Disney's Punishment of Honest Media/Reviews

[JoeCamel]

I can't help but contrast the blogger/vlogger grinding out clicks/views for money while we are treated to the likes of @marni1971 and @bioreconstruct that do it for the love of the parks and distribute their content freely.
I guess it just depends on your motivation and what you are willing to do to put bread on the table.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Is that a mullet behind the millet then ?

What's that muddle in the middle?

That's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I can't help but contrast the blogger/vlogger grinding out clicks/views for money while we are treated to the likes of @marni1971 and @bioreconstruct that do it for the love of the parks and distribute their content freely.
I guess it just depends on your motivation and what you are willing to do to put bread on the table.

My vote goes towards those that do it - because they have a passion. All day every- every day.

And watching them - you get a sense. Maybe not right away. But eventually.

 

[OrlandoRising]

I can't help but contrast the blogger/vlogger grinding out clicks/views for money while we are treated to the likes of @marni1971 and @bioreconstruct that do it for the love of the parks and distribute their content freely.
I guess it just depends on your motivation and what you are willing to do to put bread on the table.

Not that I don’t appreciate the work of those two that you mention, but let’s not begrudge people for making money off content that can take a lot of work. People can do it without being dishonest and they’re not obligated to give it away for nothing.

 

[lentesta]

Ermm, here's my earlier post on this very thread?

@mergatroid, I haven't watched the "Ten Biggest Rip-Offs" video, but I think I have a way for you to help illuminate this discussion. It should only take a few minutes of your time.

It looks like there's a section in that video about Galactic Starcruiser. For that one section - which I hope is likewise only a few minutes - transcribe everything that's said in the video. (You might google "YouTube to text conversion" to see if there are free, online sites to do this.)

Post that transcript here.

Before you hit "Post Reply", highlight all of the text in GREEN that you think reasonably expresses a positive opinion. Something like "Disney World is an incredible place where Disney never stops building your dreams" would probably be a positive opinion (or two or three), because of the use of the words "incredible" and "building your dreams." (Those are my examples - I didn't watch the video.)

Then highlight in RED all of the text that expresses what you believe is a negative opinion. Something like "Galactic Starcruiser is expensive" is probably a statement of fact here, not an opinion, because it's objectively true for the vast majority of Americans.

I know this might take time. I think it's useful because it'll allow us all to see the depth and severity of the criticism that you've cited, and help clarify what you think is critical about it. Thank you!

 

[LittleBuford]

@mergatroid, I haven't watched the "Ten Biggest Rip-Offs" video, but I think I have a way for you to help illuminate this discussion. It should only take a few minutes of your time.

It looks like there's a section in that video about Galactic Starcruiser. For that one section - which I hope is likewise only a few minutes - transcribe everything that's said in the video. (You might google "YouTube to text conversion" to see if there are free, online sites to do this.)

Post that transcript here.

Before you hit "Post Reply", highlight all of the text in GREEN that you think reasonably expresses a positive opinion. Something like "Disney World is an incredible place where Disney never stops building your dreams" would probably be a positive opinion (or two or three), because of the use of the words "incredible" and "building your dreams." (Those are my examples - I didn't watch the video.)

Then highlight in RED all of the text that expresses what you believe is a negative opinion. Something like "Galactic Starcruiser is expensive" is probably a statement of fact here, not an opinion, because it's objectively true for the vast majority of Americans.

I know this might take time. I think it's useful because it'll allow us all to see the depth and severity of the criticism that you've cited, and help clarify what you think is critical about it. Thank you!

As a DFB fan (I find AJ very likeable and honest), I was curious to see what sorts of results this exercise would yield. I went ahead and used YouTube's own "Open transcript" feature to generate the transcript of the video in question; it's pasted below and in the following post as a spoiler. It's a lot of (unpunctuated) text to get through (the forum wouldn't let me post it all in a single message!), and I don't have time to colour-code it, but I personally find the discussion more balanced than not. Yes, her criticisms are not the most cutting, but neither is she a Disney apologist. I've bolded a representative section near the end of Part 1 of the transcript.

