Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My girlfriend and I went there last November, we both hated it. To me it's much closer to a dystopian third world nightmare than it is the happiest place on earth.
They own everything there, and they use that to full advantage to shamelessly hold you upside down and shake and shake and shake until all the money falls out of your pocket. The food is universally terrible and absurdly overpriced even by amusement park standards. Here you go, 4 chicken nuggets and 12 french fries, that will be $15. The rides and events are old, outdated, and rinky dink, like they stopped trying to improve anything decades ago because people will still come there anyway. Futureland should be renamed 1970s science fiction land, it looks like the set from Logan's Run.
Every ride funnels you straight into a gift shop where they hope that your kids will guilt you into buying some cheap plastic trinket, made in China at 10 cents a piece, for $30. I expect to be gouged a little at amusement parks but Disney takes it to a whole new level that I find offensive. I went there having no feelings either way about Disney World and left with an intense disgust for all things Disney. We went to Islands of Adventure one day and liked it a lot more, the rides and attractions are far better, it's less crowded, the food is much better, prices are far more reasonable, etc. I would definitely go back to Islands of Adventure, but I'll never go back to Disney.
If you go to Disney World though, I would highly recommend going on the Behind the Seeds tour of their greenhouse. It is pretty amazing.
Baaaaaahahahahaha!
Quote of the day!
Id rep twice if a i could
I was mostly talking about at the park, but we did eat at the seafood buffet at the Grand Floridian Resort, where we felt the food was mediocre to below average. There were only a few things on the buffet that I thought were really good. Some kind of scallop and sundried tomato pasta that was really nice, the crab legs were good, and the jicama slaw was also good. Some of the cheeses were nice too. Most of it was very mediocre, and some of it was downright dreadful and inedible, e.g. the clam chowder. The prime rib was really bad. For $40 a person we wished we had gone somewhere else.
We also ate at a few character breakfasts. The food there was pretty average breakfast food. They were expensive, but these are understandable since it's more about kids (my nephew and niece were with us) being entertained by Disney characters than it is about the food. So I can't really complain too much about the food and prices there. The kids loved it and got their pictures taken. I can complain about the "Lobster" Eggs Benedict though, it had a really awful insidious fake lobster flavor. It makes me gag a little just thinking about it. I'm not sure why someone would want to do that to another person.
We also did the thing in Epcot Center where you sample food from different countries. It sounded great since we're pretty big foodies that eat a lot of ethnic food. But the food was mostly really bad (especially the empanadas), lines were ridiculous, the portions were tiny (glorified Sam's Club samples), and the prices sky-high.
We were with family so we unfortunately didn't have a lot of leeway on where we ate much of the time.
Yeah, I did the Buffet there once too and was not impressed. I'm with you on that. Narcoosees and Citricos are excellent though and the Grand Floridian cafe is pretty good I'm with you on that one. I don't like buffet's in general either. There is one good buffet at Disney. It's Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
I also skip character meals. You pay extra for the characters and the food is not great. I think it's only worth doing if you kids really want to see characters and you want to see a bunch at once instead of standing in line in the parks . I wouldn't do it for the food.
For anyone that wants a good fine dining experience, I highly recommend The California Grill at the Grand Floridian and that you request the Wine Room. Excellent sushi , steak flatbreads, seafood and amazing desserts. It's become a must have meal for my actor/ BBC related friends from the UK. It's great food
You don't go to Disney for the food. It is what it is.
When I travel somewhere, I don't begin comparing it immediately. I try to suspend my disbelief and accept the experience on its own, for what it is.
I am sure that if I went in as a "foodie," I would be sorely disappointed with meals at a THEME PARK.
I am able to enjoy myself at many places and usually only criticize truly bad service or unkept promises.
As for expensive souvenirs, my kids know better than to ask for every little thing we walk past. It's a chance to educate your children about self-control, critical thinking and, for the older kids, mass marketing.
But the main point is to have fun.
Nah, it's the opposite. I do and I'm a foodie. I go with other foodies. Disney is a great place for fine dining if you know where to go. It's not a good place for your average meal for a family on the go.
I haven't read all the responses but know that if you think WDW is a gauranteed 5K+ you haven't done your research. There are a TON of online formus, FREE trip planners and unaffiliated WDW-only travel agencies dedicated solely to DWD trip planning and nothing else.... their purpose is to share tips for saving money and HOW and what to book -- essentially secrets to efficient planning.
I could have booked deluxe accommodations, ON PROPERTY, from Costco, which includes all passes, transportation and airfare (from TX) for 4 for $3800. with every perk you can imagine.
At any rate, if you don't feel like doing the research yourself then get on Pinterest and type in "Disneyworld".
You can do WDW for less that $5000. There are ways
Plenty of ways. Our last few vacations have been there and we spent nowhere close to $5000. That is an insane amount...
Go on off season. Hotels are discounted big time and don't stay in a high priced hotel. How often will you actually be in there anyway? Stay in the All Stars. They have cute themes and are perfectly nice and clean. we rented a house just ten minutes from the park once for 8 nights for $650. It was huge, beautiful and had a pool. We also ate breakfast before we went out and had a late dinner when we got back sometimes. But the pool was great to have after a hot day.
