Ugh! Giving advice is useless! Vent...

[Ana~n~Joseph]

I understand your frustration. I helped 3 friends plan their trips to Disney World this year. We were all going the same week (1st week of December). One was open to anything and she actually stuck with me the whole time. The other two didn't listen and came back complaining how all they did was wait in lines and one didn't even do 1 ride at Hollywood Studios (she even had a FP+ for TSM!!). Oh well!! You do the best you can!! After this trip though I've decided to retire from the "helping friends plan trips to Disney" business.

 

[CWdreamer]

I think that asking advice is no different than reading posts on these boards. It's fact finding and asking how different people do WDW. That information can be taken to help determine what attractions to do and how they want to tour. Just because the advice isn't taken, doesn't mean it's not appreciated. Don't take it personally. In fact, I think that it's flattering that people think enough of your opinions to even ask.

 

[My3Princez]

The friend who found the Soarin line short probably exited the attraction thinking, well what's the big deal about that attraction anyway? It's only a slow boat ride through a greenhouse, and why in the world do they call it Soarin anyway?

 

[MichelleVW]

That's why I don't give advice. I will give them the best planning websites and answer any specific questions they have but no way am I planning their trip for them. I had a friend there this summer who would text me questions like, "Be Our Guest has a really long line in the sun and we are hungry where should we go". My text back was Cosmic Ray's is good and in the A/C. Other than that they are on their own.

 

[kathy884]

Yep. The only advice I give first-timers is to buy The Unofficial Guide to WDW book. I figure that's a good start and if they won't even skim a guidebook to learn about a vacation that will cost $1000s, then so be it

// This is exactly what I do. If it's a really good friend, and I think they will actually read it, I'll sometimes even buy them the book as a gift. That is as far as I'll go though.

I think (at least the people I know) like to ask for advice, but in reality aren't interested / really don't want any / don't want to listen to any advice - just want to talk about their trip and only will listen if there is a very specific question that they have that they ask you. // And some just aren't into following any sort of plan at all.

To OP -- We feel your pain.

 

[caffeinegirl47]

or even when in the old days off siter's with "paper" tickets would see on siters put what appeared to be a "credit card" , a KTTW card, into the FP machine and assume they were paying for FP's.

^^This x1000. My parents saw that on our first trip and assumed people were paying; I had read our copy of the Unofficial Guide on the car ride down cover-to-cover, so I knew differently. My father bet me the giant stuffed Eeyore I had been coveting that there was "no way" we could get Fastpasses just by sticking our paper tickets in the machine. (Eeyore still sleeps on my bed in my grad school dorm.)

I think this misperception has gotten worse now that Fastpass-like technology is affordable for smaller theme parks. I now live within daytrip distance of two Six Flags parks, both of which offer "FlashPasses" for a hefty surcharge, and even let you pay extra for a faster return time, and I bet most people's first exposure to this kind of queuing system is at a place with an upcharge.

 

[siskaren]

My father bet me the giant stuffed Eeyore I had been coveting that there was "no way" we could get Fastpasses just by sticking our paper tickets in the machine. (Eeyore still sleeps on my bed in my grad school dorm.)

I would've loved to see the look on your father's face when you pulled those fastpasses!

 

[agavegirl1]

That's my recommendation, too!

I have even given them my old one with a short list of updates.

 

[DisneyGal24]

Totally understand! A couple from church just decided to take their four kids to Disney! They left yesterday. Staying offsite. We've had several conversations about our trips and she even asked me the best times to go. Christmas was not one of them, of course! Plus, DH is a Disney vacation planner. When they told us, we just said have a good time...

 

[ArwenMarie]

// This is exactly what I do. If it's a really good friend, and I think they will actually read it, I'll sometimes even buy them the book as a gift. That is as far as I'll go though.

I think (at least the people I know) like to ask for advice, but in reality aren't interested / really don't want any / don't want to listen to any advice - just want to talk about their trip and only will listen if there is a very specific question that they have that they ask you. // And some just aren't into following any sort of plan at all.

To OP -- We feel your pain.

That's a nice idea! I will have to remember to do that next time

 

[Eastern]

People have asked me for advice on Disney too. They never listen. I think if they really wanted advice, they would search it out for themselves.

 

[Chief Powhatan]

This happens to my wife and I a couple of times a year. Friends will seek out our advice and then they tell us that won't work for them because they don't have time to read the guidebook, can't wake up that early, etc. They then come back and tell us what an awful time they had at Disney. I hate it for their kids who miss out on the Disney magic because their parents refuse to listen, but ultimately, you can't help people who don't really want to be helped.

 

[rt2dz]

I think she needs to define "short" and how she thinks they will stay short. At 12:00 Soaring has a 70 minute wait and FP- should be gone within a few minutes if they haven't already as I type this. ETA: Just jumped to 80 minutes as of 12:03. ETA@: at 12:122 100 minutes no FP, Space Ship Earth 30 minutes, gotta love the Xmas season.

Except the OP said it was at 9:15 am that all this transpired. I'm sure the friend learned in roughly 15 minutes that "short" didn't last.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[LaurenT]

Yeah - she at least seems to follow my advice about getting there before RD and which park to be in today... But hitting spaceship earth first kind of blew much of her advantage she had from being there extra early...

 

[kaybird]

Yeah - she at least seems to follow my advice about getting there before RD and which park to be in today... But hitting spaceship earth first kind of blew much of her advantage she had from being there extra early...

At least she recognized SE as a ride! How many times have we seen posts from seasoned DISers that have NO IDEA there was a ride in that golf ball?

 

[LucyBC80]

I don't understand why so many people still think FASTPASS and now Fastpass+ are a paid perk. When legacy was the norm it's written all over the park that fastpass was free to all guests. Do some people just decide to forget how to read when at the parks?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

The friend who found the Soarin line short probably exited the attraction thinking, well what's the big deal about that attraction anyway? It's only a slow boat ride through a greenhouse, and why in the world do they call it Soarin anyway?

This reminds me of my September 2013 trip. I was in line in front of a little boy and his Grandfather waiting for our turn at LWTL. I heard the Grandfather say to the boy "You'll love Soarin' so I'm glad this line isn't too long".

I thought Oh boy and asked if he was going to ride Soarin' next. He said they were in line for it and looked at me like I was nuts. I told the Grandfather that they were in the Living with the Land line.
He promptly got out of line and went looking for the Soarin' line. Ooops.

 

[chartle]

My DN works at EE and she heard a story that an elderly couple got off the ride thinking it was the train to the Conservation Station.

 

[surferdave]

I've had similar experiences and seen many posted here over the years. It really should be no great surprise to anybody after a few years here that most people really don't like planning the specific details of their vacations, and even when they resolve to do so and seek out advice of people in the know they typically fall through in their resolve.

That's a major reason why I've been skeptical of Disney's plan to increase revenue by making their patrons plan their trip agendas in advance and wear a cow tag to ensure they conform to it.

 

[FLkid]

I don't understand why so many people still think FASTPASS and now Fastpass+ are a paid perk. When legacy was the norm it's written all over the park that fastpass was free to all guests. Do some people just decide to forget how to read when at the parks?

It's because express passes at US and IOA are not free... And it's hard to believe anything is free these days!


OP I feel your pain, I've done this before. My favorite part is when the person you gave advice to that didn't use it then wants to complain about their experience.