Thank you to this board, but our upcoming group trip will be one and done!

[BadPinkTink]

OP I totally get where you are coming from and the reasons you listed are why even I as a solo am propally never going to Walt Disney World. Disneyland California and Disneyland Paris are no where near the level of planning of Walt Disney World.

Disney have created a beast with Walt Disney World and I often think, that regulars to Walt Disney World, whether they are every month, every year or every other year don't fully realise the system they are used to is just so restrictive.

If the system works for you great, but you need to realise that to first timers to Walt Disney World its NOT user friendly. You love it , thats great, but that's because you have found over multiple visits how to adapt it to your needs. For a first time visitor , its hugely off putting.

 

[Sabres431]

Totally agree with the OP as far as planning. Our group of 6 changed to a group of 8 at the last minute. So far I have been unable to add 1 to an ADR and 2 to another ADR and I've been calling every day. It is unfortunate that Disney does not allow for any changing of vacation plans due to their structure. FPs and ADR reservation should be the same day. Planning meals so far ahead of planning park days makes things very difficult. I think our next trip when I make ADRs for a group I'll make it for more people than we have going. I'll then adjust it to the right size(or not) right before the trip. This screws people out of ADRs but Disney has forced this.

 

[Hikergirl]

We had this exact thing happen just this week. DS only 17 mos & didn’t tolerate things well at Epcot one day. So we tried to make plans to go back but had to decide if we wanted to give up slinky dog FPs to do it. There was no changing. And with a 17 mos old there is no waiting in 1-2 hour lines. It was 3 adults & him. So if we wait 1-2 hours for SD & then rider swap that is 2-4 hours to entertain him while we wait. DH, DS & I go all the time so we wouldnt care. But the trip was for my sister who hasn’t been in years & she had to choose what she would rather do b/c of the lack of flexibility to change plans on the fly. With the old FP system we could have changed plans & gone to the park early enough to grab SD FP. I admit I use to like the planning, but with a toddler I really resent that I have to know my plans should be 60 days ahead of time.

I so agree with the bolded.
We are a go with the flow family, and we can make WDW work (all my kids are much older than yours) but you really can't go there without some kind of plan at first. When they were younger, it was very easy to go with the flow- or at the very least have minimal plans.
I hate that if I want to make sure I eat at a restaurant I really want too I have to make a reservation 6 months in advance. That is absolutely insane. Then I have to decide what ride I want to do on what day and time 2 months before my trip if I dont want to chance spending hours waiting to ride. So i have to look at park hours and decide what and when I want to go. It;s like doing a research project LOL
Ir's just too much, and add on having a group to co-ordinate all that stuff and include what they want to do it can be downright overwhelming. For a theme park! It's crazy.

OP, I totally understand and I don't think you are setting out to go on your trip with a bad attitude at all. I think the act of planning the trip has changed your positive happy attitude towards WDW to the worst. Totally understandable and I do hope you are able to enjoy your trip.

 

[Klayfish]

So again, I'll give the counterpoint here. First, remember that all this "planning" and "structure" are personal decisions. Nowhere on your ticket does it say that you must have a plan if you wish to enter. If you elect to do all that organizing, that's great, but it's a choice. Even on our first family visit with the kids back in 2007 or 2008 (I forget now), we didn't have a plan. We walked in, grabbed a park map and started exploring. We had a wonderful time. To this day, we still pretty much do that...of course with the benefit of being grizzled veterans. Plenty of people still walk in with zero plan. It's not a requirement. Sure, some leave frustrated, but plenty don't judging by attendance numbers.

As for things like ADRs, I get the frustration from a certain standpoint. At the same time, It's not Disneys' "fault", it's a function of being a popular destination. Not in a "blame the guests way" at all, just in a logistics manner. It's no different than walking into a fancy restaurant in downtown Manhattan. If you walk into one of those with no reservation, be sure to take a photo of the look on the host/hostess face, it'll be priceless. Knowing that WDW is the most popular tourist destination in the USA, what would we expect them to do? Not take reservations? Can you imagine the chaos if CRT and BoG were first come/first serve? I shudder to think. So I'd hope we all agree that reservations are a good thing. So then, what is a good limit to how far out you can make them? I feel you have to set one, be it arbitrary or studied, otherwise people will make them 18 months ahead. Should it be one month? Then people may complain it's too last minute and they can't set their plans. Two months? Three? Hopefully you get my point. No matter what timeline WDW sets for how far out ADRs can be made, guests will snap them up as soon as possible. It's the same scenario with attractions. I can't imagine what it would be like if FP+ didn't exist for FoP or 7DMT. Not pretty. There was a time when FP+ didn't exist, but WDW was a very different place then.

Hope nobody takes this the wrong way. Just challenging you to take a step back and look at it from a different perspective. With as many guests as they have, I think it's almost a no win situation. Unless they put a much tighter limit on how many people enter (imagine the backlash there), they're always going to have these challenges.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I hear you, OP. My biggest beef with Disney is that they don't update the park hours until the last minute. It always makes planning challenging for me, no matter how frequent my trips are. They also add special events at random times without a clear pattern.

