Magical ? Not so much.

[3DisneyFanz]

Wow just reading through the comments and a lot of people seem hurt over OP's post like he/she punched their mom in the face or something. I love Disney too but some things suck about it. No biggies OP just wanted to share their opinion.

Ive said this before and it is in full effect here but if Disney put a program in place where they hit every fifth person who walked into the parks with a baseball bat there would be people blaming the guest for being the fifth person to enter and talking about how magical the bat is.

 

[Angel Ariel]

LOL

I did not expect you Disney folks to agree with me or even be a little sympathetic.
My goal was to to relate to you - and perhaps a newbie to the site - what a non Disneyite experienced a week ago tomorrow at MK.

I understand it's December, but I would not of figured that a weekday before any of the schools in the US are out for Christmas break to be crowded.
Boy, I was wrong !

I've been to wdw a little more recently, and I would not expect mid December to be as crowded as you describe either. We went from Dec 13th-19th a few years ago...well, I guess more than a few now (2007) and the parks were dead. While I would absolutely expect increases, I would not expect it to be as crowded as, say, we saw over run disney weekends in 2013 anD 2014..which is almost what it sounds like it was, crowd wise, during your visit. That does surprise me. Thank you for letting me know not to think of this time as less crowded anymore. I appreciate it!

 

[mshanson3121]

[QUE="Kingslayer, post: 54858097, member: 565487"]That's a bit misleading. While there are high-dollar tickets to sporting events and concerts, I can just as easily find them for <$20/ticket too. The base ticket price of a Disney park is the cheapest you will find.[/QUOTE]

Not to most professional sports or high profile concerts you won't.

 

[Angel Ariel]

That's a bit misleading. While there are high-dollar tickets to sporting events and concerts, I can just as easily find them for <$20/ticket too. The base ticket price of a Disney park is the cheapest you will find.

Not to professional sports or high profile concerts you won't.

Depends on the sport and the team. We can, and have, gotten NHL tickets for half of what it costs (sometime less) for the one day, one park ticket ti MK. NHL and NFL ticket prices can vary greatly depending on the market, the opposing team, day of the week, etc...and theres also stub hub where you can generally buy cheaper tickets.

Theres a well known, nationally respected orchestra performing the Messiah here this weekend that still had $19 tickets available yesterday (and seats were on the orchestra level, not a tier...all the way in the back, but still available). Probably the most high end performance of the Messiah in this area (well populated metro area).

Idina Menzel toured here last summer, and we got tickets to her concert for $15..off to the side, but in the middle of the seats, not all the way in the back. Pretty good view of the stage, especially for the price.

 

[MrInfinity]

And again, I will say that waiting longer than 30 minutes in ANY line to see ANY attraction after paying over $100 bucks to get in is just crazy.
An over crowded park just frustrates people - especially the children, many of whom we witnessed being almost frantically rushed from one attraction to the next so that the parents could feel like they got their moneys worth.

What an odd thing to say for someone who's been going to theme parks for years. I too have been going forever, to Six Flags, Disney, and many others, and it's always been the case that you will pay to get in, then wait to ride the good rides. Space Mountain we'd wait an hour for back when we were kids... Millennium Force at Cedar Point, Goliath at Magic Mountain, you name it, any good ride typically builds to an hour wait.

As a teenager, that never bothered me. We'd hang out and chat... after all you're out with friends at a theme park, so you wait it out. As an adult, I'm more travel savvy, and by doing a bit of research, can avoid most lines. For example we just went the week before you did, and had quite the opposite experience! There are always going to be massive lines at theme parks... the trick is to find ways to not be the ones standing in them.

We got on so much so fast it was like bouncing from ride to ride with no time in between! Rope drop time was amazing and we got on so much, then used our Fast Passes, then other tools and strategies to do more. Basically we didn't just show up, walk up to Space Mountain at noon, see an hour wait, and conclude that Disney World sucks now. We'd show up early and head for Space Mountain first, then hit up Buzz and the Astro Orbiter, then have a FastPass ready to go on the Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, and See Anna & Elsa... So far this is constant attraction after attraction with no waiting. Then we'd have a lunch booked, and then afterwards we'd use our "extra" Fast Passes that we could book whatever of at a Kiosk, while doing Sorcerers quests or doing less busy things.

It's all in how you approach it. You've gone so many times and been on the disboards for so long I don't see why you had no idea crowds would be what they are. I actually thought crowds were moderate. Felt like lower crowds than a couple years ago. Or maybe FastPass+ just made it feel this way, since we spent so much less time waiting in line now.

