unblieveable!

[jlkhorn]

I did type up on a WORD document with some easy to read things a newbie needs to know about WDW...you or anyone else who would like to see these are more then welcome to PM me and give me your email address and I will send you the info...

I would love to see this document. We leave for our first trip in 3 weeks. Thanks so much!

Jennifer

 

[Jasper Dale]

may i suggest something that may help your friend understand her situation?

tell her to go to "google maps" and type in "Walt Disney World". she needs to see just how HUGE WDW is. my wife and i were "pre internet" on our first trip and even though we bought a touring book, we had no idea how big the parks were.

i had the idea that you could basically walk from one park to another, that it would be like a local amusement park.

 

[Donut23]

We've done over 20 WDW vacations, have never made a rope drop, wouldn't dream of a touring plan, make very few ADR's ahead of time. We've always had a great time.

Thank you!

A Disney trip is not all about how many rides you squeeze into one day....or how many ADR's fill (restrict) the flexibility of a single day. By the way, we make ADR's for only a couple of nights (candelight processional is one we always make in advance) but we rarely find we have trouble making an ADR the same day we dine.

There are many ways to prepare for and enjoy a vacation. I applaud them for taking a "vacation" way of taking a vacation. They probably also have their expectations under control!

I bet they have a GREAT time.....and what's wrong with that?

 

[Donut23]

She'll be fine. Too many make too many plans.

A buddy of mine, his wife and 3 children came down to WDW. My wife and I met them at HS and then at EPCOT. It was ridiculous the schedule his wife had planned out. Be here at this time, eat here at that time, now it's time to get an ice cream, now this show is starting. I don't know how they had any fun, they certainly didn't get to see the little things.

So many people are saying this better than I.

You are right about the little things. If you walk around with a schedule, where is the time for play. How many of us lament our children have no time for....play in their lives because everything is scheduled?

I guess for some they find comfort in a schedule. For us.....if we miss a ride, HECK if we miss a PARK on a visit....it will be there next time. Nothing compares to little surprises.....like a walk through the rose bushes at EPCOT when the roses are in full bloom......or stopping to watch the children play in the fountain at DTD. Unscheduled but no less special than riding Test Track 3 times on day two as scheduled.

 

[fx2594]

That's too bad. She won't get as much out of the trip.

 

[dyna]

Way back in 1985 we did our 1st disney visit blind of course this was long before the internet. We did go at a fairly decent time mid May we could have had a much better time if we had been prepared at the time there was only MK an EPCOT

I honestly at the time did not know there was touring books of WDW dh did not either an did not care that he did not know he would never have spent the money for a tour book on some theme park.

1987 once again blind we went in March over our DD's spring break it was crowded an horrible vowed never to return.

1998 once again we went to disney this time I WAS PREPARED!!!! Since that time we have made over 50 trips I no longer plan much. Usually do a park that does not have EMH that day with a back up park in mind if we decide we not happy with 1st choice.

I usually know what nights Fantasmic is showing so we can do that if we choose an the night time parade at MK other than that don't plan much but then I know it we want to ride toy story to go get my fp early etc

TS dining in the parks is not of interest to us we have done free dining several times it just not what we care to do to much planning for us but then we don't mind leaving parks for a nice lunch either we usually stay offsite the past few visits anyway so leaving an going back no big deal for us.

 

[DiskneeFan]

The only planning we do is ADRs, if we have free dining.

THe following will be odd to the commandos:

Never been to rope drop.
Never done a touring plan.
Rarely do EMH.
We go to the parks when we get around (NO ALARM).
Go back to the resort when we feel tired.
The kids usually decide which park we will go to every morning.
We never rush.
Its a vacation and we love every miniute of it.

I should add that we usually do 7 to 10 day trips, although we did a 4 day last november, but still didnt do any planning other than ADRs and still did everything we wanted to do. For us the key is knowing how to use Fastpass.

 

[verticalchaos]

Yikes!

