What is going on with Disney parks?

[LizzyS]

Last year, a coworker of mine gave her 7 year old daughter a trip to the Magic Kingdom for Christmas. The trip wasn’t until March, so the little girl had to wait a looooong time to go. They had two days and were staying on property (I don’t know where). She said it was the worst, most miserable trip they ever had. She said when they got there, her daughter was SO EXCITED to see Cinderella’s Castle. So that was good. But after that, all the lines for the rides her daughter wanted to do were 60 minutes +, the food and souvenirs were too expensive, the sit down restaurants were all booked, and even then character lines were horrendous. They went on three rides the whole day, and left. The next day they didn’t even bother. They stayed at the hotel and used the pool.

I asked, did you have FP? 60 days in advance? Booked your ADRs? Rope drop? She had no clue what I was talking about. The last time she was at Disney was 20 years ago. She loved it and didn’t know how much it had changed. I think it’s easy to assume that everyone who goes to Disney are like the people on this board—type A super planner/researchers who are committed enough to participate in a forum devoted just to that! But I’m guessing we are actually in the minority. At the moment, I’m actively discouraging another friend from taking her child to WDW in February for her fifth birthday. They haven’t booked or planned anything yet, so probably too late. I’ve suggested DL instead.

I don't go anywhere new or that I haven't been to in a long time without doing some online research first, tbh. I bet that you're right we're in the minority, but I find no excuse for not being informed when it's so easy these days.

 

[mshanson3121]

It doesn't take an ultra planner to book some ADR 180 days in advance and then tweak them as your plan changes. I shuffle around ADRs not just on the same day but to different days all the way up to the day before the reservation.

But the point really is most vacations don't require this. Never, on any of our trips besides Disney, have I had to book a dinner 6 months out. Or rides 2 months out. Or had to spend time tweaking reservations etc...

 

[snappy]

But the point really is most vacations don't require this. Never, on any of our trips besides Disney, have I had to book a dinner 6 months out. Or rides 2 months out. Or had to spend time tweaking reservations etc...

It can be strangely liberating to be spontaneous about deciding on where to eat on non Disney trips. We were in Utah and Colorado for almost 3 weeks recently. We had a reservation for only 2 meals, big birthday celebration meals. It was fun to play it by ear.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

I asked, did you have FP? 60 days in advance? Booked your ADRs? Rope drop? She had no clue what I was talking about. The last time she was at Disney was 20 years ago. She loved it and didn’t know how much it had changed. I think it’s easy to assume that everyone who goes to Disney are like the people on this board—type A super planner/researchers who are committed enough to participate in a forum devoted just to that! But I’m guessing we are actually in the minority. At the moment, I’m actively discouraging another friend from taking her child to WDW in February for her fifth birthday. They haven’t booked or planned anything yet, so probably too late. I’ve suggested DL instead.

I'm actually more of a type b but Disney World changes that for me in terms of planning/research.

The first trip my dad and I took with both of us as adults was very much like your friend's. We didn't do any ADR's and made our fastpass reservations late. We still had a good enough time to return since we stayed at AKL and pretty much just used Boma and Mara as our breakfasts & dinners (learned the hard way the importance of ADR's when we were sat at the cramped bar at Sanaa, which must've been at its loudest and busiest time). We had our second trip in February and we had a much better time, but speaking of which...

I may have just gotten lucky with my reservations but I booked in Mid-November 2018 for President's Day week 2019 (aforementioned February Trip). I got the discount they were offering then on the resorts and stayed at POR. I was able to get CRT & BOG, though both were for the dinner and I understand there's huge jump in price for their dinners. That said I was able to get all the ADR's I wanted (BOG, Tusker House, Trattoria Al Forno Bon Voyage Breakfast - late breakfast used a brunch, Mama Melrose, and CRT) . My only regret here is that we didn't build in a break to visit Disney Springs like we did on the previous trip even though we were at one of the perfect resorts to do just that.

I don't know what the situation is now w/ ADR's for that period in 2020 and I do consider myself extremely lucky in getting what I wanted well after the 180 day mark. But if they can be flexible (might be hard with a 5yo I understand), they could still get those ADR's. The most difficult thing right now is probably taking advantage of any resort discount as I've taken a look out of curiosity and it is extremely limited. If your friend decides to go, I would suggest not making any promises regarding eating in the castle but depending on their budget and flexibility, it's not a complete impossibility for that time at this stage either. I'm not saying one should necessarily recommend making a trip right now so late in the game, just that not all hope is lost if one does. That said, it may still be wise to postpone until WDW gets its act together.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It can be strangely liberating to be spontaneous about deciding on where to eat on non Disney trips. We were in Utah and Colorado for almost 3 weeks recently. We had a reservation for only 2 meals, big birthday celebration meals. It was fun to play it by ear.

