Trip Report The Easiest Trip Ever

I’m willing to jinx it. I am a chronic planner. This up coming trip is the easiest one yet.

Players:
DH 42- the obsessive planner /op. This will be my 9th trip as an adult after 3 as a kid.
DW 43- this will be her 9th trip as an adult (never went as a kid. She will turn 44 during this trip.
DS 18- 9th trip. Just graduated high school.
DD 15- 9th trip. Most excited of the kids.
DD 10- 8th trip. Borderline not in love with Disney.

Broad strokes:
- staying at POR for the second time.
- our first POR trip in 2016 was when we found out, the hard way, that our son had epilepsy. The cast members were phenomenal.
- driving in from Atl area.
- 9 days / 8nights.
- we will be attending MNSSHP. This is our 3rd, but first since 2013.
- we’ve used park hopper before, but don’t love it. This will be one park per day.

I’ll post the specific plans later in this thread. Table service wise, we lucked into getting everything we wanted from the start- Beaches &Cream, Ohana dinner, via Napoli, homecoming brunch. We late added Boatwrights. Don’t at me, we kinda like it.

And to end this, I’ll ask a question for the group. My wife’s birthday is during the trip. Specifically on our Epcot day. At present, we are doing F&W for lunch and our all time favorite of via Napoli for dinner. I was looking at getting a cake delivered. If I’m reading this right, they can only do the delivery at certain restaurants? Assuming I’m reading this right, I’m looking to luck into a le cellier reservation. My question is this- has anyone used this service before? If so, am I right that it’s reserved for certain restaurants. And lastly, I also looked it up for amorettes. I may be reading this too literally. They have a message that it can’t be delivered to all Disney resorts. Does that mean- they can do for some, not all? Or does it mean- no resorts, period?

 

[jharvey]

So… that was fast. We are back. I’ll add pictures, reviews, etc. The headlines are-
- we still love Disney. This was my 8th trip as an adult (9th if you count a Disney springs trip during the shut down). With 3 trips as a child.
- Bob Chapek isn’t the devil - don’t shoot. I think he’s the responsible parent having to pay the tab for the fun parent (Iger). With that said, our trips will probably go to once every 3-5 years
- Getting to ride Splash for the last time was amazing.
- Some of the “new to us” things were the absolute winners for the trip.

 

[jharvey]

Day 0- travel day
- left Atlanta at 3:45am. Arrived at POR by 11am. Room wasn’t ready, so we caught a boat to Disney Springs.

We had a lunch reservation for City Works. This was a first time for us. Before this we would stick to D-Luxe, Earl of Sandwich, Boathouse, Raglan, Chicken Guy, splitsville.We’d seen some YouTube reviews for City Works and thought we’d give it a try.

Overall, I’d give it a 7/10. It was pretty good. My only strike was the soft drinks. I’ve been on a diet for over 3 years. One of the things I dropped was coke. At Disney, I’m like Tony Montana. This coke was so flat I assumed they gave me Pepsi. I got the filet sliders, which were great, but were not Boathouse level for me.

We turned in early, as we were sleepy, and my kids know I’m a maniac about rope dropping. About 8pm, my wife and I woke up from our naps and decided to walk to POFQ. We’d never been before. We stopped at a POR pool bar first, and I got a hurricane. I’m not a drinker, but again, when in Rome. We then wandered off to discover the French Quarter. We liked the theming and the beignets were phenomenal.

We made it back to our room by 10:30pm. We will be up by 4:30am for Day 1- Magic Kingdom

Wins for the day:
- Gideons. We’d never had anything from there before. The Frankenstein cookies were legit
- Beignets at POFQ

Draws for the day:
- City Works. It was good, but not great

Losses for the day:
- my diet. Spoiler alert- I gained 8 pounds on this trip. I’m crest fallen.
- Chapek tax.

 

[jharvey]

Chapek tax, an explainer.

My first trip, as an adult, was in 2010. At the time, we only had 2 kids. It was my first trip since the early 90s, and the first for my wife and kids. That trip was 6 days- 5 nights, park hopper, meal plan. It cost $2,400, not counting spending money, so add another $500. In all, that was 6.5% of my yearly salary. My wife worked at the time, but I’m keeping it to just my salary for the sake of later comparison.

This trip, our 8th overall, had some obvious differences. Add in 12 years of inflation. An additional kid, with a move over to POR to accommodate the extra head count. But, without a meal plan or park hopper, adding in memory maker, and 9 days 8 nights, with one party, and 6 park days, this trip, plus spending money= $9,954. Or 9.66% of my yearly base. That’s before LL.

