The average first-timer's research for a visit?

[draybook]

I missed a lot when I did the research for our first trip in September of 2008. I had no idea about free dining or the MNSSHP. We didn't find out about the latter until we reached the T&TC on the first day so we bought tickets on the spot. We had such a great time that we bought tickets for a second party. We also booked free dining for our trip the next year. I felt like such a noob but luckily, that lack of research is what led me to this site when we got back from that first trip.

 

[JIMINYCR]

this brings up a question, for the older timers when disney world was new.. how much planning did you have to do? I know it was just MK at that point but where did the swap happen, to me it might have been fast pass, or dining reservations? Park reservations sure arent helping or the current park hopper.

i remember when we went in 83 my parents didnt even know what epcot was. We just went with the flow, and its one of my 3 fav trips ive ever taken there.

Not sure how much of an old timer we would be considered as but our first trip was in "95". We planned the attractions we wanted most to do that we knew about. PoTC was THE ONE I most was excited about going on from watching Walt on TV as a child. We read up on all the other attractions to determine what was age appropriate for our DS. We had no dinner reservations, just decided by looking at the menus to see what DS would eat first, then choose where we would dine. Crowds and lines to wait for anything were not excessive at that point. We got to do everything. AK was not open at that point in time so we had MK, MGM and EP.

 

[ppete1975]

Not sure how much of an old timer we would be considered as but our first trip was in "95". We planned the attractions we wanted most to do that we knew about. PoTC was THE ONE I most was excited about going on from watching Walt on TV as a child. We read up on all the other attractions to determine what was age appropriate for our DS. We had no dinner reservations, just decided by looking at the menus to see what DS would eat first, then choose where we would dine. Crowds and lines to wait for anything were not excessive at that point. We got to do everything. AK was not open at that point in time so we had MK, MGM and EP.

93 was my last year before going back in 2013, I think it was one of the best times as far as them having the crowds and attractions at a good level. You had MGM and you got to experience basically classic epcot!!

 

[Worldlover71]

I love when I hear that people had a terrible time because it means less of a crowd on my next visit!

Seriously though, I have a family member who went with a group and came home very disappointed. Apparently none of them did any planning and they missed out on most of the best stuff. I kept asking "Did you go on this?" and "did you see that?" and they just stared at me blankly. I told them that next time, they have to go with me and they will love it!

I guess I'm an old-timer because I remember several trips in the 80s and 90s that required no planning other than reading the Birnbaum guidebook and booking a hotel. In fact, there wasn't much else you could do to plan in those days. My last trip with little planning was in 2004. I booked an offsite hotel a few days in advance and that was about it. We bought tickets at the gate, checked the entertainment schedule when we got in the park and ate wherever there was a spot available. Of course, we were Disney veterans by then and knew the attractions and shows we wanted to see.

 

[ppete1975]

I love when I hear that people had a terrible time because it means less of a crowd on my next visit!

Seriously though, I have a family member who went with a group and came home very disappointed. Apparently none of them did any planning and they missed out on most of the best stuff. I kept asking "Did you go on this?" and "did you see that?" and they just stared at me blankly. I told them that next time, they have to go with me and they will love it!

I guess I'm an old-timer because I remember several trips in the 80s and 90s that required no planning other than reading the Birnbaum guidebook and booking a hotel. In fact, there wasn't much else you could do to plan in those days. My last trip with little planning was in 2004. I booked an offsite hotel a few days in advance and that was about it. We bought tickets at the gate, checked the entertainment schedule when we got in the park and ate wherever there was a spot available. Of course, we were Disney veterans by then and knew the attractions and shows we wanted to see.

unfortunately for every 1 they lose they gain 10 new customers

 

[Cadbury]

I was just talking to my mother and found out her first WDW trip was in 1975. She and her college friends drove from Connecticut and from what she claims, they didn't do much planning at all.

 

[doctornick]

I was just talking to my mother and found out her first WDW trip was in 1975. She and her college friends drove from Connecticut and from what she claims, they didn't do much planning at all.

My parents went in 1972, drove down from Pennsylvania without any plans, pulled up to the Contemporary and got a room for the night and went to MK for like two days and maybe did a few other things on property (Spirit of Aloha, maybe?) on the spot. So crazy to think about now.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I was just talking to my mother and found out her first WDW trip was in 1975. She and her college friends drove from Connecticut and from what she claims, they didn't do much planning at all.

