thatgolfb
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Post by thatgolfb on Mar 19, 2019 11:22:10 GMT -6
We stay next door to Aulani when we’re in Hawaii and usually have a couple of meals there. It’s my nightmare. All the downside of Disney with none of the perks. Lines for days. Holding seats at the crack of dawn. Crowds everywhere. Timeshare sales. Subpar food. Nickel and dimed for everything. Other people’s bad kids. I saw a recent thread on Disboards (Disney message board) where someone was so upset that they were staying somewhere other than Aulani for their Hawaii trip. Pretty much every response was, “I love Aulani buuuut ....if I wasn’t a DVC member, I would stay somewhere else too.” Well this is helpful. My ILs are actually Hilton grand vacations members so when we actually want to take that vacation we will probably end up at one of those anyway. My coworker said they stayed nearby and did a couple meals at Aulani and it was perfect.
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thatgolfb
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Post by thatgolfb on Mar 19, 2019 11:22:28 GMT -6
For some reason I didn’t know Aulani was part of the DVc but that makes sense.
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gimmeaQ
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Post by gimmeaQ on Mar 19, 2019 11:27:53 GMT -6
Just the last two pages of all of the intricacies of planning and booking and times of the years and upping FPs and 7am entrance times and food plans and no food plans. Sorry. I don't get it. It's all very confusing IMO. This is why I like Disneyland. Basically none of that. so can a family of, say, 4, do Disneyland without all the nonsense? Without planning dining 6 months out and Fast Passes, etc.?
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Cher
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Post by Cher on Mar 19, 2019 11:29:28 GMT -6
We stay next door to Aulani when we’re in Hawaii and usually have a couple of meals there. It’s my nightmare. All the downside of Disney with none of the perks. Lines for days. Holding seats at the crack of dawn. Crowds everywhere. Timeshare sales. Subpar food. Nickel and dimed for everything. Other people’s bad kids. I saw a recent thread on Disboards (Disney message board) where someone was so upset that they were staying somewhere other than Aulani for their Hawaii trip. Pretty much every response was, “I love Aulani buuuut ....if I wasn’t a DVC member, I would stay somewhere else too.” Well this is helpful. My ILs are actually Hilton grand vacations members so when we actually want to take that vacation we will probably end up at one of those anyway. My coworker said they stayed nearby and did a couple meals at Aulani and it was perfect. That’s what we do. We do character meals, walk around, do the luau. Then go back to our hotel’s beach where we can get a beach chair and don’t pay $100 to use a standup paddle board. Every time we’re there, MH makes me promise that we will never stay there. We’re not wait in line people. And there’s lines for the kids club, the water slide, to get a towel, to check in for your breakfast reservation. It’s everything we hate about Disney without the payoff of seeing your kid at Disney. It’s a hard pass for me.
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adelbert
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Post by adelbert on Mar 19, 2019 11:31:13 GMT -6
I mean, I will not argue with you, whatever floats your boat. But you legit walk to the front of the line, for every ride. We got off and got on at harry potter like 7 times cause my daughter loves it so much. The wait was 50 min otherwise. It's not hardcore... it's just wayyyyy more fun. It is a card you get when you check in to the hotel. And BAM, you just made your $$$ trip a whole hell of a lot better. LOL. The fucking mine train ride at disney is a 3 hour wait. I stay on property, do "magic hours" and ride it 6 times before the park opens to everyone else. I am not paying this money to people watch. We are here for the rides and shows. LOL. I don’t understand why anyone would NOT get fast passes at Disney. We went at a non busy time of year to Disneyland and the Maxpass was still my smartest purchase. Saved so much time. I would assume that is amplified at DW. ETA: I didn't read this well when I replied. Disney's system of fast passes is great and not at all what my H is against. But he doesn't like the Universal Studios style of being able to pay more for a ticket that lets you skip the line. But he also hates waiting in line (as do I) so we'll definitely do fast passes.
