Maybe we just know to much.

[connie1042]

Think back to your first trip. Something had to be magical, because you keep coming back. Did you know everything you know now. I sure didn't. You loved the parks without the dinning plan and fastpass. You met the characters on the streets. You waited in lines, thinking everyone did. You left the park thinking, that was so much fun! It is now your 30-50th trip, and with all the new ideas in place, you feel you will loose the magic. We are going in Sept with 14 people. Have been working on ADR's and park plans. My husband and I will go on a few rides, but this trip is all about the grandkids. They are going to have a great time and soak up the magic, because they don't know or care if they get to eat in the castle or just have a hot dog from Caseys. Yes, everything is changing, but maybe we just know to much about the inner workings of Disney. Maybe we should just go to the park like it is our first time, and slow down and smell the roses. I guess what I am saying, is if you have no idea what you are missing, you will enjoy making things work for your family, and will have a great time.

 

[kcb1dizbksfan]

Well said.

 

[Kristina4109]

I forget where I heard this, but someone once said that when you go to Walt Disney World, you have the highest expectations of anything you do in your entire life.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Maybe we should just go to the park like it is our first time, and slow down and smell the roses.

This is EXACTLY what I am trying to do.

It is making me fall in love with the place all over again.

Thanks for posting this.

 

[GoMegGo]

Yes, yes, yes. I couldn't agree more.

 

[ankersandrew]

i have never been to any Disney park. Im from the Uk and all we know over here is you queue for a ride you get on it. and well thats it. Fast passes are for people with more money than sence. We pay for every single one of them over here. Ive never bought one - have i queued up for 3 hours for a new ride which last for 90 secs yes i have but thats life.

I read all the posts about the all manor of items about the parks and well i take as much info as I need to. I dont plan. I dont know what i want to eat 180 days before I go. If i cant get into the must have restaurant then i go somewhere else.

I know i dont have any kids which makes it slightly different but I dont do all i want to do in the time able - well i will just have to come back again.

Im sure there are more positives about going to any theme park than there are negatives. If there isnt then dont go. I cant wait for the staff to be overly nice and friendly and are like that because they are mostly happy in the job they are doing, I cant wait for 14 days where i might see the sun most days, i cant wait to act like a child without anyone caring just so i can meet mickey mouse.

If you live your live one day at a time then maybe you might live a longer, happier life.

 

[2Tiggies]

I forget where I heard this, but someone once said that when you go to Walt Disney World, you have the highest expectations of anything you do in your entire life.

That's quite profound!

I didn't go in blind into my first trip so perhaps I don't appreciate this fully, but somehow the sense in what is being said here does prevail, regardless of the experience. The trouble with knowing too much is that you can never return to the original state of knowing less. Maybe the changes will encourage, or dare I say even force us to an extent, to start over with Disney.

I say that as if it is so easy to do, while I sit here wondering if and when we will return after our summer trip.

Thought provoking point of view Connie and worth pondering.

 

[mommakrispix]

Love this post! My husband and I were just down there 2 weeks ago. Where I have been down there many many times, it's only the hubby's fourth or fifth time. I made it a point to make ADRs for places he hadn't been to (except Ohana, that one is always one of our staples). I loved it because it had me going to see things I haven't seen in years and gave me a chance to experience things I've done many times through someone who hasn't.

I was also telling stories like a grandma..."The first time I came down to WDW, we waited on line for hours and didn't care!" All that mattered is that we were on a family vacation in Disney World.

In October, we'll be bringing our 3 year old down and I get to watch her experience everything for the first time. I can't wait!

 

[disneyquilter]

Wonderful post!!! Thank you for the perspective that we all need!!

 

[RevKjb]

Think back to your first trip. Something had to be magical, because you keep coming back. Did you know everything you know now. I sure didn't. You loved the parks without the dinning plan and fastpass. You met the characters on the streets. You waited in lines, thinking everyone did. You left the park thinking, that was so much fun! It is now your 30-50th trip, and with all the new ideas in place, you feel you will loose the magic. We are going in Sept with 14 people. Have been working on ADR's and park plans. My husband and I will go on a few rides, but this trip is all about the grandkids. They are going to have a great time and soak up the magic, because they don't know or care if they get to eat in the castle or just have a hot dog from Caseys. Yes, everything is changing, but maybe we just know to much about the inner workings of Disney. Maybe we should just go to the park like it is our first time, and slow down and smell the roses. I guess what I am saying, is if you have no idea what you are missing, you will enjoy making things work for your family, and will have a great time.

