Sure signs of not planning

[KorieDWnut]

Yikes! I didn't even think of that. There I was thinking gosh it is odd going without looking at a map online first. I see exactly what you are saying! As I have admitted before I am such an over planner, but so is DH so it totally works for us. Most people would HATE to travel with us. We do try to be flexible once there we just go overboard in the on preplanning.

we know the parks backwards and forwards but my kids and husband still always grab maps. They just love to have something physical in their hands to look at. We tried using the maps on the App, but service in WDW is not great and my battery just dies.

 

[DisneyDad64]

We made a trip down a few years ago and brought 2 other families with us. One had been before and one had never been. The ones that had never been tagged along with us for everything. I can remember walking out of MK at midday to go Epcot after having hit the main ride the kids wanted to go on. While we walked out the other family was walking in. They did not want to join us at Epcot and decided to go into MK. We meet up that night for dinner and they complained about how they only went on a couple of rides and they spent the rest of the time waiting in line.

Not my idea of fun. The early bird always catches the worm!
To which my kids always say that the second mouse always get the cheese...

 

[themillersdaughter]

conversation at work:

coworker: we are going to disney world. we are gonna do epcot just to drink in ireland!

me:....there is no "ireland" in epcot's world showcase.

coworker: yes there is. otherwise we wouldnt go.

me: ummm, theres england. theres canada, france...but no ireland.

coworker: no! we are going so we can drink in ireland!

me:....okay. just maybe check a map before you buy a ticket.

 

[DisneyBelle27]

conversation at work:

coworker: we are going to disney world. we are gonna do epcot just to drink in ireland!

me:....there is no "ireland" in epcot's world showcase.

coworker: yes there is. otherwise we wouldnt go.

me: ummm, theres england. theres canada, france...but no ireland.

coworker: no! we are going so we can drink in ireland!

me:....okay. just maybe check a map before you buy a ticket.

Well, technically it's the United Kingdom that's in Epcot, not England. And Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. Soooo, there's kind of an Irish connection, lol. But, as far as I'm aware, all of the actual architecture and details there are inspired by England specifically. Don't think there's any Scottish or Welsh stuff there either, which are also part of the UK.

 

[jerseygirl82]

Maybe but the idea of getting up at 6am to get to rope drop then rush rush rushing for the next 3 hours is my idea of hell not vacation.

Interesting that I never mentioned getting up at 6am or rope drop. But you go ahead and read (incorrectly) into my statement. I get that some people are only happy if they are judging others.

 

[DisneyDad64]

The planning is very fun and part of the challenge and excitement. I don't plan all of the details - only the park for the day, FP+ and ADRs. It helps us get excited about the restaurants and rides we will be going on.

 

[PamNC]

Yep - I've heard the whole "I hate Disney - all you do is wait in lines." It's amazing to me and people don't believe me when I tell them I rarely if ever wait more than 15 -20 minutes for anything. But we all know that's totally possible if done correctly. My own mother, she won't plan, she thinks the best way is to just walk through the park and take it one attraction at a time.

 

[PamNC]

conversation at work:

coworker: we are going to disney world. we are gonna do epcot just to drink in ireland!

me:....there is no "ireland" in epcot's world showcase.

coworker: yes there is. otherwise we wouldnt go.

me: ummm, theres england. theres canada, france...but no ireland.

coworker: no! we are going so we can drink in ireland!

me:....okay. just maybe check a map before you buy a ticket.

That's an expensive ticket just to "drink in Ireland" LOL LMAO.

 

[DisneyDad64]

Just spoke to a coworker going down next week for the first time. I gave him some tips for the lines and going with young kids. Hopefully they enjoy there trip. I feel the part of the reason we enjoy talking about Disney is to provide tips for better enjoyment.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

conversation at work:

coworker: we are going to disney world. we are gonna do epcot just to drink in ireland!

me:....there is no "ireland" in epcot's world showcase.

coworker: yes there is. otherwise we wouldnt go.

me: ummm, theres england. theres canada, france...but no ireland.

coworker: no! we are going so we can drink in ireland!

me:....okay. just maybe check a map before you buy a ticket.

How about Ragland Road in DTD/Dis Springs? Its definitely like drinking in Ireland! No ticket required.. but you will probably need a reservation...

 

[DisneyDad64]

What other rides have you seen other rushing to at rope drop that was not necessary because the ride has short wait times throughout the day.

 

[margot31]

You decide to go to Cinderella's castle for breakfast without an ADR.

When I graduated high school back in 2002 you could walk in for lunch.

