Disney World is BROKEN!

[Narnian_Princess]

...Disney meals are priced 80% higher than comparable meals outside of the parks/resorts.

I felt this way until I found myself at the Smithsonian getting faint because it was hours past lunch time. After dropping $23 on the most disgusting barbecue sandwich ever (didn't even come with sides) and a bottle of juice, I really missed paying $11 for much better food at Cosmic Rays.

Could you find a Burger King and spend half that on a burger and fries? Yes, for an hour or more of lost park time. When they charge you more for park (or museum) food, it's really about the convenience more than the food itself. It all depends on what's more important to YOU.

If you take one thing away from this post, let it be this: NEVER eat at the Smithsonian. Never.

 

[shalom]

I think it's time for a rebellion. It's time we let disney know that their parks are broken. That the experience has lost a lot of its fun. THat we are tired of them allowing more people into the parks then their attractions and restaurants can comfortably accommodate. That we expect some drastic rethinking of what sort of experience they are attempting to provide.

The only functional rebellion is simply not going, and telling Disney why you aren't. But so long as the parks are full, Disney's not real motivated to change.

I have photos of the park nearly empty most of the day at least where I was.

Yep. I've had people comment on my trip reports how empty the park is during my visits because so many of the pictures have no people in them; I do go on off times, but I also tend to hang out in the areas with low crowds. If you "follow the crowds" (either literally or by sharing the same interests), it's going to be more crowded than if you have a plan or if your plan is to avoid crowds.

Another thing that I think plays into it is that you often see posts that Disney doesn't have enough rides. That depends on how you look at it. If you only consider something with a thrill factor as a ride, then you will be disappointed. But if you look at the entire package, the thrill rides, the family rides, the shows, then there is more than enough in all the parks to fill the day.

This exactly. A lot of people who had previously complained, "not enough rides" then complained about the fact that New Fantasyland "added no rides," when it technically did (LM) or will (Dwarf mine ride). Disney's made it very clear that they are not interested in competing in the "thrill ride" area, just as it's made it very clear that WDW is a theme park, not an amusement park. Rides may be what some customers most care about, but it isn't want Disney most cares about, and apparently it's not going to be in the foreseeable future.

The three ride limit on FP+ is just the latest indication that the "more thrill rides" people are not going to get what they want out of Disney. I think a lot of them are going to shift over to Universal, and I also think Disney is, at present, perfectly okay with that.

Oddly, I'm reminded of my 16yo who despairs over the fact that the rest of his family actually likes popular music. "People like you destroy music, with your plebeian tastes and blind willingness to throw money at whatever's popular, instead of supporting real artists!"

"Quiet son, I'm playing 'Let it Go' again!"

"Aaargh!"

Okay, this made me laugh. Although perhaps the funniest part for me is that my then-16-yo-son who whined about my Disney tunes got dragged to the WDW parks for the first time at 18, and now he's the one playing the same Disney song ten times in a row.

Also, maybe there are adults who grew up in the 70's and 80's and never had a chance to go. But now that they are adults and have children of their own, they want to take them to the parks and share memories with them that they never had.

Yep. My parents didn't prioritize a trip to Disney; I did, and I suspect most of my kids will, too.

There is almost nothing at WDW that is a problem that cannot be fixed by simply lowering the daily crowd numbers.

Not true for us; lowering the crowd numbers would raise the price, and we already pay more for Disney vacations than we do for anywhere else.

Not true for Disney; lowering daily crowd numbers cuts their profits.

Granted, you did say almost nothing -- but my second point is a very BIG something to Disney.

2. WDW is in serious risk of losing repeat business from new visitors. And this is where the "repairs" are needed the most.

And I believe this is squarely where FP+ is aimed. Once it's fully implemented, and once CMs and repeat visitors are up to speed with it, Disney can target new visitors and walk them through FP+ at the resorts or at the in-park kiosks and set up their FP+s for the entire vacation. FP+ also means that new visitors who end up spending morning time meeting the Citizens of Mainstreet or hanging out with the Citizens of Hollywood do not end up spending their afternoons finding impossible line after impossible line. They'll have at least three rides "guaranteed."

It's my belief that they'll keep back a certain percentage of FP+ reservations for the CMs who deal with complaints, meaning that CMs there can sit down someone who goes in their first day upset about not having made any rides and be sure to get them set up with their three rides per day for the rest of their trip. And CMs at the various rides can be trained to send frustrated newbies to the FP+ kiosks or CMs as well. All of which should help first timers -- if, that is, the IT end works out as planned.

