Disney: Too crowded and too much money

[mco65]

Well the heat effects people differently.
I remember a WDW vacation that we took in Mid Sep a few years back. A good friend of mine from work and his family went the same time we did.. so we got to hook up some days and ride some rides and eat some dinners together... great trip! About a year later, my friend was talking to me about planning another trip to WDW but that he didn't want to go in SEP.... "it was TOO DARN HOT last SEP, unbearable!"... i remember looking at him cross eyed and saying, i don't remember it being hot..! Of course it was hot and he reminded me of a few occasions when the heat was getting to us but it simply didn't register after the fact for me.. I got hot, cooled off and kept on rolling. I wouldn't think twice about going in Sep again but for him, the heat was a non starter..

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We started going in 2012. That was hands down our best trip. We may make one more trip when the new baby is old enough to experience the majority of the attractions. Otherwise, I’m also holding out for another recession.

 

[MadTownKatz]

Is Disney too crowded and costs too much money? Probably...but I do not think these factors really play into our decision to visit every other year or so. I think the value of these trips are not found within the dollars spent, so much as the enjoyment factor. So long as the experience of attending WDW exceeds the value of the money being spent, we will continue to go. We do not mind crowds, as all of us in my family are extroverts and we find the crowds add a bit to the overall vibe. As other posters have stated, planning the trip using fastpass, Rope Drops, and knowledge of how the crowds move, helps us avoid waiting for over 45 minutes at any particular ride. The weather is a nonissue for us as we dress for the weather....and we just accept that Heat is part of being in Florida.

I find we use a similar mindset with all of our trips....when we are hiking in Yellowstone, we expect that there will be bugs. When we are camping in the Apostles, we expect that we might be a bit uncomfortable. When we are in New York, we expect that we will find lousy pizza (Sorry, Chicago-style fans here).

 

[kenthanson]

While the parks are crowded and there are long waits everywhere, if you know how to tour efficiently and use your FPs well, there really shouldn't be that stressful.

I agree with this, I understand some people have no choice of when they can go but we always go in 'slow' times and this last January we only had two days and we were able to go to all four parks and go on every ride we wanted to.

 

[Rob Troxel]

I sure get the concerns about cost and frankly, it does take many folks out of the running. Somehow the Disney folks know their analytics enough to stay on the brink of higher vs excessive pricing on the lodging, food, tickets, etc. We have been coming since opening day to WDW for 47 years. Each time I squawk about the total cost but somehow we find a way to return, albeit not as frequently. We also moderate our outlays by staying a night or two less than before. In another post elsewhere, I mentioned that we started to do foreign destinations rather than accept the Disney take on reality for the rest of the world. This blend of travel has made us appreciate the predictability, cleanliness, and safety of the Disney properties. Still, there is room to travel the real world on occasion!

 

[ww52]

I wonder how the DIS or their program algorithm determines what threads to feature at the bottom of the page? I found this thread that way and saw it's from Nov 2017 - but a couple recent posts means other probably saw it that way as well.

So it's "alive" again.

My thoughts - maybe not worth much - after just getting back in July (of 2018):

Too expensive for sure yet we paid because we love it. So I'm essentially being contradictory. I just lament that fact that Disney has become a near unaffordable luxury for way too many people in the United States. I've never seen the numbers, but I wonder how many families would like to go but don't / can't simply because of the expense?

Stressful? Yes - but BEFORE the trip (for us). We did FAR more pre-planning this time (our first with FP+ and MDE) and the time spent this time vs prior times started to get us annoyed / stressed. And then we got there - and saw that things fell into place so wonderfully that we had NO stress once we were there. Well, there were some hiccups (Frozen being down during our FP time, Pirates down when the Touring Plans suggested to go) but we got those two in other times. Checking MDE for FPs really helped - especially once we figured how to stagger times for our group of 8.

Now we DID skip a couple attractions we would have liked to experience (Slinky and 7 Dwarfs) and just figured we'll get to them next trip. Once we set our minds to NOT doing them, there was no disappointment. And we avoided long lines completely.

