Just back...kinda disappointed

[binkeecat17]

Just got back from a week visit (May 1 - May 8). We had 4 adults in our party and two preschoolers, so while we visited all parks we focused on preschooler activities. First of all, I know that Disney is expensive, and while I can afford the trip, I just didn't think it was a good value at all for what we experienced. Considering we were spending over $500 a day just in park admission, I felt underwhelmed at the experience. We specifically went at this time because crowds were said to be lower, we even went to specific parks on the days the crowds there were expected to be lower. But it was crowded. We felt like we couldn't do much more than our 3 fast passes because we didn't want to wait for 40 to 60 min in line. Also, getting additional fastpasses was annoying because of the limited availability of kiosks in which to do this. Sometimes I didnt have a choice in FP times, so my 3rd fastpass was for 4pm. That means I had to wait until after that to get a 4th one, but someone else could be on their 8th by that point. Doesnt seem fair. Also the selection was pretty poor for additional fastpasses anyway. My main problem with the FP is when we used them for shows or parades. We still had to get their early and wait in order to get a good seat. My view is, if you are using FP for a show or parade you shouldnt have to wait that long or race with the crowds to get a good seat. For example, we had FP for the Lion King Festival show. We lined up and waited and then when they let us in, people raced across the performance area to get seats, people literally ran, and some of my party had to sit several rows back from the rest o f us because people filled in around us and we didnt get seats together. Why cant this be orderly? We got there, we lined up? Did we really have to RUN across to get seats? Another point is when booking fastpasses we didnt have much time selection, even though I did it at 1am on the day I could book, so we had to walk across parks to get from one thing to the next. Also the other thing that bothered me was the seating, if I am paying 100 for a so-so lunch I at least expect to have seating, more than once I would had to wait for seating to open up, and then scramble to try to find enough chairs. the tables were often dirty too. Overall the kids enjoyed the trip, so that is what counts, I just felt like the whole trip was hurry up and wait, or race around trying to get seats.

 

[pmaurer74]

You mentioned that the times for FP were bad. Why didn't you change them? Once you get your initial Fps you can then go in an taylor them to the time you want. It is easiest to use the MDE app. Sometimes it may take a few days until a time opens up but it usually does. Except for maybe Elsa and Anna, last time I went it took me a month to get Fps and doe far for out June trip I have been unable to get them.

 

[nilla]

Interesting post, especially since someone posted today that they just got back and had a completely different experience.

You were online at 1:00am to get FPs, but couldn't get a 3rd FP earlier than 4:00pm? Can we assume you stayed off-site?

 

[binkeecat17]

They werent all bad, and I did change some on the app. It just seemed like there werent that many options.

 

[nilla]

You mentioned that the times for FP were bad. Why didn't you change them? Once you get your initial Fps you can then go in an taylor them to the time you want.

Ahhh, didn't consider that she might have never tweaked the times after getting the Disney suggestions.

 

[binkeecat17]

I stayed on site. But if you book FP for the parades, you do not have any option in time, the Festival of Fantasy parade was at 3 I think.. I basically dont think FP for parades are worth it anymore, I thought it meant you could get there later, and then have a good view, if I have to still get there 45 min early and wait in the heat, I might as well just sit on another curb and wait without a FP

 

[nilla]

I stayed on site. But if you book FP for the parades, you do not have any option in time, the Festival of Fantasy parade was at 3 I think.. I basically dont think FP for parades are worth it anymore, I thought it meant you could get there later, and then have a good view, if I have to still get there 45 min early and wait in the heat, I might as well just sit on another curb and wait without a FP

Another explanation! Thanks. I recently booked our June FPs and had no problem getting early morning FPs, so I was a bit confused.

We didn't book any parade FPs, but do have one for Wishes on our last MK day. I've considered ditching that, but know how annoyed I get trying to squeeze in for the show.

...so we had to walk across parks to get from one thing to the next.

Hey, it could be worse - under the old system, you'd have to run across parks just to get the FastPass!

We try to get to lunch right around 11:00, to beat the rush. It can fill up quick, depending on the restaurant. Cosmic Ray's is one that seems especially bad.

Sorry to hear you had a less-than-magical experience. Hopefully there were a lot of good memories, too.

