Tell me about your positive experiences

[mastermind307]

I have a trip coming up at the end of May. I've read so many negative things that I'm getting worried and stressed out about our trip.
I booked our trip as soon ad DD gets out of school in hopes to avoid the higher summer crowds. I keep reading how crowded it is now, and I'm sure it will only get worse.
Then Disney expanded the FP+ booking window to 60 days for good neighbor hotels. That will make it harder to get a FP for certain rides, like FOP. And now club level people can opt to pay and be able to make some FP+ selections at 90 days. That will make it even hard to get some FPs.
I've been having nightmares about this trip. So please tell me some positive experiences people have had to ease my mind and reassure me that we'll have a great time no matter what.

 

[Klayfish]

Don't have nightmares about the trip, be excited!!! I'm one who doesn't buy into the hype over crowd concerns, FP+ availability concerns, etc...

First, WDW is crowded. Always is, always will be. It's the most popular tourist destination in the country. You have to expect crowds. They'll ebb and flow, but they're omnipresent. But that's not mean to scare you, it's really and truly not a big deal. Just have the right mindset, and it's fine. It As long as you understand you won't be walking around the parks alone, you'll be fine.

FP+ selection is no big deal. Really, it's not. We are very much the opposite of a majority of people who use this board. We stay offsite, so we have a 30 day window only. In fact, since we're also AP holders, we're limited to only having 7 days worth of FP+ at a time. So when we book a 10 day trip, we can't make FP+ for days 8-10 until 7 days out. Add that fact to the fact that again, unlike many on this board, we are very much "wing it" people. We could never, ever walk around with a morning to night plan set on a spreadsheet. It would utterly ruin our trip. We like doing what we want, when we want, no plans. So that means we make and change FP+ on the fly a TON. Even during the busiest week of the entire year (Christmas to New Years), it didn't ruin us having a good time. We still got plenty of FP+. It wasn't as easy as it the rest of the year, but we did it...refreshing MDE is your friend. For you, in May, FP+ will be a breeze, even same day. You'll have no problem getting what you want, and getting a 4th, 5th, 6th, 10th FP+. Really.

So sure, it'll be somewhat crowded. But it's not like you'll be packed in like a sardine and trapped. It's just hustle/bustle. The only truly packed-like-sardines moments are in the hub during fireworks. Even then, outside of Christmas, you can still get around...it just takes a bit of patience. Everywhere else, no big deal.

Enjoy!!!!

 

[anniemae]

It will be fine. Just plan for big crowds and be happy with anything less. I think it will be very crowded this summer and fall due to the toy story land opening. There is simply nothing you can do about it. Attitude is everything. Go, have fun, make memories. Don't stress about the small stuff. You are going to Disney.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I was really nervous that everything wouldn't be perfect for our first family trip back in June. My kids are 10 year old twins with very different interests and they fight all of the time, my husband is a notorious grump who is hard to impress, we took BOTH OF OUR MOTHERS... I didn't get all of FP's I wanted, we only had one ADR, we stayed offsite...

I won't lie... The first two days of our trip sucked for me. No one was going by MY PLANS, it was rainy, my husband kept calling me the "fun sucker" etc.

Once I altered my astronomical expectations(I mean, I had been dreaming of this trip since I found out I would be a mother!) our trip went MUCH BETTER. Was it perfect? No. Was it as magical as I'd always imagined it would be? Again no.

Was it the best family vacation we've ever had? Absolutely.

So go into it with realistic expectations and you will be fine.

Have a blast!

 

[teachmedis]

We've been over spring break--Easter week. I never waited in line more than 20 minutes for anything. You can either plan it all out and go by a tight schedule or be loose and go with the flow. Whatever your style, missing a Fastpass or two is not going to make or break your trip.

 

[akfan513]

Here is a personal story that gave me great perspective:

My house is full of Disney World vacation fans. We started this game we call "And the winner is....". We each present a question about DW and then we give a big drum roll and each family member gives their choice for the winner. (Like...What is your favorite character to meet?). My 7 year old presented a challenging question, "What is your overall favorite thing at Disney?". I couldn't choose. I kept running through my favorite rides, restaurants, characters, shows, and pools in my head and I told my daughter I was stumped. I did the drum roll for her because she had come up with an answer. I built up the excitement and said, "And the winner is...." My daughter exclaimed, "Spending time with my family!".

I was ashamed of myself! How had I not thought of that? I was so focused on the stuff at Disney instead of the most important thing, the magic of the time with my family.

It was perfect timing as I booked my fastpasses the next morning. Instead of worrying about all of the unknowns and uncertainty with my trip, I happily booked my FP and kept my daughter's voice in my head. Instead of grimacing that the FOP times I wanted at AK weren't available, I thought, "And the winner is....spending time with my family!"

