First Time at WDW- The Unexpected?

[ZephyrJG]

I made a similar thread in the Cruise Line forum that proved to be popular- it's a good way for first timers to learn things!


What were some things that were totally unexpected or that you weren't prepared for the first time you ever visited WDW? (Good or bad)

Has this effected how you prepare for/handle any of your other visits since then?


For me, it was the size. I had heard hundreds of times how big it was, but it was just something I couldn't comprehend until I was actually there in person. Fortunately, I was relatively prepared for this (even though I didn't quite believe it until I got there lol), and I had good walking shoes and even some moleskin handy!

 

[EdmondD]

The only thing that makes me less than 80 percent sure this is guerrilla market research from Mickey is the improper use of "effected" (of course, that may be part of the plan!).

For most people on here it's been decades since our first trip, so you may want to re-word.

That said, if I had to speculate, I'd say a first-timer in 2017 will not be expecting the massive amount of advanced planning required.

 

[ZephyrJG]

The only thing that makes me less than 80 percent sure this is guerrilla market research from Mickey is the improper use of "effected" (of course, that may be part of the plan!).

For most people on here it's been decades since our first trip, so you may want to re-word.

That said, if I had to speculate, I'd say a first-timer in 2017 will not be expecting the massive amount of advanced planning required.

Whoops. Oh well.

*affected

 

[Karin1984]

First trip was in 2012.
1. The biggest thing was the weather, I'm from the Netherlands, with a completely different climate and I had seriously misjudged how Floridian heat and humidity in September would impact me.
I don't really adjust to this. As trips to WDW are expensive I like to spend every moment in the parks. Breaks or swimming are not really my thing. I relax at home ;-) If I wasn't so fond of Halloween, I might schedule a next trip in January. I'm now more prepared, I know what I will face, stay hydrated etc.

2.Also size is a thing, I am used to walk from park to park or from hotel to park. The buses... almost only good experiences, but it was not what I had imagined. Especially scooters on the bus and the issues some guests had with the scooters/ramps...
Got used to it now.

3. The love of Americans have for air conditioning, I really don't know or get what they were thinking. One time I left Yak 'n Yeti after lunch and went back into the heat and immediately hit the wall. I leisurely strolled through one of the trails, but after a while I had to sit down because the cold/heat difference was too much.
I don't schedule sit down lunches anymore, I thought this was a good idea to get a break from the heat, but it wasn't for me. I now prefer to take a CS lunch in the outdoor, and do some indoor rides to cool off.

4. And on the positives, I hadn't expected the Disney spirit of CMs to be like this. To a European the happiness & excitement of CMs can be quite over the top, and sometimes it can feel fake. I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked down Main Street and saw the CMs waiving and smiling, it felt surreal. In Paris for 99% of the CMs it's a job like any other. And in some respects that's a good thing (When in restaurants I do not like a CM at my table every 5 minutes to ask if I'm alright), but it was so different from US CMs whose life mission seemed to be to work for Disney and to spread joy and magic.
It's now one of my favorite things of WDW

 

[thevolcanogod]

I can't say about my first time since that was 1979 and I was 2. But I will
say one thing I underestimated for our first summer trip was the heat and humidity combination. Hydrating was no issue - what got me was the friction on the inner thighs. I've taken hikes in 80-90 degree heat up in the north without issue. But I was hurting severely after day 1. Luckily I had my 2-year-old with me and a full tube of diaper cream.

 

[AngiTN]

That said, if I had to speculate, I'd say a first-timer in 2017 will not be expecting the massive amount of advanced planning required.

Funny, I was going to say it ends up being just the opposite. That not as much planning was needed

The one thing that we were most surprised by was how worn out we got. We needed a rest day and didn't add one

So mine would be plan less in general. Slow down, go with the flow more. You can't do it all

 

[Ambehnke]

Heat. Our first trip was Nov and it was 95 and humid. And also the need for midday naps/breaks. We were much more prepared for this the second time and it was a more pleasant trip.

