curious about other planners

[Shmily01]

Amongst my own friends, family and coworkers I'm amazed how many people go to Disney World and do almost zero planning. I think some of them try to plan, but then get overwhelmed. Many simply do not believe they need to have a reservation for restaurants, and that they can just walk up and get in anywhere. Many will only go during school breaks. (Most do seem to be aware of the FP+ system because Disney promotes it fairly well.)

Very recently, one family planning their first trip was super excited to tell everyone about the awesome cups they're going to use to "get free drinks in all the parks." Some people are so misinformed I can't bear listening to their plans, it makes me twitch.

When they ask me for advice, I recommend a travel agent. It costs them nothing and saves me both the hassle of explaining everything to them and any after-trip "blame" for anything that didn't go their way.

I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through my first trip without The Dis. I don't even remember how I found it. But man am I glad I did!!

ITA. Everyone that I have talked to don't do anywhere near the type of planning that I do. I've had one "friend" actually call me a liar when I told her that we never wait in line for more that 20 minutes for anything but do most everything we want. But, she went during July 4th one year with zero planning ahead and her family was miserable.

ETA: they probably weren't miserable but not as happy as they would have been if they didn't wait in line so long. This is DISNEY after all.

 

[elaine amj]

My niece, who has been many times went for her first trip as a mother with kids. She planned the 3rd week of March since "it is the week after Cdn March break, so crowds should be less". I pointed out that Americans get spring break too...and that's peak spring break season. She was surprised. I don't know how much planning she eventually did. I bought her the easyWDW guide and answered a few questions...then left it up to her. I did try sending her a few things to consider but she never responded so I let it drop.

I don't think any of my friends believe me when I say we really don't wait in lines when we go. But they don't have any interest in this level of planning anyway.

I have another friend who is planning a trip and I'm trying to help him as much as I can (and he actually wants help). We'll see. I gave him some deadlines for getting stuff booked then told him we will sit down at about 75 days out to plan out his FP+. I'll chat with the kids to see what rides they want to do and we'll figure out a FP+ plan. He had no clue FP+ existed! Thank goodness he has no interest in ADRs (I think they'll likely pack food in to the parks).

 

[UncleMike101]

Haha! I remember those dining kiosks! We thought they were so modern back then, lol.

They were.....
(I'll bet you watched your parents using them...)

 

[Pinkos]

I have OCD when it comes to disney. I've planned a lot for friebds who were going so they could have a good time b they had zero plans and hadn't even thought of it.

I read through this entire thread and I have to ask, am I the only one wondering what the PP trick is to getting the headliners with no FP?? Do tell ...

 

[drcmk]

I think it is harder and harder to keep up with all of the changes at Disney enough to really plan thoroughly. The first time I went to WDW as an adult, I bought a travel book (Birnbaum, I think) read it cover to cover and brought it with me to my hotel. I'm planning a May trip right now and the last time I was at our public library, I stopped by the travel section and picked up the most recent (2014) Disney travel guides. They were ALL out of date. Someone who tried to use one of those books to plan a trip today would arrive at the park totally unprepared. I still think there is a sizable part of the population that doesn't immediately search the Internet whenever they have something to plan or buy and those people are at a serious planning disadvantage at Disney.

 

[kmoore7]

We have been Disney freaks for years. We don't get to go nearly as much as we would like. When I start planning I get all wiggly inside. I want to do and see as much as possible on every trip, that requires serious thought and planning. I think that comes from a love of where we're going. Some people go to WDW but don't love Disney,so they don't feel the need to plan. Whatever they see,what they don't they don't.

Me on the other hand....I've already started mapping out a plan for December of 2017. Looking at what dates exactly to go,where will we stay this time,etc. But hey,to each his own as they say.

 

[WendyLou]

So many people I have talked to do absolutely no planning and really have no desire to do so. I love the planning, it is part of the pre-trip anticipation and excitement, not sure what I'll do after our next trip is over guess we'll have to start planning the next.

