They do exist!

[klo1335]

Please move this if it isn't in the correct spot.

I was at the dentist on Monday for my cleaning and was talking to the hygienist. We became friendly because out kids swim together on the swim team. Long story short she is going to Disney in November. She proceeds to say that she bought this big book on planning but hasn't read it yet. She then gets a sticky note and a pen and says "tell me your best tips." I asked her if she has thought about which parks she is going to on which days because she can then make dining reservations as her window is either open or almost open. She said that she had no idea and was just planning on going. They are staying offsite because her husband gets hotel and plane rewards from traveling through his job. I ended up giving her my travel agents email and said that she can help her.

I was just shocked. I am such an uber planner and while I know that other people aren't uber planners, you would think you would look into more then just winging it. Please don't flame me as I am not trying to be snarky or mean. I did tell her that she needs to start looking at that book she bought

 

[LaurenT]

Lol - well, she is a planner. She bought the book and is asking around for tips. It's really not her fault that she doesn't realize that at Disney you have to start locking in the details 6 months out.
I decided to try to tour the White House while in DC in July - turns out you need to petition your congressman who then has to apply for the tickets. First come first served and they allow request starting 6 months out. They also don't confirm until two weeks out! I didn't know any of this .... My request went in 2 months out. So we'll see if we are able to go - but I have a feeling there won't be room for us.

 

[Disneylover99]

Many/Most? first timers have no idea about the planning aspect of Disney.

Some of these people will have a miserable time and say never again. And some of these people will actually have a great time and get hooked.

 

[cjparker0110]

People who went to WDW back in the 70s or 80s weren't so overwhelmed with planning and detail. As the World grew, it became much more complex. As they added things like ADRs, FP+, Magical Express, Magic Bands, etc, people have had to be more diligent about planning. I would guess that the average person who has not been to WDW probably doesn't have a clue what it takes to plan a Disney trip. Most people I talk to think WDW consists of one park. They are surprised to find there are 4 major parks, plus 2 water parks, plus EVERYTHING ELSE! Most are surprised to find out that you can book ADRs and FP so far in advance. They also all have sticker shock because they think "how expensive is an amusement park?"

The average person does not plan a vacation with as much intensity as what you must do to have a successful WDW trip these days.

 

[BellsFam]

I find it frustrating to be honest, because those people that "don't plan" but ask you for advice and then still "don't plan" end up coming back with horror stories like:

OMG they had no reservations left at fillintheblank hardtogetinto restaurant

I can't believe that because I didn't make one reservation during peak season I couldn't find anywhere to eat

Did you know the characters don't just wander around waiting to talk to me?

And did you know I need a pass to ride the roller coasters?

Can you believe that CM told me I couldn't do this completely ridiculous thing I should have been entitled to do because I'm at Disney?

Uggghh!!!

 

[Alesia]

The average person does not plan a vacation with as much intensity as what you must do to have a successful WDW trip these days.

Plenty of people have wonderful trips with little to no planning.

 

[mom2rtk]

It's actually possible that we here on the DIS are the outliers as opposed to the OP's hygienist.

 

[JanaDee]

It's actually possible that we here on the DIS on the outliers as opposed to the OP's hygienist.

I am going with probable, not possible.

 

[mom2rtk]

I am going with probable, not possible.

 

[Alesia]

It's actually possible that we here on the DIS on the outliers as opposed to the OP's hygienist.

Definitely. People who plan to the level that's considered normal (or, for that matter, "necessary") around here make up less that 10% of all Disney visitors, yet most people who go to Disney do enjoy it.

I'm a planner - the kind of planner that breaks the day down into 15 minute increments - and I'm still shocked at the amount of stress many people on the disboards put on themselves to have the "perfect" vacation. Just look at the thread titles and count how many times people use the words "stressed" and "panic" and "overwhelmed." Is your vacation really going to be better if you make yourself, and everyone around you, miserable for months leading up to your trip? I cannot imagine that that's actually better than not planning at all.

But, different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I don't get involved anymore when people tell me they are going even though they know we go all of the time. I don't want to feel responsible when things go wrong. Honestly, I just change the subject now.

That was nice of you to try to help though! Hopefully she will take a look at the book she bought

 

[mom2rtk]

Definitely. People who plan to the level that's considered normal (or, for that matter, "necessary") around here make up less that 10% of all Disney visitors, yet most people who go to Disney do enjoy it.