 

[elaine amj]

So sorry your trip didn't go as well as you had hoped. What I have personally found with WDW is that unless you are willing to put in the time to do extensive research - it can be hard to have the types of trips other people report. There's just a LOT to know and a million tricks to make things go a little smoother.

Then again, I am a Type A planner and all the "wing-it" vacations we have tried have never worked out really well. When we "wing it", I end up with a grumpy family when they turn to me and I don't have all the answers.

 

[momof2n2]

Interesting post, especially since someone posted today that they just got back and had a completely different experience.

You were online at 1:00am to get FPs, but couldn't get a 3rd FP earlier than 4:00pm? Can we assume you stayed off-site?

I see three just back reports: 2 saying a bit -meh-/crowded; one saying excellent time.

I like reading all of them

 

[mshanson3121]

I stayed on site. But if you book FP for the parades, you do not have any option in time, the Festival of Fantasy parade was at 3 I think.. I basically dont think FP for parades are worth it anymore, I thought it meant you could get there later, and then have a good view, if I have to still get there 45 min early and wait in the heat, I might as well just sit on another curb and wait without a FP

Unfortunately, this isn't really a FP+ issue as much as what you chose to use them on issue. When you choose to use FP+ on parades and shows, you are very limited in the time you can choose. Also, since your FP+ can't overlap, you have to take that into consideration, too.

We booked our FP+ 50-60 days out for a busier time of year, and did not stay up till midnight once, and had absolutely 0 problems, got everything we wanted. BUT, we didn't use FP+ for parades and only one show.

I guess consider it a learning curve for the next time, if there is one. Also, you can't look at it as $500 for a day. Oh sure, it's $105 a day for one day. But, as you know, the longer you stay, the cheaper it is. Considering that it was only $1800 for our party of 6 for 5 day passes, that's only $360 per day. And that's pretty comparable to what you would pay in ANY theme park, even a small one, since $360 for 6 people is pretty cheap.

 

[Ava]

I'm sorry your trip was less than magical. It seems there aren't any times that are truly uncrowded any more, and as a PP mentioned there are a lot of tricks to avoiding the crowds and making the most of a Disney trip that take a lot of time to research. I also think many people go into a Disney trip with very high expectations, so when things don't go exactly the way they anticipated it's disappointing which is completely understandable.

Hopefully if you do decide to go back, you learned some things on this trip that will help you for next time. I definitely learned some things last year, both about how WDW works and about my family, that are helping me plan better for this year.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I dislike crowds and running from FP to FP too but am a pro at it now. With kids I'd imagine it could be a nightmare. When it's too busy or irritating we just do something else. We go hit get racers at a monorail resort. We hang out and listen to the piano in the GF lobby. We hang on the beach at the Poly. We head over to boardwalk and love it. We used the mini golf voucher. We've even just gone to do the seeds tour at the last minute. All else fails we just grab the adult beverages and hang by the pool or hot tub. Lots to do then go back to the park when it's less crowded.

 

[Goofey Drool]

Sorry your trip didn't turn out so well.Our family has not been to Disneyworld since 2011 and we are starting to plan for another trip in April 2016. I have been told that FP's have changed and read a few posts with negative feedback. We are not type A and tend to make our decisions the morning of or the night before, to decide which park we are going to. I take it those days are over and we will have to plan 60 days in advance for whichever parks we will be in on specific days. This makes me nervous because I want to have a vacation without rigid schedules. I am nervous that our trip might resemble your description of "hurry up and wait". What if you don't plan way ahead on what park for each day etc. Is it going to be just a week of waiting in lines?

 

[mchelle77]

I do agree that it was more crowded than I had expected, but even so my daughter and I were still able to ride 7DMT three times on our MK day (our last FP+ time was at 1pm, and the third was made at a kiosk but changed through the app) I took the advice here and did not use my FP+s on parades and shows, and always had a good view - even during MSEP when we literally had to run out of the Plaza to see it just beginning.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Sorry your trip was disappointing.

I hear you on the QS. We usually do a TS in the parks and a QS for dinner back at the resort because I can't deal with the seating issues and the dirty tables at some of the places in the parks.