Disney is magical. While I love scouring blogs and boards for tips and tricks, in the end, no matter the FP’s we get, the time together in a place that sweeps you away to a magical place is always worth it.

(Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to scour the boards and blogs for updated info on the unknowns, I'm just going to do it with my daughter's perspective!)

 

[Little E]

I am a worrier and a planner. My DH and I have two boys, one of which has special needs that makes traveling more...interesting. We took our first trip (a quick one, just two days in the parks...MK and EP only) back in 2011. Since then we have gone to WDW every year. It's that....well...magical. I know it sounds super cliche and cheesy, but it's true.

We have encountered some sort of pixie dust on every single one of our trips; when we reminisce, we recall the pixie dust that went with each trip. We have found CMs to be amazing, the weather to be great (we're from the midwest, so we're not hard to please), and we just simply do not tire of the attractions. Even rain in Disney can be fun...just throw on ponchos and enjoy the lower crowds!

Most of our trips have been short (think 3-4 days in the parks) but we love Disney so much, we find we have been adding days to our trips every year. Our first trips only included the quick service meal plan, because our boys were too wiggly to sit for meals and they wanted to get to the rides. However, as our boys have grown, our last couple of trips have included the regular meal plan and we've started really enjoying the TS meals, and now when we reminisce, our boys recall the great meals and servers we've had. WDW is truly a place that can grow with your family. The things my boys loved doing as a 6 and 9 year old are still things they like doing as teenagers, and yet they enjoy doing new and different things too. There aren't many other vacation spots that I can think of that grow with your family like WDW.

WDW is truly a place, especially when you stay onsite, where you can leave everything behind and just be present with your family. My DH had never gone as a kid, and so his first experience was when we took our boys for the first time. DH is as stressed by crowds on trips as our youngest, and yet, somehow we can't imagine not doing Disney. There is something really intangible and magical there. The sights, the smells, and the genuine heart and vision Disney had combine to make trips there amazing.

I understand your worries, as I am someone who worries and tries to anticipate everything so that I'm ready for anything. However, I really forced myself with our last trip in June of 2017, to just be present. To enjoy the little moments, and to just go with the flow more. As a hard core planner, we of course had FPs and meal reservations that I worked on with our TA. We watched every POV everything we could to plan for the new Pandora area that had just opened up before we went last year, and I started packing weeks in advance. However, I worked hard to let my family take the lead once we got there. With a solid touring plan (up early to hit the parks, go back to room in afternoon to swim, return to parks later in the evening) you can really do pretty much everything you want, even with crowds. When we got hot and tired, we bailed out and let ourselves rest, we visited other resorts more than we ever have and really enjoyed checking new places out, and we used transport boats more than ever this trip. Some days, we didn't get up as early as I had planned, and we even skipped a FP or two. And you know what? This was our BEST trip yet!

So, really my only advice to you is to simply be excited about your trip. You're going to WDW! It's such an amazing place! Savor every minute of your trip with loved ones. Have a general plan for the parks each day, but be flexible enough to read your group and make changes when necessary.

I know you'll have a magical trip!!!

 

[belledreamer]

Trust me, this is not worth losing sleep or having nightmares over. Coming on disboards, (or any travel forum for that matter) you are ALWAYS going to have people who will never be satisfied or who will claim their ENTIRE trip was ruined because they didn't get the FP+ or dinner reservation at the time they wanted or because things didn't go exactly the way they wanted them to. And they want to tell everyone about it...

FP+ selections, as a previous poster said, are very easy as long as you keep your mind open about times. Yes, it is a little harder to get it for things like FoP but I'd recommend getting up to make your selections as soon as your window opens (7:00 am.EST) and then whatever time you get, plan your day around it. I also find if you make them on your computer instead of a tablet that you can get through the process a little faster.

I'm also assuming by your countdown that it's just you and your DD on this trip which makes doing things in the park super easy. Getting two people around the parks and eating is much easier than say for a group of 10.

The best piece of advice I've given my friends who were heading to Disney was don't plan out every single moment of your day. I had a relative who did this once and I was frustrated for most of the trip... (There were literally multiple color coded spreadsheets involved) Make FP+ and ADR's sure, but allow yourself the opportunity to do something spontaneous. Walking past a ride with a short wait time? Go ahead and hop on! See Peter Pan coming to do a meet and greet? Hop in the line! Some of the best Disney magic happens when you're least expecting it.

Have a great trip!

 

[mco65]

We have been during mid May and late May a few times.. that's a good time to go crowd wise... I have never had an issue getting a FP for a ride i wanted plus never had an issue riding standby on a ride i wanted (Rope drop fixes all this!). Of course, we have yet to go since the new rides at AK opened up... so my tune might change...

