What is going on with Disney parks?

[DGsAtBLT]

I would think that if people are choosing to go to Cedar Point or other local parks instead of Disney (and they would otherwise want to visit Disney), it's because Disney wasn't in the cards for them that year for reasons unrelated to the local park, and the local park is a consolation prize of sorts.

 

[mshanson3121]

I would think that if people are choosing to go to Cedar Point or other local parks instead of Disney (and they would otherwise want to visit Disney), it's because Disney wasn't in the cards for them that year for reasons unrelated to the local park, and the local park is a consolation prize of sorts.

I wouldn't say this necessarily. We had the money to do Disney this year, and 3/4 of us had the desire, but we chose to do the local parks instead. Smaller, easier, get more rides done, less waiting, no planning necessary, and far more relaxing. DH especially really wanted a low-key, relaxing vacation, which Disney is not. Our youngest prefers the local parks to Disney. I'm sure we aren't the only ones who feel similarly.

 

[disneygirlsng]

I wouldn’t think so. Cedar Point and parks like that aren’t a vacation destination usually. They are a weekend thing.

Maybe I'm the only one haha, but I've definitely made a few vacations out of going to Cedar Point. Though I would argue that Cedar Point is more of a vacation destination than other Cedar Fair/Six Flags type parks, with the "onsite" hotels, beach, water park, and other activities to do in the area.

 

[The Pho]

Maybe I'm the only one haha, but I've definitely made a few vacations out of going to Cedar Point. Though I would argue that Cedar Point is more of a vacation destination than other Cedar Fair/Six Flags type parks, with the "onsite" hotels, beach, water park, and other activities to do in the area.

Cedar Point and Hershey definitely draw a vacation crowd to them, it just a different type of vacation crowd. But still, most of their attendance comes from “locals” and daytrippers on weekends. A good amount may make weekend vacations to go, but not many are spending more than a couple days, unlike Disney and Universal where people frequently spend a week.

 

[mshanson3121]

Cedar Point and Hershey definitely draw a vacation crowd to them, it just a different type of vacation crowd. But still, most of their attendance comes from “locals” and daytrippers on weekends. A good amount may make weekend vacations to go, but not many are spending more than a couple days, unlike Disney and Universal where people frequently spend a week.

I've heard a lot of good things about Hersey. We actually considered going there for vacation this summer. Hard to beat the price - $100 for 2 days (or $165 for a season pass) which gives you admission to the park, water park, zoo and the new Hersey Town they're building.

 

[Brocktoon]

For the beer geeks, Hershey also has the Troegs Brewery which is very visitor friendly and has one of the better tours

 

[elizagust]

Going to Cedar Point and getting all the add ons to 'fast pass' the lines can be as expensive if not more expensive than a trip to Disney! I live within a reasonable drive from CP and never go. We do, however, go every year to Hershey Park. It's a great value! With small children we would combine Hershey with Dutch Wonderland and camp for a few days I also started hitting Kings Island during the off season and making a trip up to Canada for Marine Land. We havent been to Disney World as a family since 2017, we did DisneyLand California in 2018 and DH and I were just at Disney in January and I will be back for a day trip in March (2 days at Universal too). We will probably do another family trip to Disney in 2021.

 

[The Pho]

I've heard a lot of good things about Hersey. We actually considered going there for vacation this summer. Hard to beat the price - $100 for 2 days (or $165 for a season pass) which gives you admission to the park, water park, zoo and the new Hersey Town they're building.

It’s a great park. Easily one of the best coaster parks, though not quite as impressive as Cedar Point’s collection. The zoo is pretty cool, but not huge. Overall it’s a great place to spend a few days, well worth a trip. And Candymonium is going to be one of the best new coasters this year (Opens May 25th). If you go, be sure to venture into Chocolate World just outside the park as well, even if you only do the free chocolate tour ride, it’s a solid dark ride and you get some free candy when you get off.