 

[BradChristian]

My first adult trip... I made the mistake of park hoping 3 parks in one day with my pregnant wife.

We did Animal Kingdom that Morning....Jumped to Hollywood that afternoon for fantasmic, and then ran over to EPCOT for illuminations. Wife hung on best she could but was done when we got to EPCOT... Wound up leaving mid-show because she was almost dead.

Fortunately next pregnancy we wound up doing Disneyland spread out over 4 days... Still had one day with heat issues, but it helped things incredibly.

 

[4evryoung]

First trip with my children and my sister's (3 very resilient boys aged 5, 6 and 7), we were surprised by how overwhelming the hit on the senses was for the boys -- colour, sound, smells, everything. We found that they needed a quiet break where they could just sit and play with figures, build lego or colour-in pictures. Some quiet play away from the business of the parks. Talking to them later in life, my eldest explains that they just needed a respite that was "normal time" so that they could re-charge.

 

[Parker Clan]

The size & amount of things to do and places to eat... But this was a positive. Always excited to go back and try something new.
We also built in rest days starting last year, both at Universal & at Disney because we go in August and it's great to relax by the pool

 

[loves to dive]

My first time was around 1982 or 83 so the size wasn't that big of a deal, there were only two parks. No planning needed, it was long before ADRs or FPs so you just went and stood in line and walked up to a restaurant and waited. That is pretty much how we still do it with the exception of making ADRs while we are walking around and maybe making a FP or two the night before or morning of. I think what may have surprised me was how clean it was and how friendly all the CMs were. The only thing I had to compare it to was 6 Flags, Cedar Point in Ohio and Bush Gardens in Tampa.

 

[Legendteri]

How much I would prefer Disney's Photopass pictures over my own. We didn't purchase it beforehand because I thought it would be a waste of money as we had our own camera. We got in line for the princesses and a photographer asked us if we has a photo card. I said " no " and just took the one he handed me and proceeded to hand them to the photographers thoughtout our trip. Once I looked at the photos online I felt like I had to buy it as the photographers were able to get better pictures than we did.

 

[jeremeyp]

Two things that I think people don't expect:

1. The amount of planning involved to have an enjoyable time; and
2. The amount of time Disney transportation can take.

 

[rer1972]

My first time was in the 80's with my cousins and their parents. Things that stick out most from the first time was the heat, the lines, and spending all day in the parks.

I remember taking extra tshirts with us into the parks after the first day so we could change part way through the day due to the heat/humidity.

There was no fastpass or anything like it back then, so as another poster stated, we would just get in line on whatever we really wanted to ride and wait. It was actually not too bad, because those were the times we could talk and joke around with each other.

Parents spent a lot of money going to Disney World then (not even staying at a WDW Resort), so we were going to get our money's worth. We wouldn't get up super early either, and would eat breakfast at the hotel. We would get to the parks by around 10 (after parking and using a tram/boat/monorail). Then during the day we might get a small snack here and there, and stay till the park closed. Then we would drive over to eat dinner around 12PM or 1AM at a Chili's/Applebee's type restaurant (not sure if it is around anymore, and cannot remember the name). Then do it all again the next day.

Fun times!

 

[adelaster]

Two things that I think people don't expect:

1. The amount of planning involved to have an enjoyable time; and
2. The amount of time Disney transportation can take.

These!

Also:

3. Dirtiness & Litter
4. Apathetic employees
5. Shoving/pushing/downright rude guests
6. Food quality (some better and some much worse than anticipated)
7. The complexity of the transportation system
8. That you can't actually call the front desk
9. The terming and pricing of resorts relative to outside properties
10. How much fun we had anyway!

In the future- much better planning/reading. More proactive behaviors where available. Avoiding people as much as possible. A lot of it is out of our control though, so fingers crossed for a mostly smooth experience!

 

[EdmondD]

Whoops. Oh well.

*affected

Hey, if I had a nickel for every homonym mistake and other typo I've made on here.....

But I see you didn't deny my assumption!

