Washington Post article on Disney vacations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Side question: what do kids do while waiting in line? Look at phones?

They lose their GD minds. I have really great, well behaved kids, but it's a LOT to ask a 2 year old to wait in line 45+ min. 90 min? Shoot me. And then you repeat all day for 12 hours straight. But to answer your question, we play games on our boogie boards, color, eat a million snacks. I really wish we could have strollers so my 2 year old could nap, but no it's fine if I hold her for HOURS every day. Just schedule a chiropractor appt when you return.

All of my friends whose kids have even minor diagnoses like ADHD or Autism get special medical exemption to cut the line. I actually think this might be why lines are longer for everyone else. One friend made it up and it worked although you do have to have a brief interview with Disney to get the medical pass.

You're asking for trouble by bringing 2 year olds. My kids are older and we're going for the first time to WDW in a few months. The youngest is 8. We've done Disneyland several times and have mastered Genie+ such that we almost never wait in a line more than 20 mins. Knowing how much patience is required for the heat, lines, and crowds why do people bring babies and toddlers? It's setting them up for failure.

Because I too have older kids? My 5 and 7 year old are over the moon with Disney World. Sadly Disney doesn't offer daycare where I can drop the littlest off for the day.

Also, the 2 year old LOVED Minne and Mickey. She also really liked the rides that she went on too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to let fewer people in. Cap the admittance/attendance numbers but keep prices the same. It’s ridiculous to pay almost $200 per ticket (once you include genie+) and still have to wait in such long lines and be on your phone all day strategizing.

This!!

They could totally cut down on line length through this mechanism , but why when they can convince people to buy fast passes on top of the already exorbitant price of the Disney experience.

What about a family that can barely afford it, so they have to bypass the fast passes? They just get left in the dust all day by rich kids who can step in front of their kids for all of the good rides??

The business model really turns me off. Why feed the greedy monster?

I know, right? And what about the kid who really wants to ski at Deer Valley, but can't afford to, an so has to content himself at Liberty and Whitetail? DV, and Delta, should lower the prices!

And I always wnted to spend a week on a yacht off the coast of France, but we can't just swing it. That shoudl be a lot cheaper.

Its cheaper for us to go to Copenhagen for a week than go to Disney. So....Disney is overpriced. And we get to go to Tivoli which actually inspired Walt Disney with Disneyland!

Also, we arent discussing the cost of entry. The PP is talking about tiers of access within the park. Everyone who enters the park should be treated the same while using park amenities. It would be like having to pay for a clean restroom and if you cant, then you get a porty potty. Or in this case, someone paying to be able to skip you in line.

First of all, your argument would just mean the price of the ticket goes up for everyone regardless of their preferences.

Second of all, a trip to Copenhagen is a totally different vacation than a trip to Disney so the comparison is nonsensical. Also flying to Copenhagen cheaply takes up 2 whole days of the vacation vs a 2 hr direct flight to MCO …

I've been to Copenhagen (and Tivoli). Copenhagen was a cool city, but Tivoli can't compete with Disney even if it did inspire Walt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m super organized. I had our recent Disney trip planned to a T. I was up getting our genie reservations at 7am, I’d booked all the best character dining. I was on my phone booking new passes every 2 hours.

Even still, dh was so over it. The crowds were out of control (we went M-Th during the lowest week of the year) and we often waited in line 45-90 per ride. My 2 year old lost her mind at having to wait in lines like this. My biggest beef is with child swap. Dh would go with one kid while I waited with the other two and then I would go with the other kid while he waited with the toddler. Doing this took foreeeeeever. You used to be able to walk on (rightly so, we already waited once!) but now the wait was 20 min each time.

I don’t think I can ever convince my easy going husband to go back to Disney. We’ve been 2x a year for years. It’s just straight up miserable now. Dh thinks they’ve allowed too many people in for the rides that they have.

Oh yeah and not one character was walking around. You either pay $$$ for character dining, wait in long lines to meet them or wave while a parade goes by.

