Do people leave Disney World disappointed?

[Anonymous]

I do feel like you'll be disappointed without a plan.
I love Disney but for a day or 2, not for the whole week just because it requires too much type-A-ness for it to be fun for more than that. So when we go, we do 1-2 days at Disney and then do other things in Florida. If we do 2 days, we have a pool day in between.

[Anonymous]

We've gone a few times over the years and had a lot of fun. We did a character breakfast the first time. Fun to do once when the kids were really little, that was a one and done for our family. We have never stood in line to meet a character or get autographs. Just not our thing.

I do think it is helpful to go with a plan (there are websites that will map it out for you). I'd also go during the week in the two weeks before Christmas. crowds are very low. Weather is not hot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most people just wander around Europe without a plan or advance tickets to see the Louvre or Eiffel Tower? Everything is crowded these days, so we plan ahead.

Going to Paris for my first time this year. I’m skipping the Louvre. I know Louvre is probably amazing, but no thanks/ to crowded for me. Will skip Eiffel Tower too. I can see it fine from the sidewalk.

The Louvre is huge and empty as long as you stay away from the Mona Lisa

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t go with my DS, he was into Legoland so we did that in California and Florida, and also did Universal Studios.
I went as a kid, and have little memory of it, except that we had a lot of ride tickets left over and my mom was upset at my dad because it was wasted $.

I also visited in my mid 20s, a group of us just decided to go, with little planning. I don’t remember much of that visit either - it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t amazing. I didn’t leave disapppointed.

I don’t really understand the mystique of Disney. I travel internationally for work, and my DS often accompanied me. It’s hard to see how Disney World could ever top these experiences.

Now it has to top those experiences instead of merely not being disappointing? It's another type of trip. There are different types.

Or at least be equivalent? I guess it isn’t for me, and my DS didn’t care either.
It doesn’t seem worth the hassle at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most people just wander around Europe without a plan or advance tickets to see the Louvre or Eiffel Tower? Everything is crowded these days, so we plan ahead.

Going to Paris for my first time this year. I’m skipping the Louvre. I know Louvre is probably amazing, but no thanks/ to crowded for me. Will skip Eiffel Tower too. I can see it fine from the sidewalk.

The Louvre is huge and empty as long as you stay away from the Mona Lisa

But you can’t just show up and buy tickets same day reliably. It requires planning ahead which is what people who say they don’t like Disney apparently can’t do because it’s stressful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t go with my DS, he was into Legoland so we did that in California and Florida, and also did Universal Studios.
I went as a kid, and have little memory of it, except that we had a lot of ride tickets left over and my mom was upset at my dad because it was wasted $.

I also visited in my mid 20s, a group of us just decided to go, with little planning. I don’t remember much of that visit either - it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t amazing. I didn’t leave disapppointed.

I don’t really understand the mystique of Disney. I travel internationally for work, and my DS often accompanied me. It’s hard to see how Disney World could ever top these experiences.

Now it has to top those experiences instead of merely not being disappointing? It's another type of trip. There are different types.

Or at least be equivalent? I guess it isn’t for me, and my DS didn’t care either.
It doesn’t seem worth the hassle at all.

Ok. Do you want to be convinced to change your mind or something? Just go somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t go with my DS, he was into Legoland so we did that in California and Florida, and also did Universal Studios.
I went as a kid, and have little memory of it, except that we had a lot of ride tickets left over and my mom was upset at my dad because it was wasted $.

I also visited in my mid 20s, a group of us just decided to go, with little planning. I don’t remember much of that visit either - it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t amazing. I didn’t leave disapppointed.

I don’t really understand the mystique of Disney. I travel internationally for work, and my DS often accompanied me. It’s hard to see how Disney World could ever top these experiences.

Now it has to top those experiences instead of merely not being disappointing? It's another type of trip. There are different types.

Or at least be equivalent? I guess it isn’t for me, and my DS didn’t care either.
It doesn’t seem worth the hassle at all.

We did a couple weeks in Europe last summer and it was way more hassle. Disney is easy. I still like going other places too. I like variety. But for us Disney is an easy vacation and we all know what to expect because we’ve been enough times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if you are disappointed you are doing it wrong or didn't really want to go. There's always something that doesn't go right - like a ride is down or it rains - but that is with any travel. It is expensive, but so is everything - a concert ticket seems to start at $100 now, a ticket to a football game is more. The parks are open all day, you can do a mix of fancy restaurants and packing lunch. You can pick some top things to do and then easily roam around for the rest of the day.

