What to say when your friends ask....

[vicb]

Last night at dinner:
Friends- So how did you guys like Pandora at AK?
Us-Loved it, so amazing.
F- We're going to Florida and decided to visit AK for a day to see Pandora?
F- So how does that online Fast Pass thing work?
Us- Well you can make them 60 days out if you stay at a Disney resort, 30 days if not.
F- Is it hard to get a Pandora FP?
Us- Well there are actually two rides in Pandora and one is very hard to get.
Us- When are you guys going to Florida?
F- Friday
Us-This Friday?
F-Yes.



At that point my DH changed the subject.

They actually asked more questions about how long the wait would be to get on that ride and when we told them they should either arrive an hour before the park opened to position themselves to get on FoP or plan to stay till park closes, they informed us they usually arrive mid-morning from their condo and leave after dinner. That is actually when DH changed the subject. He was afraid I'd go bananas.

 

[Beer Me]

In all seriousness I would tell them to make FPs for non Pandora attractions. Then arrive about 45 minutes before the park opens and rope drop FoP then head straight to NRJ. It's completely doable if you can wake up early.

 

[CarolMN]

I'd just say that FoP is unbelievably popular and they should prepare for long waits if they want to experience it. Na'vi is also likely to have long waits mid-morning to just before park close. If they ask about FP+, I'd tell them it's almost certainly too late to get them for the Pandora attractions. Most are booked 60 days in advance.

 

[vicb]

It reminded me of the time when my bro-in-law told us how much they disliked Epcot because there were long lines for everything and you couldn't get into any of the sit down restaurants. Said it was a waste of $ to go there. We asked if they used any FP (this was back in the paper FP days) and they said "what's that?" Apparently they just wandered around Epcot frustrated all day

It still surprises me that people will just "show up" at WDW not having read or learned anything about how to navigate through the parks.

 

[ww52]

It still surprises me that people will just "show up" at WDW

It's not surprising to me. You have to know something is complex before you realize you have to plan for it. If someone never had been there and didn't' talk to people who had, how would they know?

Disney is great at advertising and enticing people to come - but there are no ads referring to how necessary advance planning is. You certainly don't see large crowds and long lines in the ads.

 

[shocker]

Some people just aren't planners, others are uber planners. Probably best to leave the subject, you gave them alternatives, they can take it or leave it. Many, many non-planners is what actually makes planning work so much better. Their showing up late & leaving early is what makes my early arrival & stay late strategy actually work. I'm under a/c napping while wait times are their longest & walkways are grid lock. (This is when you realize you'll never be able to go with others who aren't like-minded.)

I generally don't help others plan unless they ask me specifically. A first-timer friend came back saying 'you didn't tell us we weren't going to be able to eat.' They had been turned away from many restaurants as walkups. I told them 'they didn't ask about dining.' They've been back many times since, they are now uber planners & time ADR's around night shows (converted).

Another first-timer chaperoned a high school band trip over memorial weekend & thought she'd like to take her family back. I asked her not to judge WDW based on a high school trip/holiday weekend encounter (like the Epcot encounter described above.)

Sounds like you did well, coming back to the planners boards & all.

 

[ww52]

(This is when you realize you'll never be able to go with others who aren't like-minded.)

Of course that works both ways. We went about 20 years ago with another family who we were very close with (our kids were similar ages).

They were very casual vacationers and it was their first time. We had already been there as a family 4 times. We pushed them to get up early every day (this was before the FP days BTW).

Months later we found out they hated the vacation. Absolutely hated the "go go go" almost military style.

We vacationed with them several more times, but things like Hawaii and a cruise.

Then we went back to Disney with them about 10 years after the first time. We agreed to simply go at our own pace - we never met up at a park, only for dinner at night. Now - I know they waited in LOOONNNGG lines and saw very little. They got to AK when we were leaving. I think they waited over an hour for the safari ride.

And they tried to save money on tickets but somehow had no ticket one evening when we were going to see Illuminations. They decided they wanted to go and so they bought a one day ticket for each of 5 people - JUST for that.

Their choice. I know they have never been back there again. It simply doesn't work for them.

 

[MomOTwins]

The very first time we went to Disney world, it was just for a long weekend, and I knew next to nothing about planning. I ended up booking pretty much all of our meals and FPs the night before or same day using the app (which actually is quite an effective strategy, given a lot opens up due to the 24 hours cancellation policy). The problem is not everyone knows there are ways to do Disney world without planning in advance, as long as you know how to make plans same day. We have gotten same day FPs at tons of Tier one attractions just by using app refresh a lot

Remember, if your experience of theme parks is something like Six Flags, you don't realize there are ways to cut the line and sit-down restaurants that need reservations. I had a coworker who told me she saw the FP queues but thought you had to have a special paid ticket to use it. And while I have seen lots of people arguing with restaurant hosts about why there is no walkup availability at TS restaurants, I rarely see the cast members explaining their counter service options.

 

[loves to dive]

While FOP FPs are more difficult to get then most at the last minute, it's not impossible. I've gotten them the day before. The only thing you can do is give them options, we don't plan and make it just fine. We book FPs the morning of or while in line, we book ADRs the afternoon of and have had no problems getting anything other than the "must haves" which we don't actually care about. It is possible to go to WDW without being an uber planner and enjoy it, you just have to be prepared to possibly wait in lines or to not ride certain things. If you have never been, there is no way you can miss something you have never had so if you don't ride the "must do" ride or eat at the 'must do" place, you can't miss it. When asked I tell people the basics of FPs and ADRs, I also mention the crowds and that it's possible if they want to ride a ride they didn't make FPs for they might have to stand in line for a hour. I also tell first timers to not over plan, to just make their 3 FPs and a couple of ADRs and go with it from there. No one wants to be on a regimented schedule their first time and possibly miss those great spur of the moment experiences.

 

[vicb]

Disney is great at advertising and enticing people to come - but there are no ads referring to how necessary advance planning is. You certainly don't see large crowds and long lines in the ads.

True!