Honey lets take the kids out of school - First December visit 2021, and last Disney trip.

[tehSAC]

Thanks to everyone who is still around. Hope you all had a great holiday with friends and family!

Welp, the dreaded final day. Mom was ready to get home, and she was up with us at 8:30 to get ready for the day and to finalize packing. As they were packing, I took the dreaded last shower of the trip. Oh my friend, you were good to me, but you had to witness my naked but way too many times. Thirteen to be exact. After my shower, I finished getting ready for the day, and started to pack up the vehicle. I finished packing the Jeep around 9:30, and we did a final sweep of the room before heading out the door. It felt like I heard the shower calling my name as we were shutting the door, but I will never know. LOL

The plan was to head out and go check out decorations at the GF and Poly. However I failed to remember that I needed a darn reservation to visit. Ella was pretty upset, almost to the point of tears. She wanted to see the Gingerbread house, and honestly so did I. We considered parking at the MK, but the lot was already half full, and with no trams that was more walking than we wanted to do. So, what to do now? Well we do have an ADR at the Beach Club at noon, but its 10:15 AM. What will we do at the BC for over an hour and a half. I had no idea, but that’s where we headed.

The beach club was a resort I had heard a lot about, but had never been too. So I was excited to see something new on Disney property, so off we went. The gingerbread carousel was the selling point for Ella. We pulled in, parked a little ways from the main lobby, and took our time making our way there. We walked into the main lobby and was greeted by said carousel. I knew it was going to be big, but I was taken back by its size. The girls loved looking at all the details, and so did Mom and I.

After that we had time to kill, so we went to the main shop at the Beach Club. The girls did a little shopping, and I found a spot outside to sit and relax a bit. They found a few snacks to hold us over until lunch, which might hamper a challenge us later in the day. We sat in this area for a little while before making our way towards Beaches and Cream. I was hoping to get a good look at the pool that everyone talks about. There was also some hope that maybe we could get seated a little earlier than our Noon reservation. After lunch we had a few hours to kill before heading towards MCO to fly home.

Anyway, lunch…. Once again I had heard a lot about this restaurant, and was happy to land this reservation. We kept this one mainly as we had nothing else going on, and not in a park. The view of the pool was minimal in this area, so not much was seen unfortunately. So I went up to the podium and asked if we might be able to be seated early. She checked us in, and within 10 minutes we were seated. Basically we were sat 15 minutes earlier than our reservation. Better than nothing!

Mom had the tots, Lo had a cheeseburger, Ella had Mac & Cheese, and I chose the Chili. We ate lite, because we wanted to give something a shot. Yep, the kitchen sink! Lorelai was nervous, because she didn’t want to be embarrassed. Mainly because I told her about the lights and announcement I read about. So when they finally brought it out, nothing happened. We were all a bit disappointed. Why have they stopped this? Does it cost a dollar per revolution on the lights? Man those shareholders must have disliked that! Okay, moaning aside, we chose the Chocolate version of the Kitchen Sink. I cannot write what my mind was thinking when it was sat in front of us. Trust me, not kid friendly, hahaha. Mom gave me a look, and I said “lets go for it!” The waiter mentioned he had a woman come in the day before that ate a cheeseburger, fries, and a whole kitchen sink by herself. I was a confident the four of us could do this, if one person could do it on their own. Wow was I mistaken! The four of us could only eat half of this monstrosity. What a complete fail, I was ashamed.

We waddled out of there soon after, and made it back to the car. On the way we came across a bird walking on the sidewalk. The girls came within 3 feet of him before he popped into the bushes. They really thought it was cool, and Ella said if Lo wasn’t around she could have grabbed him. LOL

At this point I will stop for now. Have a little extra fun encounter/story for the final part of this trip. Nothing close to the cockroaches, but it was quite an interesting thing to witness. That will be the final post of this report, but I will have a follow up post/s after that with my thoughts and reasoning why we will choose to not come back to Disney as a family. So stick around, and until then take care!



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[jo-jo]

Years ago, we took the family to get the kitchen sink. We took our grand daughter to ask for a kitchen sink, She thought I was joking and suddenly turned shy. Server came to take order, we want the kitchen sink in a tiny mouse voice. Server came out and announced to the whole place we have The kitchen sink and it's all going to be eaten by this young lady. And plops it down in front of grand daughter. I don't remember if there were lights.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The chocolate carousel in the Beach Club lobby is always beautiful. There is a Christmas train display in the Yacht Club lobby that is worth a visit, too.

