My MIL is suddenly an expert on all things Disney.

[DVC~OKW~96]

The hardest thing to get "old timers" to realize is that there are almost NO walkups for full service restaurants any longer.

We go through this every time one of our relatives comes with us. She remembers the days of walk up and sit down and will not understand that's not the case any more.

[Girls1]

Loving this thread!

[LockShockBarrel]

I'm going solo in September and made ADRs because they're all places I absolutely want to eat at and won't risk not getting a table at or waiting 2 hours to get in to. That's what I tell everyone who says they don't want to do ADRs. If that restaurant is going to make or break your trip, make the stupid ADR!!

[Boncho]

Originally Posted by Shelly F - Ohio

I like the post I read awhile back where a family said to a friend who helped them plan their trip, "I don't know why you would buy 7 days worth of park tickets and go to the same park for seven days". Mind you they had just come back from their trip and only went to MK because they did not know there were other parks!

O.K. This almost made diet coke come out my nose!

[Bob NC]

Originally Posted by DVC~OKW~96

The hardest thing to get "old timers" to realize is that there are almost NO walkups for full service restaurants any longer.

This "old timer", and my family, eats walk up at table service restaurants very frequently.

[deegack]

FIL insisted that you had to pay extra for fastpass, you could walk to "disney world" aka Magic Kingdom from any Disney hotel and you had to pay extra to use the buses.

[Dismom55]

I am enjoying this thread very much, and suspect several getting a laugh at how others either are know it alls or refuse to be open minded or just plain clueless. I have not been to WDW near enough to be considered an expert, but read enough to know enough when someone is simply trying to look smarter than they are. So when I started the particular position that I am in right now, we had a know it all volunteer in the office and I was telling of a past WDW vacation and he informed me that there were 5 parks at WDW. Shocked, I asked him how so? I listed MK, AK, DHS and Epcot, then asked did he mean DTD at a 5th, nope he said Universal was the 5th Disney park. Imagine that, both Disney and Universal would be surprised to learn that!!! He continued to argue with me that he knew more than I, tho he had never been out of the state of Ohio and probably never will.

[1971DBday]

For all of the educated/non-educated disney people out there....we are watching National Lampoon's Vacation right now and remember the Griswalds show up to "Walley World" and it 's closed for "refurburbishment" for two weeks....obviouslly they didn't go on the DISboards!!!!!


Everyone is different and everyone does Disney different! To each their own. I have listened and not listened to tips from the DISboards. Some have slapped me in the face, while some have lead to hidden magic memories or new tips.

[ToddyLu]

My Brother and SIL got back from WDW with their five children and before leaving asked for a few pointers. She basically wanted to know when they should do the water park and Epcot.


Weeeelllllll, let's see you're leaving Friday ( she was asking me the Sat before), it is EASTER weekend and F&G, you have no ARDs...ahhhh no, AK would be your best bet that Saturday and then leave Epcot for a week day...blah, blah, blah. I of course whipped out my park hours APP on the Iphone to give her up to date park times and wrote down the appropriate FP rides (you, know the run don't walk ones).

It took an hour for the hair on my back to lay back down and for my right eye to stop twitching...but I did it with a smile and grace and then called DH on the way home.

They had a great time-you don't know and don't miss what you don't know right?

When they walked up to CRT for lunch and found out there was no table for 7...the CM just told them to come back in an hour and check. They did and low and behold there was a table....

Yep, my brother could find a $20 bill on the floor at a casino.

[ToddyLu]

All I could think about was...this man, my brother, father of 5 is from the same DNA as me...and yet doesn't plan his Disney trip with an excel spreadsheet.

