Is Disney worth the money?

[Mole83]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

I'm a 40-something bloke and I enjoy all the parks. But that's by-the-by.

However, the point I want to make is that Magic Kingdom isn't just for kids. Adults can, and most do, enjoy it as well. Similarly kids can, and do, enjoy the other 3 parks.

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As i said, each to their own..

[DisneyDaffodil]

Depends on your expectations. It is incredibly expensive, some will say you can cut costs by staying offsite, flying indirect, booking with free ddp, whilst all this is true, it is still an awful lot of money. Queues can be very long, fast passes help but a lot of time can be spent queueing in very hot temperatures, which can get tiresome and small children (and some adults) do find this too much.

If you love theme parks/Disney, then you will enjoy it and make lots of wonderful memories. This is why many people go year after year. Personally, I wouldn't want to go every year as I feel it would lose some of the magic and just become an expensive holiday. This year is our third Florida trip, 2 to Disney and one to Universal, and we are going to celebrate DDs 18th so a special occasion. We will probably not be going again for many years so feel it is worth the cost this year. But I would not spend that much for one holiday every year, we prefer to go on 2 or 3 holidays to cheaper locations and see new things. So we still spend the same amount of cash, but get more holidays for our money. But it is all personal choice obviously.

[macdonald]

I do believe Disney have become overly greedy in recent years,however you are asking people here like myself who mainly struggle to go year after year!It becomes an obsession!...I have heard rumors about paying for fast passes (unless staying deluxe) in 2020 but maybe they are just rumors!...I Love my Disney holidays but do get angry with a lot of the changes in recent times!..I am still booked for this year though!

[dismadbrit]

We have been going every year for many years, first when the kids were small, then into their teens, then adulthood. We have been with groups, friends, parents and on our own and will always go back.
We have also had many other holidays abroad to the US, Caribbean, city breaks and cruises, yes we have enjoyed them but that draw back to Disney keeps returning time after time... over priced, over crowded but what great times and memories we have stored from all our visits.

[pad406]

OP, you are so right, it is very subjective. But I do feel also very worth it. For us it breaks down like this:

Flights, well we have to fly somewhere unless we do a staycation. Difference with somewhere that we would like to go in Europe v Florida, probably about €1500 for the 4 of us if we book at the right time, somewhere else in the US < €800.

Accommodation. Will be needed no matter where we go. One of the great advantages in Orlando is the choice. There is pretty much something for every taste and every budget, so you pick what suits you. We stay on site, usually in the BC. Yes it's expensive for what you get (hotel wise) but the location is perfect. We choose to go at Christmas, already an expensive time, but our time (especially when on holiday) is valuable to us. The ease of access to the parks, popping in and out when we want, that's worth it for us.

Food. Again there is choice for every budget. Plenty of reasonable alternatives outside the parks.

Tickets. Expensive on the face of them, but look at the value. We'll be paying roughly €465 for 21d Disney ultimates and €245 for Universal 3 day park to park. Conservatively we'll spend on average 6hrs per day in a park. Works out at less than €5 per hour for Disney and €16 for Universal. Considering the rides, shows, fireworks and everything else that's available, that seems fantastic value for money to me.

The memories. To quote the Mastercard ad, 'priceless'. We've traveled many places and has some great times, but I can honestly say, that although great memories have been made almost everywhere, there are memories from Disney that just stand out. The first time the kids walked up Main St in MK, first time seeing Wishes, our first morning waking up in AKL and there was a giraffe just outside the window, the day a CM sang a rendition of Happy Birthday to my daughter in HS and brought the surrounding crowd to a standstill, my son meeting Stitch and getting a telling off for not having any Stitch pins on his lanyard, DW getting made a show of in Chef Mickeys for calling Pluto Goofey and so many more.

So for us, worth it? 100% yes, every single time.

[Persnicketty]

What a bunch of great, well balanced responses!

Some observations...

1. Folk who go to WDW without educating themselves on the experience beforehand will often suffer from culture shock, wasted time and disappointment. The entire world...and its granny... want to go there. Its inevitable the parks will be crammed. So doing some planning is essential...and for repeat visitors, this can become wearing and they can fall out of love with the grind... for a while.

2. We're repeat visitors and only today, on the stroke of midday, we booked some fast-passes for the Flight of Passage ride in Animal Kingdom. My perfectly sensible daughter in law whooped with delight at her workplace and told me I had just "made her holiday"... so the planning itself CAN be fun... but you need to be smart about it. Its you versus the world versus limited spaces.

3. Flip side... for the longest time there was a sort-of-ok minor ride in EPCOT in the Norway Pavilion ... a viking ship water ride. Never busy. Never a queue... a place to escape the heat. However when it was re-branded as Frozen Ever After and re-decorated whilst retaining the same basic boat experience, people were nearly committing crimes to get on it. Obsessed with it. So, if we arent careful we can become blinded by fads and building an entire day around that "must-do" ride, when in fact there is plenty of fun to be had EVERYWHERE in WDW if we stay sensible.

4. We love the whole Orlando experience... been going since 1989 when we got married there. We know the good, the bad and the ugly and are realistic about it.

Would we still go there without our kids and our grandchildren? Probably not... but only because it wouldn't feel the same without them...but lots of adults and mature folk DO have a blast on their own. :-)

[Gezzs]

Well done getting FOP FPs!

...and we've been on that Viking Boat ride. Utterly forgetful. Thanks for the heads up that Frozen is basically the same ride. Will give that one a miss.

[Forkbeard]

It's all subjective, but a lot of folks find the holiday just flies by and when it's over they long to return. I think this is proof of the value. Now whether that value matches the spend is hard to qualify. A question to ask is... do you have another type of holiday that costs less and evokes that kind of feeling?

I have one friend who hated it and so did his wife and young son. I consider them quite odd though and everyone else I know loves it to bits.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Sarahsmiler

The park is run down and I think it now only draws such crowds due to the cult like following of the Disney brand.

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Clearly, in order for the crowds to keep on increasing at the parks, it must be attracting new people who haven't been to Disney before. These people can't yet be part of the cult-like following (although they might be after visiting ). Also, if more people are visiting then it implies it must be becoming more affordable, relatively speaking. Or, at least, it must be becoming more attractive to these people in order to justify the higher costs.

In general, if the parks were getting less appealing (whether because they are becoming run down, have a lack of attractions, are getting too crowded, etc) whilst the price was increasing then the number of visitors - and therefore the crowds - would reduce. That isn't happening - quite the opposite!

[SimonB]

Some great responses and I don’t think there is a right answer.

If you enjoy it and your kids enjoy it then it’s great value. I do agree with an earlier poster who says it’s getting too busy though.

One of my Facebook friends and his family are there at the moment and it looks like they are having a great time.

Am I jealous? No, because I’m off to Cape Town in. Couple of days at a fraction of the price and is more what I prefer doing these days.