I forgot that they used to make a big deal about ordering the kitchen sink! A lot of things changed when they reopened during the pandemic.

The dessert is huge and I don't know how anyone finishes it.

 

[tehSAC]

Years ago, we took the family to get the kitchen sink. We took our grand daughter to ask for a kitchen sink, She thought I was joking and suddenly turned shy. Server came to take order, we want the kitchen sink in a tiny mouse voice. Server came out and announced to the whole place we have The kitchen sink and it's all going to be eaten by this young lady. And plops it down in front of grand daughter. I don't remember if there were lights.

I wish we would have gotten that at least. Just to see my daughter be a little embarrassed. LOL

The chocolate carousel in the Beach Club lobby is always beautiful. There is a Christmas train display in the Yacht Club lobby that is worth a visit, too.

I forgot that they used to make a big deal about ordering the kitchen sink! A lot of things changed when they reopened during the pandemic.

The dessert is huge and I don't know how anyone finishes it.

I don't either! It was so much larger than I imagined. Wish I knew about the YC lobby. Oh well.

 

[Hubie]

There is a picture of the RR gingerbread display in the YC lobby in my TR. It's under December 1, and after our breakfast pictures at Ale & Compass. Happy New Year!

 

[tehSAC]

There is a picture of the RR gingerbread display in the YC lobby in my TR. It's under December 1, and after our breakfast pictures at Ale & Compass. Happy New Year!

Just took a look. That would have been cool to see.

Thank you, Happy New Year to you as well.

 

[figment52]

If I dream of bugs crawling up and down my legs tonight I am going to blame you! Your wife was very kind to you letting you "change" clothes on the balcony. I would have sent you right to the shower clothes and all and let all of the creepy crawly things die a hot, wet death down the drain.

 

[tehSAC]

After leaving the Beach Club, we headed back to Disney Springs. Hopefully no roaches after we visit this time. LOL We had around Two and a Half hours to kill before we needed to head to the airport for our flight home. We once again parked in the Lime garage, but instead of turning left out of the garage, we headed towards the bridge crossing over near the Rainforest Café. On the way over we stopped for a few photos by the Lego sculptures.

Mom wanted to visit the Christmas store, so that’s where we headed next. She was hoping to possibly find a nutcracker for her collection, but no luck. In the rear of the store, there was a candle shop, and the girls saw the area where they could make their own. So I stayed with them for that experience, while mom went off to do some more shopping. The experience was fun for the girls. They got to pick their own scent, color, and even some extra decoration to mix into the wax, or just place on top. The employee took their candles and said we could pick them up in around 45 minutes.

Mom was at Marketplace co-op, so we made our way there. When we found her, she had found what she was looking for a few nights before. Lorelai also picked up a Orange Bird pop socket while we were there. After that we popped back in to the pin shop and the girls each purchased a few pins for their collections. Ella wanted to visit the Toy store, and wow was that a disappointment! Sure Santa was there, but what happened to Once Upon A Toy?! Used to be one of my favorite shops. Oh well. Mom and Ella made their way towards the World of Disney, and Lorelai and I went to pick up the candles. When we found Mom and Ella, they had found the face painting spot. Ella wanted a little décor on her face, and I told her “how are you going to make it through TSA at the airport? That doesn’t match your ID!” She just laughed at me and said “I don’t have an ID dad, they know I’m with you.” LOL

We ended our day at World of Disney. Picking up a few extras for family back home, and then back to the parking garage. I broke a little rule, going back to the car.

When we got to the car we did some last minute re-arranging of our luggage to fit in the new purchases, rolled down the windows to soak up that Florida weather, and off to MCO we went. I was concerned about a possible long wait at the check in counter, because the last time I was there it was a nightmare to get checked in. This time we were checked in within 10 minutes, and TSA was a 20 minute wait. When going through security they pulled me off to the side. The xray saw the candles, and next to the candles in our bag was our charging cables for our phones. Did not look great, he said he had to check cause it looked like a bomb. YIKES!

