No Magic, No Fun, Never Again

[Sammie]

You are exactly right, forewarned is forearmend. I am sorry you did not realize you were going during the busiest time of the years. Record crowds.

Hopefully most that plan expensive vacations will plan by reading a guidebook or visiting a site like this one to find about crowds and such.

Going at a less busy time would be very different. It is very much like Time Square on New Year's Eve.

 

[jlcbshaw]

Sorry that the OP had an aweful time at THE Happiest Place on Earth. Of course, as noted by other Dis'ers Christmas is one of the, if not the, busiest times of the year.

So with that having been said, I can not believe that I am about to start my planning for our familes first Christmas trip to WDW. ( note: we are experienced WDW vacation'ears') But it looks like we may actually miss the crowds because our trip plans call for 12-16 to 12-24.

Does anyone know if this is actually an extremely busy time or is it Cristmas day and afterwards that is really, really busy.

Any help and info is and has always been useful.

Thanks in advance.

CBS

 

[Sammie]

Sorry that the OP had an aweful time at THE Happiest Place on Earth. Of course, as noted by other Dis'ers Christmas is one of the, if not the, busiest times of the year.

So with that having been said, I can not believe that I am about to start my planning for our familes first Christmas trip to WDW. ( note: we are experienced WDW vacation'ears') But it looks like we may actually miss the crowds because our trip plans call for 12-16 to 12-24.

Does anyone know if this is actually an extremely busy time or is it Cristmas day and afterwards that is really, really busy.

Any help and info is and has always been useful.

Thanks in advance.

CBS

Christmas week is the busiest week of the year, however your week will be very busy also. Not as much as Christmas week but still very crowded and each day closer to Christmas Day will get more crowded.

 

[Scratch42]

Sorry to hear that your trip was not "Magical" but as for one that has just returned.......Christmas time is not an Easy time to go!

We enjoyed as much as we could, but boy was it crowded! I can still picture in my mind as we walked over the bridge in Epcot towards UK and Canada ~ WALL TO WALL PEOPLE!

Give it another try! but of course during a slower time of the year!

Scratch

 

[Corryn]

We enjoyed as much as we could, but boy was it crowded! I can still picture in my mind as we walked over the bridge in Epcot towards UK and Canada ~ WALL TO WALL PEOPLE!

Scratch42 - When we went in October 2003 and walked from Future World into World Showcase, there was not ONE OTHER PERSON IN SIGHT! It was so unbelieveable that I actually videotaped it! It was crazy. That's why September-October is the best time to go. Basically, you've got the place to yourself. That's another reason why I would travel back down to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in a heartbeat. A wonderful Celebration, with empty parks!

 

[Luigi's Girl]

fedonna,
love the Art Linkletter quote! I'm going to use it on our next trip to WDW when someone in our party begins to whine!

 

[bongocomm]

HI
The OP here. I just had to pipe in (though again, sure I will be flamed...) that I think it is a bit absurd for posters to accuse me of it being my fault for having a bad time due to not enough research or not asking enough questions on this board. I have been to DisneyLAND probably 20 times so I wasn't totally unprepared for the experience. The only time we had to go to WDW due to my husband's schedule was the x-mas week...the only week we could almost guarantee he wouldn't be called to some work crisis. And we wanted to go before we moved back to the west coast in the spring. We had no expectation (or really the desire) to do everything.
I don't think it should be mandatory to stay on a Dis property to be able to enjoy. We visited the Poynesian and the Contempory and they were really sub-par. To stay on a Disney property we would have had to book two rooms (due to party of five even though toddler would sleep in our bed, I know, rules are rules) at a cost of an additional $1000 for five nights over getting a 2 bedroom suite offsite. And since we rode the Disney busses to go to downtown Disney, it seems most of the Disney hotels not on the monorail were at least as far as the place we stayed. It took 35 minutes to ride from Magic Kingdom to Downtown Disney.
By the way, we were able to stay at the Caribe Royale by booking through AAA for $97 a night ($157 was the other cheapest rate on every hotel booking site). They were a great all-suite hotel with free shuttle and a great pool with a 50 foot water slide and two big hot tubs, tennis courts and fitness center. 4 restaurants on site, game room and nightly movie for the kids. Walking distance to Ponderosa, CVS, chinese and pizza restaurants and 7-11. 1 mile from the Belz factory outlet (which I visited: nothing super fabulous though they had a "Character Corner" (Disney and Universal outlet) with some pretty outdated stuff. There will be a new Disney outlet there soon.)
Another FYi, we got our 3 day park hopper at Central Florida Travel who had prices competitive with AAA (which was the lowest I could find) but had the 3 day. AAA wasn't able to offer those. Tripadvisor.com seemed to have good information for the more casual Disney person...not the ones who were all Disney, all the time. See, I did do some homework!
BYW, not to totally denegrade Disney. We stayed at their Hilton Head resort about 18 months ago and had a good time. We got a great rate, were only pressured to take the time share sales pitch about three times, and it was very quiet. Their suites were large and well appointed, although unfortunately a couple mile bike ride or shuttle away from the beach.

