Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Lilofan]

I think the best way that I can put it, at least for myself and my wife, is that WDW trips cause way more anxiety now than they ever had. Almost to the point where we experience more anxiety than we do enjoyment. Disney World was our anti-anxiety medicine that allowed us to escape the real world for a bit. Now, you're paying more for way less, as well as having to micromanage your entire vacation by the minute.

Our planning stage back in the day was borrowing the WDW Fodors Guide at the local library and making written notes.

 

[Nubs70]

My planning stage years ago was to get to airport with kids, check bags, get on plane, get off plane, get on/off bus, and go to park.

 

[DisneyNittany]

I'm a Project Manager by trade, with OCD to boot, so I personally liked a little pre-planning and spreadsheeting. It wasn't much, but I felt like having some sort of plan 60-days out allowed us to put our brains on cruise-control once we checked into our flight and dropped the luggage off.

 

[Grimley1968]

Instead of using sites like this to complain about WDW like I do now, my planning years ago involved using sites like this.

- Best routes to involve the least amount of running back and forth between getting paper FP's and our current place in the park
- How to get the kids to not want to do character breakfasts (still had to do a few over the years)
- How much cash in $1 bills and coins to bring to pay Florida Turnpike and Beeline (now Beachline) tolls
- Which deluxe resort had the best amenities (staying in a deluxe is a pipe dream now)

Things have certainly changed.