Is Disney World Still Worth the $?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Just did Disney Tokyo. $130 for two adults (kid was free). Required no advanced planning other than buying the tickets. Just show up and get in line. Everything was so reasonably priced that we splurged on all the random kitsch.

You just have to get to Tokyo!

I got lucky because my sister decided to move there. We went with my kids and their two cousins and they all wanted chocolate popcorn. Knowing we're at Disney I'm thinking I'm going to pay through the nose and it was 300 yen!
We went on New Year's Eve and she warned us that the lines would be long. The longest line was 40 minutes for the Pooh ride.

We go to Disneyworld in Orlando and have never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride. $25/person for an all day Genie pass so you can reserve rides, then for other rides you just go at a slow time. I will note our kids don't like roller coasters so they aren't interested in the most popular rides anyway.

Lots of people tell me about this but many of us aren't interested in reserving rides. In fact I know a lady who owns her own business which consists of reserving rides and remotely directing some rich family around Disneyworld from her couch.

You click on the app. It's not difficult. But also some people don't make reservations at restaurants either (like in general, not specific to Disney). If you don't like making reservations, then you'll indeed face long lines at Disney.

It's just not my kids' idea of fun. They wouldn't want me barking out where we need to be next and hustling them to the next item on the tightly packed itinerary. They would want to take their time and explore and look around.

You can still do that. And you let your kids set the pace. My kid wants to maximize his time and do every ride so we do a crazy marathon across múltiple parks.

I think people feel offfended that Disney requires planning - but outside of a resort or cruise, don’t all vacations require planning?

Most vacations require planning but not all vacations require that you do specific things at specific times. When we go to the beach, we take breaks for mini golf or ice cream whenever we want. There is no "at 2pm we will do this ride and then at 4pm we will do that ride." Same thing when we go hiking at a national park or skiing. Even on a recent trip to Europe, we had a lot of days of setting an agenda as we went with nothing reserved in advance. We have done Disney and had fun, but having to commit to be at certain places at certain times is one thing I don't love -- I prefer to be flexible based on weather and everyone's mood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just did Disney Tokyo. $130 for two adults (kid was free). Required no advanced planning other than buying the tickets. Just show up and get in line. Everything was so reasonably priced that we splurged on all the random kitsch.

You just have to get to Tokyo!

I got lucky because my sister decided to move there. We went with my kids and their two cousins and they all wanted chocolate popcorn. Knowing we're at Disney I'm thinking I'm going to pay through the nose and it was 300 yen!
We went on New Year's Eve and she warned us that the lines would be long. The longest line was 40 minutes for the Pooh ride.

We go to Disneyworld in Orlando and have never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride. $25/person for an all day Genie pass so you can reserve rides, then for other rides you just go at a slow time. I will note our kids don't like roller coasters so they aren't interested in the most popular rides anyway.

Lots of people tell me about this but many of us aren't interested in reserving rides. In fact I know a lady who owns her own business which consists of reserving rides and remotely directing some rich family around Disneyworld from her couch.

You click on the app. It's not difficult. But also some people don't make reservations at restaurants either (like in general, not specific to Disney). If you don't like making reservations, then you'll indeed face long lines at Disney.

It's just not my kids' idea of fun. They wouldn't want me barking out where we need to be next and hustling them to the next item on the tightly packed itinerary. They would want to take their time and explore and look around.

You can still do that. And you let your kids set the pace. My kid wants to maximize his time and do every ride so we do a crazy marathon across múltiple parks.

I think people feel offfended that Disney requires planning - but outside of a resort or cruise, don’t all vacations require planning?

Most vacations require planning but not all vacations require that you do specific things at specific times. When we go to the beach, we take breaks for mini golf or ice cream whenever we want. There is no "at 2pm we will do this ride and then at 4pm we will do that ride." Same thing when we go hiking at a national park or skiing. Even on a recent trip to Europe, we had a lot of days of setting an agenda as we went with nothing reserved in advance. We have done Disney and had fun, but having to commit to be at certain places at certain times is one thing I don't love -- I prefer to be flexible based on weather and everyone's mood.

