Is it better to wait for Disney?

[horizons82]

This is a great question because I am a local and have been going to Disney for many, many years because my dad is an employee.

However, once I became an adult I wasn't going as much because the CMs don't get the free tickets like they used to and I hated asking my dad to meet me at the gate to get me in except for on a rare occasion.

With that in mind, I was turning 40 this year and decided to celebrate my birthday with a 3-day vacation down at WDW. Knowing we'd be going to the parks over that vacation I went ahead and got annual passes for my wife and I for the first time ever.

For the first part of the year we got MORE than our money's worth from the passes. It was very nice because (as locals) we'd be able to go off-peak times or just go down for three or four hours at a time in the evening.

Even though I'm not totally sold on the whole FP+ concept, it actually worked out nice for us as passholders because we did get the ability to make advance arrangements and it was really nice to make our three FastPass arrangements and then go down for the parks for a few hours, enjoy some attractions using our FPs and then leave without too much hassle.

While all of that sounds nice, I will not be renewing our passes come next year and here is why...

As much as I love WDW and the parks, it truly has become too much work to plan trips to WDW. I've never enjoyed the parks when they are crowded...not just because of long lines, but because it's terribly difficult to enjoy all of the atmosphere and architecture of the parks when they are crowded.

To try and go to the "right" park on the "right" day now requires a lot of homework. You have to check crowd calendars to see which park is the best park for what day and which park has EMH and which doesn't.

Then, you have to try and get FastPasses for the attractions you want for the right park on the right day.

You want dining reservations for a particular restaurant? You might have to check over and over and over again before a reservation opens up at the restaurant you want. But wait...you get a reservation and then realize that dining time interferes with the FastPass you have for your favorite ride! And then you find the FastPass times and dining reservations you want are all available on another day, but oh wait--that's the worst park to go to that particular day! Dang it--back to the drawing board!

I can't tell you how many countless hours I spent on the WDW website trying over and over and over again to get reservations at certain restaurants and making sure those reservations match up with FastPass times at the right park on the right day during the right time of year...all so I can avoid the bad crowds and enjoy my visit.

I'm sure many would say that I could go and not have to worry about trying to make plans, but here's the thing...
As a passholder, if I'm going to go with any regularity I want to be able to do new things when I visit. But to ensure you are able to eat at different restaurants and do new things means needing to plan and plan and plan and spend so much time doing so that it ceases to not be worth it after a while...at least not for me after almost a year of doing it.

I LOVED having passes for the first time ever and it was totally worth it for this one year. But we will not be renewing out passes for the reasons I stated above. I'd definitely recommend it for a local for the first year, but after that year you may simply find that repeated trips and trying to do new things and keep the visits fresh and to do it in a way to avoid the crowds really takes far too much effort and time.

Just my experience anyhow.

 

[tlev]

I have been going once a year since 2008; however, since we are now DVC members I have been able to schedule an extra trip last March and am planning another the next March. (We usually just visit during October.) Anyway...my upcoming October trip is in 20 days. Today was the 180 day for my March trip. So I have been scrambling around trying to make some plans for the March trip so that I could make reservations this morning. All week I've been thinking how it's just sorta taken the excitement out of my October trip. Then I come to my senses and realize how lucky I am that I can actually be planning two trips at the same time. To keep from getting bored, as others have said, we just try new things on every trip. But we do have our favorites that we will not miss!!!

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Awwww Who am I kidding.......

 

[hth1917]

I grew up in Central Florida and currently live about 40 minutes from the parks. I grew up going to the parks several times a year, and now as an Annual Passholder I go as often as once a week during the slower periods, but usually only for a few hours each time. All of this is to say that I don't have personal experience of week-long once-every-few-years trips. I would guess that they are different, but that one is not necessarily better than the other. I enjoy the flexibility of being able to go often for half-day visits, when I don't feel the need to "do everything," but I have wandered whether our three-year-old will miss out on something by being such a frequent visitor.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

We mange to get to Disney (on average) every three years. Each trip (except our last) has been for 14 days and we cram in as much as possible while we're there. As we don't get to Disney as often as we'd like, we tend to notice all the small changes in the parks, and we find that doing the attractions after such a long absence is like experiencing them for the first time - you forget so much while you're away. This is what makes the Disney experience so much more memorable.

 

[epcot2004]

We go as often as possible, 1-2 times per year. I admit that with frequency and familiarity may take some of the anticipation and magic away but you never know what tomorrow will bring be it financial, health or otherwise. We started planning our next trip while on the drive home in the car from our spring trip.

Edit to add - there is always something new to do to freshen up your trip. A lesser ridden ride or movies in WS or possibly a new restaurant or counter service. We always find new things to do!

