Disney Hell

[Imindisneyhell]

”enjoying” a once in a lifetime trip to Disney Florida. We thought we were being so clever going the week before our Easter school holidays. The weather for March looked perfect (it is to be fair) but we had absolutely no idea it was spring break here and the travel agent never mentioned it either.

the queues and the crowds have been horrific. Some rides had wait times of over 4 hours 😡

my kids have enjoyed seeing the characters etc but we’ve actually managed to do a small fraction of the rides that we wanted to do

I’m aware of Genie + and Lightning Lane but having already spent over £3k on tickets for a family of 4 - never mind what we’ve already spent on flights and accommodation it sticks in the gullet to be asked to pay yet more money

plus every single car park charges a parking fee or $30 ($55 if you want to park a bit nearer to the entrance 😡)

I mean how fucking grabby and greedy can one company be.

my children have enjoyed it but absolutely insisted on not going out today. They’ve been in and out of the pool all day and also watching Netflix.

we fly back in a few days but honestly I just feel robbed (quite literally)

how do people do this more than once or every year? (I know of at least one couple with their child who does this trip at least every 18 months). I never want to come back 😂

Yes we always went to beaches afterwards to recover

Spring break + Easter, always gonna be a nightmare. Always consult crowd calendars before booking Disney, not all weeks are equal.

Disney Florida is my idea of hell. No mercy for those who fall into its hell pit.

This sounds utter misery

It used to be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper pre Covid - I went annually for a few years. And even went for a week in my first week of uni! Parking was free if you stayed in a Disney hotel or $14 - preferred was $25

The 14 day park ticket used to be under £400!

Fastpasses were free - on a 1st come 1st served basis and you did it in person - not glued to your phone.

We priced up going last year and a similar holiday to our last one in November 2019 for 2 people was about £3k more expensive. We went to Paris instead.

The combination of the closure from Covid causing them to need to make back the money, and people taking delayed holidays there has just ramped up the pricing and whilst people pay it, it’ll stay high.

I absolutely love Florida and do hope to get back but won’t be for a few years yet

Oh Dear OP. Easter and Christmas are the two busiest times of the year. These holidays are the same world wide over. Not sure how much, if any planning you’ve done for this holiday. I don’t want to be unkind but it doesn’t sound like much. Can budget stretch to genie plus and get what you can out of the time you’ve got left. Where are you staying? Lyft or Uber might be cheaper or get to Disney springs and then use Disney transport to get to the parks (if that still possible).

Please don’t revisit Discovery Cove or Sea World while you are there.

It's also teaching your children that USA vile commercial shit is fantastic. How about a nice simple beach holiday in Greece instead? You might find that a genuine sea with real things you see when snorkeling, and engaging with nature in general, is more interesting for kids and better for their mental health and development, than a 4-hour queue for a machine in a theme park.

We are here too OP, we’ve been here for two weeks. This last week has been busier.

We are choosing a ride to head to the minute parks opens. We are in a Disney hotel so have the 30 mins first which is helping. Yesterday we queued a lot less than a few days ago, so it really does vary between parks and days. We haven’t paid for Genie, but DH and DD have used individual lightening lane a couple of times for specific rides. Well worth the money for no queues for a popular ride.

We researched a lot before we came. And have an idea of ride order for each park. But we are lucky to be here for quite a few days, so taking our time to get through the rides. It’s a lot harder with less days and more rides to fit in.

Hope you can enjoy the rest of your holiday xx

There is also loads of things to do outside theme parks. Popular misconceptions that people that go to Orlando only go to theme parks-so annoying.
Nature and coast and wildlife and all those real things too. Beautiful lakes etc etc Theme parks just an extra bonus.
There are so many amazing things to do as well as the theme parks that are pretty brilliant if you had researched holiday abit better before going.

I accept that I didn’t do enough research. We’ve never been before, my MIL instigated the trip as she wanted to do it whilst she was fit and well. Quite honestly we chose this time as it was said it was the best weather. My DD was having an operation in Feb so that was out of the question. We didn’t want to go when it was its hottest in July/August so it was like a process of elimination as to when the best time was to go. From Sept this year onwards we’ll be fined for taking the kids out of school.

