Yes, that can be very irritating. The way I deal with it is 1) I am a cheap actuary and can ignore sucker add-ons. I have tried to train my kids that way, and have fortunately been pretty successful at instilling the “search for value” mindset for purchases 2) I pretend the optionality allows me to pick and choose what I want vs an all-or-nothing that might not quite hit my utility curve. But only if those things are optional.
I was wondering about that.
2 articles recently in the NYt about disneyland:
Families are going into debt to pay for disneyland:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/business/disney-vacation-debt.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F04.Giry.a28JM4hoEWrf&smid=url-share
The price has gotten so ridiculous that it can be cheaper to go the Italy than Epcot Italy
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/09/travel/disney-vacation-cost.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F04.FcxQ.w4ZD4RseUo_P&smid=url-share
1 Like
Calculus changes when you live close enough you can drive 8 people in your minivan to Epcot. Ain’t no way getting to Italy is cheaper for me.
30% increase in price since 2019
When you are now paying $900/day for non-luxury accomodation, you really have to ask yourself “is this really
worth it”?
And thats in $$$. People coming from abroad have it even worse because the $$$ has materially strengthened vs most currencies since 2019.
A material slice of people are now choosing to wait (until prices come down) and travel internationally (in the case of Americans because strong $$ favors them)
We spent 1 month in Iceland back in 2022, and about 80% of the tourists we met during our ring road trip where American.
Same deal this year in San Sebastian (Spain) and Germany (Munich). Majority of tourists skewed American.
Try the last century and a half . . .
We’re going to Disney Tokyo. It’s about $63/person.
They have some add-ons we’ll purchase like about $10/pop to skip a line that might be an hour+, which is easily worth it.
Thats fine with me. And you can pay for that over in legoland as well (people do pay it during peak summer times). Nobody is bothered by this because you are getting “value” (less time spent waiting) from your $$$.
Its the other “extras” that tend to irritate. The “resort fee” is one of my favourites. They tack that on after the headline “cost” and it really irritates me.
2 Likes
Agree
What happens when everyone buys the skip-the-line pass?
Also, at Disney properties, the queue is part of the experience.
Then you buy a skip the skip-the-line line pass.
4 Likes
My experience with skip-the-line is that you just get in a shorter line most of the time. So 5 to 15 minutes rather than 45-90 minutes. You still get the queue experience.
Y’all are making me want to never go to Disney.
1 Like
If I do ever succumb and take Mini Me it would probably be to Disneyland in conjunction with a visit to my cousin and her wife in Palm Springs. Couple days at Disney, couple days in Palm Springs with family…
Is Disneyland any better than Disney World?
Sounds like Paris is bad but Tokyo might be a little better???
100%. Disneyland (IIRC) is one park, it’s smaller and things are all together and enjoyable in one day (though two days wouldn’t be ridiculous.)
Disney World is several parks. If you really wanted to do thing X at one and thing Y at another, get ready to buy a park-hopper pass and spend part of your day commuting. I also found Disney World to generally be less interesting and more dilapidated than Disneyland. We were there for the 100 year anniversary and were surprised there was nothing going on with it beyond essentially just some signage.
1 Like
In general, I would prefer to visit So Cal than central Florida. But that’s just me.
2 Likes
I had a thread on this back on the AO…We went to DL & enjoyed ourselves…the park is smartly set up for there to be lots of “magical moments”…but I ended up referring to it as DisneyStandinline.
There was one moment where the wife said, “We’re never coming back here again.” (And we haven’t but not for whatever reason she had at the time.)
IMO, if a person needs to know about all the secrets to get the most out of an experience then maybe it’s not actually the happiest place on earth.
To answer your question, DL does have advantages over DW. The primary one is that they don’t own all of the land around it, so you don’t have to pay Disney prices for absolutely everything (lodging and McDonald’s e.g.).
1 Like
I’ve been to both, but the latter several times, since it is close, and I’ve been around here for awhile. And my brother worked for Disney (Burbank) for about 20 years and could get us in for free, so that and driving versus flying for a week helps make the decision easier.
(I did take my brother with my family to WDW for an SOA Meeting, cuz free entrance and discounted hotel).
WDW is a several-days’ experience, in humid weather. Disneyland you can do in one day, if it’s the right day (midweek, February or early November). I’d skip California Adventure (we usually do, if we have to pay) and see real California instead.
Yes, it is easier not to go, though.
Nowadays, one has to know how to use the app, as there are a few attractions that are so popular, they get booked as a reservation through the app.
I think Disneyland California Adventure is a different park?
Good to know. It did not exist when I went there as a kid.