Disney - planning, preparation, tips, tricks and advice.

[Clairer86]

I am so excited to be back on this thread and allowing myself to think about Disney again!

I have been off work sick for a while (im a social worker in Child Protection) but i am now back at work, and allowing myself to save up, think about, and then book disney again.

I have never been to WDW, we always go to DLP. I am seriously considering scrapping DLP and concentrate on saving up and booking wdw. However i have never done WDW so i am a complete newbie to it!! I mean i havent got a clue about any of it!!! So does anyone have any hints or tips, or advice for me bearing in mind i have never been. I dont even know if it would be better to stay on site or stay in a villa?! I can see the pro's and cons of both tbh. Also, does anyone have any advice in regards to the best way to book, who to book with? I will need to save up a year or so first, but i am new to it all so any advice is welcome!!

Thank you

 

[EleanorRigby]

Honestly the way WDW is at the moment I really wouldn't waste your money. If you've got the sort of money you need for WDW these days I'd go to Tokyo Disney. Bob Paycheck has ripped the heart and soul out of WDW. Hopefully one day the magic will return but that won't be until Paycheck is long gone.

If you don't fancy Tokyo, California isn't as depressing as WDW at the moment and could be worth considering.

 

[Miranda13]

Honestly the way WDW is at the moment I really wouldn't waste your money. If you've got the sort of money you need for WDW these days I'd go to Tokyo Disney. Bob Paycheck has ripped the heart and soul out of WDW. Hopefully one day the magic will return but that won't be until Paycheck is long gone.

If you don't fancy Tokyo, California isn't as depressing as WDW at the moment and could be worth considering.

As I haven't been to Florida for nearly 10 years, can you say why you think this? Is it just the price?

Loved California, but it is much smaller.

 

[EleanorRigby]

As I haven't been to Florida for nearly 10 years, can you say why you think this? Is it just the price?

Loved California, but it is much smaller.

There are a lot of good vlogs out there from lifelong Disney fans who are now no longer visiting WDW because of the changes. Off the top of my head the biggest bugbears are: larger crowds than ever before meaning huge queues for everything (rides, food, toilets etc). Disney Genie has not been popular, resulting in having to pay a lot of additional money for each ride you want to go on, otherwise you're queueing for hours for even the least popular rides. No more Extra Magic Hours. No more Magical Express. I'm sure others will be able to add to this but in brief the parks are now so busy all year round that it's far from a magical experience.

 

[Miranda13]

There are a lot of good vlogs out there from lifelong Disney fans who are now no longer visiting WDW because of the changes. Off the top of my head the biggest bugbears are: larger crowds than ever before meaning huge queues for everything (rides, food, toilets etc). Disney Genie has not been popular, resulting in having to pay a lot of additional money for each ride you want to go on, otherwise you're queueing for hours for even the least popular rides. No more Extra Magic Hours. No more Magical Express. I'm sure others will be able to add to this but in brief the parks are now so busy all year round that it's far from a magical experience.

Thanks. We're thinking of going next year so I'll need to do some serious research to see if it's worth it.

Shame about extra magic hours, we always found that really useful, and no idea what Disney Genie is!

 

[EleanorRigby]

Thanks. We're thinking of going next year so I'll need to do some serious research to see if it's worth it.

Shame about extra magic hours, we always found that really useful, and no idea what Disney Genie is!

Disney Genie is the replacement for free Fast Passes. So instead of having free Fast Passes you now pay to skip the queue. And it's a charge per person so a family may spend $100 each time they want to go on a ride without queuing for literally hours. It's this sort of money grabbing that's really pissed people off. Just search on Disney Genie on YouTube to get a flavour of the level of dissatisfaction from the Disney community.

 

[Millyve]

Me. Do you have any specific questions?

Me too; we stayed at ASM back in November and mostly used quick service. We wanted to try the dining plan at some point but there’s only the two of us sometimes we only have one meal a day with a snack as it’s so hot

Main question is, did you find you spent a lot on dining?

$850 between me and my friend just doesn’t sound a lot compared to what I have previously had with the DDP.

I think I’ll do a Walmart run in the first couple days for drinks/breakfast/snacks

Previously I’ve only had to spend the odd bit of money out of pocket here and there.

 

[RightYouLot]

Main question is, did you find you spent a lot on dining?

$850 between me and my friend just doesn’t sound a lot compared to what I have previously had with the DDP.

I think I’ll do a Walmart run in the first couple days for drinks/breakfast/snacks

Previously I’ve only had to spend the odd bit of money out of pocket here and there.

Im pretty fussy when it comes to food so i tend to eat pretty cheaply but if youre doing breakfast lunch and dinner every night at sit down places then you will defo run out haha

 

[geordiegirl]

Main question is, did you find you spent a lot on dining?

$850 between me and my friend just doesn’t sound a lot compared to what I have previously had with the DDP.

I think I’ll do a Walmart run in the first couple days for drinks/breakfast/snacks

Previously I’ve only had to spend the odd bit of money out of pocket here and there.

I think it was about 60-70 dollars a day for the two of us as we had lunch and dinner (one normally in a park then the other at the food court at ASM) and maybe a Diet Coke in between but can’t think we had any snacks. I always lose weight when I go to WDW!

