Spontaneity at WDW Gone

[Angel Ariel]

But we have an OP who hasn't yet tried the new system believing all the spontaneity is gone. But that is only the case if one allows their itinerary to rule them.

IMO, we have an OP who seems to think the pre-planning is a bit much..

With all the deadline dates, FP plus scheduling, etc..it seems like the spontaneity of doing something at WDW is gone.

I agree with the OP in this sense. I felt the same way as the OP in the pre-planning phase. I am a planner, but planning down to the level of what ride and when was just overwhelming to me.

I will say that we were still able to have elements of spontaneity in our trip (ex. stopping at Storybook Circus for photos with Minnie and Daisy on the way to Space Mtn. FP+s because there were short lines) - so there is hope, OP! There was not *as much* spontaneity as in previous trips..FP+ availability was not as flexible for us as others have found it to be...but there were still moments, and those moments were still the best parts of the trip

 

[Angel Ariel]

For me personally it's nice to know what direction I'm going to next instead of wandering around aimlessly.

There is a huge middle ground between planning what you're going to do down to what ride in what hour long block and wandering around aimlessly. I miss that middle ground, personally.

No, I don't *have* to use FP+. But I also know the "consequences" (i.e. longer wait times) if I don't. So I adapt, and use it. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. We did not find it to be as flexible as its marketing claims proclaim.

 

[wisblue]

Here's a link to my trip report describing how we spent 4 very enjoyable days at WDW in early November with no advance FP reservations and no ADR's except for one we made one day ahead:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3359156

 

[RubySue]

Granted, this OP is going at a busy time and busy times will always have their own special needs to plan an enjoyable trip. But I am happy to share that our family was indeed spontaneous--and we were because we opted to not let an app rule our day. We used it as a tool and not as a commandment.

Well said!

We just did 2 relatively short prep trips to WDW. One in October and one we just returned from. We like FP+ and found it to be more flexible than old FP. We used FP+ as part of our over all plan, but never let it dictate our vacation fun.

 

[Laketravis]

Here's a link to my trip report describing how we spent 4 very enjoyable days at WDW in early November with no advance FP reservations and no ADR's except for one we made one day ahead:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3359156

Wis, I did enjoy reading your trip report.

I have to say, though: "On Thursday morning, we got to the bus stop before 7 AM" and "Saturday morning we arrived at DHS at about 7:30am"

Makes you sound like a real touring commando in my eyes! My idea of a vacation doesn't include getting up, showering, dressing, and waiting on DW to get her hair just right in time to be ANYWHERE before 7 am!

But I'm glad it worked out for you. Sounds like you enjoyed your trip and in the end that's all that really matters.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Also, just humor me, you plan out three attractions a day...is that really "too much planning" for some people?

 

[Laketravis]

Also, just humor me, you plan out three attractions a day...is that really "too much planning" for some people?

I don't even know what I'm going to have for dinner next Tuesday. 60 days in advance for something that last 90 seconds? "Some" people might consider that ridiculous, at best.

I kinda enjoy planning it but then some of my friends think I'm slightly neurotic for doing so.

 

[wisblue]

Wis, I did enjoy reading your trip report.

I have to say, though:

"On Thursday morning, we got to the bus stop before 7 AM" and "Saturday morning we arrived at DHS at about 7:30am"

Makes you sound like a real touring commando in my eyes! My idea of a vacation doesn't include getting up, showering, dressing, and waiting on DW to get her hair just right in time to be at the bus stop before 7 am!

But I'm glad it worked out for you. Sounds like you enjoyed your trip and in the end that's all that really matters.

After 30-plus years of getting up before 6 AM to get to work, and to make early tee times, we are up early anyway. Usually when the weather is nice I am out of the house before 7 to take a long walk. Getting up early to get to an uncrowded park is no hardship; we can get our rest and relaxation later when the parks are more crowded.

This early rising to get to Disney parks runs in the family. Several years ago we were scheduled for a flight at 7:30 AM on December 30. But, our flight was cancelled and we were rescheduled for one that left about 7 PM (we were able to go home and come back to the airport later. With the time change we didn't get to the resort until about midnight, and I was sure that our daughters (who then ranged in age from 16-21) would not want to get up for 7 AM EMH. But, when I asked, you would have thought I was asking if they wanted to skip Christmas and we were there when the park opened.

