Doing Disney the "wrong way"

[EOD K9]

It's not a matter of going during Christmas week. It's a matter of those who don't know much about WDW thinking it will be less crowded because it's a holiday that others will spend at home with family. As I sometimes explain to them:

"If you plan to spend this 'family' holiday in Orlando, why do you think others aren't doing the same?"

Going to WDW for Christmas and New Years because you think WDW will be less crowded definitely is "Doing Disney the wrong way."

Word

 

[Kate Alan]

One that I've encountered multiple times:

Going between Christmas and New Years because they think it will be less crowded since, hey, it's a holiday and people stay home with their families.

It's not a matter of going during Christmas week. It's a matter of those who don't know much about WDW thinking it will be less crowded because it's a holiday that others will spend at home with family. As I sometimes explain to them:

"If you plan to spend this 'family' holiday in Orlando, why do you think others aren't doing the same?"

Going to WDW for Christmas and New Years because you think WDW will be less crowded definitely is "Doing Disney the wrong way."

This. So much this. My family went to spend Christmas this past year with relatives in Orlando and stayed on property from the 26th-30th. I warned my family members what to expect and that early mornings, FP+ and dining ressies, and having a strategy would be essential to getting done what everyone wanted.

We (well...I) prepped, planned and booked what was needed to be done, as far in advance as I possibly could. We had a blast, and even though the crowds were complete mobs, we hit up every single attraction all four of us wanted, had multiple character meet and greets, and snagged all the reservations on our wish lists.

I saw so many families that week that clearly were taking "two trips", as my father used to call them - their first and their last. So much arguing, confusion, and tears - not what a vacation is supposed to be. And the number of them I overheard explicitly stating something along the lines of "I can't believe there are so many people here!" or "why are the lines so LONG?" was staggering. You decided to go on vacation over Christmas week - what makes you think others wouldn't have the same idea??

 

[Chernaboggles]

My sister does absolutely everything last minute, and has never been to WDW. This is an actual conversation that we had a few months ago:

Sister: "I'm thinking about taking the kids (3 & 6) to WDW this year!"
Me: "Great! Let me know if you need any help! WDW can be pretty overwhelming. If you'd like to bring them down at a time we're going to be there, we'd be happy to help you with them, so you and your husband could get a dinner out or something. We have two trips planned and both are at low crowd times."
Sister: "Actually, I was thinking that the whole family should go down around Thanksgiving. Wouldn't that be fun?"
Me: "Um..."
Sister: "Grandma would love it!"
Me: "Grandma is 93 and refuses to use mobility assistance. The crowds would be literally dangerous."
Sister: "No, see, that's why we'd be going over Thanksgiving! I can't imagine there'd be many people there then."
Me: *head explodes*
Sister: "What?"

 

[POLY LOVER]

to do it right for maximun enjoyment YOU MUST LEAVE ENOUGH TIME. If you try to do it all in 1-2-3 days you and your kids will be misreable. Also set the ground rules for the kids before you go, let them know what you expect from them behaviour wise. Whinning is not an option.
and if they are miserable YOU will be miserable. Take your time plan well and above all if you have kids take a nap break in the middle of the day Recharge and head back out. Try to stay on site if you have kids it will make it easy to run back to the hotel to refresh and recharge. It worked for our family and it will work for you. Enjoy go slow take it all in after all you waited all year for this vacation, RELAX and ENJOY.

 

[POLY LOVER]

if you are going with the kids be sure to stay on site and take a nap break mid day. Trying to do it all in 1-2-3 days will not work. the kids will melt down and so will you. You will be unhappy and that's bad. Try to stay on site if you have kids there are many options to choose from.
relax enjoy go back to the hotel to refresh and recharge. Its imoprtant , take it all in you waited all year for this vacation don't go home needing another one to recover. Good luck.

 

[Otterhead]

If you refuse to do any advance planning -- no ADRs, no FP+'s, no research -- because you think WDW is "a vacation, it's supposed to be fun, not work!", you're doing it wrong.

If you decide to go during the busiest times of the year, you're doing it wrong.

If you don't bother showing up to the parks until noon and are shocked by how hot & crowded it is, and expect to hop on your favorite rides, you're definitely doing it wrong.

If you try to "dive bomb" the MK on a Saturday to ride everything, you're doing it wrong.

 

[Otterhead]

I'll also add: if you hate kids and you spend your entire trip complaining that there are "too many kids" at WDW and try to avoid anything where kids might be present, you're definitely doing it wrong.

And yes, I've traveled with people like this!

 

[UberPlannerMom]

My in-laws go to wdw to shop. They don't ride a single ride, take in a single show, enjoy the parades. They drive ten hrs and buy tickets into the park just to shop!

 

[Otterhead]

A friend of mine is a DVC member and takes his son to WDW all the time. When we took his son to WDW not long ago, he was baffled by our plans and all the rides and things there were to do, and kept asking about the hotel pool. It turned out that all he and his dad ever did at WDW was sleep until noon or so, swim in the hotel pool all afternoon, and then use Extra Magic Hours to ride Space Mountain a few times. He didn't even know there were other rides!!