Attractions that are appealing but don't bring in a large obsessive fan base (like Harry Potter did for Universal), will increase capacity without significantly increasing crowds. As much as I'd rather see a Star Wars land than Avatarland, the latter will probably do a better job shifting crowds to the underutilized park without significantly increasing the number of people going to WDW.

That is the first comment I've ever read that made me see any point to Avatarland. Thank you!

From the Disney bean counter perspective, guests with AP's or MYW Tickets who stay off site are their nemesis.

A nemesis is supposed to actively participate in someone's downfall. As someone who is generally offsite and gets basic MYW tickets from Undercover Tourist with the MouseSavers discount, it's hard to see myself as that much of a threat. But you're probably right about the bean counter's perspective.

The commercials make it seem like you can run up to the characters and hug them and everyone is happy and lines are easy to navigate. The reality is so different.

I have yet to go to a beach or beach resort that is anything like as peaceful as their ads make them look, either. For that matter, I've noticed it never rains or gets cloudy in beach ads.

Using just one example, Disney meals are priced 80% higher than comparable meals outside of the parks/resorts.

Staying and eating offsite makes WDW a much cheaper vacation most of the time. Onsite WDW vacation would considerably more than double our costs; the Disney resorts are about double (for far less space and amenities), but with my chow hounds it's the food costs that would really kick it up. But if you stay somewhere close and take an afternoon break anyhow (which we like to do), then the offsite prices are as reasonable, and ofter cheaper, than anywhere else we've vacationed. Disney vacations are pricey for us because we spend more on entertainment (we usually make use of our museum and zoo memberships and the like so go to a lot of non-Disney attractions for free), and tons more on souvenirs (we don't get many souvenirs on non-Disney vacations, but 'most all of us are pin collectors at WDW).

 

[jco_direwolf]

I for one would love to see them open a 5th park, but....

I for one would like them to finish AK. Yes fantasy beasts land is kinda being added with pandora. But Disney has enough gates and space right now built out. They need to expand the gates they have.

They have room at Epcot and when they need it they can shut down backlot tour at DHS and expand back there. Even if they don't close LMA.

I think its really an infrastructure argument. New gate means new parking, new guest Sevices, new bus routes, new walkways, new bathrooms etc.. Spend the money that would be required for that for some awesome expansions to what they have.

 

[mommyrosa2]

Come on, what percentage of people do you believe actually pay cash for these trips? I'd say about 25%. The rest is done with debt.
.

Ummmm, we have always paid "cash" for our trips, thank you very much! We also have never paid rack rate and always book our trips either a year in advance or just about a year in advance so that I am able to budget for that trip and have it paid off way before we even step foot out of our house!

OP, sorry you feel that Disney is broken...I do agree that the parks do seem more crowded but we've never let that take away from our experience. So far, we've managed to have a great time with each trip (even last August when my oldest DD got sick on her first day and we ended up at the hospital with her) and that is what keeps us wanting to return each year. While I agree there aren't a lot of thrill rides, we don't go to Disney for just that...that's what we have Six Flags for. And I totally disagree with the notion that you have to plan, plan, plan in order to have a good time. FWIW, in all of our trips, we've never used a touring plan and while some folks hate the idea of planning ADR's 180 days in advance, we don't mind it. The only meals we plan in advance is our dinners and it makes no difference to us where we are on any given day because we are no longer park commandos and don't stay in the parks from sunrise to sunset!

 

[MichelleVW]

We stay for a week on the beach on the gulf coast, eat all our lunches and dinners out, and spend a fraction of what a week at disney costs. not sure if you and magpie are eating at shula's every night or what, but unless you are frivoloulsy spending big bucks every day at these museums and staying for just a couple hours, i am having trouble with this. Using just one example, Disney meals are priced 80% higher than comparable meals outside of the parks/resorts.

We stay DVC so no cost for lodging...we get military tickets which are way cheaper than regular tickets, we only eat maybe one meal in the parks (not because we are cheap, mostly because we get tired of eating out). We also usually have somewhere between $100-$600 reward money with our Disney visa for free money...so yeah...I can usually do Disney cheaper than anything else.