Spoiler: Video Transcript, Part 1

if you've ever pulled up the disney world website to book a vacation only to close out of it immediately because of intense sticker shock raise your hand [Music] hey everybody it's aj for disney food blog and i'm here to talk about all the things that cost way too much money in disney world no cap i'm going to go over some tips and tricks and alternative solutions to make sure you can still get the most out of your disney world trip without making your bank account cry for months after and all of them are totally legal i promise if you're looking for even more disney world things that cost way too much or you're wondering why we didn't mention x y or z in today's video just know that we did a similar video about a year ago featuring a completely different list of disney world rip-offs that are still super relevant today so if this is a topic you're interested in or if you're someone who likes to be in the know before your vacation which i know you are consider checking out the prequel to this video next you know here on dfv we don't want to repeat ourselves all the time so all that stuff is in that other video and you should definitely go check it out let's get started all right first up on things that cost way too much in disney world right now are things that used to be completely free there's something extra hurtful about knowing that some disney experiences just used to be naturally part of the package deal fast passes that helped you bypass massive queues free disney's magical express that took you from orlando international airport to your hotel free select magic bands when you stayed at a disney world resort free parking at hotels which i'll talk about more later on because that's a rip-off free and now we got to shell out more money during our vacations to get these benefits that used to be totally free you get it right now i've said it before and i'll say it again make sure when you're planning your disney world vacation that you're saving back more money than you think you might need to cover any expenses you weren't preparing to pay for i've also got a whole video that covers some of these super sneaky hidden charges that you'll come across during your trip so if you're looking for how much extra exactly you might need to save go check out that video it's also important to look at all of these once free experiences and figure out if the extra costs are going to be necessary for you though some bumped up costs you can't avoid like hotel parking if you're bringing your car on vacation or travel expenses if you're trying to hitch a ride out of the mco to get to your hotel room you know other expenses are just special perks that may enhance your park experience but aren't necessary or required for example instead of investing in another round of pricey magic bands for your travel party consider dusting off your good old magic bands from trips past and loading your new reservations and park tickets onto those instead they might not be the next new thing but they should still get the job done just like a trusty steed and what if this is your first ever disney world trip what if you don't have a magic band to turn to that's gonna hold all your tickets reservations payment info hotel key well guess what you still don't have to have a magic band at all if you don't want one just use the complimentary items that come with the purchases you're making like the physical park ticket or the hotel key card and as far as reservations go you can keep track of those through the my disney experience app by tapping the future plans tab on the home page you can also use the my disney experience app to hold your park tickets by using the disney magic mobile function all you need to do is select the tickets for each member of your party and download them from the magic mobile section of the app to your apple wallet or google pay but what about disney genie plus do you need disney genie plus to ride your favorite rides nope disney genie plus can be nifty but look into the different parks you're going to be visiting and weigh the pros and cons for purchasing these line-by-passing privileges otherwise you can still hop into the main queue for rides just like you've always been able to do even if you decide to purchase disney genie plus for one particular day of your trip that doesn't mean you have to purchase it for every day we've done blog posts by the way on which parks and which days are the best ones to buy disney genie plus you can also settle on just purchasing one of the individual attraction selection reservations which i'll talk about more in just a sec if you'd rather invest your moo law in a premium ride rather than a whole bunch of rides that you may be less invested in or that you know for a fact it won't build up a wait time like that premium ride will you can still have a great time at disney world without a magic band or disney genie plus okay next we're gonna talk about food you know me i love snacking my way around the parks but that doesn't mean i'm immune to the sticker shock that comes along with the purchase of certain items i would have preferred the fries as a side thanks recently disney dropped hundreds of price increases on our beloved snacks throughout the parks most of the markups ranged between a few cents extra to a few dollars extra which may not seem like a big deal at first but markups like these happen often at the disney park so what originally may seem more like a mole hill transforms into a mountain before your budgetary eyes some of the recent markups include snacks like dole whip which raised from 499 to 5.99 popcorn refills which are now 225 instead of two dollars mickey premium ice cream bars which were 569 and are now 5.99 and mickey waffles which went from 9.99 to 10.49 and that's only scratching the surface of the hundreds of markups that happened plus the other markups that happen consistently throughout the year on the dfb website and on our latest updates that we post on this channel weekly we're constantly giving you news on price changes that we notice throughout the park so make sure to keep checking back with us if you want to keep track on how often exactly these price increases take place by the way we also publish a blog post every single week that tells you every menu change in disney world and all the price increases as well so how do these markups compare to the items you'll find back home well let's look at the mickey premium bar real quick at disney world you're going to pay 5.99 for one bar at your local grocery store you pay for a box of six for around seven to eight dollars and get an ice cream bar that's very very similar with mickey ears and all and what about a mickey pretzel if you order a large mickey shaped pretzel with cheese you're looking at paying 750 but you can also grab a similar quality pretzel like the super pretzels brand that comes in a box of six in your freezer for about two to three dollars see how dollar markups can be quite mountainous now and don't even get me started on paying for water bottles at the parks oh too late you already did depending on where you are in the parks a regular bottle of water can range in price between 449 and 469. you know what that same price will get you back home an entire 40 pack of purified drinking water bottles what's the lesson here well check and see what you can purchase before your trip so you can avoid paying these steep prices for basic snack items disney really doesn't mind you bringing your own snacks into the parks as long as they don't need to be kept frozen or microwaved and as long as they're not in glass containers so purchase those waters ahead of time or bring a reusable water bottle to fill up during the day if you're already in the disney bubble and you're thinking wow i really should have purchased some cheaper snacks ahead of time don't worry you're not a prisoner you can always hit up a nearby big box store or you can use a grocery app like amazon fresh or instacart to get your groceries sent right to your hotel okay now let's look at some other rather outrageous snack prices shall we disney springs has quite a few snacky places that are guilty of having delicious desserts at rather high prices emirates patisserie for example features those house-made cakes and goodies that look pretty and taste pretty but if you pick up one of the designer petit cakes you'll be paying between 20 and 22 dollars which could also give you a nice little lunch somewhere everglades donuts sells their specialty donut flavors for 475 to 575 which doesn't seem terrible until you consider that a box of a dozen is gonna wind up costing you 60 bucks it's especially shocking when you're used to buying a dozen specialty krispy kremes back home which will only cost you around 11.39 i know this well okay guess we gotta pick on gideon's bakehouse cookies now too right as popular as gideon's is that doesn't mean it's not subject to those high snack prices each cookie costs around six dollars per cookie which again doesn't sound like the worst thing ever especially since you're getting a pretty unique cookie out of the deal but if you put that into dozen perspective like we did for everglazed 12 cookies is gonna cost you over 72. want to put it into further perspective only a few dollars more and you could eat dinner at epcot's space 220 restaurant for 79 which includes appetizers entree and dessert oh and that cool theming too there are so many more pricey snacks around the disney perks 2 you've got the hapa bore sampler at ogus cantina and star wars galaxy's edge which is basically a 21 really really awful charcuterie board that literally has string cheese on it you've got the mini mickey sink at peaches and cream and disney's beach club resort which is delicious but cost 23 and you got my beloved spring rolls sold at the adventureland spring roll cart in magic kingdom which costs 9.50 for two spring rolls that you'll more than likely finish in just a couple of bites so if you're looking for better snack options cheaper snack options guess what we've got a whole video featuring 20 snacks at disney world that are five dollars and under and they are all recommended a few of them include the glimmer and shimmer blondie at disney's hollywood studios my beloved peanut butter pie at disney's contemporary resort in almost the entirety of the bakery items featured at la alba lingerie and patisserie and epcot want to study up on all the disney world treats before your trip to find out which ones will be worth saving up for how about taking a look at our dfb snack guides our brand new 2022 guides drop at the beginning of the year meaning you can now purchase a dfb guide for magic kingdom snacks epcot snacks and animal kingdom and hollywood studios snack and if you want a discount on your snack guide purchase go ahead and type in the word youtube in the promo code box before checkout you can pick these up at dfbstore.com and again there are books that describe the snacks show pictures of them give you prices and a full