WDW I'm getting cold feet. Maybe I planned too soon.

kadydid

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jun 6, 2017
I think I joined this group a few years ago, but I’ve never posted. I’ve been to Disneyland multiple times. I absolutely love it. I live on the West Coast, Oregon, so its fairly cheap and easy for me and mine to go to California and enjoy the parks. The last time we went was a bit disappointing. We ended up there in November, my son got travelers sickness and there was a huge convention and it was a the end of the last presidential election. Very bad planning on my part.





We had started to plan a big trip to the East Coast last year for 2018. But realized instead of sightseeing and monuments we really wanted a Disney Do-Over. So we started looking into a Walt Disney World trip. A few days on the coast and NASA and then onto WDW with a room at the Contemporary Resort for 9 additional days. I've never been there (my husband went when he was a preschooler) and was initially so excited.



But now I am getting cold feet, and doubting myself. I’m not stopping my planning, but I definitely need some positive reinforcements and hopefully I can get re-energized.


Thanks
 
I actually am in a similar boat, but rather than planning WDW, planning my first trip to DL with possible other West Coast sights and excursions. I live in PA and have not been to CA or the West Coast previously. We had an amazing WDW trip in August, however for the second year in a row there were a lot of customer service and ride breakdown issues.

Is there anything in particular which might be causing cold feet?

One positive thing to keep in mind staying at the Contemporary will provide amazing access to Magic Kingdom and Epcot! Also, being on the monorail, you will have very easy access to the Grand Floridian and Polynesian which are both beautiful with amazing restaurants. There is a whole world easily within sight of where you are staying.

Also, in my opinion (MANY will disagree), Orlando is a really cool and easy to use airport. This probably has something to do with the fact that I have only used it for WDW vacations, but it is beautiful and really gets one in the vacation mood!
 
I actually am in a similar boat, but rather than planning WDW, planning my first trip to DL with possible other West Coast sights and excursions. I live in PA and have not been to CA or the West Coast previously. We had an amazing WDW trip in August, however for the second year in a row there were a lot of customer service and ride breakdown issues.

Is there anything in particular which might be causing cold feet?

One positive thing to keep in mind staying at the Contemporary will provide amazing access to Magic Kingdom and Epcot! Also, being on the monorail, you will have very easy access to the Grand Floridian and Polynesian which are both beautiful with amazing restaurants. There is a whole world easily within sight of where you are staying.

Also, in my opinion (MANY will disagree), Orlando is a really cool and easy to use airport. This probably has something to do with the fact that I have only used it for WDW vacations, but it is beautiful and really gets one in the vacation mood!
Part of the cold feet I think is coming from learning that nearly the same amount of actual rides as Disneyland/California adventure (technically slightly less) are spread out over four parks at WDW. If the parks are as concentrated with guests the way Disneyland is, is that going to be a bummer for us? I know there are many other things to do and its not all about the rides, but we are for sure ride people. Are all of those other attractions going to make up for longer travel time between parks? We picked the Contemporary specifically because we could walk to MK if we needed to. That was number one for us, so I think that says a little bit about how we like to do it. We like to go go go

BUT we did give ourselves 9 days in the park. We've never gone to DL for that long, so I acknowledge I need to get a different mindset.

I sure hope you have a great Disneyland trip. I just love it there, although, it is very crowded. Californians, don't mess around, their kids grow up in those parks. I have a few friends, they go a few times a month...my dream lol
 
Part of the cold feet I think is coming from learning that nearly the same amount of actual rides as Disneyland/California adventure (technically slightly less) are spread out over four parks at WDW. If the parks are as concentrated with guests the way Disneyland is, is that going to be a bummer for us? I know there are many other things to do and its not all about the rides, but we are for sure ride people. Are all of those other attractions going to make up for longer travel time between parks? We picked the Contemporary specifically because we could walk to MK if we needed to. That was number one for us, so I think that says a little bit about how we like to do it. We like to go go go

BUT we did give ourselves 9 days in the park. We've never gone to DL for that long, so I acknowledge I need to get a different mindset.

I sure hope you have a great Disneyland trip. I just love it there, although, it is very crowded. Californians, don't mess around, their kids grow up in those parks. I have a few friends, they go a few times a month...my dream lol

When I visited Disneyland, it didn't bother me at all to ride some of the same rides. It was fun comparing! The biggest difference is that Disneyland is very compact while Disney World is spread out, so you will spend more time moving around, even with one park. Plus, you can't just move across a plaza to another park. Except for Epcot to Hollywood Studios, there is transportation involved.

There is plenty to do to fill 9 days up, especially if you like repeating rides, but if you want to try something different, you could take 2-3 days at Universal. It, too, has some of the same rides as CA, but it does have probably twice as many rides.
 


