So one of my "best" girlfriends just got back...

[ReggieB]

I think that shows the power of Disney, if she had a whole catalogue of complaints but still had a great time.

 

[*Fantasia*]

Then just tell her "shud up, you're insulting me." Hopefully she will realize that she is hurting your feelings.

.................................................................................................

EDIT TO ADD: Since most of you guys are planners and I haven't planned in a long long time, would anyone care to plan our trip for March 28- April 2?? I am going to start my own thread. Thanks for your help!

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Then just tell her "shud up, you're insulting me." Hopefully she will realize that she is hurting your feelings.

Good idea. Although I do like the other poster's idea of whopping her with that colorful expandable stick....

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

My sister, and BIL, do not plan at all. They go down spur of the moment, (3 days to decide to go- max) get a hotel off-site, have a 16 hour long drive, w/ 5 kids, in Aug, during the hurricanes (which by the way were predicted before they left home). They don't even realize there are places to sit and eat, yet alone eat there. But then gripe about it being hot, and the kids were hungry, the hotel was so far away, and we hated the pool there, and the lines were long, and my personal favorite, THAT SHOW WAS TOO EXPENSIVE (fantasmic)

They have done this routine, at least 3 times. This time they decided they would never go back. I really don't care if they do or not, but like the OP, they criticize us, for enjoying WDW, and going back as often as we do, and putting some thought into the trip. That is what is insulting.

I'm kind of glad, that everyone doesn't like it as much as we do. That would make for some VERY CROWDED parks.

I have a friend that is wanting me to help plan her trip. It is a lot of responsibility quite frankly. She knows nothing about WDW, or the Orlando area. She'll make a comment, and I have to bite my tongue, to keep from telling her, that she is making BIG mistakes. ( I.E. not going to MK, with her 6, and 9 DDs because it is all baby rides). I don't want to upset her, and step on her toes. I tell her to read, read, read, go on this site, and watch the DVD from Disney. But she doesn't have the patience to do so. Just wants me to spoon feed her the info. Prob. is my families preferences might not be hers.

Sorry so long- Just had to vent

 

[*Fantasia*]

Good idea. Although I do like the other poster's idea of whopping her with that colorful expandable stick....

No.. I didn't read that thread about the expandable stick.. Well.. if you're going to get rough... I would suggest the frying pan! Just wack her! It's sturdy and it won't leave a dent, but only on her head! Ha ha ha...JK!

 

[mimif1]

Yep, my sis is the same way. She chose to go to Disney during spring break. No plan, no ps. BIL decides they should stay off site, then decides to stay at the hotel with the two year old because "he won't remember it anyway. Why spend the money?" So they go for one day, get the MK at 12:00 on a early entry day (I know, because I checked). She couldn't understand why it was crowded, didn't use Fastpass, didn't explain to DD 6 that it would be crowded etc... They couldn't understand how we could spend a week at Disney. Her daughter was pulled into the afternoon parade, and she COMPLAINED that it was kindof inconvenient. Excuse me? Of course, last week she was here and started looking through my plans. She said "Too bad they can't tell you how crowded it will be on what days" So I pull out my sweet little chart and said you mean like this? Her eyes about popped out of her head. She says "Well that's handy!" No kidding! They don't get Disney like we do.

 

[DisMN]

Well, here are a couple of my favorites:

Me: Did y'all see any parades?

Her: No, because they never tell you when they're going to happen, so by the time we figured out what was going on, all the seats were taken.

Me: Did you get to ride in the front of the monorail?

Her: No, we saw no reason to pay for the monorail when the busses were free.

Me: Did your DD get lots of autographs?

Her: Oh yes, but do you know that the animals (she meant characters) will NOT talk to you?! All they do is sign language.

But they had a great time!

Oh mannnnnnn.....

Feel free to post any more you can remember. These are true classics! Thanks for the giggles!

 

[KYmommy]

I found Tour Guide Mike? Is it worth $22.00?
I do want to plan.

