Why dont people plan?

[Nancyg56]

I love Disney planning and would be happy to pour over it with anyone to help them out. But it only takes a few words for most to feel you are crazy-obsessed and to glaze-over.

People have NO idea - or think the fact they visited 20+ years ago when they were a kid, makes the planning easy today.... sigh.

Why do I worry so much for others' 'good time' and 'value for money spent' LOL.

Or they think that having visited DLR they are good to go in WDW> No.

My brother is that guy. He visits DLR once in a while when he visits his DD in Cali. OMG! If he tells me one more time that they are basically the same when HS memory of WDW is over 30 years old, I think I will scream. I told him one time these wer two very different vacations, and he laughed...you I know, because he took the kids to WDW when they were little so knows. Okay.

 

[Nancyg56]

When people spend $5k+ on their vacation, they don't want "SOMEWHERE" to eat. They want the perfect place to eat.



And yet, DLR has a bigger supply/demand gap and yet doesn't have these same issues.

I am one of those people. I like to know I can eat whee I want to eat, rather then where is open to eat.

I wonder if part of the reason DLR is not as frenzied in regards to meals is because of the location. Most guests stay "offsite" there so they are in and out of the parks in a different manner than WDW. I know when we visited we tended to dine outside of Disneyland, and think that many others do as well.

 

[IndianaRRT]

Taking off work to plan where you are going to eat in six months means that vacation is too much work.

I completely understand your viewpoint. And I wouldn't recommend that for everyone. But I love it, and I put that level of planning into other vacations as well.

 

[GPC0321]

When people spend $5k+ on their vacation, they don't want "SOMEWHERE" to eat. They want the perfect place to eat.

There is no "perfect place to eat". If you're hungry and you check MDE and a place sounds good, THAT'S the perfect place to eat. Deciding 6 months in advance that Be Our Guest at 6:10pm on the third day of your trip is going to be the "perfect place to eat" is just setting yourself up to be disappointed. You and your family may be tired, hot, not that hungry, etc. when that time rolls around. I think that accounts for a lot of the criticism of the WDW restaurants. People are forcing themselves to eat when they may not really be hungry or in the mood for that kind of food. Seemed like a good idea 6 months ago, but the reality of it when there is different. In contrast, when you're actually hungry, you can browse the options on MDE to see what's available, and something will sound good because you're hungry. That meal will likely be very satisfying.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I am one of those people. I like to know I can eat whee I want to eat, rather then where is open to eat.

I wonder if part of the reason DLR is not as frenzied in regards to meals is because of the location. Most guests stay "offsite" there so they are in and out of the parks in a different manner than WDW. I know when we visited we tended to dine outside of Disneyland, and think that many others do as well.

We always stay offsite, but we eat onsite. The restaurants aren't empty..they're filling them every night (at least from what we have personally seen). You just don't have to book it so far in advance. Blue Bayou is the only one where a walk up can be difficult to get (again, in our experience).

Many do eat outside the parks - including at DTD - I'm not debating that. Just pointing out that it isn't like the restaurants are empty either.

 

[jillyh]

I completely understand your viewpoint. And I wouldn't recommend that for everyone. But I love it, and I put that level of planning into other vacations as well.

I totally agree! I put the same amount of planning into all of our vacations. For me it's part of the fun and anticipation! Every trip my husband tells me how much he appreciates my planning as he knows we get a lot more done, and see things we wouldn't have known about had I not planned in advance.

I totally disagree with PP. If I know I have an ADR for a "perfect place to eat" then I don't eat a snack right before hand, and I look forward to the meal, and generally enjoy it greatly! I would be quite disappointed if I got there and was unable to eat where I wanted.

 

[RLGNC]

There is no "perfect place to eat". If you're hungry and you check MDE and a place sounds good, THAT'S the perfect place to eat. Deciding 6 months in advance that Be Our Guest at 6:10pm on the third day of your trip is going to be the "perfect place to eat" is just setting yourself up to be disappointed. You and your family may be tired, hot, not that hungry, etc. when that time rolls around. I think that accounts for a lot of the criticism of the WDW restaurants. People are forcing themselves to eat when they may not really be hungry or in the mood for that kind of food. Seemed like a good idea 6 months ago, but the reality of it when there is different. In contrast, when you're actually hungry, you can browse the options on MDE to see what's available, and something will sound good because you're hungry. That meal will likely be very satisfying.