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Cher
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Post by Cher on Mar 19, 2019 11:32:28 GMT -6
I don’t understand why anyone would NOT get fast passes at Disney. We went at a non busy time of year to Disneyland and the Maxpass was still my smartest purchase. Saved so much time. I would assume that is amplified at DW. My H is ethically?/morally? against fast passes. He doesn't like the idea of VIP services or cutting the line. It's a pretty typical German mindset I would say. But he also hates waiting in line (as do I) so we'll definitely do fast passes. But everyone gets Fastpasses included with their tickets.
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Diordra
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Post by Diordra on Mar 19, 2019 11:34:22 GMT -6
This is why I like Disneyland. Basically none of that. so can a family of, say, 4, do Disneyland without all the nonsense? Without planning dining 6 months out and Fast Passes, etc.? From my experience yes. When we went last year we didn't pre plan any of that and were able to make dinning reservations day of from the app.
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Post by spicysalmonroll on Mar 19, 2019 11:35:52 GMT -6
We stay next door to Aulani when we’re in Hawaii and usually have a couple of meals there. It’s my nightmare. All the downside of Disney with none of the perks. Lines for days. Holding seats at the crack of dawn. Crowds everywhere. Timeshare sales. Subpar food. Nickel and dimed for everything. Other people’s bad kids. I saw a recent thread on Disboards (Disney message board) where someone was so upset that they were staying somewhere other than Aulani for their Hawaii trip. Pretty much every response was, “I love Aulani buuuut ....if I wasn’t a DVC member, I would stay somewhere else too.” That's good to know!! They've been pushing the advertising hard on Wheel of Fortune and it looks so nice (of course all the shots of Pat & Vanna with the place to themselves roped off for their camera segment).
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gussie
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Post by gussie on Mar 19, 2019 11:38:49 GMT -6
We stay next door to Aulani when we’re in Hawaii and usually have a couple of meals there. It’s my nightmare. All the downside of Disney with none of the perks. Lines for days. Holding seats at the crack of dawn. Crowds everywhere. Timeshare sales. Subpar food. Nickel and dimed for everything. Other people’s bad kids. I saw a recent thread on Disboards (Disney message board) where someone was so upset that they were staying somewhere other than Aulani for their Hawaii trip. Pretty much every response was, “I love Aulani buuuut ....if I wasn’t a DVC member, I would stay somewhere else too.” This is good to know. I’d die if I spent that kind of money and it was horrible.
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STP
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Post by STP on Mar 19, 2019 11:39:58 GMT -6
Disney is fun.
I can’t deal with like...the Disney obsessed, but I’d go on my own with H or friends. Sounds like a blast.
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STP
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Post by STP on Mar 19, 2019 11:40:40 GMT -6
This is why I like Disneyland. Basically none of that. so can a family of, say, 4, do Disneyland without all the nonsense? Without planning dining 6 months out and Fast Passes, etc.? Just go. We went without such planning. It was just fine.
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Cher
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Post by Cher on Mar 19, 2019 11:41:39 GMT -6
We stay next door to Aulani when we’re in Hawaii and usually have a couple of meals there. It’s my nightmare. All the downside of Disney with none of the perks. Lines for days. Holding seats at the crack of dawn. Crowds everywhere. Timeshare sales. Subpar food. Nickel and dimed for everything. Other people’s bad kids. I saw a recent thread on Disboards (Disney message board) where someone was so upset that they were staying somewhere other than Aulani for their Hawaii trip. Pretty much every response was, “I love Aulani buuuut ....if I wasn’t a DVC member, I would stay somewhere else too.” This is good to know. I’d die if I spent that kind of money and it was horrible. Some people love it. I think they’re mostly DVC members but, for us, that’s not what we want when we go to Hawaii.
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Cher
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Post by Cher on Mar 19, 2019 11:44:01 GMT -6
I’m not a planner typically on vacation. I like to wake up and wing it. I do plan Disney trips though. I think people make Disney planning 100x more than it has to be. Book a couple of meals, book a few Fastpasses a day. It’s nothing crazy intense. It takes me 15 min from my phone and it makes our trip so much more enjoyable.
