Do DISForums bring you down?

[OKW Lover]

I'm wondering how many of those people complaining have not even been to WDW yet under the new system. I suspect a lot of folks are complaining based purely on what they read, not on actual experience.

 

[famy27]

I love a good strategy as much as the next person and would happily read and contribute to any such thread. But I just don't see many of them out there. Like FP+ or not, it is a huge strategy change for many. Learning how to work the system is key for me. I will be going back in the foreseeable future, and I love to know what I'm dealing with.

I don't see FP+ threads as better or worse than any other planning threads.
Many planning thread ask for posters to critique one person's plan or for opinions on a ride or attraction that has been in existence for 10+ years. It may be interesting to that poster, but the same information is available if you search the site, and people are going to be super-motivated to post to those threads in large numbers.

On a good day, I'd say what's a new or interesting actual strategy on this board (both pre and post FP+) is probably less than 1% of all posts.

That's the nature of the beast when you're talking about a huge operation like Disney that changes very little day-to-day.

FP+ is a giant change and thus it will get giant response. The GAC card did the same, but that affects fewer guests and is normally concentrated on the DISabilities forum. Late FP returns were the same way. Anything that has a large impact on guests' park experiences will get lots of posts, and many will be negative.

 

[dobtia]

I don't. I send them to easyWDW.com.

Yeah I do send them there too....and the Passporter book

 

[DividedSky]

Like FP+ or not, it is a huge strategy change for many. Learning how to work the system is key for me.

the thing with FP+, is the system as it is designed right now really limits any way to "work it".

the benefit between going in knowing, and going in as a newbie has closed greatly. The number of rides a person can make it on is going to be much more similar now. And for those in the know category, that realization is very troubling.

 

[ajwolfe]

I couldn't agree more with this post! I've been frequenting these boards for years and always have loved the advice I get and the discussion of new things I may have missed on my own.
We love a WDW trip for the fun of it, the magic of it and just because we are together and not at work NOT because of the FP or magicbands.
I wish there was a complaint board so those that have nothing of quality besides a complaint to offer can vent in their own section. If I was a newbie I would be dreading my next vacation, but since I've been a few times I know we are going to have a blast regardless of all the nonsense I see on here.
I also have to say I've stopped referring friends to these boards for assistance. If they are newbies to Disney I don't want them to be snowed under with all the negative before they see the positive!!.

 

[coconutprincess]

at times, yes. However, the biggest downer is seeing how people go to Disney more frequently than I do!

 

[famy27]

the thing with FP+, is the system as it is designed right now really limits any way to "work it".

the benefit between going in knowing, and going in as a newbie has closed greatly. The number of rides a person can make it on is going to be much more similar now. And for those in the know category, that realization is very troubling.

True. But it makes the little bits of knowledge I can squeeze out of the FP+ threads here all the more precious. I've learned that FP+ availability isn't static, so if I have my heart set on something that is unavailable in MDE, frequent refreshing might let me access the ride I want. I know that I can use RS to double my FP+s in EP. I can make FPs for a single rider and copy them to a group if something isn't showing availability in MDE. More FP capacity is "held back" for day of FPs for offsiters and is released right at park opening. I am at least somewhat confident that I'll be able to ride what I could in the past with similar wait times, even though it will involve more work and more planning.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

I don't come around as much as I used to. It's soooo negative. I have a friend planning her first trip and usually I'd tell her to join but I actually told her to stay away. Which is sad cause I have loved this place for 12 years now.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I have received some great advice here, and really appreciate how helpful most of the posters are, or at least try to be. But there can be drawbacks. I was convinced that FP+ was a disaster and was going to ruin Disney for my family. That only because of this board. In fact, the only reason that we made that trip in January was our investment in the marathon events, which were non-refundable (time and money). We were ready to walk away.

I learned that knowledge is peppered with a strong layer of opinion here. You really have to scrape off the opinion to get to the useful information.

 

[DisneyDetective]

Nope! NEVER!! I LOVE MY "DIS"NEY!!!!

I just skip over the negative Threads!

That makes two of us MrsBlovesDisney

 

[cabanafrau]

I usually spend some time here in the lead up to my trips.

This place just comes across as negative; and I get that FP+ has changed things.

But lighten up people.
So you may only ride Soarin once.
Did you really need to see another 6 sets of feet hanging above you to enjoy your time with your family while not working?

WDW is supposed to be Magical, but often DIS just comes across as a looney bin convention.

I understand that people get tense about lots of things here on the boards and sometimes it's hard to listen to complaint after complaint about how someone's trip is going to be ruined because thei favorite ride will be shutdown during their trip, etc., etc. But how is it less negative to be so dismissive about people's feelings about how recent changes mean they can't tour quite the same way as they have in the past?

I've visited WDW several times, including with the new FP+. We don't like feeling like we're punching a timeclock on vacation, even though we do get up early and burn the candle at all ends at Disney. I don't enjoy feeling like I've got to do so much homework to have good strategies for visiting a place we know so well or celebrate the fact they're putting measures in place to throttle access for a supply of attractions that has in no way kept up with what some estimates place at an attendance increase of 20-percent within the last 10 to 15 years.

