Came across this article from an average guest

[disneymagicgirl]

I find it interesting to read the viewpoint of those average Disney guests regarding their experiences since most of what I usually read is by DISers.

http://fortune.com/2015/08/28/disneys-tech-innovation-is-my-nightmare/?xid=yahoo_fortune

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

This is the take my neighbor had on Disney now. She decided her family didn't need to go because she didn't want to deal with all the planning and reservations and what felt like to her appointments for everything.

They went to the beach instead.

 

[Nohal]

Unfortunately I have to agree with the article. There is so much planning that people going for the first time in forever are at a disadvantage. I have been to Disney many times and don't particularly care for all of the planning so far in advance. Yes, its nice to know that I can go on 7DMT without waiting in line for a long time, but I have to keep looking at my watch to make sure that I get there within the FP+ time frame. The same can be said for my ADR's most of which are in Epcot. So not only planning what park on what day but where I want to eat and what rides I want to go on in what park. I remember taking the kids when they were younger back in the '90's there was always a character pretty much around every corner. Looking for them was exciting for the kids. I also remember standing in long lines (60-90 min) for a ride before fast pass. So in this day and age of technology I guess you have to conform or be left behind.

 

[dkrauss]

The article is a point of view, a point of view I imagine many share. However, unless it impacts the bottom line of the business this is the way it is for the foreseeable future.

I guess you can tell I don't agree with much of what is said in the article.......but that's my point of view. My job requires I plan so planning a WDW trip is easy for me (being the old man I am ). The real deal is I don't plan every minute...........I do make ADR's and FP+ reservations but they can change depending on our mood. In fact for our December trip I just moved parks around yesterday............had to cancel ADR's and redo them to make it work (granted we aren't talking BOG or CRT here), it really wasn't hard or stressful When FP day gets here, things will be a bit more settled and it will be much harder to move things around, especially given we're not doing hoppers this trip......but I know that going in.........not a surprise

I say embrace the 'chaos'..........(which it really isn't ) because its here to stay...............I'm going to Disney World in 98 days!!!

Doug

 

[Elodia]

I totally agree with the article.

 

[minnie mum]

Can't find fault with anything in that article, which I find surprising, given that 99% of articles I read from Non Disney sources are usually rife with errors or inaccuracies. I'd say the author pretty much nailed the feelings of a lot of WDW novices when first faced with the complexities of planning a trip.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I actually recommended to my neighbor not to take her 2 and 3 year old. I told them to wait till they were older because I just knew as serious and emotional as she gets it would be pandemonium.

 

[maxiesmom]

I felt like that for my first trip some 20 years ago. Then it was "What the heck is a Length of stay pass? How do I find transportation from the airport to my resort? What do you mean I have to go someplace in the park to make dining reservations? Is my only choice to stand in this ride line for an hour?" I think a trip to WDW has always entailed a lot of research and planning. Now it is just more electronic in nature.

 

[jemlover]

I really enjoy all the planning and anticipation. I can understand how this would be daunting to some. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law want to take their grandkids to WDW but she said she will not go without me so we are planning a trip in two years with them and their two grandkids and me and DH and our oldest grandson. I'm excited but nervous about the planning as I've never arranged dining and fastpasses for that many people. We are also trying to coordinate schedules for kids in two different school districts for the fall so I imagine we will have to pull out either her grandkids or mine from school. I refuse to go during spring break due to crowds and summer due to the heat so we will have to work this out.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I guess it's such a non-issue for me, maybe because I like technology and it really hasn't been hard, I don't find it daunting at all but I'm not super uptight, if I don't get a restaurant I want or a fp+ I want I'll just move on. I know some people obsess a little more and maybe the "stress" of a WDW trip isn't for them.

 

[Aurora0427]

I can definitely see his point of view. My TA emailed me yesterday asking if I'd decided which room requests I wanted her to input for my mom's room. I told her "use your best judgment. I'm tired of making decisions for this trip."

