Trip Planning in "The Good Old Days"

[CDNCruiser]

Do you remember the good old days when you didn't have to pre-plan your trip to Walt Disney World?

Read all about it here: http://land.allears.net/blogs/guestblog/2016/03/trip_planning_1971_1992.html

 

[bama_ed]

Gary, great article!

It was simpler then. And you/Carol have a treasure trove of WDW data to draw from.

Having done my first full-blown MyMagic+ planning for our upcoming trip this month, I'm not a happy camper. It takes a lot of the relaxation and spontaneity out of the vacation.

Makes me long for the good old days.

Thanks for sharing your work.

Bama Ed

 

[North of Mouse]

How 'well' do we remember!! Our first trip was 1972 when there was just the MK and two hotels, plus a 'sort of' downtown Disney called Lake Buena Vista. We brought out two children to one of the hotels to watch Disney movies (back when Disney movies were only released every 5, 8 years - not sure!). Then later they showed them in a room at the Contemporary.

Oh, the feeling of the great 'non-planning' days! Reservations could be made 'day of' or 'just go'! We would check for an available campsite at FW 'after' we got there, and sometimes while we were 'in' the park!

Make ressies 'day of' AT the castle to eat there for lunch, dinner, and the meals were absolutely delicious!!! (was King Stephan's Banquet Hall - no breakfasts there).

Yes, we're 'ancient'!!! And happy!!!

 

[2goofycampers]

I remember booking On Jan 2 to arrive on Jan 4 for 10 days with no problem.

 

[Nan P]

CDNCruiser, thanks for the great article! I do remember some of those brochures. We barley made plans back in 1979 for our first trip to WDW, except for the flight down on Disney's official airlines, "EASTERN". Stayed off site and sons were 13 and 10 then, and in awe of the Magic Kingdom. Fast forward to 1989 when we made reservations at Fort Wilderness just about a week before we went and drove down in our new 1989 Bounder. No restaurant reservations, but we walked up and got tables in MK and EPCOT. Those were the days! But.... I must admit I enjoy the pre-planning today. That fun part of the trip can keep the adrenaline flowing for months.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I spent my youth in Southern California, I didn't make my first trip to WDW until 2006. It's certainly has changed since then. We had absolutely zero plans that first trip, my mom made site reservations. We got there and she didn't like the sites so she went up and we moved up near the marina. I was a mom with 5 young kids and didn't have the time or the desire to plan anything. I do remember choosing dinner reservations, they still had CMs with clipboards to tell you what restaurants still had reservations and I remember walking past HDDR and making reservations day of. It was a fun trip, since then I've certainly planned more but honestly we are big planners at Disney, I make our site reservations and buy our tickets beforehand and that's it. I tried last November to plan everything out and we got there and threw everything but our adrs out the window. I'll never plan that much again, going with the flow goes against the grain of how people do WDW now but it fits our life so much better. And honestly I have no restaurant must dos so it's a fine way to tour the world for us. I did tell my family that next trip I only want to eat at Cosmic Rays once and they hushed me, seriously don't know why they love that place so much, they are weirdos.

 

[CDNCruiser]

Gary, great article!

It was simpler then. And you/Carol have a treasure trove of WDW data to draw from.

Having done my first full-blown MyMagic+ planning for our upcoming trip this month, I'm not a happy camper. It takes a lot of the relaxation and spontaneity out of the vacation.

Makes me long for the good old days.

Thanks for sharing your work.

Bama Ed

Ed, you might relate to a blog I wrote for AllEars a month or so ago. It generated a barrage of comments - most folks like "My Disney Experience" but hate FastPass+

You can find the blog here: http://land.allears.net/blogs/guestblog/2016/01/fastpass_love_it_or_hate_it_1.html

 

[FtW Mike]

Loved the article and have to send a huge THANK YOU to Gary and Carol for trip down memory lane. Yes years ago planning a Disney trip was far easier. Disney meal plans were far simpler and easier to understand IE Stay and Play options.
During our one off property stay I remember seeing signs that Disney hotels had VACANCY's and advice on how to get into one.
Dining was mostly show up and wait with exception of the 3 dinner shows Spirit of Aloha Hoop Dee Doo Revue and Broadway At The Top. Then on property guest could call and make ressies 3 days out About the same time kiosks appeared to make same day dining ressies 3 days out still for DISNEY HOTEL guests in EPCOT. Sort of miss how simple it was back then. Now you can't get into Trails End without a ressie even when the place is near empty and you are standing there

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Thank you CDNCruier for sharing this, I wish I could of experienced Disney back then. I agree with Ed, I am not a fan of the FP+, I don't care too much about being on a time schedule and the planning while on vacation.

 

[Maligator]

Cool read. Thanks!

I was too young to know if my parents planned much on our first trip back in the 80's but if I know my Dad, we totally winged it. I really enjoy doing all the planning in detail for our yearly trip now. Pouring over maps to find new stopovers on the way down from MA is always a good time too. Spending time trying to plan the park days and dinner reservations keeps me excited for the last couple months before leaving. Aside from Ohana, we haven't had much trouble getting reservations for dinner while on site, yet anyway. I think for me, doing all the pre-planning leads me to consider some dining and other options I would have otherwise missed.

Once in the parks, aside from whatever fast passes we have, I pretty much rely on the android app to see where the lines are shortest and prioritize from there by the seat of our pants.

 

[peg110]

back when Disney movies were only released every 5, 8 years - not sure!

I believe it was a 7 year span between movies. To be clear though, it was a "release" as in a new movie necessarily, but Disney would re-release exisiting movies such as Cinderella or Snow White, etc... But they would only do one of the (classic) movies a year. So when Snow White came out, for example, you were sure to go see it with your kids, because it wouldn't be out again for another 7 years. Really though, this is an ingenious marketing tactic. Basically, Disney realized that a 7 year span was a good span to get ALL kids to flock (and of course parents too) to the theater, much more than 7 years and a child that was too young to see it last time was probably now too old to see it this time. (so think if it was 9 years and a 3 year old missed Snow White, would a 12 year old really want to see it?)

That's why for a long time you couldn't get the classic Disney movies on VHS (Yes... VHS, remember them? I still have a lot of them too) and subsequently DVD. Now, they keep "Tweaking" the old version to try and re-sell it to the same crowd. "Digitally re-colored" or "Enhanced" etc... Blah Blah Blah.

I loved watching them in the Theater and recall seeing a lot of them at the "Drive In" (Remember those too?) In all fairness, though I did work at 2 movie theaters in my youth. (the Drive in AND the regular theater. They were owned by the same guy). Back when they were "FILM" with "Carbon Arc" rods as the light source and you had to change reels over every 10-20 minutes (depending on the reel). Ah... Those were the days... Looking for the cues to know when to start the other projector for the "Change Over". (Do you know where they are? I see them ALL the time now.)

 

[DJCPITTS]

I remember those days and oh how i miss them. My mother and I hopped in the car for a spontaneous trip. Drove 17 hours and stayed for 1 week. Bought 4 day parkhopper no expire tickets.. which i still have 2 days. We met her friends down there with there kids and we walked on splash mountain 7 times in a row! I will never forget that trip. 2 years ago i went back with my children and paid for my mother to go. What a difference it is!