They do exist!

[pktbMouse]

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

THIS...17th trip to the Mouse and never once planned a single thing...all 17 times were totally awesome vacations..heading back down in August..guess what? yep...no planning

 

[larryz]

THIS...17th trip to the Mouse and never once planned a single thing...all 17 times were totally awesome vacations..heading back down in August..guess what? yep...no planning

In other words, set low expectations and don't stress if you don't meet them.

 

[Austintatious]

Well, I certainly didn't mean to say that EVERY infrequent visitor is more willing to wait in lines than EVERY frequent visitor. But, I don't think that there is any question that a vast majority of people are willing to wait longer to do something for the first time than for something they have done before, and especially for something that they have done many times before. Using myself as an example, I waited 90 minutes last summer in a line that had a posted wait time of 150 minutes for my first ride on Escape from Gringotts because I had no idea when I would be there again. I can guarantee you that I won't wait that long for that ride again.

If we are going to question generalized statements, I think yours is very questionable, especially when applied to theme park attractions.

While I was waiting in that line for Gringotts, I was accompanied by my adult daughter who had waited almost 5 hours (enduring frequent breakdowns) to ride the same ride on its opening day. When I look at the long standby lines for roller coasters (at Disney or Universal or Six Flags), or pictures with characters like Hiro and Baymax, I see a lot more young people than older ones. A lot of them seem to be members of youth groups who use the time to hang with their friends and, yes, do a lot of texting and playing with their smartphones. Their ability to multitask makes the waiting more tolerable for them.

I also don't think Disney has a huge problem with returning, experienced guests because, while those guests may have less tolerance for waiting for things they have done before, they also learn how they can avoid those lines for things they want to do.

I think you are reading way more into my comments than was intended. I agreed with your theory that frequent visitors don't have the same tolerance for long lines as first timers because they've already experienced the attraction and know what to expect. I then offered that there is yet another plausible reason that involves Millenniums (and I'm sure a host of other reasons I don't have the time or desire to discuss).

Both are equally valid observations, although I would be reluctant to base any supposition on how long people would wait for a ride at another park that just opened to massive fanfare.

One hit does not a general theory make.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

All I was saying is that I believe there are a multitude of reasons as to why people- both infrequent visitors AND frequent visitors - have limits to how long they'll wait in a line. For me, personally, how long I'm willing to wait has nothing to do with how frequently I've been to WDW or DLR. I'm sure others have their own reasons as well.

My apologies. It seemed you were contesting what Wisbblue had posted as though he was
making a claim of all guests when he wasn't.

I am sorry if I misinterpreted the intent of your post.

 

[jrt1176]

Planning can be fun and gets you excited for the trip...

But, I do miss the days of just showing up and doing what you felt like!

 

[Angel Ariel]

I am sorry if I misinterpreted the intent of your post.

It's all good

 

[goofyernmost]

I just want to clarify - patience has very little to do with our current personal reasons. We have waited in 2-3 hr lines before, and I'm sure we will again.

I was talking about required patience back then. On top of that with the exception of Space Mountain, there were no waits of more then an hour and even that was rare. It still worked partially because no matter how long the line, it kept moving. It felt like progress was being made, even if over a long period of time. There is no doubt in my mind that it was FP that cause the longer waits and the frustration of watching people legally cut in front of you as the catalyst for shortened patience. If you got to a queue that was exceptionally long, you would just pass it by and come back later. With FP you now have other places that you HAVE to be. Flexibility lost, long lines created.

 

[spinandmarty]

I can remember the good old days, our planning consisted of where do we want to stay, and what night do we want to do HDDR, do we want to do MVMCP, or MNSSHP.. that was it... Hate, hate, hate all the planning now, and how we can only do so much less then we used too... As far as other people planning, I talk to people all the time that make their reservations, and just plan to show up, I try to point them in the right direction some listen some don't.. Some come to me after they return, and ask what did we do wrong, and start planning a new trip with alot more forsight... Some swear they will never go back and tell me they think that we are crazy because we go every year....

