Sure signs of not planning

[StephyDee]

There was an anecdote from someone here at DIS a while ago that basically went;

"I just got back from Disney World last night. I don't know why everyone raves about it. We were there for four days and there were only a few shops, restaurants and a big arcade".

Turns out they got on the bus for DTD every morning.

That's tragic, really. They spent all that money and time, only to go to the footnote of WDW. (and by 'footnote' I mean something to complement the Parks, I don't mean something insignificant )

I guess they just considered Cinderella's Castle to be symbolic and not actually real.

As far as what WE do when we go to WDW, I plan, yes. I don't go crazy and plan when we ride rides and exactly when we take breaks. If there are ADRs, I plan them, and I check which park has EMHs to get the most of our day. Once we get to the park, yes, I tend to wanna hit certain rides (and try for FPs if we can get them), but we go at a leisurely pace, and hit the park like we're window shopping through a mall. If something interests us, and isn't a pain to wait/go through, we'll do it. Simple as that.

 

[beer dave]

I would have high fived that cm

The thing was, they were not kidding about november.

 

[joyfulDisneytears]

I bought a Birnbaum guide book

Aw...I still use these. Though not really for any new info. It's a nostalgic thing for me, my parents used one in 1995 to plan our first (and only) family WDW trip, and I still have it.

 

[Nina1]

refusing to use fastpasses - surely they're way too expensive?! Stupid rich people, always using them to skip the lines....

lmao!!! Lmao!!!

 

[bella2117]

Last week I was checking in at BOG for our ADR, and many people were in line asking how long the wait was. The CM was telling them november.

This made me laugh out loud I woke up my husband

 

[msmileyface]

There was an anecdote from someone here at DIS a while ago that basically went;

"I just got back from Disney World last night. I don't know why everyone raves about it. We were there for four days and there were only a few shops, restaurants and a big arcade".

Turns out they got on the bus for DTD every morning.

Wow... I don't know if I can live in a universe where this happened. Lol.

I left "the seas" two years ago without realizing there was more to see upstairs. I missed the majority of the tanks I think. I felt like I was such a dummy. I can't imagine missing the entire park world...

 

[pmcneff]

Go to disney in July without gold bond! Only once!

 

[agavegirl1]

I left "the seas" two years ago without realizing there was more to see upstairs. I missed the majority of the tanks I think. I felt like I was such a dummy. I can't imagine missing the entire park world...[/QUOTE]

There's an upstairs? Actually only half kidding, it took a little while for me to figure out but I did. Whew! Totally forgot about it in the plan but vaguely remembered reading about it while we were there.

 

[CaptainKat]

Aw...I still use these. Though not really for any new info. It's a nostalgic thing for me, my parents used one in 1995 to plan our first (and only) family WDW trip, and I still have it.

I still have our 1995 Birnbaum's too! It's the earliest one I can remember having (I was only 4 at the time, but we didn't have another trip for a few years, so I used to look at it all the time). My mother bought a new one every time we went, until our 2011 trip when I had found the DISboards and was a walking fountain of Disney planning, and she kept going "that's not in the book; where'd you read that?!?" Now most of our planning falls to me, not that my parents mind not having to worry about it lol.

Only story I remember specifically about not researching was from our Christmas trip this past winter. While waiting for Illuminations in the special CPP viewing area, I overheard one man tell his traveling companion "It's only World Showcase that's open late during Extra Magic Hours." an understandable mistake, but I did have to giggle a bit.

 

[tlpbupu]

I've got one that I still can't believe happened (and yes it was to me )

I was on a trip with the high school band and was at the MK for the first time. We were told to take the boat back to the parking lot and that the last boat left at midnight. My group of friends (silly, silly teenagers) wanted to make sure that we weren't late. At about 11:30 we saw a boat and asked if this was the boat that left at midnight. We were told yes so we got on it and waited. As it got closer to midnight and no one else was getting on the boat we started to panic. At about 11:50 - 11:55 we asked the CM on the boat " are we in the right place? This is the ferry to the parking lot right?" He just looked at us and shook his head and pointed which way we needed to go. We were on the Liberty Square Riverboat! You've never seen 4 teenagers run so fast! FYI (just to make us look a little less stupid ) we were brought in by bus to the backstage area since were were marching in the MSEP and had never seen the front of the park.

 

[ChickyRootie]

On the ME on the way to our resort I was geeking out with my family about all of the ADR we made and what parks on which days etc. and the subject of rides closed for refurb during our trip came up...my youngest DD wanted to do IASW first and I told her it was closed during our trip (checked the refurb schedule ahead of time of course ) and a little girl behind me says to her mother 'OH NO mom that lady said IASW is closed!!' and in a very nasty tone her mother LOUDLY said 'Well 'that lady' doesn't know what she is talking about of course it's not closed!'....Bet she looked like this when she sauntered over to take her little darling on the ride that day...because it most certainly was closed

 

[DavidHobart]

In fact, I'm STILL not sure I know the best ways to avoid crowds (but then again, we're going in late October/early November and mostly on weekdays, so I *hope* we won't have to deal with too many crowds, but then again, I could be wrong and end up being one of those people who gets made fun of on this board.

