Why dont people plan?

[mickeyluv'r]

So again I ask, what would MK look like if everyone planned in advance?

Waits would magically disappear for all of us?

 

[ChloesDaddy]

So again I ask, what would MK look like if everyone planned in advance?

Waits would magically disappear for all of us?

Yup. Because only so many would get the things they want and the rest would give up and cancel their trip.

 

[aleksandr]

I see a difference between lack of planning, and general cluelessness.

Lack of planning is OK if is a conscious decision. As someone who visits the parks every year with a handicapped child, we do little to no planning. An ADR for a character breakfast is about it. I don't even bother to setup fast passes. Depending on how our son is feeling each day we may decide to switch which park we are going to at the last minute. We may get in to a park at noon instead of 9AM. We may leave for the day at 2PM and not return at night. There are just too many variables to even attempt to plan. Granted, the DAS makes it more convenient to not plan, but that option is obviously not open to everyone.

I still enjoy the overall ambiance of the parks. I don't mind if we don't go on many rides. Our lack of planning makes our Disney trips carefree and relaxing. I can't imagine sitting and looking at calendars, fiddling with that horrible mobile app to get fast passes, and running around a massive park like MK to get to ride times before they expire. That is just not my idea of fun.

Now, on the other hand, it seems what the OP is describing is more akin to not having a clue as to how things work. I see some of this every year and it baffles me. The most common thing I see are folks trying to go through the FastPass line w/o a FastPass. Those irk me just a little bit (but only a little bit, because hey, we are at Disney!) because it invariably takes time for the CM to explain the concept, all the while a queue starts forming behind them where there shouldn't be a queue.

On the other hand, some of the lack of planning could also be a mistake. Last month we got up early and went to the Polynesian for an ADR at O'hanas only to be turned away at the desk. Turns out I was a week early on my ADR No big deal and we went back the next week for the correct date.

 

[aleksandr]

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.

Hahah, we went to Universal for the first time in about 15 years this past April. I've never seen a place as jam-packed as the Harry Potter portions of the parks. And this is late April which is generally a quieter time at Disney. Most crowds at Disney parks were in the 5-6/10 range.

I couldn't believe the wall-to-wall crowds. You could barely move about. My son bought one of the interactive wands, but never even got a chance to use it because you couldn't even move around to get to the "magic" spots. There were times when the crowds just carried us forward. Forget about photo opportunities. And the difference between the Potter parts of the park and the non-Potter parts of the park were just night and day.

I don't believe we'll ever be going back to Universal. That was not an enjoyable experience at all.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Hahah, we went to Universal for the first time in about 15 years this past April. I've never seen a place as jam-packed as the Harry Potter portions of the parks. And this is late April which is generally a quieter time at Disney. Most crowds at Disney parks were in the 5-6/10 range.

I couldn't believe the wall-to-wall crowds. You could barely move about. My son bought one of the interactive wands, but never even got a chance to use it because you couldn't even move around to get to the "magic" spots. There were times when the crowds just carried us forward. Forget about photo opportunities. And the difference between the Potter parts of the park and the non-Potter parts of the park were just night and day.

I don't believe we'll ever be going back to Universal. That was not an enjoyable experience at all.

Last time I went was in 2011 so we haven't been able to experience Diagon Alley yet only Hogsmeade. Though generally people have said it's packed..but honestly part of that is due to A) the size of the section B) No exit..as far as I understand once you get to the back you have to turn around and go back the way you came. Hogsmeade is busy for sure but the layout is different.

Both Harry Potter areas will likely be busy for a long time coming. Especially if the new movie coming out late this year renews people's interest in immersing themselves in the whole world.

My point about the commercials is there are people who use them at their absolute "this is exactly what my vacation will be like". No amusement park/theme park is going to show a commecial with people standing in a long line. Also..do people really believe a person has magical fairy wings on their backs? Like I mentioned in my previous posts the only thing that I did understand was the characters being shown out and about.

 

[jennynoel]

I am a long time Disney planner but HATE Fastpass+. It only adds to my vacation planning stress - especially because I don't always have admission for everyone until close to our trip, and in addition we have local relatives who show up based on work schedules that are constantly changing. Using the old fastpass machines was so much better for the way I plan and travel. It's hard enough to figure out which parks for which days and to get ADRs that match, trying to get the right fastpasses on top of it is just too much.

 

[ponyboy]

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.

This is how I and most of my family think about the parades. I really just couldn't care less about them and I find them to be more of an annoyance than anything. My wife is about the only one who wants to watch them. The only thing I like about them is that it draws people away from the "important" stuff!

 

[Magpie]

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

I have!

