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

Why not?

when I went I didn’t see any parades but enjoyed the rides but also didn’t think it was really anything better than I’d been on at AT!

i just think it’s either your thing or isn’t. I did a days visit liked it well enough but I don’t feel like it’s something I need to repeat.

I think if you like thrill rides, I am not too bothered, then Alton Towers is as good or better. That is not really what Disney does best.

In 2018 I showed my kids (late primary age) a hotel in the Maldives and Disney and gave them the choice. Luckily they chose the Maldives and can never say they weren’t given a chance to go to Disney. Still not sure what I’d have done had they said Disney….

I’ve priced up May for 3.
12 nights
Economy Virgin flights
Cheaper Disney hotel
Room only
Disney park pass
£7500

This is what puts me off! It’s sounds horrendous 😩

We went about 10 years ago when the kids were younger.
They all loved it but I thought it was pretty awful for the amount of money it cost.
The heat and humidity was unbearable- we went in July!
I much preferred Disneyland Paris and we did that twice.

I’ve read about these characters!! Adults describing them as ‘absolutely amazing’. I don’t get it.

Lots of people have posted to say that doesn't have to be the case though. It's what you make it, and hugely dependent on the time you go. The last two weeks of August are the quietest if tied to school holidays and not bothered by heat, although be prepared to have hurricanes affecting the area. They normally only close the park for a day at most, if at all, because of how inland the parks are.

You can download the Disney app and look at some crowd calendars from previous years for an idea of what to expect. It's best to have a rough idea of which park you want to go to on each day and an idea of which rides/parades/shows/characters are must-dos for the family to make sure you don't leave feeling you've missed out.

It's no different to the basic planning most people would do for other holidays though surely. If I was going anywhere I'd book excursions or tours, pick a day to go and see a certain town, have an idea of local restaurants and so on.

There are countless YouTube videos and planning websites which give you every possible idea of rides, foods, hotels etc. so, if you want to, then yes, you can over plan and make a spreadsheet to capture it all. I've certainly never eaten lunch in a queue, not have I regularly queued more than an hour. If a queue is 30 minutes or less I wait, if not then I wander around to somewhere else or save it for another day. Spending half an hour chatting to my family and interacting with elements in a queue area is not a hardship to me, maybe it is for some.

If you're already thinking that something about a holiday sounds 'horrendous' then I think that's your answer! Don't bloody do it!

And yes, every holiday has tedelious bits, requires an element of planning etc but with Disney this is completely baked in and unavoidable seemingly every step of the way. And you arec an paying an enormous amount for the privilege. For the money being talked about here you could go on an amazing safari, a road trip in the US or Canada, a luxury trilraun trip across Europe.

You already asked to have made up you're mind that it's horrendous so it would make sense to forget about it and focus on other holiday types. It's definitely not compulsory.

I’ve never eaten in a queue, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else do that.

Yep, We took the kids when they were 8 and 5, so about ten years ago. It was about £10,000 back then! We had a week in a Disney hotel which gave us slightly earlier park access and a week in a villa with a car. Disclaimer: We did only visit Orlando and Celebration and Cape Canaveral.

We went in August - humid, sticky and rained for 2 hours daily. Thunder storms meant the water parks were often closed.

No - one walks anywhere outside the park! It felt like numerous attractions and retail parks joined together by dual/triple highways. No evening strolls to for a pre-dinner drink. The car is king.

The pressure of planning to make sure you don't miss anything, avoid crowds, meet characters or see an event is not relaxing. Even if you don't subscribe to the planning, it felt like other people did - being bowled over by a stampede of adults wearing ears to reach a parade in time was not a highlight.
The amount of merchandise and development was not my thing either.
We have had far better holidays from mine and the family's perspective.

DS loves theme parks but isn’t Disney mad (or superheroes) and I can never decide if it’s worth it. I have great memories of going as a kid and I know he would love Epcot and the water parks.

Is October a good time to go? I’m guessing Christmas is a bad idea.

