The average first-timer's research for a visit?

[bustamelon]

I went a few times as a kid with my parents in the 80s, to both Disneyland (when we lived nearby there) and WDW. My parents are not, and have never been, big planners, so I know they just threw us all in the car and went. And I have great memories of those trips, so I'd say no planning was needed then.

My first trip as an adult was around 2002 maybe, and I did what I would consider the bare minimum of research. I researched (offsite) accommodations and car rentals as much as the parks. I remembered enough from my visits as a kid that we didn't really miss anything. The only real big difference between the kid visits and the adult visits was the addition of 2 parks. But I at least knew they existed, and knew I could get Park Hopper passes, and I planned a day for each park. What we discovered early on was that whatever park we spent the day in, we could hop over to World Showcase and just show up at any restaurant and get a view of Illuminations. At that time, you could still get away without any ADRs and I don't think advanced FastPass reservations were even a thing, so it was a nice, easy-going, low-stress trip.

Folks unfortunately don't really have that option anymore it seems.

 

[DoleWhipDrea]

I grew up in LA, so we had several parks, including Disneyland, nearby as a fairly easy place to just arrive to when you wanted. Generally the most important thing to know was what the park hours were. Fastpass was easy enough to learn while there, and if you wanted dining reservations, typically you just had to go to the front podium for the restaurant that morning. My mother and I always went to Blue Bayou for lunch. Once DLR adopted the WDW dining system to pre-book, things got a lot harder, but at least there's enough decent quick service locations to ensure you will get something you would actually want to eat (something I'm constantly frustrated at WDW about.)

Anyway, I've had a few friends and family members come to visit WDW with us or at least ask me questions, and I really try to emphasize to them how competitive getting reservations are and how large WDW is, that Disneyland is so much smaller than what we're talking about. They never understand the importance of dining reservations, but I have at least managed to get them to understand the size now. I tell them that it's the size of San Francisco. Only then can they even begin to understand

 

[Djsfantasi]

I barely remember disney world on that trip.. but i remember every inch of epcot.

Ummm, Epcot is in Walt Disney World. I think you’re making a common mistake. Walt Disney World is the entire experience. It contains four theme parks, two water parks, a shopping and dining center, a sports center, two mini golf parks, two 18 hole golf courses and more. You probably went to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.

 

[ppete1975]

Ummm, Epcot is in Walt Disney World. I think you’re making a common mistake. Walt Disney World is the entire experience. It contains four theme parks, two water parks, a shopping and dining center, a sports center, two mini golf parks, two 18 hole golf courses and more. You probably went to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.

I am so sorry i wasn’t paying attention when i wrote that. I promise you i know the difference Please don’t correct me over wording.