Disney Experience vs. Traditional Vacation Experience

[FutureCEO]

Now with you having to plans everything weeks/months in advance with Disney....ie what kind of rides you go on at what time, do you think it's more of a pain? Especially for passholders. I doubt Disney will ever go fastpass only to rides and restaurants (testing doesn't count) but you never know.

A vacation is to Disney to becoming more and more time attentive. While on the flip side, a vacation of Hershey Park or London is more fun so to speak. All you need to plan in advance is the hotel and airfare and usually not a year in advance like Disney. Being spontaneous is part of a vacation so do you think Disney is killing that? Or do you think a Disney vacation is just like any other vacation?

 

[CheshireCat12]

I would plan and research my heart out no matter where I was going. But I love the planning ahead, it makes the wait more fun! "Where do we want to eat this time?" "Should I get a FP+ for TSMM or RNRC?" No objections here!

 

[doctornick]

A vacation is to Disney to becoming more and more time attentive. While on the flip side, a vacation of Hershey Park or London is more fun so to speak. All you need to plan in advance is the hotel and airfare and usually not a year in advance like Disney. Being spontaneous is part of a vacation so do you think Disney is killing that? Or do you think a Disney vacation is just like any other vacation?

I have pretty specific itineraries with any vacation, so I don't think what Disney requires is the onerous. My time is precious, so I want to make sure I'm using it efficiently on vacation.

When I travel to Europe or other cultural destinations, I tend to have pretty specific ideas of what I plan to do each day. That doesn't mean there is no spontaneous decisions, but there's spontaneity at WDW as well -- stuff like dining reservations and FP+ just provide a framework.

Conversely, I hate the "relaxing" beach vacation concept. Too boring. I can sleep in and lounge around in my own home for cheaper.

 

[Britt]

We've actually found we can do and see more, for less money, by going elsewhere. And while Disney will always have a HUGE place in my heart, I don't think we plan on taking a trip to Florida for a LOOOOONG time! Maybe DL, but WDW is not likely.

 

[Matt_Black]

To criticize Disney for needing planning and attention is ludicrous. Let's say you wanted to take a trip to NYC and have the full experience, complete with a fancy dinner and a Broadway show. If you think you can do that without any sort of advance planning, well, there's a bridge in that city I think you might be interested in purchasing....

 

[CamiCan]

LOL@this thread.

So much for a year's planning. My bf and I planned our first trip to WDW less than a month in advance. We decided to take our first long vacation together before my fall quarter classes started in late September. He wanted Hawaii and I wanted Disney World.
It's pretty obvious who won .
He did end up enjoying WDW more than he expected (he still will only limit Disneyland to once a year while I go about once a month). We did make a point to spend 2 days at Universal and also go visit Coco and Daytona Beaches and Kennedy Space Center but it was primarily an on site Disney Experience.

If it was up to me, I'd happily go to WDW again next year but my bf would prefer to see other stuff so we are probably going to do our next long trip to either Hawaii or NYC/D.C.

 

[4disneylovers]

I don't think the question is about having to do planning and research. I too would plan and research no matter where I was going. However, I just told my friend and she agreed that if they ever go to fastpass only we will probably be done.

I think taking away all of my flexibility takes away my idea of vacation. I always have an itinerary before I go as well, but I like being able to get up one morning and saying...hey we would rather go to MK today instead of AK as we planned. To do this now means trying to reschedule all my fastpasses.

We were just there in August and I see pros and cons to booking ahead. I don't mind planning ahead, but I am opposed to having to prebook every moment of my vacation or be left with whatever fastpasses are leftover.

 

[minniemickeyfan]

I like that I can go to the park early in the morning with our family now having a two year old, then return to the resort for a nap, then have fastpasses made already for the evening. That part has really helped. But although I love to plan our trips, it does get a little overwhelming to know what rides you want to do sometimes in advance. But I find its pretty easy to change on vacation at Disney and I think overall I like the new fastpass+. Much better than taking the time to walk to your favorite ride and see all the fastpasses gone for the day.

 

[FrostyNaples]

Now with you having to plans everything weeks/months in advance with Disney....ie what kind of rides you go on at what time, do you think it's more of a pain? Especially for passholders. I doubt Disney will ever go fastpass only to rides and restaurants (testing doesn't count) but you never know.

A vacation is to Disney to becoming more and more time attentive. While on the flip side, a vacation of Hershey Park or London is more fun so to speak. All you need to plan in advance is the hotel and airfare and usually not a year in advance like Disney. Being spontaneous is part of a vacation so do you think Disney is killing that? Or do you think a Disney vacation is just like any other vacation?