After that excitement, I looked at our boarding passes, and it had us going to a different terminal. Not the usual Southwest terminal. I was confused and concerned we would be going to the wrong spot. I considered going to said gate and checking, and leaving everyone in security, but we just went with it and got on the monorail to the terminal. My wife noticed there was a pretzel stand, so I went over and got in line for pretzel bites for her and the girls. So the one of the last interesting things of the trip would happen while I’m waiting for our food. I’m standing off to the side, and I hear this huge belch, and then feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and there is a older guy, so obviously drunk, without his mask on asking me if I’m in line. He would belch and then talk to me. Eventually asking me “Hey pal (belch) is this the line for (belch) pretzels? Do you think they (belch) sell beer? Haha” I say yes, and point in the direction of the end of the line. He ignores everything I say, and just walks up to the counter and demands a pretzel and a beer. He was visibly upset when they told him they didn’t have beer and he would have to wait in line like everyone else. He belched and said something obscene, grabbed his bag and off he went. I told my family that the wait was so long cause I had to go to Universal to meet Barney. LOL

During that encounter I thought to myself, I really hope this guy isn’t on my flight. We ate our food, and about an hour later we made it to the gate. Oh you know exactly what I’m about to say don’t you? There he is, sitting in a row by himself. I sit down, and the lady next to me says “wow did you just miss a “show”.” I said “let me guess ol guy over there caused an issue?” She would go on to tell me he verbally assaulted a black family, and tried to pick a fight with them. “Oh man, please don’t let this guy on our flight” I was thinking to myself. I ran over to the restroom, and then I notice a male and female officer standing off to the side. Eventually a Southwest employee and the female officer go over to him and I can see him getting visibly upset. The southwest employee hands him another boarding pass and tells him he wont be on this flight. Well this obviously doesn’t make him happy. He starts poking the officer in the chest, and verbally assaulting her as well. About the same time they announce that digital boarding passes will not work at this gate and to visit the podium to get a printed pass. During all of that I miss what happened with Barney, but my daughter said the Officer escorted him away from the terminal.

We boarded our flight, and around 10:20 we were back in Indianapolis. The end of our vacation, and the end of this portion of the report. Next time I post it will be my thoughts and reasons why we wont be returning any time soon. Possibly ever.

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[tehSAC]

Okay the report is finished, and I believe some of you have stuck around for my thoughts. Reasons for the decision to most likely not return as well. They will sound like I am complaining about everything, and I kinda am, but I want to help you understand our decision. I will do my best to highlight the best and worst of our trip. Some items Disney does right, some they could revert back too, and some they could not control. I also understand some of these changes are due to COVID, and I understand. Honestly I live in a house that has taken many precautions due to my wife’s job. However some of these changes, seems to me that Disney is using it as a crutch. Again I’m going to do my best here, and I’ve taken a few days to write and re-write this. So…….

Pricing

First and foremost, Disney has priced our family out of a vacation. Simple as that. Disney is pricing a lot of families out of memories together in these parks. From paying for fastpasses, to not providing all of the extras they used too, it just feels like a grift anymore. These trips are catered to people in a higher tax bracket, AND it used to not be that way. Nothing against those families, but we don’t fit into that group, nor would I like too. This was the most expensive family trip we have ever done, even after my brother in law gifted us DVC points to stay at the Riviera. Our typical family vacation is usually around $2,500 to $3,000, and we dropped that in park tickets alone in this trip. Sure we could have saved some money here and there, specifically with Savi’s, in-park dining, etc, but that’s how Disney gets you right? For what you pay for to get into the park, and all of the extras that used to be included, I don’t think Disney makes it worth it anymore. It’s the little things that used to make it special for us. A tram to give your feet a break, a fastpass to give you access to that ride you really wanted to experience, better quality food, housekeeping, etc. Genie+ and the pricing for the holiday party, which we chose not to do, was what really ruined it for me. The Christmas party was something we really wanted to do when we started to plan this trip, then the pricing was announced and that was the nail in the coffin. $860 on top of park tickets for 3 extra hours in the MK is insane! If you can afford that, or choose to spend that money, no judgement on my end. You do what is right for you, but it will never get any better. Disney has you right where they want you, and using COVID as a crutch leaves a bad taste in my mouth!


