Read the Ticket Question Survey thread and have to this say to Disney

[Pluto1976]

I want to go to WDW, be a kid again and get away from the real world, I don't want a Disney app on my phone, I want to be spontaneous, I don't want to reserve my rides 60 days ahead of time, I don't want to think about where and when I want to eat lunch 6 months out, I want an escape without having to utilize a calendar to see where I am suppose to be at every our of the day, I do not want to play paint by number to figure out my park tickets, and I definitely don't want to pre-order my food for restaurants before I get there, and DANG it I want new attractions not some stupid bracelet.

Boom, keyboard drop!

 

[ArwenMarie]

If you just book a package with everything included and let Disney do the math, take whatever ADRs you can get and book your 3 FPs a day, it couldn't be easier. Oh yeah, and spend lots of time enjoying your WDW Resort or shopping at the new Disney Springs. Stop fighting it!

(kidding...sort of)

 

[Alesia]

I want to go to WDW, be a kid again and get away from the real world, I don't want a Disney app on my phone, I want to be spontaneous, I don't want to reserve my rides 60 days ahead of time, I don't want to think about where and when I want to eat lunch 6 months out, I want an escape without having to utilize a calendar to see where I am suppose to be at every our of the day, I do not want to play paint by number to figure out my park tickets, and I definitely don't want to pre-order my food for restaurants before I get there,

Umm...okay, then don't. None of those things are required. It's your trip, you can do it however you like.

 

[larandtra1990]

Noone is making you go or use any of the things you have mentioned.

 

[MrsJD]

I get what OP is saying. I am a person who thoroughly enjoys planning and obsessing, esp about vacations and food. But even I am starting to think that a trip to WDW that consisted only of strolling and doing what I what on a whim, in the moment, sounds kind of fun.

So this trip we did with Arwen Marie suggested....booked the package, booked the 3 FPs for things we KNOW we want to do and we are basically doing all CS for food. I only booked ADR's because we are only doing 2 parks days. Our off days are open...we have ideas of what we want to do, but no set plans.

I refuse to let the changes that I don't particularly care for, deter me from going and enjoying the vast amount of things I still love about WDW. Which mainly consists of atmosphere.

 

[CAS239]

Yea you don't have to do anything you mentioned.

We book our FP's about 15-30 days out, and that's about it. If we eat in the park and need a reservation we'll book it about a week or two ahead of the trip.

You don't have to be glued to the app. Only time I use the app is to see what time the FP's are or to move a FP around to a different time or attraction.

You definitely by no means have to preorder your food before you get to a place. And Disney is building new rides along with stores and remodeling..the MB is not the only new thing to come out over the last year or two.

 

[Lucius Best]

I want to go to WDW, be a kid again and get away from the real world, I don't want a Disney app on my phone, I want to be spontaneous, I don't want to reserve my rides 60 days ahead of time, I don't want to think about where and when I want to eat lunch 6 months out, I want an escape without having to utilize a calendar to see where I am suppose to be at every our of the day,

Well then don't go to Disney World! No one has a gun to your head forcing you to book fastpasses 60 days in advance!

Just kidding, I completely understand the frustration. I've been to WDW over 20-something times. Our most recent trip was our first with FP+, and we needed to do a lot more planning beforehand. I'm sorry, shouldn't say that, no one required me to do more planning or put the app on my phone, but I realized that if I wanted to eat at Be Our Guest or ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with FP or get the most out of my vacation, I'd need to plan. Whenever I'd get frustrated with the app or planning, I'd just call Disney and yell at random CMs on the phone, it was fun, try it (just kidding again, of course).

 

[maxiesmom]

I want to go to WDW, be a kid again and get away from the real world, I don't want a Disney app on my phone, I want to be spontaneous, I don't want to reserve my rides 60 days ahead of time, I don't want to think about where and when I want to eat lunch 6 months out, I want an escape without having to utilize a calendar to see where I am suppose to be at every our of the day, I do not want to play paint by number to figure out my park tickets, and I definitely don't want to pre-order my food for restaurants before I get there, and DANG it I want new attractions not some stupid bracelet.

Boom, keyboard drop!

So don't do any of those things. Boom. There you go!

 

[larryz]

Take your pick:
a. More room for the rest of us.
b. If you have to complain, you can't afford it anyway.
c. It's all about value -- and WDW remains America's best overall vacation value.
d. All of the above.

 

[bellazachmom]

I want to go to WDW, be a kid again and get away from the real world, I don't want a Disney app on my phone, I want to be spontaneous, I don't want to reserve my rides 60 days ahead of time, I don't want to think about where and when I want to eat lunch 6 months out, I want an escape without having to utilize a calendar to see where I am suppose to be at every our of the day, I do not want to play paint by number to figure out my park tickets, and I definitely don't want to pre-order my food for restaurants before I get there, and DANG it I want new attractions not some stupid bracelet.

Boom, keyboard drop!

Come visit DisneyLand!!!!

 

[BigHeroKen]

I get what you are saying. I remember the first time we took our kids to Disney World. It was a last minute trip in late spring and we had nothing planned, yet were able to do 90% of what we wanted to. I wouldn't dare go to Disney these days without a plan and reservations, we made that mistake once a couple of years ago and regretted it.

 

[JanaDee]

Take your pick:
a. More room for the rest of us.
b. If you have to complain, you can't afford it anyway.
c. It's all about value -- and WDW remains America's best overall vacation value.
d. All of the above.

You forgot
e. You don't HAVE to do any of those things. No one is forcing you/holding a gun to your head/insert whatever dismissive phrase you wish here.