Rafiki walked up behind my son once, followed him around mimicking him for a bit, and then tapped him on the shoulder. My poor boy, who'd been trying to figure out why everyone was laughing, just about jumped out of his shoes! That was at Rafiki's Animal Watch, a couple years back.

More recently (as of this past April, in fact!), Alice actually walked up between my husband and I, took both our arms in her's, and turned us around to pose for a photo. Then she complimented my dress! As it happens, we were standing right on her normal meet-and-greet spot in the UK (Epcot), but we didn't know that. She just decided to make us her first photo of the day.


Plus, there are stormtroopers out interacting with people in the streets of Hollywood Studios. And jawas inside the Launch Bay (I think that's what it's called).

Do the Citizens of Main Street count? They're always out in the Magic Kingdom. We've had fun interacting with them.

 

[cjparker0110]

He shakes his head every time and says "oh thats just what I want to do, eat a hamburger or chicken nuggets for a week and stand in lines

I would choose this over working for a week ANY TIME!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Last time I went was in 2011 so we haven't been able to experience Diagon Alley yet only Hogsmeade. Though generally people have said it's packed..but honestly part of that is due to A) the size of the section B) No exit..as far as I understand once you get to the back you have to turn around and go back the way you came. Hogsmeade is busy for sure but the layout is different.

Both Harry Potter areas will likely be busy for a long time coming. Especially if the new movie coming out late this year renews people's interest in immersing themselves in the whole world.

I want to say, HP is busy because it is AMAZING!

MK's 7D is popular, but it isn't an e-ride IMO.
The most recent MK e-ride was Splash, in 1992. If you really want to be kind, Pooh opened in 1999. Wishes dates to 2003. Anyone want to say Stitch (2004) is an e-ride? Little Mermaid (2012)?

Epcot's last e-ride was Soarin' in 2005.
HS has the new Star Wars stuff, not sure any of it = an e-ride. TSM dates to 2008, RCNC to 1999.
AK's Nemo musical dates to Jan 2007, and EE to 2006.

Since 2008, US has introduced: Gringots, Hogwart's Express, Olivanders, all of Diagon Alley, Transformers 3-D, Minion Mayhem, Rip Rockit, Simpsons, and Forbidden Journey, plus rethemed several attractions.

******
Diagon Alley actually has a separate exit. If you know the HP story, then you know why US had to make the entrance and exit discreet. The whole point is to leave muggle London for the secret Wizarding World, but alas, US hosts many Muggles.

The level of detail in DA is extraordinary.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I don't believe we'll ever be going back to Universal. That was not an enjoyable experience at all.

Sorry to hear you feel this way, but I have to defend US.

Doing magic with the wands is amazing. (and what a shame to spend the $ on something you didn't get to use!)

 

[MouseTeens]

We once gave away some paper fast passes to Toy Story to a family that strolled into DHS about noon and wandered over to ride Toy Story to find like a 120 minute wait. Their conversation was heartbreaking, the kids were so upset. Since we rode at rope drop we just gave them our fastpasses so they could ride. It was and is sad. No one wants to plan a vacation at this level but its necessary unfortunately.

 

[maxiesmom]

We once gave away some paper fast passes to Toy Story to a family that strolled into DHS about noon and wandered over to ride Toy Story to find like a 120 minute wait. Their conversation was heartbreaking, the kids were so upset. Since we rode at rope drop we just gave them our fastpasses so they could ride. It was and is sad. No one wants to plan a vacation at this level but its necessary unfortunately.

I'm not sure that knowing when the park opens is planning at some strange level. I can't think of any amusement park I would walk in to at noon and expect a hugely popular ride to be a walk on.

 

[niffer5150]

Hahah, we went to Universal for the first time in about 15 years this past April. I've never seen a place as jam-packed as the Harry Potter portions of the parks. And this is late April which is generally a quieter time at Disney. Most crowds at Disney parks were in the 5-6/10 range.

I couldn't believe the wall-to-wall crowds. You could barely move about. My son bought one of the interactive wands, but never even got a chance to use it because you couldn't even move around to get to the "magic" spots. There were times when the crowds just carried us forward. Forget about photo opportunities. And the difference between the Potter parts of the park and the non-Potter parts of the park were just night and day.

I don't believe we'll ever be going back to Universal. That was not an enjoyable experience at all.

do go back. if there's stuff you want to do, you just have to plan and be there early. it's the newest thing, with a huge fan base. it's always going to be packed at peak times. you be there first thing, there's even a good chance you can be picked for the wand choosing.
http://imgur.com/zkUioFI

 

[jahber]

But that is completely unreasonable. Seriously even a mediocre restaurant in the real world has a 30min -2 hour wait on busy nights depending on location. Why on earth would anyone think they are just going to be able to eat at Cinderella's castle in the most visited theme park on earth at their whim. That is totally their fault and being mad just shows how entitled people are becoming.