I think sometimes, people just need to make their own mistakes when it comes to a WDW vacation. Either she goes in with no planning and has a horrible time and vows never to go back, or she realizes how much she missed out on by not planning and vows to do it better next time.

We were in the second group after our honeymoon there in '07. We bought our tickets, reserved our room at POFQ, and set up Magical Express, and that was about all we did planning wise. When we got there, we realized that MNSSHP was going on, and had we planned our Universal days first and Disney days last, we could have attended the party. I didn't even know such a thing as Halloween parties existed! Lesson learned. And we also went down to the concierge one night to see about getting a reservation for Le Cellier that night. I bet that CM had a nice laugh at our expense over that one! But we came home, found the DIS, realized how much had changed since we had last been there, and realized our next trip needed a lot more planning!

OR there's a third option. They go and their style of travel works for them and they have a great time. Just because it isn't your style doesn't mean it's wrong.

 

[d1gitman]

OR there's a third option. They go and their style of travel works for them and they have a great time. Just because it isn't your style doesn't mean it's wrong.

 

[RabFlmom]

Some people are perfectly fine to get up late, hit the parks at noon, ride a couple of things and see a couple of shows. I know, those people aren't here on the DIS, but I'm pretty sure they exist in nature.

There's plenty of info on all the parks once she gets there.

Hey I am here on the dis and that is the way we have always done Disney or any vacation.

Vacation is vacation time and we don't want to be on a schedule. We usually wait till we are in a park and check to see which sit down we can go to either for lunch or dinner and use CS for the other meal. We get fast passes for busy rides but that is about all the planning we ever do. Sometimes we even change which park we are going to on the way to the park. Ya never know if you want to spend 5 minutes somewhere or 2 hours and we leave it to what feels good at the time for us. Do we have to do or see everything while on vacation? No way ya just have to enjoy and have fun doing what you do together! Have we ever had a bad vacation.....nope.
Planning for a year or 2 would make it boring when we got someplace as far as I am concerned I guess. We would miss out on so many of the unexpected things that turn out to be the things we remember the most on the trip.

For example even back when I was single living in Chicago land area....We had a 3 day weekend from school(teachers) On that Friday night 4 friends decided to make it a weekend away from home. We decided St. Louis was too far and ended up in Atlanta to go to Underground. Or the year we headed to the Kentucky Derby and arrived just hours before the race. No plans but oh what fun you can have without a plan in the world. So don't worry about us non planners we find fun without the hassle oif planning. Aren't you glad there are so many different types of people in this world. No way is the only way......Each person has to do it their way....

 

[SarahWeasley]

What I think is that planning and research are two different things, and it's a lot easier to have a good time with no planning than to have a good time with no research. Even if the extent of your planning is to make a few ADRs, as a lot of people have said describes their own habits, the fact that you knew to make ADRs indicates that you're probably familiar enough with how things work that you'll be able to relax and have a good time without any planning in advance.

But I think if you're going to visit without even the slightest bit of RESEARCH, though (i.e. "Disneyland, that zoo thing and some california adventure"), then you better be the kind of person who will be happy doing pretty much anything you stumble into. And clearly, the OP's friend is not that person if she's expecting to eat breakfast with Winnie the Pooh or whatever.

But it's not being an uber-commando planning dictator to know that, for example, "If we're going to Epcot, we'd probably really like to ride Soarin', but we should try to grab Fastpasses early since they run out quickly." That's the kind of "planning" that will tend to mean MORE fun and LESS stress, and I think it's a good thing!

edit: This thread keeps reminding me of the post I read in another thread, about the guy's coworker who went to Disney World for a week and came back complaining that she and her husband could never find the castle or any of the other classic Disney sights. And then it turned out they'd spent the whole week at Universal Studios.

 

[verticalchaos]

She'll be fine. Too many make too many plans.