 

[ShayBells]

I think there are many people who don't plan as much as us here. But I think more and more are catching on because of disney advertising. I don't remember them ever advertising as much as they do now. I see a disney parks commercial I swear every time there's a break in a TV show. Maybe that's why attendance is higher than ever. And than all the information they send out to people who book about FP+. It's crazy. I don't think they ever advertised for legacy.

I do think though that more people are making FP+s but they aren't making them properly. I don't know how much they will really help people who just take the three recommended and go. Probably not much if at all.

 

[tcherjen]

We go often too and I do have the planning down to a science now. This trip my oldest and youngest want to spend the majority of our two nights at Epcot. They want to go to MK to shop at a few shops. (Girls lol)

 

[beldred]

. And there continues to be new ways to stay ahead of the curve. I’ve learned a couple myself over the last few weeks. There’s one trick that I just discovered that virtually guarantees no wait to see the most popular attractions (A&E, 7DMT, etc.) without FP. I’m sure once the cat’s out of the bag on that one, either the loophole gets closed, or so many figure it out, that it’s no longer an advantage.

What? You aren't going to share with all of your friends here?

 

[Angel Ariel]

Plus it seems to me with this trip that Disney itself is really pushing the planning more than ever before. They sent a Dumbo magnet with all the different dates to book things and we've gotten a couple of other reminders in the mail and by email. You would really have to be trying hard to avoid all that

IME, Disney guests are not always created equal with regards to what kind of communication Disney sends them about preplanning. Like you, I received a Dumbo magnet, some mailings, and numerous e-mails with various reminders (customizing MBs, scheduling FP+, etc). A friend of mine who went with me, but had her own hotel reservation, did not receive that level of communication at all. Another friend of mine who went on a trip a week after I went on mine also did not receive the amt. of communication I did.

No idea why this may have happened the way it did, but they definitely would have been more likely to miss their FP+ and MB dates than I was. They didn't because I was helping them both plan, and with the trips in close proximity, the reminders I got helped everyone else as well.

Eta: both friends also stayed onsite, so it wasn't an offsite/onsite thing

 

[5kidsmommy]

I grew up in Southern California so my experience with Disney was Disneyland until we moved out east in the late 90s. Going to Disneyland as a kid you just sort of wandered around and did what you wanted, we never planned much but would go quite often. It was totally different the first time I went to Disneyworld in 2002. That first trip my mom planned a lot of the stuff. I still had dial-up internet and didn't look at books or anything, just talked to a few people. We managed to go inside and get all the fast passes we wanted and we able to walk up and make dinner reservations for later in the day with the CMs, it certainly was a different time. Since my kids were little back then I am glad it required less planning because with five young kids I couldn't have done it. We went January 2014 with magic bands for the first time and I loved it, I loved being able to plan everything out. We are usually counter service dining people so that's wasn't an issue. We had a touring plan and everything went smoothly which was pretty good because our kids were 17, 16, 14, 13, and 11 and that is a lot of big people to get around smoothly.

Right now I am planning everything out for a 6 day trip in December for just two of us. I have spreadsheets and everything, yes I am a nut, a proud nut.

 

[Moms]

For us planning is part of the experience! We do a lot of planning but as we are not "commando" people we are willing to change our plans at any point in the trip. We are also the ones walking at a relaxed pace to the popular attractions after rope drop ... we stay to the right to let the "runners" get by!

 

[lesliekatya]

Plus it seems to me with this trip that Disney itself is really pushing the planning more than ever before. They sent a Dumbo magnet with all the different dates to book things and we've gotten a couple of other reminders in the mail and by email. You would really have to be trying hard to avoid all that.

We stayed offsite and got tickets through Undercover Tourist, and we got NOTHING in the way of reminders. Thank goodness for the DIS!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

I find that people who don't plan seem to hate Disney. Those who do seem to have a better experience, because they feel more in control, like me...