We're going in May and super excited. Yes it needs planning and I'm expecting to spend a a lot of time in queues but it's so different to any experience you'll find elsewhere.

This free website lets you input which rides you want to go on for both Disney and Universal then it plans an agenda for you based on estimated queue time (you can refresh the data when at the park and it will get live data). After my visit I'll post back to let you know if it worked!

https://touringplans.com/

Omigod this 100%

I have been to all the Disney parks WW but never considered taking my kids.

I have a non queuing crowd hating husband.

And neither of my sons ever even mentioned wanting to go.

Exactly

That's the point we have been going for over 30 years and not seen everything as constantly changing.
It is a holiday and the best thing to do is enjoy yourselves and not get stressed if you miss something.
There are utubers who live in Orlando who have annual passes who haven't done everything.
This thread about Orlando/florida is so misleading in so many ways as it is massive and constantly changing.

Have a brilliant time.
You won't see everything.
Main thing is to enjoy some of it.

I think this thread is very misleading and stressful to read.
People are slagging it off and they ever haven't been-so bizarre?!
If it's that stressful to go just stay at home so you are not huffing and puffing and ruining it for people who do actually want to be there!
It's not a 'compulsory' thing you have to do but personally I have loved it every time.
It was absolutely brilliant.
Loads of things to do on and off Disney and universal.
Amazing food if you do research and healthy food. Thousands of restaurants in Orlando not all burger places as wrongly implied.
It's a great holiday if you go with an open mind, don't overthink it, don't think you will do everything.
Part of the fun is planning but not like a military operation😂😂

October busy but Halloween theming great.
We did Disney and universal horror nights both excellent in different ways.
In universal you go into different horror houses based on films. Not for young kids!
Amazing and the universal park when we went was all misty and different characters coming at you. Theming was amazing.
Disney also good as you get sweets and couple of excellent shows and we went on all the rides in magic kingdom that night really quick. We went on thunder mountain railway about three times as empty due to the Halloween side of things.

Christmas looks expensive and even more hectic?

Yes it is worth it and nothing like places like a fun fair type thing in uk.
Also you could go for two weeks and never do a theme park as so much to do off Disney/universal.
We have stayed at both Disney and universal and I prefer Disney hotels. We stayed at universal hard rock which is excellent location probably the best location to get into universal parks fast.
Disney hotels just have some type of nice feeling. We have stayed off Disney too but if I could choose it would be a Disney more top end hotel if possible.
Some of the hotels have skyliner too now.
Your magic band gets you back into room, you can pay for everything at Disney on band so no carrying of cash, you can buy merchandise and have it sent back to hotel so no carrying packages about, transport really good and free.
Car hire is something we used to do but Insurance expensive now, some hotels you have to pay for parking, also you pay for parking in theme parks which is expensive. It is just not worth it as Disney transportation so good and if you want to go off the world Uber is very good there and works out cheaper overall than all the cost of a car.

Disneyworld no longer do the sending of packages back to your hotel. You do have to carry them.
You can use your phone to pay or watch to pay as well.
I found car hire cheap - went last year, but it maybe depends how far ahead you book? You do not pay for parking if you stay in a Disney hotel. Otherwise you pay $30 a day.
Many hotels outside Disney have free parking if you stay there. But its like the UK, some do charge. Some hotels that are not Disney hotels are walkable distance to the parks. There is also air bnb with some fabulous themed properties with pools, but only worth it if you do not want to spend all day every day at the parks.
Everyone tells you you must stay somewhere or do something, but it depends on your priorities. Disney hotels are more expensive and have smaller rooms unless you pay loads. But some love the ease of getting on disney transport and having disney restaurants around the hotel. Air bnb is cheapest option. Walkable non disney hotels are more expensive but cheaper than disney hotels.

we always stayed on Idrive and the hotels had. shuttle buses to the Disney parks and the trolley bus on idrive ran to universal so you don't really need a car.

A car is useful if you want to explore other places in Florida. But I agree if you just want to go to the parks you do not need one.