 

[BigHeroKen]

I for one welcome our new vacation overlords.

Seriously, many of these posts will make Disney proud.

 

[BrianL]

The thing about ADRs is that they are a function of demand and that is not something Disney controls. I understand if you don't want to book a restaurant 180 days out, but there are apparently LOTS of people who do and will. Disney could shorten the lead time, but then everything would get snatched up on whatever day the ADRs do open and it would bog down the system. If they eliminate ADRs completely you'll wait hours to be seated anywhere. The ONLY solution for Disney is to build more restaurants to satisfy demand, but they'll just be criticized for building them instead of a new E-Ticket ride. Plus with attendance going UP every year, they'll only need more bandwidth.

There was a time when you could go to Disney with little planning, and that's because fewer people went. Now is not that time. Disney is a victim of their own popularity, but at least they try new things to make it still work.

 

[cakebaker]

You don't have to plan adr's at all. We have 2 scheduled in our upcoming trip for 8 days. ADR's to me are the one thing that complicates our trip more than anything else, so we avoid them unless doing one works in our favor or just falls in to place. We scheduled a few possibles at 180, paying little attention to what days and what parks. Then when we got our fp+'s, we cancelled the ones that didn't fit. So one can have a perfectly great vacation without adrs.

If you don't like scheduling rides 60 days out, there are only a very few that will be unavailable to you within days or even same day of your trip. You can always catch those at rope drop, emh morning or evening or you can do standby for those few rides.

It is possible to have a nice trip without all the planning- but if you want to ride everything with little wait, eat sit down meals in the parks at the restaurants of your choice- you have to plan. Dining has been this way for a very long time.

In the end, imo, WDW has never been a place we could visit without extensive planning. We're not comfortable with catching what we can catch on the fly and never have been.

 

[bellazachmom]

I want to go to WDW, be a kid again and get away from the real world, I don't want a Disney app on my phone, I want to be spontaneous, I don't want to reserve my rides 60 days ahead of time, I don't want to think about where and when I want to eat lunch 6 months out, I want an escape without having to utilize a calendar to see where I am suppose to be at every our of the day, I do not want to play paint by number to figure out my park tickets, and I definitely don't want to pre-order my food for restaurants before I get there, and DANG it I want new attractions not some stupid bracelet.

Boom, keyboard drop!

I am an OCD planner, and enjoy it for the most part. I used to eagerly await the release of park hours and my ADR window. I liked knowing what park, what day and the highlights we would hit each day.

But I also liked playing "bus roulette" on a girls only trip - you know, head to the bus stop and whichever bus arrives first is the park you hit that day!

And, no matter which way we went, if we were there at rope drop we could accomplish a lot and then utilize FP to ride our favorites a few times. I think this is what I miss the most. The ability to ride things, the big things, more than once a day or possibly once a trip.

There are plenty of positives with the new system, I feel confident that most of us can agree on that. Has it been at a cost? Yes. And I'm pretty sure we can all agree on that, too.

I think a few Dis-ers have missed the point of the tongue in cheek post by the OP.

We ALL know that you don't HAVE to do any of the things that he is "complaining" about. You don't HAVE to even go to Disney. But to have the type of trips we have loved in the past, enjoying headliners and favorite restaurants, you pretty much do have to do them.

I keep seeing posts with statements like "with the exception on A&E, or mine train, or Soarin' or CRT or (insert your families favorite attraction or restaurant here)..." you don't need the MDE app, or FPs or ADRs but, honestly, come on, who wants that kind of trip?

 

[runnerchick]

Hi! I had the same feelings during our first family trip to WDW....we went during free dining and we did not make any dining reservations (gasp!). It was very frustrating...I like to just go with the flow and eat whenever I want.

Now, year later - I LOVE the planning part of it! We have family meetings about our trip - we make Mickey shaped cookies - each person gets to plan a day at WDW (my kiddos love to do this - 9 and 10), and the planning is part of the fun! As for the MagicBands - not having to fish around for everyone's KTTW is so convenient and shopping, charging purchases to your room and having them delivered to your resort - pure magic!!!

Of course you can visit WDW without making a plan, but you will miss out on some things.

 

[MrKnight]

I fully understand the point that the OP is trying to make as I can personally relate as both a former WDW CM and long-time AP Holder, in fact, I think that many WDW fans would agree but have simply come to accept the fact that MDE is here to stay and is not going anywhere, Disney invested too much time and money into the whole MDE/ADR/FP+ pre-planning system and they are not going to suddenly drop it, even if there has been a massive surge of complaints, they are still not going to drop it.. Acceptance is the word of the times for WDW fans.. But like I said, with respect to the OP, I agree..

 

[DisneyWishes14]

So have the vacation you want in WDW! It is possible. We were just there over Memorial Day weekend and we planned nothing for Sunday. Woke up, decided to go to MK, made FP+ on the bus on the way there. Rode SpM, PP, 7DMT, Tomorrowland Speedway, People Mover, did the Pirate Adventure, shopped, had snacks and left. Walked into Big River Grille for lunch, walked my DS into Sandcastle Club at 5 pm, took a walk around EP, walked into Kimono's at 6:30 pm, picked up DS, got ice cream and watched shows on the BW. Completely spur of the moment day - it was awesome! If you don't want to partake in the uber planning, then don't! Our trips are more enjoyable when we don't uber plan too!

 

[Planogirl]

Now that all of the negative comments are out of the way (I think), I'll just say that I love your post OP. You simply mentioned what you wished for and I definitely agree. I like simplicity when on vacation and I like (most of) WDW. How do you mix the two?