I agree. Thanks for your thought provoking words.

 

[Mcneil516]

Think back to your first trip. Something had to be magical, because you keep coming back. Did you know everything you know ... Maybe we should just go to the park like it is our first time, and slow down and smell the roses. I guess what I am saying, is if you have no idea what you are missing, you will enjoy making things work for your family, and will have a great time.

Yes. As often as I go, I try to remember that the most important thing is to enjoy the moment. Whether I'm watching a parade alone (my husband just doesn't go for them) or walking through EPCOT with my husband and the rest of our group, I roll with it, make memories.

 

[LottieDah]

Yes, everything is changing, but maybe we just know to much about the inner workings of Disney. Maybe we should just go to the park like it is our first time, and slow down and smell the roses. I guess what I am saying, is if you have no idea what you are missing, you will enjoy making things work for your family, and will have a great time.

I have to agree. I'm a newbie to the boards so I hope I don't get things thrown at me for saying this, BUT is this much "hubbub" over the Fast Pass limit really justified? After all, they're really just a free perk. (Now I can feel your dander rising...hear me out.) Disney doesn't have to give us Fast Passes at all if they don't want to, yet they continue to do so. And yes, it does help their bottom line when guests are moved through attractions more fluidly, but it also makes us supremely happy campers in the process (win/win). So they have kept the FP system in place even though park guests continually complain about it. Have faith that they'll straighten it out. I believe in them. A little trust and pixie dust!

And while the price increases are a major bummer (believe me, I know--we're poor as dirt and I hate hearing about them!), it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone since the prices for everything, everywhere keep rising (ie gas pumps).

While we might get disappointed with a change here and there, when it comes right down to it, we're all just a bunch of folks scattered through all walks of life who love Disney down to our marrow no matter what. We might grouse over this and that, but at the end of the day, the heart wants what the heart wants. I'm determined to do my best at accepting changes and trusting in Disney to figure out the rest (insert Serenity prayer here). And who knows, maybe they'll eventually remove the tiered system on the FPs. Whether we get 3 or 10, at least we're still getting to take part in some of the most amazing, magically Imagineered attractions in the world with no wait. Even if I had to wait, for that alone I will remain grateful. Cheers!

 

[v-1]

This is so strange as I was thinking about this very thing at work the other day. I see posts on this forum and others where people say because of the new fastpass system they are never going back to Disney again or that their trip has been ruined because they cannot get the ADRs they want. I don't want to dismiss anyones feelings but I want to say to them "guys why oh why are you soooooo stressed? You are missing the point of the trip it is supposed to be FUN when we first started travelling to WDW in 91 we didn't have fastpasses we used to queue up in line and make friends and good conversation with the people around us and that was all part of the experience. I never made ADRs I used to see what walk ups were available on the day we always got something good and it was always an unknown which made it far more interesting. I think these days people are in so much of a hurry to get on and off the rides and have things exactly as they have planned it months before that they forget to have a good time.
I guess the old saying is true "a little knowledge can be dangerous."
This is a great thread thanks for posting

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Well said OP ... though I think there is a happy medium to be had. Doing some planning and taking into account crowd calendars and scheduling some ADRs can be very beneficial. But also planning some downtime either back at your resort or just an afternoon in the parks with no major plans to smell the roses and appreciate the Disney details can definitely make things seem more magical

One of the things people love about Disney World is that you can never do everything ... yet some people seem determined to do that and are disappointed when they are't able to. Just pick the few "must do" things and then don't stress if you don't get to everything else

 

[mkmomto2]

"a little knowledge can be dangerous."

I think you hit the nail on the head. Having said that, I've made my ADRs and will loosely plan my days out, but I refuse to "run to this ride. Now exit and turn left and run to that attraction."

I think that Disney does a great job of keeping things fresh and interesting, so much so that people want to go back again and again. I like reading the trip reports that are happy, because Disney makes me happy. I get annoyed reading complaints, so I usually just skip over them. People in general need to just learn that life is what you make of it. You can let setbacks define you or learn from them and move on.

Love, love, love this thread!