I did 50 parks last year, my day at Hershey may have been my favorite. Rode Wildcat for 4 hours straight without getting off. Although riding Rise 7 times at Studios is a heavy contender there.

 

[hertamaniac]

I've heard a lot of good things about Hersey. We actually considered going there for vacation this summer. Hard to beat the price - $100 for 2 days (or $165 for a season pass) which gives you admission to the park, water park, zoo and the new Hersey Town they're building.

I went to college near Hershey and loved going on weekends to the park. The monorail ride is really neat and goes over the zoo and near downtown. The Chocolate World attraction is open year round and free. Not to age myself, but when I/we would go, they had G.I. Joe figures as loading dock personnel in the models!

https://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/en_us/things-to-do/hersheys-chocolate-tour.html
If you go, you might want to consider Knoebel's as well; it is a throwback amusement park and has free admission.

 

[piglet1979]

I wonder if some people are choosing to get a Gold Pass for Cedar Point instead of going to Disney. You always hear how Disney is offering free dining cause rooms aren't filling as they normally are. I wonder if people are giving up traveling and choosing to go places within driving distance.

That could be. it is much easier and cheaper to drive to Cedar Point several times in a season then spend 7 days on vacation somewhere.

 

[Phicinfan]

It’s a great park. Easily one of the best coaster parks, though not quite as impressive as Cedar Point’s collection. The zoo is pretty cool, but not huge. Overall it’s a great place to spend a few days, well worth a trip. And Candymonium is going to be one of the best new coasters this year (Opens May 25th). If you go, be sure to venture into Chocolate World just outside the park as well, even if you only do the free chocolate tour ride, it’s a solid dark ride and you get some free candy when you get off.

I did 50 parks last year, my day at Hershey may have been my favorite. Rode Wildcat for 4 hours straight without getting off. Although riding Rise 7 times at Studios is a heavy contender there.

Just as an aside, having lived in PA for a while, the extra attraction to Hershey is some other key areas to also visit, for example Gettysburg is a short drive away if you are a history buff like my family is...

 

[Feberin]

Just as an aside, having lived in PA for a while, the extra attraction to Hershey is some other key areas to also visit, for example Gettysburg is a short drive away if you are a history buff like my family is...

Also learning about the Amish and visiting one of the farms. My kids were fascinated by the Amish when we did a vacation in Lancaster a few years ago. Also the Red Caboose hotel is fun if you don't care about room size and have kids who like trains.

 

[Amy11401]

We live about an hour and a half from Hershey and I have been several times in my life. We actually go to the Hershey area quite frequently. We went a few years ago to Hershey Park when DS was a toddler, we went during the week and had very little waits for things....granted we weren't doing big roller coasters at the time. Anyway when I went as a kid,I also experienced very little waits during the week even on roller coasters. Well....we went this past summer again on a weekday and we experienced much longer waits for things than I ever had in the past. I think we waited in line for Laff Track longer than most lines at Disney. It made me miss my Disney Fastpasses. They now have a Fastpass system at Hershey too....which we did not get....I don't know if that contributed to the lines.

 

[mvk]

Just as an aside, having lived in PA for a while, the extra attraction to Hershey is some other key areas to also visit, for example Gettysburg is a short drive away if you are a history buff like my family is...

Exactly what we did. Drove to Hershey on Thursday, did Chocolate World that afternoon, took advantage of the “sneak peek” that allows you to enter park free after 8pm if you have a ticket you plan on using next day, went back to the park (and Chocolate World) on Friday, then drove the ~45 minutes to Gettysburg for Saturday/Sunday.

HersheyPark was nice, but as a family, we enjoyed Chocolate World and it’s offerings more, to be honest. We are equidistant from there and Cedar Point and while considered Cedar Point, decided on Hershey instead, mostly because of Gettysburg.

That was a fun long weekend but would never replace a planned Disney trip. We ended up at Disney for a day anyway this year when the weather was crappy in Clearwater. Perfect weather at Disney though.