A buddy of mine, his wife and 3 children came down to WDW. My wife and I met them at HS and then at EPCOT. It was ridiculous the schedule his wife had planned out. Be here at this time, eat here at that time, now it's time to get an ice cream, now this show is starting. I don't know how they had any fun, they certainly didn't get to see the little things.

Was this Presidents' Day Week of this year? We were in line for the Safari, and there was a family in front of us where the mom had uber-planned to the point where she was freaking out because there was a delay while the vehicles waited for an animal to clear the path (the delay was announced so people were aware of why the line suddenly stopped completely for a while). They weren't going to be able to do...I forget what...without missing Lion King or something along those lines. She wanted to leave the Safari line right then. The kids were upset because they WANTED to go on the Safari. And the dad just looked like he wanted to disappear. I'm not sure how magical their "planned to the second" vacation was. (The dad did eventually tell the mom they were GOING TO RIDE THE SAFARI, so perhaps he was able to get her to trash the second by second plan after all.)

 

[scroot]

After DW and I had such a great time the first week of December some good friends decided to book for the week between Christmas and New Years Day. They had a great time but did say things were a bit more crowded than they expected. They managed to book at BC room. They ate at V & A and Yacht's man among other places. It worked out ok but they didn't know any other way to do things.

 

[rodeo65]

We took our kids for the first time June '09 and it was our first trip since December 1994. I stumbled on the DIS about four months before our trip and it really helped me to realize things had changed quite a bit in 15 years.

I did do the hyper planning - had a binder with excel spreadsheets and everything. Best laid plans and all - EVERYONE was sick by the end of our three day drive down. I ended up changing everything on the fly from what parks which day to ADRs if we even made them at all.

At the end of that trip DH said never again. It was too hot for us in June, too crowded, sickness. Overall he said it was his worst trip ever. The kids and I managed to make the best of it and really wanted to go back. It's taken over a year but we are now booked for 10 days in January.

I still obsessively plan - but that is for me. I prefer that to watching tv in the evenings. I have ADRs booked because we are on the dining plan and since we're not using park hoppers this trip (complete waste for us last time) that kind of lays the groundwork for which parks we visit on certain days. I have figured for non park days and even one (gasp) unplanned park day - we'll figure that out based on which one we may like to re-visit.

I think we'll have a much better trip this time, but I'll still plan and think and dream in the months leading up to it. When we tell the kids a month or so ahead I can plan and discuss with them, but DH is going along, not excited. Hopefully the new non-planned plan will make it a better trip for him and it will be another trip of many!

 

[ohanaMAMA]

ugh. a second by second plan sounds horrible. We dont plan every second. We just have a loose plan. I think it makes a lot of sense. I have a copy of a touring plan. and we usually do things in the order they suggest.. but we dont put specific times on anything and if we find something we'd rather do. we do it. We do make rope drop. I just like it. We are early birds anyhow.

This is our plan for our free dining trip in a few weeks. Keep in mind this IS the trip of a lifetime for my niece. She will not get another chance to go as a child... and really I think every kid should be taken to Disney at least once. When they arent in charge of money or details or whatever. THAT in mind. I looked on TGM and the disney website to find out which days fantasmic, main street electical parade ect. were running. We only have a 4 day base ticket. so we only have one chance to see them. So I needed to make sure we were in the right park on the right day.

Then I made 1 TS ADR for each day according to which park we will be in. We have our first day free so the ADR is late in the day. I also made our ADR for our AK day for after the park closes. DH wanted one big breakfast.. so I made an ADR for Crystal Palace before rope drop for our MK day. I tried to make the ADRs so they wouldnt restrict our touring in the parks. I did do a 430 Lecelier at EPCOT.. but honestly its a hard get. so I took what I could!
i WILL admit that I have one teensy spreadsheet. Its just park hours, our ADR numbers and times, and parade and show times. not which shows we will see or anything. its on a card and I lamenated it. that way it will stay dry in a backpack and I will have all of our info at my fingertips.

 

[TandLMommy28]

I agree without whoever said going without a plan is different than going without research.