review of each snack in each park yep we buy them all we review them all and every year we go through the whole list again okay next on our list you knew we had to talk about it the galactic star cruiser that's right the halcyon the star wars hotel whatever you want to call it disney didn't want to stop at just galaxy's edge they wanted to expand and give their guests even more opportunities to immerse themselves within the star wars realm thus star wars galactic star cruiser was created this star wars hotel is opening on march 1 2022 which is very soon we're already starting to see road signs pop up above the highways pointing you toward this new interstellar experience but what exactly is star cruiser well it isn't your typical hotel it's an interactive two-day choose your own adventure that has more of those disney cruise line vibes rather than hotel vibes that is if the disney cruise line was set on land the entire time and only simulated the idea of you sailing on the sea we've got hints here and there about what the star cruiser is going to have in store for guests like sneak peeks at the menu with blue shrimp and concept art for activities like jedi training and overall room setups where each guest will have a window that'll allow them to look out into space just like you can at the space 220 restaurant sounds like a blast right especially for all you star wars fans out there now here's the not so great part for a two night stay here you're gonna have to fork over around five thousand dollars that's quite an investment so let's do a comparison check real quick if you purchased a single day theme park ticket for its average price of 109 you could hit up the parks about 46 times for this amount of money so am i telling you to skip this one no if you're a major star wars fan this is going to be one of those experiences you have on your bucket list and you should absolutely do it this is definitely something disney's never tried before and many guests are super stoked to be a part of it it's completely sold out for the first month and i think it's getting to be that point at the second month too but if you do decide to do this then start saving now also don't blow your vacation budget all at once pace out your payments into more manageable chunks so you don't end up with a 5 000 hole in your bank account if you'd rather wait it out and get the dfb review of star cruiser once we've got the chance to check it out or if you're wanting to hear the overall consensus from the first handful of star cruiser guests about whether this will be worth the price or not remember that you can still immerse yourself in the star wars realm while at disney's hollywood studios in galaxy's edge you can even become a direct part of the action in batu by downloading that play disney parks app and receiving assignments from hondo onaka himself not only that but you can take charge on the millennium falcon drink a tall glass of blue or green milk battle kylo ren and shop around the black spire marketplace there's lots to do at galaxy's edge but if you want to stay at that hotel stay tuned because we're going to tell you all about our stay there really soon all right next we're going to talk about annual passes let me preface this point real quick as of this recording the annual pass sales options are still unavailable for purchase however i'm going to be talking about them as if these sales have already resumed because i assume they will eventually on september 8 2021 disney world brought back their annual passes for frequent disney goers to purchase but the passes wound up looking a lot different than they did before the 2020 shutdown annual passes have now been broken up into four tiers including the disney incredipass the sorcerer pass the pirate pass and the disney pixie dust pass the different tiers range in price depending on blockout dates and the amount of park pass reservations a passholder can hold at once if you're a florida resident you can choose any of the four tiers to purchase while also choosing how you'd prefer to pay either all at once or monthly after initial down payment is made but if you're a frequent flyer to disney world and you live out of state you've only got one annual pass option that's the most expensive one the incredipass i don't know who named these i did not okay on the plus side this pass is going to provide you with the most benefits you can use your annual pass anytime you want there's no block out dates and you'll be able to hold five reservations at once but each incredi pass is going to cost you 1 299 plus tax and on top of that you don't have the option of making monthly payments you gotta pay in full for your passes at the time of purchase so if you're buying annual passes for an entire family you're dropping well basically you go on the star cruiser so if you're an out-of-state resident who's considering getting an annual pass this is what you got to ask yourself how often will you actually be visiting disney world in the next 365 days usually it takes around 10 park visits probably fewer if you're a frequent park hopper before you get your money's worth from the annual pass if you plan on visiting disney world more than 10 times this year then saving up for an ap could be beneficial for you and if you do get it don't forget to take advantage of the annual passholder discount so you can save money before and during your vacation oftentimes disney will also post resort discounts for annual pass holders that you can find on their website or you can subscribe to our newsletter we let you know asap when we see these discounts drop a lot of people like to buy their annual passes so that they get two disney trips in one year so they'll go the first week in march one year and then the last week in february the next year now it may also be beneficial for just one person in your group to get an annual pass that way everyone can still benefit from the annual pass holder perks like 20 off select merch and dining and experiences as well as free parking discounted photo pass photo packages and of course those hotel discounts just remember that the pass holder has to be the one purchasing the food and merchandise in order for the discount to work and usually they also have to be on the hotel room now speaking of parking let's add this next before you take your car on a disney world vacation you need to know about the sneaky parking prices that are going to creep up on you once upon a time parking for the disney hotel guests was free but in 2018 disney started to charge its guests to park overnight parking prices at hotels now cost 15 to 25 nightly depending on where you're staying and the time of year you're staying so if you plan on staying for five nights at one of the disney hotels you're looking at paying an extra 75 to 125 on top of your hotel price even when you're staying at a good neighbor hotel or nearby airbnb where parking is free disney will instead charge you to park in their theme park lots prices to park at any of the four theme parks is usually around 25 a day but if you're park hopping you won't have to pay again for that day bonus you'll just show the cast member at the front gate of the second park your receipt from the first and if you're an annual pass holder you also don't have to pay to park at the parks so time to weigh your options again in some cases you may not have much of a choice and need to bring your car on vacation with you which if that's the case just be aware of the extra parking fee you'll end up being charged at the end of your stay but this extra price could be another factor when you're trying to decide if you should fly or drive to orlando so here are the two things you can ask yourself and your group one which travel option is going to benefit everyone more in the long run and two which one is going to be your most affordable option discuss the pros and cons with your group before your big trip so you can make a confident decision as a team because that's what you are you're a team no matter what happens i'm not going to sugarcoat it dining at disney world super expensive and i'm not just talking about those signature restaurants or over-the-top dining experiences like victoria and alberts or takumite and epcot talking about all of it table service restaurants like beer guest and magic kingdom and coral reef restaurant and epcot can charge upscale prices for their food even if it's not the best we've ever had just because of the super cool and immersive setting you get to dine in but even quick service restaurants or fast food places can rack up big bucks i can't tell you how many times i've returned home after a disney vacation and thought wow my local fast food restaurant is basically handing over my food for nothing at these prices because i'm used to dropping 25 bucks for a burger and fries at disney world i know it's probably not 25 bucks but it feels like it's close to that so set your expectations ahead of time quick service restaurants at disney are still going to be some of your cheapest options but there are a few more affordable table service restaurants on property too like the new la creperita paris and epcot and via napoli in ebcot if you're wanting to split a pizza with your group beaches and cream at disney's beach club resort is also one of our favorite budget-minded restaurants the plaza at magic kingdom and trails and at fort wilderness all good choices and one of the cheapest sit-down restaurants on property is actually located at the disney world swan and dolphin hotel the fountain has cozy classic diner vibes and serves up lots of comfort food like burgers and shakes last summer we did an experiment on how much it cost a family of four to order one starter to share two adult entrees two kids meals four desserts and four beverages at the fountain and the grand total came to around 42 bucks not too shabby and if one of the restaurants you're wanting to visit has a lounge attached consider checking that out sure the lounges aren't going to offer you a full menu like the restaurant will but it'll offer some signature small plates that can fill you up too that way you can avoid paying the entree prices or prefix prices featured on the main dining room menu for this we love geyser point and territory lounge over at wilderness lodge those are some of our favorite places to eat anyway and the fact that they're slightly less expensive than having a full table service meal is a super bonus now before your vacation make sure to study up on the dfb reviews for the restaurants you're considering we eat everywhere and i mean everywhere multiple times in the parks out of the parks hotels etc to make sure we can provide honest reviews to help with your planning you can also purchase our dfb guide to walt disney world dining at dfbstore.com that's going to give you over 800 pages of dining reviews tips menu overviews and recommendations for all the restaurants around disney world even those lounges even those counter service restaurants snacks kiosks everything's in there