Completely agree especially WRT the cost of concerts, plays, sporting events. Nosebleeds at KC (RIP) were $129pp.

People I talk to who didn’t like it were the same people dreading the trip in the first place.

I understand you’re comparing other events but there’s not much else my family goes to that’s $900 a day just for tickets.

You have a family of 8-9 people? That's like the size of 2 families so for a normal sized family of 4, $450 a day isn't obscene. They have a special now that is $109pp per day (4 park, 4 day).

My family is 5 and that’s when I priced out tickets for a low weekend in the spring. No fast passes and no park hoppers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most people just wander around Europe without a plan or advance tickets to see the Louvre or Eiffel Tower? Everything is crowded these days, so we plan ahead.

Going to Paris for my first time this year. I’m skipping the Louvre. I know Louvre is probably amazing, but no thanks/ to crowded for me. Will skip Eiffel Tower too. I can see it fine from the sidewalk.

The Louvre is huge and empty as long as you stay away from the Mona Lisa

But you can’t just show up and buy tickets same day reliably. It requires planning ahead which is what people who say they don’t like Disney apparently can’t do because it’s stressful.

I’m actually a planner but with Disney you can’t get all the reservations ahead of time. You have to set a timer for the morning of. I’d actually prefer to do it all far in advance.

[Anonymous]

I know i did. I had zero expectations.. thought it would be bad ( crowded, hot, boring) and man oh man was it ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think if you are disappointed you are doing it wrong or didn't really want to go. There's always something that doesn't go right - like a ride is down or it rains - but that is with any travel. It is expensive, but so is everything - a concert ticket seems to start at $100 now, a ticket to a football game is more. The parks are open all day, you can do a mix of fancy restaurants and packing lunch. You can pick some top things to do and then easily roam around for the rest of the day.

Completely agree especially WRT the cost of concerts, plays, sporting events. Nosebleeds at KC (RIP) were $129pp.

People I talk to who didn’t like it were the same people dreading the trip in the first place.

I understand you’re comparing other events but there’s not much else my family goes to that’s $900 a day just for tickets.

You have a family of 8-9 people? That's like the size of 2 families so for a normal sized family of 4, $450 a day isn't obscene. They have a special now that is $109pp per day (4 park, 4 day).

My family is 5 and that’s when I priced out tickets for a low weekend in the spring. No fast passes and no park hoppers.

$180 pp/day sounds about right. We paid $250pp for Elite Eight tickets this past weekend. Skiiing is easily that, more with rentals. Concerts and Broadway style shows typically cost that as well, and those are for a shorter duration.

[Anonymous]

the loss of fast passes and hotel transportation are big. I know on a trip I took many years ago not needing to rent a car or pay for cab from the airport helped bring our family vacation to a reasonable price.

Car rental can really drive up costs. We will often look for a city where we can walk.

I have been to Disney and there are many ways to do it. Go for a week or 4 days or a day or to one of the ticketed parties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most people just wander around Europe without a plan or advance tickets to see the Louvre or Eiffel Tower? Everything is crowded these days, so we plan ahead.

Going to Paris for my first time this year. I’m skipping the Louvre. I know Louvre is probably amazing, but no thanks/ to crowded for me. Will skip Eiffel Tower too. I can see it fine from the sidewalk.

The Louvre is huge and empty as long as you stay away from the Mona Lisa

But you can’t just show up and buy tickets same day reliably. It requires planning ahead which is what people who say they don’t like Disney apparently can’t do because it’s stressful.

I’m actually a planner but with Disney you can’t get all the reservations ahead of time. You have to set a timer for the morning of. I’d actually prefer to do it all far in advance.

Tells us planner what timer you need right now for the morning of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know i did. I had zero expectations.. thought it would be bad ( crowded, hot, boring) and man oh man was it ever.

Sounds like you had bad expectations. It was a self fulfilling prophecy. I hate the skiing and cold. I bet if I took a ski trip it would be the worst.

[Anonymous]

It never fails that in every Disney thread someone shows up to say “but Europe though…..” as if it’s an original vacation. I’ve seen the Coliseum several times. Pretty sure it will be there for a few more decades too. It’s not going anywhere.