Disney requires too much planning? Are they shooting themselves?

[mshanson3121]

So I was browsing the WDW Facebook page, and I was reading the reviews. One thing that I quickly noticed, is that there are a lot of first timers who hated their experience and never want to go back. Their main complaints were that it was over crowded, wait times were too long and overall, it was just too expensive, and that overall they found it was a complete waste of their money. I was really surprised at the amount of these reviews.

But, on the flip side of that, I also quickly realized that a lot of the people making these complaints, had clearly put very little (if any) time into researching their trip, let alone planning their time in the parks. Most people were completely unaware of the crowds in general, and definitely not the effect Easter or spring break would have on them. Likewise, most were clueless about the Fast Pass system - it's availability, how to use it, when to book them etc... and so were very disappointed that they could not do the main rides without extremely long waits. And of course, they were disappointed in the restaurants - not being able to eat at table service places etc...

Many/most of them said, they had no idea that Disney required so much planning. Basically, they figured they could just "show up" and be able to do all the rides, eat wherever etc... Just like you can do at any other theme park, including Universal (many expressed how much more they enjoyed Universal). A few specifically made the comment that for the amount of money Disney charges, they find it absurd that they should have to put that much effort into planning their time in the park, just to be able to enjoy themselves.

My initial reaction, was one of surprise. I mean, if I'm going to spend $2000, 3000, 5000+ on a vacation, I am darn well going to at least put some effort into researching the destination: climate, best times to go, what to expect, planning tips etc... These are all very easily Googled within minutes. I was very surprised at the amount of people who had not even done that.

But, on the other hand, when I was planning our 2015 trip, I initially would have been one of them. I mean, yes, I did take that initiative to Google information on Disney, which led me to this forum, and thank heavens for that! But, if for some reason, I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have known all the ins and outs either - I may not have known about crowd levels and calendars, how the Fast Pass system worked and how to best utilize it, about rope dropping to beat the crowds, about taking afternoon breaks, and the many other tips that helped make our trip the success that it was. Without this forum, I suspect our trip would have been more in line with what these disappointed people experienced.

There are something around 150,000 negative reviews on their FB page about Disney. While there are 900,000+ positive reviews, the number of negative (3* and under) reviews are growing faster than the number of positive (I've been watching). Do you think Disney has made it too difficult to enjoy? Especially for naive first timers? Which customer does Disney actually care about the most - the first timer (in hopes that they fall in love and become a repeat customer), or their die hard core fan base? If the former, are they becoming too complicated? Are they at risk of turning too many people away? Or do they care?

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

I find the planning aspect of going to Disney super fun. But I am a planner.

I do think it's foolish of people to think they can just go and not do any planning. There are sooo many resources available everywhere that can make things easy. Even if you don't want to do anything, you can use a travel agent. Disney World is not like Six Flags, where you can just go. It takes so much more than that.

 

[mshanson3121]

Disney World is not like Six Flags, where you can just go. It takes so much more than that.

Definitely. But I think the problem is, from what I'm seeing, a lot of people don't realize that.

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

Definitely. But I think the problem is, from what I'm seeing, a lot of people don't realize that.

Which is soooo confusing to me! Disney World is advertised everywhere, in such a big fashion, and I'm sure everyone has at least one friend who goes to Disney.

 

[ShelbyK]

I think alot of it has to do with someones attitude in general. A family friend took his kids a few weeks ago and had an awful time and said it was such a waste of time standing in line all day.. and they had fastpasses going in (and stayed in a Poly bungalow..hated that too!). Now on the other hand my aunt and cousin (14) went the week after Easter when the crowds were insane and I kept checking the app looking at the crazy wait times and thinking they must be having a terrible time. They came home and said it was a blast!

Disney does require alot of planning but I also think Disney does a good job of making that informatioin known to people. When I booked my vacation package I got a nice little card with all my important dates of when to book things and they sent me emails reminding me to make ADRs and FPs. I think the planning is fun and I can't imagine going into any vacation completely unprepared.