Every decision above was my own. The trip was amazing. Costs are going up everywhere. But… Lightning lane is an abomination. First, due to the name. That’s a Six Flags name if I’ve ever heard it. The price increases, announced two days before we got there… Just to get LL for our first day, was $111. Then we plopped down another $80 for 7DMT. And all souvenirs and food have gone through the roof.

I know they have to make a profit, as a publicly traded company, they are obligated to do so. But to hear Chapek brag about the % of people utilizing the service as some way of showing it’s success is a crock. Bob, if you charge a nickel to use the restrooms, you’ll have a high rate of use too. I can’t prove it, but I believe, after this trip, that they are throttling the wait times to gin up LL sales. Take that into account with the fact that Deluxe resort guests are getting added park times, I’m falling into the “magic is lost” crowd. I’ve rolled my eyes at that for the better part of a decade. But we are well beyond Walt rolling over in his grave territory. We are in Eisner rolling over in his (I know he’s still alive… right?).

Tl;dr I make 232% more than I did when I first went as an adult and I can’t afford to continue going. And I’m getting far less, for far more. I’m not sure what the breaking point is for the average American, but I am there.

Again, I believe chapek is having to balance the books after Iger went on a wild spending spree. But he should ask himself this. Who is his core audience? Someone making $500k + who sees Disney as a kitschy thing to do once with their family. Or an obsessive from Mississippi, who bought Lion king when he found out his wife was pregnant with his first kid, tears up whenever he hears good life, let it go, or little wonders, that makes $113k a year? Because, I can tell you this, me, from 12 years ago, could not afford to go now. Me from my 2016 trip couldn’t afford to go now. Disney fandom is an absolute addiction. However, chapek/Iger may have found the best way ever to snap me out of it. At some point, a tipping point will be reached. This company has survived/thrived, off of nostalgia. They’ve now priced it so that the people that can achieve that level of nostalgia, are not easily susceptible to nostalgia.

 

[Twinglemom]

Chapek tax, an explainer.

My first trip, as an adult, was in 2010. At the time, we only had 2 kids. It was my first trip since the early 90s, and the first for my wife and kids. That trip was 6 days- 5 nights, park hopper, meal plan. It cost $2,400, not counting spending money, so add another $500. In all, that was 6.5% of my yearly salary. My wife worked at the time, but I’m keeping it to just my salary for the sake of later comparison.

This trip, our 8th overall, had some obvious differences. Add in 12 years of inflation. An additional kid, with a move over to POR to accommodate the extra head count. But, without a meal plan or park hopper, adding in memory maker, and 9 days 8 nights, with one party, and 6 park days, this trip, plus spending money= $9,954. Or 9.66% of my yearly base. That’s before LL.

Every decision above was my own. The trip was amazing. Costs are going up everywhere. But… Lightning lane is an abomination. First, due to the name. That’s a Six Flags name if I’ve ever heard it. The price increases, announced two days before we got there… Just to get LL for our first day, was $111. Then we plopped down another $80 for 7DMT. And all souvenirs and food have gone through the roof.

I know they have to make a profit, as a publicly traded company, they are obligated to do so. But to hear Chapek brag about the % of people utilizing the service as some way of showing it’s success is a crock. Bob, if you charge a nickel to use the restrooms, you’ll have a high rate of use too. I can’t prove it, but I believe, after this trip, that they are throttling the wait times to gin up LL sales. Take that into account with the fact that Deluxe resort guests are getting added park times, I’m falling into the “magic is lost” crowd. I’ve rolled my eyes at that for the better part of a decade. But we are well beyond Walt rolling over in his grave territory. We are in Eisner rolling over in his (I know he’s still alive… right?).

Tl;dr I make 232% more than I did when I first went as an adult. And I’m getting far less, for far more. I’m not sure what the breaking point is for the average American, but I am there.

Again, I believe chapek is having to balance the books after Iger went on a wild spending spree. But he should ask himself this. Who is his core audience? Someone making $500k + who sees Disney as a kitschy thing to do once with their family. Or an obsessive from Mississippi, who bought Lion king when he found out his wife was pregnant with his first kid, tears up whenever he hears good life, let it go, or little wonders, that makes $113k a year? Because, I can tell you this, me, from 12 years ago, could not afford to go. Me from my 2016 trip couldn’t afford to go now. Disney fandom is an absolute addiction. However, chapek/Iger may have found the best way ever to snap me out of it. At some point, a tipping point will be reached. This company has survived/thrived, off of nostalgia. They’ve now priced it so that the people that can achieve that level of nostalgia, are not easily susceptible to nostalgia.

