Florida / WDW overwhelming?

[ChoppyGirl]

We are planning to stay on site next trip and I am seriously considering only booking ADRs for places we really want to go to. On the days we have nothing booked when hungry we could just go on the app and see what’s available. We have a few must dos where I would pre-book as would be disappointed if we didn’t go but I actually quite fancy going with the flow for food this time.

[mikeishere]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

A very interesting post.

It was the complexity of extracting the max out of Disney theme parks (along with never getting or understanding the ‘magic’ or being happy with value) that drove us away initially.
I never got involved in any way with DDP and stuff, but that would add to the complexity.

We got ‘complex’ the other way, going down the route of multi city, multi state and driving type vacations, using planes, trains and automobiles to see far more of the USA as a whole.

When we have an Orlando phase, we play it by the day (other than the compulsory Discovery Cove day and the stay in the deluxe universal hotel) and that suits us just great. When we enter a park, all of which we know very well and even as we pick up a park map, we are deciding which attraction to do first.

The thought of planning out Disney parks in Orlando with fast pass or whatever would leave us absolutely cold.
Disneyland California? We found most of the major rides either broken or down for maintenance when we visited Easter 2019, to the extent that I do not plan on returning. I did like the spontaneity of using the old, paper fast passes once more, though!

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I agree with this in bold. It’s the need to get everything out of every second of the holiday to see and do it all as their is so much of it can send you crazy. Well me anyway haha. Need a holiday to get over a Florida holiday haha

[SleepingBeauty]

Can’t honestly say I ever felt that way visiting Disney. Maybe because I knew I’d be back and it would all still be there - or at least the overall experience would, if not certain attractions.

We can all probably pick out the tourists who are trying to do too much and look a bit miserable.

[Moleymole]

Yes I think it can feel overwhelming, I have certainly felt overwhelmed over the years.

[mikeishere]

Originally Posted by SleepingBeauty

Can’t honestly say I ever felt that way visiting Disney. Maybe because I knew I’d be back and it would all still be there - or at least the overall experience would, if not certain attractions.

We can all probably pick out the tourists who are trying to do too much and look a bit miserable.

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Even as a huge Disney fan and knowing I’ll probs be back soon I still feel disappointed if I missed something one year as I’d think oh I’m going to have to wait 5 years to try that ride again.

[Elmhurst 5]

Annaheim is much smaller than WDW, and the crowds can be horrendous, would never go to Annaheim again. WDW is for me, we are not early risers, so getting to the parks at the crack of dawn is no holiday for me. We are off site, so sometimes go after 11am, late breakfast, pool time then Disney. Other times after lunch and stay till closing, watch fireworks etc, dinner somewhere in the park.

You do need to plan your days which is what F.passes were great for us, and we would book a fast passes for the day we decided on that particular park, now with the new system you have got to book a park for a day in advance otherwise you cannot enter the park.
This takes away so much of making the day a joyous, fun filled day with the magic that is Disney. How we will cope when it out turn to book a park a day in late 2022 is yet to be seen.

[loldis]

Originally Posted by Elmhurst 5

Annaheim is much smaller than WDW, and the crowds can be horrendous, would never go to Annaheim again. WDW is for me, we are not early risers, so getting to the parks at the crack of dawn is no holiday for me. We are off site, so sometimes go after 11am, late breakfast, pool time then Disney. Other times after lunch and stay till closing, watch fireworks etc, dinner somewhere in the park.

You do need to plan your days which is what F.passes were great for us, and we would book a fast passes for the day we decided on that particular park, now with the new system you have got to book a park for a day in advance otherwise you cannot enter the park.
This takes away so much of making the day a joyous, fun filled day with the magic that is Disney. How we will cope when it out turn to book a park a day in late 2022 is yet to be seen.

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You can still make same day park reservations, providing they have not reached capacity. This is pretty easy at Epcot and AK, HS bit more difficult because of RotR and MK is always popular so the hardest one to get.

At the moment, you only need to book about a week out to get any park you want, barring special days like the anniversary and Thanksgiving. Those are days I would expect to reach capacity even without reservations.

[CrazyBaby]

I can't compare to DLP or DL as I have never been but our holidays to WDW I absolutely love the planning as does DH. It gets us excited to go and keeps the motivation to pay off the balances and each step is a step closer to our holiday.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

It was the complexity of extracting the max out of Disney theme parks (along with never getting or understanding the ‘magic’ or being happy with value) that drove us away initially.

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I think that's a problem for a lot of people. They feel this need to extract the max out of the Disney parks - either because of the costs involved or because social media has ramped up their FOMO. There are some people who may feel hugely disappointed if they miss one ride and, yeah, for them I can see a visit to WDW potentially being a bit of a nightmare. I have never done every ride I want to do each time I've visited. But that's fine. I concentrate on the fantastic stuff I have done.

Relax, take it easy, realise and accept that you aren't going to do it all, and there will be lots of things you will not do but that's okay - you can always come back another time. Plan some things but know that you don't have to stick to those plans, you can alter things, and it's ok if you have to change plans.

As for me, planning-wise, I used to enjoy it. It extended the holiday, and increased the anticipation and enjoyment before the holiday itself. I'd sit with my laptop during some evenings and book some fastpasses. Perhaps change them round a few days later. We'd discuss which restaurants we wanted to go to and book a couple (we tended to eat at QS places more whilst at Disney). It was fun.

[Fozzie-Bear]

Sure at the first visit Disney World seems overwhelming because of the size, the number of parks etc. But I cannot agree that the planning is overwhelming. In my opinion for every vacation you need some kind of plan, except you only want to be all the time at the same place or you book a group travel (neither is for me), so I never travel unprepared: I read infos in the internet or in travel books and if necessary I book tours or else in advance. My first trip to WDW was in Dec. 2015, which was more spontaneous (because of the death of my best friend and the need to escape) as I booked it around 45 days in advance. Because of the short time, I only googled for "Disney World vacation" or so and end up on a travel agency website. Shortly after I got a quote, two or three e-mails for adjustments and I booked. My travel agent informed me of the possibility to book restaurants and fast passes in advance and gave me some tips for either, I had a look at the website and followed most of her suggestions.


Sure looking back not all was perfect (especially the pre-booked transfers to Universal and back via the agency and the days there), but overall I had a blast. It was so much better than DLP, (besides the trips to USO) I was in a Disney bubble without contact with the real life out there. It was so much more immersive, so much more to see and discover, several times I just follow the flow. Since than I was four times back to Orlando and only one more time at DLP, although it is almost around the corner. DLP in comparison is the ugly step brother and not immersive at all, also with a Disney hotel you can't look over the illegal street vendors at the entrances/exits, the ruder guests, the not so friendly cast members and so on.

I kind of love to plan my vacations now, but I'm not nearly an over-planner. Most of the time I just think about the hotels and the restaurants and if I do some days at Universal, Sea World and Bush Gardens. When I'm there I sometimes change things like FPs or restaurants spontaneous, but I never had the feeling of beeing stressed there. Sure as we are forbidden to enter the US since Covid, my last visit was November 2019. So I could not speak about the park reservations and current FP-absence, these could stress me out as I would not be able to follow the flow, sleep in or hit the park I want when waking up. I also find FP+ much better than the old paper fastpass at DLP (no need to rush between fp-machines or beeing there at rope drop, only an half hour slot for FP and so on).