We leave next week and I’m feeling somewhat defeated. Originally planned this trip for May of 2020, then planned it again for Oct 2021. What used to be a 180/60 day planning window for meals and rides has become an excruciating day-by-day drip of information and changes.
With genie+ and completely unpredictable park crowds I’m afraid the whole trip is going to feel crummy.
I guess I’m looking for liner support that it’s still a magical place? Just not feeling the magic atm.
Other than a few hiccups, our trip last week was still great! I would have killed for Genie+ and Lightning Lanes last week. You’ll probably have cooler weather than we did, too.
Crowds really have always been unpredictable…but now they are just a DIFFERENT KIND of unpredictable. I wouldn’t let G+ get you down. The fact is, you can have a great time there if you reset your expectations somewhat.
Disney is still magical. We’ve been twice (plus twice to UOR) since COVID, and the magic was still there.
I think the problem comes from the fact that most of us on these forums are planners, and we want to have all our ducks in row well ahead of time. So, the issue is less about Disney magic changing, and more about those of us who are Type A about planning are struggling to embrace a new(ish) normal.
Don’t go thinking about how it USED to be…rather, go focused on just enjoying each moment you are there, whatever comes your way. I think you’ll be surprised how much the worrying was unnecessary.
^^ Yep. It’s a magical place, and you should embrace the opportunities as they come to you.
Potentially controversial take: I don’t think the highly planned trips of the past were the best way to experience such a deeply themed place. Rushing from one pre-booked/planned experience to the next doesn’t leave time to really absorb the environment. And it sets up unrealistic expectations for how much you can get done in a day.
Especially traveling with kids, flexibility is often the key to having a great day. I think moving ride planning to day-of is better, after having experienced both WDW and DL. And given how many DL fans wanted WDW to switch to MaxPass and that’s basically what they’ve done? Means it’s probably a better experience. Plan out your ride priorities, then let the day take you where you want to go based on that day - weather, feelings (both physical and emotional), wait times, food experiences can all impact the rides that make sense for your family.
Really, having to nail down restaurants 6 months out was bonkers.
I loved maxpass when I tried it last year. I just don’t think it’s going to wind up being comparable given the difference in parks/visitor type.
I think it’s all about mindset.
We had a trip for Spring Break 2020 that I had perfectly planned, moved to Oct 2020 when the parks shut down, then moved again to Spring Break 2021…with basically only park reservations as the pre-planning (we only ate outdoors, so minimal ADRs). So I get the constant replanning and feeling like everything is changing day by day. Admittedly, the Genie/Genie+ rollout is a significant change, that I would be freaked out by too!
As a planner and natural worrier, I had to actively and continually decide not to let my attachment to the old systems get in the way of a good time. I continually told my family that there were no guarantees (RotR BGs were such a stressor!), but we could still have a great time even if we didn’t get to every single thing. Those reminders were honestly more for myself than them.
It added stress too. After a time our family became annoyed at ADRs hemming us into a schedule. We stopped TS-DDP and tried QS-DDP but eventually ended up w/o DDP and free to explore and have fun.
Anyone have tips for not waiting forever for QS btw? That’s the biggest change since we were last in the parks. Mobile ordering and such.
I LOVE mobile order. We were using it before covid reopening. For lunch I would recommend you try to decide where you want to eat and get your time and MO in and try to do non traditional lunch time to ensure a table. They are no longer monitoring who can sit at tables so there are squatters w/o food again taking dinning space. I will miss them only letting in ppl w/ MO. It was SO nice being able to sit and eat.
Good to know. I expect we’ll eat earlier than most since we plan to rope drop. So can select places during the morning.
Thereby booking their ADR (Afterlife Damnation Reservation) right next to the evildoers who leave shopping carts in parking spaces.
these ppl SUCK too! 
I know Mobile Orders had some recent issues, but we loved it when we were there. I made sure to book our meals a couple hours in advance (it’s more important to get your time booked, you can change the actual order as it gets closer), but we didn’t wait long at all.
Please come back afterward and tell us how your trip compares to prior trips. I am a more-is-more person when it comes to ROI and I can’t imagine the new version of Disney being fun, but DD17 has asked me to take her in lieu of any other graduation celebrations.
Happy to, though not sure I’ll be super helpful. Last trip was in 2011…
It is funny, I think I am feeling sort of the same way. We are headed down in 15 days, and this is also a rescheduled trip from 2020.
I think part of it for me is that I am like pre-greiving the trip being over. As everyone here can appreciate, so much of the fun of the trip is planning before you go, and I don’t know what I am going to do when we get back with all my Disney spare time.
The big changes in procedures (Genie +), and crowd levels are giving me anxiety too that I am going to have spent all this time reading and researching and that I will still end up spending more time in line than at least I mentally expect to.
I know we are going to have an awesome time, and it will be magical…I just have 15 days to fix my attitude
We were there last week and never had an issue with long waits for MOs. Immediate pickup windows were available each time with maybe one exception at Satuli Canteen (the wait for the window was 5 minutes I believe) and the wait for food once we clicked “we’re here” varied from 0 to 15 minutes at the most. Very smooth process. Just make sure they put the right stuff on your tray…
100% agree with this.
Yet still I obsessively plan. It’s the evil of FOMO.
We should remember to enjoy the journey (wandering around, taking it all in) and not just focus on the destination (the two minute ride).
Yup. As I see my arrival date approaching, my head says “but that means your return home date is approaching”.
The only way to deal with it is to have another tripped booked.
Ya, this may be my last trip. And it’s my first in 10 years. So “you may not get to do it all” is a very hard pill to swallow.