I wouldn't expect a lot of planning from the time your mom went based on what my mom did for her first WDW trip.

My mom first went to WDW in 1974 and stayed at a Buena Vista at the time while being an adult. She traveled by plane.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

this brings up a question, for the older timers when disney world was new.. how much planning did you have to do? I know it was just MK at that point but where did the swap happen, to me it might have been fast pass, or dining reservations? Park reservations sure arent helping or the current park hopper.

i remember when we went in 83 my parents didnt even know what epcot was. We just went with the flow, and its one of my 3 fav trips ive ever taken there.

We did almost no planning 1978 through 1994ish. My family used to go every two years to WDW and you just went and had a good time. If you wanted to make a reservation to a restaurant, you went to City Hall early in the morning on the same day. No fastpasses, so you just walked from attraction to the next attraction. We always got there at rope drop, then went back to the hotel in the early afternoon for a short nap (or trip to the pool), then stayed until closing.

All that stopped right around the time fastpasses were introduced. Now we go once a decade.

 

[Figments Friend]

this brings up a question, for the older timers when disney world was new.. how much planning did you have to do? I know it was just MK at that point but where did the swap happen, to me it might have been fast pass, or dining reservations? Park reservations sure arent helping or the current park hopper.

i remember when we went in 83 my parents didnt even know what epcot was. We just went with the flow, and its one of my 3 fav trips ive ever taken there.

Travel brochures, like the colorful folded ones found in hotel lobbies, were how a lot of people found out about local attractions and the various Theme Parks back in the late 70s and early 1980s.
That is what I recall at that time, as a kid and later as a pre-teen.
I still have the late 1982 EPCOT Center brochere Mom picked up at a hotel we were staying in during one of our excursions to Silver Springs, Gatorland, or Weeki Wachi.
Those 'old school' travel brochures were quite enticing.
There were a couple of travel books one could buy as well, covering WDW, but nothing like today's guidebooks.
It was a simpler time then....and part of the fun was going and discovering things on your own.


There was little 'planning' when compared to the highly complex and downright insanity of 'planning' a visit to Walt Disney World today.
My first visit was in 1979 at age eight.
Mom planned the trip, which only involved booking a motel on I-Drive and a round trip flight on Eastern Airlines ( The Official Airline of Walt Disney World! ) through a travel agent.
The only two things I clearly remember from the trip were the animatronics from 'The Mickey Mouse Review' ( loved that show...) and the excitement of flying on an airplane for the first time.


The only things planned in advance back then for us was just booking a hotel / motel on International Drive and the flights.
There was no concept of feeling a need to 'stay on Property' at a WDW Resort hotel as there were very limited lodging choices plus the rustic campground at the Fort.
I remember visiting in 1983 as well ( first visit to EPCOT Center ) and again, the only things we planned in advance were hotel accommodations on I-Drive and airline flights.

The craziness of feeling a need to reserve dining and then later still FastPass+ selections did not exsist.
WDW in its first decade and a half was quite a place.

-

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

It’s kind of like this…your first trip to WDW is when you realize you need to research things. Because how would you know you need to research things if you’ve never been?

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think many first timers go in unprepared for what Disney has and what is necessary to prepare for. Sure if you’re going to just any local amusement park you could go without much planning but Disney is vastly unique and so extensive that planning is necessary if you really want to do most of the attractions and shows. A good TA should advise a client properly and help them along. A newbie who goes in clueless and unprepared will definitely miss most of what’s there and waste their money.
Our first trip was not as planned out as much as it should have been but we still did our research and knew the basics. Our next trip was even more planned and we prepared better. Each successive trip has been better because we’ve gone in wiser.
With all that’s available online now and all the guidebooks to help set up a trip it amazes me that still many go and get disappointed because they aren’t knowledgeable about even the very minor things. I don’t know where the stats might be but I’m sure they would amaze you with the numbers of ill prepared travelers.

I agree what WDW is no local carnival or park, but until you actually go there, it is impossible to imagine what it is like. A Disney theme park is, or at least was, a very unique thing. For the first time it was good that I am old because the first time I went, all I had to do was make a reservation in an affordable hotel and buy park tickets. I did nothing else except plan my road trip from Vermont making, based on mileage, reservation for accommodations along the way. We ate where it was available and when we were hungry or just tired and wanted to take a break. Even then when only MK existed and EPCOT Ctr. was only a couple of months old and, honestly, was not worth the effort that first year of its existence, I missed some of the things that were considered important. At the time of our minor planning, we had no thoughts that we might ever return. What we did see and do is what brought us back.

