Is a WDW vacation worth it now?

[Dreaming of Disney World]

I'm a huge WDW fan. When we last took the kids in 2019 we booked a bounce back offer for 2020. But we never went due to covid. We pushed it back to 2021 and then again to 2022. Well now the time has come to decide if we will go. We are all vaccinated now, so I would be okay with us going. But the rest of my family is concerned that the trip won't be fun due to genie and having to wait in long lines. Previously I was an expert at using fastpass, and we never waited in long lines. I just kept getting fast passes all day long. It was great. But I keep hearing that people are only going on a handful of rides due to genie availability, and lines are long. Is this still the case? We would be going the week of August 6th. My kids do not want to spend their whole days waiting in long lines. They say they don't want to go if that's the case. They would prefer having an outdoors vacation in the White Mountains in NH which is what we did last year. My husband agrees with them but also knows I really want to go to Disney and feels bad that we had go keep putting off the trip. The NH vacation would cost half the price, but Disney World is my favorite place, and I really want to go. My husband says he keeps hearing it's horrible now.

So would Disney World be fun or horrible? Is the money and experience worth it?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Sounds like your family does not think its worth it.
Go on the vacation they want to go on and spend half the money.

 

[Zek]

I just got back only day I enjoyed it rained the other days the lines for the good rides took 1 to 3 hours to get on I found it to be like you hear it is don’t know about august my family enjoyed it I hate lines also

 

[wendysue]

I'm a huge WDW fan. When we last took the kids in 2019 we booked a bounce back offer for 2020. But we never went due to covid. We pushed it back to 2021 and then again to 2022. Well now the time has come to decide if we will go. We are all vaccinated now, so I would be okay with us going. But the rest of my family is concerned that the trip won't be fun due to genie and having to wait in long lines. Previously I was an expert at using fastpass, and we never waited in long lines. I just kept getting fast passes all day long. It was great. But I keep hearing that people are only going on a handful of rides due to genie availability, and lines are long. Is this still the case? We would be going the week of August 6th. My kids do not want to spend their whole days waiting in long lines. They say they don't want to go if that's the case. They would prefer having an outdoors vacation in the White Mountains in NH which is what we did last year. My husband agrees with them but also knows I really want to go to Disney and feels bad that we had go keep putting off the trip. The NH vacation would cost half the price, but Disney World is my favorite place, and I really want to go. My husband says he keeps hearing it's horrible now.

So would Disney World be fun or horrible? Is the money and experience worth it?

As a family, you should go on the NH vacation. It will save you money and no lines. For yourself, is there a friend or family member that you could go to WDW with for a couple days to get your Disney fix? Best of both worlds.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

I was there a few weeks ago and had an amazing time. It was my first trip back since January 2020. Other than putting a mask on to go in indoors, everything still felt like “old Disney” to me. Every cast member I encountered was friendly and helpful, my hotel room was sparkling clean and the every other day mousekeeping was great. I was there for 8 days (my first solo trip) and I spent $106 on genie+. Some days I did just genie+, some days I just did ILL, some days nothing. I used early entry and was usually able to get one ride done with a short wait and then line up for another. I think if you are looking for the differences, or go in with an assumption that things might not be as good, then you will see that. I went in super happy and excited to finally be back and honestly, the trip was just as magical as always.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Depends on what you are willing to accept. If crowds and lines are a deal breaker then right now you aren’t going to be happy. Those aspects of Disney aren’t going away anytime soon. If other Disney things can be enjoyed enough to make a trip worthwhile to you then go with the knowledge of what you will be facing.
Many people are going and saying even with lines and Genie+ they are coping well and having a fun time. But if your DH and kids are complaining now it might be best to rethink Dis because if you convince them to go and they have a poor time you will be the one who gets the bad reviews.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I'm a huge WDW fan. When we last took the kids in 2019 we booked a bounce back offer for 2020. But we never went due to covid. We pushed it back to 2021 and then again to 2022. Well now the time has come to decide if we will go. We are all vaccinated now, so I would be okay with us going. But the rest of my family is concerned that the trip won't be fun due to genie and having to wait in long lines. Previously I was an expert at using fastpass, and we never waited in long lines. I just kept getting fast passes all day long. It was great. But I keep hearing that people are only going on a handful of rides due to genie availability, and lines are long. Is this still the case? We would be going the week of August 6th. My kids do not want to spend their whole days waiting in long lines. They say they don't want to go if that's the case. They would prefer having an outdoors vacation in the White Mountains in NH which is what we did last year. My husband agrees with them but also knows I really want to go to Disney and feels bad that we had go keep putting off the trip. The NH vacation would cost half the price, but Disney World is my favorite place, and I really want to go. My husband says he keeps hearing it's horrible now.