That being said, my only real gripe with FP+ is having to stay up late to choose them. My biggest overall issue with Disney is the dining- having to make your ADRs 180 days in advance if you want to be guaranteed to get into CRT, CM, BOG etc. Makes planning a trip less than 6 months out more difficult.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I agree with this article as well, and I imagine quite a few feel the same way. I work in a hair salon, and this conversation comes up at least a couple of times a week. The consensus is, losing the spontaneity and having to pre-plan everything months out is more like work than a vacation. I have heard many, many people who say they will not go back because of the crowds, wait times and advanced planning. I work by appointments; why would I want to try to relax by them? Yes, I'm going to try to go again, but this time only 2 dining reservations, maybe a couple of fast passes, staying offsite and 3 day park passes. This is my last hope, Obi Wan.

 

[pinksand]

He should come to Disneyland instead. We still have paper FP's.

 

[godders]

I both agree and disagree with the article. I remember I went to WDW starting when I was 4 years old in 1993 but beyond knowing that I had an amazing time I don't remember any of the specifics. I remember going on 20,000 Leagues under the Sea but I don't remember how long we had to queue. I vaguely remember being too short (just) to ride BTMRR but I don't remember being upset about it. Kids will have fun at Disney because they are kids and it's Disney. My love has transferred into adulthood and the thing I remember most is the blanket of heat in Florida and not matter where I am in the world, if it's warm and it's raining I'm reminded of Disney and being with my family. I think parents are putting too much pressure on themselves to have "the best trip ever." Disney will be magical for kids whatever and I think it's the parents who make them think it isn't a great trip if something isn't quite or they don't get that ADR but that's just my 2 cents

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Only saw one major mistake. Author suggested that you have to pay for fast passes. Says that they "go on sale" 60 days before check-in.

I can absolutely see how all of this would be overwhelming to a Disney newbe. But, as a PP said, Disney planning has always been pretty overwhelming to newbes.

 

[bumbershoot]

Whereas the two WDW-newbie families I know were perfectly capable and willing to make these arrangements, were totally successful, and had AMAZING trips. First trips. I'm boggled by them.

After all, who wants 45 minutes of waiting in line, while your kid keeps asking why so many people get to cut in front of her. “But daddy, couldn’t you have made a reservation?”

Eh, no one from the FP line will be "cutting in front" of her. When the lines merge, the explanation is that there were two lines. And when it's her family in the FP line and she's merging in, she can easily be reminded that now she is in that position.

the characters no longer roam the parks, giving children the unexpected joy of bumping into them. Instead, most of their meet-and-greets are scheduled, with the mobile app letting you know where to go and when.

One person's random bumping into a character is another person's "where the heck are the characters, I haven't seen ONE, why can't I just go someplace and SEE them instead of having it be random?"

(I personally like having the characters in one spot so I can avoid them...except that I enjoyed Jack Sparrow roaming Disneyland's New Orleans Square...it was so fun to watch others interacting with him)

 

[MrInfinity]

Why are y'all making this out to be so complicated? Seriously.

You don't need a room request. The only time you ever need a room request is if there is something specific you want. You don't have specific wants until you've been a couple times. Like, we loved the first room we got, so we requested it on future trips. Simple. If you stay in any hotel anywhere, do you feel obligated to study it and make a room request? That is just an uber-planner being an uber-planner (not good or bad, but definitely not necessary!)

ADRs? Is it hard to pick out a restaurant and make a reservation? You just call WDW-DINE and the ultra-friendly rep will make them all for you in one call. Done!

And FP+'s you do *not* have to stay up late for. Especially if you're a resort guest, you can do this any time in the first few weeks of your eligibility and do just fine.

To me it sounds like all this difficulty is self-imposed by deciding up front that you must score everything that everyone else as group cannot. Yeah if you set out to get pre-open adr's to BOG, FP's to A&E, and a particular room, that might be stressful because those are all hard to get. But most guests have no idea they would even want that.

In our earlier trips we just went. No room request. No ADRs. It's Disney World! And yes all the stress comes from the parents... the kids would have a blast eating QS and playing the games while they wait STANDBY for Space Mountain. It is only the parents that get bored. Sheesh. Ppl make this out to be so difficult and then try to say that is the standard takeaway when it's just not.