Thanks
Kris

 

[minmate]

Maybe you can make a cheat sheet... like less than five pages... for the next time she, or another friend is planning a first trip to WDW. I know I have helped friends plan for Disney. No way would I go into ALL the stuff I know or would do for my own trips... at least not right away. I have kind of a running list of the biggies (i.e. FastPass, PS's, pros/cons to some of the resorts, EMH, etc.) -- and I actually helped a friend write out an itinerary... when to hit what parks, based on EMH, etc... I gave them a few tips for rides (i.e., do Dumbo first, etc.) -- and gave them perspective thru my kids' eyes (luckily our kids are same age) -- and she ended up loving it so much... she claims she and her dh were constantly thanking me while they were on their trip. Of course, they didn't follow it to a 'T' -- nor did I expect them to, but they did have a great time! And now they're hooked and next time, they'll do more planning! (I told her about certain websites to check out, but she went over February Break and only decided to go about 3-4 weeks ahead of time). Luckily, she was able to get some PS's that proved wonderful for them!

To each their own I guess... But I would have said to your friend, "Hey, I don't knock you for your spontaneity -- it's part of what I love about you, so don't knock me for my planning... it's part of what makes me who I am!"

 

[Lizzybee]

We went November 2003 and had no idea how HUGE Disney was...boy has it changed since 1976! We had no plan, not even a clue at what a "PS" was, until we tried to eat at an actual restaurant not in our resort area. My father had open heart surgery barely over a month before our trip so I pushed him in a wheelchair most of the trip, I guess that helped tone my long neglected butt and arm muscles, but also got good seating for us in many shows/parades. We actually didn't ride many rides, saw just about all of the shows and had a wonderful magical time. This time I'm trying a hybrid semi-planned approach - a character breakfast, a PS for Easter Breakfast, and a Wishes Cruise on Easter night. I have been unable to convince my parents to go along with more planning. If I actually took the time to create a binder such as the one mentioned in the original post, I'm pretty sure I'd put it in a "safe place" and never ever find it again

 

[luv2nascar]

my mil doesn't like parks and disney was no exception
she didn't appreciate my planning & was tired no more than we got there
she just plain refused to go along with it after a day or two. we left my inlaws on their own. its your vacation sleep in if you want to BUT I'll be in the parks riding rides. She has no urge to go back to disney.

 

[Tara]

No.. I didn't read that thread about the expandable stick.. Well.. if you're going to get rough... I would suggest the frying pan! Just wack her! It's sturdy and it won't leave a dent, but only on her head! Ha ha ha...JK!

Dude. She already has the perfect weapon. She should just giver her friend a good thunk with the binder!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

I plan everything down to the hour, including contingencies for various factors (extreme heat, rain, broken ride, no lines, someone is tired or sick, etc.), and we always have a FABULOUS TIME with little stress. We generally know ahead of time which rides we will skip or only "maybe" get to visit on a particular day, so we aren't walking around frustrated or confused all the time. Personally, I'm way too freakin' cheap to pay Disney money and then only do half the stuff (or less). My dh used to laugh at me a lot for my obsessive vacation planning (it's not just for WDW, folks!) but he stopped that after a few years when he realized that we have GREAT vacations for cheap and do tons of really fun things in a short time without feeling overwhelmed. Now he turns to me every step of the way in the parks and asks, "What's next?" and trusts my judgment.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

But then gripe about it being hot, and the kids were hungry, the hotel was so far away, and we hated the pool there, and the lines were long, and my personal favorite, THAT SHOW WAS TOO EXPENSIVE (fantasmic)They have done this routine, at least 3 times. This time they decided they would never go back. I really don't care if they do or not, but like the OP, they criticize us, for enjoying WDW, and going back as often as we do, and putting some thought into the trip. That is what is insulting.

Sorry so long- Just had to vent

People like this are just jealous that you have your stuff together and know what you are talking about, and that your vacations are better than theirs although they are getting exactly what they deserve if they do NO research at all. If they weren't jealous, they wouldn't criticize, they would just figure you are different and leave it at that. Insecurity must suck.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Well, if it's any consolation, I read your post and thought to myself, "THAT'S what I need!! A binder, and colored tabs to sort the topics!!"

I'm a vacation planner by hobby. For a few short years I had a job planning trips for high school band festivals, and I couldn't believe they PAID me to do that! LOL.

Disney is my number one obsession, but I have small sections in various notebooks on key west, hawaii and las vegas, too! If I'm going on a vacation, I want to practically roll around in it before I go. And I'm darned sure not missing the best parts because I just didn't know about them.

Amen! I do the same things and feel the same way.

 

[mybgirl]

...and I am so frustrated with her.

When she first decided to take a trip to DW, she ASKED me for advice because she knew that I had done alot of research for my family's previous trips. This was her family's first trip, and she wanted advice on having a great time, saving money, and avoiding the crowds.

I showed her my coveted Disney Binder (no, it's not a 6"). I am organized to a fault, so everything is very neat, very easy to read, and very organized. I have an outline that I've typed on my computer with almost every bit of information about Disney World / Disney Cruise that I have found helpful. This binder is the result of countless hours of research on the internet (sometimes my insomnia can be a blessing), all neatly put together to make things easy to find. I even have a set of notecards that I bring in the parks, with info on park secrets, where to sit for rides/shows, etc. Thanks to all the information that I've collected, our trips to DW have been close to perfect...we know secrets, we know how to avoid crowds, we know what rooms to request at resorts...since y'all are all DISers, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway, she is not a planner, more of a free spirit, and I knew she wouldn't be interested in all the details, but I showed her the binder anyway. She laughed and said "No WAY am I going to read all THAT!" I told her, I know you don't want this much info, but it would really help to just flip through it to learn some of the basics, such as fastpass, early entry, etc. No, she didn't want to. No problem, I know not everyone is DisCrazy, and planning is not for everyone. We just laughed about how different our personalities are, and that was that.

So after she gets back, we go to lunch and she proceeds to tell me how she and her family had every bit of as good a time as my family does, and she didn't do one minute of planning. She is laughingly telling me how much time I've wasted, and how the whole "you need to plan" thing is SO overblown.

So I'm thinking, "Wow! Have I really wasted all that time?!"

And then this is basically how our conversation went:

Me: Wasn't Fantasmic wonderful?

Her: Didn't see it, we got there ten minutes before it started, all the seats were taken.

Me: Did your DD enjoy It's a Small World?

Her: We didn't ride anything in that part of Disney World...all the lines were 2 hours long and we weren't paying extra for those Fastpass things.

Me: Oh, well did y'all do any character breakfasts?

Her: Any what?

Me: Well, did you have dinner in the castle?

Her: You can't eat in the castle.

Me: Did y'all see A Bug's Life? Wasn't the Tree of Life beautiful?

Her: We were NOT climbing all those stairs.

This went on and on and on. She complained about the lines. She complained about her noisy room at the resort. She complained about not being able to walk to any park from Carribean Beach. They didn't go to Epcot because "you know, it's just a big educational thing." But the last thing she said was "But, overall, we had a great time...and I didn't need to put in all that time that you did!"

She did bring me a Stormtrooper pin, though, so I guess I can't be too mad at her.

I PLAIN TO WITH ALL MY INFO , I AM NUT 'S BUT I LOVE EVERY MOMENT OF IT


YOU DID A VERY NICE THING FOR HER , NO CM HOW SAD , DOSE SHE HAVE LITTLE ONE'S ? BUT I HOPE SHE HAD FUN GOD BLESS AND TAKE CARE


MARY

 

[Tinkaroo]

Her: We didn't ride anything in that part of Disney World...all the lines were 2 hours long and we weren't paying extra for those Fastpass things.

This made me laugh, and brought up a fun memory. I remember when FastPass first came out - I can remembr by-passing all these people in line with our passes, and one woman reached out, grabbed my arm, and asked me "how much did those cost you?"

I, too, am an obsessive planner (your binder has me intrigued - would love a peak inside!), and it always amazes me that people would spend thousands of $$$ potentially on a vacation, and do not one bit of planning.

It's not that you want to go "commando" all the time, but it's all about making the wisest use of your $$.

 

[patriciauk]

Friends of mine took their 8 yo twins last year. I lent them them brit's guide and the UG. Explained about fastpass, and especially about getting there for opening, and avoiding EE days, as they stayed offsite.

Fastpass was "useless", as it gave you a timeslot that was over an hour away, so no point using it.

They reached the parks around noon, "queues were too long to stand in".

I asked them if theyed enjoyed AK, All they did there was Kali, and watched some street entertainment.

The park the kids talk about the most is Gatorland. I think that's the only one they saw or did anything at. I gather they spent several days just sitting around at the motel, as it was "too hot" to go out.

And this was a trip all the way from the UK.

 

[boucheresq]

you scared me - I thought you were going to say she lost your notebook!!! BTW, can I borrow it?

 

[JJsmama]

This "friend" is so clueless that it makes me wonder if she can read! Apparently she refused to read ANYTHING - including posted parade times. I really can not imagine not ever looking for information. I wonder if she even got a map of the park when she got there or just wandered into FantasyLand and thought that was all there was?