Lack of Knowledge of Guests

[beezyboo10]

It seemed to me that more and more people do not do research before they go to WDW. We do lots of research on new rides, when to visit certain parks, the best times to rides certain rides, etc.. One guy left the parade yesterday because he said it started at 3:45 and it was 3:50. He said if they post a time they should stick with it. We were have way down the parade route. Maybe he was joking but i don't think he was.

[faline]

Yes, it's unfortunate that, in this time, when so much information is available with so little effort, that folks do not put more effort into planning their trips. Some folks decide to go on the spur of the moment. Some truly do not understand (until after they arrive) the scope of Disney World. Some prefer to be spontaneous. And, despite the best planning efforts, we were all first-timers one time or another and we each need to make those rookie mistakes and get better on future trips.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I was thinking the same thing!

I remember our first trip, and I'm surprised, looking back that we saw anything, I had NO IDEA just how much planning I really should have been doing.

Disney is bigger and more complicated than a trip to your local theme park, which is what many people compare it to, before they go of course.

[Main Street Jim]

I will say, that when I have informed guests of parade times, that the posted "start time" is *where the parade steps off*. Not when it will be *at* your location. Parade step-off time is at 3:00, you're sitting in Liberty Square? Parade will be here around 3:10

[Buttercup]

A lot of people (not Disney geeks like us!) often make fun of me when I say I'm "planning" my next vacation. They think that because it's a vacation, there shouldn't be any planning required.
They are the same people who travel to Disney and are shocked at the size and scope of what all there is to do.

Oh well. We can't save everyone. At least we know OUR vacations are planned out properly.

[SBETigg]

My husband works with a woman who hates WDW and does not understand why we keep going back. She didn't plan their trip with their kids, just went, and was surprised by long lines and not being able to eat where she wanted, when she wanted. "Oh the crowds." Even at somewhat crowded times, it's really not terrible for those of us who know how to plan. So I just shake my head and say she doesn't know the real WDW.

[JoF]

During our October trip we met another UK family who were nearing the end of their holiday. They had the quick service meal plan but didn't fully understand where and how they should use it. They had about 36 meal credits left because they were unaware that they could use them at the parks and had paid out of pocket instead. I felt really sorry for them and I just wish I had met them sooner so I could've explained the system to them.
As previous poster's have said - the first time visit to Disney World is mind boggling - you have no idea of the sheer scale of everything until you get there!

[TheVBs]

I agree with the comment that we were all those first timers at one time. I think back to our first trip when our oldest DD was a baby. It wasn't the first trip for DH and I, but we hadn't been since we were much younger and didn't appreciate all there was to do.

There are two ways to react to a first time, not planned out WDW trip. Either, "We're never doing this again!" or "I'm going to figure out how to make the next trip even better!"

[Gregandmel]

Our very first trip was back in 1997 - before Fast passes and during the summer crowds as well. I didn't even know that Disneyworld was "more than" Magic Kingdom. I just always thought of Magic Kingdom when I heard the word "Disneyworld". LOL. Boy were we in for a shock. Didn't get to the parks until around 9;45am - we were those people standing in the middle of the street with our maps trying to decide what we wanted to do because we didn't know what was there. Oh man.......I'm surprised we ever came back! haha. Next trip was in 2008 and I was a planning machine and had it locked & loaded a year in advance. It was awesome. Planning is so important (in my humble opinion) to at least get a sense of what is there at each park. Otherwise - it can be overwhelming. Anytime I hear someone talk about going to Disney I'm the first to chime in about what they should do ahead of time.

[darthmacho]

I'm very fortunate. I like to plan, especially vacations, so I get free reign planning WDW. I think it's part of the fun. My wife is not a planner, and my kids are, well kids, so I make all the plans, keeping them as flexible as possible to account for moods and such, and then gently "steer" them where we need to go, giving them options to make it feel like they are making decisions and adding input. Quite diabolical actually.

It's taken a few trips to get it right, but the key to any plan is to be flexible. You don't want one rainstorm or one ride breakdown to ruin the whole trip.

[Tigerinvestigator]

Nobody will believe this, but a few years ago we were at WDW and some people from our hometown called us and said they had just arrived at All Star Sports for a week. They knew we were the "disney experts" from home and wanted to meet up with us because they had never been to WDW, nor did they do ANY research at all. They were an older couple with three grandkids. We were at Animal Kingdom and told them to catch the bus that said "Animal Kingdom" and meet us there. We waited for hours and they never arrived. When we got back to the AKL, I finally got them on the phone and they said they went to Animal Kingdom and played putt-putt golf all day!!??!!?? Come to find out they took the AK bus to Blizzard Beach and got off at the first stop. They spent the day at Winter Wonderland golf thinking it was AK!!! I SWEAR ITS A TRUE STORY. We did manage to help them the next few days and they had a good trip.

[SandmanGStefani24]

i figured it was something on a lot of people's bucket list that they did because either everyone else was doing, or the kids wanted it. They were doing it to get it done, not for the same reasons we do, and hence take less time planning and getting ready for it.