I thought the food prices in park were on par with other theme parks, for food that was much better. I mean we had a Croc Madame for breakfast, it was a really good French bread, thick piece of ham, fresh egg and fruit... at a theme park. It was $20 a plate, but last time we went to Six Flags you pay $13 and get frozen nuggets and fries. No comparison. Here for $13 you can get fajitas at Pecos Bills, barbeque chicken at the Flametree, and so on.

And our CMs were amazing. We had a great time. Every CM we talked to did everything they could to meet whatever request we were discussing, plus some.

I wasn't looking for dirt, but nothing jumped out at me as dirty.

You can pay more and get express access to the rides, I think it's a VIP tour or something like that. It's not cheap though.

Hopefully you have a better time on your next trip! Look for the VIP Tour on the Disney site. Since it's only the two of you, it could be worth it!

 

[lugnut33]

[QUE="Kingslayer, post: 54858097, member: 565487"]That's a bit misleading. While there are high-dollar tickets to sporting events and concerts, I can just as easily find them for <$20/ticket too. The base ticket price of a Disney park is the cheapest you will find.

Not to most professional sports or high profile concerts you won't.[/QUOTE]

Honestly I can see some pretty great acts for $40 and under. I saw Robert DeLong a couple of weeks ago for $22 with fees and it was so awesome.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I purposely did not do a lot of research before this visit; it was a one day / 8 hour visit.
I mean, gee, it's the Magic Kingdom ! What could go wrong ?? =)
I realize now that I should of done some research beforehand.
I was relating my experience so that [hopefully] someone else could avoid what we experienced with the FastPass system.

A large part of our frustration was that no one at the park could explain the system to us.
Also .. the locations used to get those FP's were in hard to find [what seemed like temporary] locations.

Also, how would a one day "spur of the moment" visitor know that you can and should book FP weeks in advance ??
Or is the answer simply that going to Disney without researching the heck out of the visit .... ie: deciding to go because it's a sunny day just a stupid thing to do ?

I am sorry your experience wasn't great.

We had an AP and were able to do spur of the moment visits a couple of times (same day decision).

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that no one could explain FP+ to you. They have CMs at the kiosks where that is their primary task.


I do agree that some of the location placements can be a bit awkward. I think they tried to make then "centralized". But in some cases, you wonder why they made some of the location choices.

 

[TiffanyA]

I guess I'm one of the few sympathetic to the OPs plight regarding fastpasses. I just dealt with the same with my mother - the woman who raised Disney obsessed kids and had an annual pass for many years until she let it lapse a couple of years ago. Even though she has gone with FP+ before, she still doesn't quite understand the system - because her kids do all the work now - or why it was changed. She was actually a little put out that I was rushing her to buy her tickets. And then I asked her if she had any requests when she finally DID get around to purchasing (three weeks out!) and she replies, "Oh, that roller coaster they just built. You know about the Dwarves."

I was .

Then

She didn't realize she needed to book earlier and probably stay onsite in order for me to get those. When she and Dad said they wanted to do offsite this year as prices were too expensive for onsite, i warned them. I pretty much warned them for four months. I even implored them to buy so we'd at least get the 30 day mark. Nope. they still dragged their feet for another week. And guess what? Right.

To take a trip down memory lane - she and Dad would surprise us one Friday and take us out of school early and we'd take a trip up from to Disney (from Miami), no planning whatsoever. They'd literally book the room that day too. And we'd really enjoy ourselves. It's not possible to have the same experience these days - times have evolved. Yes, Disney has seriously disadvantaged the spur of the moment visitor. I would say they've discouraged them too, but those spur of the moment visitors don't know any of this.

I can totally understand why someone who gone before many times might not research the heck out of a place he's already been. I go to Italy every year. I only researched it the first time! But it's a country and not one anyone would think of as fast-changing.

It is a shame you didn't enjoy your vacation, OP. I remember when trips like these fit right in with the Disney way. Disney has decided otherwise now though. And I agree, finding out could be very expensive indeed!

 

[hiroMYhero]

I've been to wdw a little more recently, and I would not expect mid December to be as crowded as you describe either. We went from Dec 13th-19th a few years ago...well, I guess more than a few now (2007) and the parks were dead. While I would absolutely expect increases, I would not expect it to be as crowded as, say, we saw over run disney weekends in 2013 anD 2014..which is almost what it sounds like it was, crowd wise, during your visit. That does surprise me. Thank you for letting me know not to think of this time as less crowded anymore. I appreciate it!

The day that OP went to MK was the day DHS closed early for the Pop Warner party - no Lights so anyone with non-hoppers and who were there for Lights, chose a different park. And those with hoppers probably hopped to the park with the latest evening hours: MK.

The Lights are such a huge draw that Disney, of course, didn't anticipate and they are affecting all parks and traffic areas.