 

[famy27]

Also, just humor me, you plan out three attractions a day...is that really "too much planning" for some people?

I don't think anyone cares about having to pick three attractions. It's just that once you picked them, you are basically locked in. Sure, you can change the day prior, but you are probably going to be standing in long lines for the e-ticket rides.

So, you aren't just picking three rides. You are committing to 1) a park; 2) a timeframe (do you need to be at the park early to get through your first three and then hope to hop or get others at a different park later, or are you saving them for the afternoon); 3) probably some dining reservations

You are planning these things at 60-180 days out, when you have no idea what the weather will be like, how tired you'll be, how your kids will fall in love with one park or attraction and want to go back the next day.

If you cancel your AK FPs because the kids loved EP, you probably won't be able to get Soarin' for the next morning. "But Mom, we rode it yesterday!" "That's because two months ago, I thought that you'd really like riding Soarin' on Tuesday. How was I to know you might want to ride it on Wednesday as well? Look, we can still ride, the wait is only 120 minutes." I'll pass.

If the system really was flexible (like it was when we were there in Oct 2013), then I would have no issues booking three rides in advance. Or booking nothing in advance and just winging it. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked that way for us at all. You preplan and stick to your plan, or your choices are to miss rides or wait in long SB lines.

 

[Poohsmommi]

Assuming one already has dining reservations, and a lot of folks do, you already know what park you are going to on which days ... it's really not that much of a hassle to get a FP+ for your "must do" choices.

 

[Laketravis]

After 30-plus years of getting up before 6 AM to get to work, and to make early tee times, we are up early anyway. Usually when the weather is nice I am out of the house before 7 to take a long walk. Getting up early to get to an uncrowded park is no hardship; we can get our rest and relaxation later when the parks are more crowded.

This early rising to get to Disney parks runs in the family. Several years ago we were scheduled for a flight at 7:30 AM on December 30. But, our flight was cancelled and we were rescheduled for one that left about 7 PM (we were able to go home and come back to the airport later. With the time change we didn't get to the resort until about midnight, and I was sure that our daughters (who then ranged in age from 16-21) would not want to get up for 7 AM EMH. But, when I asked, you would have thought I was asking if they wanted to skip Christmas and we were there when the park opened.

I totally understand - I retired this past summer and up until that time I was up by 5:30am every morning for almost 25 years, often after sleepless nights because things about the business were running thru my mind. Now, after close to six months of being retired, I've come to really appreciate being able to sleep thru the night and wake up in the morning with enough rest and not because some dream about work jolted me out of sleep.

That was something I really came to appreciate this most recent visit to WDW - it was the first after I retired, kind of a weird feeling going on vacation and not dreading having to go back to work upon our return - but I can say that scheduled FP's for later in the day really allowed us to take advantage of the opportunity to NOT have to get up when the sun came up.

The only trade-off, of course, seemed to be that while we had those 3 FP's for things later in the day, everything else seemed to have substantially long waits. But we've already kicked that horse enough.

 

[Laketravis]

Assuming one already has dining reservations, and a lot of folks do, you already know what park you are going to on which days ... it's really not that much of a hassle to get a FP+ for your "must do" choices.

Not necessarily - many of our ADR's were at resorts. So upon the completion of our breakfast or dinner, we had several transportation options that would take us to any park.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Also, just humor me, you plan out three attractions a day...is that really "too much planning" for some people?

Before FP+, this was the extent of our pre-planning:

1. Look at TP/EasyWDW crowd levels and choose parks/day
2. Book ADRs at 180 days
3. Have a general idea of what attractions we *have* to do at some point during the trip.

For our trip in November 2014:
*For this trip, we had many late entry days due to the structure of the trip. Arrival day we entered around 12pm, the 2nd day we didn't go into a park til 7pm (spectator party tx) as DH was resting for the 1/2 marathon, the 3rd day we entered around 12pm as we'd been up til 4am for the 1/2 marathon. 4th day we made RD at MK. 5th day we go to AK not long after RD.