The standard takeaway of the 16M visitors or whatever is not "too technical, too hard to eat, too hard to ride, not as good as it used to be". It's "Disney World is amazing, we love it because it's so different from a normal theme park.. the cast is so friendly and everything is so clean". Really. That's kind of the general consensus. Think about it. If it was as bad as ppl are saying here, folks would not STILL BE GOING.

Disney World! Vacation! Remember? Fun? Kids? Family?
(shrug).

 

[tinkerbella16]

I absolutely love planning my trips and helping so many others plan theirs too, so of course I feel the opposite of this article. I actually enjoy the 180 day ADRs, the 60 day FP windows- they are fun (sometimes stressful with dining), and all help get me through the days of waiting for the trip to come. I like knowing what park I'll be each day after the hours have been posted for our month.. we always planned each park for each day even before all of these new changes. We love magic bands- I know they are not flawless and some people have had issues with them, but our experiences have been wonderful so far and we really look forward to picking out our colors and waiting to get that little brown box in the mail. All of the planning I do, makes for a more enjoyable and less stressful trip. I do not micro-manage every minute of every day... I always take afternoon breaks each and relax at the resort so it is still a vacation. I have gone so many times, even with all the new changes and pre-planning, I feel like I have a pretty good way of making the trip fun, relaxing and memorable and not a nightmare.

 

[disneyseniors]

Why are y'all making this out to be so complicated? Seriously.

You don't need a room request. The only time you ever need a room request is if there is something specific you want. You don't have specific wants until you've been a couple times. Like, we loved the first room we got, so we requested it on future trips. Simple. If you stay in any hotel anywhere, do you feel obligated to study it and make a room request? That is just an uber-planner being an uber-planner (not good or bad, but definitely not necessary!)

ADRs? Really are those hard? To pick out a restaurant and make a reservation? You just call WDW-DINE and the ultra-friendly rep will make them all for you in one call. Done!

And FP+'s you do *not* have to stay up late for. Especially if you're a resort guest, you can do this any time in the first few weeks of your eligibility and do just fine.

To me it sounds like all this difficulty is self-imposed by deciding up front that you must score everything that everyone else as group cannot. Yeah if you set out to get pre-open adr's to BOG, FP's to A&E, and a particular room, that might be stressful because those are all hard to get. But most guests have no idea they would even want that.

In our earlier trips we just went. No room request. No ADRs. It's Disney World! And yes all the stress comes from the parents... the kids would have a blast eating QS and playing the games while they wait STANDBY for Space Mountain. It is only the parents that get bored. Sheesh. Ppl make this out to be so difficult and then try to say that is the standard takeaway when it's just not.

The standard takeaway of the 16M visitors or whatever is not "too technical, too hard to eat, too hard to ride". It's "Disney World is amazing, we love it because it's so different from a normal theme park.. the cast is so friendly and everything is so clean". Really. That's kind of the general consensus. Think about it. If it was as bad as ppl are saying here, folks would not STILL BE GOING.


It's nice that you don't have a problem with any of this, but it is quite obvious that many, many others do have a problem with fp's, adr's, crowds, all of the above. I'm glad you don't understand it, but just because you do not understand it does not mean that others do not have valid observations about their experiences. It does no good to put others viewpoints down as you are doing. It is this condescending attitude that puts others off.

Everyone on the dis should be able to post their valid viewpoints of their experiences as they see them. Your belittling remarks serve no purpose except to try to make other posters look ridiculous and small. I, for one, enjoy hearing all the viewpoints about fp, adrs, etc that are posted without exception. I like to learn from others experiences and make my own mind up.

So please don't put others down who do not think like you. Believe me, there ARE several that do not.
Disney World! Vacation! Remember? Fun? Kids? Family?
(shrug).

 

[nkereina]

Only saw one major mistake. Author suggested that you have to pay for fast passes. Says that they "go on sale" 60 days before check-in.

I saw that but assumed they were using the phrase as an analogy to the opening up of FP at 60 days. "Creative writing".