything. For example, I went to Italy in April and of course I had almost everything reserved because 1) it's very expensive and 2) some things have to be reserved or you will find yourself SOL (i.e Vatican tickets). My trip to Egypt in October, again everything is pre-planned out of necessity. When I go for shorter trips to places like New Orleans, there wasn't anything I considered a must do. So in those instances, I absolutely don't want to make reservations. I just want to walk somewhere when I feel like it, eat when I get hungry, wake up when I wake up, and tour when I tour and decide spur of the moment what I want to do. It's a much more fun way for me to vacation whenever possible. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Well maybe it is a mindset, at least some of the time. There are some destinations which require some planning if you want to do everything. For example, I went to Italy in April and of course I had almost everything reserved because 1) it's very expensive and 2) some things have to be reserved or you will find yourself SOL (i.e Vatican tickets). My trip to Egypt in October, again everything is pre-planned out of necessity. When I go for shorter trips to places like New Orleans, there wasn't anything I considered a must do. So in those instances, I absolutely don't want to make reservations. I just want to walk somewhere when I feel like it, eat when I get hungry, wake up when I wake up, and tour when I tour and decide spur of the moment what I want to do. It's a much more fun way for me to vacation whenever possible. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

I agree with this too, and the length of the vacation is a good point. 2 out of our 3 destinations this summer were long weekend trips. Including travel to/from, one trip was Fri-Mon, the other was Thurs-Mon. It wasn't short travel either - one was an 8hr drive each way, the other was a cross country flight each way. Having a lot of pre-planned reservations on such short trips would be too much for us, so in that respect there is definitely a different mindset (for us) with a short trip than a longer trip.

 

[DisneyOma]

The article is spot on.

Except for the mistakes, misconceptions, and other errors...

 

[Ava]

I don't mind planning ADRs & FP+, but last trip I tried using specific Touring Plans and it was too much for us. So you have to find a balance in how much planning you are comfortable doing, and what works for your family and your vacationing style.

There's also a misconception (which is partly Disney's fault for how they market MM+) that you HAVE TO plan ADRs & FP+ in order to have an enjoyable trip. If you have your heart set on meeting Anna & Elsa, or eating at BOG, yes you need to plan ahead for those experiences. But for the most part, you can have an enjoyable trip even with very little advance planning. On both of our trips with FP+ and DDP, we've made changes to FPs & ADRs during the trip and had no problems getting acceptable times for both. On our last trip, we decided after one day of park hopping that it was too much for us, so I swapped around ADRs & FP+ for the other two days we were supposed to hop so we were only in one park per day. It worked out fine, I was able to get new reservations, and we had a party of 6.

Also, most young kids are happy with pretty simple things, and won't even know that they're "missing out" on something if you can't get a certain ADR or FP+. It's the parents that stress themselves out trying to make sure their kids experience all of these things.

 

[bumbershoot]

We are planning to eat every breakfast (except one, helloooo tonga toast), most lunches, and about half the dinners in the room.

Isn't that going to take up a TON of time getting back to the room and then back to wherever you want to be?

On our last trip, we decided after one day of park hopping that it was too much for us, so I swapped around ADRs & FP+ for the other two days we were supposed to hop so we were only in one park per day. It worked out fine, I was able to get new reservations, and we had a party of 6.

And that worked for you. I got a mine train FP+ inside an hour from when I arranged it. But it might not work the next time we try to change things around. Superbowl Sunday in 2014, I could not change ANYTHING, couldn't get another ride for my time or another time for any of my rides, for FP+s made 2 hours prior (we were bumped from our flight so while my guys watched the game I went to Epcot). So I rode Figment standby then got a big huge beer and just walked around chatting with CMs and shopping.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Also, most young kids are happy with pretty simple things, and won't even know that they're "missing out" on something if you can't get a certain ADR or FP+. It's the parents that stress themselves out trying to make sure their kids experience all of these things.

That's assuming the ADRs are being made for the kids. Generally speaking, if we make ADRs it's not specifically for DD, it's some place DH and I want to experience ourselves (even a character meal).