So don't go to Disney? You aren't being forced to go.

[Anonymous]

I'm a former Disney employee and I say no. It's too much money when your kid would likely have just as much, if not more fun, doing something more low key. Young kids don't like all the lines.

I'm from Orlando and when I go back, I take my young kids we do the Science Center and a pick your own strawberry farm that has a jump pad and giant slides kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just did Disney Tokyo. $130 for two adults (kid was free). Required no advanced planning other than buying the tickets. Just show up and get in line. Everything was so reasonably priced that we splurged on all the random kitsch.

You just have to get to Tokyo!

I got lucky because my sister decided to move there. We went with my kids and their two cousins and they all wanted chocolate popcorn. Knowing we're at Disney I'm thinking I'm going to pay through the nose and it was 300 yen!
We went on New Year's Eve and she warned us that the lines would be long. The longest line was 40 minutes for the Pooh ride.

We go to Disneyworld in Orlando and have never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride. $25/person for an all day Genie pass so you can reserve rides, then for other rides you just go at a slow time. I will note our kids don't like roller coasters so they aren't interested in the most popular rides anyway.

Lots of people tell me about this but many of us aren't interested in reserving rides. In fact I know a lady who owns her own business which consists of reserving rides and remotely directing some rich family around Disneyworld from her couch.

You click on the app. It's not difficult. But also some people don't make reservations at restaurants either (like in general, not specific to Disney). If you don't like making reservations, then you'll indeed face long lines at Disney.

It's just not my kids' idea of fun. They wouldn't want me barking out where we need to be next and hustling them to the next item on the tightly packed itinerary. They would want to take their time and explore and look around.

You can still do that. And you let your kids set the pace. My kid wants to maximize his time and do every ride so we do a crazy marathon across múltiple parks.

I think people feel offfended that Disney requires planning - but outside of a resort or cruise, don’t all vacations require planning?

Most vacations require planning but not all vacations require that you do specific things at specific times. When we go to the beach, we take breaks for mini golf or ice cream whenever we want. There is no "at 2pm we will do this ride and then at 4pm we will do that ride." Same thing when we go hiking at a national park or skiing. Even on a recent trip to Europe, we had a lot of days of setting an agenda as we went with nothing reserved in advance. We have done Disney and had fun, but having to commit to be at certain places at certain times is one thing I don't love -- I prefer to be flexible based on weather and everyone's mood.

So don't go to Disney? You aren't being forced to go.

PP was weighing in on the OP's question, a hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just did Disney Tokyo. $130 for two adults (kid was free). Required no advanced planning other than buying the tickets. Just show up and get in line. Everything was so reasonably priced that we splurged on all the random kitsch.

You just have to get to Tokyo!

I got lucky because my sister decided to move there. We went with my kids and their two cousins and they all wanted chocolate popcorn. Knowing we're at Disney I'm thinking I'm going to pay through the nose and it was 300 yen!
We went on New Year's Eve and she warned us that the lines would be long. The longest line was 40 minutes for the Pooh ride.

We go to Disneyworld in Orlando and have never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride. $25/person for an all day Genie pass so you can reserve rides, then for other rides you just go at a slow time. I will note our kids don't like roller coasters so they aren't interested in the most popular rides anyway.

Lots of people tell me about this but many of us aren't interested in reserving rides. In fact I know a lady who owns her own business which consists of reserving rides and remotely directing some rich family around Disneyworld from her couch.

You click on the app. It's not difficult. But also some people don't make reservations at restaurants either (like in general, not specific to Disney). If you don't like making reservations, then you'll indeed face long lines at Disney.

It's just not my kids' idea of fun. They wouldn't want me barking out where we need to be next and hustling them to the next item on the tightly packed itinerary. They would want to take their time and explore and look around.

You can still do that. And you let your kids set the pace. My kid wants to maximize his time and do every ride so we do a crazy marathon across múltiple parks.

I think people feel offfended that Disney requires planning - but outside of a resort or cruise, don’t all vacations require planning?

Most vacations require planning but not all vacations require that you do specific things at specific times. When we go to the beach, we take breaks for mini golf or ice cream whenever we want. There is no "at 2pm we will do this ride and then at 4pm we will do that ride." Same thing when we go hiking at a national park or skiing. Even on a recent trip to Europe, we had a lot of days of setting an agenda as we went with nothing reserved in advance. We have done Disney and had fun, but having to commit to be at certain places at certain times is one thing I don't love -- I prefer to be flexible based on weather and everyone's mood.

So don't go to Disney? You aren't being forced to go.

PP was weighing in on the OP's question, a hole.

Spoken in the true Disney spirit!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last time I went to Disney World prepandemic I paid $230 for a 2-day ticket this included fast pass back then.

Just went to buy tickets for the same weekend and it's $320 for a 2-day ticket which not longer includes fast pass. I'd have to pay extra. I'm not to doing the math, but this looks like a lot more money for less.

So whole I love the Disney experience I'm wondering if Disney World is still worth it? Do you get anything new that I'm missing to justify this crazy cost increase? What do you think?

No longer worth it at all. Plus there are much better options for less, like Universal.

Last I check Universal was $160 a ticket!

[Anonymous]

I don’t think you can argue that Disney doesn’t require more detailed planning than most other trips. For example, on a trip to NYC, our plans might be: breakfast at 8 am, natural history museum 10-5, dinner at 6, show at 8 pm. But we don’t also have to figure out, in detail, which gallery of the museum to visit at what time, reserve it, etc. We enjoyed DL and I think it can be worth doing once. But yes, it was a lot of detailed planning.

[Anonymous]

Of course all vacations require some planning but Disney requires an order of magnitude more planning then it did when we were kids. Our parents didn't have to reserve any rides, if the line was too long we could just find something else. They could feel free to head back to the hotel to swim without missing a crucial reservation, and they of course didn't have to spend time glued to an app. So it's a treasured childhood memory for a lot of people that's a stressful mess now. Yeah I know you Disney superfans think it's NBD but for many families it's completely not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course all vacations require some planning but Disney requires an order of magnitude more planning then it did when we were kids. Our parents didn't have to reserve any rides, if the line was too long we could just find something else. They could feel free to head back to the hotel to swim without missing a crucial reservation, and they of course didn't have to spend time glued to an app. So it's a treasured childhood memory for a lot of people that's a stressful mess now. Yeah I know you Disney superfans think it's NBD but for many families it's completely not worth it.

I said up thread that it is a totally subjective question and depends on each families likes and dislikes. I think many people dislike the lightening lane system, as ride windows have to be picked a week in advance. You can group them together so that then you have open/free time to play it by ear. or you can find one of the closed entry party events that don’t use LL. Also, they recently switched dining to a 2 hour cancellation policiy which means you often can get same day sit down dining reservations. But still it obviously depends on your family. I often think a summer beach vacation isn’t worth it because the rental prices for something nice near the beach around here are so incredibly high and then I feel like the beach is just not that nice and there’s not that much to do other than sit and read and brush and off your book. But I’m clearly in the minority on that one, which is why the beach rental prices are so insanely high.

One thing that’s weird about disney is that there seems to be some weird social pressure people put on themselves to go. Like they feel like they have to go to disney in a way they don’t feel like they have to go to Yosemite or New York City or even the Smithsonian museums or US Capital. So people begrudgingly go and then are unhappy. If you think you’ll hate it, don’t go!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course all vacations require some planning but Disney requires an order of magnitude more planning then it did when we were kids. Our parents didn't have to reserve any rides, if the line was too long we could just find something else. They could feel free to head back to the hotel to swim without missing a crucial reservation, and they of course didn't have to spend time glued to an app. So it's a treasured childhood memory for a lot of people that's a stressful mess now. Yeah I know you Disney superfans think it's NBD but for many families it's completely not worth it.

