Can we talk about how Difficult Disney Vacations are becoming

[jknc]

Call the Walt Disney World ticket phone line, listen to all the absurd prompts for options and tell me planning a trip is easy

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Or become a Travel Agent and plan other people's trips for them. That still doesn't resolve the 7:00 a.m. issue though.

I don't have a 7 am issue. Nor do I see one.

 

[reddog21]

Call the Walt Disney World ticket phone line, listen to all the absurd prompts for options and tell me planning a trip is easy

Planning a trip is easy.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I don’t call Disney for anything if I can help it.
If I do have to call them the hardest part. Is the 45 minutes waiting.

 

[PaladinButters]

I love watching people have melt downs because they cant get in to a super popular restaurant last minute.

In aviation we call it the 6 "p's" however for Disney i'll shorten it to 5.

Proper Planning Prevents p Poor Performance.

We call it that in other industries as well. But we can also just use "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" to get around that Disney-friendly censor.

I know it's insane to think that people spend thousands on vacations without planning, but they do. Every day there's somebody asking a CM where Harry Potter World is.
I'm imagining some people planning trips to literally anywhere something like this -

Person 1 - "Hey, vacation time is coming up - where do you guys want to go?"
Person 2 - "IDK.... Montana? We could go hiking. I think Jellystone Park is there."
Person 1 - "Well, we should probably check if it is there first....."
Person 2 - "Doesn't matter, we'll find a trail! There's gotta be a ton."
Person 1 - "Any specific trail you're thinking of? Probably want to get a hotel in the right area."
Person 2 - "It's fine, trails are everywhere. Just pick a hotel with good rates."
Person 1 - "Slow down, I don't think we should jump into....."
Person 2 -"Done! Just booked us a hotel in Boise. You worry too much."
Person 1 - "....."

 

[RoseGold]

I just helped plan a one in a lifetime trip for a friend around the holidays.

Used the DVC points for the EMH on Monday/Weds night. Paid an arm and a leg for the after hours holiday party on Tuesday. Bought hoppers to cover HS. Plan to pay the Genie's extortionate fee for ROTR. Booked a lightsaber. Used that other site to book into Oga's at some point. Passing on AK and going to Universal with max pass the other two days, one night in a Universal hotel. Done and done.

This was pretty simple, if you're willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Money Makes the world do round......

 

[Sakiki]

I’m just glad that DW and I seriously dislike ‘thrill’ rides and fast coasters, and have no interest in Star Wars beyond the most casual ‘let’s walk through here and see what GE is all about’ so Genie+ and LL aren’t going to affect us much (if at all). Neither of us have any interest in spending our days being chivvied around by Genie (yes, I understand you can simply ignore it) or trying to book a time slot for a ride that suits our plans and our inclinations on the day - having to keep refreshing on a cellphone to get a slot later in the day than the ‘next available’ is the absolute antithesis of a vacation for us (for choice I wouldn't carry a cellphone on vacation at all, although that isn’t really practical these days for other reasons). Add all that to the soaring price of tickets, the need to then book a park reservation that when the day comes we may not want to take up (maybe the heavens have opened and DW’s ECV isn’t practicable, maybe we just feel a bit tired or we ate something that backfired on us and we don’t fancy a park that day) and it’s getting to the point where even I as an enthusiastic vacation planner can no longer be bothered to jump through all Disney’s hoops.

We’ve always visited WDW as much for the ambience and the shows as the rides. Although to be fair we do enjoy POTC, JC and IASW in MK, Frozen, LWTL and TSWN in Epcot (and walking round World Showcase) and NRJ in AK (AK is about the animals anyway). We plan to be back in Florida (from the UK) in November 2022 but we may give WDW a miss entirely as the ambience, the street performers, the parades large and small, the international performers at WS are what’s missing and there’s no talk at all about any of that ever coming back. We shall be off site with a car and central Florida is a lot more than Disney.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I just helped plan a one in a lifetime trip for a friend around the holidays.

