How did you feel about your 2014 WDW Vacation?

[Kristina4109]

My June trip was the first ON PEAK trip I've taken to WDW since 1976, so that was something I was very stressed about. But honestly, the crowds were not that bad. The MK was the only park I felt was crowded. The weather was horrid; hot and humid the entire time. But we still had a blast. It was so much fun to watch my daughter really appreciate WDW. She's been once before but she was 4 years old and this time she really was old enough (9) to enjoy the place.

Since then we've been to Disneyland twice - my kid is so Disney spoiled.

 

[meowser]

I voted for better than previous trips. Mostly because I went to the Food & Wine Festival for the first time and that was amazing! Also, the trip this year included family and friends which made it special.

 

[SamRoc]

Had a blast Halloween week with my dd. went for the first time in 1974 and over a hundred times since that. we used to own a home for 6 years in emerald island close by then bought dvc. this trip was fantastic because we did everything we wanted to do, took our time, went swimming in october, and got to spend halloween in my favorite place!

 

[Frozen2014]

This was our first Disney trip as a family (I went when I was 6 year old, but I don't remember much...and only MK existed back then).

What I'll say is that I did so much planning and organizing...which park what day, ADRs and QS options, FPs with a touring plan, back up if bad weather, etc etc....and we had so many amazing stuff in the cards. And our kids were super excited so wanted this trip to be perfect. However, because I had such high expectations, I sortuv wondered if I'd be disappointed in the end. But was I? No...not at all. It was just the most amazing trip ever (well, aside for the fact that I was very sick our first MK day...but shows you how great the trip was if I am still saying it was amazing).

I voted "1st trip- as good as expected " since I had high expectations expecting it to be amazing. We even had the most perfect weather.

One thing though...is that if we go again, I don't think we'll ever have this experience again (e.g. DD5 in princess phase and perfect age for meet and greets, DS9 amazed with the rides first time, etc) and we'd do things more low key not doing so much.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

June 2014 was our first family Disney trip. I went in expecting to have a fabulous time and it was absolutely amazing! I never thought we would be going again this summer, but my husband and I both decided this was the best vacation we could take now with our 4 year old dd. Not to mention, there was still so much we didn't get to de despite staying 7 days.

I am also a huge planner and don't like to do things on the fly, so I really enjoyed booking all the ADR's and fast pass plus.

We're counting down the days until May 2015

 

[bumbershoot]

This is my extremely unscientific way of figuring out if WDW vacations are really starting to suck for everyone Please vote only if you have taken a trip in 2014. I'm allowing multiple votes incase you went more than once this year.

Last January was a horrible trip. Mainly because I got sick and then my son did. We were sick for weeks. It was awful. I dropped 10 lbs in 2 weeks because I had no appetite and couldn't taste or smell food. The tastebud issue lasted longer than the general illness did, which got pretty scary. It was supposed to be this huge, long, AMAZING trip, and it was just long and awful until the last week of it.


But then my friend and I went for the Wine&Dine Half, and that was a really good trip! We weren't sick, we didn't argue like families might, we were able to make changes on the fly when MDE app was working, and we did just about everything we wanted to do. Pretty cool.


My son and I have a do-over trip this January. DH is joining us for the whole thing, thank goodness. Fingers crossed no one gets sick this time!

 

[wisblue]

My reaction to this totally unscientific survey is based on the following points, which represent my opinions about the makeup of posters on forums like this:

1. I think that WDW guests who are obsessed enough with Disney to post on boards like this represent a tiny sliver of all guests. I have no idea what the actual percentage might be, but I suspect that it may be less than 1%.

2. This tiny sliver is dramatically and disproportionately overpopulated with people who have made several, if not dozens, of trips to WDW over the years, including several in recent years.

3. Guests who make frequent trips, and who post on forums like this, are much more likely than an average guest to have developed a touring approach that enabled them to take maximum advantage of the paper FP system. It stands to reason that a significant percentage of that group will be disappointed with a change that takes away an advantage that they held over the average park visitor.

4. Just because those frequent visitors complain loudly and frequently about FP+ does not mean that they will visit WDW less frequently. And, even if they do, their impact on the overall WDW attendance will be imperceptible.

I find it interesting that 21 of 24 first time visitors who responded to the poll said that their trips were as good as or better than they expected. Of course, it's impossible to tell if those people spent time on the Dis before their trips and had their expectations beaten down so badly by the negativity that they were dreading their trips before they left and were relieved that it wasn't as bad as they feared. However, the comments from those who took the time to explain their votes suggests that wasn't the case.

BTW, I voted for "as good as previous trips" because our frequent visits have created a degree of familiarity that makes it difficult for one trip to be really "magical". I am looking for a level of recreation, entertainment, and relaxation similar to what we have had on past trips, and am perfectly happy if I get that. I prefer FP+ over paper FP, but its impact on my overall enjoyment of a trip is negligible.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

I get to answer my own poll now! We went in November 2014 and overall it was better than trips we've taken in the past. I will say that a lot (most) of that has to do with my kids being older now (6 and 8) and being able to ride everything as a family and not having a stroller to deal with. Not changing anyone's diaper makes vacation a lot more fun for mom!

I actually liked FP+ (gasp!!) I loved not running around the get FPs and knowing when the times would be in advance. I've always been a planner anyway, so picking 3 rides to FP in advance was no big deal to me. However, I can totally see how it takes the spontaneity out of it for people who aren't like that. We used our three early and got several additional ones on our MK days. We've never been the type to use more than 3 FP in a day, but we were able to do 6 on our MK days with FP+.

I thought food prices have gotten ridiculous for the quality.

I felt like it was more crowded than the same week in previous years. But we know the parks and know who to deal with that.

I will also say that while I used to very freely recommend WDW trips to people who've never been, I don't do that anymore. Gone are the days of showing up and winging it. So, unless you are willing to put in the time to educate yourself and plan everything in advance, a WDW trip could be a big waste of money. I used to dream about planning a big extended family gathering, but no way now. You HAVE to have ADRs, you HAVE to do FP in advance and I can't manage that for any more than my immediate family. We'll do our family reunion trip at the beach (or a cruise.)