Planning not as fun anymore

[jdkdorn]

We decided to book a trip to Disney World Jan 9-16, 2015 and we used to get so excited for the trips but now with having to plan the whole trip ahead of going. Tonight we are struggling to decide what ADRs to book and I think it takes away from the whole trip now. We have to plan all our rides, all our dining and all of our days months ahead of the trip. With the new dining rules if you change your mind about a park or it rains you can get charged for cancelling after the 24 hour rule. We used to plan a little and wing it but that is impossible now. Disney is our favorite place but we have started planning other places for vacations becasue we don't want to be sick of the trip be fore we go.

I know it sounds like whining but I am wondering if anyone else feels this way. Please don't flame me, I still love Disney and will forever but I think they are taking a lot of the fun out of the experience

thanks letting me vent a little

Judy

 

[castle1]

I totally agree. There is way too much planning involved now. It takes all the spontaneity out of the day. We used to love to just go to a park and get a fastpass, ride the rides, maybe leave and go to another park if we felt like it. Now I feel like we have to make an appointment to ride something I'm not a fan of all of these new changes.

 

[Mazz519]

Totally feel the same way... We usually make ADRs but never planned our whole days... I hate the new Fastpass, half the fun was how we would maneuver through each park.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I agree. We did the dining plan twice.. Once in 2009 and once in 2011. We hated all the planning involved so we never will do it again. This fastpass plus sucks too. In reality you can go on the app the day before and plan "most" rides..... But if you want Elsa & Anna or the mine train you BETTER book it 60 days out.... Same for rocking roller coaster or toy story mania at Hollywood and remember you can only choose 1. Soarin or test track can be had a few days in advance but again you only get 1 of those. And while it's great that they allow you to add 1 at a time after your 3 are used.... Good luck getting anything. Hope you like it's a small world.

It really does ruin the spontaneity we so used to enjoy.

 

[cruiseletters]

My dh and I were just talking about this. We liked getting fast passes in the parks and having more spontaneity in our days. I understand that there is a park full of people but we managed it before what has changed?

 

[Millionaire2K]

We decided to book a trip to Disney World Jan 9-16, 2015 and we used to get so excited for the trips but now with having to plan the whole trip ahead of going. Tonight we are struggling to decide what ADRs to book and I think it takes away from the whole trip now. We have to plan all our rides, all our dining and all of our days months ahead of the trip. With the new dining rules if you change your mind about a park or it rains you can get charged for cancelling after the 24 hour rule. We used to plan a little and wing it but that is impossible now. Disney is our favorite place but we have started planning other places for vacations becasue we don't want to be sick of the trip be fore we go.

I know it sounds like whining but I am wondering if anyone else feels this way. Please don't flame me, I still love Disney and will forever but I think they are taking a lot of the fun out of the experience

thanks letting me vent a little

Judy

Why can't you still "wing it"? You don't have to plan anything. Disney does not force you to use any of the advance planning options. They are there for those who want to plan in advance.

And the fact that you're going during an off peak time I see no reason why you should worry about not planning.

Just wing it!

And have fun.

 

[disneynutz]

We plan as little as possible. Running to your next ADR or FP isn't fun for us. We go where we want, when we want and change our minds on the fly.

Looking at all that is available during F&W, we decided that we are reserving nothing. We will hint some of the kiosks, have some food and some wine but skip all of the scheduled parties and demos.

Bill

 

[Minniesgal]

We went presidents week with no planning. We booked FP+ from the kiosks in the morning at rope drop and booked ADRs the day of. Ok we didn't want characters meals we ate at most signatures but it can be done. Maybe not in peak season but presidents week isn't exactly dead. The only meal I booked ahead of time was California grill for valentines as we were meeting friends. Also we don't mind going offsite the odd night of nothing available grabs us. We find we are getting more and more spontaneous and the new system hasn't killed it for us. Just because you can plan 180 ad 60 days put doesn't mean you have to.

