Is Disney at fault for disappointment?

[smiths02]

I do have to say with EVERYTIME I have phoned Disney from 2003-2015, if I was within 180 days (or 90), the phone CM ALWAYS recommended ADRS and offered to help. My recent calls, the CM has always mentioned MDE
I've gotten booklets, magic bands, emails, magnets with dates to make ADRS and FP+, etc.
I'm not saying Disney doesn't set up unrealis tic expectations, but you can find out.
When we went in 2003, I literally just called a few weeks ahead after looking around online. I'd decided we would stay at AKL and eat at CRT..couldnt get CRT, but CM helped us get Crystal Palace and Sci Fi. So there was help even then

 

[Danman]

I have to agree the commercial is VERY misleading.. And feel bad for the poor CM who have to check in those people who do take it at face value.

Isn't all advertising misleading? I never take a commercial for what it says or shows. Ever have a Quarter Pounder that looked like what was advertised? Me either.

Simply, in this day when all the information you could ever need is at your fingertips you should have a pretty good grasp on what to expect.

Just my $.02

 

[senadler]

While this site is definitely for the major planners, there are other sites out there with basic information that everyone needs for the first WDW trip. Those sites stress the need for ADRs and FP+, and unless someone is not really doing any research at all, I don't see how they can miss that information. Will they know that new ADRs just opening for BOG or that you can set up an additional MDE for same day FP+, probably not, but they can easily find the basics. I don't see how anyone can blame Disney for their own lack of planning.

 

[jrt1176]

While I don't see how you could truly fault Disney for not making ADR's, etc.

I think that Disney, probably on purpose, doesn't emphasize the need to make reservations. So, I would imagine, that some people just assume Disney World is like going to a standard amusement park.

I don't like planning every detail, but, since I am taking my niece, I do plan as much as I have to... I choose what days I am going to which park, make a few ADR's for character meals or hard to gets, BBB, Princess Tea, etc. I don't really have a strict plan, but I have a rough idea going into each day.

Some people may not do any of that! I know if it was up to my mother or brother they wouldn't really know what to do because years ago we just went to Disney and made reservations while on the trip! I do miss just winging it... But, I do what I have to so my niece can enjoy her time at Disney.

 

[GPC0321]

A couple of things to add.
1. People who are not internet savvy enough to utilize online message boards/forums are really missing out. The first thing I did after booking was Google "Disney World forum" and voila! I've been here ever since! I did this because I know the wealth of information that exists in places like this. Whether it's creating lesson plans for school, training my dog, diagnosing a problem with my truck, or finding the best supplement to feed my horses, I know which online communities/boards/forums to rely on for helpful advice from knowledgeable people. What you discover is a great network of people who've "been there, done that" and can give good advice. I know more about Disney World, positive reinforcement dog training, and equine nutrition than a lot of casual WDW visitors, dog or horse owners because I make it a priority to be well-informed about things that are important to me.

2. Even without being message board savvy, anyone can buy guide books that demystify vacationing at Disney. Heck, I've found many on my Kindle including one that is only about dining at WDW (and I've used that puppy a lot!) as well as a real short 99 cent one just about FP+. I also got the 2016 Unofficial Guide, and that book is pretty fantastic!

3. Commercials are commercials, and anyone who takes them at face value is in for a life full of disappointment.

4. Popular restaurants in popular vacation destinations require reservations. Anyone who is shocked that they can't just walk up to most WDW table service restaurants without reservations isn't living in the real world.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I have to agree that if you're dropping thousands of dollars on a vacation, it's irresponsible to not do some upfront planning. Everyone knows that WDW is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and to not expect crowds is just silly. People have to start taking responsibility for their own actions and stop looking for people to blame all the dang time.

But, but....it can't POSSIBLY be their own fault if things don't go exactly as they had fantasized.