If that's the case, then you can just cancel the ADR and change your plans to whatever suits you at the moment. But, at least you have the option.

 

[Angel Ariel]

If that's the case, then you can just cancel the ADR and change your plans to whatever suits you at the moment. But, at least you have the option.

There;s now a $10 per person cancellation fee for cancelling reservations less than 24 hrs in advance. Still an option, yes, if you're willing to pay the fee.

 

[Vylette Rose]

I am not an over planner. For any vacation we take I plan as much as is needed. However I think there is a huge difference between wanting to plan for some of the vacation and being forced to plan for the entire vacation. And that is what Disney has done, forced you to plan, almost, every aspect of your vacation. And that takes all of the fun out of it. I don't want to have to worry about what I'm doing tomorrow, let alone 6 months from now. I plan my meals, and these are pretty much locked in, but my fast pass+ is done knowing that it may not even be used. I truly miss paper fast passes and the ability to decide at the bus stop that morning where we want to go.

 

[John Marecek]

No system is perfect, but the current set up works for our family. Like anywhere, you need to make advanced reservations way out if you want to eat at top restaurants. Rather do that than have to wait an hour or 2 for tables. Disney World is crowded, and they give me the opportunity to guarantee I will experience 3 top attractions per day. I can plan to hit the 2nd and 3rd tier attractions early or late to maximize our time in the parks.

It's easy to blame Disney, but everyone has access to the same things when you are on property. It's not Disney's fault. If we take a vacation to Destin, and I decide I want to play golf when I get there spring break week, but all the tee times and restaurant reservations are taken, it's not the resorts fault. It's mine for not taking the time to learn about where we were going before we arrived.

We were first timers in February, part of a convention so I had to plan all of it w/o a planner. I found this board, and podcast and other podcasts on my own. I'm not special. If you have the internet it's not hard to find help. The Disney community is beyond gracious and helpful. You all made our trip amazing.

 

[ngm]

I love the planning, but it is insane how much there is to do so far in advance. I'm not sure Disney helps anything - they sent me an email this week sending me recommendations for my trip for next week, which included things like CRT. Why even bother telling someone about CRT less than 10 days before their trip??!!

 

[Misha5454]

Many who live within driving distance don't plan. We sometimes go on the spur of the moment. If I am going for a week, I will plan. If I decide last minute I am going for a weekend, how do you expect me to plan? I live 150 miles away...2 hrs and 45 minutes. ..am I going to plan every trip 30 dsys out? No way

So true, I am 2 hours away and planned at the bare minimum. This trip was decided last minute 2 weeks out. Heck, every time, we go it's decided 1 to 2 weeks before arrival. We rarely have issues getting the good fast passes. If we don't we get in line right before the park closes and take advantage of EMH. The only thing I did was book fast passes 2 weeks ago and booked one ADR breakfast. My kids are breakfast lovers and they love stuffing their faces with unlimited Mickey waffles. Other than that we will wing the rest of the trip. We are passholders and visit every couple of months. So if a line is long we move on and don't worry about it. There's always next time. We go to the parks mostly in the late afternoon and evenings when people are starting to leave as well. We were able to get fast passes for Soarin and JB, Everest at night and the safari all planned within the last 2 weeks. We are going in 3 days.

 

[GPC0321]

There;s now a $10 per person cancellation fee for cancelling reservations less than 24 hrs in advance. Still an option, yes, if you're willing to pay the fee.

Exactly. I saw a family on the bus one late afternoon leaving MK. The father was obviously tired and not in the best mood, the kids were zombies. Apparently they had a dinner ADR that evening, and the dad expressed that he had no desire to go and just wanted to find something quick at the resort. Kids seemed to think this was a good idea. This irritated the mom who reminded him that they had to pay a no-show fee, and it would be $50 down the drain. Dad said he didn't care.

