Whats your current view of Disney/DVC?

[boxer]

NEVER thought I would write this, but really getting burnt out from all the 'add-on' cost at Disney, and the seemingly non-stop planning required to take a vacation. I like the LL in theory--but I'm having a lot of trouble trying to figure out exactly what Park I will be visiting EACH day--2mos ahead of time. I will never stop going to Disney, but this nickle-and-dime is really making me rethink the DVC as a whole--as I got a great deal (basically free) at Bonnet Creek for far more points. I'll keep them both for now--but seriously considering selling my OKW eventually (and I NEVER thought I'd say that).

What's everyone else's view? FYI--we are not stand-in-line type people--so we either have to rope drop, or bite the bullet and pay the LL fee. WIth that said, after 20 years of visiting, we don't spend entire days at the parks anyhow--so we can get a few rides done in the AM, and at the evening return visit.

 

[atthebeachclub]

I still really like it, but the Lightning Lane prebooking is both good and bad. I was able to schedule nearly anything my family wanted, BUT there was a lot less flexibility. My mom tired and didn’t and up doing as many park days as I anticipated on our trip, so those are Lightning Lane costs lost. I think I will prioritize Lightning Lane over Park Hoppers on future trips.

DVC was great. Unfortunately my family got sick after our last trip and I am concerned that my kids may be missing more school than I am comfortable with (since I pulled them out for this WDW trip too). I bought with the intent of pulling my kids from school since my job PTO dates don’t reflect the school calendar and because the crowds are lower, but if that isn’t possible after all, this may make less sense for us as a regular family trip. Or maybe we just do shorter trips. But the airplane ride is a major haul for us since we don’t live near an airport.

Mixed feelings at this point in time. If I could go alone every January, I would, just to escape the cold! But I would need many fewer points for that. If we go over school breaks, I’ll need a lot more points and likely won’t consistently get PTO approved.

 

[boxer]

I still really like it, but the Lightning Lane prebooking is both good and bad. I was able to schedule nearly anything my family wanted, BUT there was a lot less flexibility. My mom tired and didn’t and up doing as many park days as I anticipated on our trip, so those are Lightning Lane costs lost. I think I will prioritize Lightning Lane over Park Hoppers on future trips.

DVC was great. Unfortunately my family got sick after our last trip and I am concerned that my kids may be missing more school than I am comfortable with (since I pulled them out for this WDW trip too). I bought with the intent of pulling my kids from school since my job PTO dates don’t reflect the school calendar and because the crowds are lower, but if that isn’t possible after all, this may make less sense for us as a regular family trip. Or maybe we just do shorter trips. But the airplane ride is a major haul for us since we don’t live near an airport.

Mixed feelings at this point in time. If I could go alone every January, I would, just to escape the cold! But I would need many fewer points for that. If we go over school breaks, I’ll need a lot more points and likely won’t consistently get PTO approved.

I used the LL on our fall trip (short 4-day trip), and it was fine for the 2 of us. Our 'big' 10-day trip in fall is the full family---and NOT looking forward to try to figure out every day, and every park we plan to attend. Might just end up pre-selecting a few days at 2mos out--and then just buy the other days while we are there, and sure we will get full benefit for that particular day. WAY too tough to try to map out 10 days worth of park selections, lol

 

[reddog21]

I enjoy the pre planning, I hate a vacation that I figure out when I get there. Drives me nuts.

Every company is nickel and diming with add ons, Disney is just doing the same. I don't love it but it wouldn't keep me from going nor would I sell my DVC because of it.

 

[Chuck S]

My planning really hasn't changed much over the years. I mean, we'd have made dining reservation and FP+ reservations anyway, This isn't really different, with the excption of having to 1) make an AP park reservation and 2) with LL you have to pay for the FPs.

We always had to decide what park on a given day to make the dining and FP+ reservations. Now it is just the extra step of reserving a park day.

 

[xdan0920]

My opinion of DVC is overall negative at this point. My MFs are comically high, and with the explosion of renting I find myself unable to get the rooms I want. Though it seems DVC is going to address this shortly...

As for WDW in general.....

My kids are currently in the sweet spot for WDW, 11 and 7. So we are still going every year, but good lord is it getting insanely expensive. Plus becoming onerous to plan.

 

[Sandisw]

I am still has happy with Disney and DVC. We have adjusted our trips to capitalize on the pros and not worry about the rest.

Because we go often, we pick and choose when we want to do LL, meals, etc. based on who is with us.

This trip last week, we bought LL the day before we visited Epcot but didn’t for MK because of night hours and go with the flow kind of day.

I am happy that I can now use points for my AP, that we have waterpark for free on check in day…we always fly in early…and that they are adding another lounge to MK.

Things are different than before but so are we!

