Is Disney worth the money?

[beezer]

We first went in 1998 and have been on at least 15 times , we even got married in Orlando .However , last year we did a California / Nevada / Grand Canyon trip with a 4day Disneyland visit and it was much less money . It seemed much more like the old Disney we used to love , old fast pass which seemed fairer , better menus in the parks and not so crowded . Disneyworld Orlando just seem like they want every dollar . We had a better Disney hotel experience in Disney Paris than our last trips to Orlando , we h ave stayed at six different Orlando hotels . This year we will be down at Clearwater and then up to Universal . We will go again someday because we have so many happy memories maybe when Disney stops being so obviously money grabbing. Our son is soon 13 and Universal is much more exciting for him now .

[Persnicketty]

Originally Posted by Forkbeard

That seems so ludicrously inexpensive that I can't believe the calculations are right?!?

See more...

You inspired me to price up our forthcoming stay - 4A and 2C under 8, BA indirect, Luxury SUV, 3 days of hotel stays on the Gulf and at Hard Rock, book-ending 2 weeks in a really lovely 5 bedroom Dibb villa, Ultimate Plus tickets incl Legoland, with several character meals booked and paid in advance.

Even absorbing the total child costs into the adult costs and our expected eating-out budget (twice a day), ours is £196 per adult per day... and in all likelihood will end up being closer to your £175.

A cheeky low cost week lazing in Zakynthos with Jet2 cost us £105pppd

[ratmanscoop]

Quite a few questions in that post:

I'll probably get lynched for this question! I know it's very subjective but just wondering if people think it is worth the money they charge?

See more...

- Yes, it's expensive, but compared to the price of Disney's competitors and especially what they offer for kids, it's worth doing. If you're able to make use of a large part of what they have to offer (e.g. spend at least most of a day at 5 or more of the Disney locations) then it compares favourably to the cost of similar attractions in the UK, and Disney is definitely in a different league.

Will we get on rides without huge queues?

See more...

Some, but not all. On the assumption you're travelling during school holidays there will be a few situations where you either wait a long time, or miss out. If you plan it well, these can be reasonably well mitigated - if you stay in a Disney hotel, they can be largely avoided, but of course that carries considerable expense.

I know there will be queues but does the fast pass system work well?

See more...

- Sort of, on all but the busiest days, having an FP+ reservation is a solid guarantee you'll be waiting an acceptable time for a ride, typically less than 15 minutes, sometimes less than 5.
Problem is, you won't get enough of them to deal with all the queues you would otherwise encounter - it's all too often a case of deciding between one or the other.

[Clamshell]

Originally Posted by Miasmum

I'll probably get lynched for this question! I know it's very subjective but just wondering if people think it is worth the money they charge?
We are goin next year and given that we have 4 kids, the cost of the tickets would be pretty high!
Do people think it's worth it? Will we get on rides without huge queues? I know there will be queues but does the fast pass system work well?
I know only we can decide whether to pay the money for them but just curious about people's thoughts?

See more...

It’s worth different amounts to different people. Some people will go once and come away having decided it’s not for them - and then there are Dibbers!

Dibbers and other likeminded people go again and again and there are similar alternative forums full of more people who think the same.

Chances are, if you decide to go, and do some planning and prep, you will have a whale of a time, ride plenty of rides a snow come home glad of every penny you spent.

Go on... you won’t know unless you try!

[Mrs dee]

Hmmm honestly - after spending a good few thousands every year for the last 15 yrs doing all inclusive in the med and the canaries ( and many more years before that prekids... ) I honestly love love love Walt disney world. With the dining plan it just makes it more affordable for us as a family it's as simple as that. We went for the first time three years ago and the dibb encouraged me to stay onsite and for us this is where our magic begins. My family for some reason are just a friggin nightmare. Take ages to get up , time we get brekkie , back to the room for the toilet ( because they just got to before going to a park lol) - for us to stay in a villa or international drive and then have to drive wherever we need to go is my idea of absolute hell ! Disney onsite just works for us and is as near to all inclusive as we can get. There is so much to do in Florida but you can simply stay and enjoy wdw because it is quite simply a HAPPY PLACE.( for us anyway) with loads and loads to do. Staying onsite also means park daytime and park evening with pool time in between. Booked again for the third time and whilst it means crazy saving and watchful spending it is worth every penny for us ❤️ - despite crazy increases each time I book. Although we did onsite for three nights at universal as well one year - Disney is better at the moment for us. I'm going to get shot at for saying this lol - but universal to me was more like a fancy pleasure beach - a couple of days was enough to see it. WDW there's still more for me to see an enjoy whilst the kids are young. Yes insane planning at times that my kids and hubby don't get lol ... I'm the one who organises fastpasses etc but I wouldn't have it any other way

