Just back...kinda disappointed

[Tomh]

Sadly, a LOT of people don't do the necessary research and planning for a Disney World trip, and wind up having a miserable time. We were fortunate in that I happen to be kind of well anal about these kinds of things, and so I was all over the internet well in advance of our first trip, found the DIS, read The Unofficial Guide, and was well prepared. We went to the parks with a touring plan, and though we didn't follow it 100%, we were able to get a LOT of things done, AND . .. we knew when we were falling behind, which gave us the opportunity to look at our schedule, and decide what we were willing to miss.

OP, I hope this doesn't discourage you from going to Disney World again, but rather encourages you to take the time to learn what you need to, and plan a bit better for the next try.

 

[binkeecat17]

Hi, OP here. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions and for everyone being respectful. Just to answer some questions, we did not do rope drop. Two days we had Character breakfasts - Princess one at Norway and 1900 Park Fare. Really enjoyed those, the food was excellent at 1900 park fare. Both reservations were at 935, so we hit the park about 1030/1045 those days. Other days, we got to the parks around 930am but one day stopped for bfast at Main Street Bakery (starbucks). I have been to Disney many times before but not since 2006. Back then we would go in May or October and the crowds were super low, walk on everything. I guess I thought it would be like that again. I really did plan the trip out, probably not to the extent of some of you experts do but I did plan, and I was on this board a lot trying to learn the latest tips. I think the problem I had stemmed more from expectations being too high rather than planning, but I agree those things are intertwined no matter what. We just didnt want to wait in any lines, which I realize now is very unrealistic. I do stand by my comments that the FP for shows should be more organized, maybe those who line up first get to pick rows/seats and then everyone walks to that seat, not sure what would work, but we really didnt like the Running to seats and feeling like you are getting swarmed on both sides. Anyway, the kids said they want to move to Disney, so I guess I will be back! Thanks again, I will try some of the tips when I go back.

 

[MainMom]

Hi, OP here. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions and for everyone being respectful. Just to answer some questions, we did not do rope drop. Two days we had Character breakfasts - Princess one at Norway and 1900 Park Fare. Really enjoyed those, the food was excellent at 1900 park fare. Both reservations were at 935, so we hit the park about 1030/1045 those days. Other days, we got to the parks around 930am but one day stopped for bfast at Main Street Bakery (starbucks). I have been to Disney many times before but not since 2006. Back then we would go in May or October and the crowds were super low, walk on everything. I guess I thought it would be like that again. I really did plan the trip out, probably not to the extent of some of you experts do but I did plan, and I was on this board a lot trying to learn the latest tips. I think the problem I had stemmed more from expectations being too high rather than planning, but I agree those things are intertwined no matter what. We just didnt want to wait in any lines, which I realize now is very unrealistic. I do stand by my comments that the FP for shows should be more organized, maybe those who line up first get to pick rows/seats and then everyone walks to that seat, not sure what would work, but we really didnt like the Running to seats and feeling like you are getting swarmed on both sides. Anyway, the kids said they want to move to Disney, so I guess I will be back! Thanks again, I will try some of the tips when I go back.

I agree about the shows. Disappointing that it is not more organized and maybe a little dangerous since people tend to push and shove. :/

 

[pktbMouse]

Im so sorry you had that experience..we had a similar one 2 years ago and its a heck of a lot of money to not enjoy it as much as you thought you would..we are usually fly by the seat of our pants people but this year Im at least looking at what Easywdw is recommending for park days and trying to stick with that. Last year we had tons of cheerleaders the first week in May at CBR and in the parks and that kinda soured it for us too. This year for the first time ever we are going 2nd last week in August for a change and I welcome any tips on here. Op again sorry...hope your next trip is a better one.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

I do stand by my comments that the FP for shows should be more organized, maybe those who line up first get to pick rows/seats and then everyone walks to that seat, not sure what would work, but we really didnt like the Running to seats and feeling like you are getting swarmed on both sides.

I feel you on that one. My crew got separated by pushers and shovers at Laugh Floor, of all places.

I'm glad to hear good things about 1900 Park Fare, that's on my list!