I'm a planner - the kind of planner that breaks the day down into 15 minute increments - and I'm still shocked at the amount of stress many people on the disboards put on themselves to have the "perfect" vacation. Just look at the thread titles and count how many times people use the words "stressed" and "panic" and "overwhelmed." Is your vacation really going to be better if you make yourself, and everyone around you, miserable for months leading up to your trip? I cannot imagine that that's actually better than not planning at all.

But, different strokes for different folks, I guess.

The problem is that there is such a wide degree of what "planning" constitutes. I have always been more of a researcher than a planner, but like to keep my options open. I like knowing the best time of day to do what, but prefer to make my actual choices on the ground depending on where the spirit moves me..... which is probably why I don't like FP+. I've always marveled at the number of people who plan to the minute. I have subscribed to Touring Plans, but only for the crowd information, never to make an actual touring plan.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't get involved anymore when people tell me they are going even though they know we go all of the time. I don't want to feel responsible when things go wrong. Honestly, I just change the subject now.

That was nice of you to try to help though! Hopefully she will take a look at the book she bought

I'm the same way! I had friend show me her list of ADRs for her first trip and it looked like they were going to spend their entire vacation traveling from resort or park to another just to eat. I just smiled and said "I hope you have a great trip".

 

[ArwenMarie]

I'm the same way! I had friend show me her list of ADRs for her first trip and it looked like they were going to spend their entire vacation traveling from resort or park to another just to eat. I just smiled and said "I hope you have a great trip".

Yikes!

Yeah, it's just better to stay quiet sometimes I think. I especially stay quiet when people start out the conversation with "I really hate crowds and lines (because everyone else loves them?) but we are going to WDW because our kid wants to go..."

 

[bluezy]

Plenty of people have wonderful trips with little to no planning.

Totally agree. We've been to Disney 5 times in the last several years (and heading back in a month) and my level of planning is pretty low compared to a lot of people on these boards. Some of our trips have been booked a year in advance and others have been a month in advance. We usually only do one or two table service meals each trip and we're not set on specific restaurants so there's no pressure to get numerous ADR's six months before we even arrive. We plan which parks we're going to on a few of the days and the others we "wing it". We have 3 or 4 "must do" attractions that we head to first (or now make FP+ reservations for) and then just play it by ear for the rest of the day. We would consider every one of our trips to be wonderful even though we haven't really planned everything we're going to do every hour of every day...but somehow we still manage to get *a lot* accomplished each day. It's all a matter of perspective and what each family considers important in a vacation. I know there are plenty of people here and that I know in real life who would probably consider our family's trips to Disney to be "disappointing" because we don't do a table service meal every day; don't stand in line to meat numerous characters each day; and don't stake out a spot for Wishes or Illuminations for hours. We've done all of those things on various trips, just not every day of every trip. Our planning for most trips consists of picking dates, choosing a resort, and scheduling 3 FP+ for each day. It works for us.

 

[bluezy]

The problem is that there is such a wide degree of what "planning" constitutes. I have always been more of a researcher than a planner, but like to keep my options open. I like knowing the best time of day to do what, but prefer to make my actual choices on the ground depending on where the spirit moves me..... which is probably why I don't like FP+. I've always marveled at the number of people who plan to the minute. I have subscribed to Touring Plans, but only for the crowd information, never to make an actual touring plan.

Exactly! I'm the same way -- I research so we can make good decisions on the fly.

 

[wisblue]

On our short trip last week, my wife and I sat in seats across the aisle from each other and the seats on either side of us were occupied by a family of 4 making their first trip to Florida. The children were a boy and girl who looked to be about 5 and 7 and they were making their first flights.

I was sitting next to the mother, and she said they were staying in a house offsite and were planning to spend 4 days going to WDW. She said she had done some planning but hadn't gotten any FPs because "you can get them when you get there, right". I gave her some brief advice about getting the FPs ahead of time, even the day before if possible, and said that there might be some things like 7DMT that probably wouldn't be available. But, because of the low crowds expected last week I said they should be fine. I also suggested getting to the park as early as possible because that would let them do some things with the shortest lines of the day.

Here is what I thought was the most significant part of our brief conversation. She said that they expected to be overwhelmed by all the things going on at the MK (not the planning) and didn't want to spend all day in long lines. When I said that some lines would be long, like for the mine train which would be an hour or a little longer for most of the day, her response was "Oh, that's not so bad, we're used to that at Great America (the Six Flags park in northern Illinois)".

