Port Orleans- Bus to TTC?

[goofy4tink]

Ok....I highly doubt that the OP was fully expecting her friends to have the same reaction she had. She may hope for a similar reaction, but no way to know if they will be as 'happy'.
Here's the thing...I always try to recreate situations that I have had, and that made me happy, for those going for the first time. I don't expect their experience to be the same as mine, but I know what the situation will be....and I can then hope for the best.
My word people. You are all aware that these guests could be standing there, at their resort, waiting for an Epcot bus only to find that they will be standing there for 30+ mins, right??? It happens. There is no way to know, going in, what will happen. All you can do is plan accordingly and hope for the best.

If it were me, and I wanted my first timers to have that entering Epcot via the monorail experience??? I would get a cab over to the TTC...I would pay for it. Then, hop on the Epcot line and hope there were no issues. I find that most of the issues happen later in the day. But, there is always a chance something will go wrong.

It's always nice to have varying points of view...and we welcome them.

 

[crazymomof4]

Here's the thing...I always try to recreate situations that I have had, and that made me happy, for those going for the first time. I don't expect their experience to be the same as mine, but I know what the situation will be....and I can then hope for the best.

This is EXACTLY my point of view. Thank you so much for expressing my feelings so clearly in all you've said!

 

[crazymomof4]

I don't think warning someone not to get too excited about other people's possible reactions is being negative. It would be awful to go thru all the trouble the OP wants to go thru, and then have her family not be as excited as the OP remembers being on that monorail ride.

Looking at the big picture-- the ENTIRE trip is a huge risk for this very thing. They might end up not liking much at all about WDW. That has been niggling at the back of my mind since I first invited them. They've never had kids, so may think it's all aimed at families with kids. They may get some bad meals and write WDW off as a horrible place for food. It may be too hot. They may get exhausted by all the walking. All of these are POSSIBLE reactions, and there surely are ones I've not even considered. Yes, they MAY happen and yes, I'd be disappointed. But if I wanted to avoid the risk that they won't love everything (including the "entrance to Epcot") as much as I do, then I'd better not bring them at all, ever! In fact no one ought to ever bring any WDW virgins, ever. But, we DO. People DO every day of the year and guess what? New WDW fanatics are born every day bc someone took the risk.
All we can do is show our newbies the WDW we love, the things that gave us goosebumps as first timers. That is what the monorail entrance to Epcot is to me. To those who had different first time goosebumps it may seem silly, like a waste, a risk, but maybe your goosebump moment would be that for me. No reason to toss a wet blanket on the goosebump moments of others and call it "giving them a warning". I guess what I'm saying is think a bit about how what you're saying comes across before hitting the submit button. Sometimes even "well intentioned" advice can hurt the feelings (or in my case discourage) others.

 

[maxiesmom]

OP--I don't think me or any other poster is trying to be a wet blanket, or make your trip planning less than magical. For me, I just wanted to make sure you are not putting so much pressure on one moment that there is no way it could meet your expectations. I've done that, and the feeling of being let down is not fun!

Plan all that you want (I'm a HUGE planner!) and then let the trip just unwind around you. Don't pressure yourself to make everything perfect. Hopefully the rest of your family will then see WDW the way you do and love it too.

 

[goofy4tink]

This is the very reason I hate being 'Julie McCoy, cruise director' when I take others to WDW!!! They all look to me to plan out everything. Yes, I love the planning for a trip to WDW. And yes, I know my way around WDW...like the back of my hand. But, I hate being in charge of someone else's WDW experience. I would feel so awful if it didn't measure up to their expectations!!!
Only one time has that happened though. The other dad in the group was not happy about our early start times. His comment???? 'Yeah, terrific, hurry up and leave your room by 7am, so you can hurry over to the bus stop to stand in a line for 20 mins. Then, hurry up to the park entrance, to stand in yet another line to have your bag checked, then another line to get into the park...all so you can stand in more long lines to ride stuff. Yeah, this is fun!!!' His idea of a great vacation is sitting by the pool, with a beer in hand, reading the newspaper!!

But. I do have friends that we took down a year ago. I was really worried about them not having a great time. But, evidently they had a ball. In fact, they are talking about planning a huge family trip to WDW in a few years. And guess who has to go along as the guide??? Yep, me!!!!!

