WDW Veteran Feeling Like a Rookie!

[goofy4prez]

I was a late bloomer to Disney and didn't go until I was 44 years old in 2008 with my wife and at that time 10-year-old daughter. But since 2008 I have been there 8 times with our last visit in 2019 which included our first Disney Cruise. I got pretty good at making plans, booking ADRs, events, planning out FP+'s, and even helping others with their Disney plans. It all started when I discovered the DIS and then surfed so many other advice sites and forums.

Now I have to admit with all that is going on since Covid became the new norm in our lives (I'm typing this now while being covid positive and vaccinated), I feel like an old dog trying to learn new tricks. I just have not followed things like I used to do. And with our first trip back to WDW coming up in February 2022 I sure am feeling like a rookie all over again. 60 days instead of 180. No Magical Express. New fireworks displays. Genie+, Individual Lightning Lane, pay to ride, restaurants closed, and etc. Wow... In the words of Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta's break-out role in 1975), "I'm So Confused." I guess I have 5 more days of quarantine to catch up with my reading and surfing to get back up to speed with things.

 

[SL6827]

I feel ya.

 

[Tom_E_D]

I guess I have 5 more days of quarantine to catch up with my reading and surfing to get back up to speed with things.

And then five days after that (on the 19th), Genie, Genie+, and the Individual Lightning Lane Selections will start and we'll all have to figure it out all over again.

 

[Marionnette]

After the last 18 months of constant changes, I think we all feel like rookies.

 

[EpcotPhoenician]

Don't feel bad.

I live on this board, watch vloggers/live streams, read all the latest news... here now and I still feel lost. Luckily, I depart the day Genie Plus launches. One less thing to feel lost about.

 

[qv09vvp]

I am right there with you. Lol. Mickey literally keeps moving the cheese ! I'm glad to have some time to study the genie stuff before our trip. I really don't know how an average visitor can handle on this off their look nice in a lifetime trip.

 

[5bound4wdw]

SAME!
Friends of mine are going to WDW this year and were asking for advice from me since they know we are huge WDW fans. Their trip is in February. Our trip is in June. I laughed and said, I'm going to be coming to you for advice for our trip!
Crazy!

 

[Katie Dawn]

Don't feel bad.

I live on this board, watch vloggers/live streams, read all the latest news... here now and I still feel lost. Luckily, I depart the day Genie Plus launches. One less thing to feel lost about.

Yes, I watch (well, mostly listen to) Disney-centric YouTube channels while I'm cleaning the house and whatnot. But it's not like I've been sitting and taking notes of every change as it's gone along. Our ADR date is this week so I was working on our "wish list" yesterday, and I realized that I don't really have a full grasp of which restaurants are open right now, which might be open by the time we're there, which are no longer serving breakfast, which have changed to prix fix, etc. I ended up using Disney's website to sort it out, which is unusual for me.

So, I'm with you. Hope you're having a great trip regardless!
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Mickey literally keeps moving the cheese !

I see what you did there.

 

[JCornell]

The great equalizer is that it's new to everyone. I'm looking forward to just feeling out Genie without the paid extras before I even bother with those. We figure that we've been enough times and will be back so nothing is a can't miss. Our next trip is also holiday time so we'll be exploring the decorations and not totally focused on rides so that helps.