When you've lost Frommer's...
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Trouble at the Mouse House...
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My BIL and SIL are there now with kids and girlfriends. They used to go four or five times a year, to the point where park staff knew them. Now they say it's no longer worth it.
The lines are longer, it's much more crowded, things you used to be able to get for asking - fast passes, etc., are now charged for. One day tickets range from $109 to $189. One day.
It's very difficult to get restaurant reservations. They no longer run the water taxis from the resorts to the Magic Kingdom - That's the only way I would ever go.
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I would love to see a single statistic about amusement parks: total (seat level) daily ride time divided by the total permitted person-hours in the park.
I’d guess it’s well south of 1%.
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We took Lucas back in 2014 for a week. It was absolutely everything that I hoped for. We spent a LOT (to my way of thinking), and we left agreeing it was worth the cost and planned on upgrading the next visit.
We took Lucas and Finley to Universal this last May, and spent a day at Magic Kingdom. Universal was great. Maybe not quite as good as Disney, but close. We also spent less than we had on the Disney trip in 2014, so a great trip. We are thinking of going back in March-April while we still have the annual passes.
During the Universal trip, we took 1 Day to go to Magic Kingdom for Finley. Meh. Nowhere near as good as what it was just a few years ago. Way too crowded, a bizarre new fast pass system that requires you be on your phone half of the day rearranging ride times, and I had to take 90 minutes just to stake out a spot for the fireworks, then nearly got into a fistfight with an asshat in front of us during the show. Food was mediocre, and if you wanted to get a reservation for a decent restaurant you needed to reserve it between 8 and 8:30AM 6 months to the day before you want the reservation. There are these insane Disney Karen’s that are partially responsible for the problems, but most of it is on Disney.
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
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We took Lucas back in 2014 for a week. It was absolutely everything that I hoped for. We spent a LOT (to my way of thinking), and we left agreeing it was worth the cost and planned on upgrading the next visit.
We took Lucas and Finley to Universal this last May, and spent a day at Magic Kingdom. Universal was great. Maybe not quite as good as Disney, but close. We also spent less than we had on the Disney trip in 2014, so a great trip. We are thinking of going back in March-April while we still have the annual passes.
During the Universal trip, we took 1 Day to go to Magic Kingdom for Finley. Meh. Nowhere near as good as what it was just a few years ago. Way too crowded, a bizarre new fast pass system that requires you be on your phone half of the day rearranging ride times, and I had to take 90 minutes just to stake out a spot for the fireworks, then nearly got into a fistfight with an asshat in front of us during the show. Food was mediocre, and if you wanted to get a reservation for a decent restaurant you needed to reserve it between 8 and 8:30AM 6 months to the day before you want the reservation. There are these insane Disney Karen’s that are partially responsible for the problems, but most of it is on Disney.
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
@LuFins-Dad said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
Remember how close they came to building a new park in Manassas? I believe they owned the land and were ready to begin.
That would have been convenient.
If I remember correctly, the Preserve the Battlefield folks stopped that. How much different would that area of Northern VA be now if they had built back then?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_America
11 million annual visitors
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Trouble at the Mouse House...
@Jolly said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
Trouble at the Mouse House...
"The decline of the magic" seems downright literal considering what's going on these days.
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Trouble at the Mouse House...
@Jolly said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
Trouble at the Mouse House...
It is really a shame. We had maybe a dozen Disney vacations in the 80s and 90s. There was something new and exciting on most of those trips.
It was expensive, but reasonable. yes, it cost a lot but you got a really good product.
It was clean, everywhere. This was really noticeable. On my last trip there about 4 years ago it felt more rundown and not well maintained.
The headlines for the last few years have been about worn out parks that are overpriced and overcrowded. It seems like those two things shouldn't go together. Disney will pay for this eventually.
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We took Lucas back in 2014 for a week. It was absolutely everything that I hoped for. We spent a LOT (to my way of thinking), and we left agreeing it was worth the cost and planned on upgrading the next visit.