Still, our last 2 trips to WDW were around New Years and the busiest I had ever seen it, yet we had a blast.. the crowds certainly did not spoil our trips!

I do think the key to a great vacation at WDW is planning.. we plan to an extent, at least my wife does... She plans what parks we go to each day and that can be based on ADRs or EMH... If your worried about getting on rides, get to the park 30 min before they open.. ie. ROPE DROP! My kids already know which rides to head to once the rope drops... WE always rope drop 7DMT, Soarin, Yeti, TSMM... if you rope drop for EMH, you can double or triple that up.. get all the majors in before 9 or 10.. grab a late breakfast or early lunch.. then catch the less popular rides, use your FPs or head back to the resort for a splash in the pool.

Bottom line, is there is no reason to be stressed, if you do just a little bit of planning, you are guaranteed to have a great vacation..

 

[sdomino11]

I think you could greatly benefit from a Touring Plans membership. (Less than $15.) They use a lot of fancy-schmancy math and take into account many details of the specific days you travel. You can pick your date, pick your park, put in the attractions you hope to hit. Then press a button, and voila! You’ll see just how much you can fit into your day. It’ll give you a break down of how long you’ll spend walking to a ride, waiting in line, then riding it. Even if you don’t want to follow the plan they lay out (or drag the steps around into an order you like) you’ll at least be able to see about how much Touring Plans thinks you’ll get done in each day. They are eerily accurate! (I’ve used them for about 45 days in the parks.) I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised how much you’ll fit into each day and then maybe some of your stress will ease. (If you do use Touring Plans, a tip: I always set my walking speed to the slowest speed to give us a nice cushion for snacks, restroom breaks and just stopping to smell the roses in between each step. That’ll make sense when you look at the planning process on TPs website.)

 

[slpeters]

We went for the first time in November and were sort of surprised to read when we got back that people thought it was crowded when we were there. People like to complain. There are going to be lots of people there. It doesn't have to be a problem. I'm a planner and I honestly planned this trip within an inch of its life. The planning was how I enjoyed the build up to the trip. If you're a planner do it that way. If you're not do it that way. But don't get obsessed with a particular setup. We adjusted our plans on the fly quite a bit while we were there and our experience is that a pretty developed plan, approached in the right way, makes it easier to adjust as you go because you're making real choices as you go rather than sort of looking at a list of consequences after the fact (i.e. yes we can do A now but it means we may not get to do B). As far as worrying about the FP window, I just wouldn't. There are only a few rides that it is a problem for and frankly well within even the 30 day window we picked up a second FOP FP and moved one of our SDMT FP.

Frankly for us the crowds and how we worked around it with the planning (I second the Touring Plans recommendation) was part of the fun. We did EMH each day, rope dropped and took afternoon breaks and it was amazing how effectively we could stay ahead of the crowds. Every time we passed a ride that we had already done my husband would comment on the wait time ("wait a sec, people are waiting how long for that? didn't we pretty much walk on to it?"). One of my favorite moments was one night we went to Columbia Harbor House for dinner and as we approached there was this huge line out the restaurant and practically back to Fantasyland. My husband turned to me and said "this is where we're eating?" When we walked right past the line and walked up to the counter to pick up our mobile ordered dinner he turned to me and with awe in his eyes said "we have a fastpass for dinner?!" And frankly on our busiest day in the parks the fact that it was so rammy-jammy in front of the castle made it all the more satisfying when after the HEA dessert party we literally came out and laid down in the grass to wait for the fireworks.

Be excited and have a magical time!

 

[GPC0321]

The past two times I've been have been during heavy crowds (Easter break 2016, late pre-Christmas 2017). Both trips were so much fun that I'm returning this June for a quick 3-nighter and already have a 2019 trip in the works too.

My tip is to enjoy being in the moment at Disney. I really think more than touring plans or crowd calendars or FastPasses or ADRs, the single secret to enjoying a Disney vacation is attitude. I've seen people on these boards say things like, "getting X rides out of the way during X time". To me that's a strange attitude to have about rides.

What I think winds up happening is people spend their entire time at Disney trying to "get their money's worth" by going, going, going. And they end up rushing here and there, standing in lines for things they are trying to "get out of the way", eating at expensive restaurants when they aren't even all that hungry, and basically trying way too hard to make everyone have fun instead of letting everyone have fun.

Go into the trip with the expectation that you will NOT be able to do and see everything and that is okay. It's okay to browse shops, make an unscheduled stop for a snack, pause and enjoy some streetmosphere or a parade, make a last minute decision to do some "anytime" attractions that never have very long waits. Odds are, these will be some of the best times ou have on the trip. The popular rides are fun, but there is so much more to Disney World than a dozen or so headliner rides and some overpriced dining experiences.

