I’m taking my family of 6 in September. I have never liked the idea of “pay to play”. I believe the playing field should be level for everyone - from the family who had to scrimp to come to those not worried about the extra cost. I’ve been in both camps. When my son was younger we went on the super budget spectrum-stayed in either timeshares my aunt gifted us or hotels I now shudder to think about, no hoppers, QS meals only and luckily for me a kids meal was usually enough for me, very rarely did I let him get a snack, we packed our own snacks and ate offsite, etc. Many years later I can afford to stay onsite and “pay to play” but Disney needs to realize that this means that while I normally have one table service meal each day (most of them price fixe) I am no longer doing that. You can have my money one way OR the other but not both. This upcoming trip we only have two sit down meals (dinner in the Castle and Artist Pointe). The kids are being limited to souvenirs-they have their own money and grandma will supplement some. Again Disney you’re forcing a choice between over priced merchandise and the ride system. I think they’re probably making more money on MLL and LL so don’t care about the per guest expenditure they are losing on food and merchandise.
IMHO “pay to play” needs to go away. Everyone should be treated equal once they step through those turnstiles.
Stepping down from soapbox md thanks for listening