 

[DisneyJediMaster]

Reading all this ... can someone help me .. what I don't understand is, I have seen all these posts about how the new systems aren't bad because "You can still fly be the seat of your pants" and "there is no need to pre-plan" and "You can be even more spontaneous" ... but .... this entire thread is basically "The OP just didn't plan enough" ... this leaves me really confused ... which is it !?!?!?

 

[4077]

Reading all this ... can someone help me .. what I don't understand is, I have seen all these posts about how the new systems aren't bad because "You can still fly be the seat of your pants" and "there is no need to pre-plan" and "You can be even more spontaneous" ... but .... this entire thread is basically "The OP just didn't plan enough" ... this leaves me really confused ... which is it !?!?!?

Based on the last couple years, I think unfortunately this question is gonna go up there with, "Which is better...Coke or Pepsi?"

 

[maryj11]

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.

Very good point ! Same thing happens to us. If I plan out everything in some kind of order it goes way smoother. Our last trip after we used our 3 fastpasses at MK in the morning we had no plans and we got caught in crowds, lines, walked to much, and overheated . It didn't turn out as fun as it would if we made plans on what we were going to do in the afternoon. Now if it isn't very crowded it is much easier.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Very true. Most DIS'ers know all kinds of tips and tricks and will try to jump in to point out what the OP could have done better. That is my gut reaction too. I think if we just try to step back a bit - the OP wasn't asking for advice - just reporting her experiences and how she felt. It's hard because we can see so many ways she could have done it "better". One of my closest friends came back from her WDW trip (I tried to give her advice beforehand but she wasn't too interested although she liked a couple of tips) and said they had a good time, but lines were too long. They are "once and done". I've told her for years that it IS possible to do it without lines (my own family LOVES Disney because we rarely wait in lines) - but the research/structure necessary just doesn't interest her.

We crazy DIS'ers know that strategies like rope drop, a touring plan or even knowing the basics of what time of day to target each ride (e.g. NO Peter Pan in the mid-afternoon without FP...even on the slowest day) can make all the difference in the experience. But not everyone wants to learn all that (or knows that it is possible) and sadly, this forms the majority of WDW visitors.

I completely understand this...I'm sure I am not the only way who feels this way sometimes when we vent to a family member/spouse, and they jump in wanting to fix it all somehow and meanwhile I'm like "I just wanted to talk to you about it, and have someone listen...I don't want you to try an analyze it and fix it for me.".

I think it's totally natural to jump in ad try and fix when one feels like they have input that could help, but I think it's also important to remember that sometimes people just want to talk/be listened to/vent, and that's OK too. It's definitely a fine balance to be kept.

 

[twinprincesses09]

We were there around the same time (May 4-May 9) and the only park that I felt was more crowded than I expected was MK (May 6,7,9). At Epcot (May 4) and HS (May 5), I kept changing my FP+ choices because the standby times were only like 10-15 min. The only thing we used it for at Epcot was TT (we did Soarin' at RD) and ToT and TSM at HS. We did rope drop most days and got a lot done before it got crowded. The only long wait times we had were for the character meets. I guess I wasn't expecting to have to show up 20 minutes before the character arrived for the next meet just to get in the line before it closed (sometimes they would close the line before the character even showed up). This was especially true for the princesses at Epcot. Next time, I will be sure to book a ADR for the princesses! But my girls wanted to meet as many characters as they could. If it hadn't been for the long waits in the hot sun for the characters, I would have rated our vacation even better. This was our first Disney vacation, and I think we did pretty good overall. Yes, there are things I will do different next time, and our expectations will be different, but after listening to the great advice here on the boards and doing lots of research, I think our vacation was a success!

 

[Chitownpeeps91]

I agree with your thoughts. The crowds (which Disney knows are coming) , fast pass plus limitations etc has really changed our view of WDW.
I usually left the world already planning my next visit. Not this time. Will wait to see what if anything changes.

