Vacation ruined mentality-what has Disney done to me!?

[cuteduck223]

So, this morning, while waiting for the servers to clear up long enough for me to snag an Frozen Ever After Fast pass for June 24th--I started thinking. We travel to disney twice a year on average.

Last summer, we did a few universal days before--and i couldn't believe that i didn't need to make a touring plan to see everything in 3 days (2 parks PLUS citywalk). Then, no need for reservations--unless you feel like it--and then like the week before is fine.

This year, we had decided to do 2 days at legoland (our DD7 LOVES it, and so does DH). Well, the room we wanted to book was...more than a theme park view from the poly. Since we have friends in the area (the reason for multiple trips), we decided to go ahead and throw in sea world in place of our 2nd legoland day. We decided this THURSDAY. So, I jump on, study maps, look for info...and sea world just isn't providing me with all the information I want and need. What are the wait times, is their meal plan good or bad? The photo option, I think i'll pass. Park hours posted, but no show hours to accompany them...HOW will I know tomorrow what show I plan to watch at 2 pm 45 days from now? It's maddening folks.

To make it worse, the reason for this trip is actually to see our DD7 compete in a gymnastics tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. They of course JUST posted the competition schedule Wednesday, so...I had to move around my fastpasses, and chances are we won't even see Jungle book because of the gym schedule. Anyone with any advice on how to handle all this anxiety, feel free to let me know. (unfortunately, I actually do struggle with anxiety pretty severely, so this is only a half funny post)

So my question is--do you go crazy trying to plan every last detail at places other than disney ahead of time? It should be easy. show up at sea world and have fun. But--Disney has taught me the urgency of having a plan. Otherwise--vacation ruined. Or at least, thats what I believed while stressing out over my fastpasses this morning, and getting frustrated that there are as many tier 1 options as tier 2 options at Epcot these days. Seriously, can't we even move living with the land back to tier 2? Or Mission Space?

 

[Regan117]

We don't do touring plans. We make dining reservations and fast passes and whatever we get to ride, we ride. And whatever we don't will be there next time. I couldn't imagine having a schedule to follow, but to each their own.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I guess I don't see our vacation ruined if we don't get a fastpass for a specific ride. I never get passes for M&G.

I make some ADR, but rarely does it matter if I get or don't get what I am looking for.

And I think this is because we go so often. Our thought is, if we don't do it this time, there is always next time, or the next. But we have DVC, so our attitude might be different than those that don't go often.

 

[cuteduck223]

we dont do a ride by ride touring plan...but fastpasses and dining set up a pretty decent plan by itself. (if i have a fp for peter pan, i know we'll ride small world, etc) i generally have an idea of what area of the park we want to cover...but we're also super familiar with the disney parks, and know what we like and don't. not knowing the other non-disney parks as well just gives me crazy anxiety about lines, etc. and the gymnastics thing was really a mess, since there were only 2 times that would conflict with my prior fast passes, so of course, we got one of those times!

 

[Regan117]

We really only stick to the dinner reservations. There's been many trips where we had fast passes we never used....just booked them in case we wanted them. But I do think that is because we get to go several times per year. If we only got to go once I would probably view it differently.

 

[whiporee]

I don't understand this kind of thing. You don't have to have ADRs or Fast Passes to have a good time, and 90 percent of the time, headliners not names Seven Dwarves are available on the same day. Meanwhile, lines at Universal are every bit as long as ones at MK, and my experience was that they are longer. So I don't see how the ability to plan at MK or WDW makes things worse.

I can see how it makes people more stressed out, but I think that comes from the opportunity to plan and maximize. Sea World and US don't really give you that option -- you're there, you get in line, you wait, you ride or watch, and you leave. But you can do that at Disney, too. It's just that Disney gives you the option of being more efficient.

But only if you choose, and I think that's something that really gets left out. You can choose not to book early FPs, choose not to make ADRs, choose to miss a show or two and still have a good time. It's in the opportunity to plan that stress arises, but that's totally within our control.

Or at least that's what i'm telling myself next time.

 

[Huff]

The other parks generally do not require such planning. It is the massive crowds at Disney you must compete with that forces you to have to plan everything or miss out. Not the case at the other parks.

 

[Willow1213]

To me, it's the fact that Disney almost forces it down your throat to plan, plan, plan. Want to eat breakfast with Cinderella and friends in the castle? Better make a reservation 6 months in advance! Want to ride 7DMT with your family of 4? Book that 60 days out, and you better know the day and time you want to be there.

It's time they (Disney) dial down the super advanced planning. I would be ok with booking FP 14 days out. 7 days for non resort guests. Dining, maybe the same 14 days. Or 30 max. There is no advantage to the super long lead time, except time to think, stress, change, and rechange your plans.

 

[Allison]

No, I don't go crazy planning other vacations like that and my vacations certainly aren't ruined.