I know that sounds naive and it is but that’s how genuinely we got to decide on March 😔

yes we feel like fools but we aren’t the only ones - another family from my DC’s class is also here at the same time and we’ve been swapping waiting time horror stories 😂

I think it's really hard to work out spring breaks as even if you look up general spring break in florida and surrounding areas - we are in Georgia and get a week in February and a week now in April but I know 4 other school schedules just in our area ( with different winter break and spring break timings ) and we are perfect traveling distance to Disney - I honestly think there's never a good week to go - every time we go it's crazy busy - don't beat yourself up about not knowing about spring break is what I'm trying to say

Yes, every school district in the country sets their own spring break. There are peak weeks though and this week is it.

you want to look at the various Disney travel sights. They all have their own crowd prediction calendars. They won’t all agree and they are far from perfect, but they still help quite a bit.

the best time at Disney we ever had was the second week in September. Absolutely every child is in school that week it seems. We literally walked onto rides.

How disappointing for you op. Charging for parkong is a pisstake. Went to Florida before dd was 2 so we didn't pay for her , couldn't afford to go these days.
Hope it improves for you.

Everyone else there is in the same boat so how are they all having a nice time? Or is everyone miserable?

Sorry you've had a tough time. I think there was prob very high expectations (completely understandable) and that makes it all the worse!
There's a lot of walking at Disney so a day splashing about it prib just what everyone needs.

I'm on a few Disney FB groups as my kids love theme parks and the weather is appealing (in spring!) but it all sounded so stressful we decided against.

However, in your situation, if it wouldn't put me into debt, I'd pay whatever to get the lightning lanes now. (Not sure genie+ was worth it unless you are super organised, based on what I read) Or figure out what rides your family want to prioritise and just do those. Or just seek out the fun themed snacks (prob cost the same as an LL, but lasts longer!)

It's Disney !!!! ... What did you expect, really ?

Not all schools or districts have spring break the same week. Your travel agent can't predict when spring break happens, therefore.

Disney is jammed at the best of times.

I'd take the car and drive elsewhere if I were you. There's so much more than Disney in Florida.

magicguides.com/day-trips-from-disney-world/

Well we have been to the hell pit of Disney World and fucking loved it but then we planned it around crowd calendars and when fast pass was free. In fact we loved it so much we went back again several times. My children would be bored witless on a beach holiday. Each to their own.

You do have to plan, it isn't like rocking up to a UK theme park. The sheer size of the parks, Magic Kingdom has 70,000 visitors on a normal day. We stay onsite so Disney transport and early entry.

Crowd calendars are your friend as is paying for Genie + and lightning lane as you are already there so best to make the most of it. I think working out what your priorities are now, what you absolutely want to get on or see (Flight of Passage hands down for me, then Fantasmic show and Tower of Terror) I am sorry that you are not enjoying it and it is shit when you have spent that kind of money on it too.

Same here. Will never go and luckily my kids aren’t interested.

We're heading there in a few weeks. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by the whole thing but DH has been planning meticulously. Impossible trip without a lot of planning!

As to how people do this repeatedly, know when to book to get the best deal on flights, where to fly from (Dublin, clear US immigration and customs in Dublin, plus not a UK airport so much cheaper) book early enough that you get what was free dining which is now the gift card that covers food/purchases which meant booking 16 months out for us. So no food or drinks costs whatsoever for us. No car hire as on site, Uber if going anywhere off site.

Basically research, I was lucky that I knew someone who had been, went on The Dibb forum for all things Disney/Universal/Florida and got loads of advice, watched youtube videos etc. I am a planner though, I do this with all holidays/house renovation etc.

We went in 2017 and 2019 as a family of 4 and both times I planned each park months in advance - rides we wanted to do, fast passes to book (different system back then), checked crowd calendars, planned routes around the parks etc. planned other days out and rest days at weekends. Gatorland and Kennedy space Center are fab if you fancy a change. You do need to plan it to get the most out of it unfortunately - if you read the bad reviews on Trip Advisor they’re usually from people who didn’t plan. You shouldn’t have to plan months in advance what you want to do each day but it’s the way it is - it’s the busiest theme park in the world.

😂oh bless you, I don't envy you, my idea of hell!

Hope your last few days improve!

If you only have a few days left then I would splash out on genie plus for at least a couple of them. Make sure you watch some YouTube videos on how to get the most out of it though as it’s not straightforward! Have you managed to get on the virtual queues for guardians of the galaxy (best ride at Disney) and Tron?

As you now know it’s just not a ‘wing it’ holiday. You need to research and plan to get the most out of it. Luckily I love planning. We have been multiple times but things keep changing and I plan and research just as hard each time 😀

A good week is the last in august/early September just before U.K. schools go back because many us schools are already back. But to be honest, stick to Paris, I prefer it myself