1 & 2 - same as above (did not get BOG, the only ADR we really wanted, at all for our trip, despite being up at 6am and having the +10 onsite perk).
3. In order to know what times I *could* look at to schedule FP+ for, I first had to figure out about what times we would enter the park each day. This meant also doing this:

3a. Figuring out how long it would take to get from MCO to Yacht Club, then YC to MK, on arrival day. We hadn't used ME since 2006, so had no idea.
3b. Figuring out what time we'd get back to the hotel from the 1/2 marathon and its spectator party.
3c. Figuring out how much sleep we'd want to get (minimum), then transport time to DHS so we could decide what time could schedule FP+ for as we planned to hop to AK in early evening to see AK after sundown.​

4. Once we had an idea what times we'd be in the park, then it was deciding what rides would make sense to FP+ at the time we'd be in the parks (usually headliners).
5. Making sure to schedule FP+ in a way that makes traveling sense in the parks - I actually didn't do this very well at all, and we back tracked a lot because of it. Especially in the days after the 1/2 marathon, when added walking for DH was not great.
We've *never* done touring plans before - we've always picked a land, toured it, then moved on to the neighboring land. I planned the FP+s for neighboring lands well, but not in good orders...i'd have the 1st FP+ be in the middle land, then 2 and 3 on either side...required back tracking. Just a different kind of thinking than we're used to. Now we know better, so next time we'll fix those mistakes.

It was way more pre-planning than we've ever done before. We rarely ever make RD, but we never planned out transportation time before. We'd usually arrive anywhere from 30min-1 hr after RD, and we had no issues whatsoever getting FPs. We had no reason to need to know transport times before. This, trip, though, it had to be considered. (Also had to be considered in part b/c a friend was with us, but staying at another resort, so we had to plan meeting up outside or right inside the parks). We had limited time in the parks and we wanted to maximize it as best we could.

It hadn't really occurred to me to plan FP+ in a way that didn't make us backtrack. That turned out to be a huge mistake for us. Because of the rain during the 1/2 marathon, DH got some blisters, and it made walking painful for him the days afterwards. WDW is a lot of walking to begin with...we did way more of it than we needed to this trip (or ever did before, even with having to go to rides twice under legacy FP, as we never strayed all that far from them while we waited).

We've learned from it, for sure. But it was more planning than just saying "hey, I want to ride Space, 7DMT and BTMRR on this day!" And that's without even going into having to read mesaboy's thread and josh's tutorials on EasyWDW to figure out the FP+ interface, and how it's almost better to first select times at the opposite end of the day you really want them for, so that you can then see all availability for the time period you're really trying to get the FP+ for. Very counterintuitive, IMO. The system shouldn't let you *book* overlapping FP+, but it should allow you to see everything when you're looking. If you choose 2 attractions at overlapping times, it should pop up with something like a "change ride A or change ride B in order to save your FP+ choices".

 

[Laketravis]

Before FP+, this was the extent of our pre-planning:

1. Look at TP/EasyWDW crowd levels and choose parks/day
2. Book ADRs at 180 days
3. Have a general idea of what attractions we *have* to do at some point during the trip.

For our trip in November 2014:
*For this trip, we had many late entry days due to the structure of the trip. Arrival day we entered around 12pm, the 2nd day we didn't go into a park til 7pm (spectator party tx) as DH was resting for the 1/2 marathon, the 3rd day we entered around 12pm as we'd been up til 4am for the 1/2 marathon. 4th day we made RD at MK. 5th day we go to AK not long after RD.

1 & 2 - same as above (did not get BOG, the only ADR we really wanted, at all for our trip, despite being up at 6am and having the +10 onsite perk).
3. In order to know what times I *could* look at to schedule FP+ for, I first had to figure out about what times we would enter the park each day. This meant also doing this:

3a. Figuring out how long it would take to get from MCO to Yacht Club, then YC to MK, on arrival day. We hadn't used ME since 2006, so had no idea.
3b. Figuring out what time we'd get back to the hotel from the 1/2 marathon and its spectator party.
3c. Figuring out how much sleep we'd want to get (minimum), then transport time to DHS so we could decide what time could schedule FP+ for as we planned to hop to AK in early evening to see AK after sundown.​

4. Once we had an idea what times we'd be in the park, then it was deciding what rides would make sense to FP+ at the time we'd be in the parks (usually headliners).
5. Making sure to schedule FP+ in a way that makes traveling sense in the parks - I actually didn't do this very well at all, and we back tracked a lot because of it. Especially in the days after the 1/2 marathon, when added walking for DH was not great.
We've *never* done touring plans before - we've always picked a land, toured it, then moved on to the neighboring land. I planned the FP+s for neighboring lands well, but not in good orders...i'd have the 1st FP+ be in the middle land, then 2 and 3 on either side...required back tracking. Just a different kind of thinking than we're used to. Now we know better, so next time we'll fix those mistakes.

