Grand Kids to Disney in June

[Elwoodj]

Is there any such thing as discount tickets to Disney Orlando and Sea World? If so how do you qualify for them?

[rowekmr]

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.

[johnnyrv]

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.

[catkins]

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.

[Mr_Beebo]

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.

[Oldme]

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.

[holstein13]

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.

[TomB_]

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

[rolling_rhoda]

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.

[Bears_Den]

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.

[Tvov]

rwbradley wrote:
....
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!

[rwbradley]

redhooker wrote:

Beaker wrote:

The alternative is every rider waits the full time for a ride.

That alternative would be crazy. Everyone treated equally!? That would not be fair???

If you learn to work the system it makes for a much better day.

Because of my bad foot and wife's bad knee we never know were we may be and sometimes need to sit for up to a half hour at a time.

We usually ride 5 to 8 rides and only spend a total of just over an hour in line.

Please say thank you to suckers like me that make your day wonderful.


After returning home, I sent a complaint to WDW and actually received a phone call from customer service and had a long talk about the fast pass. What you said about WDW using fast pass to regulate the lines is true but the fact is that attractions can handle only so many guests per hour regardless. You may possibly see a different fast pass in the future to even out the playing field. EVERYONE would have a certain number of fast passes to use without all the planning one now needs, and when you use yours up, too bad.

All that being said we went the Monday after Thanksgiveing to see the Christmas lights which were wonderful. We had a very good time and would like to go again but unless something is done with the fast pass, this will have been out last time.

We stayed at Fort Wilderness which was nice, but about any state park is much nicer for us.

I am not saying your opinion is wrong-I understand the frustration. And this is not an argument, just a possible bit of info that could assist on your next trip. The irony is I felt exactly the same way as you until I understood how it works.

First-everyone is treated equally with fastpass. Everyone can reserve them a month in advance, and pick from several different time slots for the rides. Want them stacked in the am, afternoon or night-there's a layout for almost any plan. It also orders them with no backtracking. Three is the limit in advance, but I already listed out several ways to get in 6 or 7 rides with little to no hassle if you mix in quicker line rides or hit the busy ones before 10am. MIx that in with one or two meal reservations and it is a full day. If you don't reserve a table (which if you call 407 WDWDINE they can get you in somewhere with as little as an hours notice as long as you are flexible) you are stuck using a walk up counter serve restaurant. Fort Wilderness is not the greatest campground in the world, but we pay from $60 to $90 a night to stay it is by far the cheapest WDW resort to use. Cool side note is the water tower at the pool is the old one from the now closed River Country.

That said-if you try to spontaneously go on a whim with no reservations it is tough. We live an hour away so that can be an issue for us. If you actually plan ahead and reserve all you can it is now possible to visit WDW and spend a very short amount of time waiting in lines. To us that is a huge improvement.

I agree, it is a science and takes some effort to plan, it is probably no fun for someone who likes to be spontaneous, but it can be a lot of fun for us, as we are neurotic planners
We have always found:
1) be there at opening and hit a couple of big rides right off
2) plan your fast passes as early as possible so you can add more later
3) plan to do the less popular stuff mid day
4) do lunch/dinner off hours just before 11am is the perfect time for lunch and just before 4pm for dinner
5) despite the logic, avoid a park that has extra magic hours that day as everyone else will go there to get an extra hour out of their day, but they will end up spending an extra two hours in lines
6) don't go hide inside when it rains, bring a rain coat and go straight for the popular rides
Finally the most important factor, and this is huge:
1) lines are insane in July and around Christmas
2) lines are dead in October and April

[redhooker]

Beaker wrote:

The alternative is every rider waits the full time for a ride.

That alternative would be crazy. Everyone treated equally!? That would not be fair???

If you learn to work the system it makes for a much better day.

Because of my bad foot and wife's bad knee we never know were we may be and sometimes need to sit for up to a half hour at a time.

We usually ride 5 to 8 rides and only spend a total of just over an hour in line.

Please say thank you to suckers like me that make your day wonderful.


After returning home, I sent a complaint to WDW and actually received a phone call from customer service and had a long talk about the fast pass. What you said about WDW using fast pass to regulate the lines is true but the fact is that attractions can handle only so many guests per hour regardless. You may possibly see a different fast pass in the future to even out the playing field. EVERYONE would have a certain number of fast passes to use without all the planning one now needs, and when you use yours up, too bad.

All that being said we went the Monday after Thanksgiveing to see the Christmas lights which were wonderful. We had a very good time and would like to go again but unless something is done with the fast pass, this will have been out last time.

We stayed at Fort Wilderness which was nice, but about any state park is much nicer for us.

I am not saying your opinion is wrong-I understand the frustration. And this is not an argument, just a possible bit of info that could assist on your next trip. The irony is I felt exactly the same way as you until I understood how it works.

First-everyone is treated equally with fastpass. Everyone can reserve them a month in advance, and pick from several different time slots for the rides. Want them stacked in the am, afternoon or night-there's a layout for almost any plan. It also orders them with no backtracking. Three is the limit in advance, but I already listed out several ways to get in 6 or 7 rides with little to no hassle if you mix in quicker line rides or hit the busy ones before 10am. MIx that in with one or two meal reservations and it is a full day. If you don't reserve a table (which if you call 407 WDWDINE they can get you in somewhere with as little as an hours notice as long as you are flexible) you are stuck using a walk up counter serve restaurant. Fort Wilderness is not the greatest campground in the world, but we pay from $60 to $90 a night to stay it is by far the cheapest WDW resort to use. Cool side note is the water tower at the pool is the old one from the now closed River Country.

That said-if you try to spontaneously go on a whim with no reservations it is tough. We live an hour away so that can be an issue for us. If you actually plan ahead and reserve all you can it is now possible to visit WDW and spend a very short amount of time waiting in lines. To us that is a huge improvement.

[APT]

Tickets at Work offers some discounted tickets at times. I would not expect more than 10% effective, though. Buy 3 get 2 days free right now, but that isn't 40% discount. The multi-day passes get very cheap over 4 consecutive days. Don't bother with multiple entry per day. You waste at least an hour of open park time changing parks.

Have fun! We've been twice and enjoyed both times. I don't have the desire to return, but my wife wants to. And you couldn't pay me to go to WDW in June! Both times were off peak and busy enough as well as comfortable weather, Nov and Feb.

[Beaker]

The alternative is every rider waits the full time for a ride.

That alternative would be crazy. Everyone treated equally!? That would not be fair???

If you learn to work the system it makes for a much better day.

Because of my bad foot and wife's bad knee we never know were we may be and sometimes need to sit for up to a half hour at a time.

We usually ride 5 to 8 rides and only spend a total of just over an hour in line.

Please say thank you to suckers like me that make your day wonderful.


After returning home, I sent a complaint to WDW and actually received a phone call from customer service and had a long talk about the fast pass. What you said about WDW using fast pass to regulate the lines is true but the fact is that attractions can handle only so many guests per hour regardless. You may possibly see a different fast pass in the future to even out the playing field. EVERYONE would have a certain number of fast passes to use without all the planning one now needs, and when you use yours up, too bad.

All that being said we went the Monday after Thanksgiveing to see the Christmas lights which were wonderful. We had a very good time and would like to go again but unless something is done with the fast pass, this will have been out last time.

We stayed at Fort Wilderness which was nice, but about any state park is much nicer for us.