Part of the cold feet I think is coming from learning that nearly the same amount of actual rides as Disneyland/California adventure (technically slightly less) are spread out over four parks at WDW. If the parks are as concentrated with guests the way Disneyland is, is that going to be a bummer for us? I know there are many other things to do and its not all about the rides, but we are for sure ride people. Are all of those other attractions going to make up for longer travel time between parks? We picked the Contemporary specifically because we could walk to MK if we needed to. That was number one for us, so I think that says a little bit about how we like to do it. We like to go go go

BUT we did give ourselves 9 days in the park. We've never gone to DL for that long, so I acknowledge I need to get a different mindset.

I sure hope you have a great Disneyland trip. I just love it there, although, it is very crowded. Californians, don't mess around, their kids grow up in those parks. I have a few friends, they go a few times a month...my dream lol

I am an all day with rides person also, and while the distance and travel to parks can get tiresome, you are in a perfect hotel for one who likes to be real busy all day. From what I have heard of DL, it is extremely close together; while WDW involves a massive amount of walking and distance.

For instance in AK, my sister and I, who are both avid runners, take about 10 minutes to walk back to Expedition Everest. Most days while in WDW we'll be going from open to close, with a brief break in the afternoon, and have never been bored.

We go for usually 7-9 park days and it is a perfect amount!
 
I would suggest that you need to decide if you want the dramatically different experience that the WDW can/will provide you. If you are going primarily for the purpose of rides, then 9 days might start to feel long as you will spend a lot of time in lines to re-do rides you've already done, etc... If, however, you open yourself to all WDW can/will offer, it can work VERY well to have a trip that long.

The most important thing, I would suggest, is an intentional shift in approach. Plan some early rope-drop mornings to get onto some rides, plan a few to sleep in (no need to go commando with that timeline). Be thoughtful about FP+ rides and plan them accordingly. With 9 days worth of time, you will be able to get on just about every ride that would need a FP+ (some multiple times) and walk on the rest with rope drop strategies. This will significantly reduce your time in line overall.

Then, with all of your ride needs taken care of through planning and FP+, open yourself to all that WDW has that DL does not. Go to Disney Springs, eat at places unique to WDW, take in the ambiance of the parks, explore the animals at AK, play mini golf, go to a water park, rent a boat, take the boat over to FW for the evening campfire, etc... We have been to WDW 1-2 times each year for the past 10 years and take this approach nearly every time. We hit the rides with rope drop and FP+ (sometimes not even going to a park until evening with FP+ in hand) and plan all sorts of things we haven't done before. We have a trip in a few weeks that has at least 10 experiences that will be new to our family - and this is our third trip in the last 12 months!

The rides may not be more numerous, but the atmosphere is completely different. We are planning 3 days at DL next summer, and that's about all we would do there. This upcoming trip is 10 days, and we can't find time to get everything in that we want to do!
 
Part of the cold feet I think is coming from learning that nearly the same amount of actual rides as Disneyland/California adventure (technically slightly less) are spread out over four parks at WDW. If the parks are as concentrated with guests the way Disneyland is, is that going to be a bummer for us? I know there are many other things to do and its not all about the rides, but we are for sure ride people. Are all of those other attractions going to make up for longer travel time between parks? We picked the Contemporary specifically because we could walk to MK if we needed to. That was number one for us, so I think that says a little bit about how we like to do it. We like to go go go

BUT we did give ourselves 9 days in the park. We've never gone to DL for that long, so I acknowledge I need to get a different mindset.

I sure hope you have a great Disneyland trip. I just love it there, although, it is very crowded. Californians, don't mess around, their kids grow up in those parks. I have a few friends, they go a few times a month...my dream lol

I haven't been to DL, so I can't draw a direct comparison, but not sure why you'd have cold feet. WDW has plenty of rides. Yes, it's a crowded place, it's the most popular destination in the US. However, it's also physically massive, so the crowd is well spread out. Thanksgiving Day, Xmas Day, New Years get packed like sardines, but only in MK and only on those days (4th of July evening too). So outside of a major holiday in MK itself, personally I never find it crazy crowded.

We're more on the go types ourselves. We don't do 12 hour park days, but we also like to hit the rides and be "efficient" with our time. There is SO much to see and do at WDW, that with 9 days there you won't see it all. We're WDW veterans, and our summer trips are 16 to 17 park days long and we still don't get bored. Yes, we ride things over and over, but that's part of the fun. For example, Rock N Rollercoaster is my favorite ride, and over that long trip, we'll ride it 7 or 8 times. I wish I could do it more.