 

[LittleBuford]

Spoiler: Video Transcript, Part 2

okay next we're gonna talk family sweets now i don't want you to think i'm just picking on art of animation resort for the fun of it technically all disney hotels are super pricey and during peak seasons even the cheapest standard value rooms can cost you over 200 per night but disney's art of animation kind of tricks you into spending a bunch of cash on their family suites how well honestly just by calling art of animation a value hotel in general let's back up a sec what's the difference between a standard disney room and a family suite well standard rooms can usually sleep up to four guests while family suites can sleep up to six and it makes sense for families with kiddos to gravitate toward booking a bigger room at the art of animation especially when you look at all the different themes also there's a door that closes y'all and that's really really important if you're a mom and dad you get your own bathroom you can close the door to your bedroom the kids can be out there doing whatever kids do and you can just go to sleep now if you get a family suite at art of animation you have the choice of a finding nemo room a lion king room or a car's room these rooms are cute and colorful and they help kick off the disney magic for the little kids but just to give you a peek at prices here if i were to book an art of animation family suite for the first week of april this year i have to pay a standard rate of between 532 and 562 dollars per night that is not the whole week my friends that is per night yikes you know what else you can get for that same amount of money if not less an entire cabin over at disney's fort wilderness resort and those cabins not only sleep up to six adults they also come with a living room a full kitchen an outdoor patio bunk beds it's awesome though you may miss all the colorful characters you'll get over at art of animation it's not a bad idea to check in on the family rooms and suites over at disney's good neighbor hotels too disney's good neighbor hotels are not owned by disney but they partner with disney to provide you with many of the same benefits that the deluxe hotels actually have so we're not just talking about the value resort perks we're talking deluxe hotel perks which includes evenings in the parks that aren't open to anybody else so if you book a family room over at the dolphin hotel which is actually within walking distance to both epcot and disney's hollywood studios art of animation not within walking distance of any park you get a deluxe guest room with a balcony view for around 500 per night plus staying at this hotel's gonna give you those deluxe resort benefits like i said so before you shell out the cash for a relatively small family suite at art of animation check out what's available at good neighbor hotels you can probably get bigger suites for a lot less and those four wilderness cabins i'm telling you what a hidden gem okay next on our list of course we're gonna talk about merchandise listen i have an easy enough time racking up quite the bill at disney as is but some disney gift shop items are so outrageously expensive that i have to laugh to keep from crying and i know you're right there with me remember earlier how i was talking about snack prices being just cranked up the same goes for the toiletries and over-the-counter medications sold in disney gift shops so let's do a quick price comparison for one of the more popular last minute purchases diapers a 14 pack of diapers sold on disney property is going to cost you about 11 14 14 diapers depending on the brand and location you can get a 32 count of diapers online or at your nearest big box store for around nine dollars so that's kind of the common theme with other disney essential markups for items like aspirin shampoo teeny tiny sticks of deodorant if disney knows you need them they know you'll pay for them but just like i said about our deer snacks earlier you don't have to stay in the disney bubble to get these items for less there's literally a super target seven miles away from disney property and there are lots of walgreens cvs public stores near disney world that you can use if you're looking for a pharmacy with cheaper over-the-counter meds and by the way can i just mention instacart here and amazon prime like they will deliver right to your hotel wham bam no problem and then you got the stuff and you didn't pay a million dollars for it but now that we've talked about the overpriced essentials let's look at the ultra mega expensive non-essentials that may look like fun items to own at first until you look at the price tag these are the things that you cannot buy on instacart have you seen these super shiny ears under a display case in disney springs before okay first up anything that's under glass is probably going to be too expensive at disney world this golden jeweled mickey hat was created by lux logo and made specifically for the 50th anniversary celebration and it costs a thousand dollars yes a thousand dollars even the other two releases in this collection are a hefty price the gold and black leather 50th anniversary lounge fly mini ears are 225 and the bedazzled minnie mouse ears cost 750. designer inspired ears pop up in disney springs often so if you're looking for the nicest pair of ears you'll ever own check out shops like ever after jewelry company you can also find many of these limited release ears online at shopdisney.com surprisingly they sell out at those prices but if you're looking for a much much much cheaper way to celebrate disney world's 50th anniversary they also offer a selection of celebratory ears that are only about 30 to 40 dollars a pair still pricey but you won't have to take out a mortgage to buy them speaking of pricey items sold during the 50th anniversary celebration not too terribly long ago we saw a very blinged out disney world 50th anniversary pop socket and it was flying off the disney world shelves we thought it was a pretty pop socket you know gold sparkly cinderella castle on the front just a nice pop socket but when we flipped it over to check out the price this thing cost fifty dollars this isn't the norm for disney pop sockets but if disney can make things limited edition and exclusive they have a much easier time selling these outrageously priced items at a higher cost before you go to disney world and are considering splurging on the latest limited release souvenir watch my 10 tricks disney world uses to make you spend more video you might be shocked by what you learn now i didn't mean to parade all these different items to make you feel like you're going to have to out-turn your pockets in order to buy disney world souvenirs i mean yes disney souvenirs are expensive even when they're not bedazzled in gold but there are still ways you can save on your purchases first off always check the shop disney website on your phone or your computer make sure the item you're wanting isn't already sold there if you can find a souvenir on the shop disney website then you're in luck shop disney often has sales and seasonal promotions sometimes 50 off that will help you save money on your overall purchases we always recommend that you go buy some stuff on sale at shop disney before going to disney world and give those things to your kids in disney world instead of buying stuff off the shelf there you can also check and see what items are available over at the character warehouses outside disney property there are two character warehouses in orlando one on international drive at the orlando outlet marketplace and one on vineland avenue at the orlando vineland premium outlets both locations sell overstock actual authentic disney world merch at usually heavily discounted prices next on our list are those individual attraction selection fees ah disney genie you knew i had to add you somewhere on this list right disney genie is an extension of the my disney experience app and it's broken up into three parts the first part is disney genie's free service which will assist you with things like itinerary creation and dining reservations the second two are disney genies premium services disney genie plus and the individual attraction selections