Fastpasses

If it was up to me, you eliminate them all together. Why? Well when I used to go as a kid, they were not available, so we adapted and enjoyed the parks as they were meant to be IMO. I remember our June trips in the middle and late 90’s and being able to do everything we wanted to do. Crowds were not like they are now either. Sure the parks were busy, but nothing like I see being reported or in vlogs like I see today. Our trip in May of 2012 was the first time I ever used fastpass, and I only used it on one attraction, Peter Pan. I thought it was a hassle, but I believe this was because I was learning as I was going. Then in 2017 and 2018 I brushed up well before our trip and used it to our advantage. Then when it was announced Genie+ was going live on October 19th I was glued to any article, vlog, podcast to learn all that I could. This was such an added stress that is just not needed, but Disney makes it a necessity, and as Disney park fans, we are all okay with it. When the parks had no fastpasses, it was a spontaneous adventure. Now you’re staring at your phone, trying to make that $15 per person worth it. You miss the details Imagineers wanted you to see, because you are rushing to make a reservation, or refreshing the app to find a better time. I realize this all makes me sound like an old fart, but looking back on our trip, I missed out on little moments that I will never get back. That is not the park experience Walt wanted us to have. Genie+ is a grift, a grift I am guilty of participating in. Genie is made for families like us, because we don’t frequent on a yearly basis. The only way for us to have not used it, was to have had a much longer vacation, which would have been even more expensive. So they have me by the B-A double hockey sticks. We could have never been able to accomplish what we did at the MK without it, but deep down I hate that. We could have accomplished more at other parks, but I wasn’t dropping that cash. Then you get into the subject of paying extra for the most popular rides. I did this for 5 attractions, at a total of $200 plus tax. Ouch that could have gotten us a nice meal somewhere on property, but maybe not because ADR’s are difficult to land. We will touch on that later. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS to ride 5 popular attractions, 4 that I personally would never spend the money on again. 4 attractions that are either too short, or too “cheap” to spend the money on. Again something else we will touch on later. Disney again had me by the twig and berries. I could wait in those ridiculous queues, that Disney dolled up to take your mind off the wait, and miss out on other attractions. Or… I could add on a couple more days to my ticket and reservation to experience those rides. Doing that means more money for Disney. See what I’m saying? Fastpasses you get to skip the lines, but those who can’t afford it now, may miss out on other things because the hold the line up for me and everyone else that paid to skip the line. In my honest and humble opinion, removing fastpasses would bring back that magic we fell in love with, and may even lower crowds. Okay I’m rambling, but hopefully you get my point. To me a successful trip is a trip where you can do attractions multiple times. Only way this can be done anymore is by opening your wallet.


Dining

Crap, where do I start? How about this? The ADR process is crap, especially for someone who is not prepped. Not all of us prep, or enjoy prepping like most of us. We got lucky landing some great ADR’s but I did not acquire these on my 60 +5 day mark. These took multiple searches daily, or other services to land these reservations. A couple that we ended up dropping, because we found that it ate too much into our park time. Again if I was a local or frequent visitor, we would enjoy these more often. The best ADR of the trip was Oga’s and I landed that a few days past our open window. Sci-Fi I didn’t land until about a week or so out before our trip. We really wanted to experience the Space 220 lounge and I checked daily, multiple times a day, to see if we could score a reservation. Obviously no luck, and I was still searching at 7PM on our EPCOT Day. Time I should have been enjoying the park with the girls. It all has to do with luck on these, because people grab and hold onto them like the toilet paper shortage we all saw last year. Hell I’m guilty of it. Make Disney spontaneous again, and no that’s not a play on a Trump slogan. I’m serious! Give people options day of, don’t make them plan months in advance. It’s no longer a vacation, it’s a ugly social experiment to one up the next guest. It doesn’t help control guests, it create animosity.

Those three things really are the thorns in my side when it comes to Disney. They could be fantastic, and Disney could really knock it out of the park with some changes, but we know that wont happen. The greed outweighs Walt’s overall “plan” with his parks. The parks have not been good since Eisner was around…..


