Disney Sour Grapes

[DisneyFamily123]

Does anyone just get tired of all the planning required for a WDW trip? It's getting insane with ADR's, fast passes, extra costs for premium seating at parades. I have no idea why it took Disney so long to announce an opening date for 7DMT except it's probably just hype to draw more guests in June. Does it really take that long to build and open a "kiddie" coaster? I don't even care if I get a soft opening ride. I'm sure BTMRR and EE will be much more fun to ride. More and more, WDW seems less about the customer experience and much more about taking your money. Yes, I know it's a business. I'm excited about Star Wars weekend but this is probably our last trip. going on a cruise or beach vacation is much easier to plan and more relaxing.

 

[mrstomrice]

I personally love the planning, it adds to the excitement. You don't have to plan anything, but your experience won't be nearly as good if you don't. It all depends on what you want from the money you spend on vacation.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Well to be honest, if your not happy with WDW, I agree, the best thing to do is take a different vacation!

Enjoy!


AKK

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We don't do any of those things and have a great time. We book FP+ the night before or morning of, don't do ADRs (Disney doesn't have a restaurant good enough to warrant me planning my vacation around it), and the premium seating isn't "premium" enough to warrant our use of it.

We do plan, but not this type of planning. Our planning is just an effort to familiarize ourselves with changes in the parks and systems so we are prepared to have a great time when we get there. If we ever felt forced to do all of the things that you are doing, we would stop going to WDW. Spontaneity is important to my wife on vacations - very important. We don't even do tours when visiting new cities or countries for this reason.

So you don't have to do these things to have a great time. There are a lot of ways to do WDW. Find one that works for you without killing the fun.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

Paying for premium spots for a parade? I thought that was what FPP was for? I guess I missed this one. For what parades is this available and how much? Sorry

 

[bocaj1431]

Does anyone just get tired of all the planning required for a WDW trip? It's getting insane with ADR's, fast passes, extra costs for premium seating at parades. I have no idea why it took Disney do long to announce an opening date for 7DMT except it's probably just hype to draw more guests in June. Does it really take that long to build and open a "kiddie" coaster? I don't even care if I get a soft opening ride. I'm sure BTMRR and EE will be much more fun to ride. More and more, WDW seems less about the customer experience and much more about taking your money. Yes, I know it's a business. I'm excited about Star Wars weekend but this is probably our last trip. going on a cruise or beach vacation is much easier to plan and more relaxing.

I agree! Planning used to bring excitement for our family but now it is exhausting and nerve-wracking. With the constant glitches and problems using MDE, bands not working to enter the park, FP+ issues, and DAS changes, worry has overtaken the excitement of planning a Disney vacation.

Please do not respond with sarcasm or attacks to my comment. I know there are posts with positive experiences about all the concerns I mentioned above. There should be positive experiences. Especially given the cost of a trip to Disney. I am happy when I read positive experiences on the DIS. The problem is; with the roll out of all the changes to the Disney parks, the negative experiences have begun to outweigh the positive ones. Hopefully this will not last.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I agree! Planning used to bring excitement for our family but now it is exhausting and nerve-wracking. With the constant glitches and problems using MDE, bands not working to enter the park, FP+ issues, and DAS changes, worry has overtaken the excitement of planning a Disney vacation.

Please do not respond with sarcasm or attacks to my comment. I know there are posts with positive experiences about all the concerns I mentioned above. There should be positive experiences. Especially given the cost of a trip to Disney. I am happy when I read positive experiences on the DIS. The problem is; with the roll out of all the changes to the Disney parks, the negative experiences have begun to outweigh the positive ones. Hopefully this will not last.

I agree with every word in your post about the expectations that we should have - this stuff should have been better tested before it was rolled out. People should have lost their jobs over that, it was/is so bad in places. But why worry over it? Whatever is going to happen will happen no matter how much or how little you worry over it.

Let it go.

 

[bucky1023]

I love planning my Disney vacations, that is half the fun for me and hey I plan just as much when I travel to Europe or any other big trip (where to eat, what to see, when to do everything, best times of day to see certain things).