 

[margot31]

I would say some of these are just based on changes....From the last time my husband and I went in like 2012 to our latest trip this last december things have really changed.

 

[BethR9]

And not all people want to run to Seven Dwarfs because they don't care about it. Doesn't mean they have no idea what they're doing... They might be actually trying to (gasp) enjoy their vacation.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I had a co-worker recently telling me about her trip to Disney World. They seemed to be pretty good planners and tried to maximize their time the best they could.

She was very excited to tell me about her experience riding Midway Mania without a Fast Pass. The got up really early, got to the gates about 45 minutes before they opened and waited in a pretty large crowd. Then they hurried as fast as they could to the ride and the wait was *only* 15 minutes. By the time they got off the line was almost an hour long. There were people all over the place.

I rode the same ride 4 times in about an hour late at night and didn't have to deal with the crowds.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I get that some people are only happy if they are judging others.

I thought that was the whole (ugly) premise of this thread?

Let me be the first to admit, I make mistakes on every trip. I come to the DIS to learn from others, improve my technique, and help others.

 

[WooPigScientist]

I know someone who spent some time at MK during a business trip. She's a very entitled sort of person who expects to be given priority service anywhere she goes and that the rules will be waived for her. I know that she would not bother to plan. I am looking forward to hearing her rant about what a waste of time and money it was.

Reading over the old posts, I'm curious as to how the conversation DID go down

I was one of the dumb-dumbs during our first trip in 2010. It was just DH and I, and we were staying a few days after a business meeting to do some Orlando attractions. During the planning, we had been debating Universal vs Disney, so I was researching both and trying to figure the ins and outs. I knew all the stuff about there being 4 parks, what attractions were in each park (no showing up to MK looking for that Aerosmith ride or anything!), etc, but I totally dropped the ball on legacy FP. I kept thinking it was paid, like Universal. We only had 2 days and didn't figure it out until halfway through the second day! It all worked out - we were there late Jan and I think our longest wait was 20-25 min for Space Mountain - but I was so mad at myself! We had passed on several rides when the wait was too long and came back to it later - we could have had 2 rides instead!

 

[sweetyk83]

I HAVE to plan. It stresses me out so much and people say, "don't plan so much!" but on our first trip I was Disney OBSESSED for the whole year before our trip and it ended up going very well! We made a few mistakes here and there but we learned from them and will be smarter on our next trip.

 

[niffer5150]

if i hadn't had a friend help me so much, any of these stories could have been me. i had never even seriously looked at the idea of wdw because i assumed it'd be too expensive. i didn't even know there were 4 parks, i just knew of epcot and magic kingdom.

to be fair, the idea of planning what you're going to eat 6 months in advance seems insane. many of the most difficult to get into restaurants in l.a. don't even require that. i can't imagine tho never so much as googeling the vacation destination you're going to, especially for something that's so expensive.

 

[helenb]

I agree that any of us could be clueless. I remember many trips as a child to WDW, where my parents would spend 3 days driving down from Ontario, Canada, and we'd stay offsite and buy tickets at the TTC on the day we arrived. And we'd enter the park mid-to-late morning and not know where we were going. Oh yeah, and we'd travel Christmas week. Every. Time. We eventually learned that if you were fast, you could get on a ride right at park open with minimal wait, and that later in the evening you might get walk-on rides... if you were lucky. But for us, waiting 2 hours for Pirates was the norm. We still had a great time and loved, it, but now part of me shudders when I think about it.

The first time I went on my own, I was traveling with my boyfriend (now husband) and found a copy of the Unofficial Guide in a bookstore (this was in the early days of the internet, and none of this stuff was online yet). I read it cover to cover, and it was such an eyeopener! Everything in there made perfect sense, and I was astounded that I had never realized it before! My boyfriend/now husband thought I was crazy, especially when we got to Epcot and the first thing we rode was... LWTL. (This was before Test Track and Soarin'.) But we followed the sample touring plan and were both amazed by how much we got done! We have never looked back since. My husband isn't as interested in all of the minute planning details, but boy, he loves the benefits of having everything planned so that we have reservations at all of the right times! We are now experienced enough that we don't have an actual *touring plan*, but we follow the same general style: headliners at rope drop, medium-priority attractions next, FP s and shows all afternoon, then back to medium priority and headliners going into the evening. I love touring DIsney this way, and never want it to change!

But I do remember being *that family* when I was a kid. My natural inclination is to help people like this. Yet I can't help but roll my eyes at people who refuse all assistance and then complain. I tried...