Stupid Disney and Their Deals

[$iljanus]

Taking little ones to the character breakfast early in a trip is smart. If you don’t have a plan for dealing with the Disney characters, the kid will want to spend HOURS in line seeing their favorites. It’s much better to tell them “we’re seeing the Princess tonight/tomorrow” and instead we’re going on this ride/show.

I seem to recall them roaming free in Downtown Disney, is this no longer the case?

A year ago we did this charity walk and there were 4 Disney princesses, my daughter could not get enough of them, hugging them at every opportunity. This year, they might as well been chain-saw wielding Jason from Friday the 13th, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. She'd like to see Ms. Rat though.

I can't fathom a benefit from over planning such a trip. Any meticulous battle plan never survives contact with the enemy. With kids too young and temperamental, committing to to too much is more a recipe for disaster than not committing to anything at all.

I'm quite sure line-waiting will get tedious really quick with them, and that's the #1 reason not to go all-in at Disney.

In this case having some kind of framework could actually be conducive toward keeping order. No need to commit to everything but could be useful to have some stuff to work towards and it’s always okay to not go to everything on the agenda. Just saying from someone who’s been to Disney.

[Jeff V]

See, that's the thing though. Y'all are talking about a SUCCESSFUL trip to Disney. My wife would like that. My kids would certainly like it. Since the outcome would most likely be MORE Disney, I am perfectly fine with the trip being an utter disaster if only to discourage further attempts to repeat.

That said, though, I think a single day seeing what they want to see (Enchanted Castle) likely will turn out well enough to require a future all-in trip. I just don't want that trip to be now when my daughter is unlikely to have lasting memories...she'll love being there for sure, but if she's still into the rat 5 years from now, the fact she was there when she was 3 isn't going to mean much to her.

[Zarathud]

Hit all the Princesses at once. You have a reservation for food, and the Princesses come to you. Incredibly worth it -- otherwise you'll be in separate lines waiting to see the various Princesses. For hours. With small children.

Think of it this way: Do you want to chase down Princesses, wasting hours? Or do you want them to line up and efficiently come to you with a smile? The logistical savings is time and frustration. It's worth the extra price for the meal, and it's a very special experience.

The moment you walk into Disney, you've lost the war. It's only a matter of how you lose. The more you resist, the more the kids will assimilate. At least you can trade Princesses for Star Wars, Pixar, or eventually Marvel.

[Jeff V]

I think I mentioned it already, but a fund raiser we attend every year hires a set of local Disney Princesses. Two years ago, my daughter wouldn't stop hugging them. Last year, she was terrified of them and didn't want to get anywhere near them, no picture, nothing. Who knows what her reaction might be next summer?

[Jaymon]

The character meal was good for me and my princess when she was small.
Cost money? Yes, yes it does. Need a reservation? yes, yes it does. But there is individual time with each character as they come around, with plenty of time for a picture and signature if desired, and you are sitting at a table eating while you wait, which is tremendously better than standing in a line.

[Biyobi]

Figure this fits in this topic: I got to go to the cast member preview of Rise of the Resistance last weekend. While I was decidedly “meh” on Smuggler’s Run, I was blown away by this ride. The whole experience was f’ing awesome. Highly recommend, if you can manage to get into the queue. Right now, the entire day’s queue fills up within the first hour the park is open. I can’t imagine having to be there at 9am in order to get on the ride at 9pm.

[LawBeefaroni]

Right now, the entire day’s queue fills up within the first hour the park is open. I can’t imagine having to be there at 9am in order to get on the ride at 9pm.

I would like lose my mind. No, I wouldn't even go. That's insane.

[Kurth]

Right now, the entire day’s queue fills up within the first hour the park is open. I can’t imagine having to be there at 9am in order to get on the ride at 9pm.

I would like lose my mind. No, I wouldn't even go. That's insane.

Agreed. Definitely. We were visiting my family in Jacksonville, and we thought about going down to Orlando specifically to check out the new Star Wars attractions, but the reported lines and crowds from Rise of the Resistance convinced us to wait. Maybe next year.

[gbasden]

We're going to Disney before NerdBoat in April, but if RotR is that bad we will give it a pass and go to one of the other parks instead.

[Ninyu]

My wife, our 10 year old son, and I are going to Disneyworld in mid-March. We figured to get one last Disney trip in while he is young enough to have fun with it before he outgrows it. We've got four day tickets so we plan on hitting each park on their slowest day of the week (thank you crowd calenders). If we don't get on the new Star Wars ride the day we are at Hollywood Studios we might have to blow off Animal Kingdom and try another day at HS. We booked a hotel with a real kitchen, so we don't have to eat out constantly, which should help with the cost. The crowd calender is saying crowds should be about a 6/10 of capacity. Hopefully that holds true. There is no way in hell I would have booked this trip if the parks were projected to be full. That would be my personal hell.