 

[a1tinkfans]

They don’t care like we d want them too.. they do care however for the bottom line, $$$
... many people that go are unfortunately Unprepared ( adrs, fps etc). Most other vacations .. ones expectations are typically met ( ie you go to a beach resort, you get the resort and the beach) but Disney is a different Beast altogether and unless you are going for atmosphere, planning is paramount ..to feeling you got your money’s worth,
Which is now impacting a certain guest base, those not renewing AP’s. I’m in that group, despite my real love of Disney..
Only if the numbers show a decline... and that’s not happening, will there be a possible change by Disney. For now, status quo.

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

I started to plan my son's 1st trip to Disney (for his 5th birthday) while I was still on maternity leave! Anything worth doing requires some research. I myself enjoy the planning!

 

[SaintsManiac]

I don't think Disney cares. They already have that money, whether the people have a good time or not. People will continue to look at Disney as a must do experience once in their lifetime. That's all Disney needs to keep things profitable.

 

[Summer2018]

I'm a planner by nature, an organized person, and I like to plan our vacations. Until WDW, we never had to plan quite to this degree, but for me, the planning is fun and is part of the anticipation of our vacation.

As inexperienced newbies, we tried to plan well in 2004, our first trip. Silly me, I actually envisioned us doing everything on a one-week vacation! We came home very discouraged, but it only made us want to return again and again.

We have since been 5 or 6 times (lost count), and we still have lots that we haven't done yet. I guess that is what keeps us coming back. No matter how thoroughly we plan, it's just impossible to try to fit in our favorite things while adding some new activities.

For those who don't like WDW because it requires too much planning, all the better for those of us who can't get enough. Maybe it will cut down on the crowds!

 

[SassyBrendita84]

This is a great post and great questions! I remember when I was younger and lived in Florida we had Annual Passes and there was no Fast Pass System yet and it did seem like we just went to the park without really giving thought to anything that might require planning. As a matter of fact when I told my grandmother (who still lives in FL) that we were heading to Disney in a few weeks and all the planning I had done to get dining reservations and fast passes, she was like, " OH, you are one of THOSE." Ha!

I definitely can see a case for people who think there is TOO much planning for the cost being paid for the vacation to Disney. It is a lot of money for my family of 5, more than I would normally spend, but I have such great memories and I want my children to have that too. At the same time I kind of LOVE the planning part, and know many others who do too. It feels like the magic starts with the planning for me! I get excited about all the little things and where we are going to eat and all of those things.

Ultimately the reason that Disney can charge the prices that they do for a vacation that pretty much takes months to plan is because people are willing to pay that cost. If it impacted their bottom line I am sure that they would change their practices, but just looking at this board I see people talking about crowds and how much they seem to be growing so that does not seem like something that is happening. Additionally, with all the new rides / lands that they are building in the next few years I am sure that more people will be coming. I can not even imagine the crowds and how Disney will be once the new Star Wars land opens next year. I am actually a little nervous about our trip because I don't know if it is going to be the same Disney from my childhood. And it is the first time for my SO and children. So I don't want it to fall flat.

I would add that comparing Walt Disney World to Universal Studios is not even comparable to me. Universal is ONE park to Walt Disney World's multiple parks. And people are more likely to come to Disney and spend a day at Universal than spend a week at Universal and a day at Disney (in my opinion). That is probably one of the reasons you don't really need to make so many reservations in advance at Universal, because you are only spending a single day there most of the time along with everyone else, not multiple days at a time.

As far as the customer that Disney wants, I think that Disney gears themselves to the multiple day customer. They want the person who is going to spend many days in order to do it all. I think that they want BOTH first timers and die hard fans, and they want them to stay for as long as possible and of course they want them to come back. I think it makes more sense to me that way. And I had this experience with my boss who just went in October. He was not enthusiastic about going because it was for his wife and 8 year old daughter, he was not overly impressed while they were there, although, they did do some of the more expensive dessert parties and VIP tours that I was impressed by just from him describing them; however, upon his return when we were talking about his trip and how lackluster he found it I was asking if he would go again saying that I hope to go more frequently now that I have children of my own maybe every 2-3 years and he said that given his experience he would go back in another 3 years. So even after what he described as a lackluster experience to me he would go back ...

I guess I don't have that many answers here ... Not that there is probably a RIGHT answer. But I think that as long as the crowds aren't elbow to elbow and the magic doesn't all short me and my family will be going as often as our budget allows...