 

[Squidgyness]

Reading all this ... can someone help me .. what I don't understand is, I have seen all these posts about how the new systems aren't bad because "You can still fly be the seat of your pants" and "there is no need to pre-plan" and "You can be even more spontaneous" ... but .... this entire thread is basically "The OP just didn't plan enough" ... this leaves me really confused ... which is it !?!?!?

You'll find a lot of those contradictions on here, you'll often see different threads close together like so:

"A little disappointed" Response -> "plan more." "if only you had planned"

"Stressed from planning" Response -> "don't worry, you will be fine without X plan", "X plan isn't necessary"

"Lol look at these people who don't plan, talk about crazy" Response -> "OMG I know right? No wonder every person who doesn't plan has a miserable trip. Never mind the fact they didn't know what fastpass even was, its their lack of a down-to-the minute schedule that screwed them."

Don't sweat it, it's just the varying opinions of people on here. Not the best for people seeking clear advice, I know I'd get disillusioned and confused if I was told that I had to book all my meals 180 days in advance and plan toilet breaks to have a good time by one person, and not to worry you can still wing it by another.

Although, I do think there is a teensy bit of mental gymnastics going on by defenders of FP+. Not naming names or anything like that, but it seems the advice to plan or you'll miss out on lots of things now conveniently gets forgotten whenever the damage to spontaneity caused by FP+ gets brought up...

 

[cjparker0110]

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.

This is the problem with the FP+ generation. When I was going to the parks in the 80s and 90s, you just had to wait in line. Now I know someone will say that the lines were never that long. They were. I know for a fact that it was common to find Space Mountain with a wait time of 45 minutes to an hour when I was a kid. I know this because I would ride it over and over again! If I was allowed on my own (which I was at the age of 10 back when it was safe...) I would do SM, BTMR, HM, SM, BTMR, HM, etc. They all had LONG waits.

Now I also know you are dealing with preschoolers, but so are MANY other families. Visiting the World with children that young is something you have to decide for yourself if it's worth it. Some kids are really good in line..some are not.

My main problem with the FP is when we used them for shows or parades.

As others posted, this was not a wise choice. Personally, I think staking out your spot for a parade is a time honored tradition. We do that all the time when we have parades here at home. Why wouldn't we do it at WDW? I only ever used FP for one show before and that was in 2006 when I was given this lanyard thing with FPs for something like 6 or 8 attractions in the Studios (I think it was MGM still). I used it for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and realized it was a silly thing because I wasn't any further ahead of the people who were in the "standby" line. Why? Because it is a large capacity show. Parades are the same. Sure...you may get the spot you want, but there's still a large crowd there with you. You still need to stake it out...especially if you have little ones.

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

This is where it is important to pick rides that are either close together, or times that are far apart. I realize you didn't have much choice in your times, but I am also guessing you were determined to get specific rides and weren't willing to go for anything different. I.e., everyone says to FP 7DMT, but you could skip that FP and just show up early and wait in line.

more than once I would had to wait for seating to open up

I'm assuming you had ADRs. Even there you still have to wait. ADRs are basic reservations which put you ahead of walk ups. However, they can't guarantee how long the previous party will be eating. Some people are in and out in 20-30 minutes while others like a relaxed meal.

I'm sorry your trip didn't work out too well. But please don't let that sour your views. You make WDW trips what you want. They can be highly regimented or laid back and relaxed.

 

[Astridia]

Although, I do think there is a teensy bit of mental gymnastics going on by defenders of FP+. Not naming names or anything like that, but it seems the advice to plan or you'll miss out on lots of things now conveniently gets forgotten whenever the damage to spontaneity caused by FP+ gets brought up...

Completely agree with this statement. I don't think you can be spontaneous at WDW unless you are willing to wait in long lines.

I also think when people are talking about how crowded the parks are, they're talking about the MK. I know a lot of people love Epcot, DHS and AK, but let's face it most guests spend the majority of their park time visiting MK. Most of the posts on this thread are discussing MK strategies. When we went, the crowds were light at Epcot, but MK felt super crowded and it really wasn't much fun.

