Disney requires too much planning? Are they shooting themselves?

[Macprincess]

Planning is all fine and dandy if you can do it. When living in FL, most who live close don't plan 180 days out when they want to go eat at one of the parks. That makes it hard for us to get into a restaurant. Disney should set aside some seating and fastpass selections for residents who don't plan months out

This is precisely why we let our AP's expire and won't be renewing them! WDW use to be our go to destination when ever we found ourselves with a free weekend. Not something you always know in advance, and definitively not 180 days in advance, when you have three kids who play sports. Now we know that a last minute trip means no chance at decent fast passes or Adr's. Gone are the days when we woke up and decided to pack a bag and go. My whole household misses these days. Seriously, we have had many trips where I called to book a resort from the road as my husband drove the five of us to the parks. I guess Disney isn't interested in our revenue anymore. Which seems silly to me when they have a empty room they could book for two nights.

It's interesting to me that Disneyland has not gone to the fast pass plus model yet. Could it be because there are so many more So Ca annual pass holders in Ca then there are in Fl? Also, less people go to Disneyland for an entire weeks stay as most go to Ca and do 2-3 days at Disneyland and then venture on to see other sites in California. This leads me to think Disney depends on their resident AP'S in California more then those of us in Florida and they don't wish to upset them. I loath how fast pass plus has changed our households Disney experience. I understand it works for those going on vacation but when you live in Florida it stinks!

I really think WDW needs to address this issue for Florida resident annual pass holders. While I understand that I may not be staying a week at a time and eating 7 TS meals and counter meals for a week. We use to go for several weekend stays a year which actually added up to more then the average weekly stay. We have money to spend in the restaurants too if Disney would just figure out how to let us get inside our favorites to spend it. Yet, when I'm faced with a meal at Tony's or hopping in my car and paying 1/2 the cost at a better offsite restaurant I go off site to spend my cash.

Also, we have never used the Magical Express to and from the airport and hardly ever used the buses to get to and from the resorts to the parks. Now Disney wants to charge me to park my car at their resorts per night when I have save them money over the years by not using these services.

It's sad because we use to spend a lot of time and money in the parks but lately we feel like second class citizens. Which simply translates to less of my expendable dollars earmarked for Mickey.

 

[slpeters]

I think in the end there are planners and non-planners and they're going to do what they do. Last year before our trip I showed my husband the little grid for the week and he thought it was amazing that Disney required so much planning, until I pulled out the little grids for New York and San Francisco and Vegas and Puerto Vallarta and on and on...

From my perspective Disney doesn't require the type of planning people are talking about, rather they make it available--and people eat it up because it works, because it allows you to have a smoother, more enjoyable trip than people who don't. I for one am grateful that it was an option. We went to WDW for the first time this past November and we were pretty much able to do everything in a week and had a fairly good idea that's how it would work before we even arrived. We didn't wait in any lines more than a half an hour and only a handful of them were more than 15 minutes--despite the parks apparently being very busy. My husband was constantly commenting about how long everyone else had to wait and how much more it seemed we were getting to do than everyone else. I guess maybe it would be a virtuous thing to level the playing field, but I really quite enjoy the planner's advantage and at this point anything they did to make you have to plan less would just cut into that advantage.

The crowds are what makes the planning so beneficial. Really at this point the only thing they could really do curtail the planning need would be to double the ticket prices. I guess that's an option...

 

[alliecat523]

I’m not a major planner. Yes, I’ve done some research and if I’m gonna drop $400 on a dessert party, I’m going to figure out what is the best option. Other than that, I’m not creating spreadsheets and binders and getting up in the middle of the night to book anything. I’ve literally booked trips two days prior to arriving and have done everything I wanted to do (including meals). As many say, I think a lot has to do with attitude, perspective and flexibility. That goes for anything in life (IMO). You can have a great time if you want to.

 

[luvsJack]

I have been the planner of our trips since 2002. The first week long trip I planned took me a year. It was fabulous. To plan that same trip now would take much longer and entail more because so much has been added, fast passes have been changed, more extra events you can pay for, etc.

I am sorry, but a vacation should not take over a year to plan unless it includes several countries. Good grief. My sister has planned a trip to the Greek Isles in less time than a trip with her grandchildren to WDW.

Other vacation destinations do NOT take the time in planning that WDW takes. I can't tell you the number of places we have just said "let's go xyz!" and we just go there and the trip happens and we have a great time!

Someone said "its a theme park. theme park vacations take planning" Have you been to Universal? It takes NO planning. Room reservations and buy your ticket; you are done. Dollywood is also a theme park--NO planning.

Now, with all that said, I had a friend who got so overwhelmed with the planning she just quit planning. They went to WDW and had a great time. So some of it is attitude and maybe a little bit of "if you don't know about it, you can't miss it".

 

[The Pho]

Planning really isn't necessary. We plan very little, basically the most we plan is if we'll do a special party (not so scary, very merry, after hours). Fastpasses we usually get the night before, restaurant reservations usually no more than an hour before. We still get everything we want done with no issues. Frequently we only decide to make a trip a couple days prior. Not knowing what you're doing can hinder what you get to do. Lack of knowledge is the issue not lack of planning. I'd say Disney does a great job of catering to both planners and non planners.

 

[ShayBells]

I’m a planner but mostly because I love doing it. It keeps me looking forward to my trip almost like a fun countdown.

My first (not being a kid trip and first onsite) trip included no planning and it was awesome but it was with FP 1.0 and even though I knew nothing about it it was super easy to figure out. What’s that guy over there doing? Ask a cast member. Cool! Stick my KTTWC in and get on the ride in the shorter line. (Those were the days!) I don’t know if I would have the same luck today if I was a first timer. It’s hard to unknow what I know and look at it from a different perspective.

But I will say even with the amount of negative reviews and the amount of people I see saying “I won’t be going back” or the worse “Disney will no longer be getting my money” the crowds keep rising.