WDW also has 2 water parks, and Disney Springs. You can spend time there too, they're a blast. Explore all the resorts. Endless experiences.

Yes, it takes time to go between the parks (I'm assuming you'd get park hopper tickets). But some of that is part of the fun. We stay offsite, so we have our car with us. But we will use the monorail if we're hopping MK to Epcot, or sometimes use the boat if we're going Epcot to HS. It's fun. Even taking the car to another park is part of the adventure for us.

Believe me, even being go-go type people, you will not get bored in 9 days...you may get tired. I wouldn't try to do 9 days of non-stop go, go. That would be my one word of caution. We're very physically fit, and we wouldn't do 9 days of non-stop running around. I know a lot of people do "rest" days where they don't go to the parks at all and just hang out at the hotel. We definitely don't do that, not our style. But definitely a day or two in there where we're done by 2pm and spend the rest of the day relaxing. You'll want that. You don't realize how big WDW is and how much walking you do...until it's too late and you're exhausted. So be smart and pace yourselves.
 


I would suggest that you need to decide if you want the dramatically different experience that the WDW can/will provide you. If you are going primarily for the purpose of rides, then 9 days might start to feel long as you will spend a lot of time in lines to re-do rides you've already done, etc... If, however, you open yourself to all WDW can/will offer, it can work VERY well to have a trip that long.

The most important thing, I would suggest, is an intentional shift in approach. Plan some early rope-drop mornings to get onto some rides, plan a few to sleep in (no need to go commando with that timeline). Be thoughtful about FP+ rides and plan them accordingly. With 9 days worth of time, you will be able to get on just about every ride that would need a FP+ (some multiple times) and walk on the rest with rope drop strategies. This will significantly reduce your time in line overall.

Then, with all of your ride needs taken care of through planning and FP+, open yourself to all that WDW has that DL does not. Go to Disney Springs, eat at places unique to WDW, take in the ambiance of the parks, explore the animals at AK, play mini golf, go to a water park, rent a boat, take the boat over to FW for the evening campfire, etc... We have been to WDW 1-2 times each year for the past 10 years and take this approach nearly every time. We hit the rides with rope drop and FP+ (sometimes not even going to a park until evening with FP+ in hand) and plan all sorts of things we haven't done before. We have a trip in a few weeks that has at least 10 experiences that will be new to our family - and this is our third trip in the last 12 months!

The rides may not be more numerous, but the atmosphere is completely different. We are planning 3 days at DL next summer, and that's about all we would do there. This upcoming trip is 10 days, and we can't find time to get everything in that we want to do!
You're absolutely right. I need to come at this a different way. These are some awesome tips!!
 
I haven't been to DL, so I can't draw a direct comparison, but not sure why you'd have cold feet. WDW has plenty of rides. Yes, it's a crowded place, it's the most popular destination in the US. However, it's also physically massive, so the crowd is well spread out. Thanksgiving Day, Xmas Day, New Years get packed like sardines, but only in MK and only on those days (4th of July evening too). So outside of a major holiday in MK itself, personally I never find it crazy crowded.

We're more on the go types ourselves. We don't do 12 hour park days, but we also like to hit the rides and be "efficient" with our time. There is SO much to see and do at WDW, that with 9 days there you won't see it all. We're WDW veterans, and our summer trips are 16 to 17 park days long and we still don't get bored. Yes, we ride things over and over, but that's part of the fun. For example, Rock N Rollercoaster is my favorite ride, and over that long trip, we'll ride it 7 or 8 times. I wish I could do it more.

WDW also has 2 water parks, and Disney Springs. You can spend time there too, they're a blast. Explore all the resorts. Endless experiences.

Yes, it takes time to go between the parks (I'm assuming you'd get park hopper tickets). But some of that is part of the fun. We stay offsite, so we have our car with us. But we will use the monorail if we're hopping MK to Epcot, or sometimes use the boat if we're going Epcot to HS. It's fun. Even taking the car to another park is part of the adventure for us.

Believe me, even being go-go type people, you will not get bored in 9 days...you may get tired. I wouldn't try to do 9 days of non-stop go, go. That would be my one word of caution. We're very physically fit, and we wouldn't do 9 days of non-stop running around. I know a lot of people do "rest" days where they don't go to the parks at all and just hang out at the hotel. We definitely don't do that, not our style. But definitely a day or two in there where we're done by 2pm and spend the rest of the day relaxing. You'll want that. You don't realize how big WDW is and how much walking you do...until it's too late and you're exhausted. So be smart and pace yourselves.

This was great too. I had already filled up my 9 day itinerary and it was jam packed.