So would Disney World be fun or horrible? Is the money and experience worth it?

"Is the money worth it to you?" The easy answer is NO. We are not wasting another penny at WDW with all their money grabbing and poor ROI, IMO. We had wonderful years, but have no desire to go back the way it is now. Looking forward to other vacation destinations

 

[TheGuyThatMakesSwords]

Nope. .

 

[NelleBelle]

I think only you can answer that question. You're going to fine all kinds of opinions here from hell-no-will-we-ever-go-again to it-was-the-best-can't-wait-to-go-back-totally-worth-it! I do agree that the attitude you have, anywhere you go, will be the difference on whether you have a good time. Our family is head back, first time as a family since 2018 (did a trip with my mom in 2021 and had a great time despite moving at a slower speed for her). We have all talked and agree that it doesn't matter where we are this summer as long as we are together and have a positive attitude (unfortunately for me, I got outvoted for staying on-property, but I'm determine to be "positive" about this ). DH and I figure at least we will be together and our boys will be out of there rooms and away from their computers for a couple of weeks!

 

[eliza61nyc]

@NelleBelle said it best. Now for you I would probably say no, not because of what's going on at Disney but because 3 out of 4 people in your family don't want to go.
We are still in the "we love our disney vacations" phase. We enjoyed every thing we spent money on and felt we got a great vacation.
We're due for a quick last minute trip in May

 

[GimpYancIent]

@NelleBelle said it best. Now for you I would probably say no, not because of what's going on at Disney but because 3 out of 4 people in your family don't want to go.
We are still in the "we love our disney vacations" phase. We enjoyed every thing we spent money on and felt we got a great vacation.
We're due for a quick last minute trip in May

The value of a Disney vacation is all in how the guests / fans perceive the experience. If the experience is good, there is fun and enjoyment, there you go. It's money well spent if feel you received your monies worth.

 

[Minthorne]

It is a 50th celebration that feels like a 38th.

 

[Dreaming of Disney World]

Thanks for all the replies. I joined a genie+ facebook group and feel like I have a much better handle on how to maximize the system, so I think we would get to experience a satisfactory number of rides. I told my kids that we could still do day trips to their favorite places in NH, and then I told my daughter that the Disney trip we have booked is during her birthday, and she became very happy about the idea of being at the Magic Kingdom on her birthday. Once she was hooked my husband couldn't say no because she is his little princess. My son was harder to convince, but ultimately he agreed as long as he could celebrate his birthday at our local water park. I started mentioning all the rides, and they got interested again like they used to be before covid.

I agree with others that if we go into the trip with realistic but positive expectations we will have a good time.

 

[John park hopper]

Not any more sad to say

 

[yensid1967]

For the guests who remember the easy times of FP and the ease of planning before everything has to be planned to the day, the change will come as hatred. GENIE does not work the way FP did. #1 reason guests hate GENIE is because it is a paid service and #2 is because if you don't get your selections at 7AM of each morning, you might not get your must do rides! If that happens, then I heard you do not get a refund!
My advice is this...
You, as a family, should sit down and discuss just WHAT each want to do. So right now, there is DISNEY and NH trips on the table. You need to weigh the pros and cons and figure out what is in the best interest of the family.
Like another poster said, find a friend and go to Disney for a few days to get YOUR fix, let your family have NH this year.
Plan another trip to WDW in a few years and maybe GENIE will be replaced by then to something that works as good as FP, and things are back to a more normal level!

 

[tpoly88]

I'm a huge WDW fan. When we last took the kids in 2019 we booked a bounce back offer for 2020. But we never went due to covid. We pushed it back to 2021 and then again to 2022. Well now the time has come to decide if we will go. We are all vaccinated now, so I would be okay with us going. But the rest of my family is concerned that the trip won't be fun due to genie and having to wait in long lines. Previously I was an expert at using fastpass, and we never waited in long lines. I just kept getting fast passes all day long. It was great. But I keep hearing that people are only going on a handful of rides due to genie availability, and lines are long. Is this still the case? We would be going the week of August 6th. My kids do not want to spend their whole days waiting in long lines. They say they don't want to go if that's the case. They would prefer having an outdoors vacation in the White Mountains in NH which is what we did last year. My husband agrees with them but also knows I really want to go to Disney and feels bad that we had go keep putting off the trip. The NH vacation would cost half the price, but Disney World is my favorite place, and I really want to go. My husband says he keeps hearing it's horrible now.

So would Disney World be fun or horrible? Is the money and experience worth it?

being that i live in FL i drive over on sundays mostly as we work the other 6 days. its been crowded and i have to tell you unless you are staying at a disney resort you cannot use genie+ pay for the good rides like Remy's and even when we do stay over, the Genie is a little frustrating. you have to figure what is your threshold for pain (in money and line tolerance) to see if this is a good idea. Disney has been so crowded because the "free state of Fl" has been viewed as the one place to get away from all the mandates. i cant tell you how many people have come down for vacation. our tourism taxes in Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater are the highest they have ever been and by a lot! Now that all the other states are dropping their mandates i feel this will balance out again and early August is when all the kids in Fl go back to school so sometimes its not that bad but HOT/Humid. The other option is split your stay and go to Universal for 2 days (dont need more) as your room key is a unlimited fast pass and you dont wait for anything. The mountains up there at that time of year are nice though..

 

[DarthVader]

So would Disney World be fun or horrible? Is the money and experience worth it?

Worth is subjective and only you and your family can make that decision.

tl;dr version: Price, huge crowds, long wait times, disney charging for more stuff caused us to cancel our vacation and book a cheaper vacation to Hawaii.

I can only tell you what my family I decided. I've been saving up for about 3 or 4 years, we had planned on going in 2020, but then you know, the pandemic happened. Anyways we reschedule for February vacation of 2022 (Depart 02/18 and return 2/25 give or take depending on the flights).

We booked the POR, and try to get airline flights. Sticker shock doesn't even describe the costs I was facing, and that was before factoring in the actual out of pocket expenses of eating and now paying for genie+ The cost of the resort, park tickets and flight was heading past the $10,000 range into 12,000 dollar range. Throw in the meal budget and other expenses that we incur on vacation and we're easily getting into the 14k range.

At the time of our booking it was clear that every resort Disney had was full as we inched closer to February, and with the pandemic still in full swing, none of us really wanted to be rubbing shoulders with our fellow man/woman. Throw in the feeling that Disney was nickling and diming us at every turn, we felt that a vacation that would cost us north of 12,000 dollars where most of our time would be waiting in lines was simply not worth it.

We cancelled and believe it or not, rebook a vacation to Hawaii for the same amount of days for about 10,000 dollars. What was more shocking was the flight to hawaii (from boston) was cheaper then the flight to Orlando.

Sorry for my tale of woe but I want to give you the entire picture to post why I don't think Disney was worth it for us.
1. The crowds, as I learned after the fact, the parks were at capacity.
2. Excessive wait times for rides because of the cost of genie+ and it seems most people are using the standby lanes.
3. Disney seems more focused on profit margins then providing a magical experience.
4. With all of those reasons - we felt spending that much money was a poor use of our limited funds. I've been saving up every cent we had for over 4 years and it just didn't seem right to spend that much money on a disney vacation

 

[StarshipDisney]

Sorry for my tale of woe but I want to give you the entire picture to post why I don't think Disney was worth it for us.
1. The crowds, as I learned after the fact, the parks were at capacity.
2. Excessive wait times for rides because of the cost of genie+ and it seems most people are using the standby lanes.
3. Disney seems more focused on profit margins then providing a magical experience.
4. With all of those reasons - we felt spending that much money was a poor use of our limited funds. I've been saving up every cent we had for over 4 years and it just didn't seem right to spend that much money on a disney vacation

Can't blame you. I concur that the Disney experience is falling fast and unfortunately shows no signs of hitting bottom.

We are still planning to go but will cut our trip in half and spend the other half at Universal Studios...where you really do get more for your $$$ nowadays.

 

[DarthVader]

We are still planning to go but will cut our trip in half

I really obsessed about going or cancelling, and I'm not trying to convince you either way, so please don't take this the wrong way. Our decision really stemmed for the mindset of us waiting in line hours for any given ride. We kind of thought, that we'd be lucky to hit 3 or 4 rides on any given day. To put it another way, did we want to spend 12k (or more) where most of our time will be waiting for a 2 minute ride?

Returning to Disney is on our radar, no question, my kids are graduating high school in a couple more years, and they asked to go there for a celebration. I can't see why not at this point and Lord willing I'll be able to save up. There's so much turmoil, and unknown that's happening in the world, so its hard to write anything in stone.

 

[StarshipDisney]

I'm not trying to convince you either way, so please don't take this the wrong way.

Not sure what you said that I could even take the wrong way.

Trust me when I say that we are going with lowered expectations. On this trip, we plan to go 1-day in each park and see if Genie+ is any good for us or not. I hate mobile order and will only use it if I must (which I know I will).

We will see if we can still enjoy the parks or not and that will determine if we bother to ever go back again.