 

[BarrettDSP]

I was there the same time as you(May 2-May 9) and had some similiar experiences but alot of different ones. We followed for the most part easywdw crowd calander. I also had 2 preschoolers(they had a blast). I did feel the crowds were higher than were anticipated but we still did everything we wanted and never waited more than 30 mins for a ride. Our longest wait was actually 65 mins to see Baymax and Hiro and we only did that as it was on our 2nd HS day and we had already done all the rides/shows we wanted to do. I also felt Disney inflated the wait times posted on alot of rides as once we got in line they were significantly shorter. At 60 days out we got every FP+ we wanted and my oldest son got to ride many of the headliners twice each day due to our youngest son being too short(Rider Switch for the Win!). I had previously read about FP+ for the parades, shows and wishes not being worth it so I didnt get those plus it restricts you from getting additional ones until you use it. We tried to have our 3rd FP+ done by early afternoon if possible and were always able to get additional ones for non-headliners. For the 3pm parade we were able to walk up 10 mins before and get a spot front row on the circle in front of the castle this past Saturday but we did wait 45 mins for a spot for the nightime parade. We always found tables at QS places and we ate a normal times and less normal times so I'm not sure how you didnt find a table.

For me the worst part was the heat towards the end of last week, by Saturday I was just done with Disney World and ready to go home and crank the AC.

 

[Nancyg56]

Disney takes planning. In order to get the best experience from this trip you need to know what you want and then learn how to accomplish it. WE always make sure to plan meals that have us sitting down together and relaxing, which means TS for us. When my DGD was young, we focused on all of the preschool activities, and since she was a character junkie, we hit every line as well. And every pre school show. But we knew that we could not do everything, so we did not. We focused on what she wanted, slit up at times so some of us could hit the big attractions and just let the rest go.

One of the issues I see, not from your post, but in general, is that many ties people have set expectations of what a Disney vacation is going to be like, and if they base it on the commercials, they will be let down. A lot. The parks are not almost empty with Goofy and Mickey waiting on Main Street. and Kids get tired. and parents get tired.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I am so sorry you had a bad experience.
We went to DHS for the day a week ago (May 3rd). Got in at 9:05 and we got a lot done by 5pm. Did well more than our fast passes.

Ended up it was a recommended day and weather was great.

We did RNRx2 (standby both times), TOT, 11am lunch at prime time, Indiana jones show, toy story, playground, start tours, and great movie ride. Kids split the last event between animation academy and Beauty and the Beast and then we had to leave. We were managing an infant during all this and letting one child lead the way that day as we were there for him that day. So not too bad. Our only hiccup was the line for the drawing class. Took way longer than anticipated.

ETA: RE: crowds, I thought they were okay and not too overwhelming. And I don't like crowds.

 

[bwang123]

Just got back from a week visit (May 1 - May 8). We had 4 adults in our party and two preschoolers

we went the same dates but with just 4 adults so the overall experience and priorities were different. But, we never made rope drop, rarely used all 3 FP and did a lot of rides in standby as most were 30min or dropped below 30min at some point in the day and we entered the line then. On Monday the 4th, we even rode Toy Story in standby at night with less than 30min wait which we had never done outside of rope drop. This trip was the 1st time we ever rode Soarin in standby as well, only 25 wait with posted 35min same with Peter Pan (to see the new interactive queue).

We enjoy going in May because the crowds are low and this trip did not disappoint.

 

[stashbin]

Sorry your trip didn't turn out so well.Our family has not been to Disneyworld since 2011 and we are starting to plan for another trip in April 2016. I have been told that FP's have changed and read a few posts with negative feedback. We are not type A and tend to make our decisions the morning of or the night before, to decide which park we are going to. I take it those days are over and we will have to plan 60 days in advance for whichever parks we will be in on specific days. This makes me nervous because I want to have a vacation without rigid schedules. I am nervous that our trip might resemble your description of "hurry up and wait". What if you don't plan way ahead on what park for each day etc. Is it going to be just a week of waiting in lines?

If you don't plan accordingly, you will not get to do everything you would like to do. Our first visit, we had no idea what to expect and didn't plan ahead. We literally wandered around trying to figure out what to do and the lines were so long that we didn't get to do very much. Download the extra magic hours for each park for the duration of your stay, make a list of all of the attractions you don't want to miss, and secure a fast pass for those attractions. You will thank yourself later.