 

[whiporee]

To me, it's the fact that Disney almost forces it down your throat to plan, plan, plan. Want to eat breakfast with Cinderella and friends in the castle? Better make a reservation 6 months in advance! Want to ride 7DMT with your family of 4? Book that 60 days out, and you better know the day and time you want to be there.

It's time they (Disney) dial down the super advanced planning. I would be ok with booking FP 14 days out. 7 days for non resort guests. Dining, maybe the same 14 days. Or 30 max. There is no advantage to the super long lead time, except time to think, stress, change, and rechange your plans.

But to be fair, the other places don't have anything like character meals, do they? I don't think there's a breakfast with Homer or lunch with Beatrix option at US, and I don't think Shamu's very good at signing autographs at dinner. And at those places, if you want to get to lines faster, you have to pay a bunch of money.

I think the long reservation system has been created by the guests, not the other way around. And I think that Disney does it to allow folks who are staying on site the option of bailing without consequence if they can't get what they want. And the option for regular lines -- like every other theme park in the known universe -- is still there. Your family of four can go on the mine train, they'll just have to wait in line. Like they would anywhere else.

One of the interesting things about Disney in the last two decades is this idea that people shouldn't have to wait in lines while they are there. At any other theme or amusement park, lines are a given. But at Disney, people think they are an abomination, and that creates ideas -- like the poster I quoted said -- that if you don't have a FP for something, you're out of luck for it. That's not true. you just have to wait. But waiting in line for rides is the standard almost anywhere. And maybe that's because when I was a kid at Disney there were no fastpasses, Space Mountain was always 90 minutes, so was Pirates and Haunted Mansion and even Small World. If you went to Disney, you waited in line; it was what you do. And the lines at Disney, at least, are indoors, and lots of times they are kind of interesting.

So I see your point, I just don't know how it could be avoided. Imagine if you had booked your room and you were past the cancellation period, and THEN you found out you couldn't get the round table or Be Our Guests or any of the places you wanted to dine. You'd be stuck and angry. So while I understand the frustration of locking in that far out, imagine how maddening it would be to have your money be hard, and not get what you wanted.

 

[mom2rtk]

Heck, I don't even go crazy planning every last detail when I go to Disney. But then we go to DLR instead of WDW.........

Touring plans make me twitchy.

 

[redsbe]

To me, it's the fact that Disney almost forces it down your throat to plan, plan, plan. Want to eat breakfast with Cinderella and friends in the castle? Better make a reservation 6 months in advance! Want to ride 7DMT with your family of 4? Book that 60 days out, and you better know the day and time you want to be there.

It's time they (Disney) dial down the super advanced planning. I would be ok with booking FP 14 days out. 7 days for non resort guests. Dining, maybe the same 14 days. Or 30 max. There is no advantage to the super long lead time, except time to think, stress, change, and rechange your plans.

Its all about crowds, crowds, crowds....WDW has created these advance planning options to allow you (and them) to plan around crowds and lines. Visitors to WDW complained about long lines and crowds so WDW responded with these tools. WDW is not going to dial down the advance planning as many visitors asked for assistance and they are using them. They are given advantage to those guests who pay more to stay on site and those who book early and in advance. Nothing is forced on anyone, as plenty of other ways to best manage crowds and lines (or simply accept crowds and lines) without using these tools. Supply (limited times/spaces/seats) and Demand (increasing number of visitors) simply at play here. And that simply is not the case for many other tourist locations or theme/amusement parks.

 

[SCSteve]

I really enjoy Seaworld. Its a "vacation from the crowds" while on vacation....

 

[PollyannaMom]

It's in the opportunity to plan that stress arises...

That is SO true!! The more options we have (and the more we think about them) the more pressure there is to choose "correctly" and the less happy we are with our choices in the end.

I think this book is great if anyone is interested:
https://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choi...TDGGVU?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect

One of the interesting things about Disney in the last two decades is this idea that people shouldn't have to wait in lines while they are there. At any other theme or amusement park, lines are a given. But at Disney, people think they are an abomination...

Another good point! And not just at Disney. - I think people are far less patient in general than they used to be. We're just so used to everything being instantly available.

 

[fla4fun]

So my question is--do you go crazy trying to plan every last detail at places other than disney ahead of time? It should be easy. show up at sea world and have fun. But--Disney has taught me the urgency of having a plan. Otherwise--vacation ruined. Or at least, thats what I believed while stressing out over my fastpasses this morning, and getting frustrated that there are as many tier 1 options as tier 2 options at Epcot these days. Seriously, can't we even move living with the land back to tier 2? Or Mission Space?

Two things jumped out at me from your original post - that the reason for your trip is your daughter's gymnastic tournament, and that you visit Disney World a couple times each year. That alone should alleviate your stress level, because if you miss something on this trip, you can catch it another time. No matter how much you plan, you will never plan the "perfect" vacation. You can plan so you have a good vacation, so you get to ride your favorite rides, or for that one special meal - but even if you were able to plan everything perfectly right down to the last moment - life has a habit of getting in the way. Plan what you can, and don't stress the rest.

Good luck to your daughter in the tournament!