Hershey Park, London? "more fun" than Disney?

Please Define "More Fun".

I don't see how you correlate spontaneity in this discussion.

Just because you have an ADR, or FP+ doesn't mean the "experience" is completely killed off.

The reasons for Disney planning is simple. It's a Global Destination of enormous popularity.

Do you expect to rent Magic Kingdom all to youself?

BTW, the Traditional Vacation could mean anything, to anyone.

 

[doctornick]

BTW, the Traditional Vacation could mean anything, to anyone.

Anecdote time...

When I was in college, I studied aboard in Europe and so did a friend. We decided to meet up after the semester in Rome and travel together. This is a good friend from college, but we never did any sort of traveling together prior.

Before we met up, I poured over guidebooks and thought about what I wanted to see and where I wanted to go. We met up in Rome and I had all these specific plans of stuff I wanted to do -- day 1 Vatican City, day 2 Coliseum and Roman Forum, Day 3 certain museums and churches, etc (don't remember the specifics, but you get the gist). I had tentative stuff I wanted to do in a bunch of cities (we had a loose outline of our travel plans mapped out). My friend meanwhile was like "that's way too much stuff planned, let's just walk around and if we see something we do it". I was aghast -- I had no idea if I was ever going to be in Italy again and I was not going to miss important things that I wanted to see.

Anyway, we kinda compromised as we traveled, but I felt like it was too disorganized and I didn't enjoy it as much as I liked. There was a lot of time wasted as we debated what to do on many days. Suffice to say, although he remains a good friend, I have no interest in traveling with him again.

I really learned during that trip that not everyone travels the same way. It was actually a surprise to me because my family was always very organized and on task on vacations. I always think about it when I see these kinds of threads because we all have to understand that there is no "traditional vacation" -- everyone travels in different ways. Personally, when I heard about FP+ and being able to schedule rides in advance, my reaction was "that's awesome, that will make organizing the day so much better". YMMV.

 

[wendysue]

Now with you having to plans everything weeks/months in advance with Disney....ie what kind of rides you go on at what time, do you think it's more of a pain? Especially for passholders. I doubt Disney will ever go fastpass only to rides and restaurants (testing doesn't count) but you never know.

A vacation is to Disney to becoming more and more time attentive. While on the flip side, a vacation of Hershey Park or London is more fun so to speak. All you need to plan in advance is the hotel and airfare and usually not a year in advance like Disney. Being spontaneous is part of a vacation so do you think Disney is killing that? Or do you think a Disney vacation is just like any other vacation?

I do think that Disney IS planning on going FP only sometime in the future. I agree with other posters here in that I am not one to sit on a beach for more than a few hours. Even so, our upcoming vacation to WDW this year will be the last one for a long time just because of the FP situation and having to plan so far ahead just to eat and now to ride. Since I can't get the money back for the tickets I purchased and already linked to the vacation, we will go and have the best time we possibly can knowing that we may not be able to eat where we want or ride what we want on the days we feel like it. Compulsive planners have no idea what it means to have all the spontaneous fun taken out of a vacation..

 

[JillC LI]

Planning for Disney IS part of the fun for me. Now if your question was, is Disney a relaxing vacation, I'd have to say that it is not for my family - super fun but not relaxing. That's not why we go to WDW though. If I want to relax I'll go on a beach or cruise vacation.

 

[Gig 'Em Mickey]

I kinda like being able to book a few things in advance to ensure my family and I get to do them, and then flexible on the rest. It's not like you HAVE to use the tools Disney makes available to you. You can still be as spontaneous as you want. But those people who have taken advantage of the planning time and tools available to maximize their limited time might interfere a little with your spontaneity. If it was all fastpass, then yeah no way. I would not want to plan out every single thing. But 2-3 rides and a meal each day is good for me and my family with young children, including one with special needs.

 

[disneyfirstLJ]

I am a planner and always have been. I enjoy planning my vacations. I didn't do any more or less planning for my first Disney World vacation last year then any other vacation. Dinner reservations and such are not done that far ahead but other then that it felt the same to me. I also found that our Disney World vacation cost about the same as the other vacations (hotel, food, activities, shopping, etc.) we have taken minus the air fare as we usually drive.

 

[LAKid53]

I

Now with you having to plans everything weeks/months in advance with Disney....ie what kind of rides you go on at what time, do you think it's more of a pain? Especially for passholders. I doubt Disney will ever go fastpass only to rides and restaurants (testing doesn't count) but you never know.