 

[DebbieB]

I've owned BWV since 1999. At that time, the choices at WDW were OKW or BWV. I never dreamed there would be all these new choices. I've stayed at all WDW except SSR and CC. The only ticket discount when I joined was 10% off Length of Stay. I bought an annual pass, so that didn't help. Now we have Sorcerer, which is almost $500 less than Incredipass (yes, the price has gone up but I managed 4 trips on my current one). Compared to 1999, the perks are better. As long as I'm healthy, I plan to ride it out to 2042 (age 82).

As far as parks, I liked the old Fastpass or even Genie better than the current.

 

[fflmaster]

My wife and family always like to say they like to take vacations without planning and just do what they want and when. However, they really mean they want someone else to plan everything. LOL

That is where I come in, because I love to plan things out. I have both a Disney trip coming in February and a Cruise next January, and I love to watch every video and read the trip reports to have everything set up for a great time for all. Something I love and have fun doing.

So, to me, DVC is perfect. It would help me make sure we have everything planned out. The last time we went as a big group, I had every day on a spreadsheet with the exact times we were scheduled to be somewhere. Back in the day, when we could book our fast passes earlier, I would have the entire day scheduled out for what time we would be on each ride.

 

[tjkraz]

Dining reservations used to be 6 months in advance. Now it's 60 days.

FastPass+ used to be 60 days in advance. Now LL is 1 week.

I don't really see how either of these have gotten more difficult. I've been doing this long enough to remember the days when you had to run to the paper FP machines at Hollywood Studios and wait in line 30 minutes just to get a return time for Toy Story Mania. And when you had zero control over the FP return time. And when you couldn't count on getting FP+ for Mine Train or Pandora attractions unless you booked it toward the end of a long trip. And when you had to be physically add HS at 6am to get a VQ for Rise of the Resistance.

That said, it IS more expensive since LL has a cost attached. Personally I think that LL offers greater flexibility since far less people are using it. So if there's any silver lining, it's that we can hit the attractions with longest wait time by purchasing LL just once or twice per trip and focusing on those experiences.

In some ways, Disney trips have gotten harder to manage. You have to be more on your toes to snag limited events like Moonlight Magic, runDisney, D23. Not to mention special merchandise, pass holder magnets and the like. I'm currently preparing for a Disney cruise. Even though I don't have to worry about cabin location or planning meals, there's still a competition for limited space in adult dining, beverage seminars, spa visits, excursions, etc. A lot of that is a direct result of growth in popularity of such events and items. I'm not really sure what Disney can do to drive DOWN demand for certain events and features.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

I agree with everything you said. But I and family still enjoy our vacations, even though we don’t like the changes. If something better came along, maybe we’d want out. Despite bad changed, I have not found a better option.

 

[Travel60]

I am a planner. I have a spreadsheet for everything. But WDW with its constant changes, complicated IT and money grabbing has broken me. Not fun anymore.

We are still enjoying DVC but seldom do the parks (every few years we go for one day with grandkids and I make my daughter do that planning). I would love to go through the countries part of EPCOT but one day is costly for just that.

We get a 3BR villa at HHI about every 3 years for extended family trip (HHI is home). DH and I spend several weeks each Jan/Feb in a one or two bedroom at WDW, Vero, HHI. When it works with school calendar, grandkids join for long weekend. They never mention the parks - they just want to swim/do activities.

We are currently considering an extended family Alaska cruise for 2026 on points - (I know, bad use but ours are very early cheap points and we are not going to rent them out).

We will keep our old cheap 2042 HHI points til the end (or pass to kids if we pass). But, I would not advise them to buy today. Overall the "Disney" part of the experience isn't worth the premium.

 

[klcts]

Everything is going up. Anywhere I go on vacation, prices have increased. So too me, still worth the value. My family and I have made so many great memories and continue to do so. I wouldn't care how everyone else feels, do what makes you happy and don't let anyone else justify what you feel.

 

[Skywalker3]

We bought DVC in 2011, kids were 7 and 4. Perfect ages for Disney/theme parks. Now, they are much older and want other places, and so do I. I didn't want to buy then, DH had to convince me. I was worried the cost, dues/tickets, limited vacation time would all be consumed by Disney....and they were. We've taken precious few vacations elsewhere since., Since 2000, I always thought Disney was busy, crowded, expensive, etc. so none of that is changed. I remember in 2000, splitting a QS burger with my son because I thought it was too much to each get one.. We've been going since before any FPs, just good ole waiting in line, going with the paper ones, PITA, going with the ones you booked online x amount of days out--even back then, we had to plan our whole day/trip around those preselected fastpasses. We have not yet used lightning lane, except for the 2 times I bought a single ride on Guardians. You don't have to buy lightning lanes to enjoy the parks. But yes, things have certainly gotten crazy expensive, APs and tickets are sky high. I didn't renew my AP, and just for 2 days of tickets in Oct, it was over $400.
We're using all of this year's points, 350, to go to Aulani in March, Never in my wildest dreams did I see that happening, but glad to be trying something new, and using our DVC points to do it. We'll revisit everything next use year, maybe consider renting, or maybe try Hilton head. or maybe do WDW, no idea. I'm a huge Universal fan, also since 2000, and hoping to plan many trips there when Epic gets going.

