Live-ish blog. My thoughts and observations April 7-13

Staying at AKL Jambo House...

I am gonna try and just hit some bullet points here. We will start off with post 1, night one...

We arrived at MCO at 9:12pm. Headed straight to Magic Express, boarded a waiting motor coach. We then proceeded to wait for approximately 45 minutes to leave. They packed the bus to bursting, and people were standing in the back(against policy, but I guess efficiency beats safety) we were the 3rd stop and didn't arrive at our resort till a little after 11.

We were then woken up at 2am by a call from bell services asking if they could deliver our luggage. This was after I spoke to them at 11, and specifically asked them not to call or knock that night. I was infuriated. Also, despite talking to the front desk and bell services, I was basically given a "we're sorry" shoulder shrug. Which, believe it or not, doesn't help with my 3 year olds lack of sleep.

Anyhoo, that's day 1. Good start.
 
Click to expand...
21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
xdan0920 said:
That season food pass is equal to one day of Disney food. So, what was that comparison again?
Click to expand...

I think the comparison is because they're both amusement or theme parks, which have several similarities even though they are very different experiences.
Speaking for myself- we frequent Cedar Fair parks, as do my friends and fam, all of us also go to WDW..some of my friends a lot more often than I do. We've discussed the comparison of counter service food at both. Disney wins in pricing. Disney also wins in crowd management. I love both, for different reasons.

I can't speak for Six Flags.. but here's a typical day for us at KI- (and by day I mean a half day or a few hours)-
Food - one meal- $30. Funnel cake $13 or 2 ice cream cones $15.
Slingshot or Sky Flyer- $40. Games- $10-$40.
Yes, we have season passes which were a little over $400 for two of us.
Add hotel for Cedar Point- $280- $300+. Add Fast Lane pass- $200.
I've been at great wolf lodge for the past few days and KI on Friday- well over the price of most Disney deluxe rooms. KI- packed with insane lines. GWL- packed with long lines for the slides.
I actually purchased the dining plan for the first time this year.. I think it was around $300-includes a meal at certain restaurants.. no drinks, no snacks, no desserts. 1 meal every 4 hours. It was too crowded to use it on Friday, and I am going to make notes of prices and figure out if it was worth it this year or not. Like I said, we usually aren't there more than 4 hours.. and unfortunately, Tom & Chee isn't on the plan which is my favorite lol. Plus, we eat a lot of snacks..I'm already regretting that purchase.

Last year my KI app said that we visited 12 times, including Halloween Haunt.

I guess, for me, when I'm on vacation I already have a general preplanned budget. Cedar Fair parks are not vacation, so spending $30 on a random Wednesday for a couple of pizza slices seems more ridiculous.

Disney doesn't have teens with a microphone calling to your children and beckoning you to play a game..they don't have any rides that cost extra to do.

I could spend less than $120 at Disney for each of us, eat counter service meals, and spend less than I do at Cedar Point for one day.

Certain hotels at Disney- ridiculously priced, but even then most of your activities are not an additional fee, I can't say the same for GWL.lol

Disney is crazy expensive if you stay several days, but comparing 1 day to 1 day.. I think they come out ahead.. in my case they do.

You guys were comparing food prices to local restaurants, I think myself and another poster were comparing to other amusement parks bc that is a much more accurate comparison.


It was just an observation. No one is saying that Disney is inexpensive.
 
Last edited:
xdan0920

xdan0920

Think for yourselfer
Original Poster
21stamps said:
You guys were comparing food prices to local restaurants
Click to expand...
No one did this. I was comparing Disney to Disney. Food prices have increased exponentially. It's no longer enough for them to charge $100 a day to get in, now they have pushed their food prices up double digit percentages year after year after year. I don't compare Disney to anything besides itself. The other poster brought up Six Flags, which is quite frankly a joke. For under $200 I can get a season pass with unlimited food and beverages.

Now, I would love it if you would stop relaying your personal experiences at a non Disney park, in my Disney Trip Report.
 
21stamps

21stamps

Well-Known Member
xdan0920 said:
No one did this. I was comparing Disney to Disney. Food prices have increased exponentially. It's no longer enough for them to charge $100 a day to get in, now they have pushed their food prices up double digit percentages year after year after year. I don't compare Disney to anything besides itself. The other poster brought up Six Flags, which is quite frankly a joke. For under $200 I can get a season pass with unlimited food and beverages.

Now, I would love it if you would stop relaying your personal experiences at a non Disney park, in my Disney Trip Report.
Click to expand...
We were saying that food is expensive- everywhere. But Disney is not as bad as a few other places. And Disney does not charge $100 per day to go in, if you are going multiple days. Their value is better comparatively because they are such a different experience. That's all. We were pointing out the positives in value of Disney world vs these parks.

As you know, I cancelled my Disney trip that overlapped with yours. So I was interested in your experience.
The past several posts have been claims of how inexpensive regional parks are- it's not accurate. I gave an actual accurate comparison.

Prices totally stink these days. I'm with ya there. Disney or otherwise.

Anyway, glad you had some fun on your trip.
Have a magical day :)
 
Laketravis

Laketravis

Well-Known Member
xdan0920 said:
That season food pass is equal to one day of Disney food. So, what was that comparison again?
Click to expand...

Exactly. It's ridiculous for anyone to refute the increases at WDW by saying that it's not any more expensive than this or that only to backtrack when called out on it. The rate at which WDW has been increasing F&B is sickening.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Laketravis said:
Op, I had almost forgot to ask - did you notice any CM's conducting surveys during your visit?
Click to expand...

They are almost always there.. its just a matter of aligning timing and what kind of surveys (30 second ones, mailed, or indepth focus groups, etc). They won't be in the same spot all day, etc.
 
King Racoon 77

King Racoon 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
To the OP @xdan0920 . Would you pay a higher resort fee in the future to stay at one of the "gondola" resorts if it meant less disruption due to Ecv's ?
 
Laketravis

Laketravis

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
They are almost always there.. its just a matter of aligning timing and what kind of surveys (30 second ones, mailed, or indepth focus groups, etc). They won't be in the same spot all day, etc.
Click to expand...

Right. I see them often and it can sometimes be a bell weather of what changes are being considered especially when knowing the sort of questions that are asked. But the last couple of times I was there I didn't see any surveyors no matter how hard I looked so I was curious if it was just a lull or what.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom