Some people don't get it!!!

[Vanryan]

I was talking to a co-worker who said she and her DH and DD 8 and DS6 were going to Disney for April break. I asked her about what plans she had, and (gasp) she has none. She has not done any prior planning, except to say they would go to MK and AK. Another person said, you should take DD to eat with Cinderella. I think you just call when you get there to make a reservation. So I had to pipe up and say, actually you call 90 days...... and they were all amazed. Really, that far ahead? I bet if you call now they'll be able to get you a table.
But guess what? When I made my ps I got a table to include my in-laws, but they can't now. So I said, if you and DD would like to join us we have room for 2 at our table. She said, ok, maybe we can. I'll let you know. I guess since she didn't know about how to get the ps, I shouldn't have expected her to swoon or something, but a little excitement would have been nice! The ps are for April 17th!!!

 

[Marseeya]

I was talking to a co-worker who said she and her DH and DD 8 and DS6 were going to Disney for April break. I asked her about what plans she had, and (gasp) she has none. She has not done any prior planning, except to say they would go to MK and AK. Another person said, you should take DD to eat with Cinderella. I think you just call when you get there to make a reservation. So I had to pipe up and say, actually you call 90 days...... and they were all amazed. Really, that far ahead? I bet if you call now they'll be able to get you a table.
But guess what? When I made my ps I got a table to include my in-laws, but they can't now. So I said, if you and DD would like to join us we have room for 2 at our table. She said, ok, maybe we can. I'll let you know. I guess since she didn't know about how to get the ps, I shouldn't have expected her to swoon or something, but a little excitement would have been nice! The ps are for April 17th!!!

I know what you mean. There are quite a few people in my life who have been to WDW and I ask them questions about their trip and they'll have no idea what I'm talking about! Did you get to ride such and such? Did you do this and that? What about X ride? And I just get the "huh"? Alrighty then. My sister said to me, "I saw this one guide book but I figured it was a waste of money." Yup.

And CRT? Oh no, we couldn't get in, it was too crowded. No DUH! They look at me all stunned when I tell them I have a PS for it.

Let's just hope the majority of the people who go to WDW continue to be clueless.

 

[auroraarielella]

...or the people who go for two days and then get overwhelmed and decide they'll never try it again!

More room in the parks for me then!!

 

[vicceja]

Hi!

My older sister has 3 kids just like myself . When we returned from Disney in 2003 her kids saw all our pictures and said how much fun it would be to go to Disney . I asked my sister when she plans to take her kids now 12,7, 5 to Disney World - and she says it is too much work for her and she will not be taking them until they are much older Isn't that horrible - I feel really bad for her kids and really wish I had the $$ to take them with me...oh well.

 

[TigerLilyBlossom]

Count me in with the clueless group who don't get it, lol, because I am overwhelmed by all of the Disney planning needed. We were just thrilled that we could afford to go (always thinking it was too expensive, but happily it isn't) but being first timers, we don't have a clue--we're learning what we can to get a basic feel for what to do/expect, but are still pretty lost, I will confess.

Never thought we would need to call ahead for a ps for a restaurant until I read of it here...we got the Birnbaum's book and saw it there too, but I wouldn't have purchased the book unless I saw here that there is a lot more than hopping on a plane and showing up. I think if we did that we'd still have a nice 1st time trip, but being one of the clueless ones, I can see why people don't inherently know what to do--I sure don't. I guess it's a learn as you go sort of thing. Even with the research here and elsewhere, I am sure we will still not know that to expect or how things work, until we actually do it It'll be a learning process--and a fun one too, we are hoping

I am really glad that I found a place to learn from the seasoned Disney veterans, because for a 1st timer, it is over-whelming, and it is really impossible to know on one's own what the ins and outs are. Even being somewhat prepared, I bet there are lots of surprises and "hmmm, so that's what they meant" moments, lol.

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

I had no idea that this much planning was needed either. I just happened to be messing around online and found this wonderful site We would have been wandering aimlessly.

 

[laudan14]

My brother-in-law has always done the planning but we are going alone this year. I have realy enjoyed doing my families planning and wished I had done it from the start. (Just hope everyting goes OK)

 

[PrincessasMommy]

My DH thinks I'm a lunatic! I have been planning/researching WDW for approx. 2 hours DAILY for months now. It is our 1st family trip and I want it to be perfect for my girls!

I planned character breakfasts for 3 meals so they could see Mickey & Crew, The Princesses and Pooh & Friends - figure that includes characters to make eaxh of them happy - including DH who loves Mickey!

I made personalized shirts for all of us to wear, with our names and fav character on front and ____LAST NAME____ Making Magical Memories - APril 2005 across the back (Love iron on transfer paper).

I have made a chart of what rides we want to see, which have fastpass and in which order we will visit them.

I also cross referenced the historical attendance days with the EMH charts so we will visit the less crowded parks on the appropriate days!

DH told me last night I should be a tour guide! I'm not that good but I think when you invest so much $$$ and time into a vacation it should be AMAZING!!!

DOING THE 15 DAY DANCE

 

[Disney Gator]

Living close to WDW and being able to go for day trips and weekends I know a lot about what to do in the parks. Not as much about planning a trip though. It's funny that whenever I or my gf help someone at the parks or give them some basic info, their response is, "wow you know a lot about Disney World, do you work here?"

Crazy that people spend all that money and come all that way without doing any research. When I make a trip to a different part of the country I do a little research, find out what there is to do, do I need to make reservations, when is the best time to go. I don't know why people would come to WDW without doing some of that.

 

[CheezDoodle]

Once I went to WDW with my girl scout troop. We were staying at POR in the Aligator Bayou section. When got to the buildings a girl moaned real loud " This is so ugly," . Then, when it was time for dinner, we were all going to the foodcourt but the same girl didn't want to walk all that ways. We still went there, but she couldn't find a single thing she liked and complained the whole time that she wanted to go to McDonalds.

 

[bdink921]

Count me in the obsessive planner group----made our room ressies in October and have planning every day since. My DH also thinks I'm nuts but who would have ever thought planning a vacation would or could be such a blast!! Can't imagine just showing up, especially our first time--we would have been completely overwhelmed. I've already started to think about next year's trip. Shhh! Don't tell my DH!!

 

[MECH8T7]

So I said, if you and DD would like to join us we have room for 2 at our table. She said, ok, maybe we can. I'll let you know. I guess since she didn't know about how to get the ps, I shouldn't have expected her to swoon or something, but a little excitement would have been nice! The ps are for April 17th!!!

I can totally relate.

Our recent first-time trip to WDW trip was the result of over 8 months of research and planning on my part. About a month beforehand, my sister tells me that she and her family (DH and DD3) will be going down there the same time. I offer to try to incorporate her into our itinerary (which is pretty full by this point) and I probably overwhelmed her because her response was that they would only probably go into WDW one day during their stay and likely only the MK.

Our trip was the very busy week before Easter and I -- actually, AKL IPO gets the credit for all of this -- got them a ressie with us for CRT breakfast on the day that they joined us to tour the MK as well as expanding the size of our PS for Ohana's that day and Boma later in the week. They declined (gasp) our invitation to join us on our Illuminations cruise. My sister eventually got the sense of how hard it is to secure a PS for CRT breakfast because one of the other diners told her about how they had three phones going to get the PS 90 days out. My sister tried to walk-up to get a lunch PS for Crystal Place that day and they were surprised to find out that it was all booked up. It would also have been very difficult to walk-up to get a table for a large group for Ohana and Boma that week.

We probably did more stuff at WDW during our first family trip there than my sister and her family have probably done during the 12 years that they have owned an interest in a timeshare in the WDW area. The meals we had at Ohana and Boma were the first sit-down meals that my sister and her husband had ever had on WDW property apart from an unplanned lunch at the Crystal Palace during a visit to MK in fall 2004. However, I don't think they feel they have missed anything over the years and I didn't make a big deal about what they could have been doing...I was too paranoid about having them think I was crazy for having obsessed over the planning of our trip during the preceding 8 months (and they would be right if they thought that!). My sister had some sense of the itinerary I was planning before we went and she asked me if I was planning a one-time "trip of a lifetime". Believe me, I was fully expecting that we would be back after our first trip but I also quickly learned that it would be very busy at WDW during our planned stay. So, I did all the planning to try to make sure that our plans would be relatively immune to having the peak crowds adversely affect our enjoyment too much.

I do think that they did enjoy touring the MK the day they were with us because we were able to encourage them to go back to the MK with us in the evening for Spectromagic and Wishes...they'd never stayed for evening parade or fireworks before. My BIL and neice even got to ride with DD and me in the front of the monorail on the way back to the MK from the Poly after Ohana's, which is something they would never thought to ask to do on their own.

 

[CarnotaurDad]

Planning is so much fun...DH and I are addicts for sure. But, I do think it is important to remember if DD at age 3 wants to wait in line for Pooh 4 times - why not. It is the memories not the checklist of what you got done that counts for me.

I agree: plan for maximum effect and then enjoy the rest and go with the flow. After all aren't we going to WDW (partly) for them?