 

[Ambear]

This is the problem with the FP+ generation. When I was going to the parks in the 80s and 90s, you just had to wait in line. Now I know someone will say that the lines were never that long. They were. I know for a fact that it was common to find Space Mountain with a wait time of 45 minutes to an hour when I was a kid. I know this because I would ride it over and over again! If I was allowed on my own (which I was at the age of 10 back when it was safe...) I would do SM, BTMR, HM, SM, BTMR, HM, etc. They all had LONG waits.

This is what I remember too. The lines were always long, and we'd commonly go in November so not even usually a busy part of the year. I remember standing and sweating like crazy in the horrible outdoor part of splash mountain for hours listening to those bird houses. Haunted mansion could be brutal waiting so long in that queue. I still think the worst is btmr though and it's still as bad as I remember it hah. But I also remember my family got everything we wanted done so I've always seen fastpasses as a bonus to the trip, but not necessary to have a great time. But I know others don't feel that way which is fine.

 

[Magic2000]

OP - sorry your trip wasn't as magical as planned. Sometimes, I guess it just depends on which park you're in and how you hit the crowds that day in that particular park!

We were there the same time (May 1-8) and had a great time! Lines were very manageable! On our first MK day, we walked by the line for Elsa and Anna and there was hardly anyone in line!!!! We got in line, got autographs/pictures with both, and walked out in less than 15 minutes!!! We never used more than our first 3 fastpasses on any day.

HOWEVER, it was me and my 4 year old granddaughter, so we couldn't ride Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, Soarin, RnR, anything with a height requirement over 40 inches. We did ride Splash, Big Thunder, Test Track, etc.

May 1 - hung around Art of Animation
May 2 - Hollywood Studios (did Toy Story Mania 3 times with very little wait!)
May 3 - Magic Kingdom (Met Elsa in less than 15 minutes; rode 7 Dwarfs at least 3 or 4 times!!!)
May 4 - Animal Kingdom
May 5 - Magic Kingdom
May 6 - Epcot
May 7 - Magic Kingdom (rode 7 Dwarfs 4 times!!)
May 8 - Flight home

My granddaughter LOVES the 7 Dwarfs ride, so we rode as often as possible, but never waiting more than 15 minutes! We thought the crowd levels were fine. We ate mostly table service in the parks with ADRs. I did try to do a walk up at Hollywood & Vine and they were booked for the day.

And the weather was SOOOOO nice!!!!

 

[itchin2go]

You'll find a lot of those contradictions on here, you'll often see different threads close together like so:

"A little disappointed" Response -> "plan more." "if only you had planned"

"Stressed from planning" Response -> "don't worry, you will be fine without X plan", "X plan isn't necessary"

"Lol look at these people who don't plan, talk about crazy" Response -> "OMG I know right? No wonder every person who doesn't plan has a miserable trip. Never mind the fact they didn't know what fastpass even was, its their lack of a down-to-the minute schedule that screwed them."

Don't sweat it, it's just the varying opinions of people on here. Not the best for people seeking clear advice, I know I'd get disillusioned and confused if I was told that I had to book all my meals 180 days in advance and plan toilet breaks to have a good time by one person, and not to worry you can still wing it by another.

Although, I do think there is a teensy bit of mental gymnastics going on by defenders of FP+. Not naming names or anything like that, but it seems the advice to plan or you'll miss out on lots of things now conveniently gets forgotten whenever the damage to spontaneity caused by FP+ gets brought up...

I agree with so much of this.

I am, by nature, a planner. And I certainly think advance planning can make some things possible that otherwise wouldn't be. For instance, my family just simply wouldn't have stood in the standby line at SDMT on our last trip. Luckily, I booked a FP (and weather permitted), so they were able to ride it with a very small wait.

However, most things we rode standby, and we had a great trip.

So I think there are two ideas here: (1) Planning ahead can make a good trip better, but (2) You can still have a good trip without things booked in advance, provided you arm yourself with some vital information.

I think going with minimal knowledge, no idea which rides are popular, showing up "whenever", and expecting minimal lines is what won't work. Not saying OP did that at all. But some people do ....

I also think FP suffers from its own hype. Right or wrong, people get the idea that they won't have to wait in lines, or many lines, or long lines ... and that sets them up for inevitable disappointment.