[adamtoonarmy]

No, it isn't worth the money, but I'm going anyway so I will just shut up

[Hrm27]

Yes all the way, universal however we don’t rate as highly.

[Mia1]

Originally Posted by neatfrk

This is truly a tricky question! You will no doubt get a diverse range of responses. Should be an interesting thread.

At the heart of the matter is personal preference towards value. Value is situational, and each individual person (and family) decides independently what return from the parks, accommodations, attractions, dining, experiences, etc. exceeds whatever it cost them to visit (in time, money and energy).

For me and my family, sadly the answer is now no. Disney is no longer worth it for us. Ask me 5-6 years ago...I would have been an evangelist and passionately convincing you that WDW is the best option for family vacations for a variety of exciting reasons. Nowadays though, I warn people to avoid WDW - or do my best to help prepare hopeless first timers that ask for advice (yes...I'm the office 'Disney guy').

Over the last decade, my family has been fortunate to visit many times - and I think because of our frequent visits spread over a long period of time the downward trend in service and overall experience at WDW is painfully obvious.

Everyone's mileage will vary - and that's the beauty of personal choice in where to spend discretionary holiday cash. For me though, my most recent trip to WDW was the last for many years to come. I left at peace with the memories, but very also sad seeing what is happening with overcrowding, crazy FP+ driven waits on lessor attractions, dumbed-down menus, up-charges for virtually everything, reduced EMHs, run down rides and the general six-months-ahead-of-time nonsense that must be endured to secure free dining, premium FP+s, etc. The 'work' (and it really has become work) to book and optimize a Disney vacation just is not worth it any longer. For me, it isn't even purely a cost factor. Sure it is expensive - but if the vacation was mostly enjoyable, I could easily justify the spend. The reality these days is that the parks themselves are not nearly as enjoyable as they once were. Blame the crowds, lack of new innovation, FP+ system, continued conversion of what used to be 'free' over to hard ticket (the list goes on)...it isn't just one particular thing; it is the blending of many many things that have negatively impacted the actual park experience (in my view).

There are plenty of other options out there - and once we broke from the Disney bubble we realized how much we enjoy traveling elsewhere, taking cruises all over, and the advantages of Universal for our Florida fix should we need one.

Rant over...just my opinion...as promised 'your mileage may vary'. If you made it this far, thanks for listening to my opinions!

See more...

agree with quite a lot of this but we've been a few times (14 soon to be 15) and we love it however this upcoming trip will be our last for a while, not to Florida just Disney as going again doing universal only. As its your first time I would say its worth every penny. Despite getting lots of opinions you need to try it yourself & make you own mind up.

[jomarise]

For us, no. We have two teenage children who love Universal, Seaworld and BG. So its not worth us paying for a 14 day ticket for Disney as we wont spend more than 2 days there. We will however get a 2 day hopper ticket. Work out what you plan on doing first and then look at the cheapest way to do the tickets - there are plenty of options. Happy planning.

[Th1nkT1nk]

I’m a definite yes!
We took my 6 year old for the first time last year ... 7 months on, she still speaks about it every single morning on the way to school, plays ‘guess the ride’ games constantly and drags the photo album out regularly. I don’t know many other places that would have that kind of lasting impact on her. We had to save really hard to go... making some sacrifices along the way, but for us it was worth every penny. Also, if I was going on a ‘normal’ holiday, I would maybe look forward to going for a few weeks before... Disney world provides a good 18 months worth of research and excitement... So for us, it’s just a case of ‘when’ we’ll go back, not ‘if’!