 

[Dean]

We decided to book a trip to Disney World Jan 9-16, 2015 and we used to get so excited for the trips but now with having to plan the whole trip ahead of going. Tonight we are struggling to decide what ADRs to book and I think it takes away from the whole trip now. We have to plan all our rides, all our dining and all of our days months ahead of the trip. With the new dining rules if you change your mind about a park or it rains you can get charged for cancelling after the 24 hour rule. We used to plan a little and wing it but that is impossible now. Disney is our favorite place but we have started planning other places for vacations becasue we don't want to be sick of the trip be fore we go.

I know it sounds like whining but I am wondering if anyone else feels this way. Please don't flame me, I still love Disney and will forever but I think they are taking a lot of the fun out of the experience

thanks letting me vent a little

Judy

While I enjoy much of the planning process (Disney or otherwise), it's different for a place you're been routinely. One of the things I do, esp for our large family trips, is to plan ahead so I can relax on vacation. Disney lends itself to different styles but there are limitations. For example if you don't want to schedule FP you either don't ride the high ticket items or you get there when the parks open and head for those areas in question. If you don't want to worry about dining reservations, you hit QS locations and/or dine off property. One of the benefits of doing other timeshares is we can take a break often avoiding Disney for a year or more then grouping visits to use a seasonable pass or specialty ticket. For those that go routinely you already know more than most so planning isn't as important for a given trip.

 

[com_op_2000]

...It takes all the spontaneity out of the day...

DW and I feel this way big time.
Do not tell but we are getting passes to SW for next year and BG for the year after.

 

[Chuck S]

I felt that way the first time I used FP+. Then I realized it didn't really matter. For an 8 day trip, I picked 1 ADR for each park, so 4 ADRs for the entire trip. and made the FP+ selections. I don't usually park hop, even though I have an AP. Once I arrived at the park, I was, for the most part, able to change the FP+ on the fly using the iPhone app, and often would get a time within 10 minutes while walking towards the ride. Since I wasn;t opn a dining plan, I played dining pretty much the same way. I would check for ADRs that morning before leaving the room. If something was available, fine. If not, I'd try another location at a nearby resort (like for MK, try Grand Floridian Cafe and monorail over) or I'd make do with counter service, ice cream, or whatever. Spontaneity ads a little adventure and fun to your trip.

 

[mouseaider]

I have a love/hate relationship with My Disney Experience.

I love the fact that we can finally experience Toy Story Mania with being at rope drop.

We don't book any ADR's ahead any more.... been there and done that!

We are about to enter the Fast Pass + time frame for our upcoming trip and we will plan some things but not many.

We love park hopping and we never really know what park we will be in at dinner time, but it doesn't matter. We will eat someplace.

Just go and enjoy being at Walt Disney World with minimal plans..... you are on vacation!

 

[jekjones1558]

I HATE being tied to a schedule on vacation. I think it is partly because every minute of my teacher work days, including bathroom visits and lunch, have been scheduled to the minute. So I NEVER make ADRs for DH and I before our trips except for Candlelight Processional package. We eat where we can and often go off site where we get more variety, better quality and better value. We have used Fast Pass+ at 60 days for Toy Story, Soarin' and Test Track but have changed times/days often. When we bring newbies all bets are off and I am often forced into commando mode. I try to enjoy their excitement as a tradeoff for losing our spontaneity.

 

[eeyoresmom]

I too have a love/hate relationship...more so hate lately. I have a split stay coming up that is currently 3 resorts in 4 nights. Obviously I have a few waitlists hoping to get it down to at least 2 resorts but it stinks to try to make park plans and ADR's when you are not sure what resort you will even be at. In this specific situation, FP+ is helpful because since we will be homeless most days until around 4PM, we can schedule FP's for mid day and take mornings and evenings off to enjoy the resorts. I hate how far ahead you have to plan ...especially for the dining....mentally I have to prepare for doing all QS.