3. Commercials are commercials, and anyone who takes them at face value is in for a life full of disappointment.
.

Yep, anyone who sets their expectations based on a Disney TV commercial isn't living in the real world and deserves all the misery that follows.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

The Disney planning DVD tells you jack squat. But I still got it and went from there. I try to tell people I know little things and offer to help them and share what I know. One friend said her friend was spending $7,000 on their trip. She asked me, "Does it really cost that much?" I told her about out trip and she wasn't so scared. But if friends don't want my advice, I just keep quiet.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

I think it is ultimately the guests fault. If the information wasn't available or was purposely hidden or misleading then I'd say it's Disneys fault. It is irresponsible to spend this kind of money on anything without doing some research.

That said, I personally no longer recommend Disneyworld to people. There used to be a time when you could wing it without much planning. Now I just come out and tell people I don't think they'll like it if I know they aren't the uber planners. My family wanted to do a big group trip and I said "Let's just go to the beach"

 

[Luckybee]

i know that most of us on Dis are uber planners.. However we are in the minority..
I have read many reports of friends and family of dis board member being VERY disappointed with there recent trips to WDW.. (Including my very own sister-in-law)

Upon their returning we all seem to hear "I'm never going back" And we always ask why... (Really should stop that)
A lot of the problems tend to stem from not doing research, trusting the TA or disney to much in making the right choice for your family, and not knowing that having ADR and FP+ are key.
But the biggest thing I've heard lately is "I didn't know I NEEDED those, I thought they were just options"

Could it be that disney is NOT expressing the importance of "NEEDING" ADR & FP+?
Many people who plan there WDW vacations still feel They can Walk right up the cinderella table and get a table, crowds will be minimal, and\Or will have limited wait for most rides.
One report on read on here made a good point,
- NO where on the site does it says "book your cinderella table ADR for 8 now, cause when you get to to the parks it will almost impossible to get a table"


So is disney at fault for not experssing the NEED for these or is the guest at fault for not doing there research or asking the right questions?

Interesting question ! Pertaining to restaurants :

I don't remember when or how I learned originally about the outrageous cartwheels months ahead that one needed to do in order to get into certain D restaurants. I just know that I know now. But what if I were a novice ? I took to google in order to answer this for myself and simply googled "Disney and restaurants" and got lots of sites on the first 2 pages providing tons of reviews, booking pages, one with tips, the Disney food blog, with links to other things (don't know there how far you have to delve in to see the necessity of booking waaaaay before your trip, pages with menus etc.

My point is that for a person in the "real" world unless they see somewhere the "need" to book way out I would be shocked if they would expect to have to do so. If Disney doesn't tell them it doesn't look like basic research will tell them either. Even with top chef restaurants(of which Disney has 0) one can get in easier. It wouldn't make sense for a newbie toi even have that expectation.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Just Googling "how to plan a Disney vacation" brings up hundreds of results. All of them stress the importance of booking reservations in advance. That's the most basic thing you can do to start planning your Disney trip, and involves a minute amount of research, and takes less than five minutes.

People need to be proactive and put in the time. It's silly to expect to have a great vacation without some element of planning involved. People need to do the research and stop blaming others for their own lack of effort.

 

[Lee & Kerry]

Back in the 70s and 80s, maybe even into the early 90s, you could show up and plan your day at a park, you could use the phones at the information booth and get a dinning reservation, or show up and ask to be seated, chances are you could get something. They did not have fast passes, so you stood in line. As soon as they stared the advanced dinning reservations, just showing up became a thing of the past. With getting fast passes 60 days in adavance this has made it much easier to get on a ride without waiting for 120 minutes on some of them, but that is limited on the number of rides you get for the day and park. There are lines you still have to stand in if you want to ride. It's funny I still enjoy standing in lines.

We have leaned valuable lessons over the years to get the most of our vacation time at the parks. I personally find it sometimes sucks that you have to plan so far in advance on which park to go to,where to eat and fast pass times. When you get there and something happens, weather or special event it's had to change plans to accommodate the change.

Disney's fault....nope it's seems this is how most of us have learned to make it as enjoyable as we can for ourselves. It has morphed into this over the years, it is a popular place with tens of thousands of people wanting to all do the same thing..enjoy your time at Disney.