Go when they offer free dining. Saves hundreds.
If you are close enough, drive instead of fly. Saves at least $1000.
Give your kids an amount each they are allowed to spend on souveniers, if they go over the amount, oh well. Or limit them to one or two items.
While it is hard to find discounted park tickets, don't get the hopper passes. Its tough enough to get through one park in a day let alone hop between parks if you have kids with you.
We lucked out the last time we were there and didn't have to pay for our park passes at all and that saved us $1000. We have a friend who works there and he had extra friends and family passes and hotel discounts that he wasn't using and he hooked us up. My family of five had a five day vacation including airfare and hotel for about $1100. The time before that, we drove and only had 2 kids, stayed 9 days and still only spent $1600 and we went to Universal for two days. They always run specials on their tickets.
We love Disney World. Its so much fun and our kids LOVE it. Our next venture will be to Disneyland. Haven't been there yet. Just gotta do your research and you can do it all for a fraction of the price.
ETA...we also put all of our pocket change into a large water bottle (from the water coolers) whenever we have any, and we used that for our last couple of trips and had over $600 each time. Great way to save before you even get there. if you start now, you can save plenty for when your kids are older and pay for your entire trip. We use our water bottle now as our "California fund".
Last edited by Flamingomo; 02-25-2013 at 01:53 PM..
Reason: adding a $$$ saving tip...
I am 32. Our family of four went twice when I was a child (one trip was tied to a work convention for my parents' business). We drove once, flew the other time. I will say I really enjoyed and valued both trips. We plan to take our son when he's older and will remember it. I don't get parents who take their kids when they're really little...can't see them really appreciating it. Just my two cents.
My favorite moment ever at Disney was seeing my then 10 month old crawl over to Mickey with such a look of joy on his face, and plop himself right in Mickey's lap and just laugh and smile and hug him. I cried. He loved it. He loved all the characters and was amazed by all the rides he was able to go on, and there were plenty. He just stared at everything going on around him with such wonder in his eyes. The first time we took our two older kids they were 4 and 18 months. Next time, 6 and 3 and this last time, 9, 6 and 10 months. They love every minute of it and always ask to go back. My youngest is now three and is asking when we can go to Disney. Seeing Disney though your child's eyes is amazing no matter how old they are and they certainly appreciate it and love it.
We went with the family in 2000, drove down there from Michigan and stopped to check out some of the sights on the way. My parents had booked an all inclusive package at a Disney resort which included park passes, and all of our meals. I don't know how much it cost but we made sure we made the best of it, and take advantage of all the freebies that came with the package.
FWIW, we always stay off site in a 2 bedroom condo with a kitchen - we eat every breakfast there after going to a *gasp* NON disney regular grocery store (I know, Orlando has those - who would've thought?). We drive to the parks, arrive 30-45 minutes before they open, go to the most popular attractions first, research where to eat to get the best deal and best food, take snacks and water bottles, have a budget for extra keepsakes.....
Has no one ever planned a vacation before? Sure, if you go and stay at the parks with no forethought you are gonna fork over a bunch of $. But why would you do that?
You don't go to Disney for the food. It is what it is.
I didn't go there for the food, but yet strangely people still need to eat on vacation, especially when they spend 10 hours running around inside a theme park. And even more strange, the food is part of the vacation experience, and even part of your budget.
It is what it is? Got any more trite phrases with absolutely no meaning?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
When I travel somewhere, I don't begin comparing it immediately. I try to suspend my disbelief and accept the experience on its own, for what it is.
I tried to suspend my disbelief at how overpriced all their made in China trash is, but unfortunately, it was real.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
I am sure that if I went in as a "foodie," I would be sorely disappointed with meals at a THEME PARK.
As I stated, I was not at all disappointed at the meals at Islands of Adventure, which is also a THEME PARK (apparently you didn't know that). Quite the contrary, I was very pleasantly surprised. Just because it's a THEME PARK, doesn't mean they should have terrible food at astronomical prices.
The food was just one of many things I do no like about Disney, but apparently, that shouldn't matter at all. They could serve you burnt hot dogs with tartar sauce for $50 each and it wouldn't matter at all because it's a THEME PARK. I'm not sure why you take such offense at someone not liking Disney. It's like they put a spell on some people. My sister is obsessed with everything Disney.
Last edited by EugeneOnegin; 02-25-2013 at 03:50 PM..
I was more than a little surprised at how much fun we had at DisneyLand recently (in California, not world).
Overall, I hated the idea. I would take Cedar Point over Disney any day of the week. . .but it was interesting, it was fun. The fireworks were amazing. The food was overpriced, but tolerable.
I'm sure I will go back sometime. . .who knows. Especially when kids are a little too young to appreciate Europe, but old enough to appreciate Disney
Is it worth the money: not for me
Is it worth the money for the kids: probably
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
