Planning not as fun anymore

[disneynutz]

Disney has spend a billion dollars plus on increasing attendance, tracking crowd movement and using FP+ getting the guests to be where they want you, when they want you.

Having guests pre-reserve anything causes them to commit to their vacation and that alone increases attendance.

Bill

 

[granmanh603]

Really, I am surprised. Since 2009 I have stood in standby lines many times for more than 30 minutes. And sometimes 45 minutes when the wait time was listed as 15 minutes (that usually happens at TOT when an elevator goes offline). All of these times is prior to FP+.

It is possible that since Disney's park attendance just keeps going up that parks are just more crowded. The DVC News has an article about the figures released for 2013 park attendance. http://dvcnews.com/index.php/other-...2609-2013-theme-park-attendance-report-issued

Oh not saying stand by lines were not more than that , I will not wait on a line longer than that....and that would be SM or TM. In the past we would WALK on POT while waiting for a legacy FP to be ready for TM. most we ever waited was 10-15 ever. We were there in July this year and last year too......big difference...Everything had a long SB line after 12 PM....the only time they were shorter was in the AM morning. I was talking MK. Our last FP+ that day was at 2:30 and nothing else was left to get another FP that we wanted to bother waiting around to do.. so we left. At DHS we did SB in am and had FP+ so got 2 rides.. early did SR on RNR and did wait for TOT SB... after lunch again nothing left for big rides and long SB times so did some other rides. AK we got to do pretty much all the rides once but that was it, no wait I think we did Safari 2 X and took the train out to some petting zoo. Had not been out there in years... same saw Nemo late in day.
Never even bother with EPCOT this trip. Did water park and mini golf instead of parks?

 

[disneyjunkie11]

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

I am feeling the same way, Judy. I am taking my mom on her 1st WDW trip in December and she has grown weary of my questions about what she wants to do and where she wants to eat. She would like to be spontaneous and I told her its not as easy to do that now, especially with stand by lines disappearing!

I think it may be a long while before I book a WDW trip again. I think DH and I may head to DL next year.

 

[adamak]

I felt the same way. I think WDW blew it with this sort of $$$-first management. As a DISer I always plan. But this time I actually dreaded it big time. I don't want to set my alarm 180 days out. And the worse is that I can't cancel w/o penalty. Which means no matter what happens, I have to be in that part of the park, at that time. Is it really worth taking your kids away from the fun/ the pools / rides, just so you can make the reservations at a 2nd tier restaurant? But then if I don't ADR, I won't get seats.

How is this fun? Actually how is this fair? Esp to those who don't stay in WDW resorts? You're now isolating people who are not typical DISers.

 

[Minniesgal]

I felt the same way. I think WDW blew it with this sort of $$$-first management. As a DISer I always plan. But this time I actually dreaded it big time. I don't want to set my alarm 180 days out. And the worse is that I can't cancel w/o penalty. Which means no matter what happens, I have to be in that part of the park, at that time. Is it really worth taking your kids away from the fun/ the pools / rides, just so you can make the reservations at a 2nd tier restaurant? But then if I don't ADR, I won't get seats. How is this fun? Actually how is this fair? Esp to those who don't stay in WDW resorts? You're now isolating people who are not typical DISers.

I don't know about that many people who go and stay offsite are happy to eat offsite many many good restaurants particularly family restaurants offsite. Disney might lose some of their restaurant trade to local restaurants that don't need a reservation

 

[tjkraz]

I am taking my mom on her 1st WDW trip in December and she has grown weary of my questions about what she wants to do and where she wants to eat. She would like to be spontaneous and I told her its not as easy to do that now, especially with stand by lines disappearing!

Simple solution: DON'T PLAN ANYTHING! Why are you stressing yourself out, planning a December vacation in August?

I don't want to set my alarm 180 days out. And the worse is that I can't cancel w/o penalty. Which means no matter what happens, I have to be in that part of the park, at that time. Is it really worth taking your kids away from the fun/ the pools / rides, just so you can make the reservations at a 2nd tier restaurant? But then if I don't ADR, I won't get seats.

