A long time Disney fan turns sour!

[Dave B]

Am I the only one that feels planning out the trip in detail is half the fun at WDW?

It's one of my favourite things to do. No, really. I love it.

I agree 100% with you, the planning is so much fun to me, I look forward to getting on the computer everyday and looking over things, its very rewarding and when the trip comes together it is such a great feeling

 

[21stamps]

Am I the only one that feels planning out the trip in detail is half the fun at WDW?

It's one of my favourite things to do. No, really. I love it.

No., I think a lot of people are like you. I enjoy some of the planning.. I just don’t wish to have ridged schedules, our life is on a rigid schedule daily.. I’ve found that it’s better for us to have vacation be a break from that.

 

[Disneyworld_here_we_come]

Am I the only one that feels planning out the trip in detail is half the fun at WDW?

It's one of my favourite things to do. No, really. I love it.

I think lots of people enjoy the planning part. I actually really enjoy the planning but I learned that my family will somehow destroy my plans and that we often have the best times when we don't go with our plans. For my last trip I planned 4 of 7 days, leaving one for MNSSHP and 2 for doing whatever we wanted. Our most enjoyable day was one of the unplanned. We got up in the morning and decided to walk around Epcot and check out the food and wine festival. We loved it! My normally picky oldest daughter tried all kinds of things she normally wouldn't and we enjoyed all the food. We planned nothing about the day and it was the best one.
Im trying to talk my hubby into just me and him taking a quick 3 day trip in 2019 for our 10 year and if we do I don't think I will plan any of it. But we'll see if I can talk him into that.

 

[Jae99]

I'm not buying that story at all.



Getting to the park nearly an hour before it opens to ride a ride isn't luck.



I find this hard to believe as well, that's pretty much impossible.



Even licking a frozen flagpole can be fun if you go into it with low enough expectations.

All true. Choose to believe what you want.

If you arrive at the park for rope drop, you can accomplish lots without waiting. Avoid the busiest hours during the middle of the day and go at the end of the night. It’s amazing what how little you will wait. If you are in the parks during the middle of the day. Avoid rides with queues and do shows.

Book your FP’s from the last day of your trip to the first day.

All of this learned from reading and researching. Not from excessive and obsessive planning.

And most of all be flexible.

 

[RustySpork]

All true. Choose to believe what you want.

If you arrive at the park for rope drop, you can accomplish lots without waiting. Avoid the busiest hours during the middle of the day and go at the end of the night. It’s amazing what how little you will wait. If you are in the parks during the middle of the day. Avoid rides with queues and do shows.

Book your FP’s from the last day of your trip to the first day.

All of this learned from reading and researching. Not from excessive and obsessive planning.

And most of all be flexible.

Still not buying what you're selling here, as even HM and Dumbo were extremely busy all month this month. The rest of your comments sound like a lot of work, and not vacation.

According to your story:

1. Go to the park an hour before it opens to get on a decent ride
2. Leave the park mid day to avoid it being busy
3. Go back to the parks at the end of the night

So, you would be spending $125 for 2-3 hours at MK, and maybe going on 4 rides while you're there? That makes no sense.

You said you were at WDW 12/4-12/11. According to Touring Plans, if you went to MK on 12/4 your average observed waits below 30 minutes were for The Mad Tea Party, and the Carrousel. That's literally it.

Maybe you waited less than 30 minutes for the Railroad?

You said that "most waits were in the 15-20 minute range.". The data says otherwise.

 

[RustySpork]

It's highly possible. The people who cancel FoP usually cancel for dinner. That's usually when you'll get fast passes on short notice. Yeah, sure you are checking your app alot but beats waiting 3 hours in the FoP line. (Boy, does that sound like a great idea).

I've become a master at gaming FP+ and I can't even do it, not twice in one day. Once, maybe if you're extremely lucky.

 

[RustySpork]

Actually that is the blue print that elite Disney veterans use. The busiest times at disney are between 11 am to 4 pm. That's when all the late risers arrive. That is the worst time and most inefficient time to go.

For example, if you are first for FOP, you can also knockout Navi River, Everest and Safari all with 0 wait time by 10 AM on a 9 oclock open. So basically the 4 most popular rides at AK in under an hour. Then you have your pick of the less popular rides (like River Kali since nobody wants to get wet) for the next hour or two. So you can probably do 8 rides/attractions in 2 hours or 12 rides/attractions in 3 hours.

You go eat lunch/rest at hotel. Then come back around 4 pm and go till close.