We had the same experience last year, I love planning and watched dozens of videos to understand it all, no problem. We’ve probably done 6-7 park visits over the years, but the latest updates make everything more time consuming. Got up at 6:45 every day. Got all the virtual queues. Still, my easygoing DH is “Disney’s out”. Even the kids said I’m staring at my phone too much and I’m missing out… and they were right… one of my kids wants to go back to just strolll around, but that’s not really feasible. One thing we noted is that everyone, very large groups, have disability passes, large increase in those.. They go in front of everyone and even with genie reservations we waited a long time sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m super organized. I had our recent Disney trip planned to a T. I was up getting our genie reservations at 7am, I’d booked all the best character dining. I was on my phone booking new passes every 2 hours.

Even still, dh was so over it. The crowds were out of control (we went M-Th during the lowest week of the year) and we often waited in line 45-90 per ride. My 2 year old lost her mind at having to wait in lines like this. My biggest beef is with child swap. Dh would go with one kid while I waited with the other two and then I would go with the other kid while he waited with the toddler. Doing this took foreeeeeever. You used to be able to walk on (rightly so, we already waited once!) but now the wait was 20 min each time.

I don’t think I can ever convince my easy going husband to go back to Disney. We’ve been 2x a year for years. It’s just straight up miserable now. Dh thinks they’ve allowed too many people in for the rides that they have.

Oh yeah and not one character was walking around. You either pay $$$ for character dining, wait in long lines to meet them or wave while a parade goes by.

This. My very organized spouse did the fast pass whatever but did it later than most people do so we were crisscrossing and rushing around the whole park with a 4 year old. I found it stressful and the lines were still crazy for the ones we hadn’t booked. They need to build more parks and let people wander around if it’s that popular.

Maybe once Universal opens its new park, there will be some impact on WDW attendance. Hard to say. Some people will probably head over to Universal for the new park but still spend the majority of their time at Disney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m super organized. I had our recent Disney trip planned to a T. I was up getting our genie reservations at 7am, I’d booked all the best character dining. I was on my phone booking new passes every 2 hours.

Even still, dh was so over it. The crowds were out of control (we went M-Th during the lowest week of the year) and we often waited in line 45-90 per ride. My 2 year old lost her mind at having to wait in lines like this. My biggest beef is with child swap. Dh would go with one kid while I waited with the other two and then I would go with the other kid while he waited with the toddler. Doing this took foreeeeeever. You used to be able to walk on (rightly so, we already waited once!) but now the wait was 20 min each time.

I don’t think I can ever convince my easy going husband to go back to Disney. We’ve been 2x a year for years. It’s just straight up miserable now. Dh thinks they’ve allowed too many people in for the rides that they have.

Oh yeah and not one character was walking around. You either pay $$$ for character dining, wait in long lines to meet them or wave while a parade goes by.

We had the same experience last year, I love planning and watched dozens of videos to understand it all, no problem. We’ve probably done 6-7 park visits over the years, but the latest updates make everything more time consuming. Got up at 6:45 every day. Got all the virtual queues. Still, my easygoing DH is “Disney’s out”. Even the kids said I’m staring at my phone too much and I’m missing out… and they were right… one of my kids wants to go back to just strolll around, but that’s not really feasible. One thing we noted is that everyone, very large groups, have disability passes, large increase in those.. They go in front of everyone and even with genie reservations we waited a long time sometimes.

Agree on people abusing the DAS pass system. Seems like every podcast trip report had someone in the group with one. Some disabilities are legit, but too many game the system and are allowed to bring something like 6 companions with them. Also, the scooter/wheelchair people are allowed to bring all their party (could be 12-15 on the buses, jumping in front of other people waiting). That needs to be limited to 2-3 companions at most.

[Anonymous]

My SIL lives close to the one in Irvine and they have a local's annual pass so when we visited them they took us for the day. They are pros, they go all the time (they have no kids), sometimes to just watch the fireworks. Their special pass allowed them free parking, early entry, discounts on merch, food and other things, and some fast pass (or whatever it's called) privileges. It was a random weekday in February (not near President's Day weekend), and it was insanely packed, mainly with we concluded were out of the country tourists based on the different languages we kept hearing.