Every travel group is different. If I had to plan for a large party I would be a nervous wreck.

 

[sullyfam]

They encourage you to plan, but that doesn't mean you have to stick to the plan. Or you could go the route that some do and not make a plan at all. Disney encourages you to plan though as they want you to be able to experience as much as you can during your visit.

I too resent the fact that I have to do so much planning for our trips, but I also leave things up to chance and if we don't feel like doing something we had planned (ADR or FP etc.) we just switch it up and don't think twice about it. No one is going to come looking for you if you don't show up for a FP or if you switch your park of the day.

I encourage people to make plans for the things they really want to do, but to also leave room in your planning for flexibility. When you are traveling with a group especially, you need to be flexible.

I would have the mentality that this is going to be a great trip and try to enjoy the time with your family and the memories that you make as best you can.

 

[disneyseniors]

Wow, OP, I agree with you on all points. The excessive planning didn't work for us (husband and I). We used to do the free dining plan each year, but found we ended up cancelling most of them. We might just not feel like Chinese that night, or too tired to go to yet again Epcot for dining, or just want to eat QS and do something different. So, I convinced my husband to skip it a few years back, and we have never been happier. For us, we can be flexible. We do have a couple of must do's that we love each trip, and I do reserve those 2. We found we eat less, pay less, and enjoy ourselves more.
We use the fp;s as a guideline only, not set in stone. I usually plan 4 park days and get fp;s for them. The rest of the days we just do what we want, and get fp;s if we think we need to.
So, you can be somewhat flexible if you want. I KNOW it is difficult with a group. We did that twice with up to 11 people. By the 2nd time, we all just went our own ways. No more standing around wondering where to go, what to do,, as a group! We always met up for supper, so I think you are correct in doing it that way.
Just have fun, be flexible, because nothing goes as planned anyway.

 

[NYCgrrl]

The larger the group, the more pre planning has been my observation no matter where we vacationing. Probably the only vacation w/ no to few hiccups for large groups are cruises (we all know that weather rules-maybe).
Still, WDW, has it's own challenges and I opt out of the game whenever possible. A decision has to made whether I'm spending money or time and at this point I've opted for money to give me the time to achieve a stay away from home's purpose: relaxation.

We rarely book more than a few ADRs before securing our FPs and only the ones we deem "must haves". We frequently opt for CL since the lounges serve the same type of breakfast we eat at home and book some days' FPs 90 days out thus allowing us to know what parks we'll be in for the remainder of our dining reservations. We now eat most of our dinners at Disney Springs since not only is much of the food better than w/i the parks and resorts, there's another reservation system (opentable.com) available. We take full advantage of the touring plan reservation search for hard to get ADRs like the brunch at CG; hasn't failed me in 7 trips. We've learned that some of our traveling party prefer to sleep later than others so rarely book any rides before 11:00 AM. The early birds (adults) enjoy the relative solitude by taking early morning walks and swims followed by a leisurely breakfast. Also takes care of the possibility of bathroom loggerjams.

Our current favored hotels are located around the Boardwalk and we get good use of the park hoppers over there. Can't resist an order of fish and chips? Walk in, order,and walk out. Want to watch the Candlelight Processional w/o committing to meal? Grab a seat by the American/US Pavilion and listen; still sounds good.

The disappointment of not being able to book a ride at a new park until you've 3 in the same park doesn't make much sense when you think of the transport time needed. Jumping from say the back of MK to AK with wait time will probably use up a full hour and the greater chance of being peeved you missed the anticipated ride. I doubt even utilising a car would make a difference.

Just relax in the knowledge that even a 2 week stay will not allow you to see/ride every nook and cranny of WDW; too big.

Have fun with the time you have and don't stress it so much.

 

[JakeAZ]

I often think, that regulars to Walt Disney World, whether they are every month, every year or every other year don't fully realise the system they are used to is just so restrictive.

I believe you are right. I am an outsider looking in. If a friend asked me to give them advice for their upcoming DW trip, I would NOT tell them to go with the flow. I would tell them they need to make sure everyone involved is on board with the heavy planning aspect. If not, go somewhere else.

Yes, plans will change, but if you don't have them, you are so far behind the 8 ball...

 

[JakeAZ]

Hope nobody takes this the wrong way. Just challenging you to take a step back and look at it from a different perspective

No offense taken at all. All opinions welcome.

I see from your signature you go quite a bit. That luxury gives you a different perspective. Missing things or having to reschedule things probably doesn't bother you as much, since you'll be back fairly soon. I am aware we won't come close to hitting everything. I just don't like the system they have in place. That's all. Is there a perfect system, no. But I feel like DW is invested so heavily into this current system, they are slow to adapt. They are a big ship.

 

[stephk1981]

Pretty much all of your statements are fairly accurate! I think for many families, planning is part of the fun. Obviously not everyone enjoys it though. I hope this won't be a last visit for your family, but maybe just the last one for a while ☺. You have put a lot of planning and effort into this upcoming trip, and I hope all goes well. You all are going to have an incredible time!