I think even I might have overestimated how easy it was going to be to do everything on my 3rd trip. All my trips later and still haven't nailed everything. All the more reason to keep going, right?

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I think there are just two groups of people who go to Disney, us (the Disney fanatics who plan to a tee, I even have an idea what I'm going to order at the restaurants) and them ( those who just wing it). I think for newbie's without a plan Disney can be frustrating and that's the few that end up hating Disney

[akaDisneyDreamer]

Our first trip (and we've just been three times and are in process of planning our 4th!) we went on a whim, not realizing what it was really all about. For the first couple of days we were frustrated and was wondering why the heck we chose to go there! Then suddenly things started coming together and we were having fun ... more fun than we'd ever imagined ... and then it was time to go home. We left feeling just a little cheated since we sort of wasted the first two days not knowing how to do WDW, and soon started planning our next trip! The 2nd trip was so magical! The weather was almost perfect and the crowd level was a bit better than the previous trip, we had good dining ressies and was figuring out fastpass. Then the 3rd trip ... we sort of blundered a little with our dining ressies, thinking we could just hop over to Epcot for almost every meal, and we went in August which was way too hot. We still had a lot of fun but felt we missed out on stuff due to the running over to Epcot to eat. So, remembering all our positves experiences and all the negative ones, we are planning a pretty awesome trip for May 2012! The planning and anticipation is half the fun! Can't wait!

[EeyoresBestFriend]

We didn't plan anything our first trip either and we had a blast. Over the years, we learned how much more we could find with planning, but still rely on a fair bit of spontaneity. We may make one TS ressie a day or try walk ups, but we will go with the flow. We enjoy the hidden treasures we find or just the random magic, like finding Cinderella in a grove in Epcot with no line or people around her!!

I will plan in advance, to a point,make it easy when I'm down there, but the rest I leave up to the Magic of Disney to just happen.

[kemps@wdw]

with the multitude of sites and wealth of info available, planning a WDW vaca should be fairly easy. As veterans, we know that some amount of planning is necessary to really enjoy our time @ WDW. But those who don't/won't plan, are the ones that you will hear say..."I'll never go back", or "I don't understand what you see in that place", or, "for the money I paid, I didn't get to do much". We do not plan each moment of each day on our visit to the World. But we do plan for those dinner shows we don't want to miss or the restaurants we definitely want to eat at. We also offer our advice and expertise to our friend who ask us and sometimes to strangers in the parks that look like they could use a little help.

[Dopey's Girl]

I work with a woman who "won't ever go back to that awful place." (that made me sick to type!) All because her first trip was at Easter break, they stayed off site, and didn't make ADRS. They tried to go to MK after 10 on Easter and couldn't get in. They ended up at Epcot, but could only see a few things because of crowds, and had to eat CS meals. She came back and wanted to write a nasty letter to Disney because they didnt have a trip like they show in the commercials...that made me laugh.

I don't over plan anything, but I always have some general idea of what I will be up too and if there is something I want to eat, I make an ADR.

[MNNHFLTX]

I have a bit of a different take on this--it's true that a WDW vacation requires a lot of planning, which I think is a bit of a shame. Especially with the onset of free dining (and the all-important ADR's!!) spontaneity is almost impossible. In fact, a Disney World vacation is almost becoming too complicated, IMO. But maybe I'm basing my opinion on the memory of being a newbie back in the late 70's when an e-ticket meant getting on an awesome ride (with reasonable lines) and the choice on of onsite hotels was limited to two (therefore staying off-site was more the norm than staying onsite).

[Mousemates]

I have a bit of a different take on this--it's true that a WDW vacation requires a lot of planning, which I think is a bit of a shame. Especially with the onset of free dining (and the all-important ADR's!!) spontaneity is almost impossible. In fact, a Disney World vacation is almost becoming too complicated, IMO.

You are not alone in your thoughts.

[Ian]

I can top any of the stories here with something that happened just this past Wednesday ... MK was pretty busy, so there was a reasonably long line for the TTA. We had just gotten in line, so we were standing next to the CM holding the flag to show guests where the end of the line was and this woman walks up and asks ... I kid you not ... "This is the train to Animal Kingdom, right?"

Yes ... she thought the TTA would take her to the Animal Kingdom! I have to say, though, I was impressed with the CM's response. He didn't laugh in her face or anything.

I have a bit of a different take on this--it's true that a WDW vacation requires a lot of planning, which I think is a bit of a shame. Especially with the onset of free dining (and the all-important ADR's!!) spontaneity is almost impossible. In fact, a Disney World vacation is almost becoming too complicated, IMO. But maybe I'm basing my opinion on the memory of being a newbie back in the late 70's when an e-ticket meant getting on an awesome ride (with reasonable lines) and the choice on of onsite hotels was limited to two (therefore staying off-site was more the norm than staying onsite).

Beth, I totally agree with you on this point. In fact, I could have typed it out myself. Awesome way to put it.