Unsettling Reasons You May Want To Avoid Taking A Walt Disney World Vacation

It's hard to believe there once was a time when a fairly average middle class family could save up for an affordable Walt Disney World vacation and take the whole crew for a week or two of Disney Magic. Stay at a Walt Disney World resort and you could expect to be surrounded by 24/7 Disney magic: smiling cast members, improbably smooth transportation systems, high-quality productions all around. Park guests would rave about Disney's storied attention to detail from the parks' cleverly imagineered lines meant to make waiting less miserable to the virtually pristine walkways that take guests between them.

When Walt Disney originally dreamed up his theme parks, he dreamed of a family-friendly destination experience at a price point most American families could afford — and for many years, it was. Even as the prices steadily climbed through the decades and folks found themselves having to save up for much longer to go, the mouse house remained an aspirational once-in-a lifetime vacation destination even for those who couldn't make an annual pilgrimage. Cut to now and that isn't necessarily the case anymore for many would-be park guests.

These days, more longtime Disney fans are complaining that Disney resort quality has started to tank while pricing has become downright prohibitive. If Walt Disney's original dream for Walt Disney World is not quite dead, it certainly seems to be on life support as more would-be guests are saying no to the mouse for a whole slew of unsettling reasons.

Occasional ride breakdowns have always been a possibility with an amusement resort as expansive as Walt Disney World. With four theme parks and dozens of rides, some are bound to have issues during operating hours. But that doesn't make it any less miserable for park guests who spent hours waiting in a long line for a much-hyped ride only to see it shut down before they reach the finish line. It's even worse when this happens on your last day in a park. And even if it's just shifting public perception due to folks sharing experiences online, many longtime Disney World fans say the breakdowns are worse than ever in the Roaring 2020s.

Citing what appears to be a marked increase in attraction downtimes, park guests have hypothesized everything from computer glitches and animatronic issues to a rise in park guest obesity they believe may be putting more strain on the systems. But to their credit, most breakdowns don't seem to be Disney's fault — at least not directly. Insiders say these ride "breakdowns" are mostly preventable, with the blame resting squarely on park guests. Sensors can trigger emergency stops when guests behave badly — like rocking the ride or standing up — or accidentally drop their belongings. Anytime rides have to be stopped, the system requires a reboot that can take some time to complete. It's an easily solved problem if more folks would just heed the park rules and secure their belongings.

It should go without saying that Disney prices would follow global inflation trends. But in reality, the opposite seems to be true since Disney inflation has been way ahead of the curve for years. While most guests expect the occasional price hike to keep up with inflation, Disney has continued to squeeze guests for every cent they can between accommodations, food, tickets, and merchandise sales. Then there are the add-ons like Lightning Lane Passes, which can amount to hundreds of dollars per guest to line jump ahead of everyone else. And many would-be park guests have had enough.

With all of life's other expenses on the rise, the price hikes have turned Disney into a luxury spot for the wealthy that is simply out of reach of many working and middle-class families. Venting on Tripsided, travel writer Alan Karmin wrote that after 58 Disney World visits, the pricing had finally pushed him to a breaking point. Calculating a family of four would need at least $7,105 for a fairly stripped-down four-day Walt Disney World vacation in 2024 after hotel, food, travel expenses, park tickets, and minimal extras at a "budget" Disney resort, Karmin concluded, "Never again for me."

Later that year, Disney execs acknowledged they had seen lower spending at Disney parks in the domestic market, particularly from lower-income consumers. As one Reddit user put it, "Even the Disney adults are tired of the price gouging, that's how you know things are bad!"

To anyone who doesn't manage any serious health issues from day to day, it might seem a bit unreasonable to expect to eat completely healthy throughout any vacation. And unlike many other theme parks, Disney offers a wide range of specialty treats you can't get anywhere else in the world.

But even if you're resigned to accepting a little "vacation eating" as part of your Disney trip, eating heavy, high-calorie, low-nutrition food every meal for a few days can start to take a toll on your body pretty quickly. And the last thing you need when you're walking several miles a day is a belly full of little else aside from deep-fried carbohydrates and processed sugars.