Again, so WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?!?

I spent a couple minutes looking at the dining website. For TOMORROW...Saturday August 9...every single theme park restaurant has dinner reservations available with only 4 exceptions: Sci-Fi, Akerhaus, CRT and BOG.

I could book Crystal Palace at 5pm, Le Cellier at 5:30pm, Tutto Italy at 4:45pm, Mama Melrose at 5:55pm...

If you don't want to plan your trip 6 months in advance...JUST DON'T DO IT!!

It frustrates me to no end seeing people who apparently feel compelled to do all of this planning months in advance when it simply is not necessary. Sure, if you want to get certain hard-to-obtain reservations, it's in your best interest to book early. You can't wait until the night before to book Be Our Guest. You may need to plan ahead for Chef Mickeys and Sci-Fi. But even if that's the case, just book those hard-to-get reservations and take care of the rest months later. You don't need to plan every step of your vacation 6 months ahead of time...just get a couple highly sought after option and fill-in the rest of the trip as it approaches.

Same is true of FastPass+. It wouldn't hurt plan days at MK and DHS in advance so you can lock in Toy Story Mania and 7DMT...but those are the exceptions to the rule. The rest of the trip can be left flexible, with FastPasses booked the night before or even while riding a bus to the parks.

 

[dzorn]

We have not even decided when to return. We may just try one of the other places instead of WDW. Or bank a year worth of points. Planning is just not as exciting.

 

[Barbi]

I have mixed feelings. I like that there is a large decrease of abuse with the FP+ and ADR's. I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Disney World multiple times and being a new DVC owner I'll go even more. I have the opportunity to tour the Parks at a leisurely pace. I don't use DDP and usually book ADR's the same day.
That being said, I don't go during busy times of the year or need to plan for a large groups.
I also like the magic bands. I like that I don't lose my room key three times during a vacation, I like that I'm not always holding other people's room keys or park admission tickets. And I like tapping "Mickey to Mickey" when is buy something.

 

[Sur]

I have mixed feelings. I like the huge decrease in the abuse of the fast pass system.

I agree whole-heartedly!

 

[Judique]

I have mixed feelings. I like that there is a large decrease of abuse with the FP+ and ADR's. I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to Disney World multiple times and being a new DVC owner I'll go even more. I have the opportunity to tour the Parks at a leisurely pace. I don't use DDP and usually book ADR's the same day.
That being said, I don't go during busy times of the year or need to plan for a large groups.
I also like the magic bands. I like that I don't lose my room key three times during a vacation, I like that I'm not always holding other people's room keys or park admission tickets. And I like tapping "Mickey to Mickey" when is buy something.

I agree with all of this. The one exception is I'm an old DVC member <g>.

I have to go to work in a couple of hours, for some emergency stuff. Otherwise I never have to work on a weekend. I'd rather just stay online and plan a trip! I have several scheduled with no park or ADR plans yet.

It's still possible to somewhat abuse the ADR system, by making multiple choices. But the FP+ system seems to have tied up passes so that it's difficult to get multiple rides on the same attraction.

I'm going again in November and February for about 2 weeks each trip. Sounds like a great time to have an annual pass! But last February, I went to the parks about 3-4 times the first week and the second week I went once just before leaving to get a couple of items in Epcot. And going during food and wine, I'm not likely to go every day of my trip. I'm starting to rethink the value attached to tickets. I can afford the tickets. Just not sure the tickets are worth it to me personally....

Okay - so just like too much forced planning starts to take the joy out of stuff, too much analysis (is that a word) is having the same effect! So, I'll just buy an annual pass and have fun! Otherwise, I could just stay home and work, work, work.......

 

[disney world dreamer]

i'd like to point out that the ADR cancellation policy has been around for quite some time so its not new.

personally i enjoy planning out my trip this way.
i figure out where i am going and make my adr's and my fp+ selections (which i have successfully changed on the fly).
to me it makes it LESS stressful when i'm there.
i know what time i am doing things and i do them and then it leaves time at the end of the day to do things a second time or i can leave the park early cuz i've done everything i wanted to do.

if you still want the freedom to wing it then just don't take advantage of what you can do in advance.
if you want some adr's then make them and get the park hopper so you can still go to whatever park you feel like.

i just don't feel how you do about advanced planning.