 

[RobinVanellope]

Whoops. Oh well.

*affected

Lol. PotATo. PotAHto

 

[Micca]

How overwhelmingly cool it is Also maybe understanding that while Disney transportation is a great service it can take longer than you think to get from point a to point b, especially if you have to transfer a bus or monorail.

 

[alhurricane]

The best laid out plans can fall apart real fast and that always isn't a negative. On our first trip in 2013 with my 6 and 4 year old, I had spent months planning our first day in MK. We got there for rope drop and as soon as we enter the park, my precious 6 year old wanted to head right for the princesses (they were in where Mickey and Tink are now). So we go there, wait awhile, she meets them and is over the moon. As soon as we leave from there to resume our plans, it starts pouring. All in all, our morning plans never happened, but we winged it and had an awesome morning. We came back that night and the crowds were light, so we got to do everything we missed that morning. It was a fantastic first day.

So while we still make plans, I consider it more of a framework to work with. The unexpected will happen and the best thing to do is remember you are in Disney and you can always find a different way to make a wonderful memory.

 

[nighttowll]

It's so hard thinking back that far, and I definitely think this a better question for non-planners, as you aren't as surprised after researching a place for a year before going.

I remember reading the unofficial guide and being surprised by lots of stuff in it, like the need to make ADRs, and the long section containing instructions for how to eat with Cinderella that seemed a bit ridiculous.

I'm from the south, so heat / humidity and cultural differences weren't a big issue for me.


1. The main thing I think that didn't really translate from paper was what you said, the sheer size, both distance wise and the amount of things to do. I remember very early in the trip being completely exhausted. It was just so physically exhausting. We also went for 10 days, but couldn't fit everything in we wanted to do, and ended up adding on an extra day.


2. The other thing I noticed my first trip was that the food wasn't what we were really use to in the south. Now I love it, but back then, my limited southern taste buds were confused by all the strange things on the menus. I feel like we didn't even know what half the foods on the menu were. I remember us having a hard time finding places to eat our first trip. We were also shocked restaurants didn't serve sweet tea. That is still a pet peeve of mine. At least they have real tea at TRex.


A continuation on that is that we were surprised that the children's menus didn't contain more of what we'd consider to be "kid friendly" or "picky eater" choices. I feel like I had this same issue when we took the girls when they were 11. One will eat anything, but the other two are very picky, and I remember ruling out many restaurants like BOG because they wouldn't eat anything there. Typical kids menus at most US restaurants have chicken strips, pizza, corn dogs, hamburgers, peanut butter and jelly, or a simple sandwich. Simple foods. Usually paired with fruit or fries. Many of Disney's restaurants have kids menus far from that. You can find those options, but usually at QS, not TS. Not a complaint, just surprised us as we were used to taking the kids out to nicer restaurants at home where the adults would eat one thing (maybe French food), but the kids could still order more typical American fare off the kids menu that was more familiar to them. Always seemed strange to me that a place for kids, didn't cater more to what the typical American kid likes to eat.


I did read the menus ahead of time, so we were fine, but there were a number of places I'd have loved to go, if only I could have found something on the menu for the kids to eat. Also, I felt bad because I felt like even when we did find choices they were familiar with, it was the same one or two foods over and over again. They were really sick of the same thing by the end of the trip and thrilled to get back home to "normal" restaurants as they call them. Buffets were great. Tusker House is one of our favorites, and they love trying all the different dishes. So it's not that they won't try new foods, it is just hard to convince them to order foods they aren't familiar with for their entire meal, and expensive if they end up not liking. I'd rather introduce them to new foods at home where it is cheaper.


3. The last thing is that even though we thoroughly researched and planned out everything, things didn't always go as planned. Attractions we thought we would love, we disliked. Ones we thought we wouldn't care for much, we loved. Attractions we thought would be scary to the kids, weren't. Ones we thought wouldn't scare them at all, did. The hour we just knew we needed to set aside for Attraction A, only took 5 minutes, but attraction B, ended up taking 2 hours.