We don't really focus on ADRs at Disney; we had great 3 meals on our 2017 WDW trip and enjoyed Oga's quite a lot on our Sep 2019 DLR trip but yeah not a make it or break it kind of thing. It's very liberating for us

That said we don't really book reservations for most of our vacations so we're playing it by ear the majority of the time lol. Some places here and there yeah. We did for Vegas for instance for a few places and we did for one place in Jamaica but those were done really close to the trip if not on the trip itself.

Probably the difference for us is we just don't stress about it. It's more important to us to get reservations, if needed, for experiences than for food. But we know others are really about the food. The DIS seems to skew quite a bit higher though on the 'about the food' aspect given how some people's trips are just absolutely ruined because they couldn't get the time they wanted or "nothing was available". I sympathize to a point in those respects.

 

[disneygirlsng]

It can be strangely liberating to be spontaneous about deciding on where to eat on non Disney trips. We were in Utah and Colorado for almost 3 weeks recently. We had a reservation for only 2 meals, big birthday celebration meals. It was fun to play it by ear.

I can do the same thing at WDW and still eat at great restaurants. You can get just about anything the night before/day of. V&A and CRT are the usual exceptions. Same thing with the big ticket FPs. You can definitely have a nice, enjoyable trip to Disney without planning. Heck I did it last year. Decided I was going and was there the next day. 0 ADRs and 0 FPs booked until I was there. Though I will agree that knowing the parks does help make that easier, I don't understand why veterans or even those with a couple trips think planning that far out is necessary. I do it because I enjoy it and find that it helps build the excitement of the trip. But if I didn't enjoy the planning I definitely wouldn't do it because I don't think it's needed that far in advance.

 

[Heather07438]

WDW advanced reservations have become a nuisance.
-Try to do any popular places at a normal time, you're beat without an ADR.
-Make special ADRs 180 days out to get what you want, then toward the end of those 6 months WDW finally releases detailed park info that makes you want to change your park days. Your choices: keep ADRs or big headache moving plans around.
-ADRs in hand you start to pick your 60day FP at 7:00a, but high demand rides aren't available until day 63+. You'd like to change your park days but you'll lose your coveted ADRs. Your choices: prioritize ADRs vs FPs.
Search for any way to switch stuff and still have it work (hopeless), consider what your party wouldn't mind giving up, etc... but don't bother anyway because now it's 9:00a and the 63+day boat has passed too. Important FPs are now 64+ days out and you're trip is only 5 days long. Good grief Charlie Brown, those ADRs really bogged you down.

I agree with advice about not stressing, having a positive attitude and realistic expectations being what you can control to keep a trip magical. The flipside is skyrocketing costs and out-of-control planning. MK during party season is nightmare fuel choosing between 6pm closings or insane crowds on the few days that have normal hours and fireworks.
Pick 1 of the five Tier 1's in HS and choose 2 unnecessary FPs from Tier 2.
FP is a joke at HS and Epcot where the only rides you need FP are in Tier 1.
RoR is opening while WDW won't release extended hours now or possibly ever? Cantina, Droids and Lightsabre = more insane specific reservations to schedule around ADRs, FPs and showtimes. Fun!

*rant almost over* Sorry I still do love WDW
We've visited enough to be okay with passing things up but my sister is joining us and she hasn't. I understand how people get aggravated planning. It feels more stupid than ever.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

WDW advanced reservations have become a nuisance.
-Try to do any popular places at a normal time, you're beat without an ADR.
-Make special ADRs 180 days out to get what you want, then toward the end of those 6 months WDW finally releases detailed park info that makes you want to change your park days. Your choices: keep ADRs or big headache moving plans around.
-ADRs in hand you start to pick your 60day FP at 7:00a, but high demand rides aren't available until day 63+. You'd like to change your park days but you'll lose your coveted ADRs. Your choices: prioritize ADRs vs FPs.
Search for any way to switch stuff and still have it work (hopeless), consider what your party wouldn't mind giving up, etc... but don't bother anyway because now it's 9:00a and the 63+day boat has passed too. Important FPs are now 64+ days out and you're trip is only 5 days long. Good grief Charlie Brown, those ADRs really bogged you down.