We took Lucas and Finley to Universal this last May, and spent a day at Magic Kingdom. Universal was great. Maybe not quite as good as Disney, but close. We also spent less than we had on the Disney trip in 2014, so a great trip. We are thinking of going back in March-April while we still have the annual passes.
During the Universal trip, we took 1 Day to go to Magic Kingdom for Finley. Meh. Nowhere near as good as what it was just a few years ago. Way too crowded, a bizarre new fast pass system that requires you be on your phone half of the day rearranging ride times, and I had to take 90 minutes just to stake out a spot for the fireworks, then nearly got into a fistfight with an asshat in front of us during the show. Food was mediocre, and if you wanted to get a reservation for a decent restaurant you needed to reserve it between 8 and 8:30AM 6 months to the day before you want the reservation. There are these insane Disney Karen’s that are partially responsible for the problems, but most of it is on Disney.
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
@LuFins-Dad said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
We took Lucas back in 2014 for a week. It was absolutely everything that I hoped for. We spent a LOT (to my way of thinking), and we left agreeing it was worth the cost and planned on upgrading the next visit.
We took Lucas and Finley to Universal this last May, and spent a day at Magic Kingdom. Universal was great. Maybe not quite as good as Disney, but close. We also spent less than we had on the Disney trip in 2014, so a great trip. We are thinking of going back in March-April while we still have the annual passes.
During the Universal trip, we took 1 Day to go to Magic Kingdom for Finley. Meh. Nowhere near as good as what it was just a few years ago. Way too crowded, a bizarre new fast pass system that requires you be on your phone half of the day rearranging ride times, and I had to take 90 minutes just to stake out a spot for the fireworks, then nearly got into a fistfight with an asshat in front of us during the show. Food was mediocre, and if you wanted to get a reservation for a decent restaurant you needed to reserve it between 8 and 8:30AM 6 months to the day before you want the reservation. There are these insane Disney Karen’s that are partially responsible for the problems, but most of it is on Disney.
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
Six Flags started in Dallas. They were quite successful for sometime and then got overloaded with debt and went bankrupt. I think they now operate a lot of parks, but nothing to compare with Disney.
If I was Disney...I'd build a park out in the Hill Country or somewhere close to College Station. The CS location in particular could draw from Austin and Houston with no problem and Dallas would only be 3-4 hours away.
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My BIL and SIL are there now with kids and girlfriends. They used to go four or five times a year, to the point where park staff knew them. Now they say it's no longer worth it.
The lines are longer, it's much more crowded, things you used to be able to get for asking - fast passes, etc., are now charged for. One day tickets range from $109 to $189. One day.
It's very difficult to get restaurant reservations. They no longer run the water taxis from the resorts to the Magic Kingdom - That's the only way I would ever go.
So it's failing because it's so busy and overcrowded? Hmmm.
I went to the one in California for the first time in my life last summer. I really enjoyed it, but one day was quite enough. I just don't understand people who go over and over, or spend the week there.
And it was absolutely freaking packed.
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So it's failing because it's so busy and overcrowded? Hmmm.
I went to the one in California for the first time in my life last summer. I really enjoyed it, but one day was quite enough. I just don't understand people who go over and over, or spend the week there.
And it was absolutely freaking packed.
@Doctor-Phibes said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
So it's failing because it's so busy and overcrowded? Hmmm.
I was thinking the same thing. 555
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The one in Anaheim is much more human scaled but has the same wait time to attraction time issues.
@jon-nyc said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
The one in Anaheim is much more human scaled but has the same wait time to attraction time issues.
The first ride we went on we queued for 90 minutes, and I was pretty much ready for the gaspipe. After that, we paid the extra $15 or whatever it was for the queue-jump option which made the experience exponentially better.
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We took Lucas back in 2014 for a week. It was absolutely everything that I hoped for. We spent a LOT (to my way of thinking), and we left agreeing it was worth the cost and planned on upgrading the next visit.
