Friends didn't enjoy their WDW trips

We own DVC and have been like 20 times. One SIL also owns DVC and loves to go. But other SIL hates it and says never again...for many reasons mentioned in OP. MIL enjoys going but my mom hates it. So you never know how people will feel about the same things. We have a couple sets of friends who are also divided on liking it and hating it....same place, same experiences yet one loves and one hates.
 
I'm surprised how pro planning this thread is. :eek:

I'm a minor planner and I love WDW. I book a few ADRs I don't want to miss and I book my fastpasses - though honestly, sometimes I change those the day of. I don't plan every moment and I am in no way rope dropper. I'm the nice leisurely 9:00am breakfast and then stroll to the park sort of girl. I believe if you love the trip or not comes down to expectations. I don't expect to ride the most popular rides 100 times without waiting, I don't expect to walk up to BOG and get a table, and I don't think my vacation wasted if I don't hit every single thing at Disney. I'm also willing to pay a little extra for events like DAH so I can get MK rides done with low wait times and if I have a breakfast ADR at another resort, I pay for uber rather then spend ages transferring buses. Plus I take longer trips so that I don't feel rushed to fit in everything in 5 days. So when someone I know asks about WDW, I set the expectations that go with their travel style, I think that's the key to enjoying Disney.
 
DH and I had a great trip earlier this month. The weather was great. We only did 3 parks - skipped MK even though it's usually my favorite. We ate mostly offsite - we have some favorites that we really like. We ended up driving to the parks (have HC parking tag) which was so easy. We just strolled thru Epcot looking at all the F&G stuff. Checked out the current status at DHS. Did use a couple of FPs for AK, but not for any of the biggies. No pressure to do anything.

That would have been heck on earth for some of you. But we have a ton of DVC points, live 9 hours away, and have APs. And we are retired. We can always go back.
 


DH and I had a great trip earlier this month. The weather was great. We only did 3 parks - skipped MK even though it's usually my favorite. We ate mostly offsite - we have some favorites that we really like. We ended up driving to the parks (have HC parking tag) which was so easy. We just strolled thru Epcot looking at all the F&G stuff. Checked out the current status at DHS. Did use a couple of FPs for AK, but not for any of the biggies. No pressure to do anything.

That would have been heck on earth for some of you. But we have a ton of DVC points, live 9 hours away, and have APs. And we are retired. We can always go back.
This is very much like us. We too are 9 hours away (in NC) and own 580 DVC points and go enough that we are fine with skipping parks and just doing a couple FP each day. We love strolling world showcase in Epcot. DH isn't retired yet but our kids are all off to college so we do a lot of adult only trips.
 
Some people just don't like Disney no matter how they plan the trip and that's ok. I can see why people dislike Disney. A lot of planning, it's expensive, it's hot, it's rainy, long lines, etc.

I think either you're a Disney person or you aren't. My first trip we planned nothing. I didn't even know Disney had restaurants. LOL I thought it was all QS. I was 20 years old. But once I stepped foot on Main Street I was hooked. I don't even remember what we rode that trip. But I know I had a wonderful time and couldn't wait to go back.

I only know two people that go to Disney every year or every few years and stay onsite and do the whole ADR thing and FP+.

Most people I know do a one time "obligatory" trip for their kids. They have no desire to ever go back even though they stayed deluxe, in a villa, booked FP+, had great ADRs. They still don't ever want to go back.

Then I know tons of people who do Orlando trips. They stay offsite, do Universal, Gatorland and 1-2 days at a Disney park. They buy their tickets at the gate and go about their day. They have fun and enjoy their time but again, they have no desire to go to Disney year after year. They'll go again if they are in Orlando but it's not a must do. Most enjoy Universal much more.
 
Also I want to add that I don't expect people to love everything I love. That goes for Disney or pizza or my favorite purse brand, etc. Just because I love it doesn't mean the next person will love it.

I love all inclusive vacations. I know it's not for everyone but I don't go around thinking or saying "Well if you had done this or that or X, Y and Z like *I* did then you would've loved it. Had you planned this out or booked this excursion your would change your mind." Nope that doesn't cross my mind for Disney or any vacation I take. Being different is great!
 


I think when dealing with first timers, honesty is the best policy. Even if someone plans within an inch of their life, they will still not get to experience everything. I usually suggest they make a list of must dos. I think that’s why some people get so frazzled, they are trying to do too much.
 
I guess the issue with planning is not that you have to plan everything, but that you can't expect to show up mid-morning with no FP+ booked (or ADRs if you're hoping for table service) and walk on to whatever you want with minimal waits. Having realistic expectations is the main thing, and people do understandably have pretty high expectations for an expensive, possibly once-in-a-lifetime vacation to a place "where dreams come true". Prioritising must-dos does make sense.
 