It was way more pre-planning than we've ever done before. We rarely ever make RD, but we never planned out transportation time before. We'd usually arrive anywhere from 30min-1 hr after RD, and we had no issues whatsoever getting FPs. We had no reason to need to know transport times before. This, trip, though, it had to be considered. (Also had to be considered in part b/c a friend was with us, but staying at another resort, so we had to plan meeting up outside or right inside the parks). We had limited time in the parks and we wanted to maximize it as best we could.

It hadn't really occurred to me to plan FP+ in a way that didn't make us backtrack. That turned out to be a huge mistake for us. Because of the rain during the 1/2 marathon, DH got some blisters, and it made walking painful for him the days afterwards. WDW is a lot of walking to begin with...we did way more of it than we needed to this trip (or ever did before, even with having to go to rides twice under legacy FP, as we never strayed all that far from them while we waited).

We've learned from it, for sure. But it was more planning than just saying "hey, I want to ride Space, 7DMT and BTMRR on this day!"

Damn. But yeah.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Before FP+, this was the extent of our pre-planning:

1. Look at TP/EasyWDW crowd levels and choose parks/day
2. Book ADRs at 180 days
3. Have a general idea of what attractions we *have* to do at some point during the trip.

For our trip in November 2014:
*For this trip, we had many late entry days due to the structure of the trip. Arrival day we entered around 12pm, the 2nd day we didn't go into a park til 7pm (spectator party tx) as DH was resting for the 1/2 marathon, the 3rd day we entered around 12pm as we'd been up til 4am for the 1/2 marathon. 4th day we made RD at MK. 5th day we go to AK not long after RD.

1 & 2 - same as above (did not get BOG, the only ADR we really wanted, at all for our trip, despite being up at 6am and having the +10 onsite perk).
3. In order to know what times I *could* look at to schedule FP+ for, I first had to figure out about what times we would enter the park each day. This meant also doing this:

3a. Figuring out how long it would take to get from MCO to Yacht Club, then YC to MK, on arrival day. We hadn't used ME since 2006, so had no idea.
3b. Figuring out what time we'd get back to the hotel from the 1/2 marathon and its spectator party.
3c. Figuring out how much sleep we'd want to get (minimum), then transport time to DHS so we could decide what time could schedule FP+ for as we planned to hop to AK in early evening to see AK after sundown.​

4. Once we had an idea what times we'd be in the park, then it was deciding what rides would make sense to FP+ at the time we'd be in the parks (usually headliners).
5. Making sure to schedule FP+ in a way that makes traveling sense in the parks - I actually didn't do this very well at all, and we back tracked a lot because of it. Especially in the days after the 1/2 marathon, when added walking for DH was not great.
We've *never* done touring plans before - we've always picked a land, toured it, then moved on to the neighboring land. I planned the FP+s for neighboring lands well, but not in good orders...i'd have the 1st FP+ be in the middle land, then 2 and 3 on either side...required back tracking. Just a different kind of thinking than we're used to. Now we know better, so next time we'll fix those mistakes.

It was way more pre-planning than we've ever done before. We rarely ever make RD, but we never planned out transportation time before. We'd usually arrive anywhere from 30min-1 hr after RD, and we had no issues whatsoever getting FPs. We had no reason to need to know transport times before. This, trip, though, it had to be considered. (Also had to be considered in part b/c a friend was with us, but staying at another resort, so we had to plan meeting up outside or right inside the parks). We had limited time in the parks and we wanted to maximize it as best we could.

It hadn't really occurred to me to plan FP+ in a way that didn't make us backtrack. That turned out to be a huge mistake for us. Because of the rain during the 1/2 marathon, DH got some blisters, and it made walking painful for him the days afterwards. WDW is a lot of walking to begin with...we did way more of it than we needed to this trip (or ever did before, even with having to go to rides twice under legacy FP, as we never strayed all that far from them while we waited).

We've learned from it, for sure. But it was more planning than just saying "hey, I want to ride Space, 7DMT and BTMRR on this day!" And that's without even going into having to read mesaboy's thread and josh's tutorials on EasyWDW to figure out the FP+ interface, and how it's almost better to first select times at the opposite end of the day you really want them for, so that you can then see all availability for the time period you're really trying to get the FP+ for. Very counterintuitive, IMO. The system shouldn't let you *book* overlapping FP+, but it should allow you to see everything when you're looking. If you choose 2 attractions at overlapping times, it should pop up with something like a "change ride A or change ride B in order to save your FP+ choices".

