Theme parks like Disney World have been popular for decades, but are the high ticket prices, long lines, and stress associated with the modern-day experience worth the hassle anymore?

Where has this guy been?

When my wife and I went to Disney World in 1996, we planned nothing in advance. We found ourselves waiting in massive lines for rides and spending hours waiting for tables in restaurants. We realized we screwed up and we had to do better.

That was 27 years ago. Since then, we had kids and raised them to adulthood.

Every trip after that we scheduled reservations in advance. Every morning we wake up, we know what park we are going to. We spend about 20 minutes every day we are there planning that day’s activities, and we roll with whatever changes we encounter.

I don’t understand how having a plan in place in advance of your vacation somehow makes it more stressful. I’ve always thought it was easier to not have to wonder what we’ll be doing and where we’ll be going during our Disney trips.

Are there really people who insist on just showing up with no plan and then blame Disney when they are stressed?

Also, it seems like most of the Disney criticism I see is coming from Fox news in some form or another. Is that just my news feed, or is it an extension of the culture war that the right is trying to foment?

  • @NABDadOPEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    I think mostly because that’s what the article was talking about: the need to book plans in advance (as well as the price) being the critical factor in the stress of the Disney World vacation.

    The article wasn’t really about people who don’t like being in crowds.

    • Captain PoofterEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      I got that. I was never trying to argue that at all. The only thing I was trying to comment on was what I interpreted as OPs exasperation at how anyone at all would want to avoid that vacation, when to me even with all the planning and reservations and everything they described it is still asking a lot from introverts, even if it’s way easier than just winging it without a plan.

      • @NABDadOPEnglish
        1•1 year ago

        My exasperation was more about someone suddenly discovering that WDW required planning, as if that hasn’t been the case for the last three decades.

        • Captain PoofterEnglish
          2•1 year ago

          So why is it so crazy to suggest that that planning itself would be off putting for some people, regardless of how easy they’ve made it? is that not what many people (disproportionately introverts) specifically go on vacations to get away from? The bigger the park gets, the more people that go, the more things require planning, and the more off putting it is for the folks like myself who just wanna sit and relax. They’re not making it easier for these folks regardless of how streamlined booking a hotel or reserving a dinner table is, because the park itself is inherently off putting and the bigger it gets it only gets worse.

          It seemed like you weren’t remembering these people exist at all, which is why I commented in the first place.

          Edit: less rambling Tl;Dr: making planning easier doesn’t make planning more fun for people who don’t like planning. These people will be stressed no matter what, and the source of stress is the Disney park

          • @NABDadOPEnglish
            1•1 year ago

            I’m not disagreeing with you! In fact, I never wanted to talk about people who avoid Disney World at all.

            The only point I’m trying to make, is that it is disingenuous to suggest that planning is just something new for a Disney park trip. It’s been that way for decades.

            Obviously, nothing I’ve said would apply to people who would never ever consider stepping foot in a Disney park. I don’t know why someone who would recoil at the thought of being in WDW would even read a post about visiting Disney Parks.