Ditching Disney

Stellajack

Stellajack

Well-Known Member
Came to the party late, but for me and DH whose first WDW trip was 1998, we learned quickly after many trips not to have the same expectations of the parks on each successive trip. Many aspects of the parks are disappointing to us now, but others are a delight. There are always complaints about the "state of the parks", but truthfully, most of my sanitation complaints have to do with the park guests, not the limited number of sanitation employees. Who throws trash down in the floors of their own homes, but don't give it a second thought at Disney?
I digress. Yes, vacations to other places can be fun and more economical if people are willing to do the research, However, when a family is set on doing Disneyworld year after year, I doubt there is much anyone can do to dissuade them. Their decisions are based on expectations for their vacation $$'s. I certainly have no criticism of anyone for this.
DH and I did a WW2 Battlefield tour in 2019 and were actually in the audience at Omaha Beach on June 6, 2019 for the 75th (there will be no more formal anniversaries in Normandy). There was actually a D-Day vet on our tour with us which was thrilling. We crossed the Atlantic on the QM2 (one-way) Brittania Club Balcony suite, were shuttled as part of that crossing to London from Southampton, where we crossed through the Channel on the Eurostar to Paris. I will not tell you the cost of this trip of a lifetime, but I will tell you that the crossing from NYC to Southampton on the QM2 was about the same amount as one indulged trip to WDW ((just under $8K).

We have another trip planned to Disney in 2024 to celebrate our youngest granddaughter's college graduation. We asked her what she would like as a grad gift and she told us "Disney World". We are tempering our expectations based on our unknowns.
 
Joel

Joel

Well-Known Member
JIMINYCR said:
A Disney trip can be as affordable or exhorbitant as one desires.
Click to expand...
No, it absolutely cannot be as affordable as many people desire.

jaklgreen said:
You have to compare apple to apples.
Click to expand...
The apples are "ways to spend a vacation". Saying "you can't compare them!" is pointless, because that's exactly what people do literally every time they decide where to go on their next trip.

This may be hard to believe, but there are people out there for whom spending a week immersed in nature or making friends in a foreign country is absolutely all-day entertainment and preferable to going "WHEEEEE" at a theme park.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Joel said:
No, it absolutely cannot be as affordable as many people desire.
Click to expand...
I sometimes wonder if the problem is that English isn't the native language of people posting and/or reading. Perhaps it is clearer by saying "A Disney trip can be as affordable or exorbitant as one desires is willing or able to have it be". It shouldn't have had to be clarified because I know I never read it any way other than that. But, maybe schools aren't what they once were.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Although it was 8 years ago now, two people 30 days in Italy, Spain and France, airfare, hotels, tours, food, entertainment, train travel and other land transportation ending with 10 days of that being a trans-Atlantic cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette® from Rome with 5 fun ports of call within the Mediterranean to Fort Lauderdale to home cost us a total of approximately $13000.00 total. I know that some people can and do easily spend that much for one week at WDW. Having done both WDW and Europe, I can tell you that we got a whole lot more for our money than I ever saw at WDW. It's not hard to imagine when you figure that the Star Wars Hotel cost $5000.00 for two people for less than 48 hours.
 
Disstevefan1

Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
EPCOTCenterLover said:
Goodbye Walt Disney World! Our hard earned vacation dollars and our mileage points are not taking us to Central Florida or not even anywhere Disney this time. Everything is in the discussion stages, but most likely a few must see spots in Europe are on the agenda. Goodbye to park reservations, crowded busses, 7:00 am lines at entrance gates, Genie+, and overpriced meals. Hello, some planning appropriate to wherever we go... along with lazy days at museums and cafes and taking in the sights. It's time to discover the real world again. At least for a few years until Epic Universe opens.
Click to expand...
PleaseDont.jpg
 
Sir_Cliff

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
jaklgreen said:
But the conversation is the price of Disney compared to other vacations. If you are going to compare, you have to against something similar. Going camping, while still a vacation, is of course not going to cost as much as going to WDW. You are paying to get everything that Disney offers.
Click to expand...
The original poster mentioned going to Europe and branching out from WDW as their go-to vacation destination.

If your criteria for a vacation necessarily involves rides, nighttime spectaculars, and character meet-and-greets, then I completely understand just sticking with WDW as, no, Rome won't give you those things.
 
Tony the Tigger

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
GladToBeHear said:
Are we really going to rehash this discussion again? If DeSantis' book is accurate -- Chapek said in their conversation that he was not even going to respond to the parental rights bill until he received internal pressure from within the company (to an extent that he claimed he hadn't seen before). Publicly responding to a bill that had ABSOLUTELY ZERO directly to do with Disney employees in the way that they did was completely political. And asinine. This was a bill introduced by the duly elected legislature that would prevent teachers in K-3 from discussing sex/gender with students. It protects children from activist teachers. That's it. This had ZERO to do with being "welcoming to all people". They already were. Disney has been welcoming of the LGBTQ community for years. And rightfully so. We all know how they responded was political. Whether or not you agree with the state government -- Disney played stupid games and won stupid prizes. Yeah, I'm shaking my head too.
Click to expand...
This is me not commenting. For the record.
 
MagicRat

MagicRat

Well-Known Member
the_rich said:
I dont know about your husband, but I get mine because I'm in a union job.
Click to expand...
Union Carpenter here, we give a dollar an hour for a vacation check at the end of the year, God knows what they use the interest on (not really). You can do the math on what 2000 hours or working 50 weeks gets you. As the Boss says, “If you don’t work, you don’t get paid!”

Well, I guess for some.
 
M

Midwest Elitist

Well-Known Member
GladToBeHear said:
Are we really going to rehash this discussion again? If DeSantis' book is accurate -- Chapek said in their conversation that he was not even going to respond to the parental rights bill until he received internal pressure from within the company (to an extent that he claimed he hadn't seen before). Publicly responding to a bill that had ABSOLUTELY ZERO directly to do with Disney employees in the way that they did was completely political. And asinine. This was a bill introduced by the duly elected legislature that would prevent teachers in K-3 from discussing sex/gender with students. It protects children from activist teachers. That's it. This had ZERO to do with being "welcoming to all people". They already were. Disney has been welcoming of the LGBTQ community for years. And rightfully so. We all know how they responded was political. Whether or not you agree with the state government -- Disney played stupid games and won stupid prizes. Yeah, I'm shaking my head too.
Click to expand...
There was no grade limit on the bill, it was up to state standards, which are not even determined as of yet. Also, Desantis recently expanded the bill's power, like we said he would.

I know this may be confusing to some, but I also hate the initiatives being pushed within the company, but the idea that Disney was never political is absolutely laughable.

I will not proceed further in this.
 

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

Back
Top Bottom