 

[tlcdoula]

I am a planner, so spending time researching is normal for me an I enjoy it. I do this when we go to mexico as well as Disney, I couldn't imagine spending thousands of dollars to go away anywhere and just show up not knowing anything.

Right now I am helping my sister in law plan her first trip to DW and I think I am more stressed out about it than she is. I don't want them to be waiting in lines for hours, and want them to have a fun trip and a PLAN. The thought of Just showing up without fast passes etc gives me a panic attack.

 

[IRISHGRUMPY]

A Disney holiday does require a lot of planning , but if you involve the family and they make the decisions , like the kids picking which park and which fast pass and which place to eat, it builds up the excitement and the magic.

 

[Murron]

You will definitely get many responses on this. I almost just posted popcorn time. It's been discussed so many times, but what I always see -- at least on these boards -- is the die hard Disney people will very happily work through the new high level of crowds and any new planning items or policies needed to go on a Disney vacation. I also know what's involved from a planning requirement for WDW. I've been on this forum, allears, etc. for years. I know what to do. I'm not app illiterate and am tech savvy. And yes, I love all things Disney. We've been there since '71 and are original DVC members who went at least twice per year.

Yet a couple of years ago, we said, nope enough. We had planned FP+ at MK one day (admittedly very early FP+ stages). All we could get were afternoon rides each an hour or more apart. The heat was intense. The ADR we had was running 45 minutes behind schedule before they could seat us. The crowds were just beyond incredible and we decided, nope...this is NOT fun. We were rope drop morning people. We went back to our resort (and had fun). Now mind you, we've done MK well over 50 times and it wasn't a big big deal for us...but the intense crowds (on a day declared not crowded) just put me off and the fact that I had to settle for afternoon FP+ times hours apart didn't help. I'm sure with the changes to FP+, we could work our way through this better now...but good grief who wants their face stuck in the app waiting to see what opens up. Not me.

I always wonder, what if this was my first time at WDW?? Would I be impressed? Would it be fun? Money well spent? I really think not. That's me people. I'm sure many will have a different opinion. Sitting at a laptop months in advance for ADRs and FP+ is something I can do, but do not necessarily enjoy. I'm willing to do planning, but I think we've reach a very new high level of planning.

Are they shooting themselves? I think not. Give out free dining plans, offer events for practically every month, offer it and they will come. Make no mistake. This is a lucrative business and Disney knows exactly what they are doing.

Oh and I have to disagree with Universal. They are approaching the same planning level and have their own Front of the Line process.

 

[Elle23]

I was a first timer not that long ago, and it took about 5 minutes online to realize the trip was going to require some advanced planning. And we had a fantastic 1st trip. I only booked about 4 months out and still was able to get all the ADRs and everything I wanted.

There are ample resources online that are just a click away that can help someone plan a trip, so it’s hard to fault anyone but the person doing to planning. I went from knowing virtually nothing to being pretty knowledgeable very quickly. It’s not that hard.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I'm honestly using my Disneyworld planning to help with other vacations. Like my family is going to France this summer. There is so much to see and do in Paris, so we obviously won't be able to do everything, but because of Disney, I knew to check out the various places, where they are on a map, what their hours were, what days they closed, what days they stayed open late, what was down for refurbishment, etc. And things like booking a ticket for the Eiffel Tower in advance (they go on sale 3 months in advance and sell out over a month in advance). I'm sure there's going to be plenty of people showing up to a museum only to discover it's closed that day, or having to rush through another one, when if they waited until the next day they could have stayed later, or people waiting in line for 3 hours to get into the Louvre through the main entrance rather than using a side entrance. It just makes me when I hear about people's horrible vacations and how they couldn't do anything due to poor planning on their parts!

 

[momimouse27]

I think this is a great post! I've heard a lot of people saying lately that it's too crowded, too expensive, etc. I have to admit, that if my first visit fell during this day and age, I might not have such a fondness for it as I do now. My first Disney trip was when I was 9, and I've been visiting ever since, so a lot of it is memories for me.

I will say that I cannot imagine going anywhere-and I mean anywhere!- where I wouldn't get online and do research to find out what I'm in for when I go. I even do that if we are going to a new beach area, just so I'll know the lay of the land. I think the people who don't get much out of a Disney trip must be very spontaneous non-planners who just want to show up and let the magic happen. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way anymore.

