Why You'll HATE Disney World

Disney World is NOT for everyone, but before you write off a vacation to the house of the Mouse allow us to dispel a few of your doubts and fix some major issues that could cause you to hate Disney World.

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[TS-lwnv]

I love the Disney parks, but the "magic" of the experience is going away. I've gone multiple times with my wife, and we loved just being at the parks for the vibe. Now it's gotten so expensive and so overscheduled to visit -- which wasn't the case even 3-4 years ago -- that it's starting to feel like work. Well, I get paid to actually work. The added stress and decline in quality makes it hard to justify the price of a trip.

[AndyMoranPhoto]

After going countless times as a kid and many many times as an adult the one piece of advice I have for anyone going on a budget is that you do not - I repeat **DO. NOT.** - need souvenirs. They are cheaply made, wildly overpriced and will almost inevitably go into a bin somewhere maybe a couple weeks after your trip never to be seen again. I promise you, disney knows you want to buy stuff while you're there. They have stores *everywhere* aimed solely at your wallet. You do *not* need to drop hundreds on new clothes while you're there because you will NOT wear them after you get home. If you've been, you know what I'm talking about.

Get a pin, get a shot glass, get the popcorn bucket, fine. But dear god if you're on a budget you can absolutely 100% skip the shopping while there and enjoy the time that you already spent countless thousands on just to be there. Take pictures and have them printed, bring home fliers and ticket stubs (although I guess physical tickets aren't going to be a thing anymore), make your own souvenirs based off of the experience that YOU had personally, not what Disney wants you to buy while you're down there.

[ktpaladino]

Another big frustration right now: rides constantly breaking down, refurbishments and closures that they can’t seem to reopen on schedule, new attractions they can’t seem to open in a timely fashion.

[michaelkiley]

What AJ really should have said - If you are significantly cost conscious, incapable of handling crowds of people, and/or don't think seeing the joy your kids will experience on the rides or meeting the characters, etc. is enough to ensure you have a good time...Don't Go! It's not for everyone, don't try to force it. It is what it is.

[scottdean]

When it comes to crowds, it's an entirely different experience in a wheelchair. You WILL be run over, people will constantly walk in front of you either forcing you to stop suddenly or running over their foot. It is an intense workout, and that's not even considering the terrain (the bridge near Splash Mountain is not something you'll want to cross repeatedly)!

[Marchant]

The fact that Disney has gotten so predictably greedy and that the majority of their rides and in some cases even their themed lands have evolved into trailers for their movies has caused me to lose about 95% of my interest going there, especially since the crowds and queue lines are something I NEVER want to be stuck in.

[nathaliechevrier]

It's horrible with all the planning! Reserve a park, pay to get to experience attractions (Genie+, Lighting lanes) overly crowded. And your nose in your phone to try to order food, attractions, way too stressing! Nothing magical anymore, which is very sad. I used to go every year, but now... I will be going to other parks.

[MazAMaTaz]

"The company is corrupt" is also a valid reason, but it sucks that there's really no way to dispel that other than not going and hoping that the corporate leadership changes.

[Louismoxley]

Because Bob Chapek has ruined everything ..He is Disney’s best villain.. Making everything boring and sterile, expensive, lightning Lane, genie, everything removed including the magic

[chem]

If you think "is it worth it" then it's likely not...

[jenniferstewart]

Also, staying off site and renting a car is a lot cheaper then staying at one of the Disney resorts, specially at Disneyland in cali!

[barbeej]

I hate the reservation system, it messed up my Spring Break. Had to cancel my Hollywood Studios reservation for missing my flight and I couldn't reschedule for nothing. The only Disney park I was able to go to was the Magic Kingdom because of my reservation. My tip is if you plan to do both Universal and Disney, do the Universal park first because you don't need a reservation. If you your flight is canceled, missed, or delayed that can cause you to miss the next day of your Disney trip, and you have to cancel a reservation, you might have to wait. That is why plan your Disney parks the second day after arrival so you don't have to disappoint yourself and your family.

[rexation]

I still love Disney Villainous (board games), Kingdom Hearts (video games), and The Haunted Mansion. However, I have been to the WDW many times since I was a kid and I can simply not afford them anymore. With the Nintendo and Harry Potter expansions, I will way more likely go to Universal next time over WDW.

Also...Disney has made getting into the park and enjoying yourself (you have to have a reservation now on some days to even get into certain parks) into something resembling a Free-2-Play game (that is far from free).

Also, don't enjoy having to deal with "social media influencers", who seem to be more plentiful and are often the most annoying kind of visitors at the park.

[keithalllmeroth]

We just got back. It was a one time trip and we'll never do it again. The crowds were awful and they handled the firework show at Magic Kingdom horribly. There were ignorant cast members, we saw arguments and even a physical altercation. My son was scared in the crowd because they just kept cramming in more people. The night show at Epcot was much better. Plenty of room and had that magical feeling that you'd expect. Genie plus is not intuitive and is almost not worth it if you don't spend a few thousand dollars more to stay at a Disney resort hotel. Again, we did it once and will never be back.

[dmwatters]

What I HATE about Disney now is Genie + and "fancy rides" ! It was such a Hassell and so much extra walking. We'd have to exit a line, because our genie + was going to expire at a nearby ride, we'd have to wait in one spot for the genie time to open up, (not enough time to go on any other ride), we couldn't get the fancy ride most of the time, and we tried at 7am. We spent 2 days at universal Studios, with unlimited front of the lines express pass. We could have easily just done a once per day front of the line pass. We walked from ride to ride, got on the rides fairly quickly, and moved on to the next ride. No Hassell or watching the phone all day. All the lines, express and standby, were reasonable wait times. Disney needs to get a clue from Universal Studios, their genie + was horrible.

[cameronkehler]

We just got back from WDW. The rising costs are certainly going to be prohibitive. I'm still debating whether Genie+ is worth it when you can only book one ride at a time and the waiting period between your next ride selection on the app causes most of the big attractions to fill up for most of the day.

It seems an itinerary system where you could book multiple rides, spaced out throughout the day would make more sense and I think the current Genie+ system is still a work in progress. Also paying for resort parking per day takes away an incentive for staying on property. We still had a good time, but there's definitely room for improvement.

[sumiller]

No fast passes ( Genie+ sucks on a good day and miserable on a bad day), no Magic Express, no Dining Plan, and the crowds are horrible. I could go on, but I don’t have all day. Disney needs to reconsider their decisions and get rid of the people making these horrible changes.

[silverbird]

We became DVC members in 2008 and we absolutely love the dvc program, but Disney parks have been very disappointing with the changes. Planning and park reservations are the worst. Genie is horrible, the dining plan has disappeared and management does not seem to care. The people running Disney right now need to go.

[adrianaventi]

Yep our bank called us on day 2 of our trip to check on us. That’s when we knew it was getting expensive 😄😬

[joanodean]

I owned Disney stock for years because I love it. However, I recently sold my holdings because of the expense for a trip there. I realize that Disney's premium experience costs the company money, but think they have crossed a line.