Color me sad, frustrated and unwilling to keep paying higher prices and get much less out of our visits than we did only a few years ago. Why wouldn't I come to a Disney board to discuss these issues? For the foreseeable future it's DLR or no Disney visits for us. For the most part it will be no Disney for us.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

the thing with FP+, is the system as it is designed right now really limits any way to "work it".

the benefit between going in knowing, and going in as a newbie has closed greatly. The number of rides a person can make it on is going to be much more similar now. And for those in the know category, that realization is very troubling.

You hit the nail on the head. I was helping a friend last week who has never been before and not done a stitch of research pick her FP+. I had the same realization as I was going through the options. Disney is leveling the playing field, and the years (decades?) of work some of us have put in are now for naught. The Disney achievement gap is closing. No more 6 FP for DISers and none for those not "in the know." Disney is redistributing the vacation wealth and that's hard to swallow when you've been the ones on the good end for so long.

 

[JanaDee]

I understand that people get tense about lots of things here on the boards and sometimes it's hard to listen to complaint after complaint about how someone's trip is going to be ruined because thei favorite ride will be shutdown during their trip, etc., etc. But how is it less negative to be so dismissive about people's feelings about how recent changes mean they can't tour quite the same way as they have in the past?

I've visited WDW several times, including with the new FP+. We don't like feeling like we're punching a timeclock on vacation, even though we do get up early and burn the candle at all ends at Disney. I don't enjoy feeling like I've got to do so much homework to have good strategies for visiting a place we know so well or celebrate the fact they're putting measures in place to throttle access for a supply of attractions that has in no way kept up with what some estimates place at an attendance increase of 20-percent within the last 10 to 15 years.

Color me sad, frustrated and unwilling to keep paying higher prices and get much less out of our visits than we did only a few years ago. Why wouldn't I come to a Disney board to discuss these issues? For the foreseeable future it's DLR or no Disney visits for us. For the most part it will be no Disney for us.

 

[Magpie]

Color me sad, frustrated and unwilling to keep paying higher prices and get much less out of our visits than we did only a few years ago. Why wouldn't I come to a Disney board to discuss these issues? For the foreseeable future it's DLR or no Disney visits for us. For the most part it will be no Disney for us.

See, this is exactly what I don't understand.

This is ostensibly a trip planning board. You're not going to Disney World. Given how many things have changed, your previous experience at Disney World is going to become more and more outdated. So you can't offer much in the way of attraction and strategy touring tips to others, and you certainly don't need them yourself. Why aren't you over on the DLR boards getting excited about your future trips, instead of here?

Is the whole purpose of this board, for you, just a place to vent about what you don't like about Disney World?

 

[mom2rtk]

See, this is exactly what I don't understand.

This is ostensibly a trip planning board. You're not going to Disney World. Given how many things have changed, your previous experience at Disney World is going to become more and more outdated. So you can't offer much in the way of attraction and strategy touring tips to others, and you certainly don't need them yourself. Why aren't you over on the DLR boards getting excited about your future trips, instead of here?

Is the whole purpose of this board, for you, just a place to vent about what you don't like about Disney World?

I thought this was all just a test. How is the PP going to know if they change anything as a result of that test?

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I thought this was all just a test. How is the PP going to know if they change anything as a result of that test?

That only explains reading - not venting.

 

[MichiganDVC]

OP...agree with you 100%. I was on here a lot between January of 2013 and July of 2013. In that time, I took two separate trips to WDW and a Disney Cruise, so I had a lot to research.

By the time I took my last trip in July, I was seriously looking for the "paint chip on the left handle of the fourth rail" or whatever. I was looking for all these imperfections that so many people on here complain about. And I was very upset with myself for letting the negativity affect my trip. So I had to take a break from this place for a few months.

But, since I'm taking more trips this year and have actually been to WDW and used MB and FP+, I have more to contribute than speculation. And I can look past the negativity and just feel sorry for people who can't see the forest for the trees.

 

[kellyjeanie]

A bit. We went on our first trip in October and in some way the complaining helped - there was so much complaining about one thing or another, I think it lowered my expectations, and I thought our trip was fabulous! We had such a great time.

 

[Spriesty]

I don't mind any of the threads here, really. The good, the bad, the FP+, the broken Disney, whatever.

I am not a fan of the new system, but I'm still planning an early 2015 trip. I love Disney, but I hope they work out some of the kinks they've put in place recently.

I like to read other peoples opinions and strategies, that's why I'm here. If I wanted nothing but facts, I'd be at a different website. Other people's opinions, whether positive or negative, are valid and may or may not apply to me and my vacation.

For people that love it, that's great, I'm so very happy for you.

For people that hate it and are never going back, I'm so sorry. I know for them, it's like losing a little piece of themselves because they found happiness and magic there in the past.

For me, I don't like schedules on vacation. Timing everything from meals to rides is a nightmare to me. But I still love Disney. I can love WDW and still hate certain parts about it. There are people that hate POR, but that doesn't stop them from staying in a different resort and enjoying WDW just the same. There are people that hate AK and never step foot in that park, but that doesn't stop them from enjoying MK.

My point is, you can still love and have fun at WDW without loving everything about it. And my personal opinion is, we should be allowed to discuss what we like and what we don't on these boards.

 

[mom2rtk]

That only explains reading - not venting.

If it's a test, that implies that the are considering alternatives along the way. I believe venting in a public forum is one piece of a good strategy to communicate your desire for change.