The Great

• Magic Kingdom.
  • Planning, life stresses, etc melt away when I’m in this park. It’s my happy place.
• Tropical serenade was fantastic.
  • Honestly probably better than the original Dole Whip. Mainly because the whip wasn’t as creamy like they used to be.
• Oga’s
  • When I left I said it might be a one time visit for us. However I would do it again in a heartbeat.
• Rise
  • Amazing. Best ride in WDW, and would be happy to spend money to ride it again!
• mobile ordering
  • I loved this for a number of reasons. Mainly cause I tend to be a bit socially anxious, and this alleviates this anxiety of mine.
• Loved the shower the most!!!
  • You read the report. Best part of the Riviera resort.
• Next trip we will spend more time at MK

The Good

• Falcon
  • cool cause it’s the falcon but I think it would be better being a pilot. Was an engineer and just happy to ride.
• Pog juice
  • Disney, offer this everywhere!
• Sci Fi
  • BBQ burger was fantastic as well as the theming. This is a restaurant I would love to experience again.
• GE popcorn
  • Trying to figure out how to make this at home. LOL
• Big Thunder is so much better in the middle

The Okay

• Lo and I loved HS. Mom and Ella thought it was okay.
• Pool was too small liked it was saltwater though
• Beaches was okay.
• Remy’s and Mickey and Minnies was cool, but not something we felt we wanted to do again in the future.
  • Personally dislike all the screens and Remy’s is a little too short.
• Riviera was nice but too fancy for us.
  • Small for a deluxe resort for me. Skyliner is not a huge selling point for me if I wanted DVC.
• Epcot used to be more enjoyable. In the future if we go back we might skip Epcot
  • Wasn’t construction, wasn’t attractions. Just felt off to me. I cannot pinpoint why I didn’t enjoy it this year like I have in the past.
• AK Is still a half day park for us.
  • We enjoy the theming more than anything in Animal Kingdom
• Galaxy’s Edge
  • As a huge Star Wars fan I loved all the details, but GE felt a little flat to me. I feel like they tried to squeeze in too much in the land. I would have preferred Disney to focus on a planet/land from one of the movies. Then again I am also one of those people that wished they would have built a 5th park that was just Star Wars related. Disney could have killed it with that approach!

The Bad

• Crowds were a hassle to us
  • We planned to go during this time mainly because of past crowds. Nothing we could do to change this.
• No characters seen in GE.
  • Honestly we stuck around for an hour or so to hopefully catch some characters and never saw one. Very disappointing.
• Lack of resort merchandise and lack of Christmas offerings merchandise wise.
• Blue milk was meh
• Disappointed with deco. Loved HS, but other than Main Street they fell flat
• Genie+ was definitely needed more but didn’t like spending the money on it. Should have used it more but was able to do plenty in standby.
• Skyliner is a meh in our books

The Ugly

• Roaches – Well you read the story.
• People and there lack of sense of others around them annoyed me the most. Stop directly in main paths, not make room for others in tight spaces, etc.
• So many scooters. They were the worst, and they people driving them acted like they were the only ones in the park. Sorry if you need one, but if you are reading here, I’m guessing you are not those type of ECV users.
• Not happy with Nickle and Diming
  • Seriously, Disney is a grift. They know they can charge what they charge and people will continue to pay for it. From Vloggers, to first time visitors.

Attractions Count (places with a queue that we placed our butt and were entertained) = 37


Navi
Rise
Star Tours
Three Caballeros
Frozen
Test Track
Spaceship Earth
Remy’s
Figment
Soarin
Living with the Land
Nemo
Alien Swirling Saucers
Toy Story Mania
Mickey and Minnies
Slinky Dog
Falcon
Jingle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Seven Dwarfs
Haunted Mansion
Buzz
Laugh Floor
Barnstormer
Dumbo
Mermaid
Small World
Big Thunder x5
Splash x2
Pirates
Tiki Room
Peter Pan

I want to thank the DIS Team for all of the podcasts, and suggestions over the years. Their content and these forums helped me plan the best way possible for our trip. I’m not sure any of them will see this report, but I will tag them just in case.

@WebmasterJackie, @WebmasterPete, @WebmasterJohn, @DisneyKevin, @WebmasterCorey, @Teleclashter, @Ryno, @safetymom, @newmouse2008


Okay with that, this report is complete.

PS does anyone have an extra GE spork? I REALLY want one of those and there were none available during our visit.

 

[Laurieannc]

Great TR! I really enjoyed reading about your experience. I totally agree with you and wish that they would let everything be spontaneous again so none of us would have to be glued to a phone and miss those precious moments with family. Hope you and yours have a Happy New Year!

 

[Toolulu22]

I didn’t follow your thread as you wrote it, but read through it in one sitting. The roach story was horrifying. We travel to Florida often to visit family, in addition to vacations. I told my husband the story and he, too, was grossed out.

