How many of you are dreading your WDW trip?

[Matt_Black]

I actually don't mind construction, means they are maintaining the parks. BUT, I sure hope they have water in the flipping moat by then. Those pictures are going to look stupid with a dry riverbed... lol

Just Photoshop in the water. Easy peezy.

 

[gooftroop5]

I may be in the minority, but I'm actually looking forward to FP+ on our next trip. No more dragging 3 tired kids to rope drop just so Momma can run across the park snagging fastpasses. No more crisscrossing the parks to snag another FP once the next one is available and then back across the park to make the window of our current FP. No more forgetting my park tickets in the stinking FP machine and only realizing it when I go to pull another set of FPs. We have been to WDW 6 times in the last 7 years and it wasn't until our 5th trip that we rode TSMM at HS. I plan and plan BEFORE the trip, but once we are there we let the kids lead the way (until we need to get somewhere early to snag FPs). We are very relaxed and take our time. We could never make it HS early enough to get FPs for TSMM or if we were lucky to get them the return time was so late that we couldn't last that long in the park.

Waiting in lines is part of the fun at WDW. We bring Disney trivia books or hidden Mickey books and enjoy the time connecting to our kids. Life outside the Disney bubble is so fast-paced and everyone is in such a hurry. It's nice to relax. My FIL thinks we are crazy to go to WDW to relax, but hey........nothing beats watching your kids experience WDW.

And I completely agree with PPs. We are the lucky ones who get to experience WDW. Not everyone gets that opportunity. Be happy! You're going to DISNEY!

 

[jlsHouston]

I used FP+ when it was in testing in November in conjuction with legacy FP. For the way I tour FP+ had some conveniences over legacy but only some. However...I don't think I could ever dread a trip to WDW. Of course I stay onsite so I am in the bubble too. But still, you will have a wonderful trip. Like other OP's have pointed out, once there was a time with no front of the line passes, you just waited if you wanted to get on a ride with a 1 hour wait.
It's Disney, it's Florida, your trip with your family will be great. Don't worry be happy you're going to WDW!

 

[R W B]

I'm here right now and was also worried about the new FP+ system and in my opinion it has more cons then pros. Everything has to be booked/changed on my Fiances MyDisney Expirance account because my account or the 3 other people were with wont link our reservations together. I cant even check open dinner times any where on property because my app says I have to be here for that...I am here right now. The different levels of rides is idiotic, only being able to book FPs at one park per day is also idiotic. We've missed so many of our FP+ reservations that we had to book so far in advanced because things change when you get here. I'm on vacation, I don't want a set schedule while I'm relaxing and enjoying friends/family. If I'm opening at AK and I want a FP for Dinosaur and then later I'm closing at MK and I want to get a FP for Space Mount. I should be able to.

The pros are I think it's easier getting into the parks and your resort room since you are wearing a wristband and you don't have to fight to find a key card. That's cool.

 

[jlsHouston]

I'm here right now and was also worried about the new FP+ system and in my opinion it has more cons then pros. Everything has to be booked/changed on my Fiances MyDisney Expirance account because my account or the 3 other people were with wont link our reservations together. I cant even check open dinner times any where on property because my app says I have to be here for that...I am here right now. The different levels of rides is idiotic, only being able to book FPs at one park per day is also idiotic. We've missed so many of our FP+ reservations that we had to book so far in advanced because things change when you get here. I'm on vacation, I don't want a set schedule while I'm relaxing and enjoying friends/family. If I'm opening at AK and I want a FP for Dinosaur and then later I'm closing at MK and I want to get a FP for Space Mount. I should be able to.

The pros are I think it's easier getting into the parks and your resort room since you are wearing a wristband and you don't have to fight to find a key card. That's cool.

Hey is it busy? I leave tomorrow for WL. How's it looking at the POLY?

 

[Tomi-Rocket]

Dreading an upcoming trip? Sacre blue! The only thing that could ever make me dread a trip would be going in the middle of summer - oppressive heat & peak crowds? No thanks!

 

[Goofnut1980]

Just Photoshop in the water. Easy peezy.

Next years promotion: "Bring your own green screen" This will allow the magic of cropping and to Photoshop out the ugly and add your own personal touch!

 

[love disney]

The problem was that it worked well for you and others, but, not for everybody. This puts everyone on a level playing field....

