Grand Kids to Disney in June

I've been going the past 10 years mainly during the wintertime and hadn't experienced the frustrations that others have here but we are not trying to get on the latest and greatest rides either.

I have sat through a time share sales pitch for free tickets, bought them at the gate (ouch), my family has gotten me in free with their employee pass and after they stopped working their I found employees on CL there who met me at the gate for greatly reduced price too. We have attended during the peak time where they shut down parks but never waited more than 40 minutes for the rides and shows we like.

A few months ago we went and the temps were in the high 70's and our longest wait was 20 min and some of the kiddie rides we were able to get off and walk back to the front for continuous riding. It's all in the time of year, weather and how many are there. Me and my wife enjoy DW as much if not more than the kids.

We have stayed at campgrounds nearby, Disney resorts and their own RV park and enjoyed each one.

Our planning used to consist on getting a map at the entrance and just following a path but last time I went on DW website and looked up each ride and made a wish list then took a brief look at them on YT (tourist videos) then once we arrived we rode the ones with the acceptable wait times by monitoring them on the DW app. We ended up riding about 90% of what we had planned to.

Disney has replaced their American computer experts with green card immigrants, who will now have control over the safety systems run by computer. Perfect for a foreign terrorist to infiltrate and cause havoc.

Was down there in November. Found reduced prices for entry at Walmart tickets of all places. Bought multiple day passes as we had a long visit planned and rarely had lines. Christmas shows were on and we enjoyed. Summer time.............don't think so. Ticket prices are getting to be out of reach for many families. Sad.

They will continue to raise the price until people stop coming. They count on folks that are willing to pay for the "magic" or the "experience" rather than the value.
We went to Disney as kids during June and July. I will not do that as an adult.
We went last in October of 2011 and the weather was great, lines with down.
I also bought books, studied, preplanned routes and schedules and we still had days where the parks closed before we did everything we had on our lists. And oh, by the way, my wife and kids didn't really go for being hustled here and there like a tourist on a 1 day trip thru Rome, lol.

My Dr., his wife and 2 kids just came back this past week.
Approx $1,000 a day for 4 people is what he said.
Tickets were around $100 each to get in.

He did get discounts because one of his staff's wife is a travel agent.

Disney has up the price every year since they opened and it is just about
out of the average family's price range. WE have not bee in about 10 years and
from what I am hear we will not be returning.

Before I had kids and even when they were young, I knew every trick in the book. I planned out every advantage available from free parking to optimal paths, to how to book the best meals. This was pre-fast pass.

But when my kids grew past the age of 6, I found it much harder to plan. One likes roller coasters, the other one's not tall enough to ride, and one of them doesn't like "scary" rides. This one wants to see the princesses, the other doesn't. Yes, I guess you can still play the game and figure out all the advantages, but that no longer fits my style of vacation. I need flexibility.

Are you seriously suggesting to the OP that he plan out his exact vacation 30 days in advance with multiple children? I don't think that's practical. How's he going to know what the "must see" rides are for "his" kids. What happens when one of them doesn't want to go on the roller coaster or scary haunted house?

Disney has become much less enjoyable to me these days because I've already ridden every ride in every park dozens of times. And fast pass is terrible. Sure, it has reduced the size of the lines for the rides, but where do you think those folks went? They didn't disappear? They ended up in the gift shops, restaurants and loitering in the too-small walkways and streets. And attendance goes up every year as Disney figures out how to fill its parks. Couple that with the rise in scooter usage. When I was a kid, there were very few folks using wheel chairs and getting around was easy. Now, the scooters have become larger, faster and there are more and more of them all the time. I've seen entire families on separate scooters blocking the streets and muscling their way through the crowds. With our aging population, retiring baby boomers and epidemic of obesity, I only see more and bigger and faster electric mobility vehicles on the streets and sidewalks of Disney.

Then, they add parades, fireworks, animated lighted castles, marching bands and roving characters to the streets to make it even tougher to move around.

Disney has figured out how to maximize its profits by jamming everyone into every available retail space in the parks. But this causes me more and more stress and less and less enjoyment.

Go to wdwinfo.com for a complete listing of all discounts. I have used them for our last 2 vacations.

Our dear friends are going next week. They were looking forward to a relaxing trip, no real plans, figure it out when they get there. DH and I explained that it's really not that kind of vacation. It does pay to read up on it a bit so you know what the big attractions are, how to get/use fastpass, and book some restaurant reservations. If you don't like waiting in long lines, then don't -- go enjoy something else with a shorter posted wait time. There is a lot more to do than just rides. There are live theater shows, fireworks, parades, stunt shows, cultural experiences, character meet and greets, playgrounds, face painting, animal encounters, live music and more.

One of the advantages my DW and I find staying at the Fort is eating. We eat all,our meals at the camper. We have no hassle with reservations, we don't have to tip, we don't have to travel to the restaraunt and we eat when we want too. We are annual pass holders and go a few times a year which allows us to do what we want at the parks and than leave. I know many people only get to go once in a lifetime so they are at the parks from when they open to when they close and do a lot of planning to get the most bang for their buck. Again, when you go can be problematic, summer, spring break and Christmas are the worst times to go because of the crowds. We have no children at home anymore so the DW and I try to go when the kids are in school. The only time we go in the summer is for 4th of July. It is crowded but we know that and spend more time at the Fort and we already have our fast passes so we'll do those and leave the park and go to the next. Whatever, you decide enjoy the time with your grandkids and pack plenty of patients.

rwbradley wrote:
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2) lines are dead in October and April

We've gone in October. Great time to go, if you can! Also, most of the month has events for Halloween which is a lot of fun - the Haunted Carriage Ride in Fort Wilderness was MUCH better than I thought it would be!