You're not going to be able to visit a place that has over 50 million visitors a year (at least half of the annual visitors to Florida) without some planning.
It has ALWAYS required "some" amount of planning to visit WDW. Familiarizing yourself with the park layouts, understanding about what to expect for food, making a few key touchstone dining reservations, etc.
It was already well-established how exceptional WDW is in this regard for a long time - but now, there are more restaurants just at WDW that require booking six-months-out than there are in the entire rest of the United States combined. Disney fans have long ago normalized this sort of insanity, as it's been increasing in degree - tell most people who have not been or haven't been in a long time that they need to schedule every non-fast-food meal six-months-out (and now even some of them!) and they will look at you like you have three purple heads speaking Swahili. And scheduling a fastpass months out for a specific time? Nonsensical to those not majorly desensitized.
What we are talking about is how this has grown so considerably, particularly over the past five years. Gone are the days when you could get in pretty much most anywhere besides Cindy's if you stopped by a kiosk early in the day - you may have gotten a weird time but you could still get a time to stop in and eat. FP+ is the height of ridiculousness - I mean, even just based on the weather. It's a whole lot more complicated now to say, "uh, it's raining like crap today, let's go to Epcot instead of AK".
And this isn't just due to "demand" - it's a very conscious and calculated effort by Disney to maximize things for
their direct financial and operational benefit, which is all well and good except for the fact it has all tied into a measurably reduced guest experience and comparatively astronomical cost rise, which is why they get called out on it.
I don't know how long you have been visiting WDW - but there really was a day - and not so very long ago - where you could do a reasonable amount of research, make a rough plan, and not feel like you were about to enter a militarized operation. Sure, there has always been that segment who have been "theme park commandos", and the more research and (flexible) planning you did, generally the *more* full of an experience you could have.
There has been a marked shift to that type of thinking being the norm, not just an option; not just available to guests with the inclination, but being downright required by Disney if you want to eat anything other than double-priced increasingly dismal fast food (who's "value" is about a quarter of what it is priced), or if you want to get a few fastpasses for a couple of key attractions.
We joke about needing to reserve bathrooms in advance - but at this point,
can anyone honestly say they would be surprised to wake up tomorrow and read about a new add-on ticket entitlement you can attach to your Magic Band that gets you access to an exclusive set of posh "executive" style bathrooms at each park?
TL;DR? It was one thing when you had to keep updated on official Disney schedules to plan your trip effectively, making a few key reservations for things like Cindys or a Pontoon boat a few months out - it has become an entirely different beast now, sold under the guise of convenience, to a level that was only demanded by the tiniest portion of guests (i.e. the cult of the "Disney Mom's").
But your post made me laugh so thank you for that!