 

[kymom99]

Exactly what we did. Drove to Hershey on Thursday, did Chocolate World that afternoon, took advantage of the “sneak peek” that allows you to enter park free after 8pm if you have a ticket you plan on using next day, went back to the park (and Chocolate World) on Friday, then drove the ~45 minutes to Gettysburg for Saturday/Sunday.

HersheyPark was nice, but as a family, we enjoyed Chocolate World and it’s offerings more, to be honest. We are equidistant from there and Cedar Point and while considered Cedar Point, decided on Hershey instead, mostly because of Gettysburg.

That was a fun long weekend but would never replace a planned Disney trip. We ended up at Disney for a day anyway this year when the weather was crappy in Clearwater. Perfect weather at Disney though.

Gettysburg is awesome. We hired a private tour guide. It was incredible and not very expensive.

 

[Phicinfan]

Hershey has a ton of stuff in the areas...
1) Hershey
2) Chocolate world
3) Amish country - agree with previous poster, this can be facinating to see and learn - as a Senior in HS we did a service trip and helped do a barn raising, never worked that hard in my life before
4) Gettysburg
5) Reading outlets - huge outlet area for shopping - one of the first "outlet" areas in the country
6) there are tours of mining areas where you get to go into the mines and see first hand what conditions are like - plus maybe find a fossil or two

For that matter, if you are looking for longer term vacation - you are just a couple hours from Valley Forge, as well as Philadelphia and Independence Hall, Ben Franklin Center and other key historical sites

 

[focusondisney]

I wonder if some people are choosing to get a Gold Pass for Cedar Point instead of going to Disney. You always hear how Disney is offering free dining cause rooms aren't filling as they normally are. I wonder if people are giving up traveling and choosing to go places within driving distance.

Free dining started over 10 years ago after 3 hurricaines hit Florida in 1 year & tourism was down during peak hurricaine season. It stuck around & became a popular promo. In effect, free dining became the “normal” way some people traveled to WDW. However, Disney has been cutting back on all discounts. And free dining seems to have especially been reduced. Last year‘s dates were limited & so far this year, only a few weeks have been offered with only a 3 week booking period. We don’t know if more will be offered or not. But, the parks are packed & resorts are often fully booked. Look at the resorts forum... there are often posts from people having a hard time finding room availability, especially for last minute trips. Disney seems to have successfully spread crowds out & eliminated slow periods. So, most people haven’t given up traveling & are still going to WDW even with reduced discounts.

 

[kymom99]

Gettysburg is awesome. We hired a private tour guide. It was incredible and not very expensive.

When I think back, it was around $60 for all of us to participate in the tour. You pay by the carload. Then I gave the guy a $20 tip. When I think about the quality of that tour and what I paid and compare it to what people might be willing to pay for a couple fast passes, it just makes me shake my head.

 

[mvk]

When I think back, it was around $60 for all of us to participate in the tour. You pay by the carload. Then I gave the guy a $20 tip. When I think about the quality of that tour and what I paid and compare it to what people might be willing to pay for a couple fast passes, it just makes me shake my head.

We spent Saturday doing specific things - Ranger programs, guided hike, Jennie Wade House, 7:00 Taps at National Cemetary, etc then did the car/audio tour on Sunday. Probably spent twice as much time as most on the car tour though - was like a 6 hour tour for us. This trip replaced the field trip my 6th grader had to miss due to other commitments. Between learning about it in school, reading a lot about the battle as a family beforehand, and watching the Turner movie, the kids had a good idea what to expect and had some things they absolutely wanted to see in person.

 

[Funfire240]

I have a season pass for Cedar Point. I have noticed that since the offer of a new Gold pass which includes Parking and the Halloween event that it's been much busier then usual. I know they don't have the same attendance as Disney does but I wonder if Cedar Point and other regional parks have taken away Disney?

I don't think this would have any change to Disney. As for Cedar Point, with offering the Gold Pass now there are so many more people that are fairly local that bought the passes and already went 5-6 times last fall where normally they would only go 1 or maybe 2 times a year and it had no impact on other vacations.