Yeah, just swing by for a quick look 
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Mental right?
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I have left behind all Facebook Disney groups in favor of this format. I couldn’t take it anymore.
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Yes! I’m so glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. Before starting to plan in January 2018, I couldn’t keep Disney World and Disneyland straight… (I know!) And then I went DEEP down the planning rabbit hole.
A friend who goes every 2 years was giving me some great information in the beginning. And then all of a sudden, I realized she didn’t even know all the actual names of the rides. And to top it all off, after our trips in Jan/Feb this year, she told me they rope dropped for the FIRST TIME EVER on their last park day. And I wouldn’t believe how empty the park is first thing in the morning?!?!?!?!
I almost lost my mind. That’s rule #1. How did she not know?
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Real talk: does everyone find this is the case only with Disney, or do you have the same tendencies with other hobbies/obsessions (other travel destinations included)? As in, you enjoy becoming an expert, or you find it easy to become an expert because you can’t stop yourself from reading all the things?
I am like this all the time. In other words, it is an outlet for skills that come naturally - research, logistics, contingent forecasting. I definitely get more joy applying it to vacation planning. Hopefully my family can benefit too.
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I’ve been a coaster enthusiast for 20 years (and Disney enthusiast for 4, only 1 of which has been hard core) and nobody ever feels compelled to give me advice about Six Flags or Great America or whatever.
It is “common knowledge” that there are a lot of secrets and tips and tricks to planning a Disney vacation. It’s just the level of those tricks, tips, and planning that distinguishes liners from well-meaning friends. A lot of people seem to assume that going once is enough to uncover all the planning tips and tricks.
(For instance, in the aforementioned Facebook thread I had someone recommending going between Xmas and New Years because she had done it 20 years ago and it was okay).
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Its funny, for me the answer is no. I only get this way when im going on trips. I also plan a golf trip every year for about 8 guys and im the same way, but in my daily life im much more go with the flow. Im a teacher and even in planning my day to day schedule its pretty laid back. My theory is because that is what i do, that is what im an actual expert on and therefore trust myself to make adjustments when things go off track. Disney and other things i am not an expert, so i try to account for those eventualities by researching.
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That’s an interesting perspective. I also feel that with trips the reason I spend so much time researching is that I want to be able to know enough to make on the fly decisions, like what you said.
But omg the amount of time I put into researching a double stroller is slightly embarrassing. Trying to explain my decision making process, and all the information that went into it, is like trying to explain to somebody how to devise a touring plan for Magic Kingdom.
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oh this is so me!
Yesterday, there was an article about something at Disneyland. Anyhow, one of the comments someone posted had this wonderful piece of advice: Bring someone with you who is in a wheelchair so that you can all just jump straight to the head of the line for all the rides!
Um. Not only is that bad advice, it also isn’t even true. 
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Man that’s just disgusting…
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I find that how much I dive into something depends on how necessary it is to have a good ROI. Disney costs a lot so I pour myself into learning ways to improve my time. Our cruises have a substantial investment, as well, (though not as high pppd as Disney, so I also learn as much as possible about them, too. My beach vacations are very inexpensive so other thank looking up some restaurant reviews, etc., I don’t do much.
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It was true at one time and useful if you needed to be in a wheelchair, but it was so abused that they had to change the process. Interestingly, after the change, I noticed a marked difference in the number of scooters in the park. They used to be everywhere. Then suddenly, they were only being used by people who really needed them (the only thing I can think of as a good reason, anyway). So people must have been looking at the cost of scooter rental as equivalent to paying for a fastpass-like service.
Same. Every bit of it. I spent an entire week deciding on the perfect combination of packing cubes to buy. Complete with drawings and measurements. But I can relax on the trip because I don’t have to think about a thing!
Just this week, a friend of mine mentioned she was thinking of taking her family to WDW for spring break but the flights were really expensive so she was still undecided. Spring break for us is 3 weeks away. 
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Yeah. But it has been years since it has been true. And it is folks giving out advice like that which necessitated the change.
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Yeah, I had to use a scooter the last time we went and it was pretty terrible. Although my family loved having a motorized beast of burden to carry their stuff. I (think) I’m in better shape now but we’ll see- that amount of walking is definitely over my limit, but I bought club level FP so we can avoid all. the running around. The fam is not convinced but they didn’t have to be subject to some of the things I did. Or look at people’s behinds all day. I will have a couple of the rental outfits on speed-dial, though.
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I know for a while you could hire third party “tour guides” for WDW who happened to be in wheelchairs and would get you front of the line access (presumably, this was really what you were paying for, not the tour). That was about the time that WDW changed their policies.
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I think it takes a miserable trip to wake people up to the joys of planning. Disney doesn’t push these planning items such as 180 day ADRs and the FP windows like they should, because they don’t want to seem anything less than the happiest place on earth, and who wants to plan anything on vacation? You have to dig pretty far down into the weeds to find where Disney even says your choice of rides may be limited if you don’t select FP far in advance. Of course, we know exactly how limited that really is, but others don’t.
Thing is, I’m not really sure Disney wants everyone to get those FP in advance. They cannot deliver on that promise. If everyone really took advantage of the 60 day window, many (most?) STILL wound’t be able to get all the popular rides. That already happens with SDD and FOP.
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Unfortunately phrased for a British audience 
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Haha, fixed! What is it they say?- “Two nations divided by a common language?”
I should tell you the story of me trying to get a band-aid from the concierge desk at a hotel in London. We finally resorted to sign-language!
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