My kids were mid-elementary school and not huge Disney movie fans, but do like some Star Wars so we did some stuff over in that area but after a few hours we had had enough. My kids just weren't into it at all, the waiting, the people, everything. My SIL said "oh, this isn't that crowded at all"

I cannot imagine the heartburn if we had made an entire vacation around it and spent thousands of dollars. It is so expensive, and apparently never not crowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people want to make it harder than it is. We went to Hollywood Studios at the spur of the moment last summer while visiting Orlando. We did not get up super early and stayed near Universal. We were probably there at 9 or so and managed to do all the major rides multiple times. I did buy the lightning pass for Rise of the Resistance but that was it.

Yeah you didn’t do anything superior and your success was not due to your more laid back approach either. You just got lucky.

If you tried the exact same thing on a different day it probably wouldn’t work.

+1. 9 am arrival? Rode everything major multiple times? Yeah, PP just got lucky with an unlikely low attendance day. Some of the big rides you literally cannot ride multiple times, by design. Virtual only queues -though that may be changing or changed already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m super organized. I had our recent Disney trip planned to a T. I was up getting our genie reservations at 7am, I’d booked all the best character dining. I was on my phone booking new passes every 2 hours.

Even still, dh was so over it. The crowds were out of control (we went M-Th during the lowest week of the year) and we often waited in line 45-90 per ride. My 2 year old lost her mind at having to wait in lines like this. My biggest beef is with child swap. Dh would go with one kid while I waited with the other two and then I would go with the other kid while he waited with the toddler. Doing this took foreeeeeever. You used to be able to walk on (rightly so, we already waited once!) but now the wait was 20 min each time.

I don’t think I can ever convince my easy going husband to go back to Disney. We’ve been 2x a year for years. It’s just straight up miserable now. Dh thinks they’ve allowed too many people in for the rides that they have.

Oh yeah and not one character was walking around. You either pay $$$ for character dining, wait in long lines to meet them or wave while a parade goes by.

We had the same experience last year, I love planning and watched dozens of videos to understand it all, no problem. We’ve probably done 6-7 park visits over the years, but the latest updates make everything more time consuming. Got up at 6:45 every day. Got all the virtual queues. Still, my easygoing DH is “Disney’s out”. Even the kids said I’m staring at my phone too much and I’m missing out… and they were right… one of my kids wants to go back to just strolll around, but that’s not really feasible. One thing we noted is that everyone, very large groups, have disability passes, large increase in those.. They go in front of everyone and even with genie reservations we waited a long time sometimes.

Agree on people abusing the DAS pass system. Seems like every podcast trip report had someone in the group with one. Some disabilities are legit, but too many game the system and are allowed to bring something like 6 companions with them. Also, the scooter/wheelchair people are allowed to bring all their party (could be 12-15 on the buses, jumping in front of other people waiting). That needs to be limited to 2-3 companions at most.

Wheelchairs and scooters cannot jump the line. They have to wait like everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to let fewer people in. Cap the admittance/attendance numbers but keep prices the same. It’s ridiculous to pay almost $200 per ticket (once you include genie+) and still have to wait in such long lines and be on your phone all day strategizing.

This!!

They could totally cut down on line length through this mechanism , but why when they can convince people to buy fast passes on top of the already exorbitant price of the Disney experience.

What about a family that can barely afford it, so they have to bypass the fast passes? They just get left in the dust all day by rich kids who can step in front of their kids for all of the good rides??

The business model really turns me off. Why feed the greedy monster?

I know, right? And what about the kid who really wants to ski at Deer Valley, but can't afford to, an so has to content himself at Liberty and Whitetail? DV, and Delta, should lower the prices!

And I always wnted to spend a week on a yacht off the coast of France, but we can't just swing it. That shoudl be a lot cheaper.

Its cheaper for us to go to Copenhagen for a week than go to Disney. So....Disney is overpriced. And we get to go to Tivoli which actually inspired Walt Disney with Disneyland!

Also, we arent discussing the cost of entry. The PP is talking about tiers of access within the park. Everyone who enters the park should be treated the same while using park amenities. It would be like having to pay for a clean restroom and if you cant, then you get a porty potty. Or in this case, someone paying to be able to skip you in line.

First of all, your argument would just mean the price of the ticket goes up for everyone regardless of their preferences.

Second of all, a trip to Copenhagen is a totally different vacation than a trip to Disney so the comparison is nonsensical. Also flying to Copenhagen cheaply takes up 2 whole days of the vacation vs a 2 hr direct flight to MCO …

You can get cheap flights to Copenhagen that are direct from Dulles. It's one of the cheaper cities in Europe to fly direct in and out of, though Denmark is on the whole pricier (with a disadvantageous exchange rate) compared to other European countries.