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joy
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Post by joy on Mar 19, 2019 11:48:21 GMT -6
I’m not a planner typically on vacation. I like to wake up and wing it. I do plan Disney trips though. I think people make Disney planning 100x more than it has to be. Book a couple of meals, book a few Fastpasses a day. It’s nothing crazy intense. It takes me 15 min from my phone and it makes our trip so much more enjoyable. 100%.
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gimmeaQ
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Post by gimmeaQ on Mar 19, 2019 11:51:30 GMT -6
so can a family of, say, 4, do Disneyland without all the nonsense? Without planning dining 6 months out and Fast Passes, etc.? Just go. We went without such planning. It was just fine. we have done the big family trip to DW with 12 people trying to coordinate all the things. i'm not super interested in that again, but might be more manageable with a group of 4 vs 12 we are considering DL anyway because of Cars. it's a decision we're probably about a year away from even making.
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emma
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Post by emma on Mar 19, 2019 11:52:17 GMT -6
I have a few friends that are at Disney no less than twice a year. they have all expressed their olders kids are getting tired of going. only based on my own personal experiences, but I agree with your last statement. My youngest brother is way younger than me so we went when he was about 5 and I was 17. My middle brother was 14. My middle brother and I had a very different and less enjoyable time than my youngest brother. Maybe that was partly owing to the fact that we were still beholden to a 5 year old's schedule, I don't know, but there is an age bracket where it was less fun for us. I can't speak to the experience of going with a bunch of cousins and friends or whatever. I can see how that might be different. I went when I was 16 with a group of friends and it was super fun. The adults let us go off by ourselves and just check in at lunch and dinner. I’d imagine going with parents at that age would be less exciting
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adelbert
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Post by adelbert on Mar 19, 2019 11:54:55 GMT -6
My H is ethically?/morally? against fast passes. He doesn't like the idea of VIP services or cutting the line. It's a pretty typical German mindset I would say. But he also hates waiting in line (as do I) so we'll definitely do fast passes. But everyone gets Fastpasses included with their tickets. I don't think he had an issue with Disney's way of doing it at all. That's very equal opportunity. He didn't love the Universal studios style of paying more for a better experience. I mean we'll still do it because we hate waiting but I'm sure he'll mention something again about it while we're there.But we didn't have a long conversation about it as he wasn't interested in any of the planning and just told me to decide where we're going and what we're doing. I was just commenting as to why some people might not use fast passes at a place like Universal. But I just saw that her comment was specifically about Disney so my H doesn't care about that and my comment was unnecessary 🙄.
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Cher
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Post by Cher on Mar 19, 2019 11:55:31 GMT -6
But everyone gets Fastpasses included with their tickets. I don't think he had an issue with Disney's way of doing it at all. That's very equal opportunity. He didn't love the Universal studios style of paying more for a better experience. I mean we'll still do it because we hate waiting but I'm sure he'll mention something again about it while we're there.But we didn't have a long conversation about it as he wasn't interested in any of the planning and just told me to decide where we're going and what we're doing. I was just commenting as to why some people might not use fast passes at a place like Universal. Ahhh gotcha.
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emma
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Post by emma on Mar 19, 2019 11:55:49 GMT -6
No, it’s okay. My point about the differences between Disney and Universal is being lost here. It’s not about fast passes or not but more about the parks handle guests, crowds, and efficiency. See I think it is the total opposite. But maybe the day you went had something to do with it? I honestly have never seen Universal as full as Disney, even on light days. Harry Potter world can get kind of busy in the afternoons, so I avoid it then. Universal has wayyyy less strollers. LOL. Same experience here. Last time I was at MK it was awful, like couldn’t move because of crowds, 3 hour waits on the mine train, hour + on everything else. We abandoned ship at lunchtime before our last fastpass time because it was so bad. I find Universal has wider walkways and like you say less strollers.
