10 February, 2024
Our first crew departed Orlando on a 10:00 flight, which means they were up and on the way to the airport before the rest of us were even out of bed.
The driving crew departed for home around 8:00, about the time the rest of us met for breakfast and consulted on the balances remaining on our Disney Dining cards.
Six of us had a 16:05 flight, so we left on the Mears Express Shuttle at noon. The balance of the crew had an early evening flight, so they spent the day enjoying the areas outside the theme parks and eating their way through the remaining card balances
We had a glitch-free trip back home, in stark contrast to the cancellations and near-misses that popped up at the beginning of the trip.
Unfortunately we did face one final snag before we made it home. We arrived to a dead car battery in the airport parking lot. Luckily airport security is equipped with jumper boxes and, after a brief wait for their arrival, we were up and running.
Yes, a trip of this scope with extended family was a bit daunting, but dividing into smaller groups and weaving through the week with a couple of planned meetings and avoiding the urge to have everyone do everything together all the time made it quite manageable. Sometimes this can produce some FOMO among members of a large party, but there's not much you can do to mitigate that issue.
As far as the overall Disney experience, as I mentioned in a previous post, it has now devolved to a logistics exercise that forces you to rely on a marginal piece of software that produces inconsistent results. In an age of rising prices they now demand a premium add-on if you have any hope of enjoying more than a few attractions over the course of a day. In 1982 a single-park, single-day adult ticket was $15. Adjusted for inflation that's just short of $50 in 2025. Disney now charges as much as $189 for the same ticket, if you want to visit the Magic Kingdom. When you factor in modern usage restrictions (expiration windows, non-transferability of multi-day tickets, change fees, etc.) buying a ticket to Disney is comparable to buying tickets for airline travel.
I found this quote a while back from a blog specializing in Disney Park News when I was investigating after-hours events:
"The sad truth is that the everyday Walt Disney World experience isn’t very enjoyable anymore. The parks are overcrowded and wait times are longer than ever, which would indicate that Disney has not expanded the park lineups enough over time to match the crowd levels they see. There is also so much early planning and reservation luck involved in getting FastPasses or that coveted seat at a popular restaurant, not to mention that more often than not it is miserably hot and some of the newer lands don’t offer much in the way of shade (at this point, I assume you are tired of hearing me berate Toy Story Land by now.) This is only going to get worse come August 29th and the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios."
This hits the nail on the head. With over fifteen visits to Walt Disney World, going back to 1975, I have some spectacular memories. From my step-dad marching down Main Street behind the band, to a 10th Anniversary trip with my wife (no kids!) - my oldest son's wedding, and watching the pure joy and amazement on my grandson's face, among dozens and dozens of core memories in my index.
But it's just not fun anymore. It's not crowded, it's overcrowded. Waits aren't long, they're soul-crushing. By the time you spend nearly an hour waiting for each attraction, add in a bit of occasional recovery time, a bathroom break or two, and time to eat something, you're not enjoying good value. People will still come to Disney – once. Die hards will continue to come at any cost. It's the less than fanatic Disney guest that will drift away. By the time I pay for the least expensive room, tickets, inexpensive food, a modest amount for drinks, and assume I don't spend anything for Lightning Lane (or Genie+ or whatever "added feature" is being offered) a week for two at Disney is going to cost somewhere north of $3,500, depending upon taxes and fees. For the same week (November 1, 2025 in this example) I can book an inside cabin on the newest ship offered by Royal Caribbean, pay for internet, and spend $500 less without having to fight crowds and heat. No, they're not identical experiences, but if they want to keep me as a customer there has to be value – and paying more to do more walking, more waiting, and fight crowds isn't a value proposition for me. I know others will tolerate all of this, and more, just to be in the Disney bubble, but the magic just isn't there for me any more.
Yes, I'll go back, but I have a list of other experiences that take precedence.
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