Just because you spend more time at the park doesn't necessarily mean you are getting more value. If you are one of the late stragglers who get to FOP and wait 3 hours then yes you have been in the park for 3 hours but you have been moving an inch a second for 3 hours. Is that really a better value for money than being able to do FOP/Navi/Everest/Safari in one hour?

Eh, I wouldn't call them elite. Unless elite means really good at lighting money on fire. If your game plan is to do nothing but ride rides, and then leave for most of the day I'd ask why are you even spending money to visit that park? There's still a lot of AK left after you've finished FoP, Navii, Everest, and the Safari though. Seems silly to waste so much time leaving and coming back.

 

[RustySpork]

Once a day is what I have done. checked at 11 am and was able to get a noon FOP. Didn't bother looking after that since.

The other FP were either in advance or the day before almost always for an evening 6:30-7:30 time slot.

In total I've ridden FOP 12 times already (basically 12 out of the 16 days I've been at Disney.

I already have a fast pass for FOP for 6 consecutive days when I go back there next month.
Impossible you say?

You've only been on FoP 12 times? How do you make it from day to day?

Once a day isn't impossible.

It's not impossible.
I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters.

 

[RustySpork]

Planning can be fun.

What isn't fun is when the plans don't work because Disney isn't providing enough buses or service and it ends up effecting all your scheduling or plans.

The reality is in the current state you have to slot in an hour for transport between parks with buses, whereas you can slot in 25 minutes for park hopping with cars.

Disney transportation is the worst.

Your timings are spot on by car, except multiply that time by 3 for hopping back and forth to MK. It can take 45 minutes to get from your car to MK through the TTC sometimes longer in the other direction depending on the time of day. Using the resort monorail can help trim that some.

 

[Disneyworld_here_we_come]

You just got lucky. The busing shortage/issue is a real problem. Now maybe the deluxe resorts have better bus service but consider that people are figuring out that you can take the Poly or Contemporary bus and get to disney faster that taking the MK bus and you can see how there's a trickle up effect with resort buses.

Guess I got lucky several times a day for 7 days in a row. Awesome! If only I was so lucky with the lottery.

 

[flynnibus]

One could make an argument that the world, not just Disney world, isn't as magical as it was in 1973, almost 45 years ago. I often wonder if the increasing negative climate that has so heavily affected the way we function as a society has anything to do with all the negative comments we see online. The comments aren't just about Disney, either. It seems like everyone has something to complain about all the time, myself included. We're so stressed all the time from work and life in general. Couple that with the countless negative stories we see in the media and on social media, and it's tough to imagine anyone being happy about anything!

How many times are you going to try to blame people complaining verse facing the actual topics brought up?

 

[DisneyDoctor]

How many times are you going to try to blame people complaining verse facing the actual topics brought up?

Maybe one or two more times, tops. Is that okay by you?

 

[flynnibus]

Maybe one or two more times, tops. Is that okay by you?

Let me hand you a shovel...

 

[DisneyDoctor]

Let me hand you a shovel...

As long as you supply a ladder too.

 

[flynnibus]

Sorry but I give up pointing out your mistakes, no longer worth my time as it is a bit like trying to teach a cat to talk.

congrats on reaching the other side successfully. we have cookies

 

[DisneyDoctor]

cobgrats on reaching the other side successfully. we have cookies

I'm considering joining the other side. What kind of cookies do you all have?

 

[RustySpork]

I'm considering joining the other side. What kind of cookies do you all have?

Porg

 

[flynnibus]

Imagine the issues if, after said driver helped with all star sports, the resort he was driving for filled up all of a sudden. Disney would now have two problems on their hands rather than one.

No, because those people who just walked up still would have been waiting less than the big backup at the other stop.

You can't *only* go to the busiest stop but you can track and balance it.

 

[DisneyDoctor]

No, because those people who just walked up still would have been waiting less than the big backup at the other stop.

You can't *only* go to the busiest stop but you can track and balance it.

You seem like the kind of person that would set out a plate of raisin cookies to try and trick Santa into thinking they're chocolate chip.

 

[DryerLintFan]

All true. Choose to believe what you want.

If you arrive at the park for rope drop, you can accomplish lots without waiting. Avoid the busiest hours during the middle of the day and go at the end of the night. It’s amazing what how little you will wait. If you are in the parks during the middle of the day. Avoid rides with queues and do shows.

Book your FP’s from the last day of your trip to the first day.

All of this learned from reading and researching. Not from excessive and obsessive planning.

And most of all be flexible.

Not to be pedantic, but reading and researching a vacation/trip *IS* planning. The level of reading and researching necessary to know the "tricks of the trade" for a Disney newcomer is indeed part of the excessive and obsessive planning for their trip.