Has anyone regretted going to Disney Florida?

[ForthethingsIdo]

I feel I want to take my child but am so put off by the crowds and queues.

I’ve read people often stand in queues for 60-90min to ride.

Is it really worth it?

Thank you

I agree with you

Having gone back and read a few comments (hadn't before my other post!), a few thoughts...
I am a travel agent, so I am privileged that I have been able to visit many, many places. I still love Disney World. It's an escape from the real world, and I love that.
I first took my daughter just after she turned 3. She doesn't remember everything, but she remembers a lot & MY memories of her dancing with Beauty & The Beast are priceless. She loved it at the time, & even if her memories are fuzzy now, there are loads of photos & we had a blast at the time. Whether you first go there at 2, 22, or 102, there is something for everyone.
There's also a myth that it is a "Once In A Lifetime" holiday. I mean, it CAN be, but you can actually go year after year and still not see & do it all because it is constantly evolving, changing and growing. Next year they will open another Universal Park & it's entirely possible Disney will add a 5th park at some point, so 2 weeks will never be enough to cover it all.

veryberry89 You are absolutely right..not all people enjoy the same things and the world would be a boring place if we did! But by the same token to label people who didn't like the Disney theme parks, 'joyless' or 'having done it wrong', as some posters have, is just rude and arrogant. Thank goodness we don't all like Disney Parks as reduces the queues for those that do!

I agree with all of this as we have been going for years since before our children born and during their lives and now they are adults we would still go without them.
It has changed every time and I have always had an amazing time.
January after Christmas good time as still in 70s and some Christmas decs left over but lovely temperature.
Last time we went was my least favourite due to new Disney plus and lightening lanes etc. it wasn't as relaxing but maybe that's a case of getting used to it. Also everything was more expensive and we really noticed this with food. But saying that I think this is the same with life generally at the moment even at home.
Despite these new changes which I don't agree with or like I would still go back.

We go every year. It's honestly SO worth it. You'll create the best memories. Just seeing your child's face light up taking everything in. Yes the queues can be long, but you can buy passes to shorten them and even if you don't there is so much to do in the queues. Do it, you won't regret it.

I haven't labelled anyone anything though just incase people don't read whole thread

We went at Easter with our four year old DD, and we had the best time. We stayed at Disney Springs and mostly used the hotel buses to the parks, we had a car for a few days and drove to the parks once I think. It was busy however we were expecting this and we paid for Genie plus most days which meant we didn’t queue for much at all, yes it’s expensive but when we were paying so much to go in the first place we prioritised paying for Genie plus over a fancier hotel (the ones we stayed in were really nice!) and other stuff to make sure we got the most out of the trip. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to get the most out of genie plus.

Firstly, Disney/Orlando doesn't HAVE to cost £12k+. The last trip I did was under £3k for 2 adults and a child for flights, hotel, and tickets for all the parks for 2 weeks. Admittedly it was pre-covid, so it is more expensive now, but there is no way we would have been able to go to Vietnam for that! (And I had family living out there at the time, so I HAD checked!). Even now, though, I can get my clients to Orlando on a much smaller budget than 12k!
Also, people on this thread probably wouldn't be discussing where else they have been because the OP specifically asked about Disney World. You haven't been to Disney World. You have been to Disneyland Paris, which is almost as different to Disney World as Vietnam is! As someone who has been to Disney World, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland California, and Disneyland Hong Kong, I can tell you they are all different and Disney World is by far the best. Just because you didn't like DLP doesn't mean you would find WDW disappointing.

I would never pay 12k on a holiday yes it's expensive but definitely not 12k that's beyond us.

Exactly and there is alot more to do in Orlando/florida than just theme parks.

Sorry my previous entry was meant to be linked to another posters comment so doesn't make sense.
We have paid more than 12k and would again if could afford it in future.

Some people say it is a ridiculous amount to spend but we work 'very' hard, don't smoke or drink much and do without other things to do this.
I have mates who do all of above, out alot, beauty treatments, major house improvements etc etc etc so everyone different in what they want to spend their money on. Currently can't afford to go but hopefully in future again.

We have just paid £15k

Pay the school fine and go out of school holidays - we've been twice - once in term time and once at Easter - term time was better, last week of November and first week of December - lovely Christmas memories

I’d rather do lockdown all over again than stand in queues of 60min + at Disney. 🤣🤣🤣

@AuContraire were going this Easter. 2 adults and 2 kids (though one will be 10 so classed as an adult by Disney standards), 11 nights staying at a moderate resort (Caribbean Beach). Flights, hotel and park tickets are costing us just under £10k but we also got a 5% discount as DH is ex Forces. Blue Light discount (police, NHS, fire brigade) also get the same - you just have to phone Disney after you’ve made the booking and they’ll apply the discount to your outstanding balance. Quite often you can get 4-5% off by booking via a Cashback site.

