Lack of Knowledge of Guests

[PopPhan]

So here's my point. One morning, after experiencing the same phenomenon three straight days at the bus stop (whatever park we were going to just happened to be the same park the MOST OTHERS AT THE BUS STOP WERE GOING TO, AS WELL), I turned to my wife and said, "I'd like to come to the bus stop in the morning and just read the crowd. Whatever park looks light, will be the park where we go that day." The problem is: we couldn't because we had ADRs made 180 days in advance. We were already LOCKED into a specific park at a certain time. And since we had spent approximately $1,100 on a dining plan paid in advance, I wasn't canceling any of my dining plans. (i guess i wanted to make sure I got my money's worth, myself.) The sponteneity that I would have liked to use was impossible the way I had paid for and planned the last trip.

You could have easily added the Park Hopper to your tickets while you were down there and gone to whatever parks you wished, whenever you wished. For approx. $55 per ticket (NOT per day,) it would have made your lives a lot nicer.

[MrPeetrie]

We have Annual Passes. What difference would a park hopper have made? My point was: if I have dining reservations made 180 days in advance in one park, I am not about to cancel my dining plans in the morning and go to a different park because the crowd appears lighter at the bus station. I wouldn't attempt that in Walt Disney World. Another resort destination? Maybe. I was addressing a possible reason why a previous poster had stated there's a lack of sponteneity at WDW. Spontaneity can be risky in WDW. You might get shut out of seeing things. I'm not sure how a park hopper helps here. Maybe I'm mis-interpreting your point.

[PopPhan]

My point was, with the Park Hopper, or Annual Pass, you could go to whichever park seemed least crowded based on your bus line observations, then go to your dining reservation in another park at the appropriate time for your reservation.

We do not have Annual Passes, so always get Park Hoppers so that we can adjust our park schedule to account for crowds. It may take up to an hour out of visiting the park(s), but it gives us the flexibility to schedule our dining reservations without needing to know which park we will be in on what particular day.

[alaMode]

I feel really fortunate that I found Intercot while doing research online BEFORE our first trip as a family!

My son has special needs, including cerebral palsy, so I have to plan ahead for accessibility's sake! I was delighted to learn how accessible WDW is for all kinds of needs and after experiencing it for ourselves, we make it a point to visit at least once a year.

After we returned from that initial trip, I realized how much fun I was able to have because Disney went above and beyond to make sure my son was able to have fun!

We've traveled all over the world together, but people still comment on how much we go to WDW. I just tell them it's our "happy place" and leave it at that!

We'll be taking trip #10 in June. I'm still planning every trip (and loving every minute of it!) and we still haven't seen it all!

[mydisneygirls]

So is adding park hopper option for $55 for your length of stay no matter how long you're there? I'm thinking I might add it because I'd like to try more restaurants in Epcot but don't want to spend the entire day there.

[bdm@pga]

I take our High School band to disney every 4 years. For 2 weeks before we go, we have "Disney Days" where I take the time to go over every park, every map, talk about the rides, the hidden mickeys, secrets and fun facts. I still get people who think its a back yard carnival and they don't need the help..they are the ones who end up in tomorrow land ALL DAY!!!! But the best reward is when those kids are long gone, and have their own families, and I get a call.."Mr. G..were going to disney...can we get together and you give us that disney days thing again so my family knows what to do?" I love it...

[PopPhan]

So is adding park hopper option for $55 for your length of stay no matter how long you're there? I'm thinking I might add it because I'd like to try more restaurants in Epcot but don't want to spend the entire day there.

Adding the Park Hopper option is good for the number of days of your MYW park ticket.

The Water Park Fun & More option can effectively add days to your ticket, in that you have 14 days from first use of your MYW ticket to use up the ENTRIES allotted on the MYW ticket. Typically, you get one WPF&M ENTRY for each DAY of your MYW ticket.

Hope this helps.

[MarkC]

I'm a planner but a lot of people aren't, which is perfectly fine. The problem for them is they think WDW is like a local theme park in size, crowds, etc. However, how do you tell everyone going to WDW to plan and prepare for crowds?

Our neighbors know we go every year and we've told them if they ever go to ask us for advise. So a year ago they told us they were going to Disney at Easter because everyone spends the holidays with their families so the crowds at Disney would be really low. Yikes. But everyone is different and I know a lot of people that just want to relax and wing it on vacation. There is nothing wrong with that, but unfortunately those are the people who don't have a good time and don't return because of it. But lets face it, there are Democrats and Republicans and you're not going to get everyone to agree on how to do things either (I won't even get into that mess). So all I can do is help people who ask for help, and hope that those that wing it have as good a time as possible. I don't want them running my life and I won't try to run theirs.

[McLiberal8]

So is adding park hopper option for $55 for your length of stay no matter how long you're there? I'm thinking I might add it because I'd like to try more restaurants in Epcot but don't want to spend the entire day there.

Yes. For instance, on my upcoming January trip, I made reservations for lunch at Le Cellier. This is supposed to be a high-traffic day for Epcot, so I am going to leave after our lunch, use the park hopper option to take the monorail to MK (which has low crowds that day), and stay until evening, where we will go back to Epcot for EMH.