 

[jbish]

Originally Posted by mefordis
Yes, thank you. That is my point. No need for people who DO pay in cash for trips to come in and declare it -- I know those people exist. However, we are a society who by and large exists on debt. Our US Government leads the way.

If there were only people at WDW who paid for vacations in cash, the parks would be empty.

EUREKA! Lobby for a law to be passed that theme parks have to take cash only. There's the solution, right there.

Hey, I love an empty park just like anyone. But this idea is .not sustainable. Empty parks = unprofitable = out of business. So I'll just have to live with the crowds (i.e. TRY and find a time that isn't AS crowded as others), plan accordingly, and add to the bottom line so that Disney will be around for a long time. I do agree that there's still room for improvement in all 4 parks, but I trust that management will get there.

Also, I've said this in another thread, but, really, people don't realize that new families come "on line" every year to the World of Disney - just WDW, but the company as a whole. Many people don't "grow up" with Disney but then they have kids and now find themselves a "Disney family." In my very small company of 30 employees, I personally know of 3 families that have gone to WDW for their first times ever (all have little kids, the parents never went as kids themselves). So there will always be a steady stream of people going to Disney for the first time. Of those 3, I bet they all go at least one more time. They won't be annual visitors like us, but they weren't turned off by it either.

There will always be "magic" when I think of Disney from my experiences as a kid. But the magic for me, now, is just different - but it's still magic to my kids and the memories we are building with them.

 

[Spriesty]

We stay DVC so no cost for lodging...we get military tickets which are way cheaper than regular tickets, we only eat maybe one meal in the parks (not because we are cheap, mostly because we get tired of eating out). We also usually have somewhere between $100-$600 reward money with our Disney visa for free money...so yeah...I can usually do Disney cheaper than anything else.

I think it's awesome that you can enjoy the benefits, like military tickets and the Disney reward money from the visa.

But saying lodging doesn't cost anything, that made me LOL. As someone who looked into buying into DVC, I'd hardly consider that "no cost for lodging."

 

[xie]

At a higher level, what many here are really saying is that costs are going up but generally speaking peoples' incomes are not. So that movie or concert ticket (or trip to WDW) is a bigger percentage of a person's income than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Cost increases for many goods and services in the US are far outpacing the inflation rate and have been doing so since the early 2000's. (As are travel costs, whether it's gas for your car or a plane ticket.) Statistics bear out that all these profits are going to the highest level execs, not to employees, who are now considered dispensable and paid as little as possible. Disney world has increased in cost by 60-100% for food, tickets, and rooms since 2000. Has your salary gone up by 100%? To be more exact, does the job you were working at in 2000 pay twice as much to whoever has it now? If you were an employee with 3 years' experience earning $35k in 2001, does a 3rd year employee in that job earn $70k now? (No.) Simply put, all these corporate profits are now taken by a handful of executives and employees are fortunate to see a 2% raise every year, which doesn't even pace inflation.

Not sure when that is going to change in this country. I'm not sure it will ever go back to the way it was when you could reasonably expect a raise and a bonus every year. As long as there are more people who want jobs than there are jobs available, employers will pay as little as possible for labor, while charging as high a price for their goods and services as the market can possibly bear. And when the US customer starts to wobble from the cost, then they'll start aggressively recruiting overseas guests to fill the void (does this sound familiar?).

I do think that if Disney continues raising prices at the rates they have done for the last 10 years, they will eventually begin to experience attendance attrition. They haven't quite hit that point yet but eventually, 3, 5 or 10 years from now, they will. Unless you think you are going to get your employer to give you 60-100% wage increase in the next few years to keep up with Disney, because that's how much they've raised prices (rooms, food, tickets, etc.) over the last decade and there's no reason to believe they won't continue to raise them at the same rate for the next decade.

Add in the fact that they aren't really adding attractions at any sort of rapid pace, and you find yourself standing in line longer and longer at a higher and higher monetary cost. Eventually, you will start to wonder, as some of us already are, if it's really worth the cost. There IS an upper limit, both to WDW and your Stadium tickets, that people are willing and/or able to bear.

So everyone has to decide when the cost of the trip vs. the value they receive is no longer acceptable to them. We hit our limit with Disney on this score a few weeks ago. We came home and cancelled both future trips we had booked. Bad service + high cost = no more $ from us.

