Disney primarily for the wealthy? NYT Article

[Anonymous]

I wonder if part of the answer for Disney is getting rid of the cheaper Florida annual passes.

I know they want people to come for part days or after rainstorms, and spend their money at the park.

But if it means that people traveling from farther away who will spend MORE money are having a bad time and then skipping future trips, this may mean that annual passes should be more expensive to keep the crowds down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of the issues for Disney
-annual passes for FL residents are cheap and there are some very heavy users who live locally.
-DAS passes were using lightning lanes and it wasn't just the disabled person, it was their entire party. Obviously it wasn't every DAS person, but there were some heavy users who rode 20 rides + a day. It caused an increase in ride times for everyone.

We are pretty wealthy and would love to go multiple times a year, staying at premium resorts, but I can't convince DH to return. His #1 beef is with how crowded it is. Even though you're paying $$$, you get an insanely crowded park with obnoxious wait times. 60-90 minutes for my 3 year old to ride Ariel during the lowest month of the year, during a week day? It's so unenjoyable because of the wait times. And we also spent most of the day on our phones trying to book lightning lanes. It wasn't like this before with Fast pass.

Disabled children wanting to ride with their parents (the horror!) is not what is making lines long for you.

You obviously weren't there. There were many, many adults who cheated the system, and grandma on the fat scooter could bring all of her 15 family members. So, yes, empirically, it made the lines longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are wealthy people with advanced degrees and are not from the south or Midwest, are not overweight, and we love Disney and so do our kids (now teens.) We go every 18 months or so (among lots of different vacations) and occasionally do a Disney Cruise. It’s not in lieu of other travel, but in addition to. I refuse to go to other theme parks that are not Disney/Universal. Kings Dominion and Hershey - no thanks.

You are missing out if you're not going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The landscaping alone makes it worth the visit. I find it much more enjoyable than Hershey.

Busch Gardens rides are ++++. I was terrified on Darkoaster lol. I know thoosies bash it but if you like GOG you will like like Darkoaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of the issues for Disney
-annual passes for FL residents are cheap and there are some very heavy users who live locally.
-DAS passes were using lightning lanes and it wasn't just the disabled person, it was their entire party. Obviously it wasn't every DAS person, but there were some heavy users who rode 20 rides + a day. It caused an increase in ride times for everyone.

We are pretty wealthy and would love to go multiple times a year, staying at premium resorts, but I can't convince DH to return. His #1 beef is with how crowded it is. Even though you're paying $$$, you get an insanely crowded park with obnoxious wait times. 60-90 minutes for my 3 year old to ride Ariel during the lowest month of the year, during a week day? It's so unenjoyable because of the wait times. And we also spent most of the day on our phones trying to book lightning lanes. It wasn't like this before with Fast pass.

Disabled children wanting to ride with their parents (the horror!) is not what is making lines long for you.

You obviously weren't there. There were many, many adults who cheated the system, and grandma on the fat scooter could bring all of her 15 family members. So, yes, empirically, it made the lines longer.

Yeah I was encouraged to get DAS for my kid w mild autism who definitely does not need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't completely agree with these articles. No doubt Disney has far outpaced inflation, and the quality inside the parks has gone down. Anyone who spent time in Disney World in the 1980s and 1990s knows the place isn't nearly as special as it once was. They're dirtier and the maintenance is just a joke in comparison.

That all said, you can make Disney World relatively affordable. The only "unaffordable" part of WDW is the tickets. Nobody has to stay on property. And the flights to Orlando couldn't be cheaper. I have an annual pass this year, and I'll probably end up making five trips. I stay off property most of the time and have no problem getting hotels for under $100 a night in places like the Marriott Village.

For the snobs, I do a couple international trips a year, and several ski jaunts. But WDW is easy and always fun, so it balances out my travel very well. And with passes, the incremental cost is quite low.