This highlighted for me one of the things that the Disers who have visited WDW dozens of times tend to forget. We often hear people on these boards say that they won't wait more than 20 minutes for anything. And I guess that's understandable when you are talking about your tenth, or twentieth, or fiftieth ride on a certain attraction. These frequent visitors are aghast at the idea of a 30 minute wait for Pirates, HM, or JC, or a 15 minute wait for IASW. For first time visitors those waits will seem like nothing for their first opportunity to experience some of these classic attractions. And they will enjoy their trips a lot more than the jaded veterans who go into the day expecting to enjoy them less than previous trips. And many of them will go home excited about returning again some day in the not too distant future to experience some of those things again and to do some of the things they didn't get to the first time. They will be experiencing the joy and magic that some frequent visitors seem to have lost over the course of what may for them be too many trips to the same place.

 

[lovndisney12]

It's actually possible that we here on the DIS on the outliers as opposed to the OP's hygienist.

I'm a big planner - actually enjoy that part of the trip almost as much as the trip itself. After my first trip as an adult which I had researched and planned and new all about the old fastpass system, crowd calendars, etc., I was shocked to find that I was in the minority at the parks. And I don't blame them, it takes a lot of planning and not everyone has the time or desire to do so - it is after all a vacation. Now, when I go to the parks I'm not so shocked to find mobs trying to get in the parks at 1 PM on Christmas day as we are happily leaving. After all, if everyone planned as much as those of us on the dis - then it certainly might change up a few of our strategies!

 

[Allison]

Plenty of people have wonderful trips with little to no planning.

Exactly. I'm always struck my the fact that people think the amount of planning that people do on the DIS is normal or standard. It's not at all.

I know plenty of folks who go to Disney without an uber level of planning ahead of time and have a vacation they enjoy very much.

 

[lovndisney12]

On our short trip last week, my wife and I sat in seats across the aisle from each other and the seats on either side of us were occupied by a family of 4 making their first trip to Florida. The children were a boy and girl who looked to be about 5 and 7 and they were making their first flights.

I was sitting next to the mother, and she said they were staying in a house offsite and were planning to spend 4 days going to WDW. She said she had done some planning but hadn't gotten any FPs because "you can get them when you get there, right". I gave her some brief advice about getting the FPs ahead of time, even the day before if possible, and said that there might be some things like 7DMT that probably wouldn't be available. But, because of the low crowds expected last week I said they should be fine. I also suggested getting to the park as early as possible because that would let them do some things with the shortest lines of the day.

Here is what I thought was the most significant part of our brief conversation. She said that they expected to be overwhelmed by all the things going on at the MK (not the planning) and didn't want to spend all day in long lines. When I said that some lines would be long, like for the mine train which would be an hour or a little longer for most of the day, her response was "Oh, that's not so bad, we're used to that at Great America (the Six Flags park in northern Illinois)".

This highlighted for me one of the things that the Disers who have visited WDW dozens of times tend to forget. We often hear people on these boards say that they won't wait more than 20 minutes for anything. And I guess that's understandable when you are talking about your tenth, or twentieth, or fiftieth ride on a certain attraction. These frequent visitors are aghast at the idea of a 30 minute wait for Pirates, HM, or JC, or a 15 minute wait for IASW. For first time visitors those waits will seem like nothing for their first opportunity to experience some of these classic attractions. And they will enjoy their trips a lot more than the jaded veterans who go into the day expecting to enjoy them less than previous trips. And many of them will go home excited about returning again some day in the not too distant future to experience some of those things again and to do some of the things they didn't get to the first time. They will be experiencing the joy and magic that some frequent visitors seem to have lost over the course of what may for them be too many trips to the same place.

You have a very good point here. And having experienced the same park in Illinois they mentioned to you - yes, I would expect the long lines there but wouldn't fork over the extra money for their special "front of the line" pass - but of course I'll pay a lot more to stay on-site at Disney so I can make reservations earlier and take advantage of EMH (and of course the wonderful atmosphere too). I also think as they wait in line they take in everything with "first timer" eyes and are also probably planning what to do next! This last November I was at the park with a co-worker who hadn't been since a kid and it was fun to experience it with a different set of eyes. (And we waited in longer lines than I am use to because of the nature of the one day trip where some had planned - me - and others had not) While different, it was still a magically fun trip that I'll remember for a long time.