Edited to add: planning for larger groups are always harder. Planning for my family of 4, and many times just 3 ( as my DH doesn't always join us) is fairly easy. This past July I planned for a group of 10 of us, 3 of the children were 3 and under.....so fast passes were harder for those that could do the height restricted rides versus the babies. It was not an enjoyable experience, even for me! It will be easier if you ever decide to go back with just your family unit

 

[monica9]

Love this! Especially the refresh button comment. I stare at my phone enough in life, I don’t want to have to in vacation where I should be making memories with my family.
Also, what is this throw away you are talking about at universal? I’m curious for our next trip since we are doing a day or two there before Disney.

 

[JakeAZ]

Also, what is this throw away you are talking about at universal? I’m curious for our next trip since we are doing a day or two there before Disney.

I booked my family a hotel room at the Royal Pacific just for the Express Passes it includes. We have no plans to use the hotel room overnight. I made it a club room so that we can grab breakfast in the AM before the parks and then come back for a quick rest in the room, along with some snacks / light meal.

We will then head back to our room at DW after the parks close.

I was able to book the room with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, so I saved quite a bit of money vs buying the Express Passes outright for our day.

If you are doing two days in the Universal Parks, it is absolutely worth looking into as the 1 night hotel reservation will include Express Passes for your arrival and departure date. If buying separately, you'd have to buy Express Passes for both days.

 

[DisLiss]

If a friend asked me to give them advice for their upcoming DW trip, I would NOT tell them to go with the flow. I would tell them they need to make sure everyone involved is on board with the heavy planning aspect. If not, go somewhere else.

It's always interesting to hear such drastically different viewpoints. We do not go often, but we definitely enjoy going without heavy planning, even if it means that we may miss the opportunity to ever see or do something (if it's gone before we return) We'd be miserable if we mega-planned a trip. And when I give advice about WDW, I always advise to take your plan, chop it in half, and don't get too attached to the half that you kept.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Regarding your question about rider swap, there is still a benefit even if everyone needs FP. If you arrive later in the window, without rider swap, your FP window could expire while your first group is riding and before your second group gets to ride. Rider swap ensures that everyone in your party gets to ride, even if the FP window closes before your second group can go. Some rides with preshows can take a bit of time to get through and you want to make sure both of your groups get to ride. We always book FP for everyone who wants to ride to be safe. We usually just take the child who is too small to enjoy some entertainment, a ride with a typically short line, meet a character, get a snack, do a diaper change or bathroom run while the first group is riding. I’ve never really had a problem finding something to do. Other times, I’ve chosen to skip the ride and book a separate FP with the child who is too small of there’s something I think he/she would like to do instead. I don’t want to get into a debate over whether everyone should need a FP or not, just wanted to share the extended FP return window rider swap benefit.

It is good that you are being realistic about not being able to do everything, but I also want to remind you that just because you don’t get a FP, it doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do the ride. Is rope dropping an option for your group? We travel with 8-12 people typically, and at least some of us rope drop. And even if you can only book FP later in the day, you’ll have the earlier hours of the day when it’s less crowded too.

It’s really not all doom & gloom! You can still have a really good time, even though the planning process has disappointed you.

 

[JakeAZ]

You can still have a really good time, even though the planning process has disappointed you.

I have no doubt we will have a good time! My issue is with the process not the product.

 

[Feberin]

I consider us as going infrequently. We're going back after 6 years and won't go again for probably around 5 years. Since we go infrequently I love the planning. It's fun to think about my trip and plan things even though it's over six months away. Last time we went it was an amazing trip. If my kids wanted to do something else we just psyched them up for what we had planned if it was something we knew they'd love and promised to come back later. We definitely had plans we abandoned too and there were things we didn't get to do but it was okay. Since we had park hopper the evenings were pretty flexible for hoping to a different park.

 

[LSUmiss]

I consider us as going infrequently. We're going back after 6 years and won't go again for probably around 5 years. Since we go infrequently I love the planning. It's fun to think about my trip and plan things even though it's over six months away. Last time we went it was an amazing trip. If my kids wanted to do something else we just psyched them up for what we had planned if it was something we knew they'd love and promised to come back later. We definitely had plans we abandoned too and there were things we didn't get to do but it was okay. Since we had park hopper the evenings were pretty flexible for hoping to a different park.

I enjoy the planning too for the reasons you said, but I don’t like that plans are not easily adjusted when you get there.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Wow going into the trip with that negative attitude will surely have an affect on your trip.

You don’t need to make Adrs for everyday. We don’t always have one every day, or we picked up quite a few our last trip, which was the end of July/beginning of August. We got crystal palace for lunch, cape May for dinner and coral reef and could have had others last minute.

Not for 12 people. It would be very difficult to get a table at the last minute for 12

 

[JakeAZ]

Not for 12 people. It would be very difficult to get a table at the last minute for 12

Yep. A few places wouldn't even do 12 at 180 days out. I had to break those up into two groups of 6.