You can go without a plan and have a lot of fun. But if you go without any type of research, you may be VERY disappointed. I mean, if you don't find even bother to find out the NAMES of the parks, you surely aren't going to find out the hours that park is open. So when you decide to go to MK at a leisurely pace after a lazy morning and show up at 11:00 to start your day in the park, then you just might be pretty darn FURIOUS to discover there is MNSSHP that night and you have to leave the park at 7 when the party begins or shell out another $55/person to stay. That's not being commando or crazy or over planning. That's just being smart and giving your vacation a little thought.

 

[kmk1180]

Yikes!

1. I think sometimes, people just need to make their own mistakes when it comes to a WDW vacation.

2. Either she goes in with no planning and has a horrible time and vows never to go back, or she realizes how much she missed out on by not planning and vows to do it better next time.

!

1 It's only a mistake if they don't have fun.
If they do then there's nothing wrong with it.

2. OR, they have fun enjoying what they decide to do that day


Just because 99% of us here plan doesn't mean we're right.

I'm in the group that's can't understand how you let some planning website plan your trip for you. To me it's my vacation and I know how I can enjoy it.
Others wouldn't think of going without it.
Neither is right or wrong.

I say, tell the friend, great have fun.

 

[kmk1180]

Whenever I hear this it makes me think of people that say "I remember the days when a house cost $5000, no one had cell phones, a computer filled an entire room"...etc. Nostalgia always makes things look different/better than they actually were. There were different issues with WDW when it was smaller, just as there are now that it is larger.

My in laws are like that..we got into a debate about money and my FIL said we'll when he was our age all he made was $150 a week and fed a family of 5, maybe we're overspending by taking trips to places like disney.

I'm like...wow..can't compare the two because what was your morgage? like $100 month? We PAY more than than he earned just to have insurance.
No comparision from then to now is really a fair comparision.
Money or What Disney was like then.

 

[ougrad86]

I had a friend who decided to take her niece between Christmas and New Year's since she was off school then. I warned her that the parks were crowded and very often closed at capacity. She said she was fine, had a nice off-site hotel and that they were going to take it easy. She came back saying she would never go back again...
I wouldn't go at that time of year, but if I had to I would know what to expect and have realistic expectations.

 

[WDSearcher]

wow. I am surprised at how many posters felt the need to be catty. sheesh. I am not "crazy planning lady" nor am I "anal" or "pushy" this board can sure get nasty in a hurry. I am actually surprised I wasnt flamed for my typing mistake in the title. how sad. Our vacations are PRECIOUS to us. We save all year for our trips. If I didnt plan well, we wouldnt get as much bang for our buck! Im not talking about minute by minute spreadsheets here.. just a little organization and forethought.

my friend IS the type that will be MISERABLE because her kids wont get to eat with Pooh and friends. She will come home ranting and raving about what a waste of time and money WDW is. She will be shocked at prices,crowds and without a little education will miss out on the magic. She called this afternoon and asked me how much she should budget for "ride tickets. When I gasped and told her the rides were included in the ticket price.. she got quiet and then said "Maybe you could come over tommorow and help me get a little plan going?"

Im so relieved. I love my friend and I want her to see the Magic that we see at WDW. I plan to help her get the basics. Learn about Fastpass, a little bit of orientation and see if I can help her work her schedule around the different shows and parades.

It's great the you're going over to help her, but I do have to wonder why you didn't offer that at the start? When she said the bit about "Disneyland, the zoo park and California Adventure", why not offer at that point to at least give her the "lay of the land"? I get the concept of waiting for someone to ask and not pushing your own way of travel on someone else, but if you know going in that "she IS the type that will be MISERABLE because her kids wont get to eat with Pooh and friends. She will come home ranting and raving about what a waste of time and money WDW is. She will be shocked at prices,crowds and without a little education will miss out on the magic.", why would you walk away muttering instead of helping?

Not trying to be critical ... just wondering ....