It will be impossible for Disney to accommodate every guest to any restaurants at their whim and still make money. They will have a ridiculous large staff just waiting there to see how people feel that day, not to mention the space that will take. Even if ADR's window was moved from 180 to 90 days people will still complain and they wouldn't be more likely to get those ADRs without some sort of planning.

They think they can eat with the princesses in the castle because that is what the last commercial I saw for WDW suggested you could do. The little girl asked the concierge if she could eat with the princesses and voila! Your wish is granted. What ACTUALLY should have happened is the CM should have fallen to the floor laughing her head off and told the family they were, quite literally, 6 months too late for that. But I guess truth in advertising isn't Disney's style.

 

[SaintsManiac]

They think they can eat with the princesses in the castle because that is what the last commercial I saw for WDW suggested you could do. The little girl asked the concierge if she could eat with the princesses and voila! Your wish is granted. What ACTUALLY should have happened is the CM should have fallen to the floor laughing her head off and told the family they were, quite literally, 6 months too late for that. But I guess truth in advertising isn't Disney's style.

Yep that ad drives me crazy. It's so untrue that it makes me cringe.

 

[maxiesmom]

They think they can eat with the princesses in the castle because that is what the last commercial I saw for WDW suggested you could do. The little girl asked the concierge if she could eat with the princesses and voila! Your wish is granted. What ACTUALLY should have happened is the CM should have fallen to the floor laughing her head off and told the family they were, quite literally, 6 months too late for that. But I guess truth in advertising isn't Disney's style.

Do you seriously believe every advertisement you see becomes reality? If someone takes a certain drug do they end up side by side in bathtubs with their significant other? If I use a particular cleaning solution my house doesn't end up magically spotless. My hair has never sparkled and shined like the hair on tv, no matter what shampoo I use. Heck, my big mac never even looks like the ones on tv!

 

[Hazelon]

I don't plan much. I do a few ADRs and that's about it. I make sure I can do what's important to me or those I'm with. That's really all the planning you need. If you want to eat at BoG make an ADR. If you just have to get on a ride make a fp+ reservation.

Every second of a trip doesn't have to be planned. I go and I go with the flow. I know if I don't make a mine train fp+ I'm most likely not going on it because I won't wait. I know if I don't make an ADR my food choices that day will be limited.

There is a planning middle ground. People just have willful ignorance around their Disney trips.

 

[Magpie]

Hahah, we went to Universal for the first time in about 15 years this past April. I've never seen a place as jam-packed as the Harry Potter portions of the parks. And this is late April which is generally a quieter time at Disney. Most crowds at Disney parks were in the 5-6/10 range.

I couldn't believe the wall-to-wall crowds. You could barely move about. My son bought one of the interactive wands, but never even got a chance to use it because you couldn't even move around to get to the "magic" spots. There were times when the crowds just carried us forward. Forget about photo opportunities. And the difference between the Potter parts of the park and the non-Potter parts of the park were just night and day.

I don't believe we'll ever be going back to Universal. That was not an enjoyable experience at all.

Before each trip to Universal, I hang out on the Universal Trip Planning section of the Dis and learn all I can about the current conditions.

I've visited Universal twice, once right after Hogsmede opened, and once right after Diagon Alley opened. Very busy! In both cases, I made up a plan before we went. Not a super-detailed plan, but one that took into account the predicted Harry Potter crowds and figured out the best way to avoid them. Basically, I used the trip planning skills I'd honed on Disney and applied them to Universal.

We stayed on site for several days, and made good use of our hour early entry each morning. We rode everything we wanted to ride. Avoided long lines. Got picked by Ollivander. Purchased an interactive wand and and tracked down every single magic spot (me and my daughter devoted a whole day to it). Took a ton of photos.

And enjoyed the rest of the parks, too - Minions and Simpsons and Men in Black. We're going back this October, and I can't wait!

Universal doesn't require the same level of planning detail as Disney, but it still requires some planning. If you ever change your mind about going back, I suggest asking for suggestions on how to make it a better experience on the Universal boards here. They're very friendly folks.

 

[ellie05]

They think they can eat with the princesses in the castle because that is what the last commercial I saw for WDW suggested you could do. The little girl asked the concierge if she could eat with the princesses and voila! Your wish is granted. What ACTUALLY should have happened is the CM should have fallen to the floor laughing her head off and told the family they were, quite literally, 6 months too late for that. But I guess truth in advertising isn't Disney's style.

That is advertisement no one should take any at face value. Caribbean island advertisement show deserted beaches when you get there it is not deserted.