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STP
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Post by STP on Mar 19, 2019 11:56:23 GMT -6
Perhaps things have changed in the last couple of years, but they did day of fast passes that I just booked that morning. And we didn’t have issues getting in to eat, though for sure we weren’t aiming for the big deal restaurants (castle, whatever). We got same day for sit down, again just did it in the morning.
I think a lot of people enjoy the planning, or have a big deal ride/meal that they want to ensure. I get it.
But it’s a myth that you have to make yourself insane to go to WDW. If your party is a bit flexible, it all works out.
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STP
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Post by STP on Mar 19, 2019 11:57:16 GMT -6
Fast Passes aren’t VIP? Or cutting the line?
That’s kind of...making a problem where one certainly isn’t.
Eta never mind, I see the follow up.
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gussie
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Post by gussie on Mar 19, 2019 11:58:17 GMT -6
This is good to know. I’d die if I spent that kind of money and it was horrible. Some people love it. I think they’re mostly DVC members but, for us, that’s not what we want when we go to Hawaii. Yeah I don’t want to wake up at 6 am to reserve a pool spot. If I’m in Hawaii, I want to be easy breezy.
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emma
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Post by emma on Mar 19, 2019 11:59:26 GMT -6
As FL theme parks go... Bush Gardens is my favourite.
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Cher
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Post by Cher on Mar 19, 2019 12:00:55 GMT -6
Some people love it. I think they’re mostly DVC members but, for us, that’s not what we want when we go to Hawaii. Yeah I don’t want to wake up at 6 am to reserve a pool spot. If I’m in Hawaii, I want to be easy breezy. Same same.
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emma
Ruby
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Post by emma on Mar 19, 2019 12:02:24 GMT -6
We have stayed at both. Riverside is a bit nicer but the pool isn't nearly as good as the one at French Quarter. Cool, thanks! Everyone raves about that pool. I’ve only stayed at FQ but loved it. It’s waaaay smaller than Riverside and has a better pool.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2019 12:10:31 GMT -6
Perhaps things have changed in the last couple of years, but they did day of fast passes that I just booked that morning. And we didn’t have issues getting in to eat, though for sure we weren’t aiming for the big deal restaurants (castle, whatever). We got same day for sit down, again just did it in the morning. I think a lot of people enjoy the planning, or have a big deal ride/meal that they want to ensure. I get it. But it’s a myth that you have to make yourself insane to go to WDW. If your party is a bit flexible, it all works out. Yeah I think the key thing with Disney is having at least some level of flexibility. Like of course you may have 1-2 things you MUST do, then you need to make sure you are on top of getting that reservation or fast pass the second they open up. Other than that, we were able to get stuff day of or night before pretty easily. We stayed at a resort with a fairly popular dinner restaurant and were able to get a reservation there about an hour before we needed it (because we didn't want to travel all the way to Epcot for the (late) princess dinner we had originally booked).
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Post by stayingblonde on Mar 19, 2019 12:27:23 GMT -6
I live near DL and we have annual passes. We go about once a week, but we rarely stay for a full day. My kid loves it, and we can have a whole evening of fun without spending any extra money if we don't want to.
We occasionally go without the kid so we can hit up one of the food festivals at DCA or get drinks at DCA or ride the rides the kid is still a little too small for.
We're definitely not those matching t-shirt, sticker on our car type of people, though.
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rvasc
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Post by rvasc on Mar 19, 2019 12:36:06 GMT -6
I will put forth Busch Gardens as the cleanest amusement park ever.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2019 12:49:14 GMT -6
I like Disney. I think it’s fun. I know someone who goes several times a year both with and without their kids (we don’t live close, so it’s a plane ride away), started a Disney blog and advertises her services to plan your trip for you (like the order of the rides/shows). That’s like....way way too much for me.
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thatgolfb
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Post by thatgolfb on Mar 19, 2019 12:58:09 GMT -6
This is why I like Disneyland. Basically none of that. so can a family of, say, 4, do Disneyland without all the nonsense? Without planning dining 6 months out and Fast Passes, etc.? Yes, for sure. We only planned hotel, pretty much. And bought Maxpasses where you get Fast passes the day of. So easy!
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