In fairness, it is possible to eat healthier at Disney World than most amusement parks if you bring healthy snacks and plan all of your meals carefully, and overall, Disney tends to be pretty good about accommodating special diets. The My Disney Experience app has also made it much easier to avoid some of the most common Disney vacation mistakes by planning and ordering your food ahead of time so you're not just stuck with whatever the nearest kiosk is selling. But if you're just planning to wing it, you'll have a tough time staying on the healthy side.

One of the biggest draws of staying on Disney property is that the magic doesn't end when they exit the entry gates. Whether by monorail, ferry, or bus, guests end every magical day at a Disney park by traveling back to their themed resort where every detail is as perfect as their Magic Kingdom experience. But a lot of guests say that even Disney resorts are on the decline despite a continuous rise in accommodations pricing.

This is especially true for "budget" and mid-range Disney hotels, which many guests note aren't particularly special aside from the Disney branding, transportation, and other perks Disney seems to be cutting back on these days. Resort guests used to be able to have in-park purchases delivered to their rooms for free. But as Disney has whittled away at resort amenities, this perk got cut — which guests say has in turn caused them to spend less at parks. One Reddit user reported, "I skipped buying so much merch last trip because I didn't want to have to carry it."

Disney has also cut back early park entry for resort guests, who used to get in a full hour ahead of other park guests on designated days. This has been pushed back to 30 minutes over the past few years — although the trade-off is more flexibility in where guests can use this perk. But when you're talking about beating crowds to Space Mountain, a half hour isn't much of an advantage.

Rides getting updates or replaced altogether is an inevitable fact of life as a Walt Disney World fan. And it's certainly nothing new — sites like Yesterland and Defunctland serve as a virtual tribute to the many long-gone rides of years past. While generally, Disney park fans tend to accept these changes, there's a growing contingent of Disney fans who dislike Disney Parks' tendency to remake old rides with Disney IP they feel is already ubiquitous like Marvel. Such was the case with Disneyland's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror transformation into Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout!

Although the Marvel re-theme has its acolytes, many old-school Disney fans can't get over the sense that it's a corporate cash-grab. As one Redditor wrote, it "just felt like they slapped on a fresh IP to hype up Avengers Campus (which also felt incredibly lackluster) [...] I genuinely got off Guardians not really caring to ride it again." Both Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande have spoken up against converting its Florida counterpart on Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers' podcast "Las Culturistas." In an open letter to Disney World, Grande called the California conversion a "calamitous loss," pleading, "Please allow the iconic and tremendous Tower of Terror to stand tall, permanently in the name of historical preservation, spooky honor, and good, old-fashioned fun." Disney's "Frozen" retheme of Maelstrom has met similar backlash, with one Redditor lamenting, "I don't even understand what's happening on the Frozen ride. Maelstrom was infinitely better."

For plenty of Disney World guests, planning a trip can be part of the fun. And this can go way beyond trip itineraries and Disney World clothes packing. Some guests will go all out planning details to make their Disney vacation extra special like hotel room door decoration and "pixie dusting" — an adorable way of describing a Disney Park gift-giving subculture. But wanting to plan the fun parts is different from getting absolutely bogged down in planning just to make everything work out. And some park guests say Disney World's complicated reservation systems and other various apps on top of the added expenses tend to suck the fun out of Disney vacation planning.

It's a common complaint on Disney web forums, with future Disney guests expressing frustration at the complexity of juggling everything from dining plans and park hopper passes to Lightning Lane passes. "It's not as "magical" as it used to be. I used to enjoy being in the parks and disconnecting from the world. Now i feel like I'm glued to my phone and a schedule," complained one Redditor.

It's not just the price hikes and incessant need for app-surfing making Disney trips stressful these days. Park guests say that despite the added expense, Disney World parks are just too crowded to be fun these days. Crowds have been steadily rising since the pandemic ended, making the experience less fun for many. As one park guest put it on Reddit, "I think overselling admission to the park is the biggest cause of the huge decline in quality."

And with thicker crowds come inevitably longer lines — like the average 91-minute wait for the Tron Light Cycle in January 2025 or the almost one hour long average wait for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Lines are so long, in fact, that guests are reporting an uptick in long wait-related Disney World poop accidents. To make matters worse, not all Disney World rides are worth the wait.