or ias for short now i could talk about both disney genie plus and ias but you can watch my whole video going over the secrets of disney genie plus and decide for yourself whether you think that one's going to be worth the extra price for you and your group what i really want to focus on here is the ias reservations these are what our good friend molly over at all ears likes to call fancy rides fancy rides are the most popular attractions in each park like rise of the resistance and seven dwarfs mine train because these rides are hot items when it comes to disney world they're not included in the price of disney genie plus instead you have to pay per ride for lightning lanes or shorter line access at these attractions ias reservations fluctuate between seven dollars and fifteen dollars per ride per person depending on the time of year and demand for the rides so let's say a family of four wanted to use the ias reservation system to get on the four most popular rides currently at each disney world park remy's ratatouille adventure at epcot is usually priced around nine to ten dollars meaning you'll have to pay 36 to 40 dollars for your family to skip the main queue to ride this ride flight of passage in animal kingdom averages around 11 per person meaning you'll pay 44. seven dwarfs mine train and magic kingdom will probably run you around 10 making it a grand total of 40 for your family and rise of the resistance in disney's hollywood studios tends to max out the iis prices at 15 meaning you'll pay a whopping 60 bucks to skip the main queue here friends that's 185 to 190 extra dollars that you're paying during your trip for four rides when you already bought park tickets and maybe you already bought disney genie plus two so here's the thing you don't have to purchase ias reservations to hit up these fancy rides you can still wait in the main queue for all of them in order to cut down your wait times in the standard lines try jumping in the queues for these during the early theme park hours which are available to you if you're staying at a disney world hotel or one of the good neighbor hotels lions will also be shorter for these experiences toward the end of the day the early to mid afternoons are when these ride lines really tend to peak the free version of the disney genie tool could track the forecasted wait times during the day for each attraction so if you see the queue line for one of these rides drop down to a wait time that seems tolerable then tell your group to go and head over to that ride's queue and listen i get it if you're on the fence about purchasing an ias reservation on the day of your visit if you don't go to disney world very often or if this is your first trip in forever it might be tempting to go ahead and purchase it just so you don't have to stress about spending too much time in line and not enough time soaking in your park day and time is money if you don't want to waste a bunch of time when you already spent a ton of money on park tickets then grab those iis reservations you can get two per day try checking in on the wait times before your trip though you can see live wait times on the my disney experience maps for each park even from back home that way you can see if the weights will be tolerable or if you're going to want to go ahead and bite the bullet when you're there you may also want to consider using your souvenir money on ias reservations for an attraction you really want to see if you'd rather pay for an experience rather than merchandise guess that'll depend on how much room you still have in your back seat or how much suitcase space you have for your plane trip home next on our list are those after hours events last year the way we once experienced holiday parties at the magic kingdom changed completely okay maybe not completely guests still had to pay a separate ticket price to experience the extra holiday magic that took place after the park officially closed for everyone else but these after hours events like the halloween boo bash and the christmas party were downsized offering fewer hours and fewer experiences so you'd think that'd mean the new after-hours parties would cost less than the full-blown holiday parties we were used to right no in fact the after hours holiday events wound up costing a lot more time for some more price comparisons for reference when mickey's not so scary halloween party was around it was a five hour event including the boo to you parade the not so spooky halloween spectacular ghostly ride overlays meet and greets with characters dressed in their most chilling attire and trick-or-treating around the different sections of the park which was lots of free candy prices for this hard ticket event started at around 79 and peaked at 135 dollars per adult for halloween night boo bash on the other hand was missing a lot of these key features when it replaced not so scary in 2021 there was still modified trick-or-treating and distanced character meet and greets but there was no parade no fireworks and no castle stage show the event was only three hours long as well and that's not me saying there's anything wrong with a pullback version of a halloween party after a hectic 2020 it was exciting to just see something returning even if it was just a skeleton of what we once knew get it that was all bria the problem comes from the boobash pricing which was significantly more expensive than its not so scary predecessor boo bash prices ended up ranging from 129 to 199 dollars per person that's right the lowest prices for boo bash were only a few dollars short of the most expensive days for mickey's not so scary halloween party and it's two hours shorter has no fireworks and less stuff when it comes to christmas we saw a similar situation nikki's very merry christmas party was a longer event starting at 7pm and lasting until midnight with prices ranging from 99 to 139 dollars per adult ticket the 2021 disney very marius after hours however usually started around 9 or 9 30 but the event featured many of our past favorite experiences like a holly jolly parade and festive fireworks that said the hard ticket prices for this christmas event saw a major spike with prices ranging from 169 to a whopping 249 dollars per person the lowest price tickets for disney very merriest still surpass the highest ticket prices for the former christmas party by 30 we're not sure what magic kingdom has planned for the holidays this year but we definitely have time to plan ahead if you want to experience the after hours festivities in 2022 whatever they may be something tells me prices aren't gonna drop drastically from what we saw this year so start saving back now and mentally preparing yourself to pay an extra 200 bucks on top of your regular park ticket price or plan on just going to the after hours event and skipping the regular park day to save some money are you planning on going to disney world during the holidays but you're not quite sure the drastic prices for the after hours events are gonna be worth it don't forget that disney doesn't just bubble up all their holiday cheer after hours you can experience halloween and christmas during the normal park days too this is especially true when it comes to christmas want to see what i mean check out my what i wish i'd known before going to disney world during the holidays video to get a glimpse into last year's 2021 christmas season because it's never too early to start celebrating christmas okay maybe it is but still worth checking out there are even free offerings you can experience on property around the holidays like the christmas tree stroll at disney springs the extravagant gingerbread displays at disney's grand floridian resort and disney's beach club resort and meeting the one and only santa claus at disney springs now i think it's safe to say that disney world is a ton of fun but also a ton of cash to experience hopefully you can now target those high priced experiences beforehand and figure out if it's going to be worth the cost for you if the answer is yes then it's time to get to work on that vacation budget thanks for listening everyone thanks for watching as always this is aj for disney food blog and we'll see you real soon [Music] you

