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

We've done Disneyland and it's just the right size that it doesn't overwhelm you

I’ve been about 8 times in my life from age 4 to now in my mid 30s - went last year with a friend, all previous trips with family and close family friends.

I love it and am frantically looking to see if I can go again this year because it’s my happy place.

Like any holiday, it requires some forward thinking and planning. But I say forward planning in a good way - I’ve never had a spreadsheet or a military plan like many do! Booking parks ahead of time is about to disappear thankfully which gives the full freedom back.

I didn’t find the forward planning / booking any worse than any other holiday. When I went to Amsterdam, I booked the Ann Frank house way ahead and the rest of the trip had to be planned around that. Likewise, I’ve booked plenty of excursions for holiday in advance to make sure I see and do what I want to do. I’ve researched restaurants, entertainment, shows….I booked the trip to Ellis Island in NY in advance, booked the Sydney Opera House tour 3 months ahead for when I was in Oz because I have no clue if I’ll ever make it back to Australia….

Disney requires similar forward thinking, because then you can get the most out of your money. It’s worth looking at restaurants ahead of time and yes you do have to play the game of booking them ahead at the 60 day mark (not all restaurants require booking but popular ones in the parks do). Outside dining though, most things can be done on the spur of the moment when you’re there, especially now park booking is going.

I would recommend doing your homework with regards to rides and shows, as well as peak times for parks and general geographical thinking. Parks are so much quieter in the morning….most people generally arrive between 10 and 11. A popular routine in my family was get to the parks at rope drop, leave midday for a pool break, return in the evening again for shorter lines (particularly during and FP after fireworks). Hollywood Studios last year for example, for me and my friend, the last two hours many rides were walk ons, despite the app saying 20 minute wait.

The hopping in and out though is easier if you stay on site. I have done a mixture of villas and Disney hotels - staying on Disney property saves a lot of hassle but does bring up the cost.

I just love the atmosphere. Yes there’s crowds but it really is magical. Nothing beats Mainstreet, the music, being a kid again and meeting the characters. My friend and I only waited more than an hour 3 times in a fortnight for rides….this is where your forward research and early starts pay off. Jet lag helps with early starts too.

Costing of course comes down to your budget and whether you would regret spending so much is also very unique to circumstances. I’ve stayed in the cheapest Disney hotel (All Stars) and would happily do so again. Free transport to the parks (never waited more than 15 minutes either direction), it was clean, comfortable, kids would love the theming, you can’t fault the staff, the staff make it.

Tickets are costly. 2 weeks is £539 for an adult atm, so for a family of 4 you’re talking £2k. It is worth considering though, when you divide 539 by 14 - works out as £38.50 a day. That’s actually cheaper than legoland and Thorpe park, and when you compare the experience, open from about 7 or 8 am until 9 / 10 pm or midnight) and much more to do, it’s much more worth the money. But obviously paying all that at once is a hell of a lot of money. You wouldn’t be saving much at all by buying 3/4 day tickets from American sites as they don’t get the same deal, it would almost cost the same for much less time. Those tickets include water parks and hopping and mini golf I believe. Disney transportation is free for everyone.

Lots of people get food deliveries to the hotel rooms to keep costs down (snacks, breakfast goods, drinks). There are water refill stations everywhere - I purchased only two drinks when I went, just refilled my chilly bottle.

I would recommend you do some thorough research into costs by trying out prices with every company - WDTC, Virgin, BA, TUI….flight hotel and park packages, then also price up separately and check coatings of villas and car hire, then decide what you really want from the holiday.

Disney is an experience - each ride is an experience and a story, there’s something about it.

However I can also see exactly why it is many peoples worst nightmare! Def watch some YouTube vlogs and Instagram pages to see.

I haven’t ever regretted it. It’s a much needed escape from reality and doesn’t have to be stressful at all.

There is much more planning required. I have never booked a restaurant two months in advance or even before I fly.

I’ll see you there! We kept an eye on the price for a while and booked when it dropped to a price we were happy with. We’ve gone for the dining plan though as it works for the things we want to do.

It does take some planning before you go - i.e. we have had to book restaurants 60 days before to get the ones we want - but it’s not particularly difficult and there are lots of helpful YouTube videos on making the most of the rides etc.

Have to laugh at the people slating it after having spent one or two days there; Disneyworld comprises four large, totally different theme parks, so I’m not convinced it’s fair to write the whole place off having only experienced a small part of it , and likely with very little planning if a last minute visit as some have mentioned. Or even worse those who haven’t been at all! Agree with the poster comparing it to Center Parcs in terms of the predictable responses.

We went 2 years ago and I really hated it. Hated Universal even more. The heat, the queues, the busy-ness, the expense, the sensory overload (although Disney was way better for this than Universal). Hated Orlando area - like constantly driving round giant out of town shopping roads. Did enjoy visiting a state park (although that had been concreted all over). Had to book a holiday to Spain as soon as I got home as palate cleanser. Anyway, we go back next month (and I already have a trip to Spain before and after to soothe my soul) because whilst it's my idea of hell, the rest of the family freaking love it (it's my husbands 6th trip)😂

My Disney experience is limited Hong Kong (not the best Disney park) which was quiet and easy to get on rides and to get photos but crazy crazy hot in August (probably a bit like Florida) and 2 days in Paris which was better and we all enjoyed. For Paris we went October half-term it was pretty busy in the parks but a one night and 2 day package staying in a Disney hotel for the middle night gives you magic hour passes for both days. Magic hours are your friend and planning a ride strategy in advance, whilst there are still a lot of hotel guests in the park for magic hours if you plan wisely (say hit a big ride at rope drop and then some of the smaller ones which basically have no queues) you can fit a lot of rides in that first hour before the crowds are let in, and with careful monitoring of queue times the rest of the day was manageable, usually queue times were max 30mins. In the studios though we did a lot of shows when it was really busy on the rides, I feel like there were 4 different shows running at that time. The only exception to the max 30 mins queuing was for the Spiderman ride, which was new at the time, we joined a queue that said 35 mins but it took at least 75mins. If you are happy to pay for fastpass (my husband won't) that will help, but adds up quickly.