You reiterated a common theme that doesn’t sit well- being tied to the phone and feeling like being nickel and dimed (on top of an already expensive vacation). Plus, missing things that once made Disney ‘magic’, and people who think it’s all about them (line cutting, obnoxious).

Thanks for your comments. It seems as though you made it special for your girls and your family had a great time because of the efforts you put in. Happy 2022!

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

Really, really enjoyed your report! Heading down at the end of the month … if the sporks are back, I’ll gladly pick one up for you! I’m certain none of our trips would have been as good or great without the DIS!

 

[Wood Nymph]

After that excitement, I looked at our boarding passes, and it had us going to a different terminal. Not the usual Southwest terminal. I was confused and concerned we would be going to the wrong spot. I considered going to said gate and checking, and leaving everyone in security, but we just went with it and got on the monorail to the terminal.

Was your SWA flight in the other terminal? I would have been confused, too, since we always fly SWA out of Midway.

Eventually a Southwest employee and the female officer go over to him and I can see him getting visibly upset. The southwest employee hands him another boarding pass and tells him he wont be on this flight.

I am glad to hear that Southwest security took this guy off the flight. It would have been a nightmare to have him act like
that inside the airplane.

I agree with your reasons not to return. Disney has been taking value away while raising prices. I liked when they had stopped using the fastpass system and just let everyone use standby in the early days of the pandemic. I don't like Genie+ and it feels like a giant money grab. I see high prices for things like the Christmas party and the parties still sell out. So Disney has no incentive to lower the prices.

 

[tehSAC]

Great TR! I really enjoyed reading about your experience. I totally agree with you and wish that they would let everything be spontaneous again so none of us would have to be glued to a phone and miss those precious moments with family. Hope you and yours have a Happy New Year!

Thank you. I feel the path Disney is on a Spontaneous park experience is long gone. The way Tokyo Disney Resort approaches things are not as bad, but you can have a day feeling immersed. The way it used to be in Orlando. If they go back to that way of thinking I will strongly consider going back.

I didn’t follow your thread as you wrote it, but read through it in one sitting. The roach story was horrifying. We travel to Florida often to visit family, in addition to vacations. I told my husband the story and he, too, was grossed out.

You reiterated a common theme that doesn’t sit well- being tied to the phone and feeling like being nickel and dimed (on top of an already expensive vacation). Plus, missing things that once made Disney ‘magic’, and people who think it’s all about them (line cutting, obnoxious).

Thanks for your comments. It seems as though you made it special for your girls and your family had a great time because of the efforts you put in. Happy 2022!

Thank you, I did stress to make it the best for them. I’m happy that you have seen that in my report

Really, really enjoyed your report! Heading down at the end of the month … if the sporks are back, I’ll gladly pick one up for you! I’m certain none of our trips would have been as good or great without the DIS!

oh wow that would be fantastic!! Enjoy your trip

Was your SWA flight in the other terminal? I would have been confused, too, since we always fly SWA out of Midway.

I am glad to hear that Southwest security took this guy off the flight. It would have been a nightmare to have him act like
that inside the airplane.

I agree with your reasons not to return. Disney has been taking value away while raising prices. I liked when they had stopped using the fastpass system and just let everyone use standby in the early days of the pandemic. I don't like Genie+ and it feels like a giant money grab. I see high prices for things like the Christmas party and the parties still sell out. So Disney has no incentive to lower the prices.

Yes the flight was at Gate 91. This was an international gate as we were surrounded by flights headed to London and Brazil. Yes I too am happy they removed him from the flight. Otherwise you might have saw viral videos from our flight home.

I agree. Too many people flying blind or willing to pay the price for a once in a lifetime trip. I felt like I had to use Genie to accomplish things and that makes me feel gross. Now if I had 6-7 days in the parks I would have never used the service. Again though, that means a ton more money for the vacation.

 

[Hubie]

I also really enjoyed your report. As far as the downslide of the Disney experience, I don't think it's going to get any better anytime soon. It's all about demand. Like you said, Disney can charge whatever they want, and the parks are still crammed. There are just too many people willing to pay whatever to be there. And I believe Disney knows that after paying so much for park tickets and to stay in there lodging, people are apparently willing to pay almost any amount for whatever just to make their trip a great?? experience. They're doing the same thing with their cruises. The prices are sky rocking but the ships are all full anyway.

