Only if they are Lindsay Graham. But that's unrelated to Disney World and more of a personal condition.

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.

DH and I went with no agenda and had such a great time we took a second trip there. We did use Lightning Lane as much as possible and weren't lugging kids around, so YMMV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We go without expectations, willing to spend $$$ and are very flexible. We’re disappointed every single time. Mostly because it’s too packed in the streets and the lines are too long. Everything else is nice, but we just don’t like being human sardines. We always go middle of the week in the low season.

+1
I’m admittedly not a Disney person, but I just don’t understand spending that much money to wait in so many lines and be packed in like sardines. Even fireworks were made way less enjoyable because it was so dang crowded.

We’ve been disappointed every time we went. And I strongly disagree that it’s not more expensive than other activities.
My kids had more fun at Dutch Wonderland when they were little. I truly don’t understand taking young kids unless it’s the nostalgia of it all. I agree there are some cool rides for older kids/adults that you won’t find elsewhere.

If you spend the extra money, you don’t wait in a lot of lines. That’s the point.

Anonymous wrote:We go without expectations, willing to spend $$$ and are very flexible. We’re disappointed every single time. Mostly because it’s too packed in the streets and the lines are too long. Everything else is nice, but we just don’t like being human sardines. We always go middle of the week in the low season.

+1
I’m admittedly not a Disney person, but I just don’t understand spending that much money to wait in so many lines and be packed in like sardines. Even fireworks were made way less enjoyable because it was so dang crowded. We’ve been disappointed every time we went. And I strongly disagree that it’s not more expensive than other activities.
My kids had more fun at Dutch Wonderland when they were little. I truly don’t understand taking young kids unless it’s the nostalgia of it all. I agree there are some cool rides for older kids/adults that you won’t find elsewhere.

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.

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.

Any concert, big sporting event or play is going to be $200pp if you want to be able to see at all.

And don’t even get me started on the cost of skiing.

I totally get people not liking Disney. But it’s no more expensive than anything else.

And to the PP is disappointed every time, maybe it’s not for you. Why would you keep going.

We had fun at Disney World and didn't leave disappointed, but we definitely kept the expectations in check. We told the kids we were going but didn't build it up at all. Picked the high-priority rides, mixed in a few with short lines, but didn't try to do everything. Everyone had a blast, we were tired by the end but not exhausted to the point of crankiness.

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).

Anonymous wrote:.

I think people buy into the hype then spend so much money the expectations are impossible to meet with the crowds etc.

^^^^ This

I've been to Disneyland once last minute. The plane blew in an engine on a Chicago to LA flight I was on w/my dh and we randomly decided it would be a good place to drive to after and walk around and get over our nerves. Walking up to the ticket booth and learning a one day pass was more than $100 is still hilarious to me. We paid it, had a great time wandering around, went on the rides, did not have kids with us so that probably helped.

We did a family trip to Disney World somewhat last minute - I went to a conference there and when we realized the entire family could go discounted, we booked a few months out. We took a break every afternoon in the hotel or at the pool, then went back to the parks. We didn't try to fit everything in. My (then) 5 year old wanted to meet all the characters, which we didn't anticipate going in but took a lot of ride time away and we went with it. We didn't get "the best" character meals at "the best" times but we checked the box for doing it, and my DD got to lead the Micky parade with Stitch in the Polynesian - we still love the picture of that.

I found the advanced planning somewhat annoying but liked that we were on autopilot a bit once we got there, no trying to figure out where to eat for many meals because they were booked and you were penalized $10/person if you didn't show (don't know if they still do this). These "Unofficial Guide to Disney World" books have great advice about how not to leave disappointed. We saw people screaming at their kids or each other and that is not a great way to have family fun.

We went last spring, as chaperones for a high school group. We had no real control over what time we arrived or left the parks. We had to meet up with kids at central locations at various points during the day. We did not have any sort of special passes. Nightime show at Hollywood that we were to see got cancelled. Epcot caught on fire. Were escorted off a broken ride at Magic Kingdom.

We had a blast and rode pretty much everything we wanted to ride (and we like rides). It was a great time, and we were not stressed.

(Very similar experience at Universal a few years prior.)

Good to have a plan and to be organized. Admittedly we didn't have little kids, which can add a different dynamic. But you can go to Disney and still have fun without staying in a Disney resort, paying for all the extras, and being tied to a minute by minute schedule.

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.

We go without expectations, willing to spend $$$ and are very flexible. We’re disappointed every single time. Mostly because it’s too packed in the streets and the lines are too long. Everything else is nice, but we just don’t like being human sardines. We always go middle of the week in the low season.

OP, your experience of 2 restaurant reservations for a party of 2 and meandering through Disney parks is still achievable.

It’s stressful for larger parties who are trying to do everything. Then it’s a lot of nose in your phone trying to book rides and corralling the whole part to make a dining reservation.

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.