Especially paying for this lovely resort, I need to slow down, and enjoy it a bit more than I had planned. Thanks so much for your advice
 
Definitely look at different strategies, there are VERY detailed guides out there. I haven't been to DL since I was little, when my mom and I first did WDW, we were so overwhelmed because we had no plan.

I read somewhere that the average trip to WDW is 4 days. You have twice as many days to spread things out! Do character breakfasts or dinners at Epcot if that's your fancy. If you're staying on-site, some of the resorts have awesome activities. I'm a fan of the fantasia gardens mini-golf myself. Think beyond the mouse.
 
We have been to DL only once but more than 15 times to WDW. We are also ride people but never had problemes to fill the day.Have some dining reservation, enjoy the pool, take a ride on the monorail or visit other resorts like the Wilderness Campground or the Poly. You won't be dissapointed. It is easy to navigate at WDW, even it is much bigger than DL. Dont't concentrate on issues, you will have a blast. :figment:And don't forget, planning is half of the fun with a WDW trip, so enjoy!
 
This was great too. I had already filled up my 9 day itinerary and it was jam packed.


Especially paying for this lovely resort, I need to slow down, and enjoy it a bit more than I had planned. Thanks so much for your advice
After my experience yesterday I would say - relax! I have planned and planned and yesterday we had to change our plans, miss a hard to get fast pass, return for to the resort but instead we had great pool time, marshmallow toasting, an unexpected high speed boat ride, fantastic resort CM's pulled the day back for us. It's the little things that make memories x
 
I can sympathise with some of your feelings - I'm a DLR semi regular (4 visits in the last 4 years from NZ) and absolutely love the place. We stay on site and make the most of EMH, but apart from knowing which park has early opening, generally don't make any fixed plans. We visited WDW for the first time this year and the planning I had to do (and thought I had to do) got overwhelming at times. It started at the lead up to our 180 day window, which was not long after we booked, when I realised I had to decide which park we would be in each day so I could figure out ADRs... And then worrying I hadn't booked enough and eating was going to be a problem... Then I had the worrying about FP+ and what I should book and even the sequence of days I should look at just so I had a chance of getting FoP...

Well, we have been back for a month, and really I didn't need to worry. Firstly for you you have 100% chosen the right resort - my biggest gripe was transport to and from the parks which was more difficult at MK due to the extra step to get to the car park. Exiting post fireworks was a pain getting back to the carpark was slow. Another day we caught the bus but heading back for an afternoon swim was slow as the bus took 40 minutes to turn up. Simply walking back to the hotel was sorely missed and I will never again grumble about the 10 minute walk back to DLH or 12 inutes to PPH!

As for dining, I actually found our ADRs to be too constricting. To start with we would invariably lose 30 minutes waiting for our table, then service would take forever. It became a huge time suck and not always when we wanted it. If we go back I'm not sure how much we would book unless there as somewhere specific we wanted to dine, rather than just booking a meal. Had no issues with counter service which was made easier with ordering through the app. There were also instances where if we wanted TS we could book at late notice.

FP+ was interesting and made a bit more sense once we were there. I would still recommend a few days of getting to the parks at rope drop - we did a couple of 7am mornings at MK and they were absolutely awesome. Tough getting up but once in the park the tiredness disappears! There were instances where we had a late PM FP+ that we were able to cancel as we had managed to ride early in the morning. Once cancelled we were then able to see what was available to book then and there.

Magic Bands are brilliant.

I guess to summarise (if you are still reading) I was concerned the perceived level of planning for WDW meant that joy of just discovering and experiencing the parks as we had done with DLR wouldn't be there. I needn't have worried as we were still able to find that magic at WDW.
 
I think it's good that you know it's a different mindset for sure. Because of the difference in size between DL and WDW, yeah it takes a little more effort to get around. But if you're going into it expecting that kind of thing and enjoy the different kinds of transportation available, I think you will be in a much better position to not end up frustrated.

Before you go, I would also check the rides on WDW's website to see if they are temporarily closed due to refurbishment or maintenance. For example, Splash Mountain has been closed from August and is scheduled to reopen mid November. But that way you know before you get to the park instead of finding out as you're walking up. You probably already do this on your trips to DL, but just a thought.

As far as positive reinforcement goes, just think about you and yours having a great time. I know there can sometimes be a lot of stress and anxiety when planning Disney trips, but try not to let it get you bogged down too much. You have a great community of Disney experts that can really help get you through all this. You are not alone :)

I remember when I first rounded the corner of Main Street and saw the castle at WDW (which was my first ever Disney trip), that joyous feeling was overwhelming and I cried happy tears. It was breathtaking really, and I'm sure it's gonna be a wonderful experience for you to be able to see a different castle in person. It really is beautiful. Each park is special in its own way and I am excited for you to experience WDW for the first time!
 

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