There is a new restaurant opening next month at Epcot called Space 220. Supposedly, you are surrounded by screens while you eat showing that you are up in space on a space station. I thought that would be a cool "special" dinner for the week. Hopefully it won't be insane trying to get reservations for it. Probably will be though. We did TRex for our special dinner when we went to Universal a couple years ago. My son isn't into the character dinners so I am trying to figure something else out. There is a cool steampunk themed restaurant at the Universal City Walk that might be worth a revisit.

[Kurth]

My wife, our 10 year old son, and I are going to Disneyworld in mid-March. We figured to get one last Disney trip in while he is young enough to have fun with it before he outgrows it. We've got four day tickets so we plan on hitting each park on their slowest day of the week (thank you crowd calenders). If we don't get on the new Star Wars ride the day we are at Hollywood Studios we might have to blow off Animal Kingdom and try another day at HS. We booked a hotel with a real kitchen, so we don't have to eat out constantly, which should help with the cost. The crowd calender is saying crowds should be about a 6/10 of capacity. Hopefully that holds true. There is no way in hell I would have booked this trip if the parks were projected to be full. That would be my personal hell.

There is a new restaurant opening next month at Epcot called Space 220. Supposedly, you are surrounded by screens while you eat showing that you are up in space on a space station. I thought that would be a cool "special" dinner for the week. Hopefully it won't be insane trying to get reservations for it. Probably will be though. We did TRex for our special dinner when we went to Universal a couple years ago. My son isn't into the character dinners so I am trying to figure something else out. There is a cool steampunk themed restaurant at the Universal City Walk that might be worth a revisit.

That Universal Citywalk restaurant is the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. We hit that a year or so ago when we were at Universal. The interior is kind of cool, and the desserts are something to see, but otherwise, I'd give it a 2.5/5 stars. The food was pretty meh and the service was awful. If you're going just for the atmosphere, maybe check it out. But definitely don't go in expecting much in terms of the food itself.

As an alternative that may or may not be your cup of tea, you might consider the Disney Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. 180 degrees from the other "special" dinners you mentioned, but my family loved it (kids were 13, 11, 7 at the time). The food is served family style and is basic but really delicious, and the show is a ton of fun.

Either way, sounds like a great vacation! Have fun.

[El Guapo]

Right now, the entire day’s queue fills up within the first hour the park is open. I can’t imagine having to be there at 9am in order to get on the ride at 9pm.

I would like lose my mind. No, I wouldn't even go. That's insane.

Agreed. Definitely. We were visiting my family in Jacksonville, and we thought about going down to Orlando specifically to check out the new Star Wars attractions, but the reported lines and crowds from Rise of the Resistance convinced us to wait. Maybe next year.

We're going to Disney in April. The plan is to hit Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, then Universal Studios (as my daughter is a big Harry Potter fan). I'm planning on hitting the Star Wars stuff, but what I've read about it is so annoying (the difficulty with getting a spot at RotR, having to pay $200/child if you want to do the lightsaber activity, etc.) that I'm shocking considering just skipping it. First, re: the "9am in order to get on the ride at 9 pm" - I had heard that you needed to get there at open to get a spot, but is the "9 pm" part accurate? E.g., would I be reasonably likely to wind up with a time that is after 7 pm or 8 pm (and so unpractical for children)?

Second, if we didn't go to the Star Wars stuff, would people recommend going to either Epcot or Animal Kingdom over Hollywood Studios?

Lastly, on food stuff - it would apparently cost us $191/day to be on the basic Disney meal plan. I understand that you can order groceries to be delivered to our Disney hotel (which is one of the basic ones - All Star Movies, I think?), which we're planning to do then make snacks and meals. I'm sure the kids will want a couple things here and there, but with my wife and I not really needing anything, seems like we could do that for way less than $191/day. Does that make sense?

[Kurth]

I'm not a fan of the Disney meal plans. Way too restricting and kind of a pain in the ass in my experience, but YMMV.

I love Hollywood Studios, but you can't go wrong at Animal Kingdom. I've only been there once, and I went in with relatively low expectations, but I was blown away. Really impressive park. The safari was great, and so were the rides. It's also just a very cool place to wander around in - tremendous attention to detail. And those impressions are all from before they opened the new Pandora world from Avatar. My sister and her family (even my parents, who are not real Disney or park fans) loved the additions in Pandora. Very cool.