I like figuring out what new restaurants we want to try, what rides we haven't done in awhile. I don't plan every minute of the day, if I happen to get a decent spot for a parade thats great if not, I'll try again next trip.

As for the 7DMRT, I feel that people on the boards hyped up the new ride more than Disney, heck if I didn't go to Disney so much as I do or follow these boards as well as others I wouldn't even know that there was a new ride.

But this is just my opinion.... I also love my restful week at the beach I take each year as well

 

[jctwizzer]

The answer is to quit gong...

and we have

 

[kathie859]

I read posts like this usually from people who haven't used MB or FP+ and just roll my eyes. Another thread, about the same tired subject, mentioned that any trip should involve some level of planning. Each person should do whatever planning makes them unstressed and prepared for the trip. The amount of planning is up to the traveler. Some people are "fly by the seat of their pants" travelers---I'm not. I like knowing what to expect, having a idea of what I want to do each day---I do this for Disney or a trip abroad.

The roll out of MB and FP+ hasn't been perfect and I certainly am glad Disney finally increased the number of FPs and added the ability to get them in more than one park. The MDE app is a time saver in the parks and I like having all my info (ADR's, plans for the day, etc) in one place.

I've used MB's, MDE and FP+ 2x so far and will again in December. I guess I just don't get the angst that the new system has evoked in some guests.

 

[TooExcitedCantSleep]

Well to be honest, if your not happy with WDW, I agree, the best thing to do is take a different vacation!

Enjoy!


AKK

Yup!!! This.

 

[bocaj1431]

I agree with every word in your post about the expectations that we should have - this stuff should have been better tested before it was rolled out. People should have lost their jobs over that, it was/is so bad in places. But why worry over it? Whatever is going to happen will happen no matter how much or how little you worry over it.

Let it go.

Good advice. Will try.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yes, it takes a lot of planning. But in all reality, at least for us, it's really no different than before. Yes, I make FP+ choices now...but I'm actually using more FPs than I did before. I seldom got more than 2 FPs a day. So, I get to do more, with less waiting now.
But...it isn't going to work for those that think they're going to one park but change their minds at the last minute. But, that would be the same if you had ADRs in a particular park.
And as far as 7DMR...I have to agree with another poster here....it's those of us that go often that have made this such a big deal. Those that don't go to WDW often really had no idea what was going on and didn't much care! Now, do I think that Disney should have opened the window for free dining on the same day as FPs for 7DMR? Ah, no...that was ridiculous. No wonder the system came crashing down!!

Now, talk to me in mid-June when I return home from 10 days in WDW. I may have a whole different attitude and opinion!!!

 

[Ava]

I haven't had the opportunity to try FP+ yet, but I personally love how technology has changed the planning process for a trip. This year will be my first time utilizing the DDP (yay for free dining!) and I've had a lot of fun booking my ADRs. I got up at 6am at my 180 days and got my few "must do" reservations at the times I wanted. I only had to call for one of them (the Fantasmic package). Since then I've been using the MDE site and app to play around with my other ressies; I love being able to just click a few buttons on my phone and see what new times may have opened up or change a res. In the "old days" when you had to call to make all reservations, I'd just stick with what I got on my first call b/c it was too much hassle to call back just to see if something else *might* be available (and I hate the phone). MDE is much better, IMO.

As others have said, if planning for Disney has become more stressful than fun, perhaps it's time to take a break. I also go in with the mindset that it doesn't have to be "perfect" - not getting a certain ADR or not being able to ride a certain ride is not going to ruin my trip. If I don't see everything this time around, there can always be a next time.

 

[Magpie]

I love planning my Disney vacations, that is half the fun for me and hey I plan just as much when I travel to Europe or any other big trip (where to eat, what to see, when to do everything, best times of day to see certain things).

I like figuring out what new restaurants we want to try, what rides we haven't done in awhile. I don't plan every minute of the day, if I happen to get a decent spot for a parade thats great if not, I'll try again next trip.