I honestly don't know what Disney could do different. They keep charging for extras like the $80 hard ticket early morning Toy Story Land option - for the sake I guess of recovering some of the cost of building new projects. But it's a bit irksome - why not just open early for everyone everyday?

Every park could probably be open at 6 AM to midnight and be filled. Speaking of which, to this day it still amazes me how many people just get to the park about 10 or 11. When we've been there 2-3 hours already and experienced several attractions and have only another hour or 2 left - then back to the resort for a break. We learned that "trick" (get there when it opens) nearly 30 years ago and it still works!

Maybe getting up early is part of the stress some people feel?

 

[ww52]

mentioned that we started to do foreign destinations rather than accept the Disney take on reality for the rest of the world. This blend of travel has made us appreciate the predictability, cleanliness, and safety of the Disney properties. Still, there is room to travel the real world on occasion!

That's why we go back despite the many times we've been there. And others too. It's comforting to know ahead of time that it will not be disappointing (with the proper amount of pre-planning and learning how to use MDE, FP+, ADR etc).

Many have said what you have - and I have too. We know how to do Disney - and it's the three things you highlight (predictability, cleanliness, and safety) that sets it apart from other trips we've taken. And I'd add the driven nature of the cast members to make things as smooth as possible.

We loved Paris and London, and Hawaii, and other places we've been. And yet in each of those, something went wrong or something was not as expected. The attitude for the most part was "sorry - but..." Now of course if we went back to any one of those places several times, we'd get it figured out too.

But Disney makes you feel at home and there's a real draw. I do somehow wish they'd do SOMETHING so more people could afford it. I predict that in 10 years or so there will be VR "trips" to WDW available to rent. Not the same - but I'd probably be in for that.

 

[Rob Troxel]

One thing we all have to remind ourselves is that the current dollar benchmark is not a true gauge of the real costs to any guest. You have to factor in the inflation, wages, what did gas cost then, tickets.etc- Otherwise, we just get stuck on what things cost in 1971. Disney somehow keeps the folks coming so there must be a balance of cost and value that works each year.

 

[mommyrosa2]

Summer is the only time we have never been. The heat has always been a concern but eventually i think we will bite the bullet and see what its like in early Aug... We been in Late May/early June and we have been in mid Sept.. both fairly hot times and the heat was never a concern... but early Aug is probably a different kind of heat...

August = HOT & VERY HUMID!!!!

 

[smartmommy4]

We all know that Disney is magical and is like no other park(s) in the country and that is why it has the popularity that it has. I wonder sometimes how it's popularity stays when a vacation at WDW is both expensive and often very stressful. We go yearly, staying on property usually in a deluxe resort. We do like our vacations but the parks have gotten more crowded and it has gotten more stressful to see the rides you want to see. Who wants to wait for hours to see a ride? A good friend just got back and had fp's for FOP and she said the wait for fp was over 3 hours because the ride was down all day, so they could not experience it. When the parks are packed, people are still paying a lot of money to be there and many times, the wait times are so long, the few minute ride is not worth the wait. Disney needs to add a lot more rides then just a few in each park that they have been adding. I feel like they just do the minimum because people are still spending thousands to be there. Anyone feel that Disney is doing a lot less than they should because they are still so popular and people are still visiting even though they are having really long waits/very high prices etc? My point is really, if the crowds started going down due to the high prices and lesser quality of the parks, would Disney do more to get customers to visit?

Disney got extremely crowded last time (September 2018) compared to previous years at the same time of the year. We had to change our ways and I couldn't book afternoon fastpasses for Test Track. Couldn't find a place to watch fireworks in Epcot. Couldn't avoid long lines at the bus. Never had these problems in the past, not even last year (2017). So the economy must be doing amazing. We just have to play the game a little differently to make it work for us. I'm glad to see the parks so crowded. I don't like the crowds, but it's nice to see Disney making good money. That way, they can afford to keep going, build new rides, remodel old hotels, etc. It would really suck if Disney World goes down hill due to lack of attendance. I love Disney World.

