Washington Post article on Disney vacations

[Anonymous]

We did the private tour guide for a day with a group of ten. Two families split the cost and man was it worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a big disney fan, but don't a lot of vacations involve planning? I spent more time researching my trip to Alaska than I did researching disney (and I spent plenty of time reading up on Genie+ strategies). Unless you are just going to chill on the beach for a week, vacations take planning and often some things have to be arranged in advance.

Not for me when I travel. We just book hotels in advance and research general things to do. We do a lot of spontaneous things, and we only think in advance about food if we have a particular spot we want to go, like that tomato greenhouse restaurant in iceland. I like more relaxing vacations though. We do one or more fun things each day and spend the rest on transportation or chilling in the air b n b.

As a side note, we did that on the spur of the moment, and it was fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an alternative that's within driving distance, my kids loved Dollywood. We went two years ago as part of a bigger trip to the Smoky Mountains. Beautiful, pristine grounds and attractions, and a simple fast pass system. We would go back for sure vs. attempt Disney.

Agree - we had a fantastic time at Dollywood!

There is not enough money in the world. What's next, Branson?

[Anonymous]

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.

So literally just make less money?

Good luck with that, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an alternative that's within driving distance, my kids loved Dollywood. We went two years ago as part of a bigger trip to the Smoky Mountains. Beautiful, pristine grounds and attractions, and a simple fast pass system. We would go back for sure vs. attempt Disney.

Agree - we had a fantastic time at Dollywood!

There is not enough money in the world. What's next, Branson?

What’s wrong with Branson? Serious question - I know nothing about it.

[Anonymous]

"The 2021 introduction of Genie Plus, which mobilizes vacationers to reserve rides starting at 7 a.m. and then throughout the day, turned vacation organization into a near-competitive sport."

If that's your idea of vacation, great.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the private tour guide for a day with a group of ten. Two families split the cost and man was it worth it.

Is that the one they mention can run $900/hour (not per day!)?

[Anonymous]

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?

Why would they cap profit and attendance? They have not yet found the point where supply exceeds demand, or where enough people refuse to attend due to cost or experience. They are not a charity - this is the free market at work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did the private tour guide for a day with a group of ten. Two families split the cost and man was it worth it.

Is that the one they mention can run $900/hour (not per day!)?

Disney recently banned third party private guides, another reason I won’t be going back. The official guides book up extremely quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the private tour guide for a day with a group of ten. Two families split the cost and man was it worth it.

$6k for one day (not including your tickets, meals or lodging) is only worth it if you are loaded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did the private tour guide for a day with a group of ten. Two families split the cost and man was it worth it.

Is that the one they mention can run $900/hour (not per day!)?

The official guides are $700/hour starting (goes up on busy days) and requires a 7 hour minimum plus tip. Does not include food or tickets for your party.

[Anonymous]

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?

Why would they cap profit and attendance? They have not yet found the point where supply exceeds demand, or where enough people refuse to attend due to cost or experience. They are not a charity - this is the free market at work.

Nobody goes there anymore! It’s too crowded!

[Anonymous]

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.

So literally just make less money?

Good luck with that, PP.

Yes. They can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Attendance is at an all time high pretty much and so is cost. The DCUM boycott is not having much effect unfortunately. As for Disneyland, everything I read indications that if you like and are used to WDW, Disneyland will be underwhelming.

It's wild. Even all the people who said they'd never go again now that Disney is "woke" just can't seem to stay away.

We went twice, in 2012 and 2015. I would have been fine with just the first trip. My kids were at wonderful Disney ages and everything seemed a little smoother and higher-quality. The second time, I was appalled by most of the food. The best thing was that the kids could go on all the rides, and that was great, but not worth it to keep going back year after year. I don't understand people who do.