Actually, it does not put everyone on a level playing field. First off, as an AP holder I sometimes take spur of the moment trips, as in deciding the night before or even that morning that I will drive two hours to the parks. The new system potentially puts people who make those types of trips as a disadvantage as it is impossible to reserve FP+ times in advance if you don't know you are going in advance. Also, among first time or infrequent visitors I have heard far more confusion about and irritation with the new system than the old (not a scientific poll, just my observations and accounts from many people I have talked to), so I think it really does not level the playing field, aside from perhaps regular visitors who go once or twice a year, most of which I doubt had any problems with the old system.

 

[R W B]

Hey is it busy? I leave tomorrow for WL. How's it looking at the POLY?

It's been decently busy. All the big rides have had 60-80min waits most of the week except for AK last night, from 6-8 it was walk on anything which was great. Today at magic is kids slow but it's also raining.

Next week the "escape from mardi gras" crowd will be gone but idk if anyone will be on Spring Break though.

 

[NormC]

Everything worked fine when we were there first week of Feb. Relax and enjoy your trip!

 

[Goofyernmost]

Actually, it does not put everyone on a level playing field. First off, as an AP holder I sometimes take spur of the moment trips, as in deciding the night before or even that morning that I will drive two hours to the parks. The new system potentially puts people who make those types of trips as a disadvantage as it is impossible to reserve FP+ times in advance if you don't know you are going in advance. Also, among first time or infrequent visitors I have heard far more confusion about and irritation with the new system than the old (not a scientific poll, just my observations and accounts from many people I have talked to), so I think it really does not level the playing field, aside from perhaps regular visitors who go once or twice a year, most of which I doubt had any problems with the old system.

Didn't you run the same risk with the old system? Why is this different? No organization can do everything for everybody besides there is still a chance that you will be able to reserve ahead of time.

If you get there early in the morning you have the same opportunity as any offsite visitor. If you get there late morning or early afternoon, you have about the same chance as you always did.

 

[Brickcity Pauly]

I am excited for my trip in less than three weeks. While MagicBands and FP+ will be new to me, I won't let them or anything else dictate my vacation. If I didn't think I'd have an awesome time, I wouldn't go there! And if I have to wait 60-120 minutes for some rides, there's no place I'd rather stand in line that long!

 

[jw24]

For me, personally, even though I'm in a situation where financially I'm not able to go anytime soon, until I see some changes for better, I'm not exactly dreading it per say but FP+ does highly concern me whenever my next trip may be.

I have concerns that it will be a virtual Black Friday for FP+ reservations almost every day and that I may get shut out in getting the FP+ reservations I want and be forced with the leftovers no one wants or feel forced to book extra days because of the feeling that I may not be able to get even one ride on the rides that have the FP+ on just one day alone. Not only that, at the moment, I don't have a smartphone so I feel forced to upgrade because my current phone is inconvenient to use the MDE (Screen size, data plans cost, etc.) So if I can't use a smartphone to make necessary changes, I'm forced to either memorize my FP+ reservations I made online and stick with them or I have to physically walk up to a kiosk and make reservations and if applicable, make my changes there. I maybe over-exaggerating by saying this, but I sincerely believe at the moment, there is a legit possibility I could end up losing a lot of valuable time just for making FP+ reservations and/or FP+ changes alone. And don't get me started on how worried I am about the FP+ lines. I've seen and heard enough stories about the long FP+ lines so again, there is a chance of losing valuable time just for using that when you could've got on the same ride on standby at a quicker wait. You can call me impatient, ungrateful and too demanding but there is no way I would wait over 45 minutes in line for anything. That's just what my patience and tolerance levels are. Waiting itself is not a problem for me. Waiting too long, however, is a problem. Aside from that, I have concerns and doubts about the actual system to confirm the reservations. Will it work in the first place? Or will I be the unfortunate one who holds up the entire FP+ line because the system doesn't work no matter how I hard I deliberately try to match "the Mickey to Mickey" so to speak.

Overall, I do feel it's too much micro-managing when it isn't necessary to begin with. I'm sure people have no problems with it are the same people who know how to plan a park day on multiple ADRs so it shouldn't be new to them. But the way I see it, everyone who is praising it had the luxury of being able to go during the off peak times where crowds were not a factor and the paper FP was still an option. Now it's March and it's FP+ or nothing but standbys. I strongly believe that this six-month period between March-August is the pressure cooker test for the system because crowds will get larger and larger in the months ahead.

