Disney World Planning is far too complicated (CNBC article)

[Tom P.]

I have a hard time taking seriously any "travel expert" whose *first* recommendation for people for a Disney meal is Victoria & Albert's. And who says that you should never do quick service, since a sit-down, air conditioned break is important and you can't get that with quick service. Has the man ever been to a quick service restaurant?

 

[Wilbret]

Is it though? I thought it was pretty easy on my recent trip. Yeah these extra steps are annoying and remove spontaneity which sucks but I wouldn't say the process was complicated in any way. I find the My Disney Experience app to be extremely user friendly.

I think from your post history, and I could be wrong, is that you travel as a group of 2 adults? That could color your experience.
As the father of 3 kids, and having visited parks with them in tow now for 11 years consecutively, the experience stinks now. As in, we opted to not renew anything this year at all. Buying a ticket is really all the planning that should be required. Traveling as a party of 5, or more often, a party of 7 or more... really presents a challenge. **to be clear, we live within driving distance and are DVC members, I'm not talking about once in a blue moon type trips or novice travelers.

Our kids are no longer asking to go to WDW, they want to go to Universal or SeaWorld. A trip to WDW means you might not even get to ride a ride were looking forward to, or that the queue times meant less rides overall. That's the reality for MOST guests that aren't on this forum, planning, hacking, arriving pre-open, and furiously working the app, rope-dropping, racing back and forth across parks while staring at your phone... it just sucks now, sorry. In addition to the hassle, it has never seemed as crowded as it does now.

I've done all that. I've maximized the day. I've planned and prepped. But we aren't the majority. We are all a bunch of weirdos.

Universal makes it so easy. No reservations. Express pass requires no explanation, hoping for time slots, or any other malarky.

 

[Wilbret]

Trying to explain Genie+, lightning lanes and park passes to first timers is an awful experience and you can see the look of panic and confusion in their face. It's just a complete mess.

Yes!

And while I am a very much an early bird, not everyone is. Forcing people into the parks at the butt-crack of dawn because they fear they won't get on a ride they may have traveled thousands of miles and spent possibly tens of thousands of dollars to experience... it just dumb. There are so many easy options they could pursue. Staying on site? Guess what, you don't have to show up at 7am. Thanks for your patronage to our wildly overpriced hotels, here's a guaranteed ride voucher on our new ride.

It just doesn't have to be complicated. And this forum is full of people that love complicated and that have figured out how to game the system, but we are just a tiny portion of the real world. Imagine the family that is making their first trip, and maybe their only trip... why should people have to essentially earn an online degree from WDW University just to have a productive trip?

 

[AndyS2992]

I think from your post history, and I could be wrong, is that you travel as a group of 2 adults? That could color your experience.
As the father of 3 kids, and having visited parks with them in tow now for 11 years consecutively, the experience stinks now. As in, we opted to not renew anything this year at all. Buying a ticket is really all the planning that should be required. Traveling as a party of 5, or more often, a party of 7 or more... really presents a challenge. **to be clear, we live within driving distance and are DVC members, I'm not talking about once in a blue moon type trips or novice travelers.

Our kids are no longer asking to go to WDW, they want to go to Universal or SeaWorld. A trip to WDW means you might not even get to ride a ride were looking forward to, or that the queue times meant less rides overall. That's the reality for MOST guests that aren't on this forum, planning, hacking, arriving pre-open, and furiously working the app, rope-dropping, racing back and forth across parks while staring at your phone... it just sucks now, sorry. In addition to the hassle, it has never seemed as crowded as it does now.

I've done all that. I've maximized the day. I've planned and prepped. But we aren't the majority. We are all a bunch of weirdos.

Universal makes it so easy. No reservations. Express pass requires no explanation, hoping for time slots, or any other malarky.

I used to visit with my family so would be in a group of 5 (my parents and siblings) but my most recent trip last September was indeed just me and my partner in which we paid our own way each and I had full control of park reservations and Genie+ and other such planning for the both of us as they had never been before. I reserved the parks 8 months out, dining 60 days out and back then Genie+ came as part of the package so no faffing about buying it on the day and it was at a set low price of £9 a day, seems to be triple that price now. So come the actual trip, I had the alarm set for 6:50am to book first Genie+/virtual queue which is annoying but we got up at 7am to be at the parks for 9am anyway so that didn't really interfere with us personally. So was quite easy.

I don't disagree with you at all though, Universal's system is a lot better. If Disney got rid of park reservations, turned Genie+ into something more like Universal's Express pass then it would be a lot more enjoyable. But still, I don't think Disney's system is complicated or hard to understand, it's just a series of unnecessary steps we could do without.

 

[Ayla]

Planning for Disney is not complicated or stressful if .... You realize you are making a multi thousand dollar purchase. Just like you would not do some research before buying a car, Disney requires some research.
Conversely, if you decide to not do the research before purchase, you will probably pay more or not get as much car as you wanted. Same goes for a Disney vacation, do a little research and you will get more for your money and be less likely to be disappointed.
Finally, comparing a Disney trip to a local theme park is apples and oranges. You do not do all the planning for a few hour trip to Six Flags. Because you are going for a few hours. Disney is a multi-day experience and Thousands of Dollars more

I have been going to WDW 2-3 times a year since 2006, had an AP multiple years, have been on this message board literally every single day for over a decade, reading and learning about ALL the changes Disney has made, especially over the last few years. I still have no idea on how some things work...and honestly don't care enough anymore to learn the complexities of what used to be a fun and stress-free vacation.