I would imagine that type of scenario happens often, and not only wastes people's money, but also causes tension in families and wrecks the "magical time" for at least a little while.

But, I understand not everyone is the same. I like the freedom. And I kind of like finding last minute surprises and deals. So if I check MDE an hour before we want to eat and we find a great restaurant with availability, that would be fun to me. I tend to think the places that book up far in advance are probably over-hyped and not that much better than other places anyway.

At 9:30 this morning I saw availability for 4 for a 12 noon lunch at CRT.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I think the cost of a Disney trip is enough that it really forces most people to plan pretty far in advance. At least I know we have to save for several months to be able to afford it.

 

[bumbershoot]

I dont mean that in a negative way. I just felt bad for people that they spent all this money and dont really know whats going on.

I agree.

My last visit, also my 1st visit, I had no clue. I thought myself prepared with a second-hand Unofficial Guide that was maybe a year or two old. How much could change in a couple years? Everything. Oh man, I was looking for things that were long gone.

I did that to myself in '95 on a trip to Ireland.

I never understand this. I guess some people do go just for the day (I had a friend do it and I had to explain everything through FP message) but if you stay onsite Disney emails and sends out letters all about planning and what to do and what to see. Those are the ones I will never understand when they are clueless.

Exactly. Emails, letters, things on the website, etc. You have to willfully ignore everything they send you in order to not know that you should plan some stuff out and read some info.

I often see even experienced wdw travelers recommend checking out a guide book from the library! I can only imagine how old those must be.

Actually if you have a good library they can have the most up to date guidebooks out! Both library systems I use have very up to date travel sections; the only issue is if someone else has checked it out.

When I went to Ireland I used my university library's travel section, and it was very old. That's what taught me. And anyone who recommends the library generally says "go to the library and check out the most recently published guidebook."

Yes, but to be fair, this is often a "you don't know what you don't know" kind of thing.

If staying onsite there's no way to not know unless you're ignoring the info sent to you.

How are people supposed to know that they need to do that much advance planning? They see the commercials for Disney World, they think - that sounds like fun, and they plan a trip to go. They might hear "you can start making reservations X days in advance", and they get info from Disney about how soon they can do stuff, but they're not told "if you don't plan this way in advance you won't be able to do it without a long wait," or if they are, they think "well, maybe neurotic people plan way in advance like that."

The very fact that their advertising info and their welcome info tells you to plan, when it shouldn't say anything of the sort if they are trying to "sell" themselves, tells me "I should pay attention".

I can imagine if i were a family of four who just dropped 6 grand on a vacation WITH a meal plan...then thought I was doing the right thing a few weeks out and going on line to make reservations, only to find out i couldnt get in anywhere i wanted, that I would be completely pissed off, and feel like i got ripped off...

Hopefully, though, then they would think back to the Incredibles vacation packet, to the emails, etc etc, and realize that I had goofed up by not reading them...

but even then read the park map

Oh if only people would read the park maps. If they'd have read those they would have seen the FP info, and maybe we wouldn't have FP+ b/c people could have understood FP!

we are talking about folks who may be going for the first time and would behave like a reasonable person would...

I have two family groups who recently made their first trips to WDW. I have another set that recently went back for the first time in ages.

Both planned 6 months out. Why? Because that's what the emails and letters *told them to do*. They got their ADRs, their tours, their FP+s, etc, all when they were supposed to, because they read the info that was sent to them. They are all reasonable people BUT are not message board people. And yet they did it all like WDW tells us to do it.

 

[bumbershoot]

And what's wrong with that? One person's "must see" is another person's "couldn't care less." I've been to WDW plenty of times and never knew about those events until I heard them mentioned here. If I happen to catch them, fine, but I'm not going out of my way to plan for them.

But the person didn't even know about those events. It's worth knowing about them, so you can decide if they are "must sees" for you.

To be fair...sometimes you overhear folks who "don't know" and they might be me and DH just goofing around. Like when we're in the monorail line talking about getting off at Hogwarts...

Naughty.