Makayna--you can run into wild crowds even then, particularly at the Magic Kingdom. See this: http://**************.net/2012/04/30/crowds-and-walt-disney-world/

And for what it's worth, I was inspired to write my site for Disney World first-timers who may never return when a co-worker told me that his wife insisted--because his kids were 6 and 7--that they could only see Toontown Fair...that nothing else would be age-appropriate!

 

[monorailsilver]

I laugh at those who laugh at us who do not plan.

Wake up and decide which park to attend....every time I go and you know what....never feel like I miss anything or overwhelmed.

ADR....maybe one or two, but have never had a problem playing it by ear and finding someplace to eat. I would rather play it by ear then to have a meal time dictate my daily schedule.

Feeling bad for those kids who parents who don't plan....don't...I still feel it is a better option then those who over plan and drag their small children from place to place....make them sleep in their strollers in the parks (in the 95+ degree heat), because you don't want to leave and miss something.

This is pretty much us. But I do plan my am park by what is open early that day and we go there. After that its a free for all. We go wherever.

I do up to 3 ADRs and that is pushing it. I have 2 for my August trip and one is on arrival day, aka no park. And one is on another day that we won't be doing a park.

We are relaxed, take our mid day breaks, take our no park day breaks and if we don't see something there is always next time.

I think I saw the American adventure show for the first time in the late 1990s with my Dh/then boyfriend, the same with the Canadian movie. I can tell you I had been to Epcot handfuls of times and never went just because "next time".

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I have run into those who literally had no clue what they were doing at WDW and you know what, part of my fun has been helping them. On my solo trip I helped a family that was hopelessly lost in AK find their way to Kilimanjaro Safaris, on the walk I explained Fast Pass to them. They were so grateful and asked if I was an off-duty CM. On that same trip I heard a woman tell her family she was pretty sure if they stayed on the Epcot monorail it would take them to the MK. I spoke up and she and her family joined me for the lovely boat ride to the MK as the MK monorail was down. She was also grateful, and said "this place can be overwhelming."

While I'm not an over planner, I make sure I have ADRs at my must eat restaurants, I know which parks are likely to be the most crowded, and from there I just kind of go along doing my own thing. Of course, I've been many times so I know enough to get by at all times.

I think a lot of these comments are both funny and sad. Sad because I feel like the posters are hearing these comments and just going about their merry way. I love this comment because part of my love of Walt Disney world is being able to share it with others and helping them have great trips too. I enjoy helping those poor confused travelers rather than just snicker at them behind their backs.

Sent from my phone using DISBoards Ap, please excuse any typos and autocorrect mistakes.

 

[fallen_angel727]

Not spending 2 days at Epcot even though it's a favourite of ours... guilty as charged I should have known better...

 

[jerivera]

I left "the seas" two years ago without realizing there was more to see upstairs. I missed the majority of the tanks I think. I felt like I was such a dummy. I can't imagine missing the entire park world...

Side note... the design of "the seas" is a failure in my book. Very confusing.

When I was a kid I'd actually get somewhat claustrophobic in there because I couldn't find the exit.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

Does the security guard that looks like John Candy still work here?

Which way do we go to get to Screaming Mimi?

Where is Marty Moose?

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I don't understand not planning a thing although I did it before. I look back and can't imagine what I was thinking. I barely even knew Disney at all. Really not at all. I didn't research a thing. XH had been many times so I let him lead the way. It wasn't a disaster but when he went as a kid they arrived to the parks late, ate packed lunch in the car, etc. I look back and the whole trip was a waste especially since XH had huge military discounts and we could have practically stayed onsite for very cheap and 5 day hoppers were $100 per person I think?

I've went on trips where I've planned every single thing out. Park days, touring plans, ADR's, etc.

Now our best trip ever was making 3-4 ADR's, picking a few park days due to AM EMH, leaving the other days to pick where we want to go, leaving most of our evenings wide open so we can decide where to go after our midday break without being strapped to dinner ADR's and just enjoying ourselves.

Of course we have FP knowledge, transportation knowledge, park knowledge, touring knowledge so we aren't going in without knowing anything.

But for US less planning is more fun! It leaves some spontaneous moments to be had.

 

[BurleyGirl]

A lot of folks are mentioning no ADRs. I had a co-worker several years who said he had been to WDW many times. He was telling me about his upcoming trip for Spring Break in (at the time) a few weeks. He was really excited because he had purchased the DxDP. He was savvy enough to call it by the correct name. But when I asked him where he had reservations, he said he wasn't making any. I thought to myself, "Those are going to be the most expensive chicken tenders he will ever eat!"

This one got me!

 

[teamkelly]

I like planning, especially when it's for something FUN!
We do ADR at the 180-day out mark, and we have a pretty strategic plan for the morning, plan to take the 'mid day rest' (this will be our first time with the kids 2 & 4) and then enjoy the afternoon/evening depending on what we didn't finish in the morning.

To the poster about the scheduled restroom breaks...we don't have a "time" but when we pass one, everyone tries. End of story. There is nothing worse than dashing across a crowd with a child in tow that needs to go NOW.