 

[Kingslayer]

Not to most professional sports or high profile concerts you won't.

Outside of football, I sure can, and have on many occasions.

 

[Flight]

This is what I am reading in some of the responses to PurpleDog's posting:

Paraphrased -

"The nerve of some people taking a trip to an amusement park without proper research."

"We don't want your kind around here."

"How dare a family show up at the last minute without a well planned strategy in place."

There are families that have been going to Disneyland and Walt Disney World for decades. Then they had a recent period of some years of not going to the parks. When they finally take another trip without diving into the many hours of research that our forum members accomplish, they are surprised to be at a disadvantage once there. Why would anyone in that situation feel they had to attack the trip as is if conducting a major campaign?

It is hotels, rides, restaurants, and entertainment. Is someone to be condemned because they did not fully understand all the intricacies today at a place like that?

Yes, there is a huge advantage to spend time planning and looking into the details of a family vacation. In our house we do quite a bit of preparation prior to a trip.

However, it is completely normal and understandable that not all families do that, especially for a short notice trip or a journey to a place that they had previous experience.

I can see a family saying, "It is Disney World. We should just go and have a great time with all the attractions. There is no need to go crazy planning. Let's go!"

Of course, we know better. Not everyone does.

 

[mshanson3121]

Outside of football, I sure can, and have on many occasions.

Yes, I'm sure

Boston Bruins START at $110.
Many other NHL teams start at $40-50 for crappy seats.
Most baseball games start at $30 for crappy seats.
Most concerts START at $50+ again, for crappy seats. Some concerts start at $75-100 (see the previous comment about someone's concert).

Are there "cheaper" events? Sure. But, a) the comment I made, and the one I was replying to, was making a valid point - people complain about Disney being $105 a day, when there are many, many other events where you will spend equal amount of money, and often for less value.

But hey, if you want to compare apples to apples, fine. You can get "nosebleed" seats for cheap (and often then not even for cheap). But if you want GOOD seats, you're going to drop some money, very easily $100, and often more. Likewise, you can go to "cheaper" theme parks that will only charge you $30-50 a day to get in for that one day. And just like nosebleed seats don't begin to compare to good seats, neither do those cheap parks, compare to Disney. So, the point is - if you want quality, you're gonna pay for it. And Disney isn't that outpriced when you compare it to other things.

 

[Angel Ariel]

The day that OP went to MK was the day DHS closed early for the Pop Warner party - no Lights so anyone with non-hoppers and who were there for Lights, chose a different park. And those with hoppers probably hopped to the park with the latest evening hours: MK.

The Lights are such a huge draw that Disney, of course, didn't anticipate and they are affecting all parks and traffic areas.

Ah, yeah, that would definitely cause a huge mass of people. So hopefully an outlier and not indicative of all crowd levels in December?

 

[Kingslayer]

Yes, I'm sure

Boston Bruins START at $110.
Many other NHL teams start at $40-50 for crappy seats.
Most baseball games start at $30 for crappy seats.
Most concerts START at $50+ again, for crappy seats. Some concerts start at $75-100 (see the previous comment about someone's concert).

Well sure, if you're buying directly from the venue. I just assumed anyone who had spent any time researching what they were going to do knew to buy their sporting tickets for a fraction of the price from Stubhub. If this thread has taught me anything, it's that we're allowed to be dismissive of anyone who doesn't conform to the way we think it should be done.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Many other NHL teams start at $40-50 for crappy seats.

I guess it depends what you consider to be good seats or crappy seats, which would be subjective for everyone.

I don't live in the city that I root for (moved away in HS ). So I like to go to my team's games when they visit the team in the city where I live currently. The absolute BEST place to watch a game in that situation, at least in our arena, is in the top level because that's where all the *visiting team's* fans sit. I buy tickets in the end of the arena where my team is going to be trying to score twice, along with all the other fans of my team at the game, and we have an amazing time. We get chants going that are loud enough to be heard over the home fans' chants, etc. And, again at least in our arena, the view is still very good. Even the 3rd level is not so far from the ice that you can't follow the puck. And being up high actually lets you see the entire rink better than down at ice level.

We find the same to be true at football games. Lower seats tend to be more expensive, but you actually get a better view of the entire field up higher. I prefer seeing the entire field at a distance to only seeing well the portion of the game that's right in front of me b/c we are so low we can't see the rest of the field of play well. But that's us.