 

[HollywoodTowerHotel]

And, I don't like the fact that all of the park passes have to be purchased before you can make fastpass choices. In order to get the more popular rides, this would have to be 60 days out. What if someone in the party decides not to go or can't go or whatever! This happens when you are dealing with older children and adults who might be coming along. We usually bought our park passes when we got there.

I don't like this either - I can get discounted tickets through work, but what I get is a voucher that I have to bring to "Will-Call" when I get there. So, in essence, I don't have tickets so that I can book FP+

This is frustrating!

 

[granmanh603]

I agree whole-heartedly!

Ok I am clueless what abuse of the FP system?

 

[Dean]

I don't like this either - I can get discounted tickets through work, but what I get is a voucher that I have to bring to "Will-Call" when I get there. So, in essence, I don't have tickets so that I can book FP+

This is frustrating!

My understanding was that most exchange vouchers can be linked. I know I've been able to link several different ones including seasonal passes. Have you tried to link your vouchers?

 

[HollywoodTowerHotel]

My understanding was that most exchange vouchers can be linked. I know I've been able to link several different ones including seasonal passes. Have you tried to link your vouchers?

Oh, I did not realize you could link vouchers. I will try that. Thanks!

 

[Dean]

Oh, I did not realize you could link vouchers. I will try that. Thanks!

I was able to link AAA exchange vouchers, what I couldn't link were the two complimentary 1 day passes from 12 yrs ago. You should be able to do it online. Sometimes tickets cannot be linked online when they should be able to so there's a chance you may have to call. Let us know what happens.

 

[Meldev]

We are typically beach vacation people - no plans go with the flow. We know there has to be some level of planning at disney - and w/ four kids (2-10) knowing you want character meals, and certain can't miss meet n greets - which means knowing 6 months in advance which park you hit on which day. (We don't park hop - don't want to dump another $300 for something we couldn't realistically put to use everyday)
We do MNSSHP - so i know that's a resort day then the park. Then factor in the FP+, we aren't park commandos or rope drop people - unless we have a reservation we get there when we get there. FP+ has taken some of that away, now I have to be at whatever park by a certain time to ride xxx popular ride.

I feel like I logged many hours planning our trip - and yet one of my main objectives was to make sure we didn't have to rush too much and our schedule wasn't super strict. That's just not fun to us and with a 2 year old all bets could be off at anytime!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

We are typically beach vacation people - no plans go with the flow. We know there has to be some level of planning at disney - and w/ four kids (2-10) knowing you want character meals, and certain can't miss meet n greets - which means knowing 6 months in advance which park you hit on which day. (We don't park hop - don't want to dump another $300 for something we couldn't realistically put to use everyday)
We do MNSSHP - so i know that's a resort day then the park. Then factor in the FP+, we aren't park commandos or rope drop people - unless we have a reservation we get there when we get there. FP+ has taken some of that away, now I have to be at whatever park by a certain time to ride xxx popular ride.

I feel like I logged many hours planning our trip - and yet one of my main objectives was to make sure we didn't have to rush too much and our schedule wasn't super strict. That's just not fun to us and with a 2 year old all bets could be off at anytime!

The new system works great for people with your style, except for the planning aspect. You can make an advance reservation for 3 of your favorite rides in advance, get there later in the day knowing you'll at least get to ride 3 rides, then hope to get some more FP on the fly. The only drawback is that sometimes your favorites are all in the same tier and you can only choose 2 of those. That part really makes me

 

[MAGICFOR2]

People are still finding ways to work the system to their advantage - they always will, no matter what system they have in place. And someone will always feel it is unfair that someone got on the ride before them or rode more times than they did, or whatever.

 

[Sur]

Yes, they will. As time goes on, and the visits continue, we've settled down and take a relaxed pace. Keep the rush for those there first time or there less frequently.