I agree with advice about not stressing, having a positive attitude and realistic expectations being what you can control to keep a trip magical. The flipside is skyrocketing costs and out-of-control planning. MK during party season is nightmare fuel choosing between 6pm closings or insane crowds on the few days that have normal hours and fireworks.
Pick 1 of the five Tier 1's in HS and choose 2 unnecessary FPs from Tier 2.
FP is a joke at HS and Epcot where the only rides you need FP are in Tier 1.
RoR is opening while WDW won't release extended hours now or possibly ever? Cantina, Droids and Lightsabre = more insane specific reservations to schedule around ADRs, FPs and showtimes. Fun!

*rant almost over* Sorry I still do love WDW
We've visited enough to be okay with passing things up but my sister is joining us and she hasn't. I understand how people get aggravated planning. It feels more stupid than ever.

You've pretty much listed why I'm on a parks hiatus. Really interested in trying a cruise though.

 

[Tallis]

I think the straw that broke our backs was them charging for parking at the resorts. Free parking at the parks is hardly even a perk now that we're paying to park at the resort.

This ... exactly. We are still keeping our annual passes since we are just 2 hours away, but will only bring our camper and stay at Fort Wilderness, where there is no parking fee.

We are not priced out by the parking fee ... more like put out. I just think it's crap. We paid it once on a spur of the moment 3 day trip, but that was the first and last time.

When the prices at FW get completely out of control (already starting to be,) then we'll give up our annual passes. Just so much other fun stuff to do in Florida without being nickled and dimed to death.

 

[JoeA]

I just realized how much Disney has “trained” me re other vacations. For example, if we go to HI I always tell my wife, “we need to hurry and book that Mai Tai cruise before they sell out!”

We’re always booking crap months in advance when in reality we could probably book a day out!

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

I just realized how much Disney has “trained” me re other vacations. For example, if we go to HI I always tell my wife, “we need to hurry and book that Mai Tai cruise before they sell out!”

We’re always booking crap months in advance when in reality we could probably book a day out!

This is SO me too! I book stuff so far in advance, I recently booked an escape room for a month from now because I have family coming in and I'm nervous that it would be full (it is apparently one of the best escape rooms in the area but still!)

 

[YesterDark]

But the point really is most vacations don't require this. Never, on any of our trips besides Disney, have I had to book a dinner 6 months out. Or rides 2 months out. Or had to spend time tweaking reservations etc...

Totally not disagreeing with you. It's a pain in the butt. My point is that it's really not super challenging either.

 

[FrankieWinthrop]

I honestly don’t get all the hype about the food. Maybe we’re plain. Maybe we’re southern. Maybe we’re just not foodies, but we’d rather hold out on an early closing night and hit up Logan’s Roadhouse on the way back to the condo. The last few times we’ve done a table service, we say we remember why we don’t normally do them. Food’s just food, it’s expensive, and it takes a lot of time away from what we DON’T have back home - rides, shows, and attractions. I’d much rather have the brisket sandwich at Electric Umbrella over the latest version of Garden Grill’s dinner/lunch. Not everyone wants fancy foods we can’t pronounce and don’t know what are. We preferred the pot roast and mashed potatoes over whatever chef-inspired fancy meat they’ve replaced it with.

The only ADRs we have now are dual purpose - to get into GE after RotR opens in Dec and to see the band we want to see at Raglan Road.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I honestly don’t get all the hype about the food. Maybe we’re plain. Maybe we’re southern. Maybe we’re just not foodies, but we’d rather hold out on an early closing night and hit up Logan’s Roadhouse on the way back to the condo. The last few times we’ve done a table service, we say we remember why we don’t normally do them. Food’s just food, it’s expensive, and it takes a lot of time away from what we DON’T have back home - rides, shows, and attractions. I’d much rather have the brisket sandwich at Electric Umbrella over the latest version of Garden Grill’s dinner/lunch. Not everyone wants fancy foods we can’t pronounce and don’t know what are. We preferred the pot roast and mashed potatoes over whatever chef-inspired fancy meat they’ve replaced it with.

The only ADRs we have now are dual purpose - to get into GE after RotR opens in Dec and to see the band we want to see at Raglan Road.

Uh Garden Grill is about as down home and non-foodie as you can get.

 

[Alynw]

Last year, a coworker of mine gave her 7 year old daughter a trip to the Magic Kingdom for Christmas. The trip wasn’t until March, so the little girl had to wait a looooong time to go. They had two days and were staying on property (I don’t know where). She said it was the worst, most miserable trip they ever had. She said when they got there, her daughter was SO EXCITED to see Cinderella’s Castle. So that was good. But after that, all the lines for the rides her daughter wanted to do were 60 minutes +, the food and souvenirs were too expensive, the sit down restaurants were all booked, and even then character lines were horrendous. They went on three rides the whole day, and left. The next day they didn’t even bother. They stayed at the hotel and used the pool.