I know me, and I know that if I still was planning for a family, dealing with todays, incredible requirements to simply visit a theme park, the first would have been the last. My habits from the beginning have remained the same. I have been to two onsite sit down or show dinners. Hoop Dee Doo and the restaurant in China in Epcot. I think we also had lunch in Norway once. Other then that we ate lunch at whatever quick service place we were closest too. We left the parks at the hottest time of the day, went back to our hotel and rested while the kids attacked the pools. Ate a sit down dinner at whatever offsite location our tastebuds were craving and then returned to the park or parks for the evening. As a family we did chose what park we were going to the evening before, that was before when there was no FP or they were the paper ones.

After when the family was no more, I would decide either during my offsite breakfast and multitudes of breakfast buffets for $5.00 or when I was on my way. I can remember one time heading toward the entrance to World Drive while wrestling with the desire to go to Epcot or continue on to Silver Springs (about a hundred miles north of WDW). I couldn't decide so I let my body answer, as I approached the entrance I let my mind go blank an let my body decide if I should turn right onto World Drive or just stay straight and on the path to Silver Spring. I know you are all on the edge of your seats wondering what my body decided, but just let me say that glass bottom boats were going to be in my immediate future.

If there is anything that I hate to do it is pay someone $100 and then let them tell my what I am going to be able to do with what was once my hard earned money. I don't mind a little planning but I don't want my vacation to a theme park controlled completely. I rambled on a bit, sorry, but what it all means is how obnoxious it is of us to have had years of experience with the place or are steady followers of a Disney discussion site thinking that everyone regardless of there experiences could begin to mentally envision the massive expanse of WDW. I was shocked even though I had found a few places at that time that made me somewhat familiar with the parks. I even had family tell me about the place but even with that I could not picture it mentally until I actually got there. It is easier now to get to be president then to take a vacation in a theme park. No one should be expected to know that until they have seen it in person.

 

[Goofyernmost]

this brings up a question, for the older timers when disney world was new.. how much planning did you have to do? I know it was just MK at that point but where did the swap happen, to me it might have been fast pass, or dining reservations? Park reservations sure arent helping or the current park hopper.

i remember when we went in 83 my parents didnt even know what epcot was. We just went with the flow, and its one of my 3 fav trips ive ever taken there.

That's when we went. 1983 was just buy tickets ahead of time or wait until you got there and buy them from the ticket booths. Make reservations for road trips, plan the route, reserve Kissimmee hotel room and not much else except get a few hands full of travelers checks. Tell the kids that we WERE NOT GOING TO BUY EVERYTHING THING THEY LAID EYES ON! And the biggest decision we had to make was when we enter the end of Main Street USA were we going to got to the left or to the right when we reached the Castle. That was a real vacation.

 

[ppete1975]

That's when we went. 1983 was just buy tickets ahead of time or wait until you got there and buy them from the ticket booths. Make reservations for road trips, plan the route, reserve Kissimmee hotel room and not much else except get a few hands full of travelers checks. Tell the kids that we WERE NOT GOING TO BUY EVERYTHING THING THEY LAID EYES ON! And the biggest decision we had to make was when we enter the end of Main Street USA were we going to got to the left or to the right when we reached the Castle. That was a real vacation.

i remember we stayed at kissimee it was my first time flying and we went delta. And they had these peanut butter klondike bars (never saw them after and its not the ones they have now) that we prob ate 20 of them.
I barely remember disney world on that trip.. but i remember every inch of epcot.

 

[Goofyernmost]

i remember we stayed at kissimee it was my first time flying and we went delta. And they had these peanut butter klondike bars (never saw them after and its not the ones they have now) that we prob ate 20 of them.
I barely remember disney world on that trip.. but i remember every inch of epcot.

We went in February. What month did you go? I remember Epcot, at the time, as long, long lines and very little to see. Most of World Showcase was operating, but be never got back there. We decided to go one of our days and after spending two+ hours just to see the movie in Imagination (the ride wasn't open yet, but we didn't know that when we got in line. I was some upset when we got to the end of the line and all there was happened to be the 3D movie, Magic Journey. It was a good movie but not worth 2+hours wait time. So we unanimously decided that a drive to the Kennedy Space Center was more satisfying. It was! But, later visits when there were more attractions and they had figured out the people moving process for Epcot, it became a favorite of mine.