Because when I was a kid I used to go into travel agencies and lie, telling them we were planning a Disney trip and my mum had asked me to pick up some brochures. I always got the BEST books that way (bit fat ones intended for serious trip planning), and I used to read them cover to cover, knowing perfectly well that we were never going to go to Disney. So, the 2005 trip was the fulfillment of a childhood wish, and I just wanted to spend some time before the trip dreaming again, like I used to when I was a kid.

You and I might have some differences, but wow are we the same here. I used to send away for cruise brochures in the 70s and early 80s. And I would dream and dream...

About 10 years ago, myself, DH and 2 friends traveled to 4 cities in Europe. Each of us was "assigned" a city. 3 of us researched our cities (London, Paris, and Vienna) well and we had a great time! We saw landmarks and touristy things in each city, had dinners at unique restaurants, visited museums... One of our friends flaked and did not plan for his city (Venice) and we didn't see squat. I'm not saying we had a bad time, but the only landmark we saw was St. Marks square. There were so many things we missed all because of poor/no planning.

I hurt for your Venice day 10 years ago.

A good Disney certified travel agent is worth their weight in gold!

If you can find one that does things and tells people things. The person you were responding to was differentiating between types of TAs.

I can't tell you how many times people have ask just plain stupid questions last minute. Last December I had my dad contact me and ask me the park hours for the following week because one of his employees was taking his family. This was for Christmas week!!! I asked if they made their FP reservations he said they had bought vip passes and they didn't need those. I was floored there are not such things as vip passes ( I know they didn't book the tour !). I told him there is is not such thing and that they really should go research and get the stuff together now because chances are they just wasted their money and that if they don't get the at RD they might not even get in the parks.

Did you ever figure out what the VIP passes were all about?

 

[bumbershoot]

It's not fun for me!! I'm getting gray hair from everything I'm saving and writing, and trying to remember!lol
But I'm doing it!! So hopefully this trip will be my most organized and efficient use of time Disney trip ever!

Well, you're still very very new here. Relax a little bit. The planning stuff will go in waves, as will your enjoyment. You'll be OK. I see you just booked the tour. You might keep that, or maybe with more time you'll cancel it. Keep open to the ideas.

Yet we have always been able to get the ADRs we wanted. In fact in February 2015 I planned a trip 2 months in adavance for 16 people. I was able to get ADRs crowd levels that week were 8-10.

Lucky! There were two trips where I tried for BOG for months and I never did get it.

The attitude you exhibit in this post is really obnoxious. Laughing and sneering at people because they don't know something you know, or don't have time to plan? Not a good look.

The person didn't sneer, and my reading of their laughter was more of a desperate sort of sad laugh. But what they laughing about was specifically "I also love when people ask my advice they don't follow it and then they come back and say things like I don't know why you like Disney so much we waited in line forever."

The people ASK for advice, get it, don't follow it, and then try to somehow blame the person you're quoting. That isn't worth some sort of laugh?

Well, i'm not surprised people don't know there's so much planning involved. the commercials/ads, etc. don't lead you to think AT ALL that things would be that crowded. there are just pics of families skipping down main street with mickey with no one around.

People know that advertising isn't reality, right? I'm a little bit afraid that there might be people thinking that the parks will be lightly filled with actors and child models skipping around.

 

[eastendlights]

Taking off work to plan where you are going to eat in six months means that vacation is too much work.

Seriously, truer words were never spoken.

 

[ellie05]

Did you ever figure out what the VIP passes were all about?

I did find out it was some sort of promotion through their credit card that they bought the tickets. Now it was more of buy 3 days get 2 free for VIPs of Visa or whatever credit card they used. It absolutely didn't translate to any advantage in the parks at all just like I told them.

Lucky! There were two trips where I tried for BOG for months and I never did get it.

It is sometimes just a matter of luck. We were actually able to walk in for breakfast our last trip.
It is funny you mention the actors in our past 3 trips they were filming commercials and there was quite a few skipping around. I remember this one day that was really hot outside and they keep having to stop to apply more make up and clean the sweat . I might have to hire a crew our next Disney trip just so my hair looks somewhat manageable. Have you seen those commercials for dominican republic and other caribbean island were the beach is deserted. Yeah not deserted when you get there .