A vacation is to Disney to becoming more and more time attentive. While on the flip side, a vacation of Hershey Park or London is more fun so to speak. All you need to plan in advance is the hotel and airfare and usually not a year in advance like Disney. Being spontaneous is part of a vacation so do you think Disney is killing that? Or do you think a Disney vacation is just like any other vacation?

Since visiting a foreign country requires a passport...that requires planning, trust me, just got one, takes at least 2 months. And I wouldn't visit any foreign destination without planning more than just my airfare and hotel. London is about 200 square miles bigger than NYC with a population of 13 million to NYC's 8 million. Visiting a city that large would require some planning. "Think I will got to Paris next month and visit the Louvre for a day". Yeah....

 

[Ben_since_1971]

Count me in the minority (I think it's the minority based on most of what I have been reading here) that likes to plan out my Disney vacations and I am glad I can get my FP ahead of time. It works for me. My wife and I have gone so often we know what we like and don't like. In the past, it was luck of the draw on which attractions we went on (we are not big on long lines) and return times for legacy FP. With FP+, I know I will get at least 3 quality attractions on every park visit. And I absolutely hate playing 'what do you want for dinner tonight' so planning my meals ahead of time is another check in the plus column. And anytime I can think about my Disney vacation during the year is a good time. But again - that is me. YMMV.

And even if I did go to Hershey Park or London or anywhere, I would plan. I am spending my money - I want to make sure I get the most bang for my buck. Especially at a place like WDW.

As for spontaneity, last year when we went (December 2013) we were fully immersed in MM and FP+. We had whole days planned out. And yet, we audibled on some plans one day and I had the most enjoyable afternoon on one of CBR's beaches reading a book. So I think the 'no spontaneity' argument is all wet.

 

[4disneylovers]

We aren't talking about being spontaneous outside the park. Unless they begin using fastpasses for those beach chairs (haha).

I had a problem the year we got free dining and had to book TS 180 days out. The problem I see is that park times change constantly. So the park I think I am going to be in six months out does not necessarily end up being the right park for me when the time comes.

If you want to change that means changing fastpasses and ADR. Only to find out later things have changed again and you have to do it all over again. But if you wait to long to schedule there is nothing good left.

This is where my frustration comes in.

 

[Mawg]

I told my wife no WDW next year, instead we are going to DL in October 2015. She said great but can we go in Sept/Oct for Halloween? We had such a great time in WDW a few years ago it would be great to experience it again but at DL. I thought a bit about it and the kids are older so I would not want them to miss a lot of school. There is a fall break we could shoot for but we won't know the exact date until school starts again in Fall. NO PROBLEM...this is Disneyland. We just wait and book it late summer early fall. No FP+ reservations to worry about or Dinning to worry about. We could plan it easily with 2 months notice of the exact date. Not as expensive either, so we don't have to save as long. I wouldn't think about booking a spontaneous trip to WDW for that kind of money. At this point DL seems more fun with less planning. The only general plan we have is to take the Amtrak for a 16 hr night ride in one of those cars that sleeps 4. My boys have always wanted to do this. Rent a car when we get there. Stay somewhere close to DL. Do a few SoCal things before 5 days at DL. Thinking the SD ZOO and beach. Then 4 day park hopper at DL with an extra day for the Halloween Party at night (no day ticket this day), so 5 days total maybe break it up and go to Universal in between a few Disney Days maybe also knots berry farm but I think my kids might not be ready for this. Then fly home. Sounds like fun and at this point it would be too hard to plan something like this at WDW unless we went for Summer, Spring Break or Christmas...No Thank you.

 

[Ben_since_1971]

We aren't talking about being spontaneous outside the park. Unless they begin using fastpasses for those beach chairs (haha).

I had a problem the year we got free dining and had to book TS 180 days out. The problem I see is that park times change constantly. So the park I think I am going to be in six months out does not necessarily end up being the right park for me when the time comes.

If you want to change that means changing fastpasses and ADR. Only to find out later things have changed again and you have to do it all over again. But if you wait to long to schedule there is nothing good left.

This is where my frustration comes in.

I can totally agree with that, and I will admit that there have been a couple occasions when I have had to shuffle the deck due to changes, sometimes with no problems, a couple times with some small grumbling. But as I said before, I have been so often, and I use one of the planning websites, that I can set my schedule that far ahead and be pretty confident in it when the time arrives.

As far as being spontaneous in the parks, outside of the 3 FP+, I do let the wind carry me. Yes I do plan what attractions I would like to see on any given day, and work out a plan to achieve it, but if it doesn't happen that way, so be it.