I agree with everything. Disney is pricing themselves out. Universal has been gaining attendees. How often have we all heard Disneyholics say " I'm done with Disney and going to Universal." I am no business strategist but pricing a luxury (because unlike what we would like to believe Disney Trips are luxuries) out of the reach of 3/4 of the population during a big downturn in the economy doesn't seem like a great strategy. People would be more likely to travel to Disney if they felt valued and that they were receiving a great product for the money. Genie + and $ILL have made trips disastrous. You can't relax and have to get up at the crack of dawn to hope you can get a ride and then you have to pray that ride doesn't break down. Only the Deluxes have extra evening hours. Every week or two its a price jump and not a little one. And the demographic Chapek is aiming at are one and done. I'm curious to see if the bubble will burst and Disney will not have the 1% coming and they will have alienated their loyal fans with all the money grabs. Its become a place of the have and have nots unfortunately.

 

[jharvey]

I agree with everything. Disney is pricing themselves out. Universal has been gaining attendees. How often have we all heard Disneyholics say " I'm done with Disney and going to Universal." I am no business strategist but pricing a luxury (because unlike what we would like to believe Disney Trips are luxuries) out of the reach of 3/4 of the population during a big downturn in the economy doesn't seem like a great strategy. People would be more likely to travel to Disney if they felt valued and that they were receiving a great product for the money. Genie + and $ILL have made trips disastrous. You can't relax and have to get up at the crack of dawn to hope you can get a ride and then you have to pray that ride doesn't break down. Only the Deluxes have extra evening hours. Every week or two its a price jump and not a little one. And the demographic Chapek is aiming at are one and done. I'm curious to see if the bubble will burst and Disney will not have the 1% coming and they will have alienated their loyal fans with all the money grabs. Its become a place of the have and have nots unfortunately.

Perfectly put. For years, I’ve grown tired of the sky is falling crowd. After this trip, you can put me in the chicken little group.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

We have a family trip planned for January to wdw. With the ages of our kids and the prices where they are, I’m 100% sure it’s our last trip. For those prices we will just go back to Europe for our vacations. It makes me sad but they’ve just priced us out.
I go to Disneyland every other year with girlfriends and we leave Friday for this years trip. But I believe this might be moved to every 4-5 years with the newest prices. My friends are teachers and can’t just spend a $1200/1300 on a long week-end trip.
I really never thought I’d be priced out of Disney but I think they finally did it with the last price jump.

 

[jharvey]

We have a family trip planned for January to wdw. With the ages of our kids and the prices where they are, I’m 100% sure it’s our last trip. For those prices we will just go back to Europe for our vacations. It makes me sad but they’ve just priced us out.
I go to Disneyland every other year with girlfriends and we leave Friday for this years trip. But I believe this might be moved to every 4-5 years with the newest prices. My friends are teachers and can’t just spend a $1200/1300 on a long week-end trip.
I really never thought I’d be priced out of Disney but I think they finally did it with the last price jump.

Problem is the rationalizing that I’ve had to do. My addiction made it so I could find a way to justify the expense. Not anymore. I still love it. That approach up Main Street for the first time still gets to me. But for the money I spent on this trip… next year I’m getting my college freshman a used car. The year after, that money will be the final part of a down payment on a house. Not that I, and my family, should be the focus, but the expression holds-

You can sheer a sheep a million times, but you can only skin that sob once. Well, I’ve been sheered 8 times. I got skinned in October 2022.

 

[LeighM]

When my husband and I started going to WDW in 2012, both of our salaries allowed us to comfortable go to Disney for a week and stay at Riverside with the dining plan. When we went back in 2014, we could afford to add a few more days to our stay with minimal increase in cost. But, my husband's salary has gone up quite a bit from 2012 and now we feel the strain of a Disney trip staying at the same moderate. Our December trip, which was a 3 night at POFQ with 2 park tickets and the Christmas party event at MK, was almost the same cost of our week in 2012. Because we now have to pay to get to WDW since they did away with the Magical Express and I absolutely refuse to pay for the Genie+ (buying only 2 LL for 2 rides made me sick to my stomach lol), I am looking to change how we do our next trip. I may do a Party or After Hours event is offered during our stay and may do 2 day park hopper tickets. We'll do the water parks and mini golf (if they're still open!). We'll spend more time at the resorts. And I'll prioritize restaurants that offer Disney Visa discounts in order to save money for the limited merchandise we want. Some of my friends love WDW as much as I do and they are excited to go back. I try very hard to not let my negativity come out bc I don't want to influence their future trip in any way. But it's hard esp. when they ask me about my thoughts about Genie+

 

[jharvey]

The following was what we rode and the order we rode.