Mental gymnastics ... LOL. FP+ is neither the root of all evil, or the end-all, be-all solver of all problems. It's a system just like the last one. It has good points and bad points, things you have to work around, things you can take advantage of. The truth is - if you want to take advantage of the benefits of FP+, you have to use it, and the benefits you get are certainly influenced by how early you're able to book them. I personally think you can have a good day without using FP at all, but it requires some upfront knowledge. I fail to see how that's a point in FP's favor, though.

 

[Tomh]

I think spontaneity is possible . .. . DEPENDING . . . largely on your expectations. IF you expect to hit all of the headliners without long waits, and you aren't going to spend 10 days in the parks, which allows multiple trips to each park so you can hit all the big rides early in the morning, then you will be disappointed.

If you have the luxury of a 10 day visit, OR you are willing to skip some of the headliners, OR you are willing to accept long waits for some of the rides, then you can be completely spontaneous.

However, if you are determined to hit all the headliners, you only have a few days (say 5 or less) and you are not willing to wait in 45 minute plus lines at all, then you need to plan ahead pretty well, that is just the way it works now.

 

[RustManFan]

more people know to do much research and thus more people know which park is expected to be less crowded each day. shifts the balance I would imagine!

 

[dugs64]

I am relating to your post and am wondering how your planning will be different next visit?

I haven't been to DW since the '90s and I'm trying to research and plan everything I can for a trip next May. However, I'm concerned since I haven't been there in so long that I'll need to see it once to get a feel for how to do it in the future...feedback appreciated.

DWDan, our trip was a large family trip so just organizing everyone to be at the same place at the same time was nightmare. That was part of our issue. However, if I was planning a trip for just my wife daughter and I, these are a few things I would probably do differently:

1. Extra Magic Hours- I read a lot about the pros and cons of them. I'm not sure I would do them unless I knew I could park hop. We went to two parks that had Extra Hours in the morning and it wasn't a benefit to us, partly because our group wasn't mobile enough. The parks definitely seemed to get very crowded by lunch time. And in my opinion, park hopping is not that easy, unless you're riding the monorail.

2. Distance from attraction to attraction- It was 20 years since my last visit so I had no idea how far the attractions were from each and how the layout of the parks were. I used the Touring Plans website to help create a rough schedule for each day. When they tell you it's a 3 minute walk from attraction to attraction, it doesn't seem that bad. But go outside and walk for 3 minutes, see how far you actually go. Now add thousands of people, strollers, wheel chairs etc. I think I severely underestimated how long it would take to walk around the park. You can't get a good feel from maps.

3. Dining reservations- I made all but one of our reservations during dinner times. For this trip, it wasn't the best idea. It locked us into being at specific park for the day. So, no matter how crowded the park got we really couldn't leave (again, we weren't the most agile and mobile group). I was able to change one of our reservations while I was there to a lunchtime meal and that worked out great because it freed up the late afternoon/evening for us to be a little more spontaneous. Next time, I would probably do either more lunch reservations or early dinner reservations.

4. Character lines can be deceiving- We went to meet Ariel (15 minute posted time). We waited 45. Got in line to meet Goofy and Pluto, only about 8 families in front of us. Took about 45 minutes, mostly due to frequent breaks by the characters. Got in line for the Jungle Book characters, again only about 6-8 families in front of us. Took about 30-40 minutes. The lines may look short, but they can take a while to get through.

5. Don't be fooled by "low" crowd levels- Like many have said on here, there is no such thing as low crowd at Disney. The low crowd level that you and I experienced years ago is not applicable. I saw low to medium crowd level for our trip and in my mind, I compared it to my trip 20 years ago. I was wrong.

The biggest issue that my wife had was that the trip had a "hurry up and wait" feel to it. Between having to rush to the bus in the morning, running around to Fastpasses, trying to get a decent spot for fireworks and parades, it all felt very rushed. I know Disney is not necessarily a "relaxing" vacation, but next time I will make sure we take more time to just stop and enjoy the park. We didn't do that nearly enough this visit.