 

[TCRAIG]

I still love Disney and my DVC memberships. I travel solo now and need an ECV for any major walking. I am lucky to live close enough to drive to WDW (8 hrs or so) and own my own ECV and have enough DVC points that I can go multiple times a year fairly cheaply anytime I want. So other than selecting a park to visit, I don’t really pre-plan anything. Since it’s just me, I have no need to use any of the paid LL services and I’m not a foodie so big costly meals are never something I am interested in. For me, WDW is really the only place I can consistently vacation where I feel safe, can get around easily, don’t need to spend a bunch of money to have a nice time and don’t feel so alone. I know I spend a lot on DVC maintenance, but other than that - everything else is pretty cheap. I don’t know anywhere else I can go to for 5+ weeks a year for the money I spend.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I will pay the nickels and dimes. I dont care.
Right now as far as Disney goes Im a bit negative on the budget cuts.. I am crushed to find out that there is no parade in DL for our trip in February.
As far as DVC goes I am real negative right now on lack of availability which imo is directly related to commercial spec renting (not opening another debate just stating my opinion)

 

[MICKIMINI]

DH and I are definitely losing interest as we near retirement. We gave up AP's in 2022 after five weeks at WDW. Hanging on to direct and resale for now, but I'd say it's 50/50 on gifting or selling in the next 5 years. DH can't take driving on property and especially hates MCO (me too). The thought of selling DVC makes me sad but we are getting tired of spending a fortune and not really enjoying our trips.

We've enjoyed many dozens of wonderful trips with precious memories, but each trip since covid has been more of a hassle. It's the little things that pile up: doors that don't work at Poly, door knocks when napping, run down villas, traffic, prices of everything etc. Door knocks are the worst intrusion IMO and may be the straw that breaks the camel's back for us. I'd rather enjoy watching the leaves turning red and orange against purple NH mountains at Halloween while sitting in our hot tub then spending 10-15K to be intruded upon. To be at WDW and thinking about what I am missing at our new home seems ridiculous.

Maybe we are just old, tired and cranky?

 

[Pens Fan]

Still love both Disney and DVC. I'll add, though, that one of the main reasons we love Disney so much is because of DVC. The ability to buy the Sorcerer's pass and go down multiple times a year has been a game changer. It basically removes all the stress and FOMO. We are happy just enjoying the resorts, the ambiance of the parks and Disney Springs. If we get on certain rides, great. If not there is always next time. We usually only pay for LL's a couple of days out of week or longer trip, so it really doesn't add that much cost.

I also agree with some of the posters above who pointed out that there really is no more significant pre-planning involved than there was say 10 years ago. Maybe if you compare it to the paper fastpass era, but that was a pain and often required rope dropping to make sure you even got one for certain rides. No thanks!!! We are very anti-rope dropping on our vacations .

Sadly, it's been almost a year since my husband and I have gone due to his health issues. We cannot wait to get back! Fortunately our son, his girlfriend and their friends have been making great use of our points. We hope to get back in the groove and join them by the end of this year and it can't come soon enough!!!

 

[Smugpugmug]

I love Disney but you are paying more and getting less. That's a fact but you can say that about A LOT of things lately. I will say that I will probably never buy DVC, direct or resale. It does not seem worth it in 2025.

 

[Chili327]

I used the LL on our fall trip (short 4-day trip), and it was fine for the 2 of us. Our 'big' 10-day trip in fall is the full family---and NOT looking forward to try to figure out every day, and every park we plan to attend. Might just end up pre-selecting a few days at 2mos out--and then just buy the other days while we are there, and sure we will get full benefit for that particular day. WAY too tough to try to map out 10 days worth of park selections, lol

Don't overthink it. Just reserve anything you think you might want to do, & LL is only 7 days in advance anyway, so if you have hoppers you only need to figure out which park to start in. You definitely don't need LL for 10 days, I'd just plan certain days to start at certain parks, & get the rides done you need to, & the rest of your day is open to do whatever you feel like doing. Just start with a rough estimate of any parks you KNOW you want to visit on certain days, & go from there.

My planning really hasn't changed much over the years. I mean, we'd have made dining reservation and FP+ reservations anyway, This isn't really different, with the exception of having to 1) make an AP park reservation and 2) with LL you have to pay for the FPs.

We always had to decide what park on a given day to make the dining and FP+ reservations. Now it is just the extra step of reserving a park day.

And using LL you already know which park to book rides in because of the AP park res, right?