 

[bumbershoot]

The reason for all this change and the need for planning is 20million visitors to the Magic Kingdom alone. That is significantly more people than 16years ago.

And those lower numbers of people who loved winging it came home and told their friends about their awesome trip, and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and now EVERYONE is going to WDW and now one *has to* plan (even if you're planning to not plan).

To answer your question, a normal person would plan to book a dinner the day of the dinner, or maybe the day before. A normal person would never assume they need to book any dinner six months in advance unless they were going to one of maybe 25 or 30 restaurants in the country. The ADR situation at WDW is what it is, but it is not normal.

It is also not normal to compare having a meal at a theme park with getting tickets for the most in-demand Broadway show in recent history. Most people do not think of concert or show tickets as the same as a theme park meal. That is the weird thinking that comes with being "into" Disney World, it isn't normal thinking.

I don't think I think abnormally about travel. But when I see that a place opens reservations 180 days out I think "there's a reason for that; I should probably do that". Now, it's easy for us because we are vegetarian and therefore our choices are limited and it's pretty easy.

There are more people wanting to visit BOG on a given day than might see a show for Hamilton (unless I'm overcounting how many people can be seated in a whole day of BOG and undercounting how many people fit in the theater where it's showing), so the competition is more fierce. To me, it's going to be HARDER to get in for the meal. I mean, if I'm traveling for Hamilton, I won't make my plane reservations until I have that ticket.

It's counterintuitive actually, as a trip to an amusement park really shouldn't be hard to plan.

I disagree. I really don't like waiting in line for a 30 second roller coaster, and so I plan. I plan when going to our local park (Wild Waves) so that I don't have to wait for ages. I look at their website, I see if there are any venues where we might find something palatable. I see if they allow water or snacks. etc etc etc.

We didn't plan back in the early 80s for the then-Marriott's Great America, but that's because we went often and knew where everything was. And when you're going with fellow middle school buddies, waiting in lines isn't as awful as it feels when dealing with your own family.

If I left the planning to my husband, we would eat all counter meals and go on whatever rides we could manage to wait for. He just wouldn't plan. It isn't in his DNA. My son asked to see my plan and then said "I like this. All planned out. I hate standing around wondering what next. " almost cried!

We've gone through a process with that! First trip (day trip) to Disneyland I made a plan! I was teased mercilessly by my brother for it. I finally put it away and magically came up with the answer to "what do you want to do next?" We kept following my plan, but no one saw me reading my list. Second day trip was the same, though I never took the list out. I just was always the "hey we should do this next" person whenever someone tried to take out a map or stop in the middle of the "road". The next trips were mainly just with hubby and son, and they'd better not tease me even if they are thinking it in their heads. And finally they saw the difference between what happens when we wing it vs when we follow a basic plan. And they like the plan better. They don't like the process, but they like the result.

But OUR personalities don't mesh well with winging it. One or more of us generally has something in mind, and if that isn't discussed and somewhat planned for, if we happen to miss it, it's not good. We get too sad. So it's best that WE *do* plan to at least some extent.

Awwwww... I miss Mr. Toad's!!!!!! It was actually one of my favorites. I know that I'm probably in the minority there.

I don't think you're in the minority at all. Remember, they kept it at Disneyland. It's a "must do" for us every time.

Haha, we're "unplanners". We decide to go somewhere, book a place, do some minor searching on local attractions, but mostly just go. We wake up and see what we feel like doing. Drive and see what we find Needless to say, once I joined this forum, I had my eyes opened to the other side of vacation planning, wow. In all honesty, I'm not a fan. I prefer more relaxed, spur of the moment vacations, we both do. But, I'm willing to sacrifice that for Disney

As long as there are no complaints if something is missed, that works well! It's good to know your family's personality. For us, it's the opposite. It takes an amendment to the Constitution to get us to agree to wing it and to truly take what comes for that day. It's serious work to get our minds there. Or rather, it takes work to get our minds to be OK with what happens during that day. Hubby often wants to wing it; he just doesn't want to deal with the consequences of us not reading his mind and happening upon the thing he had in his mind but didn't want to communicate (b/c that would be "planning").