As for the 7DMRT, I feel that people on the boards hyped up the new ride more than Disney, heck if I didn't go to Disney so much as I do or follow these boards as well as others I wouldn't even know that there was a new ride.

But this is just my opinion.... I also love my restful week at the beach I take each year as well

This is my attitude, too!

I went to London for the first time this past spring. Just like with Disney, I could have just gone with no itinerary, and just decided what we wanted to do after we woke up in the morning. But that's not my style. I enjoy planning.

And, just like with Disney, thanks to my planning we knew what we wanted to see, and when the best days and times were to avoid the crowds.

Plan, if you want to. Don't plan, if you don't want to. Disney isn't "making" you do anything.

By the way, OP... However much you find it a chore, I do hope you've done your research for Star Wars Weekend, and taken advantage of the various planning tools Disney is so kind to offer. I hear that event can be crowded.

 

[JanaDee]

I agree with every word in your post about the expectations that we should have - this stuff should have been better tested before it was rolled out. People should have lost their jobs over that, it was/is so bad in places. But why worry over it? Whatever is going to happen will happen no matter how much or how little you worry over it.

Let it go.

I agree. Let it go and go somewhere else. You won't regret it!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Does anyone just get tired of all the planning required for a WDW trip? It's getting insane with ADR's, fast passes, extra costs for premium seating at parades. I have no idea why it took Disney do long to announce an opening date for 7DMT except it's probably just hype to draw more guests in June. Does it really take that long to build and open a "kiddie" coaster? I don't even care if I get a soft opening ride. I'm sure BTMRR and EE will be much more fun to ride. More and more, WDW seems less about the customer experience and much more about taking your money. Yes, I know it's a business. I'm excited about Star Wars weekend but this is probably our last trip. going on a cruise or beach vacation is much easier to plan and more relaxing.

I've always liked the planning, gives me something to do that is sort of an escape in itself. But I do think with the advent of FP+, planning has been pushed to the breaking point.

The first thing that is annoying is their pre-canned options for FP. Just let people go in and pick what they want. The fact that they don't put the fireworks and parades in until some unknown date adds another layer of annoyance if you are going to try to put a few of those in at some point. Then there is trying to get a BOG ADR. If you miss that, try to get a BOG FP, but that's on another super-secret system that seems to be entirely separate from everything else Disney runs. I'm still can't figure out what the logic is behind having ADRs at 180 days and FP+ at 60.

Anyway, yeah, it's all just over-the-top now. I can't see how this made anything easier for a first-timer...seems way harder to me!

 

[BudgieMama]

Paying for premium spots for a parade? I thought that was what FPP was for? I guess I missed this one. For what parades is this available and how much? Sorry

I echo this one- I seem to have missed it- which and how much? That could be very handy for us!

 

[Tomader]

I agree with the poster. Disney is becoming a job. I LOVE Disney and will continue going but it's changing. If your older and don't have the right phone good luck working out your trip. My daughter was on her phone changing fast pass times and dinner reservations. If I was alone with my husband I don't think we would get any fast passes. This system is geared for the young. Disney is like my kids. I love them to death but the make me very angry at times. So to vent your feelings on all the changes Disney is making is okay. The Disney I remember from the day it opened is not the Disney I see today. As always money comes into play. That said I will continue the abuse and book each trip like it's my first.

 

[POLY1985]

I love planning my Disney trips. When I'm in trip planning mode I am on these boards several times a day. Love planning my ADR's. We always try at least two new places as well as everyone's favorites. With FP+ I can relax a little knowing everyone can do their favorite rides and what we don't have on FP+ we can do at rope drop.
I spend just as much time researching trips outside WDW. We are going on an Alaskan cruise next year and then spending a week on land. I don't do cruise tours, every activity is planned by me. I frequent the cruise critic message boards which are similar to DIS.
Planning to me is fun. I can't just sit and watch TV at night so I always have my iPad on my lap and am researching for my next trip.