I tend to feel similarly for *most* theatre performances as well. I love the closeness of the orchestra, but it isn't everything. We sat 1st row at one of Idina Menzel's final performances of If/Then last year. It was SO fun being so close to the stage, and it worked well for that show because there wasn't much in the way of scenery/staging..the focus really was the people and nothing else. But for a show like the Lion King? I wouldn't *want* to be up close. Being further back, as we were at the back of the orchestra when we took my nephew to Lion King last summer, was a lot better. We could see the entire stage without straining necks right/left OR up/down. We do mezzanine seating frequently for shows for the same reason...you can see the entire stage, and see all of the action. That can be harder to do down in the orchestra level, especially closer to the stage - even if those are the more expensive seats. More expensive doesn't necessarily equal better. Better depends on what you're looking for in the experience.

 

[mshanson3121]

Not to most professional sports or high profile concerts you won't.

Honestly I can see some pretty great acts for $40 and under. I saw Robert DeLong a couple of weeks ago for $22 with fees and it was so awesome.[/QUOTE]

I have no idea who that is, lol. Again, it's an apples to apples thing - you can see less well known acts, that are no doubt good, for a cheaper price. Just like you can go to less well known, smaller parks, and still have a great time for less price. But if you want to go to extremely big name concerts and sporting events, you're gonna pay for it. Likewise, if you want to go to THE park that everyone has heard of, that is basically the top class for all parks, you're going to pay for it. You don't go to Broadway and expect to pay the same prices that you'd pay at your little local theatre.

 

[mshanson3121]

Well sure, if you're buying directly from the venue. I just assumed anyone who had spent any time researching what they were going to do knew to buy their sporting tickets for a fraction of the price from Stubhub. If this thread has taught me anything, it's that we're allowed to be dismissive of anyone who doesn't conform to the way we think it should be done.

Oh my apologies. You're right. Sorry, on Stubhub, the tickets for a Jan 5t Bruin game start at $78. Capitals vs. Rangers starts at $128. Eagles vs. Giants starts at $147, Justin Bieber for $98. You're right, much, MUCH cheaper than a day at Disney! I can however see a Mets vs Braves spring training game starting at $40 though. So, based on that, yes, that makes my (and the other persons) point that Disney is fairly equal in price to many other events, completely invalid.

 

[PurpleDog]

OP here. A few points I feel compelled to mention:

* While I have been a member of this board for close to 10 years now, and have over 180 posts, my post this morning was the first time I have been on this section of the board in quite some time. The only part of the site I visit on a regular basis is the Budget Board.

* I don't consider myself a Disney newbie, but I am nowhere near as informed as many of you. I don't feel the need to be, as I just don't visit the parks that often anymore. I have other hobbies that I am much more informed about; Disney just is not one of them.

* At no time did any cast member explain the new FP procedure. Not when they exchanged our paper passes for plastic cards at the ticket window, and not when we had to track down the FP "kiosks" which, by the way, are CM's with iPads - not my definition of a kiosk. I was not given an info "sheet" that explained the new way that the FP's are doled out. I have the park map from my visit, and it does [again in my opinion] a poor job of explaining the FP procedures that have changed since my last visit. An informed guest makes for a happier guest, and, as I have mentioned, I will research the heck out of my next visit.

* I very much enjoyed my vacation, thank you very much. We spent 4 days near Tampa at my brothers and then 3 days in Orlando. We had a great time ! I was just trying to point out what had changed at MK - in my opinion for the worse - since my last visit there. MK was only 1 day out of my 7 days trip. We still think that Philharmonic, POTC, Haunted, and COP are fantastic experiences that everyone enjoys. The point I was trying to make, that will hopefully help a newbie who reads this, is that SINCE MY LAST VISIT the park appeared to us to be way more crowded, dirtier, had less CM's and CM's that were not as helpful with information as they have been in the past. The food prices had increased as well. In my humble opinion, a Diet Coke and hot dog should not cost over $11 bucks anywhere. And since this is the USA, and I am over 50, I am allowed to complain about it ! =)

* I have no problem paying for entertainment. The day we arrived back in VA from FL, I bought 2 seats at Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix to see Springsteen on 3.10.16. With the Ticketmaster fees, those 2 seats came to $352 and change. But I can rest assured that for the concert I will have my own uncrowded seat with a great view and sound. I would not of purchased the tickets if they had been a partial view or I knew the sound was not going to be ideal.

I think we can put this thread to bed folks.

 

[BigFatPickle]

OP, I think your post and the nature of the responses you've received simply prove that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[srauseo]

Well sure, if you're buying directly from the venue. I just assumed anyone who had spent any time researching what they were going to do knew to buy their sporting tickets for a fraction of the price from Stubhub. If this thread has taught me anything, it's that we're allowed to be dismissive of anyone who doesn't conform to the way we think it should be done.

Since when are tickets always cheaper on Stubhub? The times I've checked they've always been marked up from face value. I think it depends greatly on how popular the event is.