There’s so many amazing places to visit in the world, with fantastic things to do and see beats me why anyone goes to Disney World anywhere

I like theme parks, watersports, pool days, great food variety, beaches and spending quality time with family on holiday. Beats me why I'd go anywhere else when Disney has all those things!

@snowcoveredleaf see you there! 😜

We’ve been to other more far flung places, but Disney is amazing and very magical. It’s got such a nice vibe and the kids absolutely love it. There’s so much to see in Florida; swimming in the crystal clear gulf coast and watching dolphins playing a few metres away in the wild, pelicans swooping down above your head, manatees, visiting some of the amazing islands and going to empty beaches that rival the Maldives and finding the most beautiful shells there. Seeing gators in the wild, air boat rides, kayaking through the mangroves and feeding the raccoons….looking at all the beautiful turtles basking on the rocks and seeing amazing birds. Fabulous sunsets, nice food, catfish swimming in the waterways.

It’s more than Disney, but Disney is fabulous and so are some of the shops there. Disney springs is also fab.

I've never been, but my coworker is there just now with her daughter and grandchildren. They hired a Disney consultant to arrange everything for them, including meal reservations every night of the trip. They knew 6 months in advance where they will be eating every night, down to the minute. I personally would hate this (never mind the crazy queues for rides, and as someone else said, eating lunch standing in a queue in the baking temperatures), but they seemed pleased to not have to worry about anything. Costs an arm and a leg though. We're going to do a day at Poulton's Park this summer, which is the closest my family is ever going to get to Disney.

I've no idea why anyone would eat lunch in a queue and not sure why everyone seems to think this is a thing you have to do there. I've probably been a dozen times and never eaten lunch in a queue

@snowcoveredleaf I enjoyed Disney. But people like you puzzle me/ You seem to think if someone did not like Disney they simply did it wrong. It is perfectly valid for people not to like or even hate it.

Took my eldest when they were 7. Best holiday ever!

We went at the end of August, once the American schools were back - best 10 nights of any holiday ever!

Barely any queues for the smaller rides, we prebooked all the big rides in advance, so no queues for them either.
we stayed at a Disney resort, buses to and from parks were quick, air conditioned and only busy on occasion.

We also had a Disney dining plan, so prebooked restaurants and had some fabulous experiences, as well as special tickets to certain displays that were part of the meal packages.

100% going again when my younger ones turn 6/7.

We went with kids aged 15, 13 and 5 and had a mixed experience. It was over Easter and the Disney parks were horrendously crowded. We were crammed in like sardines. The only thing that made it bearable were the fast passes where you got three a day but I understand they’ve stopped doing that. Universal and Busch gardens were much better.

The food was also pretty grim. If you like fresh, healthy, high quality food, it is hard to find. We hadn’t paid for a meal plan and hadn’t booked restaurants in advance so we found it hard to find food without ridiculous queues and nowhere to sit.

I assumed we would go again to tick it off for our younger two who are 12 and 6 now but neither of them are that bothered about rides and it sounds like everything over there has gone up in price so I think there are other things we could do that we would all enjoy more.

If we were to do it again I’d only go at a quiet time of year. If there is one!

We went last year after having to cancel due to covid. It was definitely amazing. We stayed in Port Orleans Riverside for 2 weeks but stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel for a night too. We hired a car for the second week and did Busch Gardens, Kennedy and Universal. The holidays itself cost 14K 2adults, 3 teens and then we spent about 6K there.

Spend 90 minutes waiting to get on a ride for your child to decide that they need the toilet 🤣🤣🤣

Disney isn’t a relaxed affair - plan plan plan. If you don’t it’s utterly unbearable.

@pettyprudence we no longer take my husband, he's of a similar mindset to you and it's a waste of money to bring him (plus he turns into a joy sucker!)

Stay at home...

I'm not sure if I've posted on this thread, but I've been to Disney around 13 times and love it. We never queue for anything for longer than 20 minutes though.

We went three times as children and absolutely loved it. Yes the queues were really long but they're also very interactive and I don't remember it effecting my experience when I was a child. There's three of us and we went when we were 13, 11 and 8 for the first time. I'd say my younger brother did find some of the queues hard but with two older siblings and a fun Dad to play games with along the way it was no problem at all! That's my perspective from going as a child...

Now I'm a parent. I probably wouldn't take my daughter until she was old enough to not need a nap, or a pram and could handle lots of walking and late nights. We did plan in rest days when we went though.

It’s unlike anything else - the smells, the heat, the magic.

The smells? What unique aromas are there at Disney Land?

Disney do give accommodations for children with neurodivergence who experience sensory overload. But I do not understand how anyone who has ASD could manage there. I enjoyed it but found it was sensory overload. And it was too much sensory overload for me to want to go day after day like some people do.

Going twice this year, we absolutely love it ! It’s my happy place and Florida in general as a state is a nature-lovers paradise.
I always cry with happiness when we arrive in Florida.

I suppose because everyone with ASD is very different to one another. My DH was diagnosed at 4 but doesn't struggle with crowds. In fact, I'm probably worse in crowded places, and I'm the neurotypical one. We both enjoyed Disney. We went in May, when crowd levels weren't too crazy.

They really weren't being weird when they said smells. Disney has devices known as Smellitizers (devices which omit scents). The smell when you ride Flight of Passage (one of the Avatar rides) is amazing and memorable.
Disney likes to satisfy all the senses😄