Jersey Week is over.....and the Sky didn't fall

[Smiley/OCD]

You mean the sticks?

There’s a reason Pa has 67 counties and the deer control 61 of them

And all 21 in NJ…and if I move to central PA, I figure I can trade my truck in for a horse & buggy…save on gas & car insurance AND I won’t have to plug it in…

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

And all 21 in NJ…and if I move to central PA, I figure I can trade my truck in for a horse & buggy…save on gas & car insurance AND I won’t have to plug it in…

I’ve lived in all 3 “zones” of pa…

Have fun in the 814. You’ll have lots of “alone time” there

 

[JIMINYCR]

What if it cost $2,000 a day to get into the park for your family?

Again... its my decision whether to pay the price asked or go somewhere else. There are other parks and other entertainment venues that would want my business. Again, I agree its getting harder to justify going but I dont set the costs, Disney is free to charge whatever they want. If it causes them to have a drop in business then they will have to alter their price structure. For now they arent being hurt enough to cause them to change. The consumer who is deciding to go will have to save longer, budget better and ask themselves if its worth paying out or not. Not unlike any other business I want to do business with, I manage my money and choose where it goes.

 

[Jrb1979]

What if it cost $2,000 a day to get into the park for your family?

I don't go anymore. My family can get almost as much enjoyment going to Cedar Fair parks with our platinum passes.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I don't go anymore. My family can get almost as much enjoyment going to Cedar Fair parks with our platinum passes.

And when you made a decision that was good for your family and pocketbook, others took your place. Nothing wrong with your decision but it shows Dis can continue doing business as is and isnt hurt by your disappearance. TQQQ can keep upping the price question and surely at some point he will reach a cost that will turn enough guests away and Dis will be forced to react.

 

[curry767]

I hate to say it, but this forum is really becoming the place whiners and complainers post. Yes Disney has changed, for good or bad, it won’t be the same again and change is hard. However, when I look at other forums, the level of negativity on this forum is not reproduced to the same level elsewhere.

I’m only here for another month gathering intel for my December trip, but I doubt I’ll be back after that.

 

[eliza61nyc]

I hate to say it, but this forum is really becoming the place whiners and complainers post. Yes Disney has changed, for good or bad, it won’t be the same again and change is hard. However, when I look at other forums, the level of negativity on this forum is not reproduced to the same level elsewhere.

I’m only here for another month gathering intel for my December trip, but I doubt I’ll be back after that.

I think this forum probably has more hard core Disney old timers. These are the folks who grew up on Sunday night Disney, Davey Crockett, they knew Walt Disney etc etc, they grew up on Disney and had visions of pasing it down to their grandkids.
So it's personal to them.
Cut to today, lol my kids didn't even realize Walt was a real person !! I worked my entire life for a major corporation so I have no illusion that wdw management is my loving uncle. I don't feel entitled to wdw being affordable. If it becomes too expensive for my family our hearts won't be broken, we'll keep it moving and explore other places. We do that now.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I hate to say it, but this forum is really becoming the place whiners and complainers post. Yes Disney has changed, for good or bad, it won’t be the same again and change is hard. However, when I look at other forums, the level of negativity on this forum is not reproduced to the same level elsewhere.

I’m only here for another month gathering intel for my December trip, but I doubt I’ll be back after that.

I am disappointed you will not be back!

I would really like to read your trip report as you are not a whiner, or a complainer and you would provide an unbiased trip report.

 

[matt9112]

Why would it cost $1,000 a day to enter the parks? How many people are you talking about?

And why would you stay at the Contemporary if price was a concern? Wouldn’t you stay at a value resort?

Not every post about WDW has to be about how much it costs. The costs aren’t hidden so I assume people know what they’ll be paying.

Isn’t the cost variable? So you actually might just know a “range” that you might pay. The crowding legitimately destroys the value proposition for me. Even when I had an AP the crowds sucked but it was ok because I was paying 15 bucks a visit to go. You want me to pay hundreds to be miserable? Nah

 

[matt9112]

I doubt you're going to find that kind of talk from people actually on vacation. Most let all of that go and try to get the most enjoyment they can once they are there. Doesn't mean they don't feel that way.