 

[brb1006]

Let's be honest here ... we are all just waiting for @lentesta's unbiased dancing review.

Only a few more hours until the newest episode of The Disney Dish Podcasts drops just to hear Len's experiences with Galactic Starcruiser. If not, then maybe next week.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

All this talk about journalism... do people really view vloggers as journalists?

I watch several vloggers, I’ve never considered them journalists, they’re entertainment. They keep me up to date with what’s going on in the parks between my visits, the same reason I visit these forums. I find vloggers far more entertaining and interesting than 99% of the junk on TV now, they are generating revenue for YouTube and deserve every penny they earn from that.

I find it odd people are upset that some are successful and making good money off it now, Tim Trackers been doing it for something like 20 years, for most of that time he also worked a full time job and it was just his side gig, why begrudge him for becoming successful at doing something he loves? They’ve likely put tens of thousands of hours into filming and editing, personally I’m happy they’re finally being paid for all that effort.

I watched the Trackers video and the Dis video, I can’t think of either of them giving what I’d call a review, maybe they did and I missed it because I was too busy enjoying watching what was going on and deciding for myself.

 

[larryz]

Oh man, I'm too excited about this very niche thread -- journalistic ethics in reporting on Disney and theme parks-- and I'm jumping on a day late.

I've covered a lot of beats as a journalist, from sports to local, state, and national politics, to health care to tracking health disinformation. Theme park reporting is something I do for fun on the side. In all of those beats, no PR staff has been more consistently confrontational, overbearing and unhelpful as those at Disney and Universal.

