You won't believe my all-new, super-controversial, click-baiting approach to WDW planning

I agree with the no pressure approach to touring. Our first trip was so busy trying to make sure we got so see and do all the big rides it took some of the simple fun out of it. Our subsequent trips have been much better because it really us the simple things. We have Typhoon Lagoon on our list for next trip.

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I have never been to FEA nor PP, the waits never made much sense to me (but I am an adult traveling without children). I also don’t understand test track (it is a coaster that simulates riding in a car at 60mph), nor World Showcase (the food is really expensive and I don’t like shops), so I skipped Epcot after struggling with a bit of FOMO.

I found both SDD and 7DMT to be delightful, but I don’t find them better than BTMRR and EE, which are much much easier rides to get on who also fulfill my themed mild coaster needs, so I don’t think they are worth the work (I don’t value extra variety for variety sake, but I understand those who do). I also liked MFSR about as much as I liked Star Tours and they scratch the same itch, so I probably won’t try to go on it again.

My FOMO about RotR is strong enough that I will probably go to Disneyland next time my work takes me to California, but I already made peace about skipping all dark rides and Fantasmic.

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Not MTWR of course, that’s far more than a mere dark ride :grin:

I have actually never been to Disneyland, but I am very likely to go on February 8th (if I can make it work during a business trip). I will be watching YouTube POV videos of all Disneyland rides to see what I want to do :smile: But I am dead inside for fireworks and dark rides, I don’t even like PotC!

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How about it was new to us, I have four girls who love princesses and it was 48F and windy and an indoor queue sounded wonderful?

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There is no doubt you are correct. And I have always hoped that when I see friends venturing to WDW for either their first or fifty-first time that they come home satisfied.

But each group is so different. A first timer will have different responses than a repeat guest, and the more-than-once-a-year return guest has different ideas than an every-three-years repeat guest.

I kind of like being the I-must-do-everything-commando on a three-to-four year plan.
If I went semi-annually I could probably be more laid back.
If I was taking someone for the first time my goals would also be different.

It’s a lot of effort and a lot of money and I just always hope the guests find a niche and don’t feel tooooo played.

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Get a FPP or rope drop it.

Had FPP for Test Track and rope dropped elsewhere. And it was warm and cute and there was nothing else to do. (Not the biggest Epcot fans TBH.)

ETA - And I thought the ride was so well done I’d actually do it again… :wink:

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Fair enough :grin:

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I did it 3 times last trip. But the longest I waited was about 20 minutes. (I have little kids, otherwise I’d skip it)

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Oddly enough - I did learn something this last trip. i actually don’t hate waiting as much as I always thought I did. Frankly, we’ve done so little of it over the years I believed it was the worst-of-the-worst. We did wait for FEA once, and to meet Winnie the Pooh once, and for 7DMT once and for MFSR twice. It worked out to be about once a day we had to actually wait for something, so it’s not like I’m ready to make it the NORM. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

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Waiting is only as bad as the most impatient person in your group makes it. My youngest kid is 3. My oldest kid is the next most impatient. She is 39. (Whoops, not my kid, but same principle). When it’s just me and my older kids, waiting isn’t too bad.

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SOOO true.

And it helped that we weren’t waiting for every ride every day. It was fine being a willing wait-er (“If we really want to do this one we have to wait a bit”) vs the entire trip being nothing but miserable waits.

**Our third ride of the day on day one (Magic Carpets) DD6 lamented, “Why is this taking so long?” We’d been waiting about 4 minutes and had just rope dropped two rides. We had a quick explanation that we’d have to do some waiting and she didn’t complain again except momentarily for a 7DMT wait.

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I have a theory that waiting in line for rides is not just not bad, it’s actually good.

I’ve been on VIP tours at WDW and UOR and you whizz from ride to ride and I think you lose a lot in that experience. Huge time and effort had been invested to imagineer the line. Enjoy it. Enjoy the anticipation as you get closer. That’s part of it.

I’m not saying I’d wait 90 mins for a ride, but certainly half an hour and maybe an hour for a really good one.

More haste less speed.

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Absolutely. Zero line is kinda like opening all your presents on Christmas Eve - you lose all the fun of anticipating the rides (most of which aren’t really spectacular TBH).

On the other hand, a 90 minute wait is like having to wait till dinner on Christmas Day to open your presents.

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So much this!

First time on Animal Kingdom, me and a friend waited 2 hours for FoP. We loved it so much, it was the most I have ever enjoyed a ride, ever. For us it was worth every second of waiting.

This time, with a different group of friends, everyone got FPs for it at least 2 times. By the second time they felt it wasn’t worth the pre show (I still went a third time with another friend). I didn’t enjoy it as much.

The ride I loved the most last trip was Hagrid’s, which was also the ride I waited more for.

My problem with waiting is opportunity cost. On Hagrid’s I didn’t mind because I felt it was the best possible use of my time. At MK I feel that waiting for Space Mountain or BTMRR is a better use of my time then anything else.

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It’s as good a theory as any. And maybe it is worth it to see each queue at least once. But I’m not sure I really can get behind experiencing every queue every time…

I have a theory that Disney World (and even amusement parks on the whole) are kind of dumb. Hear me out…

I was thinking how if DH has a conference there later this year how I could tag along and do some solo days and we could meet up in the evening. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I would be absolutely bored, BECAUSE - get this - I don’t actually think most of the rides are really all that… And most (all?) of the shows are BTDT. I could come up with 1-3 things per PARK that I would be interested in doing solo. And maybe one thing per park DH cared about.

I can’t say exactly when I decided this. Once upon a time I thought WDW was THE place for a vacation. Now I can’t get excited about the idea of going without my kids and showing them every experience. And I used to LOVE rides and theme parks, etc., and now I’m sort of -meh- on them.

I do love fireworks. Disney has THE best fireworks…

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It’s another form of FOMO. If I am in line, what am I not doing?
I didn’t mind some lines. It was a bit of a break. But if the end game was 1/2 as many experiences, I’d not likely be gung ho for it.

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We are at UOR now and have waited for Hagrid’s twice. It is such a great ride, we all liked it better than Rise of the Resistance. We haven’t waited for much of anything else here (express passes), but Hagrid’s is so worth the wait! 45 min the other day and an hour today. Maybe once more this evening. I never knowingly wait in long lines, this one is worth it!

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It definitely is FOMO. I was expending about $200/day* for me after adding up all costs. I really don’t like expending money, so for me it was really important to feel like I was getting at least $200 worth of enjoyment each day. I achieved this feeling, but it is just another way of getting FOMO.

*I was combining WDW with a work trip and sharing a room with 3 friends.

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