I appreciate your very well thought out post, it gives some insight. For me since I never even knew about fast passes when I went to WDW this system is all I know...and I love it, but I appreciate your great post. Thank you.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Oh, and before it's said, I know that FP+ is good for late entry days themselves. Yeah, it was nice knowing we had a TSMM FP+ the day after the 1/2 marathon. The SB line was so long, we never would have waited for it. My comments above are not about whether or not FP+ is good or bad, or whether or not we could have gotten on the same rides using legacy.

My comments are *solely* about the level of pre-planning before and after FP+ as we experienced it.

 

[Shaden]

.

This program was villainized from the start .

Villainized - There were people who were worried about the role out of this for certain but the vast majority of people were here telling us how those who didn't like the sound of it were completely wrong on their predictions.

Disney would NEVER do things like

Get rid of the old FP system, the new system would be in addition to it.
They wouldn't limit your FPs
They wouldn't Tier attractions
They wouldn't Tier who got to book when
They wouldn't try things like forcing you to use FP for rides
and on and on and on ...

Villainized ... that was a good one.


Your entire premise is so ridiculously flawed, that people "complain" more than talk about their positive experiences. This is true of open unsolicited reports on like customer feedback sites for instance, this is very well known, but this is a FAN page, with some of the most loyal and defensive people about Disney and WDW. Disney could burn the castle down and people would still be here talking about a) how Disney is going to build a better one, b) how amazing the fire was, and Walt would have wanted to try and warm up Florida a little so he would approve. c) how amazing the new theme at MK is, Magic ruins !!!

 

[Laketravis]

Villainized - There were people who were worried about the role out of this for certain but the vast majority of people were here telling us how those who didn't like the sound of it were completely wrong on their predictions.

Disney would NEVER do things like

Get rid of the old FP system, the new system would be in addition to it.
They wouldn't limit your FPs
They wouldn't Tier attractions
They wouldn't Tier who got to book when
They wouldn't try things like forcing you to use FP for rides
and on and on and on ...

Villainized ... that was a good one.


Your entire premise is so ridiculously flawed, that people "complain" more than talk about their positive experiences. This is true of open unsolicited reports on like customer feedback sites for instance, this is very well know, but this is a FAN page, with some of the most loyal and defensive people about Disney and WDW. Disney could burn the castle down and people would still be here talking about a) how Disney is going to build a better one, b) how amazing the fire was, and Walt would have wanted to try and warm up Florida a little so he would approve. c) how amazing the new theme at MK is, Magic ruins !!!

LOL! But yeah.... even I have noticed that over the past four years the debate has progressed from how best to order a Dole Whip to FP, with FP having dominated the forum for a long time now.

Whether right or wrong, one has to admit it's a hot topic with compelling views from either side. But for something to remain the topic of heated debate for so long should indicate the seriousness of the matter.

I too remember the days of the DIS boards being about everything pixie and magical. How dare anyone even mention that the wizard behind the machine was only 5 feet tall? But now, guests are returning and choosing to post in these forums about their experience specifically with FP. Some good, some bad. But all about FP.

Which, you have to admit if you know anything about these forums, is distinctly unusual to occur for several years now.

 

[elaine amj]

Before FP+, this was the extent of our pre-planning:

1. Look at TP/EasyWDW crowd levels and choose parks/day
2. Book ADRs at 180 days
3. Have a general idea of what attractions we *have* to do at some point during the trip.

For our trip in November 2014:
*For this trip, we had many late entry days due to the structure of the trip. Arrival day we entered around 12pm, the 2nd day we didn't go into a park til 7pm (spectator party tx) as DH was resting for the 1/2 marathon, the 3rd day we entered around 12pm as we'd been up til 4am for the 1/2 marathon. 4th day we made RD at MK. 5th day we go to AK not long after RD.

