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 😂

Me too. My daughter went with her boyfriend when she was 21 to make up for my cruelty!

I did exactly the same about 20 years ago, booked DisneyWorld, Florida, at the height of Spring Break. It was horrendously busy and expensive then too. I thought March would be a quiet time to go. How wrong could I be?

Internet searching wasn’t really such a big thing at the time, but I learned a lesson. Now before I go anywhere abroad I always check to see if there is some enormous festival or other event taking place.

I always used to take mine to Disneyland in California. Hotel over the road from the entrance next to a Denny's and IHOP

There at rope drop every morning and it was so nice and quiet. Managed a few rides going round 3 times as it was so quiet.
Danced in a few parades with DS2 as I found out where to wait and who to ask.. Had so much fun.

Disney World is a totally different kettle of fish. My idea of hell! Too many people, queues massively long even with the fast track I had for my boys (autism) We had way too many meltdowns on that trip and I was glad we also had universal passes /wet'n'wild.

We go for the DC
They love it and that makes us (ok me !) happy

There’s a great Facebook group called It’s Orlando Time that’s really useful for hints and tips and insider info.

We went a few years ago. I was really hesitant about going. I envisaged two weeks of noise, heat, people, queues, etc and yes it was hot and crowded but I really loved it. The whole atmosphere and ambience was incredible and we’d love to go back. August is the less busy time because it’s hotter than Satan’s armpit but the queues are easier. I really didn’t think I’d love it but I did. You have to see it to believe it, there’s simply nothing in Britain that remotely compares to how America does theme parks and entertainment.

And the rides are awesome.

For the sake of actually enjoying your last few days I’d just get the genie plus, it will help massively!

It doesn’t work like that any more. You pay for fast passes and you can’t do it in advance.

OP it’s going to be busy, try and get there as soon as you can in the mornings.

ho in October next time.

Definitely don't go in October if you don't want crowds!! Halloween and the build up is incredibly busy!

We done our research went in May was quieter. Sorry i know its no help to you saying this.
Still planned all the rides etc to make sure we got what we wanted out of each day. Every 2nd day was a pool day as its utterly exhausting walking aground the parks.
Visit NASA best day trip ever!
We won't go back as been there done it and spent a fortune plus don't think we would be able to afford to again tbh.
It really is magical ✨️ I hope you can enjoy it.

They are grabby because the ques are already hours and hours long, to be honest they could do with doubling the price to make less people go so it isn't so busy!

But that's the point, why would a business who has no reason to give a flying hoot about the general publics financials make it cheaper when they're already over booked all the time

I cannot believe they charge for parking. That is a fucking pisstake!!

Exactly why we stick to Universal! Less queues, better fast pass system, cheaper - I could go on! You couldn’t convince me to go back to Disney - the stress sucks all the fun and magic out of it. Daylight robbery!

I love Disney. 💝
If you plan it well it's a ton of fun.

You’ve gone at the busiest time of year! We went in August and had a couple of thunder storms that stopped rides for 30 minutes but used the app and never queued for more than an hour.

The whole idea of a holiday is to be able to relax and enjoy yourself, carefree. Disney is more akin to a military operation if you want to gain any vague grain of enjoyment and fun from it

We’re here at the moment too and have found it pretty crazy, we’ve been a few times before in May, Feb, October and this is by far the busiest. We did discovery cove too and that was fun. Universal was rammed and Busch gardens was also crazy. Traffic a mare too. Gotta make the best of it though. Good luck!

Go late afternoon. We tried doing day times and it was awful but found it much better go stay home all day in the pool and then head back late afternoon.

We used to see loads of people leaving. Yes people come back for fireworks but then they would sit for 3 hours in their perfect spot to wait.

We would then be on rides!

We’ve been 3 times, each time 2 weeks Easter plus the week before. My DC were younger so the Spring Breakers weren’t too much trouble in the parks, apart from queues to get in, but the house that we stayed in had a group of about 20+ young adults staying over. They were in the pool virtually all night, shouting, running around etc. luckily our house had bedrooms in front of house so we slept there. We used to do a park one day, then stay in house with the pool the next.

Brilliant brilliant holiday before lightening lane/genie plus system.
They ruined Disney doing this.
We have been to Orlando about 17 times but last time this new system spoilt certain aspects.
Would still go back but Disney bosses if you reading this you are ruining it.....
The magic is going. You are getting too greedy and putting the holiday out of reach of normal people. I'm sure this isn't what Walt Disney wanted.
Disney hotel food and Disney springs food amazing. Disney park food not so.
Universal city walk restaurants terrible but universal parks good re rides.
I think both Disney and universal amazing not like a theme park in uk but I do feel some people and op I feel this with you that you had already decided you didn't like it so your mindset has been negative. Unfortunately your holiday almost over so time coming to end and I don't get the impression you will go back.

Been three times and only at busy times (twice at Easter and once at Christmas). The only time it was ‘too’ busy was Christmas week. If you’d done your research you’d have known the queue times will be very long at these times and you need to buy genie/lightning lanes some of the time. It’s also very clear that you have to pay for parking.

it is expensive but to be honest, no more expensive than any other luxury holiday that I can see (we spent £12k last time for 2 weeks and can’t find a European all inclusive for less than £6k for a week that we actually want to go to?) so I think it good value really as it’s far more memorable/fun imho. No point going into it blind though.

also - not greedy/money grabbing, it’s a business and based purely on demand. They are full, therefore everyone else is willing to pay what they are charging, and many consider it good value…

It's definitely about the research and meticulous planning. FB groups such as "It's Orlando time" can be really helpful. We stayed on a Disney property so we had access to extra magic hours, Disney transportation ( no need for parking) and we saved a lot on time and convenience.

We went mid July, which was of course incredibly busy, however we had planned each day to within an inch of its life, every fast pass, every restaurant, pretty much every toilet stop.

I know that approach doesn't work for everyone but what we gained was a two week holiday where we never once queued. Apart from passport control/immigration at the airport.

No exaggeration.

Now, if I were you, I'd invest in fast passes and make the most of the last few days

Easter, Halloween and Christmas are the busiest times in Disney. If crowds bothered you op you should have gone at a different time. Sorry but you really needed to do your research for such a big holiday.

When you have to queue for 4 hours does that mean physically standing still in a queue (rather than an app queue)? Why would anyone do that for a 2- minute ride?

OP bite the bullet & buy G+ for your last few days & do this:

• spend mornings by the pool
• start “stacking” rides every two hours
• Watch Mamouth Club on YouTube on how to stack for an evening in the park
• consult a crowd calendar to decide which part will be quiet
• head to park at about 3/4pm and you’ve got all your lightning lanes laid out ahead of you

Just buy the genie plus OP! You've already spent thousands, it makes no sense to complain about spending a bit more which would actually allow you to enjoy the holiday.
It is a very expensive holiday but that's what you signed up for.
If you absolutely can't afford to do that then rope drop the park (and by that I mean you need to arrive at the car park at least half an hour before the advertised opening time, so you are parked, through security and waiting for them to let you in) and you can either get on one 'headliner' ride with less of a queue or several smaller rides really easily before the crowds start to grow. But you need to be early and then have a plan of what you are going to do once you are in.
Then have a break at the pool in the afternoon and go back in the evening to get on more rides while the fireworks are on.