Will It Be Disney World or a VERY Expensive Six Flags?

Published: June 8, 2020

Each day we are receiving new information from Disney that is making us cringe.

If you’ve been following this Blog, you know that we originally had a vacation planned for April, 2020 that Covid-19 totally obliterated.  Those plans were to celebrate the 20th Wedding Anniversary of my wife and I.  It was to also celebrate our oldest daughter graduating high school as her class’ Salutatorian and it would have most likely been our last vacation together as a family with my daughter leaving for college in September.  On a longshot that the parks would reopen in late June or early July, we rebooked our vacation for the last week of July.  As you can imagine, we were excited when Disney announced that they were reopening Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on July 11, then Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15 seeing that our flight to MCO in Orlando is on July 25.  We were able to rebook our FastPasses and Dinner Reservations, and, yes, we were able to rebook Cinderella’s Royal Table for my Graduating High School Senior.

But since then it has been one disappointing notice after another.  We understood that there would be social distancing required.  We also understood that facemasks would be required for entering any of the parks, we were not thrilled of the thought of wearing a mask in the 90° Florida heat and humidity, but we understood.  When I started worrying was when Disney Announced that only 20% of capacity would be allowed in each park.  I started to think that they now have almost four months of backlogged reservations that they are going to need to rebook and with a 20% capacity, how are they going to do this.

The next disappointment was that all of the FastPasses that my family spent an entire evening planning and calculating were all of the sudden gone from the MyDisney App.  Next were our dinner reservations at Cinderella’s Royal Table, 50’s PrimeTime Cafe and Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White… Poof!  gone in an instance!

Next we learned that park hours are going to be reduced and Extra Magic Hours are being suspended.  On top of that, there would be no fireworks, parades, nighttime shows, character meet and greets, and more.

We also learned that the Resort that we booked and paid for already, All-Star Music Family Suites, may not be open when the parks open.  So far it looks like just the Deluxe and DVC Resorts will be opening  $$$.

Guests were informed that even if they are staying at a Disney Resort, they are not guaranteed that they will be able to enter any of the parks, WAIT, WHAT???

I know this next one seems small, but for my pride, it is important.  It was announced that pin trading with cast members will no longer be allowed.  Like I said, it may seem small, but it is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

At no point has there been any mention of a discount on the price of admission and/or price of staying at one of the Disney Resorts.

Let’s take a look at what Disney is expecting everyone to pay full-price for admission and lodging (and that is if you can even get into a park.).

All of the following have been cancelled

• No FastPasses
• No Character Dining Experiences
• No Fireworks
• No Parades
• No Character Meet and Greets
• No Nighttime Shows (Fantasmic)
• Reduced Park Hours (Approximately 10 hours a day).
• No Extra Magic Hours (but early morning ticketed events still exist $$$)
• No Park Hopping
• No Resort Hopping
• Reduced Transportation (but Minnie Vans will be available $$$)
• No Pin Trading

I don’t know, maybe its me, but right now visiting the parks looks more like going to Six Flags with the ridiculous Disney price of admission.  Also, I can only imagine how much the cost of snacks, drinks, meals, souvenirs, etc are going to be when the park’s reopen.  I would not be surprised to see a 20oz bottle of soda costing in the area of $7.

Well, that’s it for us, we’re tapping out, we’re done.  At this point it is not worth gettin on a plane, flying 3hrs, paying for a rental car and then MAYBE having a hotel room and MAYBE being able to enter one of the parks…  It is just not worth the financial investment.

Let’s face it, everyone knows that Disney Parks are WAY overpriced, but when 2/3 of the things that make Disney World, Disney World are taken away, Why would you waste your money?