We walked into Universal with ZERO research (a neighbor had just told us not to miss the Mummy ride) and had a blast! I didn't even know there were two parks there.

I have three kids and have my own business. I have close to no free time. All I wanted to do was show my kids a great time and have something they could look back on the rest of their lives. I mean, how excited would you be if you were a kid and told you were leaving for Disney in 2 hours? I guess I am just not a Disney person. I look at the $28 princess caps and just want to gag. I just felt Disney wasn't happy til the bled the last dollar out of you. I think my husband said it best when he said "the best thing about this trip is we don't have to do it again!"

OK, this is my last blast on this trip. Time to move on and get on with life. I am just glad I prepaid everything and won't be getting bills later this month. What's done is done.

 

[hellow]

Hi:

I am glad that you wrote of your experiences. I had a similar experience when I planned a big trip with my friend and her daughter to a city that a lot of people raved about. I spent a huge amount of time planning (over a year). By the time I got home, I was totally depressed that I had used my vacation time, and a lot of money, and felt it had all gone down the drain.

I posted a similar post to yours in another travel website to warn others of my experience and got FLAMED for reporting my thoughts. At least the people on the Dis are a little more friendly--I got personal insults and more for expressing my thoughts.

Posts, negative and positive, help readers be prepared, set expectations and make choices. I think your post helped people take a hard look at their own plans. Even if others don't agree, it is still great that you took the time to share your thoughts--THANKS!

 

[Ilovestitch]

To stay on a Disney property we would have had to book two rooms (due to party of five even though toddler would sleep in our bed, I know, rules are rules)

Not true at all- actually there are several WDW resorts that sleep 5. I don't know how old your youngest child is, but if they sleep in a pack & play you could have stayed at ANY of the Disney resorts.

 

[shirley 38]

I can understand your frustration. When we had young children we would go during the height of the seasons.
I have learned if you want to do rides go on off season. I have been to WDW during the Holiday and it is really bad.
The only reason I go during any Holiday Season now is just for the nice weather and to see the decorations.
Hope this helps.

 

[Immelman]

Disney uses a great marketing campaign that teaches you Cinderella is right there for a hug with your daughter. the more time you spend on property, the more you realize that greed is rampant. the Xmas parade was a giant commercial for disney resorts. I get tired of walking onto Dinosaur and hearing that is sponsored by a LARGE grant from McDonald's. UO is whipping WDW's butt lately, in every perception I see. we've spent the last 3 weekends at UO, and had a great time again today. I make my own magic on WDW property, because no one I'm paying to do it is doing it for me.

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says............................................. If my first trip to WDW had to be between Xmas and New Years, I wouldn't go if I was paid!!!

