Why dont people plan?

[MickeyMinnieMom]

We just have to agree to disagree. It is okay. We do not have to, right?

 

[nicolebridget22]

My boss is going mid-August and asked me for tips. I told him:

1) Know that it will be surface of the sun hot & humid
2) Know that it may be crowded
3) Know that you will need a reservation for any table service
4) Make use of the Fastpass system

He said the last time he had been was 10 year ago or so and he was surprised that he would have to make a reservations even just for 3 people. I think he expected a more relaxed touring schedule. I'm glad I was able to warn him a little, I really want him and his family to have a great time! I don't want them to be dying of heat, standing in long lines, and only eating hot dogs all week...

 

[21stamps]

We just have to agree to disagree. It is okay. We do not have to, right?
I am a helpful person and very giving by nature. It would make sense that I hold the thoughts I do about it because that fits my personality.

They work for Disney. They are the company they represent. It should be there job, in my opinion. If people do not realize that Disney vacationing requires more planning than any other trip (just about), how would they know they need a TA or guidebook? I have been on many cruises, visits outside of the country, Cabo, etc and none of them required anything other than me reading up on the place I was staying, itinerary and calling somewhere to book it. (15 - 30 minutes of my time) I have never used a TA other than Costco to get a stateroom credit. Same amount of money for a vacation, but the requirements for planning are nowhere near the same level. Disney is a different animal when it comes to vacations and I think the first time guest, unless they have been advised by somebody, has no idea what to expect.

The commercials lead us to think the characters come to us, clouds are in the shape of pirate ships, all CMs are there to accommodate the guests every demand and that it never rains on vacation. I blame Disney. LOL

But in reality all commercials do this.

2 days ago my 6 year old says -

"Mommy I have to tell you something so cool!"

Me- "ok what is it?"

Him- "Well, you know how you're always doing exercises at home?"

"Yes"

"Well there is a place where you go in, exercise for 2 MINUTES, and when you come out you're skinny and have big muscles!!!!"

(Me laughing) "Awesome, where did you see that?"

"A commercial. I just thought you would like to know so you can go there and come out skinny with big muscles."

I think he came up with the "2 minutes" part on his own.lol

The point is- commercials are an amplified version of real life, trying to sell their product. Most people do/should know the difference.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But in reality all commercials do this.

2 days ago my 6 year old says -

"Mommy I have to tell you something so cool!"

Me- "ok what is it?"

Him- "Well, you know how you're always doing exercises at home?"

"Yes"

"Well there is a place where you go in, exercise for 2 MINUTES, and when you come out you're skinny and have big muscles!!!!"

(Me laughing) "Awesome, where did you see that?"

"A commercial. I just thought you would like to know so you can go there and come out skinny with big muscles."

I think he came up with the "2 minutes" part on his own.lol

The point is- commercials are an amplified version of real life, trying to sell their product. Most people do/should know the difference.

I completely agree.

The only one that I have real understanding of how confused someone might be when comparing the commercials to how WDW ends up being is the showing of characters out and about..that did used to be the case. It was a lot easier in the past to get a character's autograph. Now I absolutely understand why they went to exclusively having meet and greets for that one on one time and autograph for the characters but I can understand how a person who A) hasn't been to disney in forever and thinks the characters still run around and/or B) who exclusively looks at the commercials for their basis on how that process will work. In both these cases I'm assuming the person didn't do any other research at all.

I honestly can't remember but do the vacation planning videos talk about meet and greets at all or something alluding to a process like meet and greets?

 

[Lothlórien]

But in reality all commercials do this.

2 days ago my 6 year old says -

"Mommy I have to tell you something so cool!"

Me- "ok what is it?"

Him- "Well, you know how you're always doing exercises at home?"

"Yes"

"Well there is a place where you go in, exercise for 2 MINUTES, and when you come out you're skinny and have big muscles!!!!"

(Me laughing) "Awesome, where did you see that?"

"A commercial. I just thought you would like to know so you can go there and come out skinny with big muscles."

I think he came up with the "2 minutes" part on his own.lol

The point is- commercials are an amplified version of real life, trying to sell their product. Most people do/should know the difference.

Okay seriously - the last line of my post was totally tongue in cheek. I cannot believe anybody would think that was to be taken seriously. ... unless they are just looking for an argument?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Okay seriously - the last line of my post was totally tongue in cheek. I cannot believe anybody would think that was to be taken seriously. ... unless they are just looking for an argument?

I don't think the poster was looking for an argument (at least it didn't seem that way to me) but other people in this thread and other threads have def. pointed the finger at Disney for showing commercials that depict rainbows and sunshine in regards to people's expectation of what WDW is.

I'm certaintly not trying to create an argument though by even commenting regarding the commercials just being in agreement (except for the character part that I mentioned in my post) regarding viewing commercials in the literal "this is exactly how the vacation will be" viewpoint.