No one can ever accuse me of not doing the research or putting in an appropriate amount of time learning about the vacation destination.

 

[Ayla]

I used to visit with my family so would be in a group of 5 (my parents and siblings) but my most recent trip last September was indeed just me and my partner in which we paid our own way each and I had full control of park reservations and Genie+ and other such planning for the both of us as they had never been before. I reserved the parks 8 months out, dining 60 days out and back then Genie+ came as part of the package so no faffing about buying it on the day and it was at a set low price of £9 a day, seems to be triple that price now. So come the actual trip, I had the alarm set for 6:50am to book first Genie+/virtual queue which is annoying but we got up at 7am to be at the parks for 9am anyway so that didn't really interfere with us personally. So was quite easy.

I don't disagree with you at all though, Universal's system is a lot better. If Disney got rid of park reservations, turned Genie+ into something more like Universal's Express pass then it would be a lot more enjoyable. But still, I don't think Disney's system is complicated or hard to understand, it's just a series of unnecessary steps we could do without.

Yeah, it must have been rough getting up for what felt like the middle of the afternoon to you.

 

[Wilbret]

When Galaxy's Edge opened... lol... omg... they had those early early Magic Hours for resort guests.
We had seen photos of the crowds, so we arrived I think at like 5:45am?? Who knew the buses would even run that early???

That is madness. Look, it was amazing. We got photos with the Millenium Falcon, and NO ONE else was in the shot. We rode everything that day. By the time the poor unwashed masses (that's a joke, son) started rolling in at 8am, we were enjoying a Mickey Pretzel and going about our day... lol.

Now it seems like you have to be up that early any day, and you DON'T get the benefit of what seems like a park that belongs to just you.

Disney should just put us in charge to come up with a solution. I would consider working for slightly less than $20 million, too.

 

[James Alucobond]

It definitely is too complex, but I did also find my most recent trip far less stressful than my last pre-pandemic trip when FastPass was still around. Then again, I am not the type to feel like I need to be stacking up back-to-back rides for maximum value, and I enjoy many less popular attractions.

 

[AndyS2992]

Yeah, it must have been rough getting up for what felt like the middle of the afternoon to you.

Eh? We stay out until park close so once we've left the park, got the bus back to the resort, refilled our mugs at the food court, walked back to the room, showered and got ready for bed, it's well past 12/1am and then getting up at 7am. We're only getting 5/6 hours sleep (by choice), hardly feels like we're having a lie in or whatever it is you're implying

 

[mysto]

I feel that there is complexity, but it's not complexity in planning. The real complexity kicks in while you're there.

You know you'll get up at 7 and try to reserve things. Then you try to reserve more as you are allowed. This is basically the plan, most everything else is not the plan, and everything else is what's really complicated.

It can help to prepare. Learn which rides are in demand, learn that you can re-book in 2 hours, and learn that you can't hop before 2. But I argue this isn't planning but preparation.

Then 7am comes and it starts. It really doesn't matter what your plan was if Tron sells out in 3 seconds and you don't get it. Now what? Should I book space mountain? It's all reaction the rest of the day all day. You couldn't have imagined that x would be unavailable or y would only be available after 3pm. I suppose you could build a directed graph detailing every possible combination, if peter pan breaks down then pooh, but if it's raining ride the carousel. etc etc.

And the constant adapting and reacting to what ever may happen is work. Even if you're the sort who knows all the rules and has no problem rolling with it you still have to work hard all day to stay on top of this complicated situation. It's not an excess of required planning that's wearing us out. Maybe partly required study.

 

[doctornick]

This all being said, FastPass+ alone was leaps and bounds better than Genie+ / LL so I'd be more than happy to go back to that! I just think it needs a few tweaks to prevent the overly harsh penalty on off-site guests, which a lot of first timers will be (especially in this climate).

I’m personally of the stance that I don’t even mind the charging, but would love to see the structure of FP+. For me, the stress of Genie+ is not knowing what I would get and having to have to adjust on the fly - I’d much rather be able to plan in advance and just know and then I can make accommodations for things that aren’t pre-planned. Personally I like to have any trip (not just WDW) have a decent framework of plans before I go, it just makes it more relaxing and enjoyable.

To be fair we always stay on property (DVC) and do ~week long trips so the advantage for getting FP+ probably colors my opinion there.

 

[MagicRat]

It’s not too complicated, we have all just got more lazy and less able to problem solve. We used to laugh at the people with the guidebooks in the 90’s and I know that was going on before that time. The bean counters just realized the books are gone and now we stare at phones. Don’t blame the host we got what we deserved! This comes from the guy who ran ahead with the cards while the less mobile members of my group walked to the next fast pass attraction or I guess blame me because I also brought my souvenir mug back from the previous trip. I would poolhop too but am DVC.