We knocked £2k off our initial quote by opting to fly indirect (we’re going London-NYC-Orlando and reverse on return).

Staying offsite will always be cheaper but as it’s our first trip we wanted the full experience and to take advantage of the early hours access.

We’re budgeting another £2-£2.5k to cover food and souvenirs - we’re not getting the dining plan as it doesn’t work out as good value for us.

We enjoyed Disney, although I doubt we will go back. But it is not true there is lots to do on the queues. There is a bit, but not lots. And you do see miserable looking and crying kids in the queues.

As 2 adults taking 2 children in their school holidays, you are probably needing £2k for direct flights, £2k just for tickets to Disney (assuming 14 days for price of 7 offer is running), Car parking £23 a day, Car hire and petrol maybe £700. Then budget accomodation maybe £3000. That's £8,000.
Then you have food, souvenirs, parks others than Disney, character meals, queue passes, if that floats your boat, so it adds up. I'd imagine £12,000 is about average for Easter or Summer holidays. I can quite easily see how it can reach £15,000 if you are adding in Discovery Cove (£600 a day!), Legoland, Universal Studios etc

I haven’t been to Disneyland/Florida for 30 years but I probably have more memories of it than any other part of my life. It’s unlike anything else - the smells, the heat, the magic.

Direct flights are £800-1000 each in the holidays even for children, they've gone up massively now. Even indirect is about £6-700 unless you want a 30 minute or 8 hour layover unfortunately!

"Most who go to Disney don't go anywhere else much" What a silly and snooty comment. We have always travelled extensively worldwide with our DC. We have done many adventurous holidays (e.g. African safaris, Inca trail, Galapagos, Alaska, Vietnam) wonderful exotic beach holidays and numerous city trips like New York, Rio, Buenos Aires. We also ski each season. We still visit family favourites of Mauritius or Maldives all together although my DC are now grown up. When our DC were little, we took them to Disneyland Paris. We also visited Disneyland Hong Kong as part of a trip to the Far East and we tied in Disneyland California and Universal Studios when we were in LA as part of a month-long Californian trip. We all had great fun at Disney. All this travel you have supposedly done doesn't seem to have done much to open your mind.

I took my 11 year old dd to Disneyland a year ago in august. Was hot! The queues didn’t feel that long at all due to all the bits along the way to the rides tbh! Water sprayers on too whilst waiting which were great! We planned what days and rides we wanted to go on and after a couple of days had a rest day by the pool so not too exhausting! Will definitely go back and my daughter loved it! Would advise on the fast pass on some rides too as that was worth it and you could book via the Disney app the day you are going. Was expensive but saved for 3 years (due to covid) so that was easier. I enjoyed it too as an adult! Didn’t do meals in the park as such.. did big brekkie and snack in the day then ate in the evenings, park was expensive. Did lyft rides to the parks too as cheaper than parking there and so easy!

I went when I was a kid and my only memories are of standing in queues, so if you're going to make memories with your children....

We were meant to go but cancelled because of covid (not been able to fit it in again) and it would have been £6k including flights, 2 adults and a child.
That included all our food and a gift card which would cover most souvenirs. Really all we would have spent on top was tips in restaurants.
My SIL/BIL once spent over £2k on a 3 night stay at centre parcs, definitely felt like better value.

DSis has an apartment in Clearwater (Canadian snowbird) and we have been lots of times since mid 90s, most recently 2013 when we stayed in a villa at Windsor Hills. We did have a good time.

However, it's not the magical place it was in the 90s. Now every ride ends in a gift shop. There are far too many people let in to be comfortable. Queueing is horrendous now in comparison to the 2000s. There were lots of free attractions previously - my DCs favourite was Minnies house where they could sit a table and feel they were in a Disney cartoon! Characters wandered around the park and photographs were free. I remember one January I was sitting having a coffee at the foot of Splash Mountain and they went straight up and down again because there were NO queues. We loved River Island (?) as it was so laid back.

October 2013 there wasn't anything with queues less than an hour. That's too long for kids to stand in line, even although they do manage the queues quite efficiently. Even the water parks were rammed. The lazy rivers were like people soup...

To answer OP's question, no we haven't regretted it. It's a good place for us to meet as a family as my DCs could see their cousins. We've had good times but no, it's not the best holiday ever.