 

[mymartianromance]

This was a senior trip with my terrible planning friend. We were told back in October/November to plan out eating places. She acted like we were just going to do QS the entire time. Nope, less than a week before we were due to leave, she decides she wants BOG. I basically gave her a look like you know the restaurant had been fully booked for months? Don't worry there's more to the ADR sega. When we arrived, while we're on the bus to either magic kingdom or Pop, she asks me if there's any opening times around dinner time by Adventureland, I gave her a few times and she didn't like any of the choices because they were too early or too late. We wind up doing QS the entire time.
Then, there's stories about our park planning. Departure day we were in MK. We got in the park at 9:15. So, we had a FP activate for Haunted Mansion at that time. So we still hadn't rode Space Mountain and I made a comment on the bus that we should hit there first then head over to HM. Nope, rather than hit SM while the lines were under 30 mins. We gotta catch our FP for Haunted Mansion, disregarding my statement. Ok, so then after we rode HM we walked over Tomorrowland, SM line still wasn't long probably 45 mins at most. Both her and the other kid we were with needed to buy lightsabers at the Stitch giftshop (I'm pretty sure Toys R Us sells those same exact ones, just pre-assembled). So we probably spent a good hour in there. After we were done there, then we had a FP activate for BTMRR, so we had to walk over there and both line were outside of the line, so we probably waited for about 10-15 minutes. Then we had to walk back to TL for check in at Terrance. We had a FP for Buzz Lightyear also go on. She wanted lunch, so we had to walk to Pinocchio's, and the line was about an hour wait. So the FP for Buzz expired, and SM had a 120 minute wait at this point. She was determined to do both still in 2 hours, we did neither. Frankly, by the way the trip went its amazing we didn't have to bring me back to Jersey in handcuffs because there were several instances were I was ready to kill her. It probably didn't help matters that since she had been there and us other two hadn't the teachers put her in charge of the group.
So yeah, I planned while the person actually in charge of the group wanted to do things her way, not more efficient way I had planned out.

 

[21stamps]

I completely agree.

The only one that I have real understanding of how confused someone might be when comparing the commercials to how WDW ends up being is the showing of characters out and about..that did used to be the case. It was a lot easier in the past to get a character's autograph. Now I absolutely understand why they went to exclusively having meet and greets for that one on one time and autograph for the characters but I can understand how a person who A) hasn't been to disney in forever and thinks the characters still run around and/or B) who exclusively looks at the commercials for their basis on how that process will work. In both these cases I'm assuming the person didn't do any other research at all.

I honestly can't remember but do the vacation planning videos talk about meet and greets at all or something alluding to a process like meet and greets?

I haven't watched any of the videos for WDW or DCL, so I'm not sure. But yes, if you haven't been in a long time, or ever, then that part could get tricky. They do list the meet and greets on the website though.

Okay seriously - the last line of my post was totally tongue in cheek. I cannot believe anybody would think that was to be taken seriously. ... unless they are just looking for an argument?

I wasn't looking for an argument at all. The commercials have been mentioned several times in this thread, and I just thought that story was relevant - because my child took a commercial as a factual experience, not realizing that there is more to it.

 

[jtdl]

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.

I currently have the 2016 Unofficial Guide and 2016 Fodors guidebook on my desk that I checked out from the local library! From what I can gather 2017 editions aren't out yet so can't get much more up to date.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I currently have the 2016 Unofficial Guide and 2016 Fodors guidebook on my desk that I checked out from the local library! From what I can gather 2017 editions aren't out yet so can't get much more up to date.

I love UG!! Back when there were a lot fewer resources and I was planning our first family trip, this was pretty much all I needed!!

 

[21stamps]

I currently have the 2016 Unofficial Guide and 2016 Fodors guidebook on my desk that I checked out from the local library! From what I can gather 2017 editions aren't out yet so can't get much more up to date.

Totally off subject- but cheers to you for supporting your local library! We love ours! Yay for "real" books!!!!!!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Okay seriously - the last line of my post was totally tongue in cheek. I cannot believe anybody would think that was to be taken seriously. ... unless they are just looking for an argument?

I understood your post, but actually, Disney characters DO (sometimes) walk up to guests as depicted in the commercial! So do many non-WDW characters.

My family has experienced many wandering/minimal wait characters over the years. If they are depicted in the ad that way, then Disney must offer them as depicted at least some of the time. False advertising is false advertising.

Outside of WDW, non-line characters are the norm. I've seen many in the past year, without even trying.

I'm not saying WDW should eliminate all character queues, clearly Elsa requires a multi-room indoor location to meet demand, but it shouldn't be legal for Disney to advertise something they don't offer. I have a great many pictures of us with characters over the past ten years. Generally speaking, we didn't wait (more than 3 families) to pose with any of them.