BTW, the two hour wait for Peter Pan is all your fault. Be at the rope drop and when it drops head straight for fantasyland. Hit Dumbo first, then do all the rest in a clockwise motion. We go off season, so usually get in all of fantasyland in an hour. But last time we tried to do the trick on Veteran's day, and it did take 80 minutes. And less than two hours later the wait for Peter was 110 minutes. Beat the crowds. We grabbed a FP for Space after Dumbo, and by the time we were done with fantasyland we could get a FP for Splash. We left the park to go to the Kona Cafe at the Poly for lunch, went back to the park and rode our two rides in twenty minutes. About 12 rides done in five hours, with short waits, during a very busy day, and 90 minutes at Kona Cafe.

We are going in June, our first major crowd visit, but we know of the lines and the waits. We will still do our fantasyland trick and if we can't do them all in two hours,Iwill post that this doesn't always work, but I know it will.

 

[jordanyosh]

I try and stay out of the posts that are a little heated, but every once in a while, I get the itch.....

I think the OP had exceedingly high expectations of the WDW portion of her trip. Not that uncommon when it comes to Disney, but very hard to fulfill during the Xmas Season when it is crazy busy. So I think she was bound to be disappointed especially since it involved her children.

It didn't seem like she had much expectation for US which worked in her favor. She was bound to be happy with her visit because she and her family had no previous expectations for their experience there. In addition, after her horrible experience at WDW...well Six Flags probably would've done the trick.

As far as prices, greed, etc....hmm...how to comment on that? Having worked at Disney many years ago before and early Eisner when the magic was supposedly still there....nothing has changed. Parks were packed; guests complained about crowds, prices and corporate greed. I remember the pre FastPass days when lines for many rides were regularly 60-90 minutes with new attractions like Star Tours, Captain Eo and the like having lines of up to 2 1/2 hours. I think it's all about personal perception.

Another poster was also grumbling about how they create their own magic at WDW since no one they are paying to do it seems to be creating it......I find that the magic is created by the people I travel with. If the Cast Members are friendly--it's a wonderful bonus. I also try to give more than I receive and find that I get a good response no matter what the circumstances. I think the world would be a better place if we all started sharing our own happiness rather than waiting for someone to give it to us because we paid for it.

 

[Doctor P]

HI
I don't think it should be mandatory to stay on a Dis property to be able to enjoy.

This explains even more. While I agree with the general sentiment, there are advantages to staying on site, especially at the holidays. You are able to get to the parks earlier, and, when there are the extra magical hours you have access to those. The worst crowds we ever had at Disney World were on Christmas day in 1999. Those crowds would have been extremely disappointing for us except for the fact that it was an EE day and we made use of that perk and were able to do all the rides we wanted to do that day by 9:30 am and then just take a slow relaxed pace and go to shows, parades, and fireworks for the rest of the day until midnight. I'm a littled shocked about the OP being an experienced DL attendee. The way DL is set up, heavy weekend crowds congest the park and the rides much more than MK ever gets crowded (or at least it has seemed that way to me).

 

[JPN4265]

I thought everyone knew that Christmas week was the worst time for crowds at WDW.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I thought suggesting that next time you stay on-site would be helpful not offensive. One of the advantages of staying on-site would be to utilize extra magic hours. I can't believe that you were there at park opening and weren't able to get on any rides without long waits. BTW most of the deluxes fit 5 people so you wouldn't have had to get two rooms, and one of the moderates sleeps five. I guess you didn't do all the research you though you did.

Another thing I can't understand is why you didn't make PS's for character meals so your children could have gotten individualized attention from the characters. You have to eat anyway and this way you kill two birds with one stone.

I'm not trying to blame you for not finding Disney Magic, however I think it's unfair of you to blame Disney for not having the experience you dreamed of. As for souveniers being expensive, come one, Universal's are just as expensive as it almost any theme park you can think of.

I'm truly sorry that you had such a bad experience. Those of us who love Disney wish everyone has a great time on their vacation. Maybe if you take a deep breath and sit back you might see there Disney can be a magical place especially if you plan it armed will all the information you can.

 

[hopkinted]

Sorry you had such a bad time...like you we suprised our kids on Christmas morning, flew down that day, and stayed until 1/1. We stayed on property, had a priority seating every day, set low expectations with the kids, got to the parks every day by 8:00 AM, and used Fast Pass extensively.