 

[ppete1975]

We went in February. What month did you go? I remember Epcot, at the time, as long, long lines and very little to see. Most of World Showcase was operating, but be never got back there. We decided to go one of our days and after spending two+ hours just to see the movie in Imagination (the ride wasn't open yet, but we didn't know that when we got in line. I was some upset when we got to the end of the line and all there was happened to be the 3D movie, Magic Journey. It was a good movie but not worth 2+hours wait time. So we unanimously decided that a drive to the Kennedy Space Center was more satisfying. It was! But, later visits when there were more attractions and they had figured out the people moving process for Epcot, it became a favorite of mine.

june i think... i was 8 so my memory might not be accurate... i remember the omnibus the odd characters in the world showcase (semi wondering where mickey was), world of motion i loved, imagination and figment and i did all the thingsafter the ride like the one you are put into a movie... i loved the dinosaurs in energy and the land was super cool (im from oklahoma so it was different ways of doing things we already did) spaceship earth was amazing... the countries were boring to me, they looked cool but i wanted to ride stuff.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

It doesn't just happen at WDW.

I was at Universal Island of Adventure a couple years ago and overheard a couple lamenting the fact the park had spent so much time and effort re-creating Kings Cross station, but there was no entrance to Diagon Alley.....and 'SUCH a 'missed opportunity' for the park' etc. (Unquote)

They had apparently just ridden the Hogwarts Express over from the other park and had simply walked out the exit of the station.

Thing was, they were standing directly in FRONT of the entrance TO Diagon Alley.

No, I didn't just walk by. I stopped and pointed out the hole in the wall, and they were ecstatic........but seriously?

Regards! Michaelson

I didn't research IoA when I was there a couple years ago to see the Potter stuff for the first time since I had already been there years ago. Unlike those people, I was aware Diagon Alley existed, but my wife and I practically stumbled upon the entrance itself purely by accident. Also, unlike those people, we had walked up to it from the direction of MiB as opposed to taking the train over (b/c Harry Potter goes to Diagon Alley first before he goes to school). We could tell we were in the right area but couldn't figure out at first where to get in. It was first thing in the morning on a weekday so there were was virtually no one walking in and out yet to give us a clue.

 

[rwdavis2]

You should be able to go a theme park without doing weeks/months of research. In fact im sure thats what walt meant for the parks. Sadly you have to research, plan 6 months ahead and stay up to date or youll be lost. I think this message board and amazing contributors does an amazing job to keep us all up to date.

I liken a trip to WDW like and Everest climb: It requires stamina, planning, and money.

 

[Gussie Granger]

I was recently riding the Monorail when the family sharing the cabin with us struck up a conversation. They were visiting for the very first time and were asking us things. It was their last day at WDW, and it was clear by those questions that even after spending several days there, they had missed a lot - so much so that they didn't know what attractions to visit at the Magic Kingdom. While walking around the park later, I also overheard comments from various guests indicating a similar lack of basic knowledge about the park they were visiting.

I don't expect most visitors to know as much as I do about these parks, as just being a poster on this forum indicates my level of fandom being more unique, but the lack of general knowledge/understanding was really surprising to me. When I go on vacation I try to at least learn of some most-dos...if I'm going to spend a lot of money visiting a place I haven't visited before (and who knows if I'll be able to visit again,) I want to know what I'm spending my money on!

Is that unusual for a first-time guest? What was your personal knowledge about the parks when you went for your first visit? Does anyone have any sort of knowledge about statistics for this sort of thing? I'm really curious!

We were clueless our first visit, this was in 1996. Learned more and more each visit. It’s like that everywhere we go. We just returned from a Universal trip, having been there many times in the past, i didn’t do any research and there were new rides and shows I knew nothing about. The difference was we had an EP and could do everything with no wait. If I was at Disney, there’d be a long wait and we would all just say forget it. That’s why I do my research with Disney, and basically only Disney.

 

[ppete1975]

I liken a trip to WDW like and Everest climb: It requires stamina, planning, and money.

at least disney is a little bit cleaner...