Helping unprepared friends of friends

[VBelle68]

I got a call yesterday from a friend. Her friend is leaving today for a week long trip to Disney World. We have all known about this trip for about 6 months.
Now, I am no expert, but I told her (6 months ago) if she had any questions to ask me. Her question to me (yesterday) was, "How do you do that FP thing?" and "what app do you have to have?"

There is no way I could have helped at this point. I simply told her to sign up for the official WDW app and have a good time.

What would you have done? How much or how little do you try to "help" people?

 

[thewesterberg]

I think that's the best you can do at that point. I ran into a similar situation... I had an acquaintance who asked me to help her with her trip. We had planned on meeting a couple of months before they left to go over things. She had to cancel that meeting and never got back to me until 2 days before her trip. She asked for advice and I told her to simply "have fun." Anything else at that point would have left her overwhelmed or anxious.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Eek

Well... I try to help those who *ask* me as much as possible. But... at this point there is nothing you could have said to help her since its too late to pre-plan. It is best that you didn't scold her or overwhelm with all the information... sometimes ignorance is bliss. They will probably enjoy their trip more not knowing all the things they could/should have done. At this point, knowing that they could have done xyz and abc if they had preplanned would just be a disappointment to them.

You did the right thing by just wishing them a great trip

Edit to add, now when they come back after the trip with questions... feel free to provide them all the information for their next trip!!

 

[china mom]

While I was waiting on a car repair, I pulled out my tablet to work on a trip for a client (I am a TA). This led to a conversation with the clerk and she mentioned that her daughter was about to leave for a Disney trip. So, I ask her if her daughter goes to WDW often and upon a positive response, I gave her one of my cards and asked her to pass it along with her daughter for her next trip.

Two days later I get a call from the daughter (who had not booked through me and whom I didn't know) and she asked me how to put her sons (sons only) on the dining plan so that they could charge meals when they were separated. About two minutes into explaining about how everyone in the room has to be on the plan or no one, she reveals that they are staying at Bonnet Creek. Okaaay, disregard everything I just said. I recommended she purchase gift cards.

She called me back the very next day and told me that they had arrived at Bonnet Creek only to discover that they no longer offer the free shuttle and she had just discovered that parking would cost them $17 per day. Was there any way I could get her a discount on parking.

Sorry sistah, it is a little late for my standard advice of either stay on property or budget for parking.

 

[JimmyV]

This is an interesting topic and a greatly needed counterbalance to all the posts in the "I didn't like FP+" threads where people chime in: "If you didn't do your homework and learn about the new system, it's your own damn fault." Maybe people will start to have a greater appreciation for the fact that non-Dis'ers, (the majority of guests), don't typically plot out their trips 180+10 days or 60 days in advance. If you offer to sit down with them and help plan their trip 6 months in advance (or even 3 weeks in advance), they look at you like you are nuts. Now, granted, after their first trip is over and they encounter some frustrations, they might take you up on your offer 6 months before their second trip. That is, of course, if there is a second trip.

 

[MartDM]

At that point in the game, I think you handled it well. There is no way they could fully educate themselves on everything they *should* know going into a trip and trying to do so would overwhelm them and she would have retained nothing of what you said.

Helping her getting the app loaded, connecting her ressie, and booking FP is about all a noob would be able to handle at that point so your approach was perfect IMO.

If there are complaints upon her return, a simple "yes, there is a lot to know and it can be frustrating if you are unprepared - next time get together with me as soon as you book and I'll help you avoid all that" will suffice. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink KWIM?

 

[pd1138]

I have said the same thing in the end to friends and extended family who are just about to leave too! I have visited over 8 times since being married and more as a kid before that and I am a planner by nature so I'm often asked advice. I give them some pointers and offer to get together to help them plan. I then do not hear from them until after they return and I either get, "oh we should have took your advice, you were right on x,y, and/or z!" OR I get, "I don't understand why you like Disney since we couldn't do anything!"
Heck! I think have the fun of my disney trip is the planning part!

 

[judaloo]

I love this thread! I always tell people I'm happy to help and just last night realized a friend was there because of her facebook post. She then asked me all kinds of questions because wait times were too long! I gave her a quick touring plan for her HS day for rope drop (as she never answered my question about whether or not she had FP's). I agree, planning is half the fun!