 

[Kristina4109]

I am a hyper planner, but I'm also realistic. Like I just told my 8 year old daughter, "Look, it's going to be hot, it's going to be crowded...and we're going to have fun anyway."

I've got my plans, and I know if any of those plans don't work out, we're STILL going to have fun!

 

[doconeill]

There was a time where I wanted to make sure we did everything, hit all the rides, see all the shows, etc. I didn't particularly like meeting up with people in the parks or going with a large group because that would mess with things. Eating at table services took too much time.

Slowly that changed. I came to the realization that we'd be visiting again, perhaps not so long from then, so it was _okay_ to miss something this time. We could do it next time. We didn't really need to run around grabbing Fastpasses whenever we weren't on an ride. I could start looking around at all the things most just ignore. I can walk through the park slowly. I can pull on the rope next to Indy. I can look in the windows of the shops and the facades. I can enjoy the resort more. Last August we spent more time in the pool at Caribbean Beach than we had in ALL our previous trips combined.

We try to hit a new table service every trip.

I enjoy meeting up with people while there now. It's interesting to go on the rides with different people and their different expectations. Food and Wine was definitely more interesting despite the crowd when we were there not only with the NE Divas and others DIS members we had only finally met that weekend, but also Kevin, John, Kathy and Theresa...

But I don't think our knowledge is a hindrance in this regard, instead it allows us to think about it differently and plan differently - to plan to have time. We can still get our must dos in, and leave ourselves the time to smell the roses. Had I not learned about Fastpass, etc. I very likely would have stopped going to WDW.

 

[v-1]

I've made my ADRs

I am going to make mine too

 

[nadira36]

Think back to your first trip. Something had to be magical, because you keep coming back. Did you know everything you know now. I sure didn't. You loved the parks without the dinning plan and fastpass. You met the characters on the streets. You waited in lines, thinking everyone did. You left the park thinking, that was so much fun! It is now your 30-50th trip, and with all the new ideas in place, you feel you will loose the magic. We are going in Sept with 14 people. Have been working on ADR's and park plans. My husband and I will go on a few rides, but this trip is all about the grandkids. They are going to have a great time and soak up the magic, because they don't know or care if they get to eat in the castle or just have a hot dog from Caseys. Yes, everything is changing, but maybe we just know to much about the inner workings of Disney. Maybe we should just go to the park like it is our first time, and slow down and smell the roses. I guess what I am saying, is if you have no idea what you are missing, you will enjoy making things work for your family, and will have a great time.

We try to keep the magic and happiness as our number one goal each trip. But it's easy b/c we know we'll be back, we never feel the need to look at a map/guide and say "we must do it all"

I know many who arrive, pick up a map, and the end of the day finds them frustrated to have missed so many things.

I forget where I heard this, but someone once said that when you go to Walt Disney World, you have the highest expectations of anything you do in your entire life.

I believe this.

We traveled to WDW with some good friends of ours for their first trip. I tried to explain a couple things (ADRs, FP, how the dining plan worked) they didn't listen. They knew Disney would be the best thing ever. I'll skip the details, but by the end of the trip they were very upset, dissatisfied, and vowed never to return to Disney. They hated it. And said they couldn't believe how little there was for their 18 mos old to do - they spent a day at universal and said how wonderful it was that there were so many more things for a toddler to do, fewer lines, more fun.

Their expectations were so high, low planning, lack of understanding cost them a lot of happiness.

 

[glvsav37]

Do we "know too much" or do we "Care too much?" Or maybe "expect too much?"

Apologies to everyone, but Disney fandom has at times hit cult following with some people. I can't think of another vacation destination where people live and breathe every little change and update? I've never walked into someone's house and see it completely decorated in "Cancun" mech. Few post full blown spread sheets of plans for a Bermuda vacation.

And before I get flamed, I am a DVC member, a former CM and former designer of a very popular WDW guide book. I get it..the Diz is strong in me too.


But back to the OP, I don't think we "know" too much. I think WDW is so vast and they have put so many things to do (ESP outside te parks) that I need to keep up with the changes. I'm the guy who loves to surprise his family with things to do on the vacation. We only vacation 1x a year, so I don't mind paying for a little extra magic of experience. But I am also the guy who is always curious and would be a bit upset if there was something fun I noticed that I did not know about for our family to experience. But that's more about me being concerned for family's fun then mine.