Karen

Aug 2005 BWV, OKW
Dec 2004 Pop, BCV, WL
Aug 2004 OKW
Nov 2003 Swan

 

[pdchris]

We're coming up on our 3rd trip to WDW (5/7-13, POFQ). I agree that you should have things planned out before arrival such as PS at some restaurants and an idea of what parks to see and when. However, I would also stress that you shouldn't plan everything right down to the second. Be flexible. That way if something doesn't go just as planned you aren't extremely disappointed. To state the obvious: it's a vacation at WDW!

 

[Vanryan]

Even though I am an addictive planner, I completely agree that you must go with the flow. Our first trip we never got to MGM because my kids wanted to go to MK again and ride the same rides over again. So we went to MK again. I figured they would remember being disappointed that they didn't get to ride the "Honey Pots" again, but would never miss something they didn't know even existed.

How could anyone turn down an Illuminations cruise???

 

[HIHO...HIHO]

Yes...for the first timer also (May 20-2005), I find all the planning very overwhelming - but we are going on the Wonder at the end of Disneyworld too! It is a bit much, but for all the money spent, I am hoping it is worth it. Besides, if I do it all now...then I should really be able to enjoy my time there! I was tellling someone at work today, the planning is comparable to planning a wedding! LOL!

 

[pjlla]

I wonder if these "non-planners" for WDW are also "non-planners" for other vacations. Would you just SHOW UP in Paris without a map to where the Eiffel Tower is and a French phrase book? I wouldn't, but I suppose there are people who would. And these are probably the same people who show up at WDW with no PS's, etc.

I think that most of us who plan extensively for WDW probably also plan extensively for other things/vacations in our lives. We are planning a trip in the SouthWest this summer and I have researched the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. Just the kind of "planner" that I am!..................P

 

[kparc]

Planning is so much fun...DH and I are addicts for sure. But, I do think it is important to remember if DD at age 3 wants to wait in line for Pooh 4 times - why not. It is the memories not the checklist of what you got done that counts for me.

I agree: plan for maximum effect and then enjoy the rest and go with the flow. After all aren't we going to WDW (partly) for them?

Karen

Aug 2005 BWV, OKW
Dec 2004 Pop, BCV, WL
Aug 2004 OKW
Nov 2003 Swan

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To me that is the best thing about planning and knowing where you are going and what you want to see the most before you go. It allows you that extra time to stop and see all the little things most people miss because they are too busy trying to figure it all out after they get there. At least that's been my experience.

 

[MECH8T7]

I wonder if these "non-planners" for WDW are also "non-planners" for other vacations. Would you just SHOW UP in Paris without a map to where the Eiffel Tower is and a French phrase book? I wouldn't, but I suppose there are people who would. And these are probably the same people who show up at WDW with no PS's, etc.

I think that most of us who plan extensively for WDW probably also plan extensively for other things/vacations in our lives. We are planning a trip in the SouthWest this summer and I have researched the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. Just the kind of "planner" that I am!..................P

For me, I think it is the internet that changed everything. We don't really travel that much. I'm thinking back to trips we took before we had kids and we were largely relying on travel sections in newspapers and Fodor's-type guides and the recommendations of travel agents. You had to go to the book store to find the travel guides and you either read it in the store or bought it taking the risk that you would like it

Our first family trip anywhere was last year when we went to the U.K. for a couple of weeks. I knew it would be expensive, so I thought I had better make sure I knew what we would be doing while we were there and make sure that we would not feel that we missed anything after we got back. First stop was Amazon.com to pick some travel guides that focus on travel on travel to London and the U.K. with kids. I was surprised to find out that there were several and even reviews and what people thought of the books. I ordered some books are read them cover to cover and then got on the internet to find out more about the attractions that I was interested in visiting. I booked my flights on-line and our hotels on-line directly with the U.K. hotel chain. I even booked some train tickets for travel within the U.K. and was able to get a substantial advance booking discount by doing it from home before we left overseas. In short, the internet just opened up a whole world of opportunity and convenience for the planning process and, when you are spending so much money, its nice to have access to all this information to allow you to make informed decisions.

Obviously, the DISboards is probably the best example of the power of the internet in this context and how it can change how people approach planning for a trip.

 

[lucincia]

The only time I didn't plan for any vacation was actually this March 2005 day trip to Magic Kingdom. We were in town for a week-long convention and I guess after spending all year planning for the expo, I just didn't want to plan for the vacation part any more

We went to Downtown Disney for like 3 nights straight. Then some friends joined us and we went to Magic Kingdom for a day. Luckily we had no kids. We walked into the park with no plans whatsoever. This was during busy spring break season. Amazingly, we did all the major rides multiple times.

Then we went to get drunk at Key West for 4 days and 3 nights

But, come Nov/Dec when we are bringing our kids for the first time to Disney World, you bet that we will have some plans. Actually, I have made ressies and started plotting out general plans already.

My wife thinks I have fallen off the deep end.