Disney Parks... Reaching the "tipping point" where its no longer magical?
It all depends on several factors.
The cost... $$$$... prices for the resort hotels keeps going up... as do the prices for the admission to the parks. Then there's the add-ons... charges for resort parking & general parking. The ability to buy extra fast passes, combination dinner fast passes with priority seating, special tour with combination fast passes... and in general the ability to get and use the fast pass program to get the best benefit.
Optional transportation of the Minnie mini-vans $$ if you don't want to wait for the free Disney busses. Hint: premium resorts seem to get better buss service and economy resorts always seen to have longer waits and bigger lines.
The cost of food $$$... on the cheaper end of things $$ fast food counter service at its not so finest... or table service $$$ which is elevated price and quality. Water, sodas, and snacks $$... again, for a family of four, a drink & snack is easily top $40-$50.
Then there's the cost of merchandise... gotta have keepsakes & gifts.
Of course, if money is not an issue... None of this matters.
Moving on... peak crowds... everyone is in your way everywhere... no matter where you go. Long waits for rides, attractions, restaurants, snacks, drinks, and merchandise. Everything is crowded with wait times. Wait times... we kinda draw the line at 30 minutes. During peak times short waits typically are 60-90 for the lesser attractions, and as high as 4-5 hours for popular attractions... but it certainly sounds shorter when expressed as 300 minutes. (sorry, a bit if sarcasm). Occasionally you may find a shorter wait by accident... the right place at the right time... but its rare.
Added to the huge crowds and wait times... throw in the summer heat. If the magic hasn't faded by now, you're more tolerant than me. Crowds + wait times + inescapable heat = misery. And... you paid a premium price for this?!
So what's the tipping point? Price? Crowds? Waits? Heat? Well, there's nothing you can do about prices. You can plan your trip for cooler weather during non peak times. Stay away from summer time, holidays, and spring breaks. There's plenty of online guides to not only help you pick slower weeks, but also which parks to visit on slowest days. It helps... but Disney is mostly busy even on non peak times. The days of walking right into rides and into attractions is all but over. It's simply a matter of how big a crowd you want to deal with, how long you want to wait, and how much hot weather you want to deal with.
For me its all a matter of perspective. My tipping point pretty much came to a point a couple of years ago. Prices were cheaper... crowds were less... wait times were low (many things were a walk on), and fast passes were on a level playing field (the old paper fast passes with distributions for each attraction for the popular rides), and the Magic was still in the air.
The final tipping point... so many things have been eliminated over the years. The Christmas lighted trestles at Epcot going into future world with thousands of lights timed to the music... really put you in the spirit. This also saw great reduction in Christmas decorations as well as small holiday shows. The Osborne spectacle lights at Studios... gone. And the night time parade at Magic Kingdom... SpectroMagic. It was done twice every night, and many times we would catch both viewings. Themed celebrations... The Happiest Place on Earth & The Year if a Million Dreams... each lasted 24-30 months and were the best themed celebrations to date. Yep, over the years, many things have ended, some replaced by new attractions. But having seen so many years at Disney ... too many good things are gone forever. SpectroMagic for me was the final disappointment. It was replaced shortly with the old tired and out dated Electric Light parade from many years prior and even that failed and was eliminated. No night time parade at magic kingdom for several years now.
Perspective... having seen so much of what was once there, extensively over the last 15 years, is easy to see the changes, and what is missed. Those new to Disney or that only occasionally visited every few years, would not even notice the changes. Even so... the tipping point... Prices, crowds, wait times, and the summer heat... It's a personal choice... when does the magic fade for you? Plan you visit to minimize crowds, waits, and the weather.
It all depends on several factors.
The cost... $$$$... prices for the resort hotels keeps going up... as do the prices for the admission to the parks. Then there's the add-ons... charges for resort parking & general parking. The ability to buy extra fast passes, combination dinner fast passes with priority seating, special tour with combination fast passes... and in general the ability to get and use the fast pass program to get the best benefit.
Optional transportation of the Minnie mini-vans $$ if you don't want to wait for the free Disney busses. Hint: premium resorts seem to get better buss service and economy resorts always seen to have longer waits and bigger lines.
The cost of food $$$... on the cheaper end of things $$ fast food counter service at its not so finest... or table service $$$ which is elevated price and quality. Water, sodas, and snacks $$... again, for a family of four, a drink & snack is easily top $40-$50.
Then there's the cost of merchandise... gotta have keepsakes & gifts.
Of course, if money is not an issue... None of this matters.
Moving on... peak crowds... everyone is in your way everywhere... no matter where you go. Long waits for rides, attractions, restaurants, snacks, drinks, and merchandise. Everything is crowded with wait times. Wait times... we kinda draw the line at 30 minutes. During peak times short waits typically are 60-90 for the lesser attractions, and as high as 4-5 hours for popular attractions... but it certainly sounds shorter when expressed as 300 minutes. (sorry, a bit if sarcasm). Occasionally you may find a shorter wait by accident... the right place at the right time... but its rare.
Added to the huge crowds and wait times... throw in the summer heat. If the magic hasn't faded by now, you're more tolerant than me. Crowds + wait times + inescapable heat = misery. And... you paid a premium price for this?!
So what's the tipping point? Price? Crowds? Waits? Heat? Well, there's nothing you can do about prices. You can plan your trip for cooler weather during non peak times. Stay away from summer time, holidays, and spring breaks. There's plenty of online guides to not only help you pick slower weeks, but also which parks to visit on slowest days. It helps... but Disney is mostly busy even on non peak times. The days of walking right into rides and into attractions is all but over. It's simply a matter of how big a crowd you want to deal with, how long you want to wait, and how much hot weather you want to deal with.
For me its all a matter of perspective. My tipping point pretty much came to a point a couple of years ago. Prices were cheaper... crowds were less... wait times were low (many things were a walk on), and fast passes were on a level playing field (the old paper fast passes with distributions for each attraction for the popular rides), and the Magic was still in the air.
The final tipping point... so many things have been eliminated over the years. The Christmas lighted trestles at Epcot going into future world with thousands of lights timed to the music... really put you in the spirit. This also saw great reduction in Christmas decorations as well as small holiday shows. The Osborne spectacle lights at Studios... gone. And the night time parade at Magic Kingdom... SpectroMagic. It was done twice every night, and many times we would catch both viewings. Themed celebrations... The Happiest Place on Earth & The Year if a Million Dreams... each lasted 24-30 months and were the best themed celebrations to date. Yep, over the years, many things have ended, some replaced by new attractions. But having seen so many years at Disney ... too many good things are gone forever. SpectroMagic for me was the final disappointment. It was replaced shortly with the old tired and out dated Electric Light parade from many years prior and even that failed and was eliminated. No night time parade at magic kingdom for several years now.
Perspective... having seen so much of what was once there, extensively over the last 15 years, is easy to see the changes, and what is missed. Those new to Disney or that only occasionally visited every few years, would not even notice the changes. Even so... the tipping point... Prices, crowds, wait times, and the summer heat... It's a personal choice... when does the magic fade for you? Plan you visit to minimize crowds, waits, and the weather.