1 & 2 - same as above (did not get BOG, the only ADR we really wanted, at all for our trip, despite being up at 6am and having the +10 onsite perk).
3. In order to know what times I *could* look at to schedule FP+ for, I first had to figure out about what times we would enter the park each day. This meant also doing this:

3a. Figuring out how long it would take to get from MCO to Yacht Club, then YC to MK, on arrival day. We hadn't used ME since 2006, so had no idea.
3b. Figuring out what time we'd get back to the hotel from the 1/2 marathon and its spectator party.
3c. Figuring out how much sleep we'd want to get (minimum), then transport time to DHS so we could decide what time could schedule FP+ for as we planned to hop to AK in early evening to see AK after sundown.​

4. Once we had an idea what times we'd be in the park, then it was deciding what rides would make sense to FP+ at the time we'd be in the parks (usually headliners).
5. Making sure to schedule FP+ in a way that makes traveling sense in the parks - I actually didn't do this very well at all, and we back tracked a lot because of it. Especially in the days after the 1/2 marathon, when added walking for DH was not great.
We've *never* done touring plans before - we've always picked a land, toured it, then moved on to the neighboring land. I planned the FP+s for neighboring lands well, but not in good orders...i'd have the 1st FP+ be in the middle land, then 2 and 3 on either side...required back tracking. Just a different kind of thinking than we're used to. Now we know better, so next time we'll fix those mistakes.

It was way more pre-planning than we've ever done before. We rarely ever make RD, but we never planned out transportation time before. We'd usually arrive anywhere from 30min-1 hr after RD, and we had no issues whatsoever getting FPs. We had no reason to need to know transport times before. This, trip, though, it had to be considered. (Also had to be considered in part b/c a friend was with us, but staying at another resort, so we had to plan meeting up outside or right inside the parks). We had limited time in the parks and we wanted to maximize it as best we could.

It hadn't really occurred to me to plan FP+ in a way that didn't make us backtrack. That turned out to be a huge mistake for us. Because of the rain during the 1/2 marathon, DH got some blisters, and it made walking painful for him the days afterwards. WDW is a lot of walking to begin with...we did way more of it than we needed to this trip (or ever did before, even with having to go to rides twice under legacy FP, as we never strayed all that far from them while we waited).

We've learned from it, for sure. But it was more planning than just saying "hey, I want to ride Space, 7DMT and BTMRR on this day!" And that's without even going into having to read mesaboy's thread and josh's tutorials on EasyWDW to figure out the FP+ interface, and how it's almost better to first select times at the opposite end of the day you really want them for, so that you can then see all availability for the time period you're really trying to get the FP+ for. Very counterintuitive, IMO. The system shouldn't let you *book* overlapping FP+, but it should allow you to see everything when you're looking. If you choose 2 attractions at overlapping times, it should pop up with something like a "change ride A or change ride B in order to save your FP+ choices".

so very very very true.

 

[emldrl]

Ok, I'm gonna stick my oar in, as someone fairly new to these boards, and as one of those dreaded 'newbie, once in a lifetime, only goes once every ten years or so' people.

1. If you look thru these boards, any thread started by someone with something positive to say, the thread doesn't get very long. Now go thru and check out all the not so good report threads, and see how long they are. Big difference. And, it usually turns into the same discussion, with slight variations (and yes, I read a LOT of them).

2. Just because I'm not blessed to be able to go every year, doesn't mean I will go blindly into a vacation like this, and have no clue what it'll be like. As soon as you start looking at the WDW website, which is where I started, you start to figure out how much you'll have to plan. So, yeah, even us rookies who 'don't know any better' (my favorite patronizing comment so far on these boards), figure things out pretty quick.

3. We are a family that likes to just wing it, and that IS still possible at WDW. You might not get into the top restaurants, or be able to walk onto rides, but it CAN be done. I personally don't get taking a vacation to a theme park and being in such an uproar over waiting in line. Kinda comes with the territory. If the line's too long, skip it. Come back later. I've been going to theme/amusement parks my whole life, and waiting in lines is just part of this type of vacation.

4. Now, here is where Disney's evil genius comes into play. Because we do want to eat at a few popular places, and we do want FP+ (we used the old system), we have worked out our own way to be flexible; spend a LOT more on our trip! We extended to seven nights, because we have to take breaks, but still want to see and do a lot in the parks. We are getting hoppers, so that we aren't completely locked into one park per day so far in advance, and it will also make the planning a lot easier. We will make ADRs for a few places, where before we would just take our chances, and maybe not get in and spend all that money.

So yeah, the good ole days are gone, but it's not the end of the world. You might have a different experience, but it's still doable. And if all else fails, there's always DLR! (which I'd love to go back to someday)