 

[wdrl]

I felt that way the first time I used FP+. Then I realized it didn't really matter. For an 8 day trip, I picked 1 ADR for each park, so 4 ADRs for the entire trip. and made the FP+ selections. I don't usually park hop, even though I have an AP. Once I arrived at the park, I was, for the most part, able to change the FP+ on the fly using the iPhone app, and often would get a time within 10 minutes while walking towards the ride. Since I wasn;t opn a dining plan, I played dining pretty much the same way. I would check for ADRs that morning before leaving the room. If something was available, fine. If not, I'd try another location at a nearby resort (like for MK, try Grand Floridian Cafe and monorail over) or I'd make do with counter service, ice cream, or whatever. Spontaneity ads a little adventure and fun to your trip.

Our experiences with FP+ and ADRs have been quite similar. I don't think that FP+ or the ADR rules force me to do anything I don't want to do. When our 180-day window opened up for our upcoming trip in late November, we immediately booked an ADR for dinner at Be Our Guest. I don't feel that I've been coerced into planning a dinner so far in advance. Instead, I welcome the opportunity to lock in a dinner reservation for something we really want. We haven't made any other ADRs and we probably won't until a month or two before our trip, if then. Like Chuck S, we stay flexible.

 

[bianca]

OP ....... You're not alone. I hate everything about all the new "improvements" to the system! After my January trip with 10 of us, I have sworn off any future planning. Out of our group of 10, 3 of us had Magic Bands that did not work with the room, 2 of us had Magic Bands that were not linking our park admission, and all of us had to remove charging privileges from our accounts, as it was a complete and total debacle. I think we spent more time at guest services than we did in the park. It definitely wasn't magical and I have no intention of using my MagicBand or DME in the future.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Senior citizens here, DH turns 70 soon, and I am just a few years away from that milestone.

We both love this experience. We have PAPs, we only want to hit a few things in each park, so we build our FP+ around the times we hope to be in the park.

We recently went to the Frozen Dessert party, and 3 -4 weeks out, we got FP+s for DHS, including for TSMM! We spent the whole day at DHS, very unusual for us, and had a great time with the FPs and walk on attractions. We had 2 ADRs at DHS, we really enjoy The Brown Derby and Prime Time. We came in late Friday PM and built FP+s for the 7-10PM time period, it was great!

 

[webshark3]

OP ....... You're not alone. I hate everything about all the new "improvements" to the system! After my January trip with 10 of us, I have sworn off any future planning. Out of our group of 10, 3 of us had Magic Bands that did not work with the room, 2 of us had Magic Bands that were not linking our park admission, and all of us had to remove charging privileges from our accounts, as it was a complete and total debacle. I think we spent more time at guest services than we did in the park. It definitely wasn't magical and I have no intention of using my MagicBand or DME in the future.

In January, you would have been on a very new and buggy system. It has, and will continue to get better. As far as not using MB in the future, I don't think you'll have a choice. Even if you get a card, it'll be a MB "off the wrist." Everyone will be on the same back-end. I'll see how mine do next week. I made some changes to my rez which required a "Internet specialist" to manually add back FP+ and tickets, so I'll see how well it works.

 

[lilpooh108]

I completely agree with the OP.

My LEAST favorite thing about the whole FP+ is being on my phone alot of the times while I'm at the park. My kids still nap, get cranky, etc. So we have to change FPs around. I feel like I'm always on the phone, waiting for the slow internet connection (I usually abandon their wifi and just use my 3G) and wait for the glitchy app to load, etc.

I really dislike family time when someone is on the phone, and now that someone is me

We've also abandoned ADRs for this upcoming trip. With FPs scheduled, I simply can't be tied to a dining schedule as well.

 

[AirGoofy]

If the planning is too much, then just take a break from it. When we first started going to WDW, I tried to get everything done every day. Consecutive park days, character ADRs, RD to close, etc. I enjoyed the legacy FP. After DVC, I learned to plan some days and relax for some others.

Thus, use your FP+ and ADRs to really plan and enjoy what you want to do on a particular day at one or multiple parks. For the next day, plan a resort day without scheduling anything. You can still have the best of both vacations.