The last Disney media event I was invited to was the Toy Story Land opening in 2018, back when my site was called Orlando Rising, not Theme Park Tribune. Since I was still relatively new to the beat, I was assigned a Disney PR handler to follow me around the land. Among the multiple red flags that day, she forbid me from photographing how visible Galaxy's Edge construction was from the land -- even though actual guests with no such restrictions would do so just two days later -- and claimed later that this comment was "off the record" (which I never agreed to).

When I asked two Disney spokespersons (who were unnervingly positive, very "Stepford Wives" vibe) if any additional barrier would be added to block views of Galaxy's Edge from Toy Story Land before the public opening, they sternly replied, "We are not talking about that future experience today" and my handler scolded me for asking the question. I explained that I was there as a journalist to document the new land, not to explicitly promote it. I haven't been invited to a Disney event since.

Now, I have nowhere close to the following of @lentesta or others that have been banned, but I suspect for smaller podcasts or sites, it's a lower bar to get blacklisted. In this case, Disney sure didn't seem to like my line of questioning.

I don't see these practices changing when you've got a former Big Oil spokesperson running PR now. If they're willing to cut off the Washington Post, they'll cut off anybody.

I won't knock every influencer or YouTuber out there, but there are many who seem to either lack any ethical qualms about towing the Disney line or can't afford to risk their access. At the Toy Story Land opening, I saw a group of Disney "mom bloggers" whose only complaints were they weren't getting enough freebies, like getting to bring their kids into the media preview.



I agree with this. Covering disinformation is my day job, and there are efforts in the political realm to freeze out news outlets that will report fairly and focus more on partisan sources that can be controlled. Obviously what Disney does can seem trivial in comparison, but the company will punish outlets for reporting important stories that reflect negatively on the company, like they did with the LA Times. I'm honestly surprised the Sentinel didn't get punished for its series on the lives of low-wage Disney World workers.

This is happening more with non-Disney parks right now, as I've dealt with some PR people retaliating against sites and publications that reported on their COVID-19 policies in any way that could have been perceived as critical.



Absolutely. Disney and Universal PR both use these tactics, though they may not deny access to the same publications. Some other parks can be similarly heavy-handed -- one Six Flags park refuses to even send press releases to me -- but others just want publicity rather than being so concerned with controlling the message.



That's an interesting way to do things. Perhaps even the fairest solution I've heard of in this instance.

I know one popular set of vloggers and Disney influencers have a policy of not reviewing anything when they were given free access. I don't think that's necessary if they're following similar standards set for movie or TV or book or food critics. Just be upfront about the access you were provided and approach a review from the perspective of "Is this worth the money an actual guest will pay for the experience?" And if you are a journalist, I think it helps readers if you distinguish your review (essentially an opinion piece) from what you consider news reporting.

I thought this was more about vloggers than real journalists... but good points nonetheless.

 

[sedati]

Only a few more hours until the newest episode of The Disney Dish Podcasts drops just to hear Len's experiences with Galactic Starcruiser. If not, then maybe next week.

They lost me a long time ago. I was an avid listener back in the WDWToday days, but as someone who's never even experienced the luxury of Scopa Towers, their experiences became so far removed from my own as to become not only irrelevant but disheartening. This isn't a gripe against them as it's something that seems to always creep in when following those who go so often when my trips are many years apart.
I tried the DisneyDish as well, but soon came to see it as more an illusion of content and scoops than actual scoops or content (partly due to following forums like these and not just relying on intermittent podcasts.) I hope he has a good time on the Starcruiser (and I'll assume the expense isn't a tax-write off). Len's very personable and data-wise an astounding resource. But I don't think he handled that tweet very well- he what I am sure is a truthful point, but he also made bold predictions that don't seemed to have materialized while casting doubt on everyone trying to climb the very same ladder he ascended and is now kicking to the ground.

 

[No Name]

I can't help but contrast the blogger/vlogger grinding out clicks/views for money while we are treated to the likes of @marni1971 and @bioreconstruct that do it for the love of the parks and distribute their content freely.
I guess it just depends on your motivation and what you are willing to do to put bread on the table.

YouTube is free to watch and websites are free to read… so almost all blogger/vlogger content is free. And they all deserve to be making the money they are.

 

[UNCgolf]

he also made bold predictions that don't seemed to have materialized while casting doubt on everyone trying to climb the very same ladder he ascended and is now kicking to the ground.

I don't mean to single you out, because you're not the only person who's mentioned this -- but I just don't see it. That Twitter thread didn't read anything like this to me and I'm honestly not sure why people are drawing that conclusion.

 

[mf1972]

this is the first thing i thought of when i read “disney punishment for honest reviews”

 

[brb1006]

this is the first thing i thought of when i read “disney punishment for honest reviews”
View attachment 624561

Waiting for a future episode of South Park that might reference the Galactic Starcruiser.

 

[mergatroid]

@mergatroid, I haven't watched the "Ten Biggest Rip-Offs" video, but I think I have a way for you to help illuminate this discussion. It should only take a few minutes of your time.

It looks like there's a section in that video about Galactic Starcruiser. For that one section - which I hope is likewise only a few minutes - transcribe everything that's said in the video. (You might google "YouTube to text conversion" to see if there are free, online sites to do this.)

Post that transcript here.

Before you hit "Post Reply", highlight all of the text in GREEN that you think reasonably expresses a positive opinion. Something like "Disney World is an incredible place where Disney never stops building your dreams" would probably be a positive opinion (or two or three), because of the use of the words "incredible" and "building your dreams." (Those are my examples - I didn't watch the video.)

Then highlight in RED all of the text that expresses what you believe is a negative opinion. Something like "Galactic Starcruiser is expensive" is probably a statement of fact here, not an opinion, because it's objectively true for the vast majority of Americans.