 

[Milktray]

Main question is, did you find you spent a lot on dining?

$850 between me and my friend just doesn’t sound a lot compared to what I have previously had with the DDP.

I think I’ll do a Walmart run in the first couple days for drinks/breakfast/snacks

Previously I’ve only had to spend the odd bit of money out of pocket here and there.

The only time I would book was with the DDP as the price of Disney hotel's alone (excluding tickets) are more expensive than those 5 star all inclusives in the Caribbean.
I was booked for CSR with QSDP for 2020, which got cancelled. In addition to the removal of other perks. Previously, I had been to deluxe that offered full DDP.
I went to rebook the same holiday for 2022 and it has more than doubled. Even to stay in a Disney value, is more expensive and with less perks.
Personally, I've binned off the onsite hotels for the best part of my holiday. Staying only onsite for a couple of nights to get my fix and then I'm using that money to go to Universal.

The only positive that I can see, is that I don't have to worry about making reservations ahead of time and I can be more spontaneous. I always found that there was alot of food anyway.
But, no, the $850 credit is not going to cut it. I'd be looking at off-site offerings aswell.

 

[Cacacoisfarraige]

I’m heading to Florida from Ireland - 8 days Orlando and 6 days on the beach (gulf coast)
I’m thinking of giving Disney a miss and staying in universal and spending our time between universal (kids love water parks) and aquatica/Busch gardens. So I was thinking of getting the universal/sea world ticket and staying in cabana bay next to the. Volcano bay water park

Am I crazy to miss out Disney ? Kids love water beaches and water pants and I don’t think the middle one will go on many rollercoasters

 

[Notorious PIG]

Husband was very excited when the Star Wars resort thingy at Disney FL was announced. I was apprehensive about spending over $6000 for two nights but would have rolled with if it promised a mind blowing experience. Well, judging by just about every piece of promotional material plus Youtuber videos, it looks mostly crap and hugely overpriced.

So we’ve bought us a 7 nights Disney cruise in September instead. I’ve checked out the ship (Magic), facilities, food and entertainment on Ben and David’s cruise channel and it looks fab.

I wanted to be fully kitted out in Disney merch every day, but it’s pricey, especially the dresses. I did manage to find a couple of bargain Disney sweaters on c&a, then the rest of the time I’ll wear some nice non-Disney outfits and plan to buy some Disney earrings and brooches and stuff to accessorize.

 

[whatsever you]

I’m heading to Florida from Ireland - 8 days Orlando and 6 days on the beach (gulf coast)
I’m thinking of giving Disney a miss and staying in universal and spending our time between universal (kids love water parks) and aquatica/Busch gardens. So I was thinking of getting the universal/sea world ticket and staying in cabana bay next to the. Volcano bay water park

Am I crazy to miss out Disney ? Kids love water beaches and water pants and I don’t think the middle one will go on many rollercoasters

no I don’t think youre mad to miss Disney. Their prices are ridiculous at the minute, and crowds insane. It’s a sub- par experience at the moment (imo).

 

[Milktray]

I’m heading to Florida from Ireland - 8 days Orlando and 6 days on the beach (gulf coast)
I’m thinking of giving Disney a miss and staying in universal and spending our time between universal (kids love water parks) and aquatica/Busch gardens. So I was thinking of getting the universal/sea world ticket and staying in cabana bay next to the. Volcano bay water park

Am I crazy to miss out Disney ? Kids love water beaches and water pants and I don’t think the middle one will go on many rollercoasters

No...if you're only going to Orlando for 8 days, I wouldn't do Disney. Universal/Volcano Bay needs approx 4 of those days. For the cost of Disney tickets and the massive queues that everyone's harping on about, I wouldn't.

Your original plan would work out a more 'relaxing and laid back' experience.

 

[PlumBlossom]

Disney....overpriced, overrated, over it...

 

[Emmapism]

Thanks for all your comments everyone, I'm really going to sub down my Disney trip in October as a result. A week maximum. Will be staying off site for most of it. Then no more US parks for me for a good long while.

The fella and I have been talking about going to Japan for ages so as soon as it opens up, we're booking

 

[JLXRD]

I have just booked the time off for a September trip buzzing for it tbh

 

[Lyricallie]

Ooo I never saw this thread! I'm booked up to go in September (2nd try after re-booking). I love WDW, I did the International College Programme one summer and it was such hard work but good fun!

 

[Mark81]

I have a question about disneyland paris if anyone can help (save me calling and spending ages on hold haha)

If yours staying on site and have paid for breakfast to be included, do you still need to book a table for each morning in advance? Something at the back of my mind is telling me you do

 

[heartinvestigator]

I have a question about disneyland paris if anyone can help (save me calling and spending ages on hold haha)

If yours staying on site and have paid for breakfast to be included, do you still need to book a table for each morning in advance? Something at the back of my mind is telling me you do

You don't have to book a table! Maybe you needed one some months ago, but we've been in November and didn't need one for breakfast. You just show up and show them your Magic Pass Usually you get seated pretty quickly too.