Day 1 October 15- MK

-Peter pans flight
It’s a small world
Splash mountain
Splash mountain w/LL
Buzz w/LL
7dmt w/LL
Midday break followed by dinner at Riverside Mill Food court
Hall of presidents
Haunted mansion w/LL
Philharmagic
Country Bear Jamboree
Big Thunder w/LL
Tiki
Pirates w/LL
Jungle cruise w/LL
Dumbo w/LL
Tomorrowland speedway
Big Thunder
TTA

Wins:
- Columbia Harbour House- best CS on property- fight me
- Splash- our all time favorite ride. This trip will undoubtedly be our last chance to ride before the sacrificial lamb is taken out back.
- 7DMT- a contender for our new favorite once Splash goes down.

Draw:
- memory maker. Last trip, this was the major loss as policy revolving around masks had several of the pictures of our youngest deleted. Not an issue this time. However, with the age of my kids, it probably wasn’t worth it.

Loss:
- lightning lane, as you can see above, was well utilized. However, with the increases, our total costs were $200+ with taxes. LL, in its short life, has been an eyesore due to the name being very Six Flags. The cost element was always problematic, but the recent increase is the proverbial bridge too far. If Chapek ever learns about the origin of the term e ticket, we are all screwed.

Overall, I’d put this day down as a solid 8.5/10.

 

[jharvey]

Some pictures from our day 1 at MK

 

[jharvey]

Also, as a … we rode Jungle Cruise in the evening, which was a first for us. Skipper Nick was good-to-great, but dear God… My 15 year old and 10 year old lost their minds for this guy. I caught my youngest taking a picture. I heard her say, looking at the picture she took, “I’ll save that for later”. It was at that moment I realized the next several years will be a challenge.

 

[jharvey]

When my husband and I started going to WDW in 2012, both of our salaries allowed us to comfortable go to Disney for a week and stay at Riverside with the dining plan. When we went back in 2014, we could afford to add a few more days to our stay with minimal increase in cost. But, my husband's salary has gone up quite a bit from 2012 and now we feel the strain of a Disney trip staying at the same moderate. Our December trip, which was a 3 night at POFQ with 2 park tickets and the Christmas party event at MK, was almost the same cost of our week in 2012. Because we now have to pay to get to WDW since they did away with the Magical Express and I absolutely refuse to pay for the Genie+ (buying only 2 LL for 2 rides made me sick to my stomach lol), I am looking to change how we do our next trip. I may do a Party or After Hours event is offered during our stay and may do 2 day park hopper tickets. We'll do the water parks and mini golf (if they're still open!). We'll spend more time at the resorts. And I'll prioritize restaurants that offer Disney Visa discounts in order to save money for the limited merchandise we want. Some of my friends love WDW as much as I do and they are excited to go back. I try very hard to not let my negativity come out bc I don't want to influence their future trip in any way. But it's hard esp. when they ask me about my thoughts about Genie+

For me, that was the hardest part. Not coming to realization that I’m being priced out. That no matter how much more I make, it was being outstripped by the increases. It’s being the Disney person in my orbit. It feels like I’m admitting defeat.

 

[jharvey]

The following is the order in which we rode on our second day

Day 2: October 16- DHS

Tower of terror
Mickey and Minnie
Toy story midway
Lunch at backlot express
Indiana Jones stunt spectacular
Star tours w/LL
Slinky w/LL
Frozen sing along
Smugglers run w/LL
TSMM w/LL
Rise w/LL

Wins:
- Frozen Sing Along- we’d never done this before. This was probably a top 5 favorite from the trip.
- Indiana Jones- it wasn’t running during our last trip. This has been a favorite of mine for a while. My youngest had no memory of this and has never seen Indiana Jones movies. She loved it.
- Hollywood is now, in my opinion, the second best park on property, and there isn’t a close third.

Loss:
- I’m eating too many L on toy story mania.
- I am a coward. I promised to ride tower this trip. I’ve done it on two of our other trips to hilarious ends. This time was no different. Me and my 18 year old son sat next to each other. We eventually ended in an embrace during the free fall. And… the photo didn’t transfer over. They are working on it, but I think this trip, in conjunction with the last one, is breaking us from ever getting memory maker again.