 

[Mawg]

For me it's about creating memories with my kids and I don't want their only memories when they're older to be about vacations in Disney World. We go every 2 to 3 years. This year was a beach year, next year is a WDW year again, the year after I think will be a family reunion year in Yellowstone, the year after that a SoCal year. I still would like them to have a Cruise, Hawaii, Northern East Coast and a European vacation before they leave the house but in the later teen years. We can't do Disney every year and afford these other vacations.
But I guess the point is, would it lose its magic if you did very often, yes, a little, but who cares it's still going to be better than any other day.

 

[Chernaboggles]

For me personally, the greatest obstacles to enjoying WDW are: Crowds, Heat, High-Per-Day-Costs and Time. I literally did not want to go until I found a way to work around those things. Going regularly is part of our solution to the Time problem. We can shrug off closures, refurbs and the like because if we miss it on one trip we'll just try again on the next. No big deal.

We're setting up to do two trips a year for the next couple years, but we're putting BOTH of them in the dark half (one in mid-fall, one in deep winter). That means that after the winter trip we'll have a solid 8-10 months to recover and get excited again before the fall trip, and when the winter trip rolls around we'll just be glad to be getting the hell out of the cold.

That said, we generally stay offsite and drive, so we always have the option to do other things, it's not all-Disney-all-the-time. I actually don't like to stay at ANY hotel for longer than 4 nights, I start to feel confined and get tired of eating out, even at great restaurants.

 

[epcot2004]

For me it's about creating memories with my kids and I don't want their only memories when they're older to be about vacations in Disney World. We go every 2 to 3 years. This year was a beach year, next year is a WDW year again, the year after I think will be a family reunion year in Yellowstone, the year after that a SoCal year. I still would like them to have a Cruise, Hawaii, Northern East Coast and a European vacation before they leave the house but in the later teen years. We can't do Disney every year and afford these other vacations.
But I guess the point is, would it lose its magic if you did very often, yes, a little, but who cares it's still going to be better than any other day.

Makes sense, my parents took us all over the county when we were little. When we make it down there twice in a year we will do many other non-Disney attractions with only a day or two in the parks. That will be followed by a trip that is opposite being mostly, if not all Disney. The big attraction is Florida itself and WDW seals the deal.

 

[Chernaboggles]

For me it's about creating memories with my kids and I don't want their only memories when they're older to be about vacations in Disney World. We go every 2 to 3 years. This year was a beach year, next year is a WDW year again, the year after I think will be a family reunion year in Yellowstone, the year after that a SoCal year. I still would like them to have a Cruise, Hawaii, Northern East Coast and a European vacation before they leave the house but in the later teen years. We can't do Disney every year and afford these other vacations.

I think that's a wonderful way to do it, and would take a similar approach if we had any kids.

 

[Goofyernmost]

For me it's about creating memories with my kids and I don't want their only memories when they're older to be about vacations in Disney World. We go every 2 to 3 years. This year was a beach year, next year is a WDW year again, the year after I think will be a family reunion year in Yellowstone, the year after that a SoCal year. I still would like them to have a Cruise, Hawaii, Northern East Coast and a European vacation before they leave the house but in the later teen years. We can't do Disney every year and afford these other vacations.
But I guess the point is, would it lose its magic if you did very often, yes, a little, but who cares it's still going to be better than any other day.

I tend to agree with that philosophy, but, we weren't always able to wander all over the place. Living in Vermont, at the time, we made many trips the the coast of Maine, but, other then one time to Virginia Beach our long distant trips almost always were to Florida. I say Florida because we never confined ourselves to just WDW. We went to many places and saw many, so called, roadside attractions and other major attractions. It was never an exclusive WDW trip. To much to see and to much money spent to only experience one thing.

One of my daughters went to college in Colorado so we did spend time there together and my other daughter went to school in New Orleans and spent time browsing there as well. We went to places like New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Boston and a 3 day cruise to the Bahama's before they went off on their own as well. While in the service I got to Hawaii, Guam, So. Vietnam, Osaka, Japan and Tokyo, Japan.

Since my divorce I have been to WDW many times, but, again not exclusively. I also hit up Disneyland and Las Vegas. In my college years I went on a two week tour of Europe that included Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and England. My sister has recently persuaded me to do another European trip in October 2015. This time just France, Italy and Spain with a transatlantic cruise from Rome to Fort Lauderdale. My point being, I guess, that I have not seen the whole world but as much as I desire to see. What's left is an easy 10 hour drive to WDW, which I try to do once a year.

 

[yensid67]

For me, its more out of necessity to go less often. I appreciate the trip more if I know how much I saved and the time it took to save. I am kind of like the family who visits Disney for the first time...the save for years just to spend 1 week in the happiest place on earth! I am planning a 2017 trip now and have begun to save. Our group is on disability so just like a first family, its hard to save in a year...we have to take a few years to save for our 1 week! But the most fun I get is PLANNING the trip and always redoing plans until we finally make our reservations. Some call me , but I am just making sure we get the best deal possible!