This is how I feel. In the moment we all try to have fun and enjoy it but once people return home reality probably leads to analysis and really looking back to see if it was worth it. I think long term this could erode demand.

 

[Chi84]

This is how I feel. In the moment we all try to have fun and enjoy it but once people return home reality probably leads to analysis and really looking back to see if it was worth it. I think long term this could erode demand.

People should do this with every vacation. I can't imagine anyone planning another WDW trip if they look back and decide it wasn't worth it.

 

[eliza61nyc]

This is how I feel. In the moment we all try to have fun and enjoy it but once people return home reality probably leads to analysis and really looking back to see if it was worth it. I think long term this could erode demand.

lol, that pretty much happens after every vacation I take. Joking aside, usually what we do with any vacation is price it out prior to even booking and we usually have a budget. After we get that figure then we kind of discuss whether or not we want to spend that kind of money, what areas can we down grade or things we can skip or if we should bag the entire thing. One thing we don't do and I find folks here do alot is compare my vacations to 1990 or any other year beyond maybe 5 years. IMO if ever time I wanted to go any where I said "well 7 years ago it only cost XYZ" I wouldn't be able to leave the house.
So pretty much we look at what's being offered at the current time and it's cost, then we decide if it's worth it. I totally understand not returning though if you don't enjoy it or not as much. My family and I went to Jamaica (the Caribbean Island) twice and you couldn't pay us to ever return. different strokes for different folks

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

People should do this with every vacation. I can't imagine anyone planning another WDW trip if they look back and decide it wasn't worth it.

Not to open the curtain a little…

But this is exactly where they lose parks customers in the research.

Not politics or crowds or weather

Simple monetary value/return

 

[TalkToEthan]

. I can't imagine anyone planning another WDW trip if they look back and decide it wasn't worth it.

Hmmmmm,

but people do those types of things, often. Against their better judgment or interest people behave irrationally. It’s who we are; it’s what we do, often.

So yes, I most certainly can imagine it

 

[eliza61nyc]

Hmmmmm,

but people do those types of things, often. Against their better judgment or interest people behave irrationally. It’s who we are; it’s what we do, often.

So yes, I most certainly can imagine it

Yikes, sorry I really do have a hard time being sympathic. You whip open the check book and drop 5 grand and up without knowing anything about the place you're going?? Or am I misunderstanding what you mean??
Heck I look up the best prices on parking when I drive into the city.
Gotta disagree with you on this one, I totally have been disappointed on some vacations or been wrong on some experiences that I thought I would enjoy but every time I've thought about getting on a plane, train or bus and going somewhere I've had a clue.

I don't get it, I've gone to Jamaica 2x, we hated it, we're never going back. Hoe is it hard

 

[dreday3]

So we just booked a trip on Wonder of The Seas for 2024. To say we are excited would be an extreme understatement.

So at first when we booked, I'm thinking, yeah this is going to be so much cheaper than WDW.
But after you book the initial cruise, then you still have to pay for excursions per person, drink package per person, internet package per person, and then specialty dining if you want it per person(which you will because a lot of is an upcharge)... this darn trip is costing almost as much as Disney! Plus we are tacking on 2 nights at the beginning to finally get to Universal....

Moral of my story is pretty much everything is expensive with upcharges. Except our Dollywood trip next fall. That's still pretty reasonable.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Last week was the famed teachers convention/jersey week here in Garden State. This means elementary schools have half days M-T-W, and all Schools have Th-F off. This is a unique opportunity, to take school age kids away on a trip during a non-summer season. Even your older kids in HS, unless your team is in a State Semi-Final are done with Fall Sports, and the Winter season hasn't really started.

Between our 10-year-old and 12-year-old, 10 families that we are close with were down at the happiest place on earth last week. Between club baseball practice, and youth wrestling/football boards, i have spoken with 9 of the Mom/Dads since their triumphant returns. Between those conversations, and our last 2 trips, it is amazing how different the "real world" WDW is from these boards.