[El Guapo]

Good news is that DIsney just announced that they're adding Smuggler's Run to FastPass as of February. So I'll probably use a Fastpass on that, and then try to get in early to schedule Rise of the Resistance.

[Daehawk]

Disney has raised their price on 1 day tickets for in demand days like the weekend to $200.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/ ... rices-rise

[Isgrimnur]

Supply vs. demand, what the market will bear, etc.

[Jeff V]

Hopefully the other Disney doesn't follow suit. I should probably buy tickets soon, I think my wife finally has the itinerary finalized. It seems we're going to drive to Orlando, day 1 go to Magic Kingdom, day 2 go to Sea World, day 3 drive to Panama City where we'll be part of a group renting a house for 4 days of fishing. This would be mid-late June.

[Daehawk]

I say 1 day at Disney is almost a waste. Need a whole week. We went when I was like 13 back in 82 and after a full day I barely had seen anything and got to ride nothing at all due to lines.

[gilraen]

The one time we went to DisneyWorld, I had almost every ride scheduled via FastPass, and we spent 5 days there. We didn't improvise anything other than a couple of less popular rides, that had no lines later in the evening, so it was a spur of the moment "let's do this ride again" type of thing.

I'm sure Jeff's kids will be thrilled that they get 1 day at Disney and then get stuck in Panama City for 4 days, while the grown-ups are fishing

[Jeff V]

The one time we went to DisneyWorld, I had almost every ride scheduled via FastPass, and we spent 5 days there. We didn't improvise anything other than a couple of less popular rides, that had no lines later in the evening, so it was a spur of the moment "let's do this ride again" type of thing.

I'm sure Jeff's kids will be thrilled that they get 1 day at Disney and then get stuck in Panama City for 4 days, while the grown-ups are fishing

Hey, they like fishing and if their water park stamina is any indicator, the'll have their fill just wandering downtown Disney the day we arrive. I expect them quickly tire of waiting in lines ordeal.

[gbasden]

Hey, obviously you know them better than we do. I have a sneaking suspicion that they are going to mention loudly that they want to go back once they are waiting for fish to bite.

[Isgrimnur]

FULL LIST of Over 150 New Food Items Coming to Walt Disney World for the 50th Anniversary, Including Uncle Orville Bathtub Sundae and Mr. Toad Burger

[Octavious]

I'm being "gifted" a free hotel there next year even though I don't want it. I actually seriously doubt I will go to the park as I'm just sick of all their nonsense. In the last 10 years they have just given a big middle finger to anyone that wants to go there. People are still going in droves so I guess they won't miss me.

I think what we'll end up doing is hanging out at the resort and possibly driving over to Universal. The Harry Potter stuff is way more interesting to me compared to the Star Wars stuff. I mean hell you now will have to pay an extra fee to reserve a spot on their biggest ride. That's disgusting.

[Jeff V]

Wife now wants to haul them to Disney next summer, trusting that since the kids will be vaccinated by then, they can withstand the Covid cesspool that is America's wang. If I'm fortunate, I'll have a job by then but no vacation yet.

[Octavious]

I seriously would have a hard time recommending going unless you really need to check it off your bucket list. They chopped pretty much every perk that exists and jacked up costs for everything.

Magic Express? Gone
Fast Pass? Now 20 per person per day + extra for high tier rides
Extra hours? Nope gone
Halloween and Christmas Event? Tripled in price
Parking at your hotel? 20 bucks a day

Seriously f that...the Halloween stuff was like 200 dollars per person. It did sell out so good for them?

[Octavious]

oh and sorry to Isgrimnur for crapping on his post.

[Jeff V]

Oh, you don't have to convince me not to go. It's my wife wants to go, and the kids are just enough exposed to Disney that they would enjoy it. I've been there before, and the only attraction for me are the bars. If I had it my way, I wouldn't object to visiting Orlando, but I would do less-common things and just take them to downtown Disney (or whatever they call it these days). My daughter would love seeing alligators (but not getting eaten by one like the kid at Disney about 5 years ago...that horrified me). My son would probably like Kennedy Space Center. But even he is adverse to going on water slides when the lines are long, so going to the Disney parks would as likely as not be a drag.

[Isgrimnur]

oh and sorry to Isgrimnur for crapping on his post.

No worries.

[Octavious]

FULL LIST of Over 150 New Food Items Coming to Walt Disney World for the 50th Anniversary, Including Uncle Orville Bathtub Sundae and Mr. Toad Burger

Just to put that back at the bottom.

[Isgrimnur]

[Zaxxon]

Disney may be crazy expensive, but certain things make it seem worthwhile...