 

[neoshinok]

Living within a 2 hour drive, I would only buy an annual pass, but it will take several new attractions to get me to buy one again. My pass expired after New Fantasyland phase 1 completed, but before Seven Dwarves. I'm willing to wait until they finish Avatar, Star Wars and hopefully more. 2019, here I come!

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Part of me says that you actually appreciate it more with a bit of absence in there. The other part of me says to enjoy a place like that as often as you can. Tomorrow is never guaranteed.

As people can see from my signature at the bottom I had a few gaps over the years. 5 years, 7 years and it's been 4 years since a WDW trip, but two since a Disneyland trip. I plan on going in 2015 as well. So it will be 5 years since a Florida trip. I wish it wasn't as long but what can you do? Bills get in the way, I'd do it annually if it worked out financially.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Greetings all,
I have been reading this board for a few months now, both before and after my trip to Disney in July. One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot of people who go to WDW ALOT. Which is awesome. I absolutely love Disney. I am 24 years old, and I have gone 4 times. Each time is magical and I love it and I want to go back.
After reading a lot of topics, I got to wondering.
Is it better to go fewer times and truly get a new/magical experience every time?
Or is it better to be at Disney annually/multiple times a year, and be able to experience it frequently?
I personally would love to go more than I have, but I feel like it would take away the awe of experiencing Disney. There is a lot of negativity about DHS lately, but I am sitting here thinking that I love the parks. Maybe some of the negativity (disappointment?) is coming from those people who are there on a consistent basis and can see how it has changed.
I would love to hear how others feel.
I agree with a lot of what people say on here, but I also feel that since I haven't been there a ton, I don't necessarily see what others do.

My first WDW-trips were classic Disney trips commando style, a packed shedule to do as much in the 3-5 days I originally stayed at the world. But in 2007, after becoming a resort guest for the first time, I learned that to us, coming from Germany quite a longer way than most US citizens (perhaps with the exception of those fron Hawaii and Alaska) it is far better to stay MUCH longer and actually this later developed into pure WDW-vacations of up to nearly 3 weeks lenght - and we loved it. No hurrying, no stress, no "We have to do that until that time or we will not get to see it at all", a really relaxed vacation at the vacation kingdom. Staying as a resort guest for at least 10 days (we had AP to stay much longer) is really something special and if you have time enough you tend to forget about the world outside, we call it only "the Outer Void". Of course if you as an American can visit WDW more often, perhaps a different approach is more suitable, it is quite a difference if you don't have to cross an ocean to get to WDW.

 

[copcarguyp71]

I am sure this is one of those "everyone is different" threads. I myself am feeling a little burnt out after going too often. The more I go the more the magic looses its shine. The more I go the more I notice little (well,not little to me) things like poor water pressure, closed off areas, inoperative fountains, effects not working, dusty attractions, homogenized dining options and any one of twenty other things that make me feel kind of...sad.

Most recently we have gone in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013 and I think we are going to take a break until 2017. I am sincerely hoping by then that either the things I have issues with have been somewhat addressed OR that the good old pixie dust that used to intoxicate me so much is able to take hold again. Will we ever see the EPCOT of 1996 again...nope but it is time to move forward and embrace new offerings presented to us.

I am hoping on top of hope that 2017 brings a renewed sense of whimsy and wonder back to me...hoping!

 

[bethymouse]

Been going every year since 2007, but missed 2008, and went twice one year ( think it was 2009). I just love WDW. I like to stay at a different resort each time, and eat at different restaurants. Every time we go, no matter how many times we've ridden a ride, we always experience something new and memorable! We missed this year though. Hoping for next year.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Part of me says that you actually appreciate it more with a bit of absence in there. The other part of me says to enjoy a place like that as often as you can. Tomorrow is never guaranteed.

And the older one gets the more in focus that truism gets to be. (sigh)

 

[Demeter Tess]

I would think that one of the advantages of going frequently is being able to enjoy the parks and resorts in a more leisurely manner. I'm lucky enough to be able to visit 2+ times a year, and I still feel super rushed. I love staying at the resorts but I'm always so disappointed that we never get to fully "experience" our resort (pool, dining, entertainment, etc) - it's always a mad rush to the park, then back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep. My husband and I are planning on moving to the Orlando area in June and, while obviously there's more to our move than Disney, we are SUPER excited about the prospect of being able to take day trips or long weekends to WDW throughout the year.

 

[Courtney6682]

I have this discussion alot with people who don't get my love for Disney. I try and go as often as possible..which means my 14 yr old daughter goes as often as possible...we always have a great time and always look forward to the next trip. We have literally planned our next trip while still down there. I say you're either a Disney person or you aren't...no in between That being said...do what feels right for you...my idea of magic won't be yours...and vise versa