I asked, did you have FP? 60 days in advance? Booked your ADRs? Rope drop? She had no clue what I was talking about. The last time she was at Disney was 20 years ago. She loved it and didn’t know how much it had changed. I think it’s easy to assume that everyone who goes to Disney are like the people on this board—type A super planner/researchers who are committed enough to participate in a forum devoted just to that! But I’m guessing we are actually in the minority. At the moment, I’m actively discouraging another friend from taking her child to WDW in February for her fifth birthday. They haven’t booked or planned anything yet, so probably too late. I’ve suggested DL instead.

This is somewhat similar to what happen to my neighbors/friends. After hearing all the years of hype of us going to Disney, friends of ours finally decided to go for the first time and it was during xmas. For months I hounded and begged to let me come over and help plan their vacation, I explained how important it was to plan and be prepared and how certain things had to be done way in advance. They just kept blowing me off not really understanding the importance of it all, made me feel like they thought I was just trying to over exaggerate everything so I backed off and left them to it. Well, needless to say when they got back from their vacation, I asked how they liked it and yep, just as I figured, they hated it. Said it was worse vacation ever. Said yes, seeing everything was pretty cool but other than that that said it was way to much money, way to many people, way too long of wait times and all around just miserable. I just said, yea it's not for everyone but we love it. I already knew they were going to hate it because they didn't do any planning at all, no fp, no adr, no nothing. I agree with some that say they dont feel sorry for those that play the, I didnt know card, with all the information at your fingertips but I also believe that's a misconception as well. I say that because my friends knew about the planning and they did do some research and knew about all the advance planning but they had the misconception that all the planning wasn't really required to go to Disney and that it was for the more advanced vacations where people like to plan every single detail down to the food their going eat. They just assumed they would still get to do the same things as the people that planned with the exception they just wouldn't get the best seating in the restaurant or the best viewing for the shows or the best times for the fp. They didn't realize they weren't going to get any of the good fp, or no character meals or no reservations and for that reason they ended up hating the place of which could've been their favorite had they just listened to me. So yea, u can still do research and not realize the whole extent of what you need to do or what it really takes to have a successful and pleasant Disney vacation. So I can understand both views on this.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So yea, u can still do research and not realize the whole extent of what you need to do or what it really takes to have a successful and pleasant Disney vacation.

At the risk of repeating things the issue that I see is that some people (on both sides) only see their way of a vacation. I say that because of the comments about what it really takes to have a successful and pleasant Disney vacation which is such an subjective thing to say combined with comments like "if they just listened to me"

We didn't book a single ADR in DLR in March and only booked Oga's at DLR in September and like I said on my prior comment our 2017 WDW trip was great but they weren't make it or break it. Somehow we lived

There's not a "whole extent" here. Either you see that Disney says Reservations Strongly Recommended and go to book an ADR or you don't. Either you see that FP is available to you and you can book them or you don't. From what you said your friends knew at least a bit about that stuff. And in all honesty you can't control when Disney purposefully manipulates the SB line. If you couldn't get a FP for a ride and you still want to ride it you'll go through SB.

I think a lot of people describe friends, coworkers, and acquaintances who probably would have disliked Disney in just about every scenario (maybe sometimes they would have had a marginally better time but still seems to be the type of people who aren't Disney folks). If they couldn't have gotten the ADR they wanted I would bet they still would have been upset. Would having ADRs or FPs removed the crowds or reduced the cost? No. They went during Christmas. I don't even want to go during Christmas not only for crowds but travel reasons. I'm normally not really wanting to travel like that though I have done it before (most recently a few days before Christmas from NYC back home in 2017). Always makes me stressful after the cruise we took the week before Christmas and the ice storm we had back when I was 15 (too long of a story to tell).

 

[EmJ]

This is somewhat similar to what happen to my neighbors/friends. After hearing all the years of hype of us going to Disney, friends of ours finally decided to go for the first time and it was during xmas. For months I hounded and begged to let me come over and help plan their vacation, I explained how important it was to plan and be prepared and how certain things had to be done way in advance. They just kept blowing me off not really understanding the importance of it all, made me feel like they thought I was just trying to over exaggerate everything so I backed off and left them to it. Well, needless to say when they got back from their vacation, I asked how they liked it and yep, just as I figured, they hated it. Said it was worse vacation ever. Said yes, seeing everything was pretty cool but other than that that said it was way to much money, way to many people, way too long of wait times and all around just miserable. I just said, yea it's not for everyone but we love it. I already knew they were going to hate it because they didn't do any planning at all, no fp, no adr, no nothing. I agree with some that say they dont feel sorry for those that play the, I didnt know card, with all the information at your fingertips but I also believe that's a misconception as well. I say that because my friends knew about the planning and they did do some research and knew about all the advance planning but they had the misconception that all the planning wasn't really required to go to Disney and that it was for the more advanced vacations where people like to plan every single detail down to the food their going eat. They just assumed they would still get to do the same things as the people that planned with the exception they just wouldn't get the best seating in the restaurant or the best viewing for the shows or the best times for the fp. They didn't realize they weren't going to get any of the good fp, or no character meals or no reservations and for that reason they ended up hating the place of which could've been their favorite had they just listened to me. So yea, u can still do research and not realize the whole extent of what you need to do or what it really takes to have a successful and pleasant Disney vacation. So I can understand both views on this.