 

[Alexis]

I don't think there is a right or wrong way. I believe just being within the Disney district is a blast in itself and a mental getaway. There is more to Disney then just TOT & Soarin'....
I don't do any roller coasters or drops. So I usually stay going to the Magic Kingdom, it is my favorite park.

 

[roj2323]

I think the biggest mistake the first-timers I know make is trying to cram every single thing into a 4-day visit. Then they come back and complain that it was so crowded and they didn't see everything and that they were exhausted and crabby from running around all day in the heat.

WDW is a BIG place. I haven't even seen everything and I have been there eleven hundred times, hahaha.

You make an excellent point. I have been to WDW as a guest nearly 300 times and there is still stuff I have not done. The advice I give everyone who asks is to just have fun and relax. If you don't get to everything so what. Just make a list of one or two things each family member wants to do and do that. If you get to more than that well then that's awesome but if all you get to is the list then at least everyone got to do at least a few things they really wanted to.

 

[Mouse_Trap]

I have a friend going to Florida for the first time (USA for the first time too) soon. They plan to spend 3 days in Orlando before moving on.....their plan was "to see Disney, Universal and Seaworld" before driving to either Miami or somewhere around Naples after the third day at the parks.

You can guess I have pointed out a few things, but they have not made any other plans. You can see where this is going, and I fully expect them to come back saying how rubbish it all is and how they hated it all.

 

[LieutLaww]

3 days to do all that, what can possibly go wrong !!

 

[Phineas]

I've been asked for advice from friends planning their first trip to WDW-they largely ignored my advice to read up on ride/show descriptions and to look up average wait times for the week they had chosen in order to decide on a general attack plan.

Their biggest mistake-and it was everything in me not to go off on a tirade-was choosing their fast passes for foolish things:

"Well, yeah-we picked Star Wars instead of Soarin' because it's Star Wars, and it's gonna be popular and have a long wait, and isn't just some hang gliding thing with no popular characters in it. Oh, and we picked Indiana Jones for the same reason. Oh, and Spaceship Earth-we figure everyone's gonna rush to that thing and it'll be hard to get on without a stupid wait-that's a roller coaster, right?"

...



...


"Everest? Oh...we're skipping Animal Kingdom for Harry Potter Land."

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Oh man.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

I think the main "wrong way" is simply going without having done ANY research which could be done well in advance and without cost.......check around online. In relatively little online research you can get straight exactly what you want to ride, what you want to see, where you want to eat, and learn exactly where to go without inconveniencing your party or others. You can even figure out where the information kiosks/boards are so you're not standing around being just a block in front of the crowds walking around who DO know what they're doing.

 

[LieutLaww]

When I went in 2012 I did 0 research, but still had an amazing 10 days, this time I have spent nearly all my time here since I discovered the place reading threads, asking questions etc so I am much more prepared for my trip in Sept altho I wont be planning everything out as I do want a chance for just doing what i feel like, certain things are already locked in or will be when the time comes.

 

[Ralphlaw]

What I see as the biggest mistakes:

1. Going at an overly crowded time of year.
2. Going at an overly hot time of year.
3. Not taking an afternoon break.
4. Not slowing down.
5. Being too afraid to spend money--Hello, you don't go on vacation to save money!
6. Not planning.
7. Going with too big of a crowd. You're always compromising or waiting for someone by a bathroom.
8. Going crazy trying to cram it all in.
9. Not saying, "We'll come back and do that thing next time."
10. Being too afraid to split up your crowd into smaller groups--i.e., thrill junkies vs. relaxers.
11. No one wise person in your group taking charge.
12. Allowing one unwise/bossy person to take too much charge.
13. Not using your cellphones to meet up later, like "after the thrill junkies do Tower of Terror."
14. Allowing a sick or old or whiny or needy person to prevent everyone else from having fun.
15. Being so wrapt up in your plan that you fail to have spontaneity.
16. Thinking it's all about the rides while ignoring the parades, shows, fireworks, food and ambience.

Yeah, that's about it. Waiting around outside the bathrooms is my pet peeve. Bladder up folks.

 

[TXDisney]

One of my favorite parts about Dusney is every trip you do tons of things you've never done before. For instance my parents own a timeshare in Orlando as well as my aunt and uncle so up until 2yrs ago I've never stayed at a Disney resort. Probavly went to Disney 7 times with my family before I turned 18. Still went 2-3 more times with family to Disney the next 10yrs. Our 1st Disney hotel was the swan which really isn't disney. But we then got married at the GF and stayed there our wedding week. We've done a few nights at the BC, POR and Boardwalk. We figured we'd do the Epcot hotels before kids. Bc we do like to enjoy a few drinks everyday. But up until our last few stays we never did any dining reservations in the park and resorts. We love the dining. We now have gotten into walking around the resorts we haven't stayed at to see if we'd like them. Happy we're doing all this before kids.

 

[Otterhead]

Waiting around outside the bathrooms is my pet peeve. Bladder up folks.

On my most recent trip, two of my group were a young, healthy married couple. By the third day, we were all noticing that the husband had to stop at, quite literally, every single restroom. When we asked his wife, she sighed. "He's got a small bladder..." she admitted. Every single restroom! My trip was defined by standing outside bathrooms in all four parks.