Draw;
- carrot cake cookie. It’s amazing. But good lord is it dense. Beyond that, it reminds me of that scene in Steel Magnolias when one character is giving a recipe for a dessert (cobbler I think). It’s sounds too sweet and one of them comments about it. The person giving the recipe says something along the line of them cutting the sweetness with a scoop of ice cream. This brick of sweetness took months off of my life.

Overall, I’d say this is a tie with day 1- 8.5 / 10

 

[jharvey]

Day 2 Hollywood pics

 

[jharvey]

Day 3: October 17- AK

This is a short park day for us-

Flight of Passage
Navi
Flight of Passage w/LL
Festival of the Lion King

And that’s it for me. I fully intended to do Everest. I don’t do thrill rides. However, I try to do one thing, out of my comfort zone, each trip. In the past, that’s been Splash in 2010, Tower in 2013, Barnstormer in 2016 (don’t judge),Seven Dwarfs and Big Thunder in 2021. I promised my 15 year old, and I wussed the heck out. A low point, admittedly. However, she did ride with here mother and sister.

We ate at Satu’li for lunch. This restaurant is nearing a tie for our favorite counter service with Columbia Harbour. We did festival of the lion king for the first time. Probably our favorite part of the trip. Amazing! I hate that we waited so long.

We left by 1:30pm. I had the intention to return, but everyone else wanted to take it easy. We got to the bus stop, at Riverside, at 6:30pm. We arrived at MK at 7pm, then caught the monorail to the he Poly. We had ressies for ‘Ohana. We’d never eaten here before and… it’s our new favorite restaurant!!! Before this, we were Via Napoli and Boathouse ride or die. This is well ahead.

Wins:
Flight of Passage is elite tier
Festival of the Lion King may be the best non-ride attraction on property.
Satu’li, followed by ‘Ohana made this the best food day of the trip.

Loss:
I’m a coward
The check at ‘Ohana, after tax and tip, was around $500. I miss the meal plan. Don’t bring that crap argument about it not saving any money. I had it every trip we stayed on property, prior to 2021, and never paid for it. That is the definition of worth it.

Draw:
AK is a half day park at most

Overall- I’d give the day a 7 out of 10, with the food being a 10 out of 10.

 

[jharvey]

My pics at ‘Ohana are a challenge as they are live shots that I can’t get to act right.

 

[Tiggertoo56]

Day 3: October 17- AK

This is a short park day for us-

Flight of Passage
Navi
Flight of Passage w/LL
Festival of the Lion King

And that’s it for me. I fully intended to do Everest. I don’t do thrill rides. However, I try to do one thing, out of my comfort zone, each trip. In the past, that’s been Splash in 2010, Tower in 2013, Barnstormer in 2016 (don’t judge),Seven Dwarfs and Big Thunder in 2021. I promised my 15 year old, and I wussed the heck out. A low point, admittedly. However, she did ride with here mother and sister.

We ate at Satu’li for lunch. This restaurant is nearing a tie for our favorite counter service with Columbia Harbour. We did festival of the lion king for the first time. Probably our favorite part of the trip. Amazing! I hate that we waited so long.

We left by 1:30pm. I had the intention to return, but everyone else wanted to take it easy. We got to the bus stop, at Riverside, at 6:30pm. We arrived at MK at 7pm, then caught the monorail to the he Poly. We had ressies for ‘Ohana. We’d never eaten here before and… it’s our new favorite restaurant!!! Before this, we were Via Napoli and Boathouse ride or die. This is well ahead.

Wins:
Flight of Passage is elite tier
Festival of the Lion King may be the best non-ride attraction on property.
Satu’li, followed by ‘Ohana made this the best food day of the trip.

Loss:
I’m a coward
The check at ‘Ohana, after tax and tip, was around $500. I miss the meal plan. Don’t bring that crap argument about it not saving any money. I had it every trip we stayed on property, prior to 2021, and never paid for it. That is the definition of worth it.

Draw:
AK is a half day park at most

Overall- I’d give the day a 7 out of 10, with the food being a 10 out of 10.

I'd never eaten at Ohana until today - we rarely do TS meals, but it's our son's birthday, and when we booked the vacation he asked if we could try to book a meal. The server Paki (Patti) was brilliant and food was excellent. Would definitely book again.