I said up thread that it is a totally subjective question and depends on each families likes and dislikes. I think many people dislike the lightening lane system, as ride windows have to be picked a week in advance. You can group them together so that then you have open/free time to play it by ear. or you can find one of the closed entry party events that don’t use LL. Also, they recently switched dining to a 2 hour cancellation policiy which means you often can get same day sit down dining reservations. But still it obviously depends on your family. I often think a summer beach vacation isn’t worth it because the rental prices for something nice near the beach around here are so incredibly high and then I feel like the beach is just not that nice and there’s not that much to do other than sit and read and brush and off your book. But I’m clearly in the minority on that one, which is why the beach rental prices are so insanely high.

One thing that’s weird about disney is that there seems to be some weird social pressure people put on themselves to go. Like they feel like they have to go to disney in a way they don’t feel like they have to go to Yosemite or New York City or even the Smithsonian museums or US Capital. So people begrudgingly go and then are unhappy. If you think you’ll hate it, don’t go!

We never got around to going. Having made it this long, we plan to keep it that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think you can argue that Disney doesn’t require more detailed planning than most other trips. For example, on a trip to NYC, our plans might be: breakfast at 8 am, natural history museum 10-5, dinner at 6, show at 8 pm. But we don’t also have to figure out, in detail, which gallery of the museum to visit at what time, reserve it, etc. We enjoyed DL and I think it can be worth doing once. But yes, it was a lot of detailed planning.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The entry tickets are cheaper if you get them as part of a package with a Disney resort hotel. Also don't do park hopper, just pick one park a day (there's plenty to do). A resort hotel = easier to get to the park too.

From what I understand, this is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disney is super polarizing on this thread. I think it’s hard to say whether it’s worth it because it’s a product that has different values to different people (not like buying a coffee maker, for instance).
In some ways, it is a unique product and so is hard to put a market value on. The price of flying through the air like a bird? Or walking onto the Millenium Falcon?
There’s a few different ways to do disney that have different price points attached to them which also makes it hard to answer. PP is correct that all travel has increased a lot. One thing about disney that constantly amazes me is that they are doing constant upgrades and innovations — if you are interested in set design, engineering, world building, landscaping, there is no place like it in the world. We’ve had tours where they point out small thoughtful details that most people don’t notice but that really affect the atmosphere. Animal Kingdom is effectively one of the best zoos in the world (in addition to a cutting edge facility for research into and treatment of many species), and even the aquarium at Epcot is one of the largest in the world. We got to a lot of amusement parks because my kids are roller coaster fiends, and given the difference in safety and world building in disney versus those other parks, I’m actually surprised Disney doesn’t cost more. Pretty much every year recently they open a new ride or world…. That does have a price tag.

+1000

I never went until I was in my 40s. I went with DH and we don't have kids. I'd always thought of it as kind of like a cruise -- which I absolutely hated. So we only booked two nights and only planned to go to two parks. And then one of the first rides I went on was Haunted Mansion and as a writer, when I saw the creative details that went into just the space where you waited in line, I was fascinated and immensely impressed. The creativity, vision, and execution around seemingly every corner is amazing. We immediately booked another trip so that we could see and experience a lot more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The money is better in Tokyo or Paris or (if she’s into the characters) DCL.

We like Disneyland because the weather is better, flights are similarly priced, and we have family that gets discounted tickets. Orlando has never appealed.

Flights to Orlando are 1/2 as much as flights to LA.

And both are much cheaper than taking the family to Europe.

And from DC you get there in a couple of hours. Much, much easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t do it once when your kids are the right age you’ll regret it. If you do it a second time you are a fool.

Ha!
I like that philosophy.