However, the PP is right that you could fly direct into Copenhagen for pretty cheap (I've seen tickets as cheap as $450 if you buy during sales, if you want a bit more comfort and some meals/more luggage, you will probably pay closer to $800-1000 depending on airline), go to Tivoli gardens which is WAY cheaper than Disney and also a million times more accessible (you can get tickets into the park for super cheap, you can buy individual ride tickets or passes depending on whether you want to ride a bunch of things or just a few, you can even access the food hall without paying entrance to the park if you want). Then you could spend a day or two in Copenhagen, take the train to Sweden and spend some time in Malmo or go all the way to Stockholm or spend some time at a rental house on the coast or near a lake and do the whole swimming/saunaing Scandi thing. And you'd still wind up coming around or even under what it would cost to take two kids to Disney for 4 days.

I know this because I priced both vacations out last summer and we wound up in Denmark/Sweden having an incredibly memorable trip that we all enjoyed, but my kids still haven't been to Disney.

Ok that sounds fun but it’s not Disney so thanks I guess? Disney is also logistically much easier. I also strongly doubt your cost calculations.

not the PP but my calculations come out the same which is why we are going. Also I grew up in FL, been to Disney multiple times as a kid. It HAS changed. It is no longer magical unless you are extremely wealthy. The food is shite. The heat is abysmal. And it is so crowded. Long lines for everything. Its nickel-and-dime everything and by that I mean 20s-and-100s everywhere.

Sometimes the idea of something is what people hold on to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m super organized. I had our recent Disney trip planned to a T. I was up getting our genie reservations at 7am, I’d booked all the best character dining. I was on my phone booking new passes every 2 hours.

Even still, dh was so over it. The crowds were out of control (we went M-Th during the lowest week of the year) and we often waited in line 45-90 per ride. My 2 year old lost her mind at having to wait in lines like this. My biggest beef is with child swap. Dh would go with one kid while I waited with the other two and then I would go with the other kid while he waited with the toddler. Doing this took foreeeeeever. You used to be able to walk on (rightly so, we already waited once!) but now the wait was 20 min each time.

I don’t think I can ever convince my easy going husband to go back to Disney. We’ve been 2x a year for years. It’s just straight up miserable now. Dh thinks they’ve allowed too many people in for the rides that they have.

Oh yeah and not one character was walking around. You either pay $$$ for character dining, wait in long lines to meet them or wave while a parade goes by.

We had the same experience last year, I love planning and watched dozens of videos to understand it all, no problem. We’ve probably done 6-7 park visits over the years, but the latest updates make everything more time consuming. Got up at 6:45 every day. Got all the virtual queues. Still, my easygoing DH is “Disney’s out”. Even the kids said I’m staring at my phone too much and I’m missing out… and they were right… one of my kids wants to go back to just strolll around, but that’s not really feasible. One thing we noted is that everyone, very large groups, have disability passes, large increase in those.. They go in front of everyone and even with genie reservations we waited a long time sometimes.

Agree on people abusing the DAS pass system. Seems like every podcast trip report had someone in the group with one. Some disabilities are legit, but too many game the system and are allowed to bring something like 6 companions with them. Also, the scooter/wheelchair people are allowed to bring all their party (could be 12-15 on the buses, jumping in front of other people waiting). That needs to be limited to 2-3 companions at most.

Wheelchairs and scooters cannot jump the line. They have to wait like everyone else.

DP here. They absolutely DO jump the bus line, which is what pp was referring to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m super organized. I had our recent Disney trip planned to a T. I was up getting our genie reservations at 7am, I’d booked all the best character dining. I was on my phone booking new passes every 2 hours.

Even still, dh was so over it. The crowds were out of control (we went M-Th during the lowest week of the year) and we often waited in line 45-90 per ride. My 2 year old lost her mind at having to wait in lines like this. My biggest beef is with child swap. Dh would go with one kid while I waited with the other two and then I would go with the other kid while he waited with the toddler. Doing this took foreeeeeever. You used to be able to walk on (rightly so, we already waited once!) but now the wait was 20 min each time.

I don’t think I can ever convince my easy going husband to go back to Disney. We’ve been 2x a year for years. It’s just straight up miserable now. Dh thinks they’ve allowed too many people in for the rides that they have.

Oh yeah and not one character was walking around. You either pay $$$ for character dining, wait in long lines to meet them or wave while a parade goes by.

We had the same experience last year, I love planning and watched dozens of videos to understand it all, no problem. We’ve probably done 6-7 park visits over the years, but the latest updates make everything more time consuming. Got up at 6:45 every day. Got all the virtual queues. Still, my easygoing DH is “Disney’s out”. Even the kids said I’m staring at my phone too much and I’m missing out… and they were right… one of my kids wants to go back to just strolll around, but that’s not really feasible. One thing we noted is that everyone, very large groups, have disability passes, large increase in those.. They go in front of everyone and even with genie reservations we waited a long time sometimes.

Agree on people abusing the DAS pass system. Seems like every podcast trip report had someone in the group with one. Some disabilities are legit, but too many game the system and are allowed to bring something like 6 companions with them. Also, the scooter/wheelchair people are allowed to bring all their party (could be 12-15 on the buses, jumping in front of other people waiting). That needs to be limited to 2-3 companions at most.

Yes, DAS was out of control. Huge groups. And every person 60+ seemed to be on a scooter with a very extended family.

Then we saw one family of 3 with a severely disabled child struggling toward the DAS entrance, when a DAS group of 15 or so laughing, walking, 20 something’s jumped in line in front of them. That was not magical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to let fewer people in. Cap the admittance/attendance numbers but keep prices the same. It’s ridiculous to pay almost $200 per ticket (once you include genie+) and still have to wait in such long lines and be on your phone all day strategizing.

This!!

They could totally cut down on line length through this mechanism , but why when they can convince people to buy fast passes on top of the already exorbitant price of the Disney experience.

What about a family that can barely afford it, so they have to bypass the fast passes? They just get left in the dust all day by rich kids who can step in front of their kids for all of the good rides??

The business model really turns me off. Why feed the greedy monster?

I know, right? And what about the kid who really wants to ski at Deer Valley, but can't afford to, an so has to content himself at Liberty and Whitetail? DV, and Delta, should lower the prices!

And I always wnted to spend a week on a yacht off the coast of France, but we can't just swing it. That shoudl be a lot cheaper.

Its cheaper for us to go to Copenhagen for a week than go to Disney. So....Disney is overpriced. And we get to go to Tivoli which actually inspired Walt Disney with Disneyland!

Also, we arent discussing the cost of entry. The PP is talking about tiers of access within the park. Everyone who enters the park should be treated the same while using park amenities. It would be like having to pay for a clean restroom and if you cant, then you get a porty potty. Or in this case, someone paying to be able to skip you in line.

First of all, your argument would just mean the price of the ticket goes up for everyone regardless of their preferences.

Second of all, a trip to Copenhagen is a totally different vacation than a trip to Disney so the comparison is nonsensical. Also flying to Copenhagen cheaply takes up 2 whole days of the vacation vs a 2 hr direct flight to MCO …

You can get cheap flights to Copenhagen that are direct from Dulles. It's one of the cheaper cities in Europe to fly direct in and out of, though Denmark is on the whole pricier (with a disadvantageous exchange rate) compared to other European countries.

However, the PP is right that you could fly direct into Copenhagen for pretty cheap (I've seen tickets as cheap as $450 if you buy during sales, if you want a bit more comfort and some meals/more luggage, you will probably pay closer to $800-1000 depending on airline), go to Tivoli gardens which is WAY cheaper than Disney and also a million times more accessible (you can get tickets into the park for super cheap, you can buy individual ride tickets or passes depending on whether you want to ride a bunch of things or just a few, you can even access the food hall without paying entrance to the park if you want). Then you could spend a day or two in Copenhagen, take the train to Sweden and spend some time in Malmo or go all the way to Stockholm or spend some time at a rental house on the coast or near a lake and do the whole swimming/saunaing Scandi thing. And you'd still wind up coming around or even under what it would cost to take two kids to Disney for 4 days.

