GhostHost1000
Premium Member
unfortunately this is the new WDW... I am the same way... I feel like if I don't hit the 180 and 60 day mark on dining and fp's I won't get to experience it the way I would like to... which is sad
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New nighttime show 'Rivers of Light' confirmed to be coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom
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unfortunately this is the new WDW... I am the same way... I feel like if I don't hit the 180 and 60 day mark on dining and fp's I won't get to experience it the way I would like to... which is sad
Soarin' Over Pgh
Well-Known Member
Honestly, I'm about ready to cancel my Disney trip, book the same days at Universal and use Uber to travel from Uni hotel to WDW.
A business associate of mine was at my desk and we were talking about our trips (basically saying what Ive already said) and it's her first time as an adult going to WDW. She's tired of planning and *loathes* the tiered FP+ system. She was telling me that she paid $36 for magic bands as theyre staying offsite (with shipping) and her husband was having fits over a bracelet he won't wear and they'll only use a few times. She didn't know that you don't HAVE to have a MB. She's ticked and feels like she got suckered into buying them now. She even got plain ones!
She's going in September, and I'm going in November. We will be comparing notes again, I'm sure.
I didn't mention RoL or JB to her, but she's looking forward to RoL... or, as she put it, "that water show in the animal park" ...I uh, hope it's ready for her trip.
GhostHost1000
Premium Member
even though it may seem overwhelming, I wouldn't try to tackle it without some planning and first time guests really should research or go through a Disney travel agent. In today's day and age there is a lot you can find online, even on Disney's site to help not to mention other sites and books.
There are a lot of people/families who go and end up hating it because they miss out on so much not really planning, even just a little. While all of us would like to get out of bed at whatever time we want and walk straight to the front of the line of whatever our favorite attraction is, its just not possible at Disney....but with just a little planning, you can make the most of your time there.
Us "experts" get it, others do not... I wish none of us had to do it, but with the crowds the way they are and wdw not really expanding much, it unfortunately is what it is
You only needed minimal planning If you so desired up to just a few years ago.
Now it's forced if you want to enjoy what in the past could be decided almost on a whim.
You want to ride Space Mountain on an afternoon in August and not wait two hours? You have to make that choice now weeks - or months - in advance.
One of the selling points of the whole MyMagic mess was squeezing more capacity out of infrastructure without actually building new attractions to increase capacity.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
MSEP/PTN. An announcement regarding PTN's future is coming very soon.
itsgonnahappen
Member
Soon as in tonight, or soon as in the next couple of days?
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
Announcements typically don't happen at night, but it can come out any time now. Basically - watch the DPB.
rawisericho
Well-Known Member
Ugh this is a disaster.
With the exception of MK, Universals numbers are not that far behind Epcot, HS and AK, yet you dont need to plan your Uni trip months in advance. Disney wants you to plan your trip out for their benefit, not yours.
DVCOwner
A Long Time DVC Member
I am a planner and love planning my trips. Did it before Fast Pass, did it during the Fast Pass years and still do it today. I just find it easier now then in other years. Still at the same time we did do a unplanned trip to Walt Disney World a few months ago and was able to use the Disney app on my smart phone to book fast passes on the fly the day of the trip. Did this by booking what ever I could get the night before for the park we where going to that day and then adjusting them as we went though the day. Had some late night fast passes on "must do rides", but was able to do them at rope drop and than changed the "must do ride" fast passes to other rides earlier in the day. Worked great.
So plan ahead or not the Disney app works for us.
Goofyque'
Well-Known Member
This has been our experience as well. Love thinking about the trips coming up. Remember many time waiting in long lines before any of the fast pass programs, WDW is so much easier in so many ways now. Plan or don't plan, however feels more natural to you, but the on the fly plans have worked for us, and we often change whatever our pre-plans are.
Just jazzed to see all the things coming up, whenever they are complete!
Thats basically how we use it as well. We dont plan weeks or motnhs out, we just use MDE (which i think was the best thing to come of NGE) and book FP+ night before or day of and take what we get. We like rope drop so its not a problem if we need to get their eary and knockout some major attractions early.
It can be used wisely, but IMO, some of the Disney commercials and DPB advertisements make MM+ seem like it if you dont plan ahead and book FP+ weeks and months out, you will have a lesser experience. It kind of forces people to plan more than they really need to and people get stressed as we have seen mentioned countless times. I think its more about setting reasonable expectations, but an unexperienced visitor will most likely stress over the planning. In the past, planning was more fun as it was more about looking at rides and shows and getting excited to experience it all. Now people seem to stress that they may not even be able to experience certain atractions or restaurants. And look at the fiasco we have with RoL and MSEP now. People have planned trips around it and with all the planning Disney wants you to do, they give little heads up to help you out. When i was a child, my mother would buy the newest edition of the Burnbaum books and we would fawn over it until we arrived at the parks. That was the extent of planning a family needed. It was all so simple then.
Tony the Tigger
Well-Known Member
I'm not sweating it. Sept 18th to 21st will be our first visit since January, and our first of several over the next year. If it's there, it's there. If it's not, it's not. If it's there and fast passes are not available, fine.
There will always be a next time.
Haven't booked anything yet other than our hotel & tix. I have a general idea of Disney Springs on Sunday, and some variation of Epcot all day either Monday or Tuesday and a split between HS/AK (at night) on the other day. MK on Wednesday morning through lunch and then back to reality.
There will always be a next time.
Haven't booked anything yet other than our hotel & tix. I have a general idea of Disney Springs on Sunday, and some variation of Epcot all day either Monday or Tuesday and a split between HS/AK (at night) on the other day. MK on Wednesday morning through lunch and then back to reality.
andysol
Well-Known Member
Look at the capacity of rides at DAK and DHS vs Universal or IoA. It's amazing the difference. I don't blame Disney- 3 of their 4 parks have such atrocious capacity compared to their attendance that you are forced to FP+, otherwise, you're waiting a couple hours for some attraction somewhere later in the day (if you want to ride it).
I went to Universal and Disney both in May. I'm going again next month (with a stop for 3 nights at DVC DAK party and MK for MNSSHP- no park tickets for me). At Disney there will be a new film at Soarin' and a new overlay of Maelstrom. No night parade at MK and no night show at DAK. At Universal I'm staying at Sapphire falls that just opened, riding a new E-ticket in Reign of Kong (built on an expansion plot- not a simple replacement of a former attraction), riding Hulk that just got rebuilt from the ground up (yet Space Mountain still hasn't), and eating at the brand new Toothsome Chocolate factory.
Guess which one I'm more excited for?
And that, ladies and gentleman, is the difference in how both resorts are being run currently.
I blame Disney. For the simple fact that they could have spent the money much more wisely and acutally solved their attraction capacity issues instead of playing musical chairs with billions. But the rest of your post makes an excellent point in terms of the difference we currently see and the excitment level each resort is giving guests. And now... just wait for some pixie duster to chime in and claim how excited they are to be visisting WDW, and in all honesty, they should be excited. Its still an excellent destination, its just not living up to its potential, yet so many defend the insane decisions that are slowly dismantling the experience.
Nickels5
Well-Known Member
Are people defending Disney or are they saying they still like it more then Universal? That's the boat I am in at least, I don't agree with a lot they have done at the parks in recent years but still 10/10 times I would choose to go to any park in WDW then any at Universal.
Mike S
Well-Known Member
I can understand MK and then Epcot and AK for some unique aspects that they each have but absolutely not DHS in its current state.
Anyway back to RoL.