I think there are people who like a Disney style trip and others who do not. I love our trips, enjoy how we tour, and how we do not. We know upfront the costs involved in our type of DIsney vacation and accept them. I can speak to friends and hear horror stories about dining, lines, food, and "nothing to do" What????? Some found nothing to eat in Epcot. I honestly do nto think they did anything wrong, they simply don't vacation that way.

WE took a friend and her family and she hated it. She is a Beach girl, a week CL at the Grand, dxddp and a spa treatment, you could not enjoy that? Nope..... there was that pesky parks part of the trip. Oh well.. I stopped worrying about how others enjoy their trips, and let them figure it out. I woudl prefer to chew glass and die than go camping, so why shoudl I be insulted or sad that there are friends who would prefer to walk on hot coals then ever go back to Disney?
 
I think there are people who like a Disney style trip and others who do not. I love our trips, enjoy how we tour, and how we do not. We know upfront the costs involved in our type of DIsney vacation and accept them. I can speak to friends and hear horror stories about dining, lines, food, and "nothing to do" What????? Some found nothing to eat in Epcot. I honestly do nto think they did anything wrong, they simply don't vacation that way.

WE took a friend and her family and she hated it. She is a Beach girl, a week CL at the Grand, dxddp and a spa treatment, you could not enjoy that? Nope..... there was that pesky parks part of the trip. Oh well.. I stopped worrying about how others enjoy their trips, and let them figure it out. I woudl prefer to chew glass and die than go camping, so why shoudl I be insulted or sad that there are friends who would prefer to walk on hot coals then ever go back to Disney?

I'm right there with you on the camping part.
 
I guess the issue with planning is not that you have to plan everything, but that you can't expect to show up mid-morning with no FP+ booked (or ADRs if you're hoping for table service) and walk on to whatever you want with minimal waits. Having realistic expectations is the main thing, and people do understandably have pretty high expectations for an expensive, possibly once-in-a-lifetime vacation to a place "where dreams come true". Prioritising must-dos does make sense.

I think what's more important than having a detailed touring plan, FP+ and ADR's is just being informed on the parks. I know I can show up to any of the 4 Disney parks right now with no plan, buy a ticket at the gate and I can have a great day. Just because I know I should hit certain rides first, I know I should save shows and less popular rides for midday, I know to avoid lines at QS I should go at 11 or 2, I know I can make same day FP+ through MDE on my phone, etc. Knowing small details like this have a bigger impact than any touring plan IMO.

Our best trip was our last minute trip we took in 2011. No plans. I booked a few ADRS before we went and we had an awesome time!
 
I'm right there with you on the camping part.

LOL! And tailgating! I won't do that either. I want dinner, or breakfast, or lunch...whatever. I am not fond of packing everything I have, complete with bungeeing my gas grill down, to make a meal, and then cleaning the whole shebang up and dragging it all back home again. But I have friends who live for this, and who know better than to invite this Debbie Downer along. LOL!

I learned a long time ago that we all have different lifestyles, and they extend to vacations. My family would never "max" our park tickets expense if we looked at the cost in a vacuum, however if we look at our total cost of the vacation, and in turn the total value, so far we are still on board. For us, the level of customer service "WE" receive is still on point with our expectations. If we find that we leave this next vacation with buyer's remorse for any reason, we will make a determination about how we proceed from that point.

I will add that I have overheard several conversations from guests who were discussing how to get Disney to pay for things, even though Disney was not at fault. The one that frosted my cheerios the most for some reason was the lady on riding DME back to the airport who was plotting with her family how to blame Disney for her torn luggage. It was all I could do not to stand up and video tape her and send it to Guest Services as a warning. I have a feeling that this is the kind of thing that impacts how Disney now responds to some complaints. If they give an inch someone wants a new set of luggage, even though they brag they tore it on a trip to Europe.
 
Some people just don't know how to make the most of a Disney trip.
WDW isn't just going to a land, it's going to a World.

I'm guessing some first-timers just expect to turn up and everything be served to them on a plate because it is relatively expensive.
Well all these other guests have paid entry too.

Things I can see people complaining about are the queues, cost and the weather.

-Queues, there are apps to see the queue times. Get some fast passes and manage things the way you would when you visit any huge city.

-Cost, yes some things are very expensive. Do some research before hand and you can budget it better.
Last time we went we got Disney Dining and it felt so stress-free having most our food already paid for.
We might have not made the most of it either as my GF is vegetarian but we had paid for it over a 14 month period from booking.

-The weather. If the heat bothers you then you surely already know that before you go somewhere hot. By one of those cooler fans for a starters.
For the rain buy a poncho at the least! I didn't care if it rained or was sunny. My GF just laughed too when we were drenched. We even went on Kali River Rapids in the rain soaking wet, it was fun!


But the main thing I feel people might not do is prepare. Read maps before you go. Read reviews. Understand queues and how to manage fast passes.

