Last week was the famed teachers convention/jersey week here in Garden State. This means elementary schools have half days M-T-W, and all Schools have Th-F off. This is a unique opportunity, to take school age kids away on a trip during a non-summer season. Even your older kids in HS, unless your team is in a State Semi-Final are done with Fall Sports, and the Winter season hasn't really started.
Between our 10-year-old and 12-year-old, 10 families that we are close with were down at the happiest place on earth last week. Between club baseball practice, and youth wrestling/football boards, i have spoken with 9 of the Mom/Dads since their triumphant returns. Between those conversations, and our last 2 trips, it is amazing how different the "real world" WDW is from these boards.
Of the 9 families i spoke with (7 being return guests, 2 first timers) not a single one had any idea who Chapek was. Not a one.
There were 7 fliers and 2 drivers for the trip, every single one of the fliers managed to get from MCO to WDW and back without the DME. While one mother said she missed it, she did say she liked that they rented a car this trip, as it gave them flexibility to get to/from places on their own.
Not a one had any problem with reserving there park prior to going. In fact two of the frequent WDW travelers noted that back in the day they had to figure out where they were going to be 180 days out to book dining reservations anyway, so the park reservation thing was no big deal.
No one had any problem using the Genie plus ap. Some people did say they liked the pre-booking option of Fast Pass better, but no one said they had any problem using the system.
Sure 9 families in one local cluster does not a double blind test make, and the sample size obviously leaves something to be desired. But its just amazing the difference in conversations between the people who actually got to the parks, vs. people who talk about the parks is.
Between our 10-year-old and 12-year-old, 10 families that we are close with were down at the happiest place on earth last week. Between club baseball practice, and youth wrestling/football boards, i have spoken with 9 of the Mom/Dads since their triumphant returns. Between those conversations, and our last 2 trips, it is amazing how different the "real world" WDW is from these boards.
Of the 9 families i spoke with (7 being return guests, 2 first timers) not a single one had any idea who Chapek was. Not a one.
There were 7 fliers and 2 drivers for the trip, every single one of the fliers managed to get from MCO to WDW and back without the DME. While one mother said she missed it, she did say she liked that they rented a car this trip, as it gave them flexibility to get to/from places on their own.
Not a one had any problem with reserving there park prior to going. In fact two of the frequent WDW travelers noted that back in the day they had to figure out where they were going to be 180 days out to book dining reservations anyway, so the park reservation thing was no big deal.
No one had any problem using the Genie plus ap. Some people did say they liked the pre-booking option of Fast Pass better, but no one said they had any problem using the system.
Sure 9 families in one local cluster does not a double blind test make, and the sample size obviously leaves something to be desired. But its just amazing the difference in conversations between the people who actually got to the parks, vs. people who talk about the parks is.