It allows you to go to any of the 4 parks whenever you want. You can even try the '4 park challenge' and go to each in one day!

[mydisneygirls]

Thanks PopPhan and McLiberal8...why I thought it was $55 per day I'll never know. I will definitely be adding the hopper options next trip.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

I may be the crazy one, but I would never let, and have never let, my ADRs dictate which parks I will be spending my day in when I always pay the extra for park hoppers.

[greengeen]

Boy, was I ever green on our first visit. My spouse had to drag me to WDW because I didn't want to go. I didn't plan anything.

66 trips later, I am pretty good at planning. We own DVC, are D23 members, have TIW and annual passes, and use Disney Visa rewards.

I try to help newbies when I can, but everyone has their own path to follow!

[IamaDisneyFan]

Before I was married, I went to Disney World at least 15 times, and in the past 7 years have been 8 or 9 times, for a week or more at a time. My husband and I are the "Disney freaks" and people will ask us for advice, or run from us when we won't stop talking about how to do the World right.

My SiL and her husband took their 9 - 12 month old baby a couple of years ago. They refused to listen to anything we had to say, even though we had taken our kids when they were that young. They came back and said that they didn't go on many rides because they didn't think they could take the baby on anything! I think they only did the carrousel in the Magic Kingdom. They just walked around and met the characters. They listened to us when they planned their next trip.

[Victor Kelly]

WE are the exact opposite for parks and ADRs. I figure which park we will be at that day based upon my experience with crowds, then make a reservation if we want to eat in that park. MK is usually the most crowded and we only like Liberty Tree and Crystal Palace there. But we also like CHef Mickey's and Ohana as well.

But the last trip, I planned the ADRs for the park closest to us. Problem was we spent more time running to and fro that we wasted a lot of time. So now, the park we are in gets the ADR. Saves us a lot more time.

[ransam]

Two thoughts on friends who went.

One- A friend and his family went and only went to MK, even though they knew there were other parks, and he told me they didn't like it, there was nothing to do...i asked if they had gone on Peter pan? no. Small world? no. Space Mountain? no. Splash Mountain? no? The parade? no. Fireworks? no......and i'm thinking how can you dislike something you haven't tried?

Two-It amazes me when people say they are goinng to WDW and think it's just another Disnelyand....they have no idea how big it is. they think they can see it all in a couple days. i tell them that i have been there multiple times, over 20 times, and I haven't seen it all, and probably never will. that's what's so awesome about WDW.

[Jasminegirlsmom]

We sort of lucked out on our first visit. A friend of mine from work had very recently visited herself and had done a little bit of research before her visit. After they returned she realized that even though she'd done some planning it wasn't enough. Her advice to me was to research and plan and get as much inforamtion as I could before we went. And I did. We had a fantatstic first visit and that began what is now a multiple trip per year obsession. I'm so very glad I listened to her, or I might have been one of theose "I'm never going this again" people.

[mom2morgan]

[QUOTE=mydisneygirls;2230144]Thanks PopPhan and McLiberal8...why I thought it was $55 per day I'll never know. I will definitely be adding the hopper options next trip.[/QUOTE
Good choice!! I really couldn't do without them - we like to eat at Epcot 2 or 3 times, and really don't want to visit it that often ;-) Last time we went, my 16 year old daughter spent a whole day just "hopping" to go shopping! LOL Definitely worth the value since it saves a LOT ot inconvenience for us and makes us feel less restricted. ALSO...you don't have to add it in advance. If you want to try without the hopper, you can add it at any point during your trip when you decide you might want to use it.

[Zawadi]

For us the planning stage is part of the holiday experience. On our first trip in 1998 we read the "Unofficial Guide" from cover to cover. We didn't know what to expect and decided to follow the touring plans. Not for long as the week time there was really quiet.

13 years later, we've just returned home from a week at the Yacht Club and the planning has started for our return to WDW in Sept 2012. List of must do's (sights, rides, restaurants). Once the park times are released a spreadsheet will be started to sketch out our agenda.

Plans are nothing; planning is everything.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Allenfow98]

I know the parks like the back of my hand now after many trips. When i plan i keep it simple, i want to know the park hours, the days of the extra magic hours and what parks, and the
extra stuff like the parades and evening closing shows. I then plan what parks for what days and make the adrs accordingly, if something comes up like it decides to rain and it changes our plan for the day then oh well, stuff happens.
If a friend asks to help with some planning i keep it simple for them to. I dont even get into the stuff like rides and shows. I get the dates they are going to be there and try to make a schedule for what parks for what days. I also give them a couple of incredibly awesome websites to research the ride and show stuff.

[AmandaChan]

Yeah, it's kind of crazy to go on a huge trip like this and not do any research. This year we went for the fist time with my BIL, SIL, (and their two kids) MIL, (and dh and baby)...... I swear, I am pretty sure that they thought the only thing to do there was shop at stores. I am not kidding. More so BIL. It was INFURIATING. One day it was like 1pm and we hadn't done anything besides barely eat lunch and I was on on the verge of tears. At least you don't have to travel with people who are completely oblivious about their surroundings and all they think there is to do is shop!