Guests aren't dumb for expecting the kind of service WDW advertises.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I understood your post, but actually, Disney characters DO (sometimes) walk up to guests as depicted in the commercial! So do many non-WDW characters.

My family has experienced many wandering/minimal wait characters over the years. If they are depicted in the ad that way, then Disney must offer them as depicted at least some of the time. False advertising is false advertising.

Outside of WDW, non-line characters are the norm. I've seen many in the past year, without even trying.

I'm not saying WDW should eliminate all character queues, clearly Elsa requires a multi-room indoor location to meet demand, but it shouldn't be legal for Disney to advertise something they don't offer. I have a great many pictures of us with characters over the past ten years. Generally speaking, we didn't wait (more than 3 families) to pose with any of them.

Guests aren't dumb for expecting the kind of service WDW advertises.

Just curious, what surprise/wandering characters have you met? I have personally never seen a character wandering.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I understood your post, but actually, Disney characters DO (sometimes) walk up to guests as depicted in the commercial! So do many non-WDW characters. My family has experienced many wandering/minimal wait characters over the years. If they are depicted in the ad that way, then Disney must offer them as depicted at least some of the time. False advertising is false advertising.

I remember the characters being out and about but that was like in 1999 I have autographs from that trip for sure. I don't remember (but that doesn't mean it isn't true) characters wandering when I went in 2004.

FWIW Universal Orlando depicts Diagon Alley with the family for the commercial plus a few random people...majority of people will tell you Diagon Alley almost always is packed.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

That last company I talked about we had "paperless billing" AND "paperless documents". Many people just said "Paperless" but they were two separate things. People would complain that they were getting insurance documents such as non-premium related changes to their policies when they had signed up for "Paperless". Well usually they were just "paperless billing". And unfortunately there were phone employees who def. didn't get the difference and couldn't help the person get enrolled in both "paperless billing" and "paperless documents". That was something caused by the company deciding to name the two things "billing" and "statements" with the leading word "paperless"; it opened up to confusion just like your Contemporary issue.

Really, that is very confusing. I can understand why customers find that frustrating.

Personally, I'm totally fed up with this kind of double speak and confusing word play. It is exhausting trying to keep up with all of it, when almost every company does it.

I think we deserve better.

Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder to find businesses that are responsible and offer quality guest services.

I've been a loyal WDW customer for many years, because Disney used to provide a haven from that kind of nonsense. You might say they provided a vacation from that kind of nonsense.

 

[jtdl]

I currently have the 2016 Unofficial Guide and 2016 Fodors guidebook on my desk that I checked out from the local library! From what I can gather 2017 editions aren't out yet so can't get much more up to date.

Totally off subject- but cheers to you for supporting your local library! We love ours! Yay for "real" books!!!!!!

Actually it wasn't totally off subject as I had quoted and replied to an earlier post that said people shouldn't be told to check out books from the library as they would be too old - had you looked up a couple more threads

 

[Iowamomof4]

Actually it wasn't totally off subject as I had quoted and replied to an earlier post that said people shouldn't be told to check out books from the library as they would be too old - had you looked up a couple more threads

I need to go back and see if I can find that post so I can edit it. Many people have called me out for my erroneous information. MY old library was in a small town and didn't have a big budget. If they had travel books, they would have been 10 years old unless someone had donated a newer edition. I apologize for not realizing so many libraries do keep newer editions of these sorts of books. I'll see if I can find that post so I quit getting quoted.

 

[21stamps]

Actually it wasn't totally off subject as I had quoted and replied to an earlier post that said people shouldn't be told to check out books from the library as they would be too old - had you looked up a couple more threads

Ha ha I know! I meant my comment was "off subject"!

Our libraries are wonderful here! They have an area called "maker space" where you can design something, print it in 3D, etc, as well as wonderful books. I'm a book lover, real old fashioned books- I can spend an entire day at B&N, hours in a library, and was very sad when Borders closed, I'd hate if libraries closed as well. So your comment made me happy to see that others still go to the library as well

ETA- I don't know how or why my comments are being read as 'argumentative' at all. They certainly aren't meant to be translated in that manner.

 

[21stamps]

Just curious, what surprise/wandering characters have you met? I have personally never seen a character wandering.

I have seen them walking from one place to another, but have never seen one stop, they are always surrounded by other employees. I never really paid attention on the adult trips, but with my niece and nephew previously, and then last year with my son- I noticed that kids try to run up to them, but are told that "Pooh is going to get honey" etc. and they can't stop.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I have seen them walking from one place to another, but have never seen one stop, they are always surrounded by other employees. I never really paid attention on the adult trips, but with my niece and nephew previously, and then last year with my son- I noticed that kids try to run up to them, but are told that "Pooh is going to get honey" etc. and they can't stop.

This is exactly what I've experienced, which is why I'm curious what the pp has experienced that is different.