[danetter]

We went to Disney the 1st time in 2008. I had been before then back in 1990 with my mom/dad/sister/brother. My SIL that has family that lives just a few miles from Disney had told me for years when we got ready to take our kids to Disney let her know and her family could get us free tickets. The catch was we had to be standing at the ticket window at a specific time. Needless to say I didn't bother even telling her about when we were going. Although I had no clue whatsoever I knew I shouldn't trust her on getting free tickets. Heck, I didn't even know about Disney having the 4 parks. I knew about MK and Epcot only. Didn't even know about onsite resort. The last time I had been there with my mom/dad we stayed offsite and drove to the park. I went to our local travel agency and booked and then came online looking for any Disney website I could find. I found lots of helpful do's and don'ts including to try not to drive I-4. My SIL found out 2 nts before we left to go to Disney and began telling us things to do and how to get there. Guess what, I-4 was how she told us to get there. We told her about the alternate route and for all those years she has gone to see her family every year sometime more than once and living there for a year herself claimed she never even knew an alternate route. She didn't know about free dining or room specials. Also I AM definitely glad I didn't take her word for free tickets because I would have been and if I had found out I couldn't and had to spend that extra time inline trying to buy our tickets for the week and with us only taking so much spending money, more than likely we wouldn't have taken enough money with us. I really think she was trying to be that SIL from you know what and though she could make our 1st trip to Disney the most miserable trip ever. However, I booked through our travel agency got online and found the Disboards and other wonderful Disney sites that has helped my family have 4 amazing magical vacations and the 5th coming up in 4mths.

[MK2010]

I have a coworker planning a trip to Disney this summer. Keep in mind, that while I have only been 4 times in my life and absolutely don't know everything, I have a three ring planning binder with me every night at work that I pour over planning and adding new info to. I have touring plans from 3 different companies, character touring plans, menus for every restaurant in the park, a list of 4 or 5 big websites, this one, Allears, WDWmagic, etc. she is insisting on going in July. (She hates the heat and hates crowds.) Can't afford to stay onsite, but is sweating the price of a rental car. (I get not wanting to stay onsite- but the price you pay is a rental car - or stay at WBC like we are and use their shuttle), and hasn't made any ADRs. She says vacation shouldn't be scheduled. I get that. I can understand. But honestly when you are going in July and every crowd calendar says the parks are going to be a 9 out of a 10, You'd better figure out which days are the best to visit each park and figure out some sort of order of rides so that you don't spend the morning at DHS meeting characters and then can't ride TSM, RNR, or TOT without at least a 2 hour wait. Just sayin'. I don't think you have to have every ride scheduled down to the second (I do, but it isn't necessary!), but I think a plan never hurts, you can always deviate from a plan, but its awful hard to deviate from, "Let's do whatever!"

[ToddyLu]

Originally Posted by Blackbeltdisneygirl

I remember reading a post here on the DIS where someone overheard a couple at Downtown Disney complaining about how it wasn't worth the money to go to Disney because how could someone pay that much to visit Downtown Disney for a whole week?!!! They thought DTD was Disney! I don't care where I go, I want to know as much as possible about it. I just don't want to waste my money, so I will do as much research as I need to so that I feel comfortable once I get there.

You know you would think that they would know there was a big castle..they show it in every commercial...when you didn't see the castle at DTD wouldn't you ask.."hey is there a castle?"..yes, the person you asked would be laughing for months behind your back...but you would at least get to the MK.

I just realy wonder sometimes about people....

[aiminator]

Originally Posted by DVC~OKW~96

The hardest thing to get "old timers" to realize is that there are almost NO walkups for full service restaurants any longer.

We go through this every time one of our relatives comes with us. She remembers the days of walk up and sit down and will not understand that's not the case any more.

The last time I was in WDW was 1989 during the 4th of July. My Dad looks back on those days fondly - walking up to a restaurant during peak dining times and getting seated with minimal wait during a holiday weekend.

I decided that after 23 years it was time for a visit to WDW. I did some research and found I need ADRs and that most people booked these 180 days out. Yeeps! Keep in mind I only booked this trip about 60 days out Luckily I was able to get a bunch of ADRs that I wanted YAY! I am sure people have luck with walking up but I am too much of a scaredy cat to leave that up to chance.

I am so thankful that I stumbled upon disboards to help me with my research. I would have been so disappointed if I never got to eat at a table service restaurant. Thank you thank you disboards!!

[SeattleSuz]

Originally Posted by ToddyLu

All I could think about was...this man, my brother, father of 5 is from the same DNA as me...and yet doesn't plan his Disney trip with an excel spreadsheet.

Ha ha! You use a spreadsheet too eh?

This thread is hilarious!