So, yeah, it's hard to try and make everyone's trip a wonderful one. It's hard if things don't work out the way we want them to. But, all we can do is make choices based on what worked for us in the past. Then, hope that our friends have a great experience. It doesn't have to be the same experience we had, just a good one.

So...OP..please come back and let us all know how it all worked out for you. I really would like to know!!

 

[crazymomof4]

This is the very reason I hate being 'Julie McCoy, cruise director' when I take others to WDW!!! They all look to me to plan out everything. Yes, I love the planning for a trip to WDW. And yes, I know my way around WDW...like the back of my hand. But, I hate being in charge of someone else's WDW experience. I would feel so awful if it didn't measure up to their expectations!!!
Only one time has that happened though. The other dad in the group was not happy about our early start times. His comment???? 'Yeah, terrific, hurry up and leave your room by 7am, so you can hurry over to the bus stop to stand in a line for 20 mins. Then, hurry up to the park entrance, to stand in yet another line to have your bag checked, then another line to get into the park...all so you can stand in more long lines to ride stuff. Yeah, this is fun!!!' His idea of a great vacation is sitting by the pool, with a beer in hand, reading the newspaper!!

But. I do have friends that we took down a year ago. I was really worried about them not having a great time. But, evidently they had a ball. In fact, they are talking about planning a huge family trip to WDW in a few years. And guess who has to go along as the guide??? Yep, me!!!!!

So, yeah, it's hard to try and make everyone's trip a wonderful one. It's hard if things don't work out the way we want them to. But, all we can do is make choices based on what worked for us in the past. Then, hope that our friends have a great experience. It doesn't have to be the same experience we had, just a good one.

So...OP..please come back and let us all know how it all worked out for you. I really would like to know!!

Will Do!
Even when we go without newbies-- just DH, kids and I-- I still feel like the cruise director! LOL So that's nothing new. I think I'm going into this trip with enough of an open mind that if things don't seem to be pleasing to the "virgins", we will be able to split up and let everyone explore and enjoy things at their own pace and preference. I'm totally fine with that. I only want to be the cruise director it they WANT that from me (which so far seems to be the case). You have to do that sometimes bc there can be varying tastes and ages in a group. We do that with our older kids. They go off and do their favorites (which doesn't include waiting for their little sister to ride Dumbo) and we meet up later in the day. Thank goodness for cell phone, right?

ugh about the guy who would rather sit by the pool and read a paper-- not hardcore WDW material there!

 

[Cinderella909]

We did this on our last day this summer. My DGD loves to ride the monorail and wanted to take the monorail to Epcot. So we decided to drive over to TTC and take the monorail. As we were driving over to the TTC, we realized that we needed to get gas before I took DS and DGD to the airport for their flight home. So, DS dropped DGD and myself off at the TTC center, where we had taken the monorail over to Epcot. My DS ran over to the Hess Station and got gas then drove over to meet us in Epcot. DS was at Epcot waiting for us when we got off the monorail!

We were all happy, DGD got to ride the monrail, DS got gas, and we had the car when ready to head home to the airport, which gave us a little more time in Epcot!

So, I might suggest that you drive to TTC and drop everyone off and have someone drive over to Epcot so you could drive back from Epcot. Or, better yet, drive over to TTC and take the monorail both to and from Epcot! Twice the fun and less time waiting and shifting transportation options.

Either way enjoy!

 

[crazymomof4]

That's a great idea! I'll present it to my DH. He may not care if he doesn't ride the monorail in to Epcot and so won't mind dropping us off at ttc. Thanks!

 

[Cinderella909]

That's a great idea! I'll present it to my DH. He may not care if he doesn't ride the monorail in to Epcot and so won't mind dropping us off at ttc. Thanks!

Isn't this what the DISboards are for?!?! Sometimes, it just takes thinking outside the box! No matter what you decide, I'm sure you'll have fun! And, as a planner, I know not everyone will hold the same value that I place on the best laid plans.

Enjoy! Karen

 

[crazymomof4]

Isn't this what the DISboards are for?!?! Sometimes, it just takes thinking outside the box! No matter what you decide, I'm sure you'll have fun! And, as a planner, I know not everyone will hold the same value that I place on the best laid plans.

Enjoy! Karen

yup, this is specifically the type of info I was looking for!