 

[ericstac]

This is an interesting topic and a greatly needed counterbalance to all the posts in the "I didn't like FP+" threads where people chime in: "If you didn't do your homework and learn about the new system, it's your own damn fault." Maybe people will start to have a greater appreciation for the fact that non-Dis'ers, (the majority of guests), don't typically plot out their trips 180+10 days or 60 days in advance. If you offer to sit down with them and help plan their trip 6 months in advance (or even 3 weeks in advance), they look at you like you are nuts. Now, granted, after their first trip is over and they encounter some frustrations, they might take you up on your offer 6 months before their second trip. That is, of course, if there is a second trip.

what is crazy is I feel the same way how the majority of people are clueless to all the ADR and FP stuff.. yet it all gets booked so dang fast

I would of recommended that they download the app, set any FP's they could then plan to be at the parks an hour before they open, and suggest they try to hit the park that has early morning magic hours if possible.. so they can ride rides if they dont have a FP..

biggest thing I tell fist timers is to dont sweat it, just enjoy it all.. be sure to walk around and soak it all in because it is a lot and if you are rushing and freaking about FP's you will miss out on what WDW is really about.

 

[quigs3]

My boss is not a huge Disney fan, and she has scolded me more than once for wasting my money going back so often. She hates heat and crowds. I was shocked when she recently told me she was taking her daughter to WDW this summer. I tried to offer some suggestions, but she instantly cut me off and said she wasn't going to do any planning. She wanted to spend a lot of time at the resort pool and take everything day by day.

I dropped the subject, but after spending last week at Disney and seeing the long lines and observing the waits at the FP+ kiosks, I brought it up with her when I got back. I told her she was going to have a miserable time if she didn't make her FP reservations beforehand, as well as their dining reservations. I opened my MDE app and showed her the wait times. Pirates and HM were already 30 minutes, and SDMT was a 120 minute wait, and it was only 11 am! She freaked out and started asking me all sorts of questions. She hadn't even created an account on the Disney website. I felt so bad for her. She's definitely changed her thinking now, and said she would start making reservations right away. I can't even imagine what their trip would be like if she didn't have any FP+ or dining reservations when they arrived. I'm pretty sure it would have soured her on Disney forever!

 

[VBelle68]

If asked ahead of time, I try to give somewhat limited information. It can be so overwhelming to a first timer. I usually point them to a couple of websites and tell them to get back to me with specific questions. And I also try to only answer what is asked. I can give a 10 minute answer on "where should I stay?" But the real question really is "I have x amount of dollars, where should I stay?"

An acquaintance had returned from a trip some 5 years ago. She hadn't asked for input, so I didn't offer any. When she got back, I asked her if she had gotten to all four parks. She answered "yea, we toured the park from open to close for 4 days. We saw tomorrowland, adventureland, frontierland, and fantasyland. It was so much fun!" Outwardly, I said, " I'm glad you had such a good time!" Inwardly, I said "Really! all 4 parks"

 

[RllngRckBrw]

While I find it hard to resist the urge to begin planning their trip for them, the moment they tell me they are going, I am much more passive about it. My response varies with how well I know the person (the closer my friend and co-workers know of my obsession well). Typically I respond with informing them of the freak I am and informing them WDW does take a lot of planning to maximize your experience. I then let them know I am willing to help as much or as little as they want, wether it be a daily itinerary, or some basic questions, and I leave it up to them.

The only time this doesn't happen is if it is a pretty good friend going then I may be a bit more pushy, with my encouragement to educate themselves before going.

 

[Bilierka]

If asked ahead of time, I try to give somewhat limited information. It can be so overwhelming to a first timer. I usually point them to a couple of websites and tell them to get back to me with specific questions. And I also try to only answer what is asked. I can give a 10 minute answer on "where should I stay?" But the real question really is "I have x amount of dollars, where should I stay?"

An acquaintance had returned from a trip some 5 years ago. She hadn't asked for input, so I didn't offer any. When she got back, I asked her if she had gotten to all four parks. She answered "yea, we toured the park from open to close for 4 days. We saw tomorrowland, adventureland, frontierland, and fantasyland. It was so much fun!" Outwardly, I said, " I'm glad you had such a good time!" Inwardly, I said "Really! all 4 parks"

!!!!!!!!!now that made me laugh!!!!!