I know this because I priced both vacations out last summer and we wound up in Denmark/Sweden having an incredibly memorable trip that we all enjoyed, but my kids still haven't been to Disney.

Ok that sounds fun but it’s not Disney so thanks I guess? Disney is also logistically much easier. I also strongly doubt your cost calculations.

not the PP but my calculations come out the same which is why we are going. Also I grew up in FL, been to Disney multiple times as a kid. It HAS changed. It is no longer magical unless you are extremely wealthy. The food is shite. The heat is abysmal. And it is so crowded. Long lines for everything. Its nickel-and-dime everything and by that I mean 20s-and-100s everywhere.

Sometimes the idea of something is what people hold on to.

I just had a great time with my kid. Not extremely wealthy but sensible enough to understand that the $25 for Genie+ was affordable and worth every penny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m super organized. I had our recent Disney trip planned to a T. I was up getting our genie reservations at 7am, I’d booked all the best character dining. I was on my phone booking new passes every 2 hours.

Even still, dh was so over it. The crowds were out of control (we went M-Th during the lowest week of the year) and we often waited in line 45-90 per ride. My 2 year old lost her mind at having to wait in lines like this. My biggest beef is with child swap. Dh would go with one kid while I waited with the other two and then I would go with the other kid while he waited with the toddler. Doing this took foreeeeeever. You used to be able to walk on (rightly so, we already waited once!) but now the wait was 20 min each time.

I don’t think I can ever convince my easy going husband to go back to Disney. We’ve been 2x a year for years. It’s just straight up miserable now. Dh thinks they’ve allowed too many people in for the rides that they have.

Oh yeah and not one character was walking around. You either pay $$$ for character dining, wait in long lines to meet them or wave while a parade goes by.

We had the same experience last year, I love planning and watched dozens of videos to understand it all, no problem. We’ve probably done 6-7 park visits over the years, but the latest updates make everything more time consuming. Got up at 6:45 every day. Got all the virtual queues. Still, my easygoing DH is “Disney’s out”. Even the kids said I’m staring at my phone too much and I’m missing out… and they were right… one of my kids wants to go back to just strolll around, but that’s not really feasible. One thing we noted is that everyone, very large groups, have disability passes, large increase in those.. They go in front of everyone and even with genie reservations we waited a long time sometimes.

Agree on people abusing the DAS pass system. Seems like every podcast trip report had someone in the group with one. Some disabilities are legit, but too many game the system and are allowed to bring something like 6 companions with them. Also, the scooter/wheelchair people are allowed to bring all their party (could be 12-15 on the buses, jumping in front of other people waiting). That needs to be limited to 2-3 companions at most.

Yes, DAS was out of control. Huge groups. And every person 60+ seemed to be on a scooter with a very extended family.

Then we saw one family of 3 with a severely disabled child struggling toward the DAS entrance, when a DAS group of 15 or so laughing, walking, 20 something’s jumped in line in front of them. That was not magical.

oof, awful. My kid is on the spectrum but has no issues waiting in line so we did not do the DAS. he just needed to be able to ask the cast members a million questions about the rides so he could know what to expect! they were very patient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're going in February so I read that article with interest. After the article (which honestly didn't help explain much) I spent like 30 minutes reading how it works -- I think we're set. Its not really that complicated. I prefer the old system but what can you do.

LOL I thought it all sounded good on paper until we actually went too. The online system had hiccups at 7 am, rides were shut down causing delays into your next scheduled activity etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My SIL lives close to the one in Irvine and they have a local's annual pass so when we visited them they took us for the day. They are pros, they go all the time (they have no kids), sometimes to just watch the fireworks. Their special pass allowed them free parking, early entry, discounts on merch, food and other things, and some fast pass (or whatever it's called) privileges. It was a random weekday in February (not near President's Day weekend), and it was insanely packed, mainly with we concluded were out of the country tourists based on the different languages we kept hearing.

My kids were mid-elementary school and not huge Disney movie fans, but do like some Star Wars so we did some stuff over in that area but after a few hours we had had enough. My kids just weren't into it at all, the waiting, the people, everything. My SIL said "oh, this isn't that crowded at all"

I cannot imagine the heartburn if we had made an entire vacation around it and spent thousands of dollars. It is so expensive, and apparently never not crowded.

There is no Disney park in Irvine.