Having said all that, my conscience is screaming at me, "It's just a test! Don't panic about it!" and I fully admit I have a tendency to blow things out of proportion but anything that has received mixed or mostly negative feedback is a blaring red light in my head. That's just how my mind interprets it. But I sincerely hope that come 2016-18, the years I have in mind for my next WDW trip, I hope all of the problems with FP+ are sorted out and hopefully changes for the better will come to that system.

 

[skimbob]

I'm only worried, not dreading, my next trip because being from the UK and I don't know how the Magic Band/FP+ things will work out.

No worries. It is all very easy to use. I went in January and used the Magic Band for the first time and it was great except I had issues with it not unlocking my room. They offered me a room key when I checked in and I took it so I just used it instead of the Magic Band. FP+ I did at home and had no issues. If you run into problems email me and I will guide you through it. I hope you have an awesome trip here.

 

[skimbob]

I hate to say it, but all the complaining on this forum really put a damper on my usual excitement leading up to vacation. Some folks here had me convinced that the park was in shambles, totally neglected, and that FP+ was the worst thing that's ever happened in the history of the world. I was almost dreading it, thinking maybe it would be the last trip, at least for a while.

I'm very happy to report that what I witnessed and experienced was nothing at all like what I'd read about and feared. The parks were pristine. Everything was functional. Was it perfect? No, but what's perfect?? They're constantly cleaning, improving, updating, adding... it's extremely impressive, especially considering the volume of people they see every day, and the public's need for instant gratification and 3 second attention span. It must be really hard to keep up, in this day and age, but I think they're doing a fantastic job.

FP+ was amazingly convenient and saved us a TON of time and stress, not having to run around and get the paper FP. If we needed to change something, we could do it right on our phones. I didn't like how slow the app was running, but that could be my phone's fault, and I wasn't crazy about the fact that we could only have FP in 1 park per day, but that will all work itself out. MY BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE - BOOK EVERYTHING IN ADVANCE. Do not do it in the park, or you'll be waiting in long lines. In that case, what's the point?? You might as well wait in line for the ride instead.

I fell in love with Disney World all over again on this trip. No longer will I let other peoples' opinions influence the way I feel about the parks. In fact, I have to really try to stay away from certain threads, although the crying seems to work its way into just about any discussion.

I agree totally. I get irritated by those who always are negative especially about new things but also about the state of the parks.WDW is awesome and the only place I would put superior to it is DL becasue it is my home park.

 

[Jeff456]

Although I'd rather we still had classic fastpass I'm still looking forward to my September /October trip just a new system to try and learn!

 

[copcarguyp71]

Oh boy...avoided this thread for so long as I do not want to be dubbed a doom-and-gloomer but here is my response with a fair amount of restraint...

We had planned on booking a bounceback or just a simple trip back if BB was not available when were in the world last September for this coming October (2014). After careful consideration during our first five days at WDW both myself as well as Mrs Copcarguy and the kiddo (age 10) as well all agreed that we did not see a trip in our future for the following year. I myself was probably looking forward more than any of us as we had planned to do a park view room at the Contemporary main tower which in all honesty has been a dream of mine since I visited the first time in 1977 at the age of six and looked at the CR as a unattainable dream...a dream I have held onto for the past 36 years since then. But there was enough uncertainty in our minds to nix the whole idea. Rather than dreading the possible letdown for 13 months we decided to call the whole thing off. Sometimes I guess a dream has to just remain a dream that you can hold onto in your minds eye.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Nothing worse than hearing a person who is going to a Disney park talk about dreading the trip while you are hoping for a miracle to be able to get out of your financial situation before even thinking about the chance of another Disney trip. I'll stop there.

 

[mufasa0505]

we can wait in standby lines if they aren't too long

Good luck with that. We've been to WDW twice since FP+ started, then went to DLR for the first time. DLR is getting our money now. We'll be waiting to (hopefully) hear good things about WDW some time in the future. This is coming from a DVC member who was married at WDW. Really not happy with what's been going on there.

 

[Mikester71]

Nothing worse than hearing a person who is going to a Disney park talk about dreading the trip while you are hoping for a miracle to be able to get out of your financial situation before even thinking about the chance of another Disney trip. I'll stop there.

I "liked" your comment for the first part of it, @Big Phil. As someone who is FINALLY just climbing out of a financial situation themselves after 2 long years, all I can say is stay strong, good luck, and always remember...there is always an end in sight and bluer skies ahead!