I can still get free Tea and Coffee!

 

[Tom P.]

I am not going to be awake at 7 a.m. on a vacation unless someone is having a legitimate medical emergency. I'm just not. And I can't imagine I'm the only one who feels that way. That's a good part of why the current system is garbage to us.

 

[James Alucobond]

I’m personally of the stance that I don’t even mind the charging, but would love to see the structure of FP+. For me, the stress of Genie+ is not knowing what I would get and having to have to adjust on the fly - I’d much rather be able to plan in advance and just know and then I can make accommodations for things that aren’t pre-planned. Personally I like to have any trip (not just WDW) have a decent framework of plans before I go, it just makes it more relaxing and enjoyable.

To be fair we always stay on property (DVC) and do ~week long trips so the advantage for getting FP+ probably colors my opinion there.

I’m the opposite, which is probably why I prefer this to FastPass. You can’t know months in advance what the weather will be or how tired you’ll feel, but you just had to roll with it and hope. The current system felt much better in terms of being able to circle up with the party at night, evaluate what we’d gotten done, and make decisions about how we would tackle the next day. Honestly, the worst parts of the new system to me are Park Pass and the park hopper restrictions because they run counter to the built-in spontaneity of everything else.

 

[Bocabear]

Remember when we used to go to the parks and just let the day unfold? Explore and discover each section of the parks without being on a complicated time schedule and reservation system for just about anything you would want to do? When you could actually look around the park and enjoy the atmosphere and the architecture and design without missing half of it buried in your phone screen panicking about whether you will be able to find a place to eat dinner in 10 hours? I do...and it was not that long ago... 5-6 years ago...
With the rising costs of a Disney vacation, and the sheer lack of spontaneity and being in the moment we are finding it no longer worth it... We are DVC member that have always had annual passes and took at least three trips to WDW during the year... We lost our Annual passes during the Covid shutdown when we could not get them renewed...And this year we will skip WDW altogether... Too much hassle, too much construction nonsense...to be paying those prices.
They really need to figure out a way to make it fun again.

 

[AEfx]

I have been going to WDW 2-3 times a year since 2006, had an AP multiple years, have been on this message board literally every single day for over a decade, reading and learning about ALL the changes Disney has made, especially over the last few years. I still have no idea on how some things work...and honestly don't care enough anymore to learn the complexities of what used to be a fun and stress-free vacation.

No one can ever accuse me of not doing the research or putting in an appropriate amount of time learning about the vacation destination.

Exactly.

Cue the usual "you have to do research for any place you travel, do you go to Paris without planning ahead?" stuff, which ignores two things - a theme park by definition should be a relatively care-free experience, nor does most of the complex planning actually have a net benefit for the consumer - it's mostly to benefit Disney.

It's funny that you mention being "on top" of things as it sounds like both you and I are when it comes to WDW, and we still don't get everything right now. I have people ask me frequently about planning a trip to Disney, and I'm like - good luck to you, expect to spend the better part of the day on your cell phone, and hope you click faster than everyone else. On the other hand, you can go spend a week at Universal for half the price and have a much better, more relaxed time.

Disney has basically sucked the magic out of a Disney vacation, I honestly have a difficult time recommending it to anyone, these days.

 

[Tha Realest]

If Disney wasn’t an unnecessarily complex undertaking, there wouldn’t be a multi-million dollar cottage industry that exists to help make guests make the most out of “vacations” that already cost many thousands of dollars.

 

[jaklgreen]

It is not complicated, people just don't want to put in the effort. Everyone should be researching their vacations no matter where you go. I always think of Anthony Bourdain in these situations when he said "be a traveler, not a tourists". I see those who refuse to do even the tiniest bit of research to be tourists. And the ones that don't want to put in that effort are the same ones that complain about what a horrible time they had and how they "wish they knew", yada yada. As if the knowledge should somehow be magically imparted into their brains without them putting in the work. I don't find the system that Disney has to be complicated at all. It might fall under the "can get a bit annoying" level, but you are also not forced to use things like Genie+.

 

[jaklgreen]

As someone who visits other theme parks regularly, yes, yes it is. You shouldn’t need to do hours of research in order to plan a trip to a theme park.

Disney is not "just a theme park" though is it? You can't possibly compare it to someplace like Six Flags. Disney has always been so much more than just the typical theme park. How many other theme parks can you spend 7+ days at an still not do everything that they offer?

 

[jaklgreen]

It shouldn't be like that. Going, or thinking of, to Disney should be fun and free from stress. You should not be worrying about waking up at 7am to get a boarding group that you or may not get, etc.

If the totality of WDW was JUST MK, than you would have point. But it's not, is it? It is one of, probably THE most popular tourist attractions in the Country. And the reason why they instituted the VQ for the new rides is to eliminate the 5 hour lines that snaked around the park. When you have tens of thousands of people wanting to ride the newest attraction, there will be some that won't be able to go on it. Six Flags doesn't have that problem because they are not as popular. Again, you can't compare WDW to any other theme park.