Another complaint I hear is how much everything costs. Granted, the tickets are expensive. But, when you take into account that paying for a 4 day-5 day ticket is getting you an entire week's worth of park time, and even more so when you add park hoppers, it is really worth the price. My brother was complaining about the cost of food and sodas after our last trip. I asked him if he knew what the same items or similar would cost at Six Flags, and when I told him it was about the same, it made my point. People will complain about how much a Coke is at WDW. A regular size soda is $3.29. I believe a large is $3.69(?). The other night I bought a *small* diet coke at Regal theatre and that thing was $5.50. It kills me how people will spend $30 on snacks at a movie that cost them $13 a person and then complain about the price of food at Disney. Yes, it's expensive, but I expect it...it's a theme park.

One criticism I can concur with is how much advanced planning you have to do now. I don't like that I have to sit down and plan basically every day and where I will be in order to get FP for the rides that will be hour long waits. Not only that, but I have to preplan all my meals and make the ADRs and in order to do that, I have to know where I plan to be and what FP I have so that they won't interfere with each other. I enjoy planning my trips, but if I were a first-timer, I might get totally overwhelmed with all of it. I do miss the days of meandering around a half empty park on a mid September day, and seeing everything twice because there were no lines and no people.

Bottom line is, I think Disney knows who their customer base is, and it is a certain type of person. Like Shelby said above, you can have two groups of people go and one love it and one hate it. I tried Universal when my kids were young, and I hated it. It was just missing something for me, and I haven't been back. So I think as long as Disney is attracting people who love Disney magic and their branding, they'll continue going unless it becomes cost prohibitive for them.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I don't think Disney cares. They already have that money, whether the people have a good time or not. People will continue to look at Disney as a must do experience once in their lifetime. That's all Disney needs to keep things profitable.

What happens when the kids who experienced miserable trips become the adults planning trips for their families? Will it still be something they want to share with their kids?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's a topic that comes up over time that's for sure.

Most people were completely unaware of the crowds in general, and definitely not the effect Easter or spring break would have on them.

To be fair..I would not have a clue that Easter week would mean large crowds. Schools don't get off for Easter around here. Now spring break I would, but spring break here is mid-March..spring break encompasses basically March-April if you count all the country but I wouldn't necessarily be like "well orange county gets off...". A lot of people here on the Boards don't take stock in crowd calendars I don't expect inexperienced people to even have a clue as to what crowd level to expect.

Likewise, most were clueless about the Fast Pass system - it's availability, how to use it, when to book them etc.

That's a bad one given the website gives you that information..but I will say silver lining is if everyone used FP.....

And of course, they were disappointed in the restaurants - not being able to eat at table service places etc...

That's a bad one given the website gives you that information..though to be fair no other theme park or amusement park that I've been to requires ADRs let alone 6 months in advance. People should be seeing this information on the website though it's just I wouldn't expect you to know.

Many/most of them said, they had no idea that Disney required so much planning.

My take is Disney doesn't require soooo much planning. It does taking knowing basics like how FP works (and that it exists), that sit-down places will require ADRs, and what rides you and your traveling party are interested in. Most other stuff is personal preference.

In a nutshell for majority of folks the WDW website gives you all the information you need. But for me I go to websites, I go to TripAdvisor, I go to tourism websites others may just not do that. They should for WDW though.

As far as who does Disney want the most..I'm sure they want the loyal repeat customers but they can't deny they love those who go for that one big all-out trip of a lifetime. The ones who will spend the big bucks at the resorts, the ones who will opt for the dessert parties, the hard ticket parties, the ones who buy a decent amount of souvenirs, etc.

 

[SaintsManiac]

What happens when the kids who experienced miserable trips become the adults planning trips for their families? Will it still be something they want to share with their kids?

They'll want it to be better and they will spend a lot of money trying to make that happen.

 

[BalooFan]

I guess there are vacations when you can just wing it, but they are apparently not the kind of vacation I enjoy. I like having a plan wherever I vacation. I like knowing ahead of time what attractions I am going to visit, what tours I might want to take, and where I might want to eat. I research online and might purchase a guidebook. Of course you probably don’t need dining reservations six months out for most restaurants outside of WDW, but I think some degree of planning should be expected for any vacation.