 

[Astridia]

I can remember the good old days, our planning consisted of where do we want to stay, and what night do we want to do HDDR, do we want to do MVMCP, or MNSSHP.. that was it... Hate, hate, hate all the planning now, and how we can only do so much less then we used too... As far as other people planning, I talk to people all the time that make their reservations, and just plan to show up, I try to point them in the right direction some listen some don't.. Some come to me after they return, and ask what did we do wrong, and start planning a new trip with alot more forsight... Some swear they will never go back and tell me they think that we are crazy because we go every year....

Agree with you on the planning, I think it's ridiculous. But I will not tell anyone anything about WDW unless I'm specifically asked. Even then, I'm very reluctant to share any detailed information. I think everyone is responsible for researching their own vacations. I also think there are a lot of people who don't want to plan any vacation. They just want to experience. It all depends on individual style.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I was talking about required patience back then. On top of that with the exception of Space Mountain, there were no waits of more then an hour and even that was rare. It still worked partially because no matter how long the line, it kept moving. It felt like progress was being made, even if over a long period of time. There is no doubt in my mind that it was FP that cause the longer waits and the frustration of watching people legally cut in front of you as the catalyst for shortened patience. If you got to a queue that was exceptionally long, you would just pass it by and come back later. With FP you now have other places that you HAVE to be. Flexibility lost, long lines created.

Ah, ok! I think I would agree with this too

 

[Astridia]

Ah, ok! I think I would agree with this too

It also seems like posted wait times have become increasingly unreliable. I f they returned to all SB, everyone would know how long they had to wait. They would also know that everyone in line was in the same boat.

 

[YawningDodo]

Saw a post earlier in this thread with someone saying they're a researcher more than a planner -- that's me, too, and that's why FP+ bums me out a little bit. I like to read up on absolutely everything I can do, recommendations, crowd estimates, all of that, and then still make most of the decisions once I get there. I got the Unofficial Guide to WDW to update myself on new attractions and restaurant reviews, but the thought of following one of those minute-by-minute touring plans in the book fills me with dread and horror at the thought of losing the spontaneity that makes a vacation a vacation.

If someone asks me about Disney, I'm not going to explain the details, but I think it's reasonable to throw them some basic advice. I tell people my favored times of year to go and why, maybe give them a couple of must-not-miss attractions to get them pumped up, warn them that special dining gets booked up months in advance and that spontaneous TS might not be an option at all if they go at peak season, and tell them to look up the FP+ system and read about how it works. I only answer more specific questions if they actually ask them.

 

[WheresSora]

I am looking forward to this weekend because my husband and I are planning dining for our November trip and will therefore also be deciding which parks we are going to and cementing our schedule. We enjoy the process of planning as much as the vacation.

My sister told me this week that she wants us to introduce her to Disney World and I told her that I am apprehensive because we will irritate them by planning too much at them.

 

[DizDaD7]

It's actually harder now than it used to be for sure.

It was easy to be a 1st timer, back in 1997 when I was a 1st timer.....Not as much planning was needed. I'm sure even less before that.

But the way WDW has been heading in the last bunch of years, you really have to do a lil homework..Not that I mind, because I actually enjoy all the leadup work needed.. It' helps pass the the time from trip to trip..

 

[goofyernmost]

It also seems like posted wait times have become increasingly unreliable. I f they returned to all SB, everyone would know how long they had to wait. They would also know that everyone in line was in the same boat.

I might be corrected on this, but, I do not remember any posted wait times back then. I know I always judged it by the length of the line when I got there. I remember during those days I used to frequently go to Universal Orlando. Now, back then they were sneaky and hid 90% of the lines from sight. You would get in them and spend a half hour or so to get up to what you thought was near the front only to be directed in a different direction and corralled into a large tented area with three times the people as what you originally thought were in the line. Very sneaky.

Back to the Future was one of the worst. That queue line wrapped around the building about 10 times and then it went up ramps, at least three floor. You really wanted to pack a lunch. King Kong was another. When you finally got into the show building you still had over an hour wait to actually get on the ride. In it's hay day, ET had the same problem.