You wouldn't just land in LA, New York, Las Vegas without doing some research. And if you did you would be lost, overwhelmed and make some bad decisions for your trip which would lead to you not getting the most out of your vacation.

This is all just an assumption of the errors people can make of course.
 
I just spent the day with my sister in law who is getting ready to take her 8 year old grandson (that she is raising) and a friend of his to WDW. She has never been to Disney at all and was very overwhelmed.

She truly knew almost nothing about the parks, etc. We spent a lot of time going over what the parks were, how one navigates driving to a park from offsite, what the attractions were and what they might or might not like.

I told her what I some of my must dos were, but emphasized that was me. The main thing I tried to tell her was that they were not going to do everything and to enjoy what they did do. And not to worry about what they might be missing.

I showed her how to set up my disney experience on her laptop and phone. And suggested that she have an extra power pack for her phone since she would be using it quite a bit. She left feeling much more comfortable.

I hope they have a great time - but I have no clue as to whether they will love it or not.
 
I'm sure there are thousands of stories like these every day. Disney World does not need everyone to love the place. In fact, they are trying to drive many people away using their high prices. They get at most 30 million people in the parks every year, and I think that that number is actually way too high. The US population alone is over 300 million, and that is ignoring all the visitors from Canada and overseas. Disney does not need everyone to love them. They need about 5% of people to really like them, and then another 2-3% to try them out just once.

In fact, over 20 million visited Magic Kingdom alone last year. And yes, I agree it’s way crowded no matter when you go. See link for stats...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-bz-disney-attendance-down-20170601-story.html
 
I just spent the day with my sister in law who is getting ready to take her 8 year old grandson (that she is raising) and a friend of his to WDW. She has never been to Disney at all and was very overwhelmed.

She truly knew almost nothing about the parks, etc. We spent a lot of time going over what the parks were, how one navigates driving to a park from offsite, what the attractions were and what they might or might not like.

I told her what I some of my must dos were, but emphasized that was me. The main thing I tried to tell her was that they were not going to do everything and to enjoy what they did do. And not to worry about what they might be missing.

I showed her how to set up my disney experience on her laptop and phone. And suggested that she have an extra power pack for her phone since she would be using it quite a bit. She left feeling much more comfortable.

I hope they have a great time - but I have no clue as to whether they will love it or not.

Yes! Tell her to enjoy the journey & not the destination! Slow down and enjoy the train, the TTA, The Tiki Room!
 
Some people like Disney vacations. Some people don’t.

I don’t give any input to people unless they ask me for it. Even still, I just give them my basic recommendations: why I like to stay on-site, importance of180 day ADRs for in-demand restaurants and 60 day FP.

If someone goes and does not enjoy it, I honestly don’t really care. Not everyone is going to like what I like. I don’t care if they think we are crazy for loving it. I am not offended if they did not listen to my recommendations or if they did and still didn’t enjoy it.

We go with a group of 10-12 people and do relatively little planning. We book a couple key ADRs. We eat a lot of QS and book last minute ADRs on the fly. We book our FP for our favorite rides ahead of time but sometimes change them based on how we feel, what the weather is like, etc. We do not set a “touring plan” and like to go where we feel that day. We do not measure the success of our trips by the number of rides we get on. We are “stop and smell the roses” kind of people on WDW vacations. We don’t get on every ride every trip. It doesn’t bother us one bit.

I could show up at one of the parks for a vacation today and still have an incredible time with absolutely no planning.

My point is - there are people who are just not going to like Disney vacations no matter how much or little planning they do. And that is ok.
 
I have been going to WDW since 1973 & absolutely love it! :goofy:

I have friends that say " your going again??!!"

It is the one vacation where no one in my family is a novice. We know how to go, where to go...it's easy to meet up at places , not to mention the great transportation available. I don't have to give my teenager/adult kids any money because they have mickey bands & gift cards.

2016 I walked so much (hardly rested) that I noticed the last day I had swollen ankles.
When I returned home I thought I had the food poisoning but it was the flu.
Last year I broke my arm first night of vacation.
I still came home happy & ready to go back.
No one can rain on my parade:umbrella:........:sunny:

Oh & I agree with above posters. WDW takes a lot of planning and/or you need to not be uptight if things don't go exactly the way you thought.
The thing I always zero in on is the miserable families off at a table, hot, arguing & their kids are melting down.
 
My aunt took my teenage cousin and a friend down for spring break one year, maybe 5 years ago. None of them had ever been before. When they got back they said they had a terrible time. They only went on a few rides the entire trip because the lines were too long. They didn't know anything about fast passes. It seemed that they really hadn't done any research.

My SIL's ex boyfriend went to Disney World once as a child and hated it. I couldn't believe that he said that. His main complaint was that it was too hot (they went in the summer).

My parents took me 3 times when I was a kid. They liked it a bit but have no desire to go back. They hate crowds, amusement park rides, and think it's too tiring.
 

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