Used the DVC points for the EMH on Monday/Weds night. Paid an arm and a leg for the after hours holiday party on Tuesday. Bought hoppers to cover HS. Plan to pay the Genie's extortionate fee for ROTR. Booked a lightsaber. Used that other site to book into Oga's at some point. Passing on AK and going to Universal with max pass the other two days, one night in a Universal hotel. Done and done.

This was pretty simple, if you're willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money.

Once in a lifetime trip and skipping the best park in Orlando? Blasphemy.

(Semi-sarcastic)

 

[RoseGold]

Once in a lifetime trip and skipping the best park in Orlando? Blasphemy.

(Semi-sarcastic)

With Genie+$+ I can probably promise at least ROTR. With EMH2 and After Hours, MK will probably be great.

But yea, I don't have enough information to gamble on a whole day at AK, when the dark side over there gives you unlimited priority in a slightly expensive hotel room. I guess there's still room to hop to AK for a morning. So, this trip ends up 3 days Disney, 2 days Universal. And the mouse made about as much as he would have on the 5 day Disney trip. So, win for Disney?

 

[luv2cheer92]

With Genie+$+ I can probably promise at least ROTR. With EMH2 and After Hours, MK will probably be great.

But yea, I don't have enough information to gamble on a whole day at AK, when the dark side over there gives you unlimited priority in a slightly expensive hotel room. I guess there's still room to hop to AK for a morning. So, this trip ends up 3 days Disney, 2 days Universal. And the mouse made about as much as he would have on the 5 day Disney trip. So, win for Disney?

Haha, I just can't even fathom skipping AK on a one day trip let alone someone's once in a lifetime trip. I could just walk around the park without riding a single thing and be more than satisfied with my cost of entry. The rides are just a bonus there.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Having had to stay on I drive more than a few times for work, I can't understand why anyone would go to that side of the town....

 

[DISNEY1975]

They claimed the resort parking fee was just keeping up with the area hotels. They claim the fee for FPs was just keeping up with the area theme parks. So....why dont their prices of things keep up with the area too? Way more expensive to begin with and adding fees all the time. Another thing Id love Disney to keep up with is a loyalty program at the resorts.

 

[Sweet T n Me]

Show of hands, please, who visited WDW in the year prior to the pandemic?

Flashback to 2019. Everything was available. FP, park hopping, parking lot trams (no one mentioned that)
and there’s one teensy little detail….THE CROWDS!!!!
That was the topic on the dis boards. What’s going to happen for the 50th Anniversary?
HOW WILL WE EVER MANAGE?

THIS IS ONLY A THOUGHT
1. I think the theme park passes may help with some of the overcrowding. Park hopping is a thing, and almost everyone wants to try new rides and crowd favorites.

2. Until all the fast pass lanes are opened up, people are spaced out in the standby lanes,
creating massive lines. Lots of confusion attempting to get in the right line. Genie will suggest the shorter wait times, but, ultimately shift crowds in the parks, and avoid bottlenecks.

3. Disney is not fully staffed, with many of their large hotels & resorts just starting to open. More locations for visitors to be Outside of the theme parks.

4. You will be sorely disappointed if you don’t review you plans before you pack you bags. Is the pool at the resort open? Transportation (monorail) available? Did the “my Disney experience” reset your theme park passes? You flight on schedule?

5. Think outside of the box to get out of the crowds. Cirque du Soleil is opening at DISNEY SPRINGS.

6. No one can do it all even on a guided tour. Some rides are worth seeing the standby cue.

7. I cringe just thinking about using new phone applications in a crowd/under pressure. Where’s my 9 yr old GD to do it for me?

8. Plan on walking more that you ever have. Book Brown Derby for lunch, dessert, or drinks, and marvel that it’s the last one. In other words, have some surprises in you pocket. I would use a DREAMS UNLIMITED TRAVEL AGENT if I hadn’t been to WDW in a while. They have a lot of resources and answers.