I have told friends and family over the years to plan well ahead if they want to have great time or if not, wing it and have a good time or bad time. We have helped many a friend or family member over the years.

It has just come to this to get the most out of a expensive vacation. It's going to get harder to plan in years to come.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

And Disney is never going to tell you that you NEED pre planned ADRs and FP+ because technically you don't. There's always a table somewhere. I just looked and there's a bunch of places open for dinner tonight. Granted, they're pretty much the places none of us want to go but from Disneys perspective, all their restaurants are great. And there's always a Captain Eo or Small World FP available.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

I think it's ultimately up to the guests to ensure their experience is what they want it to be. Like when my in-laws (MIL, FIL, 2BILs (one has Down syndrome and has mobility issues), and 2 nephews) visited WDW this past June, I kept stressing to them that they needed to make ADRs/FPs but the BIL that was in charge of planning kept pushing it off. I finally couldn't take it anymore and made their ADRs for them which was way pass the 180 day mark. I didn't want my other BIL and his parents having a poor time due to his lack of serious planning. Don't get me started on when he made his FPs.

 

[HopperFan]

Is Disney at fault for disappointment? I say no.

We are grown adults:
- making vacation plans that for most will involve thousands of dollars
- we are booking plane tickets, figuring out the best time to travel and costs
- we are driving figuring out where we will stop and making hotel reservations
- we are going to one of the most popular destinations on EARTH
- we will be sharing Disney with THOUSANDS of other folks, not having a private experience
- we make dining reservations around our own homes ...... why wouldn't you there?
- have the Dining Plan ...... common sense, make reservations
- Dining Reservations aka ADR aka Priority Seating etc has been needed at WDW for decades for the most popular
- I made dining reservations as far back as 1991, maybe earlier
- I remember in 1993 trying to join friends at places like Coral Reef and it was an absolute no go
- Disney offers FREE FastPass .... because some rides have long lines ......... hello, why in the world wouldn't you book?
- Every time I call them they ask if they can make ADRs for me, do I have any questions ....
- Going on a cruise? Do you just show up with no plans for port excursions or booking shows or picking a dining time?
- Going to Europe? Do you just show up at airport and plan to wing it once you are there?
- THOUSANDS of dollars are being spent by you, the guest ..... google for free, grab a book, ask a friend who goes ....
- Anyone who is willing to spend that much money and just show up and wing it ............ that is on you.
- We are all responsible for our own spending actions particularly when it's optional spending.

 

[superlarz]

I would say both are at fault. Disney needs to lower the planning window for ADRs and FP+. Both should be 30 days and non resort people can book fp+ 15 days in advance. 6 months and 60 days is ridiculous. That being said, Disney will do what is best for business so there is a method to the madness

 

[Turn the Page]

Hmmm......interesting question.

I would have to say, in general, no, it's not Disney's fault if people are disappointed in their vacations.

As far as booking with a TA I have mixed feelings about that. If you are using a TA who works exclusively with Disney vacations then yes, I think a client would have grounds to be upset with the TA if they were given false information. However, I would be willing to bet the majority of TA's do not exclusively book Disney vacations. They book vacations all over. I'm also going to qualify this further by saying I'm not talking about the TA's the uber rich use who plan absolutely everything for them. I'm guessing the majority of us don't use those types of TA's. I'm talking about your local TA who books vacations all over the world. I wouldn't expect to talk into my local TA's office and book a trip to England and have them tell me how far in advance I have to book a tour of Buckingham Palace or what the hours at the British Museum are. In fact, my mother works at a travel agency and they pretty much book the flight, maybe a rental car, hotel, and give you some brochures. I doubt they would even be able to recommend attractions, activities, or restaurants for any but the most popular places.

Point being, all the information is out there for anyone planning a Disney vacation if they care to look for it. Unless I'm paying a TA a few grand or more to book my trip for me I'm not expecting the few dollars they would make from the commission on a Disney trip to pay for that kind of expertise. If someone does want that expertise they either need to find a TA who is a Disney specialist or find an elite TA who is willing to spend hours researching for you.