You should start a thread about Disney World on a budget. We are a family of three and want to do a one or two day Disney World visit before our kid gets too old to enjoy it, and what you are suggesting here sounds good to me. I have just started looking at Disney travel advice online and a lot of it seems geared at a different kind of family having a different kind of experience. I just want to go for one or two days and get the most out of it (ride the best rides while minimizing line time, eat reasonably well without taking on a second mortgage). We don't need premiere pass everything and we have the endurance for one long park day (our kid is older and doesn't need to go back to the hotel for a nap or pool time after a few hours).

But much of the Disney advice seems to assume you are going for at least 3-4 days, that you HAVE to stay on property, that you HAVE to do a lot of these extras like the character meet and greets. I don't know that we need to do any of that for our kid to enjoy it? Also I know my DH will be a lot easier to deal with if we can keep it to a day or two.

Actually, your type of family is very common, but those are the people who end up hating Disney. Trying to take your kid for one long park day, only riding the peak rides, will result in exhaustion and cranky parents bound and determined to get their money's worth. Meet and greets are not necessary; death marches through the parks to have a "one and done" day are terrible.

[Anonymous]

The article made me a little sad. I have fond memories of my parents just driving us to Disneyland in the early 90s. They surprised us and bought tickets at the door. No fast pass, etc. it was great. I’ve never taken my kids because it sounds so complicated now. I stick to Busch Gardens, which is super nice and we can just show up.

[Anonymous]

Florida residents and the military get discounts for Disney. They aren't wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Do Disney in late August. There are often ticket deans like $99 a day for a 4 day park pass, hotel deals, and flights to Orlando are cheap. It’s hot but if you live in DC, it’s really not any different. Just go early and in the evening, take advantage of stuff with AC during the day or hotel pool. So much less crowded then and really fun.

[Anonymous]

Disney does allow you to bring in your own food/drinks, and happily accommodate and holds grocery deliveries for you at their hotels. You really can do it in an affordable way for everything but the park tickets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do Disney in late August. There are often ticket deans like $99 a day for a 4 day park pass, hotel deals, and flights to Orlando are cheap. It’s hot but if you live in DC, it’s really not any different. Just go early and in the evening, take advantage of stuff with AC during the day or hotel pool. So much less crowded then and really fun.

Oh, its a totally different type of hot in August.

[Anonymous]

We had a Disney week and had fun, but see no need to do that again. The ratio of price to planning work was very off

For any other trip/experience, the extra money, extra organizing and hoops would have resulted in some superior and seamless experience however with Disney it’s just getting you to enjoyable level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Disney in late August. There are often ticket deans like $99 a day for a 4 day park pass, hotel deals, and flights to Orlando are cheap. It’s hot but if you live in DC, it’s really not any different. Just go early and in the evening, take advantage of stuff with AC during the day or hotel pool. So much less crowded then and really fun.

Oh, its a totally different type of hot in August.

DP here. Historically July is hotter than August. We’ve done both months more than once and July tends to be worse. August crowds are great especially if you can go late which schools are making it harder to do.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never been to Disneyworld but have been to Disneyland a few times. We took our 4 year old last year for a day and it probably cost $1000 for 3 ppl total. We paired it with a broader SoCal trip. I just don’t get spending multiple days at the park. That sounds exhausting and too much work. One day at Disneyland was plenty. Still very expensive but we had a great time and I’m glad we did it.

[Anonymous]

The article is not a hot headline.

It's been known for years that Disney has been squeezing out the middle class. The upper middle class are not spared either.

Skiing is another industry that is following the same pattern, but I digress. ..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a Disney week and had fun, but see no need to do that again. The ratio of price to planning work was very off

For any other trip/experience, the extra money, extra organizing and hoops would have resulted in some superior and seamless experience however with Disney it’s just getting you to enjoyable level

I find that any trip takes SO much planning these days. We went to UK and France this summer and I couldn’t believe the amount of preplanning I had to do and really didn’t enjoy it. Same with national park trips with lots of stops. I am familiar with Disney so those trips are actually easier for me, but unless you are just going to the beach most trips require a lot of research and planning if you want to see “the good stuff” - whatever that means for where you decide to go.