 

[PixieLily]

It should always be that Walt Disney World has plenty of beautiful ambience, trees, charm and enchantment.

 

[mom2rtk]

It used to be when you thought of Walt Disney World you thought about beautiful ambience, trees, charm and enchantment. Now its more concrete and people stuffing their face.

As long as the stock is performing, I don't think they care.

 

[Bete]

Been to DW over 50 times since the beginning times; we have never been a local resident. We use to get annual passes and go three times a year. It was worth it back when for a while. Then, we took advantage of free dining times but we would go once a year.

Back when we stayed at a deluxe to have the experience. Then, we dropped down to the moderate. Now, I only do value resorts. I would say we have done the values at least 30 times. We can visit the deluxe resort for a meal; so, why pay for a stay there? We want to do park time, not resort time; so, we don't need a deluxe resort.

We like going during special times like Halloween time, Christmas time, Food and Wine and the Flower and Garden time. I feel we get extra value that way.

If I truly want to do more rides we will do extra magic hours especially the morning hour. We will spend for extra time in the park, as well when the crowds will be low.

I'm fine doing shows at the park, not just ride after ride. Enjoy parades and fireworks and character greets. The park has more to offer than just rides.

For rides you have to be persistent after your third advance FP+ is over to get a fourth, fifth and so on.

We enjoy other vacations, too. We are not diehard DW people any more. You can try other amusement parks. We like Dollywood and you have the Smoky Mountains there, too.

Some find it necessary to give up DW for a while and give it another look in 5 years. You might have a different perspective doing it that way and enjoy it more when you return.

My last trip to DW was 2017. I won't return until 2021.

If you don't feel you are getting value there then you have to change your strategy.

 

[vacationer1954]

It used to be when you thought of Walt Disney World you thought about beautiful ambience, trees, charm and enchantment. Now its more concrete and people stuffing their face.

I find that there is a very strong correlation between how long someone has been visiting WDW and how much they've lost the ability to see and appreciate the beautiful ambiance, trees, charm and enchantment. It isn't absolute - many of us long-time guests still have that ability, but many do lose it over time.

It's not even a WDW thing. There are people who visit the Jersey shore year after year after year, and then after a time they no longer see the sun and sea and surf and shore towns, and instead all they see is the highway asphalt, the brake lights of the bumper-to-bumper traffic in front of them, and so forth.

 

[ww52]

I wonder - those that do the "behind the scenes" tours etc - does that enhance or diminish the magic?

We hadn't been for several years (I think 5) and went back this year. The Magic was certainly there - but then again I "cheated" on that - we were with two of our grandchildren for their first time. Magic raised exponentially!

 

[Bete]

I wonder - those that do the "behind the scenes" tours etc - does that enhance or diminish the magic?

We've done many of the tours. For us, it enhances the experience.

Knowing what goes into the magic makes me appreciate the parks more.

 

[PixieLily]

Luxury is always associated with leafy neighborhoods and natural surroundings. You pay more for that because its worth it.
It takes us out of our normal environments. You pay less for an asphalt and cement environment.

 

[Farro]

It used to be when you thought of Walt Disney World you thought about beautiful ambience, trees, charm and enchantment. Now its more concrete and people stuffing their face.

Hmm, that's not what I think of. (unless it's me stuffing my face...yeah...I think about that sometimes! )

 

[Huff]

Too much money and too crowded certainly. But DIsney has always been like that. I remember going 10 years ago with wall to wall people even in so called off season times. Costs have gone up faster than my salary though!

 

[Huff]

It used to be when you thought of Walt Disney World you thought about beautiful ambience, trees, charm and enchantment. Now its more concrete and people stuffing their face.

Maybe 30 years ago or more. Parks have been packed more days than not for over 20 years now. I went to Disneyland 30 years ago and lines for most rides were 45-90 minutes back then on an average day.