That's not to say Disney World isn't worth it for some folks — it's just not to the type of vacation you relax and unwind on. "You get zero chance to relax," one wise Redditor advised, adding that it's more about creating an experience your family will remember for a lifetime. "In a years time, you will forget the stressful moments, the crowds, the price tag [...] Get through the trip, and live in the memories!"

Allegedly a reaction to non-disabled Disney World guests trying to game the system to use DAS passes as their very own personal VIP front-of-the-line access, changes to the Disney's Disabled Access Services (DAS) system have been sparking a lot of controversy in recent years. Disabled guests could formerly register with Guest Services for DAS services to skip lines, but now all disabled guests seeking DAS services must participate in a pre-arrival video chat at some point during the 30-day period prior to their Walt Disney World vacation. If approved, guests who can't wait in line can select return times via the My Disney Experience app.

According to the Disney website, this service is available for "Guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time." It's up to individual interviewers to assess applicants' symptoms to decide who gets approved with little regard for the fact that autism doesn't always present stereotypically or that a person's ability to mask symptoms can have nothing to do with their sensitivity to crowds and noise. 

Many guests are getting denied for legitimate disabilities, leaving advocates irate over the policy change. There's a strong sentiment among that interviewers have been directed to deny most guests. "They don't allow you to show paperwork at all. That's the fun part," wrote one Redditor. "It certainly seems as though their intention is to humiliate people," another seethed.

Paying for your Walt Disney World accommodations and tickets is just the beginning of the spending frenzy. Once you're inside the parks, opportunities to swipe that card are everywhere.

Obviously, Disney is a for-profit organization. And of course most folks will want to pick up some cool souvenirs to commemorate their Walt Disney World vacation, especially if it's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip. But with all of the cool and one-of-a-kind items at Disney parks, it's really easy to end up going overboard on Disney merch. When you're already riding that Disney endorphin high and dazzled by clever branding, it can be tempting to break out the old credit card and lose track pretty quickly.

And because it's a theme park, expect prices to be on the high side — it's easy to spend $80 on a sweatshirt. As one Redditor wrote, "They want you to impulse buy that $80 Loungefly or the $100 Lego set." And that's to say nothing of the character dining, souvenir cups, water bottles, souvenir photos, and one-of-a kind snacks that can add up so quickly.

Once upon a magical time not so long ago, Walt Disney World cast members were smiling, friendly, and generally always in character. Maybe it's something about the fact that most Disney employees are paid poverty wages these days and Disney relies on the United States government to subsidize lower wage employees' incomes with food stamps. Maybe it's just a shift in Disney's training practices. But whatever the reason, Disney regulars say cast members seem to care a whole lot less about spreading Disney magic these days.

Disney web forums are rife with reports of cast members acting annoyed, hostile, disgruntled, impatient, and downright rude. "I've mainly noticed the change with employees. I don't blame them in the slightest but that Disney magic, we make your dreams come true vibe is gone," lamented one Reddit user, reporting, "They look miserable and have attitudes."

Many guests blame the company's responsibility to shareholders for Disney World's tanking customer service. As profits are prioritized over guest experience and employee satisfaction, they say this means workers get stretched even thinner at already pitiful wages. As one Redditor put it, "They are human beings and can take but so much."

Remember how the pandemic somehow caused a bunch of folks to just randomly start flipping out and having full-scale meltdowns on airplanes and in coffee shops across America? Maybe that whole experience short-circuited something in our collective brains, but some Disney guests say a lot of people never quite remembered how to behave in public after the lockdown ended.

Reports of pushing, rude comments, line-cutting, berating of cast members, and general main character energy from other Disney guests are common on Reddit. One Disney guest reported a fistfight nearly breaking out over a table becoming available in a crowded restaurant. When things escalated, one guest seemed ready to attack with a chair. And if you watch the news long enough, you're almost bound to hear about a Disney World brawl breaking out at some point. 

Recalling a time another guest slammed into their back trying to shove past them to get into a gift store, one Walt Disney World park guest hypothesized the lack of manners has to do with entitlement based on the high price of a Disney vacation. "People think they're owed the world because they spent 2k on a vacation," concluded one Redditor.