As far as Disney not advertising these things better I'm going to have to disagree. Even when legacy FP was around there was no lack of information about it. Heck, all you had to do was look at your park map to find out what FP was and how it worked. However, we have all heard stories about people who had no idea what it was or thought you had to pay for them. There is only so much Disney can do to inform people of how the process works.

ETA: Although, if they are sending reminder emails a week after the FP window opens up then yeah, that's on Disney.

 

[chelynnah]

Regarding several PP who have said something along the lines of 'you make dining reservations at home...' Yes I do, but not 6 months in advance. No local restaurant would be fully booked 180 days out. In fact you might not even be able to book that far ahead.

I have travelled lots of places by car, plane, etc, of course the hotels are booked ahead by me, and the route planned if necessary, but I never prebook a restaurant. I just find what's close and we go for it.

Yes Disney is different and you should potentially expect to have to book early for some select dining experiences, but 6 months ahead isn't in most people's experience of 'normal'. I personally would have thought 3 months for dining would have been plenty of time to get a reservation anywhere I were to vacation.

As for cruises etc, yes we would look at the excursion options, but they weren't actually booked till you were on board (at least the time we went).

WDW 'required' planning is on a whole 'nother plane of reality, and I think it's unfair to look down on people who just didn't get it. Be surprised maybe, bit not everyone knows the right s arch cues, not everyone gets how much it's changed from their childhood experience (or even 5 years ago experience), not everyone stays onsite, or books he through Disney or gets the same information direct from them. and not everyone is so fortunate to be able to travel 1 or more times a year and know intimately how every nuance of the system works.

There are things that could be improved both from Disney's side and from the guests' side.

(Please excuse any weird iPad generated typos)

 

[Angel Ariel]

You wouldn't go to your local sit down restaurant without making reservations.

There are pretty much no local sit down restaurants that we ever make reservations for. And we live in a highly populated area, very much not a "small town" type atmosphere at all.

ETA for clarity: What I'm saying is that in our highly populated area, with a ton of demand for eating out, we *do not* need to make reservations to go to a sit down dinner. We have not made a reservation for any restaurant in our area in quite some time...not since before DD was born at the *very* least, and she's over 3 years old. Any time that we have made reservations here, it was for upscale/ adult date night restaurants, not family-friendly restaurants.

 

[Colleen27]

I think it is some of both. Yes, people should do their own research about their vacations but the fact is that WDW is so unlike other vacation destinations that a lot of people simply have no idea where (or maybe more importantly, WHEN) to start. That's on Disney, because they're the ones that set up a system WAY outside of the norm for comparable vacation experiences. We do a lot of traveling but I've never made a dinner reservation for a non-holiday more than a week or two in advance other than when going to WDW and I've booked scores of trips a few weeks or months before our departure but only at WDW has that been too "last minute" to get some of the meals or experiences we wanted. But I'm not sure what more Disney could do to prepare guests for those realities because if the guest's first contact with the company is at the time of booking, how do you reach them to let them know they need to be thinking longer-range than for other destinations?

One thing I do think they could change - It would be nice if, since they do send out reminders about FP+, they could do so in a timely manner. I got a reminder to make my ride reservations this week... two days after the window opened. It was bad enough that I forgot about my FP day and didn't get to it until 10am - I was shut out of Anna & Elsa and had to settle for later times than I wanted for Soarin', TSM, and 7DMT (the latter late enough that a 4th FP at MK is out of the question). If I'd waited until the reminder came, I wouldn't have gotten 7DMT at all and probably would have had late evening times that conflicted with our evening plans for the other two. The mailing was a nice idea, but a timely e-mail would have been better than a tardy snail-mail postcard.

 

[Planogirl]

I agree that the fault lies with both. People should plan but then Disney doesn't have to make things so complex either. A lot of people see WDW as themeparks and I can guarantee that many years ago I would have never thought that so much planning would be necessary to visit themeparks. As Colleen said, much of this is outside the norm and in my opinion Disney doesn't do enough to inform people of what they might need to do to see what they wish.