 

[tehSAC]

I also really enjoyed your report. As far as the downslide of the Disney experience, I don't think it's going to get any better anytime soon. It's all about demand. Like you said, Disney can charge whatever they want, and the parks are still crammed. There are just too many people willing to pay whatever to be there. And I believe Disney knows that after paying so much for park tickets and to stay in there lodging, people are apparently willing to pay almost any amount for whatever just to make their trip a great?? experience. They're doing the same thing with their cruises. The prices are sky rocking but the ships are all full anyway.

Thank you! I’m glad to hear people enjoyed the report. I share with you for selfish reasons though. So I can come back myself and read about our experience.

Exactly. I hate it but I can’t control it. I can only control what we choose to spend our money on. For us no longer opening our wallets in Orlando.

 

[rdkeim]

Really enjoyed reading about your trip and your perspective on the Disney changes. First, you went above and beyond to make it a fun trip for your family. We are treating our family (2 sons, 1 daughter-in-law, 2 grandsons 3 and 5) in early March. We've been to Disney many times since the late 80's so we've seen a lot. My 2 sons haven't been since they were in high school and daughter-in-law and grandsons are first timers. We have 3 day hoppers. So, I feel I'm almost forced into Genie + in order for them to see and do as much as possible. DH and I could spend 2 weeks in Europe for what this is costing! We're sucking it up and hoping this is a good experience! This could be it for us.....

 

[tehSAC]

Really enjoyed reading about your trip and your perspective on the Disney changes. First, you went above and beyond to make it a fun trip for your family. We are treating our family (2 sons, 1 daughter-in-law, 2 grandsons 3 and 5) in early March. We've been to Disney many times since the late 80's so we've seen a lot. My 2 sons haven't been since they were in high school and daughter-in-law and grandsons are first timers. We have 3 day hoppers. So, I feel I'm almost forced into Genie + in order for them to see and do as much as possible. DH and I could spend 2 weeks in Europe for what this is costing! We're sucking it up and hoping this is a good experience! This could be it for us.....

Thank you for following along. I do what I can, and honestly I was hoping this trip would convert my wife into a Disney Park fan. Obviously the opposite happened LOL.

 

[Heluvsme]

Can't wait to read more! Sounds like you were trying your hardest to help everyone enjoy their trip, what a good dad!!
Love the pics!
Dawn

 

[nwcutie]

Thank you for your trip report. I love how you have been able to roll with it and adapt after a speed bump (and still be papa bear protecting your family). Not everyone can do so with grace - you have a gift.

After reading these boards, I agree with you about the lack of value. My family has been 3 times (in 2009, 2013, and 2014) and after the last trip with FPP, we decided we were done due to all the hassles.

We've done two-week camping adventures since the youngest was 3 (potty trained him at Yosemite) and some of our great memories are of reading the Narnia books by the fire as more and more kids crept over from neighboring sites to listen.

We have since enjoyed UO a few times. Then, in 2019, we went to Portugal over spring break with good airfares and a reasonably priced VRBO condo with an awesome rooftop terrace and I was THROUGH with theme parks. There was so much to do and see for less than what we would have spent at WDW. We have focused on independent travel with the kids since.

Our last trip, 12/18/21 to 1/1/22 was to Maui. Two weeks, OMG. Granted, this was our costliest trip at $10,000 (all in) for 6 people, but we hit Christmas and NYE which is about the most expensive time you can go. We also alternated beach or hiking days with a luau, a boat excursion, ziplining, and snorkeling. It was heaven because I didn't feel like I needed a vacation from my vacation when I got home. I did a lot of planning finding deals on everything, but by September, it was set it and forget it. We ate breakfast and lunches in the condo (or had a picnic), and then ate out for dinners almost every night. Two fancy dinners, some moderate dinners, and the occasional food truck.

Please continue planning wonderful trips and memories for your kids. The beauty of this is that you can tailor these trips to meet the needs of your family, whatever those needs are at the time. The trips don't always have to be the same. If you plan and prepare like you did for this trip, your humor and quick thinking will make them GREAT. My kids laugh now and say "forced family fun - they'll thank you later" as they roll their eyes, but they do thank me, at least the older ones do.

~ Marci