9. Be kind to people. It will make a huge difference in you trip. My granddaughter is always
spreading sunshine & pixie dust. I can’t count how many times she has made a persons’ day.

10. Memory maker photos at the parks. Ask if they have a magic shot.


I hope, that no matter what you do, remember to take a moment to see that they were able to close ALL of this down completely, for our safety. They are still a work in process, bringing it back. Hopefully, better.

 

[Boardwalk III]

At least I'm not running from fP machine to FP machine like the old paper days!

Call me crazy, but I’d almost rather that than be glued to my phone all day! Of course at that time our kids were teenagers and did all the running for us . Other than the running it was an extremely efficient way to experience large numbers of attractions without waits.

 

[DISNEY1975]

I love pre planning. Not on second of my vacation is spent wondering what to do next or asking "where do you want to go for dinner?" With 5 of us, I would get all different answers. We have a plan and get to do everything we want to do. I know when to leave the park, when we will have a meal, when we will get to ride certain rides. We get to split up going to rides some of us like and some dont, then meet at our reserved lunch etc... There are certain restaurants someone in my family might not like. EX: San Angel Inn is my favorite. I get the whining out of the way before we even get to FL by showing them the plan and they look forward to Via Napoli later in the trip!

Without a plan I would never have been able to go to AK in the morning, get the ROL package at Tusker House breakfast, go on FOP and Kali without waiting, hit more attractions, get back to YC, shower/ change for Le Cellier dinner, then head back to AK at 8pm for ROL. That takes serious planning!!!

Are we exhausted when we get home? Yes. But no one ever said "I wish we got to do this or that" or "That was boring I dont ever want to go to Disney again!" Proud to say I have raised 3 DISKids!

If I was a solo traveler or just me and hubby, I probably wouldnt need to plan every second, but with a family I cant imagine it any other way. Im not looking forward to having to now plan 7am planning! We are usually on our way to a character breakfast at that time!

 

[reddog21]

Call me crazy, but I’d almost rather that than be glued to my phone all day! Of course at that time our kids were teenagers and did all the running for us . Other than the running it was an extremely efficient way to experience large numbers of attractions without waits.

This notion that you need to be glued to your phone all day is so overblown. Having wait times on your phone is probably one of the best advancements in any theme park not just Disney.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I have always found the MDE app helpful, I get what I need done, or the info I’m looking for and enjoy my vacation.

The hardest thing I have to do “on” the app is getting everyone to agree on where to go to dinner…

 

[diskids2]

We call it that in other industries as well. But we can also just use "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" to get around that Disney-friendly censor.

I know it's insane to think that people spend thousands on vacations without planning, but they do. Every day there's somebody asking a CM where Harry Potter World is.
I'm imagining some people planning trips to literally anywhere something like this -

Person 1 - "Hey, vacation time is coming up - where do you guys want to go?"
Person 2 - "IDK.... Montana? We could go hiking. I think Jellystone Park is there."
Person 1 - "Well, we should probably check if it is there first....."
Person 2 - "Doesn't matter, we'll find a trail! There's gotta be a ton."
Person 1 - "Any specific trail you're thinking of? Probably want to get a hotel in the right area."
Person 2 - "It's fine, trails are everywhere. Just pick a hotel with good rates."
Person 1 - "Slow down, I don't think we should jump into....."
Person 2 -"Done! Just booked us a hotel in Boise. You worry too much."
Person 1 - "....."

People at work think I am crazy! I just belly laughed over the HP comment! It is amazing what we take for granted with our knowledge of a Disney vacation and our planning.

 

[Boardwalk III]

This notion that you need to be glued to your phone all day is so overblown. Having wait times on your phone is probably one of the best advancements in any theme park not just Disney.

Agree that wait times on app is a huge win. That is, if they’re accurate But having to get each Genie+ one at a time, and then having to constantly refresh/search “day of” to find time slots that work with your schedule makes in-park screen time much higher than I‘d personally like.