The thing that Disney does well is it offers such a variety of diversions that even if Plan A doesn't pan out, there is still tons of fun to be had.

 

[loves to dive]

As you can see crowds aren't really the issue, it's all about expectations and attitude. If you go thinking your trip is going to be ruined if you don't ride that "must do" ride or eat at that "must do" restaurant you are setting yourself up for disappointment. We don't even plan, I'll admit we are fortunate to go often and have been going for a long time but even the first time we went, which we thought was going to be the only time we were going to get to go, we planned nothing. Again, full disclosure, there was no planning to do back then, there were only two parks, the only onsite resorts were the MK ones and FPs wasn't even thought of and you couldn't book an ADR any further out than a week. You wanted to ride a ride, guess what, you stood in line sometimes for way more than a hour. You wanted to meet a character, back then they walked around the park and you stood in line. You wanted to eat somewhere, you got on the phone or went to GS and asked if something was available or you walked up and waited. I think the trouble is you read about all these people who make these plans so far in advance and are convinced you have to. You don't, it's a great place, why else would we go there two and three times a year when literally we can, and have, been to just about anywhere else in the world we want to go? Is it perfect? No, a thousand times no. Is it as good as the good ole days? Is anything? Do they have bad CMs? Of course, people are people and are going to have good and bad days. Take it all with a grain of salt, set you mind at ease and decide to throw it all to the fates and have a good time.

 

[bjs1228]

We are going in March for our 7th trip. I didn't even go to WDW until I was 40! We have been in March, May and August. We've never had a bad trip no matter the temperature or crowds. Don't worry because being at Disney is quite simply the best thing no matter what! Enjoy

 

[friedela]

So I've never been yet, but perhaps try seeing it through the eyes of your daughter? Is it going to ruin her trip if she can't get on a certain ride, or if the park is crowded? Probably not. Those are your concerns because I understand you want it to be the best trip it can be! But I just don't think it's possible to see everything and do everything anyways. Lowering your expectations might be the first step in getting excited. We are staying off site so I already know we probably aren't going to get fast passes for certain rides. Oh well. I don't plan on this being our only trip. One day we will go back So it's all good. For the crowd concern I have read possibly every blog out there and everyone's number one tip is GET THERE EARLY. Gates open at 7:30, 7:45 AM. Be there for then so you can enjoy the lower crowds, get some coffee, explore the park and give yourself a chance to enjoy it without the masses. I know that things don't start opening until 9 but at least it will give you a chance to get pumped about it!

 

[fla4fun]

Make your most important FP first and then work your other plans around them. For example, if FoP is your most important one, book that for whatever day you can. Then if 7DMT is the next most important, book that one next. If FEA is important, book that next. Your park days may be determined by which days you get the most important FP booked. Once you have the most important ones booked, THEN go back and fill in the other ones around them. Even though dining reservations open up at 180 days, we usually wait until we have the FP booked and then work dining in around them. The only ADR that rivals FoP in difficulty would be CRT or BOG, so if you want those two trying at 180 is a must. Otherwise we can usually get our first or second choice at 60 days.

 

[mastermind307]

I think you could greatly benefit from a Touring Plans membership. (Less than $15.) They use a lot of fancy-schmancy math and take into account many details of the specific days you travel. You can pick your date, pick your park, put in the attractions you hope to hit. Then press a button, and voila! You’ll see just how much you can fit into your day. It’ll give you a break down of how long you’ll spend walking to a ride, waiting in line, then riding it. Even if you don’t want to follow the plan they lay out (or drag the steps around into an order you like) you’ll at least be able to see about how much Touring Plans thinks you’ll get done in each day. They are eerily accurate! (I’ve used them for about 45 days in the parks.) I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised how much you’ll fit into each day and then maybe some of your stress will ease. (If you do use Touring Plans, a tip: I always set my walking speed to the slowest speed to give us a nice cushion for snacks, restroom breaks and just stopping to smell the roses in between each step. That’ll make sense when you look at the planning process on TPs website.)

I actually have a touring plans subscription and have used them on previous trips. I enjoy the feature that allows me to make personalized touring plans. This is the first trip without DH (first mother/daughter trip). I thought I'd have more fun planning without having to worry about him having fun (he doesn't like Disney as much as I do, and he hates crowds), but it's not. It's actually harder to plan when I can choose to do whatever I want and DD want to do and not have input from him. I think I might also feel guilty for going without him. He says we can go, but I know he feels somewhat left out, even though he doesn't want to go back at this time.

It's nice to hear about positive experiences, to know the Disney Magic is still there. I'm beginning to get back into the mood to plan our trip, I was actually thinking about canceling it. Planning the trip is 1/2 my fun and I really wasn't feeling it, but now I feel better about our it and I think once we get there, we'll have a great time.