 

[goofyernmost]

It's actually harder now than it used to be for sure.

It was easy to be a 1st timer, back in 1997 when I was a 1st timer.....Not as much planning was needed. I'm sure even less before that.

But the way WDW has been heading in the last bunch of years, you really have to do a lil homework..Not that I mind, because I actually enjoy all the leadup work needed.. It' helps pass the the time from trip to trip..

I can tell you this much, in 1983 we purchased tickets from a local travel agent and picked the date to go. That was it. Everything else was, however we wanted it. Ah, the good old days. I even fondly remember standing in lines. We talked to strangers as we switched backed through the queue. We talked about our experience, where we were from, why we came here, how long we were staying and just general talk. We laughed about the time spent in line and just knew that it was part of the experience. No cell phones, no game boys, just old fashioned socialization. The kids just did what non-electrically incumbered kids do now, lean against the handrails and whined about how tired they were. **

The line kept moving steadily and you knew that when you were at the load area, you were next. No groups of 20 all of a sudden charging up the FP lane (cause there wasn't any). Just plain fun and we all experienced it the same way.

Spoiler

Perhaps you can tell that I hate Fastpass.

** Not to worry though because as soon as we would get back to the hotel the pool was right there and, like a miracle their energy was completely revived.

 

[MomofKatie]

I didn't catch the planning bug until I found the DIS boards before our 2004 trip. My family had always just gone at busy times when everyone else had vacation, stayed offsite, had only CS meals or eaten offsite, and walked around and waited in line for attractions that looked interesting. I loved those childhood and childless adult trips, even though I know now all the things I missed by not doing any research or planning.

My mom took me and my then 3 year old DD in 2002, the summer after 9/11. The parks, resorts, and restaurants were still pretty dead, even in the summer. We stayed at Coronado Springs (I didn't know there were so many other onsite resorts besides the Poly, Contemporary and Ft Wilderness) and the concierge asked us if we wanted to book a character meal. We had never eaten at a WDW TS restaurant that had characters! We got a reservation for the next morning at 'Ohana. All the things I didn't know then could fill a book (a WDW guidebook, lol). 2 years later, DH, DD and I went for the first time as a family, and I remembered all the things I learned on our previous trip, so I bought the Unofficial Guide and found these boards. From then on, I was totally hooked on planning.

 

[vanyel]

I both love and hate planning. I really do enjoy preparing and putting together my "spreadsheets". I find the researching fun and extends the trip. Plus it de-stresses me from work things. We don't go every year though I've lucked out and gotten some short trips to both wdw and DL because of conferences I've been to for work. I took a friend to HS the end of October for a day before our conference and we had a great time, except for having a struggle to find a place to eat dinner. No FP+, no adrs and still had a really great day! He had never been so I felt a little bit of pressure. It all worked out and we did get a FP for ToT and Star Tours which impressed him. I couldn't get him there for rope drop which irritated me - I tried but he couldn't figure out why that mattered. When we waited for Toy Story Mania for an hour, he finally understood.

What I don't like is feeling locked in to my spreadsheets because of ADRs and schedules. We are going during FD as well though the crowd estimates are a 5 for the majority of our trip. We will see - this is my first FP+ trip.

 

[Parker Clan]

I definitely think there's a happy medium to planning and perhaps how much or little planning you do depends on your situation (kids, no kids etc) it's just DBF & I (for now) & we started going yearly in 2011. All I knew going into it, planning myself for the first time as an adult, was about the ADR'S (DBF informed me) We were hooked the second we left & we booked for the following year. We still don't go crazy planning but love to read up on snacks, tips etc and I make small lists on my phone. We have a word doc with things we want to do each day but when we go there it's sometimes on the fly based on what rides are available after our FP+. We plan for what we want to do but are open to changing our plans once we get there. We always have a magical time regardless and if we don't do something we want one year, well, that's why we go back the next

 

[6bowmans]

THIS...17th trip to the Mouse and never once planned a single thing...all 17 times were totally awesome vacations..heading back down in August..guess what? yep...no planning

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.