Washington Post article on Disney vacations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I guess it’s in Anaheim? It’s Disneyland. But I’m pretty sure you knew what I meant. Xo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really not that hard. Yeah you need the nuts and bolts of each iterative line skipping system, but the overarching parts are the same. We go every couple years and have a great time. Fly on miles, stay offsite. It’s really no more expensive than any other trip. We’re going to AZ for spring break and it will cost just as much.

No, it's not hard like calculus, but it's complicated and it's time-consuming to plan. And for most people it is very expensive, so the stakes are high. At least one person in your party has to understand Genie + and that person also has to be able to herd the cats so that you can actually effectively use the Genie + advantage that you just paid $20-40 per person per day.

We went in November and I think that was it for us. Had a great time, but we packed it all in and I won't specifically go to Orlando again (except maybe with grandkids).

There's a lady I know that pays some guy a boatload of $ to manage their Genie + and Lightning Lanes so that they are on rides all day long.

[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.

If you actually waited 2 hours before booking your next lightning lane on genie plus you’re not doing it right. The trick with genie plus is to book the ride with the fastest return time you can get, then as soon as you scan into that ride, book your next one while in line. If you dont get a return time you like, you can keep refreshing and modifying your original reservation until a more optimal time and/or ride comes up. It changes constantly as people cancel and rebook rides. This works great at off season times like the week you went at. And “off season” at disney is still very crowded. We’ve taken our kid at 2 and 3 and never waited longer than 20 min for any ride by staying on site, using this genie plus strategy and early park entry.

But it's not hard!

[Anonymous]

Disney is hell. My FIL's pays for his wife's kids to go annually so makes us go every few years. I am grateful that he pays but I don't enjoy it.

Last time I went, I didn't go on a single ride. I gave my fast passes to my kids. (swaped watches)

and hell yeah, the food sucks. I did like the world...based on Star wars. I had fun with my 12 yr old there.

[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.

If you actually waited 2 hours before booking your next lightning lane on genie plus you’re not doing it right. The trick with genie plus is to book the ride with the fastest return time you can get, then as soon as you scan into that ride, book your next one while in line. If you dont get a return time you like, you can keep refreshing and modifying your original reservation until a more optimal time and/or ride comes up. It changes constantly as people cancel and rebook rides. This works great at off season times like the week you went at. And “off season” at disney is still very crowded. We’ve taken our kid at 2 and 3 and never waited longer than 20 min for any ride by staying on site, using this genie plus strategy and early park entry.

But it's not hard!

this sounds like HE11!

[Anonymous]

I'm getting all worked up. I can't read past the first page. They should offer xanax dispensers at the front, or in the mailing with your smart watch thingy.

[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.

This whole thread is about how Disney is not logistically easy at all. The Denmark/Sweden trip sounds delightful but I do agree it's a different trip.

[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.

This whole thread is about how Disney is not logistically easy at all. The Denmark/Sweden trip sounds delightful but I do agree it's a different trip.

the only logistically hard thing is figuring out Genie+ and that’s not hard. but the trip overall is logistically easy - short domestic flight, stay in one hotel, only one place to go. you don’t have to worry about driving or transportation much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This whole thread is about how Disney is not logistically easy at all. The Denmark/Sweden trip sounds delightful but I do agree it's a different trip.

the only logistically hard thing is figuring out Genie+ and that’s not hard. but the trip overall is logistically easy - short domestic flight, stay in one hotel, only one place to go. you don’t have to worry about driving or transportation much.

Well, Florida Disney has four different parks to go to with exasperating transportation. Pretty much every Disney park in the world is less of a hassle than the one everyone around here talks about.

But agree that there aren't intercity transit issues or having to pile into a service taxi with a crate of chickens or look for a badly-marked shelter in the mountains etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This whole thread is about how Disney is not logistically easy at all. The Denmark/Sweden trip sounds delightful but I do agree it's a different trip.

the only logistically hard thing is figuring out Genie+ and that’s not hard. but the trip overall is logistically easy - short domestic flight, stay in one hotel, only one place to go. you don’t have to worry about driving or transportation much.

Well, Florida Disney has four different parks to go to with exasperating transportation. Pretty much every Disney park in the world is less of a hassle than the one everyone around here talks about.

But agree that there aren't intercity transit issues or having to pile into a service taxi with a crate of chickens or look for a badly-marked shelter in the mountains etc.

Agree that Disneyworld transport could be improved. But compared to a foreign vacation where you need to plan how to get from place to place, it’s incredibly easy. And free! The transit system wants to take you where you want to go in Disney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you posters have told me you are Republican, without telling me you are Republican.

Why not just type , “the poor will always be among us.”

Hilarious coming from someone who thinks that affording Disney is a basic human right.

As a general rule , if you are driven to hyperbole…your stance is quite weak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Way to miss the point.

When I am quite sure that you knew exactly what was meant.

[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.

You can’t tell DAS from Genie+ at the scan in. Both use the lightening lane. Also, DAS groups are capped at 6 and they are very strict. We have DAS and you couldn’t tell from looking at us whether we were using that or Genie+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you posters have told me you are Republican, without telling me you are Republican.

Why not just type , “the poor will always be among us.”

Hilarious coming from someone who thinks that affording Disney is a basic human right.

As a general rule , if you are driven to hyperbole…your stance is quite weak.

And your stance is what? Disney should be free to the public?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You could just wait until your 2 yr old is older.