 

[ucfknight]

If a 5 day park hopper is $229, I don't see a basic 7 day pass being $329, without any options. Since I was curious, I looked it up. It looks like $329 is the price for a 7 day park hopper plus ticket when purchased at the gate in 2004. Pricing a 7 day park hopper for 2014 from the WDW website is $392 (not including the "plus" portion, which allowed 4 trips to a water park, Pleasure Island, or Wide World of Sports in 2004 that WILL NOT be included in your 2014 7 day hopper). Your pricing is skewed. In order to compare apples to apples, you need to compare the same type of ticket, which you did not.

I was comparing the cheapest 7 day ticket in 2004 with the cheapest 7 day ticket in 2014.

i.e. If someone is on vacation for a week and wants to do the WDW parks for 7 days, what is the cheapest ticket possible?

Prior to 2005, there was no such thing as an expiring ticket. Tickets were good forever. That's why I also pointed out that tickets bought in 2004 did not lock in guests to spending their vacation at Disney parks. Now, though, the cheapest tickets do lock you in to using your purchased days NOW because they won't be good later. It is just Disney re-packaging their offerings to try to make going to their parks look like as good of a value as possible while trying to lock in their guests to prevent them from going to Universal.

 

[MichelleVW]

I think it's awesome that you can enjoy the benefits, like military tickets and the Disney reward money from the visa.

But saying lodging doesn't cost anything, that made me LOL. As someone who looked into buying into DVC, I'd hardly consider that "no cost for lodging."

Oh trust me... I know DVC is expensive...but it's already paid for...so when I get back from our vacation I don't have a hotel bill. That's what I mean by "free". Heck I have probably $400 in Disney gift cards that I randomly buy and I also count that as "free" money because by the time the trip comes around they have been long ago paid for...and an extra $50 on the credit card every month or so is hardly noticeable. So in my world...that's free.

 

[xie]

But saying lodging doesn't cost anything, that made me LOL. As someone who looked into buying into DVC, I'd hardly consider that "no cost for lodging."

No kidding!

DVC is simply a way to play "hide the rock" with hotel costs while capturing your vacation dollar for decades to come.

Rooms were getting crazy priced. Selling people on $15,000 or $20,000 worth of "points" that they "own" is really just a room rental that reverts to WDW in a few decades depending on which resort they bought into. The whole upsell was that they would finance it for you, and they wouldn't report it to the credit agencies. Buyer is just effectively paying them the equivalent of 1-3 hotel room nights per month (depending on how many points you bought), between the $20k + dues.

The real extra bonus (not for you, for them) is that it locks you into spending additional funds at Disney - regardless of whether you stay on WDW property every year (where you spend), or "save" and exchange your points for a cruise (where you spend) or another Disney DVC property like Aulani (where you spend), their whole goal is to capture your vacation dollar for decades to come.

So they have played "hide the rock" with your hotel room costs, making you feel that all a WDW "costs" you is a park ticket, food, and transportation costs. And guaranteed that you'll keep coming back to their properties to spend your vacation days and dollars. Because every time you price out a trip somewhere else, where you DO have to pay for the hotel room, you will think Disney is cheaper because "the room is free".

It's diabolically brilliant, really.

 

[Pembo]

I'm sorry you had a bad time.

If Disney is broken, why is it crowded?

THIS!

I went to WDW a lot in the years after 9/11 when the parks were empty. It was great to have short waits in the parks. But WDW is a business and it's purpose is to make money. Crowded parks = bigger profits for the business.
The top peeps at Disney are always finding new ways to bring people in and keep the money flowing.

 

[Magpie]

We stay for a week on the beach on the gulf coast, eat all our lunches and dinners out, and spend a fraction of what a week at disney costs. not sure if you and magpie are eating at shula's every night or what, but unless you are frivoloulsy spending big bucks every day at these museums and staying for just a couple hours, i am having trouble with this. Using just one example, Disney meals are priced 80% higher than comparable meals outside of the parks/resorts.

Frivolous?

Well, maybe it has something to do with the fact that we find sitting on a beach doing nothing to be incredibly boring. We LIKE museums. We like zoos. We like forts, and when we're in the forts, we like taking the guided tours. We like Ship Island. We like brunch buffets at the casinos. We absolutely adored the Chinese Acrobats we got to see one time (and boy, THAT wasn't cheap!).