As a result we had an awesome time! By far the biggest crowds we experienced were at the Magic Kingdom on Friday. But even on this day we were able to get on Splash Mountain (twice), Space Mountina, Thunder Mountian, COP, Time Keeper, Philharmagic and Tom Sawyer's Island. We had front row seats for the parade, a good view of the fireworks, and a relaxing lunch at Crystal Palace (which we reserved only two days before). We had an early flight the next day, so we were back in our hotel room by 9:00 PM.

I can certainly understand your frustration. Disney isn't cheap, and when the crowds get insane, it can leave you wondering why you're paying good money to join a herd of livestock. But with a lot of planning, good stamina, and a few lucky breaks, the place can create magical lifetime memories, even on the busiest day of the year...it did or us. I'd give them another chance...

 

[Jeanny]

HI
I have been to DisneyLAND probably 20 times so I wasn't totally unprepared for the experience.

We visited the Poynesian and the Contempory and they were really sub-par.

To stay on a Disney property we would have had to book two rooms (due to party of five even though toddler would sleep in our bed, I know, rules are rules) at a cost of an additional $1000 for five nights over getting a 2 bedroom suite offsite.

1. Even though they seem the same, DL & WDW are entirely different parks!

2. Yes, you are entitled to your opinion. I stayed at the Polynesian and loved it.....I'd stay there again anytime, it definitely wasn't "sub-par". It was right on the monorail line, it was close to the TTC and had busses going everywhere.

3. No, you don't have to get two rooms, there are plenty of suites/ two bedroom units, etc. But you would have to have done a lot of research to find this out.

 

[goofy4tink]

I also try to stay away from heated threads, but...

As far as staying on-site with 5 people...the OP could never have gotten a room, on-site, that would have fit 5 for the same price as an off-site hotel. But, that's one of the reasons you pay more to stay on-site..those park entry perks. Sure, you would have had to pay a lot more to stay on-site but that was a choice you made.

Most of us realize that you have to be at the park gate, very early, in order to accomplish all that we want to do at the busy times. There is no way that you can just amble around the parks and expect to just walk on an attraction or have only a 10 minute wait time. This is one of the reasons we try to go at the less busy times of year. And yes, that means we have to miss school. But, again, that's a choice we make.

Is it expensive to go to WDW? Oh yeah. Waay expensive. But, we don't 'buy' into all that souvenir stuff. We decide early on how we want to spend our money and it usually isn't on that. It only gets put aside once we return home anyway.

Meals? We always make at least one PS per day...doesn't matter what time of year we go. That way we always have an option for a decent meal. If we decide we don't want to do that meal, we just cancel it that day. No problem.

We were at WDW from THanksgiving Day until 12/1. I don't think I will ever go for T-day again. I knew it was going to be crowded. But I didn't figure on the rudeness of people. Probably most folks were tired and frustrated, so lost their tempers a lot. Understandable but I don't have to deal with it in the future. And go at Christmas time??? Not in this lifetime!!!!

So, all in all...I'm really sorry you had such a bad experience with your family on what should have been a 'memory making' trip. Try again at a less crowded time. I know that each trip I have made since my first trip ('99, before I found these boards) has been better than the last. I made a lot of mistakes on that first trip. What a green-horn I was. But no longer. Thanks to this, and other great sites, I know much better now. Try not to have such high expectations. I hope your future trips are better ones. Now, maybe I should try Universal someday.

 

[NMAmy]

We were also there from 12/18-12/30. It was insanely crowded. We were expecting it but somehow, if you're used to going in the off season, you aren't really prepared. We took advantage of EE and did other things around the Dolphin and Boardwalk. We still had a great time and because we'd planned on two weeks, we didn't feel like we were missing everything when we'd leave if it was crowded. I also made one ps per day and for the second week, I made them at Epcot or at one of the resorts so we wouldn't have to stay in the park if it was busy.

I was actually more disappointed with the weather. It was so cold when we were there!

I'm sorry, OP, that you didn't have an enjoyable time. I'd also recommend giving it another try at a less busy time. If this had been my first time--I doubt I'd go back again either.