I see both views also. Obviously, I am someone who plans. I plan and I plan and I plan. I plan so early, everything changes by the time the vacation is getting close, and I have to re-plan the whole thing. Just ask the DL board So no, I personally would never go anywhere without doing a good deal of research first, and personally couldn't fathom plunking down $$$ to go to Disney without investing significant time in making my money worth it.

But.

I am a weirdo. I LOVE Excel. I am the walking, talking embodiment of a Hermione Granger/Monica Geller hybrid. I know that this is not normal. So while it's probably not reasonable to expect to walk into a new vacation destination with no preparation and expect everything to go perfectly, I also don't think it's reasonable to expect your average vacationer to be prepared to book dining reservations six months in advance. Or to know that they want to ride Splash Mountain at 3:00 pm... two months from now. Maybe I'm wrong and most people do vacation like this, but in that case I don't know why I get so many weird looks when I mention my vacation itinerary

 

[Jrb1979]

I see both views also. Obviously, I am someone who plans. I plan and I plan and I plan. I plan so early, everything changes by the time the vacation is getting close, and I have to re-plan the whole thing. Just ask the DL board So no, I personally would never go anywhere without doing a good deal of research first, and personally couldn't fathom plunking down $$$ to go to Disney without investing significant time in making my money worth it.

But.

I am a weirdo. I LOVE Excel. I am the walking, talking embodiment of a Hermione Granger/Monica Geller hybrid. I know that this is not normal. So while it's probably not reasonable to expect to walk into a new vacation destination with no preparation and expect everything to go perfectly, I also don't think it's reasonable to expect your average vacationer to be prepared to book dining reservations six months in advance. Or to know that they want to ride Splash Mountain at 3:00 pm... two months from now. Maybe I'm wrong and most people do vacation like this, but in that case I don't know why I get so many weird looks when I mention my vacation itinerary

I would never go to that much detail to plan my vacation. Doesn't any one just book a flight and hotel anymore? Doing what you want when you want makes for much better vacations. Planning down to the minute of every day what you are doing is like being at work for me. I like to get away from work on my vacation.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

I honestly don’t get all the hype about the food. Maybe we’re plain. Maybe we’re southern. Maybe we’re just not foodies, but we’d rather hold out on an early closing night and hit up Logan’s Roadhouse on the way back to the condo. The last few times we’ve done a table service, we say we remember why we don’t normally do them. Food’s just food, it’s expensive, and it takes a lot of time away from what we DON’T have back home - rides, shows, and attractions. I’d much rather have the brisket sandwich at Electric Umbrella over the latest version of Garden Grill’s dinner/lunch. Not everyone wants fancy foods we can’t pronounce and don’t know what are. We preferred the pot roast and mashed potatoes over whatever chef-inspired fancy meat they’ve replaced it with.

The only ADRs we have now are dual purpose - to get into GE after RotR opens in Dec and to see the band we want to see at Raglan Road.

I'm all about trying new things at every opportunity on vacation (looking forward to trying Sanaa again, Tiffins, Jungle Skipper) but I'm also totally that mac & cheese guy when at home plus...

Third trip coming up for me and I've largely decided after this to only have a couple of ADRs at most. I'm flexible enough to eat late for dinner, have a couple of snacks, use the quick service etc. ADRs will be that break from the fast food but otherwise I'm beginning to think I had a better experience making the "mistake" of not having them on the first trip. Sure we couldn't do any restaurants at the parks and many of the resorts, but the question becomes "how do I want to spend my time?" And I'd rather spend my time riding, watching shows, and exploring the parks than eating

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would never go to that much detail to plan my vacation. Doesn't any one just book a flight and hotel anymore? Doing what you want when you want makes for much better vacations. Planning down to the minute of every day what you are doing is like being at work for me. I like to get away from work on my vacation.

Sounds like Universal is where you want to go in regards to theme parks.