When we're at Disney we pack porridge, nuts and raisins in our suitcase and eat that for breakfast in the mornings. We only eat a Disney sit down meal three times in a week, because we're quite happy with the cost and quality of Disney quick service options. There's an 8 dollar sandwich in Norway that can feed two people for lunch! And all our entertainment is included.

When we're on the Gulf Coast, we're looking around for something to do. In one day, we'll drop a hundred dollars or more on a single museum/attraction. We don't like McDonald's, so we're... let's say, off to Aunt Jenny's for dinner. It's good quality and good food, but you're not getting out of there for less than 20 dollars a head after tax and tip. Or we end up at Margaritaville, because well, it's Margaritaville! And that's 25 to 30 dollars a head, even if you try to order the cheaper options on the menu. We spend more on sit down meals in the Gulf, because unlike Disney, we don't find the fastfood especially appealing. Also, our meals become part of the entertainment budget on a trip down south.

Never, ever eat in museum cafeterias, by the way, it's just as expensive as Disney and not half as good. I've had some pretty horrifying museum meals!

Yes, we could do it cheap if we wanted to park our butts on a beach and never go anywhere, but that's not our idea of a vacation. Which is why we go to Disney - you don't have to pay extra to ride the coasters or explore the exhibits.

 

[MichelleVW]

No kidding!

DVC is simply a way to play "hide the rock" with hotel costs while capturing your vacation dollar for decades to come.

Rooms were getting crazy priced. Selling people on $15,000 or $20,000 worth of "points" that they "own" is really just a room rental that reverts to WDW in a few decades depending on which resort they bought into. The whole upsell was that they would finance it for you, and they wouldn't report it to the credit agencies. Buyer is just effectively paying them the equivalent of 1-3 hotel room nights per month (depending on how many points you bought), between the $20k + dues.

The real extra bonus (not for you, for them) is that it locks you into spending additional funds at Disney - regardless of whether you stay on WDW property every year (where you spend), or "save" and exchange your points for a cruise (where you spend) or another Disney DVC property like Aulani (where you spend), their whole goal is to capture your vacation dollar for decades to come.

So they have played "hide the rock" with your hotel room costs, making you feel that all a WDW "costs" you is a park ticket, food, and transportation costs. And guaranteed that you'll keep coming back to their properties to spend your vacation days and dollars. Because every time you price out a trip somewhere else, where you DO have to pay for the hotel room, you will think Disney is cheaper because "the room is free".

It's diabolically brilliant, really.

Thankfully we bought resale which was about half the price that Disney wants...and for 13 years we've gone at least once or twice a year before we bought DVC...so locked in or not, obviously they have me already.

We do go other places...going to Mexico this weekend, DCL cruise in 3 weeks....we just like to travel...and having a "free" place to stay at the place we like to go most often made total sense for us.

 

[mom2rtk]

We stay for a week on the beach on the gulf coast, eat all our lunches and dinners out, and spend a fraction of what a week at disney costs. not sure if you and magpie are eating at shula's every night or what, but unless you are frivoloulsy spending big bucks every day at these museums and staying for just a couple hours, i am having trouble with this. Using just one example, Disney meals are priced 80% higher than comparable meals outside of the parks/resorts.

I hear the souvenirs are free too.


IMG_0244 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[Spriesty]

I was comparing the cheapest 7 day ticket in 2004 with the cheapest 7 day ticket in 2014.

i.e. If someone is on vacation for a week and wants to do the WDW parks for 7 days, what is the cheapest ticket possible?

Prior to 2005, there was no such thing as an expiring ticket. Tickets were good forever. That's why I also pointed out that tickets bought in 2004 did not lock in guests to spending their vacation at Disney parks. Now, though, the cheapest tickets do lock you in to using your purchased days NOW because they won't be good later. It is just Disney re-packaging their offerings to try to make going to their parks look like as good of a value as possible while trying to lock in their guests to prevent them from going to Universal.

You didn't specifically say in your previous post that you were comparing 2004's cheapest 7 day option with 2014's cheapest 7 day option, which actually does make a difference. To me, I thought you were comparing base ticket prices. I had forgotten that before 2005 and the whole "Magic Your Way" thing that WDW had ticket packages.

I think comparing the 5 day hopper tickets (since they both existed in 2003 and 2013) will give a much better aspect of ticket increases/decreases. I think it's unreasonable to say ticket prices have decreased when we all know there have been price increases nearly every year.