We took Lucas and Finley to Universal this last May, and spent a day at Magic Kingdom. Universal was great. Maybe not quite as good as Disney, but close. We also spent less than we had on the Disney trip in 2014, so a great trip. We are thinking of going back in March-April while we still have the annual passes.
During the Universal trip, we took 1 Day to go to Magic Kingdom for Finley. Meh. Nowhere near as good as what it was just a few years ago. Way too crowded, a bizarre new fast pass system that requires you be on your phone half of the day rearranging ride times, and I had to take 90 minutes just to stake out a spot for the fireworks, then nearly got into a fistfight with an asshat in front of us during the show. Food was mediocre, and if you wanted to get a reservation for a decent restaurant you needed to reserve it between 8 and 8:30AM 6 months to the day before you want the reservation. There are these insane Disney Karen’s that are partially responsible for the problems, but most of it is on Disney.
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
@LuFins-Dad said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
If not limited to Disney/Universal, these folks have big plan:
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@LuFins-Dad said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
We took Lucas back in 2014 for a week. It was absolutely everything that I hoped for. We spent a LOT (to my way of thinking), and we left agreeing it was worth the cost and planned on upgrading the next visit.
We took Lucas and Finley to Universal this last May, and spent a day at Magic Kingdom. Universal was great. Maybe not quite as good as Disney, but close. We also spent less than we had on the Disney trip in 2014, so a great trip. We are thinking of going back in March-April while we still have the annual passes.
During the Universal trip, we took 1 Day to go to Magic Kingdom for Finley. Meh. Nowhere near as good as what it was just a few years ago. Way too crowded, a bizarre new fast pass system that requires you be on your phone half of the day rearranging ride times, and I had to take 90 minutes just to stake out a spot for the fireworks, then nearly got into a fistfight with an asshat in front of us during the show. Food was mediocre, and if you wanted to get a reservation for a decent restaurant you needed to reserve it between 8 and 8:30AM 6 months to the day before you want the reservation. There are these insane Disney Karen’s that are partially responsible for the problems, but most of it is on Disney.
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
Six Flags started in Dallas. They were quite successful for sometime and then got overloaded with debt and went bankrupt. I think they now operate a lot of parks, but nothing to compare with Disney.
If I was Disney...I'd build a park out in the Hill Country or somewhere close to College Station. The CS location in particular could draw from Austin and Houston with no problem and Dallas would only be 3-4 hours away.
@Jolly said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
@LuFins-Dad said in When you've lost Frommer's...:
We took Lucas back in 2014 for a week. It was absolutely everything that I hoped for. We spent a LOT (to my way of thinking), and we left agreeing it was worth the cost and planned on upgrading the next visit.
We took Lucas and Finley to Universal this last May, and spent a day at Magic Kingdom. Universal was great. Maybe not quite as good as Disney, but close. We also spent less than we had on the Disney trip in 2014, so a great trip. We are thinking of going back in March-April while we still have the annual passes.
During the Universal trip, we took 1 Day to go to Magic Kingdom for Finley. Meh. Nowhere near as good as what it was just a few years ago. Way too crowded, a bizarre new fast pass system that requires you be on your phone half of the day rearranging ride times, and I had to take 90 minutes just to stake out a spot for the fireworks, then nearly got into a fistfight with an asshat in front of us during the show. Food was mediocre, and if you wanted to get a reservation for a decent restaurant you needed to reserve it between 8 and 8:30AM 6 months to the day before you want the reservation. There are these insane Disney Karen’s that are partially responsible for the problems, but most of it is on Disney.
They are way past due to start building another resort/theme park somewhere else in the US. Maybe Texas?
Six Flags started in Dallas. They were quite successful for sometime and then got overloaded with debt and went bankrupt. I think they now operate a lot of parks, but nothing to compare with Disney.
If I was Disney...I'd build a park out in the Hill Country or somewhere close to College Station. The CS location in particular could draw from Austin and Houston with no problem and Dallas would only be 3-4 hours away.
Well, Disney’s already behind…
https://www.wlbt.com/2023/01/11/universal-build-new-theme-park-texas/