I know this might take time. I think it's useful because it'll allow us all to see the depth and severity of the criticism that you've cited, and help clarify what you think is critical about it. Thank you!

@lentesta, you're probably missing my point as there's so many replies on this topic and I've posted much. My point isn't that AJ is critical to a degree that makes her a real problem to Disney, I'm not saying the good outweighs the bad. For about the 10th time in 2 days I'll say this again, my reply is to the small number of people on here who continually say that vloggers never say anything bad or negative, or never tell the truth. This is followed by others repeating this mantra as though it's a fact. A poster yesterday said "The food they serve looks like dog poop and tastes like it, I can tell". He made about 20 similar posts the same day. It's those extreme people I'm responding to, those who have an agenda.

If you want to research it and if it only takes a few minutes then feel free to do it yourself, I have no problem and imagine AJ says much more positive than negative, that's not my point. My only disagreement is with those who say "all vloggers NEVER criticise Disney", I'm not discussing the levels of criticism vs the levels of positivity, that's a completely different point that I've never commented on.

 

[erasure fan1]

Be honest. It’s not like AJ is heavy handed in criticisms. It is always velvet gloved, ‘oh, this. Might not be the best value for everyone’. One video it’s ‘Disney raised the price of spring rolls in MK to $9.50, and the next video the springs rolls are on the list of must have snacks for any serious parent that loves their kids.

Exactly. We've watched many of her 10 things to avoid/ripoff type videos. The one that was linked is a great example. She says how no free fast pass or magic band is a rip-off and then ends the segment saying, you can still have a great time without them. Those type of videos from DFB are more click bait than actual criticism. Sure she says the $1000 mouse ears are rip off. We all know that, Disney included. The reason Disney probably doesn't care about her doing those type of videos, is they all end up being overwhelmingly positive anyway.

I trust most vloggers as far as I could throw them. It is more than obvious to me that most are either trying to stay in Disneys good graces or get in their good graces. That's just my opinion of course.

 

[wdwmagic]

I am watching Molly’s video from Allears right now. She states at the beginning that she is there for the media event but paid out of pocket to attend next week as a paid guest. She said it was specifically to compare and contrast to see if media is treated differently. So that should be interesting.

Content strategy at its finest. It gives them double the opportunity to make content and ad revenue. Their earnings from the media trip will easily cover the second paid trip, and the end result of both will be a rather large profit.

 

[LittleBuford]

Exactly. We've watched many of her 10 things to avoid/ripoff type videos. The one that was linked is a great example. She says how no free fast pass or magic band is a rip-off and then ends the segment saying, you can still have a great time without them. Those type of videos from DFB are more click bait than actual criticism. Sure she says the $1000 mouse ears are rip off. We all know that, Disney included. The reason Disney probably doesn't care about her doing those type of videos, is they all end up being overwhelmingly positive anyway.

I trust most vloggers as far as I could throw them. It is more than obvious to me that most are either trying to stay in Disneys good graces or get in their good graces. That's just my opinion of course.

DFB works under the (in my view reasonable) assumption that its viewers actually want to visit to WDW and are interested in having a good time there. AJ herself seems to genuinely enjoy what Disney has to offer. I’m not sure what sort of criticism people are expecting from her under these circumstances.

 

[George]

No kidding. And I say this about Mr. Tracker as a gay (gay, gay, GAY!) man... Especially since Mr. Tracker recently had a spectacular handlebar mustache that in 1979 would have gotten him immediately comped into (with a couple of free drinks thrown in by the besotted bartender) any leather bar in West Hollywood or the Castro back then.

That guy was caught making gay jokes? Uh... I should just be quiet.



I don't know what his wheelchair joke was, but I'm old and have seen the culture evolve on what's acceptable to say about the handicapped community. I hesitate to condemn anyone from the safety of 2022 for making a joke in 2010, or even 2015, when the culture is moving so fast now. Heck, President Obama went on national TV on The Tonight Show in 2009 and made a rather tasteless joke about "the Special Olympics", and he was forgiven.

I think so long as Mr. Tracker and his organization can now give the appropriate tongue bath to whatever TDO and Burbank is offering today, anything he may have said years ago should be forgiven. God help me if my bar conversations from 1982 were offered up today in transcript form! I'd be sent to life in prison by 2022's Social Media holy angels!

Correct. It’s why my WDW review channel wouldn’t last. Maybe if I kept the reviews short (we just came back from Princess running weekend) -

Genie - completely lame
Genie plus - somewhat lame
Individual Lightning Lane - sold out by 7:05 am for everything but Space Mountain which gives me back problems, but we always ride despite this. However, we entered the queue for Rise right after it started running (after 3 or 4 hours of down time) and when it broke again we got to hang out on the bridge of the star destroyer for 30 minutes or so before boarding. This leads me to George’s magical tip - use the down time for rise to do other rides and eat lunch. Morning BM, then stand in front of the queue making idle conversations with the 28% of WDW’s cast members who are cordoning off the entrance. You are allowed to shoulder them aside the moment the ride starts running. The line will move briskly for 11.8 minutes until all the displaced LL people start to show up. Then you will get to enjoy the 2 magical rooms before the pre show for 40 minutes or so. Once the experience has started, blog, podcast, and vlog about the magic of where ever you are stuck.

Pro tip 2 - get masks that simulate the 8 most common face types. Dash and Grab with any loosely held iPhones that you notice. They probably have more convenient LL time windows than you. If they don’t, chuck the phone in the nearest trash receptacle. Don’t go too far from where you borrowed the phone. Be polite! They’ll be able to recover the phone using a family members app.