Oh trust me... I know DVC is expensive...but it's already paid for...so when I get back from our vacation I don't have a hotel bill. That's what I mean by "free". Heck I have probably $400 in Disney gift cards that I randomly buy and I also count that as "free" money because by the time the trip comes around they have been long ago paid for...and an extra $50 on the credit card every month or so is hardly noticeable. So in my world...that's free.

Oh, I totally understand what you mean. If I could swing it, I'd love to be in on DVC, and I'm sure I'd convince myself that it was sorta free while I was planning any upcoming trips.

 

[MichelleVW]

Oh, I totally understand what you mean. If I could swing it, I'd love to be in on DVC, and I'm sure I'd convince myself that it was sorta free while I was planning any upcoming trips.

I honestly thought my husband was crazy when he wanted to buy into it since we never stayed deluxe and almost never on site...but I'm soo glad we did. I really love it!!

 

[ChickyRootie]

I really hate crowds, and I've noticed there really isn't a 'best' time to go anymore as far as crowds are concerned...if the tour groups aren't there the cheerleaders are If it's not spring break or a holiday around the corner, it's another 'get them in the park' offer...yikes
When I got engaged 15 years ago (January), we of course celebrated by going to WDW and let me tell you...it was EMPTY. Like jimminy crickets, NOBODY in the parks at all. Which in theory sounds fantastic! I mean at first I was like We walked on EVERYTHING and in one of my photos it looked like the park wasn't even open yet because in the background you couldn't see another living soul. It was crazy. After about the third day, it was, to be honest: depressing. It really was, sad. We flew through the rides and attractions, nobody around us when we ate. It wasn't 'Disney' to me, it felt like a ghost town, and while it was enjoyable to walk right on all the rides, I looked at my fiance (husband now) and was like 'This is BAD...Disney has to do something, this can't go on like this.' And well...they did but now it's the other extreme...I agree that it is ALWAYS crowded but I still love it and I'm just grateful that something was done to save WDW from what was happening...which was people losing interest. During the slow seasons it used to be DEAD. I mean NOBODY there. I hope when I go in two weeks that I can get on some rides without being caught in the middle of a group or something but hey, I think just being there in my favorite place ever will be the best

 

[JZCubed]

Oh trust me... I know DVC is expensive...but it's already paid for...so when I get back from our vacation I don't have a hotel bill. That's what I mean by "free". Heck I have probably $400 in Disney gift cards that I randomly buy and I also count that as "free" money because by the time the trip comes around they have been long ago paid for...and an extra $50 on the credit card every month or so is hardly noticeable. So in my world...that's free.

The 'break-even' for DVC was somewhere between 10-14 years when we calculated and purchased ours in 2010.

However, since there has been asset price inflation, I can now sell my DVC points for about what I paid back in 2010. In other words, I have effectively stayed at Disney for the cost of my dues these past four years.

I'm not going to be completely naive, I might have made the same profit had I invested those funds more traditionally, but I certainly feel as if we would be coming out ahead if we sold our DVC points today.

The reality for some of us is that the cost of a deluxe resort stay at Disney is far less costly because we purchased DVC points.

Plainly and simply, DVC owners win every time Disney raises prices to resorts. So if you purchased DVC prior to 2012, you probably made a good investment towards less costly deluxe resort vacations.

I'll give my math:

We pay just over $1,100 in annual dues for a one-week stay in 1-bedroom villa at Bay Lake during middle-of-road time of year. I can recoup just about my entire purchase price for my DVC points.

Therefore, from my perspective, we pay $160/night to stay in Bay Lake 1-br villa; the same room is listed well above $500/night before any discounting. This is just a factor of the cost for annual dues. My buy-in is worth what I paid for it and could possibly increase in value if hotel rates increase again.

 

[fishhunter]

No offense, but this sounds like a bunch of whining. I realize that people are different and what one person likes does not mean another feels the same, but you should expect the crowding issue when booking a Disney vacation. I personally enjoy the planning process, making rope drops and the other aspects of the Disney experience. In my opinion these three things make Disney so much easier to navigate: Stay 10 day tickets or more, meticulous planning and rope drops. If you want a relaxing vacation go lie on a beach and have a cocktail. Furthermore, kids normally do not see it things the way adults do. While you’re stressed they’re probably having the time of their life!