Of the 9 families i spoke with (7 being return guests, 2 first timers) not a single one had any idea who Chapek was. Not a one.

There were 7 fliers and 2 drivers for the trip, every single one of the fliers managed to get from MCO to WDW and back without the DME. While one mother said she missed it, she did say she liked that they rented a car this trip, as it gave them flexibility to get to/from places on their own.

Not a one had any problem with reserving there park prior to going. In fact two of the frequent WDW travelers noted that back in the day they had to figure out where they were going to be 180 days out to book dining reservations anyway, so the park reservation thing was no big deal.

No one had any problem using the Genie plus ap. Some people did say they liked the pre-booking option of Fast Pass better, but no one said they had any problem using the system.

Sure 9 families in one local cluster does not a double blind test make, and the sample size obviously leaves something to be desired. But its just amazing the difference in conversations between the people who actually got to the parks, vs. people who talk about the parks is.

Yes, but Jersey people tend to be smarter, better able to figure things out, more realistic, and better looking.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So we just booked a trip on Wonder of The Seas for 2024. To say we are excited would be an extreme understatement.

So at first when we booked, I'm thinking, yeah this is going to be so much cheaper than WDW.
But after you book the initial cruise, then you still have to pay for excursions per person, drink package per person, internet package per person, and then specialty dining if you want it per person(which you will because a lot of is an upcharge)... this darn trip is costing almost as much as Disney! Plus we are tacking on 2 nights at the beginning to finally get to Universal....

Moral of my story is pretty much everything is expensive with upcharges. Except our Dollywood trip next fall. That's still pretty reasonable.

…well this is interesting…

I’ll be interested to see what you think?

Do NOT book a drink package. You need to go to Betty ford if you want to get to the “value” of it.

Many excursions are cheaper and better through the independent operators that Royal caribbean books their overpriced w
Ones through anyway

Definitely book/pay for the speciality restaurants on the ship. You can usually get sales in advance. They make the ship much better.

Universal isn’t Disney…but their crowd management is no where as awful now.

 

[dreday3]

…well this interesting…

I’ll be interested to see what you think?

Do NOT book a drink package. You need to go to Betty ford if you want to get to the “value” of it.

Many excursions are cheaper and better through the independent operators that Royal caribbean books their overpriced w
Ones through anyway

Definitely book/pay for the speciality restaurants on the ship. You can usually get sales in advance. They make the ship much better.

Universal isn’t Disney…but their crowd management is no where as awful now.

We were on Freedom of The Seas in 2015, but that ship fits inside this new ship, twice!
We only did 2 specialty restaurants that trip, but it had nowhere near as many options as Wonder. And Coco Cay was nothing like it is now.

You are probably right about the drink package, especially since I mostly just drink wine at this point and he will have a bourbon or two at night. I know we can bring on 2 bottles and then my sister will bring two bottles. That should get us through the first day.
But we do like our specialty coffee...I'll have to do some math on this one

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We were on Freedom of The Seas in 2015, but that ship fits inside this new ship, twice!
We only did 2 specialty restaurants that trip, but it had nowhere near as many options as Wonder. And Coco Cay was nothing like it is now.

You are probably right about the drink package, especially since I mostly just drink wine at this point and he will have a bourbon or two at night. I know we can bring on 2 bottles and then my sister will bring two bottles. That should get us through the first day.
But we do like our specialty coffee...I'll have to do some math on this one

We were on freedom last year. Not a bad ship…but it was basically close to explorer and voyager from 20 years ago.

I’ve been on allure and symphony…they’re are so much bigger in so many ways.

I love anthem and quantum. My next stop is quantum out of southhampton in 2024

I’ve tried the drink package 3x and “quit” short all 3…including last year.

Get the next level down (specialty beverage) package for less than half the price and just go a la carte for alcohol. They do the 10/$100 drink cards on most ships as well.