Oh, sweet summer child. (Me, not the kid.)

We're contemplating a Fall trip to Disney World, 8 years after the one discussed in the quoted post. A sort of last hurrah while our kids (12.9 and 10.5) are young enough to appreciate it. I just got my first quote and yegads, man. It was bad in 2016. It's 73% worse in 2024 for essentially the same setup (same Disney resort / human count / dining plan / ticket package).

Not sure what I was expecting (actually yeah I am--25%-30% rise), but that is absolutely insane. It's five figures for five park days, before adding in flights.

Anyone else gone recently and managed to not spend the cost of a gently-used late-model vehicle?

[coopasonic]

Thanks for confirming I am never going to Disney again. I enjoyed that (apparently) once in a lifetime experience. I did not enjoy it 5 figures worth! Of course based on my experience I would never consider 5 days, but I also went to the wrong Disney so I might just have the wrong perspective.

[Zaxxon]

Thanks for confirming I am never going to Disney again. I enjoyed that (apparently) once in a lifetime experience. I did not enjoy it 5 figures worth! Of course based on my experience I would never consider 5 days, but I also went to the wrong Disney so I might just have the wrong perspective.

Last time we did Sat-Sat, with 5 days at the parks. We spent half a day in the middle just lounging at a pool, and that felt like the 'right' amount of days to get to see all the parks. It was also a lot of Disney. But if we do end up going again, it'll definitely be for the last time, so I'm hesitant to go too much lower.

Even looking at the 'low-end' Disney resorts, it'd still be five figures once we add in flights and any extras like park-hopper/fastpass/memory maker/Boo to You tickets. Insane.

[Octavious]

I have been to Disney many many times (10?) and the last time was probably my last. I have a hard time recommending it based on the cost and how you are treated. The setup they have now is just insulting to me. No more magic express service, the fast pass now costs money and is setup way worse than when it was free. Extra ticketed events that eat into regular hours and are crazy expensive. So many things are wrong now...

For example you have to get up at 7AM each morning and hope to snag the rides you want instead of pre planning your trip. And pay a fee for that privelege. Sounds magical... On top of that an upcharge on the newer rides that aren't included? I can't believe people are still flocking there. For a family of 3 you legit could spend 60 bucks just for one ride! (20 a person for the individual fast pass for something like Tron.)

I'm glad I got to experience it when it was expensive, but at least you felt like you were getting a premium service. I get offered free hotels from my SIL who has the vacation club and have zero intention of ever doing it again. (Unless they finally have a huge backlash and change their practices.)

[RMC]

I have been to Disney many many times (10?) and the last time was probably my last. I have a hard time recommending it based on the cost and how you are treated. The setup they have now is just insulting to me. No more magic express service, the fast pass now costs money and is setup way worse than when it was free. Extra ticketed events that eat into regular hours and are crazy expensive. So many things are wrong now...

For example you have to get up at 7AM each morning and hope to snag the rides you want instead of pre planning your trip. And pay a fee for that privelege. Sounds magical... On top of that an upcharge on the newer rides that aren't included? I can't believe people are still flocking there. For a family of 3 you legit could spend 60 bucks just for one ride! (20 a person for the individual fast pass for something like Tron.)

I'm glad I got to experience it when it was expensive, but at least you felt like you were getting a premium service. I get offered free hotels from my SIL who has the vacation club and have zero intention of ever doing it again. (Unless they finally have a huge backlash and change their practices.)

Yeah, can't say our last time was the last visit, but we went for my daughters graduation present, and stayed for 10 days. It was expensive, and I felt like it was a job. And when I had to do some work, the wifi is awful. Sigh... But we have gone a lot, and stayed onsite sometimes, and off site others. I used to say that staying onsite was worth it, but not anymore unless you are staying at the premium hotels, as the premium hotels get special park hours that the rest of the hotels don't get.

<shrug>

[Octavious]

Ya when we last went we got to stay in a premium resort and got to do the extra hours at Magic Kingdom. It was awesome as since it's only the expensive hotels it was way less people, but that used to be a perk for ALL on site guests. It's gross... I could go on two pretty fancy cruises for the cost of one Disney trip.

[RMC]

Ya when we last went we got to stay in a premium resort and got to do the extra hours at Magic Kingdom. It was awesome as since it's only the expensive hotels it was way less people, but that used to be a perk for ALL on site guests. It's gross... I could go on two pretty fancy cruises for the cost of one Disney trip.

Yeah, we are a family of six when we go to Disney, so those expensive hotels want us to do two rooms.. Ugh.. One I can afford, two, not so much.