What is your Disney "Breaking Point"?

It's entertainment and a vacation. I don't think there is a breaking point unless it became unceremoniously expensive, but if planned well you can succeed in having a lovely vacation within a modest budget. The only outside factor really could be airfare.

As far as Avatarland is concerned, I really don't understand the thought process of dedicating an entire land to something with minimal story and character background. The literary backdrop of imagination and immersive nature just doesn't seem to be there for such a large commitment of land within AK. One attraction within a more laid out world maybe so, but I have no doubt that they can introduce wonderful theming and an exciting E-Ticket, but the lasting value and room for growth just doesn't seem to be there.

Harry Potter has the base of 7 books and an entire realm of possibilities to grow. I mean if Universal does decide to open a Hogwarts Hotel of some kind, it's pretty much game over on that front.

LOTR would hold true to the same standard and you can venture into the Nintendo deal and see the plethora of stories that there are to tell.

There are stand alone attractions at both theme parks that don't necessarily tell a story all that well yet are extremely popular, but even successful movies become antiquated and few reach the level of elite and adaptive to theme parks. I just think it holds true that if there is some sort of literary background beyond just the visual movie medium it can have a far lasting impact comics and long standing cartoons included.

We agree with this also:

My kids and I are not excited about "Avatar World"

tiggerbuddy;2458720 wrote: We agree with this also:

My kids and I are not excited about "Avatar World"

I don't think you have to be excited about the movie to find an attraction of theming interesting.

Looking forward to seeing it if it ever gets done... 😁

My issue with the Avatar-land (or whatever) is the cultural impact of the movie. When you look at things like Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel comics, Raiders, Simpsons, Harry Potter, etc. there is a huge cultural impact. Even though Avatar may have been a huge box-office hit, there are not annual conventions of Avatar fans, at least that I know of, and they don't sell Avatar costumes in stores. No one has a collection of Avatar plates in their kitchen or collects hundreds of dollars worth of Avatar action figures. To me, an Avatar land would excite me as much as a Titanic themed park - yes, you could make it visually appealing and there is a great story there, but is it really going to draw you there? For me, it's not. Maybe there are Avatar fanboys/fangirls out there and I don't know about it. I just don't see the average family saying, "let's go to Disney World. I'm super excited to see the new Avatar ride(s)."

As so many have posted not a breaking point, but certainly as the whoa, the prices are making us think point.

Kids are all grown, but the six of us all enjoy the WDW experience. DW and I started going to the Food & Wine Festival a few years ago. Simply loved it. Went back again , skipped a year and came back this year with kids who are all adults joining us for part of the week. DW and I also ran the TOT 10 Miler.

Hard to put our finger on it, but everything seemed so crowded, FP+ was annoying at best, a pain for the most part, MNSSHP was way too crowded for the price paid and the food prices were off the charts. Did we have a great time? Absolutely. Will we back? At some point. But a Baltic Cruise later this year and one through the Panama Canal next year are taking the place of any WDW trips.

We have already cut way back, but the final nail in the coffin would be the end of Magic Your Way pricing. :ill:

My breaking point is actually getting close. We are planning three trips this fall/winter but only because our DD is working there as a photo-pass photographer and we want to see her.

We are staying offsite for the first time in many many years. We plan to leave the bubble and see the rest of Florida. We want to see the beach and maybe go to some different places to eat. We are going to Universal for the first time in 21 years! We may even hit the Keys.

The thing with Disney now is the planning. I am a wing it person. I like doing things on a whim. I hate having to plan fast passes and parks and restaurants in advance. I like getting up and saying lets hit Typhoon lagoon and then Epcot and not worry when my ADRs are or FP+ are. I like hanging at the resort, renting a boat or a bike. I like swimming in the pool and sitting by the pool lounge.

This time we will sit by the pool at the house we rented, BBQ and go to the beach. We will visit with our DD on her days off and maybe do the park just a few days.

waymickey;2459126 wrote: The thing with Disney now is the planning. I am a wing it person. I like doing things on a whim. I hate having to plan fast passes and parks and restaurants in advance. I like getting up and saying lets hit Typhoon lagoon and then Epcot and not worry when my ADRs are or FP+ are. I like hanging at the resort, renting a boat or a bike. I like swimming in the pool and sitting by the pool lounge.

This time we will sit by the pool at the house we rented, BBQ and go to the beach. We will visit with our DD on her days off and maybe do the park just a few days.

Same here and I think those days are pretty much done at Disney. Staying on site at Universal though would afford you that luxury 😎

Its a different world out there with FP and MDM.

waymickey;2459126 wrote: My breaking point is actually getting close. We are planning three trips this fall/winter but only because our DD is working there as a photo-pass photographer and we want to see her.

We are staying offsite for the first time in many many years. We plan to leave the bubble and see the rest of Florida. We want to see the beach and maybe go to some different places to eat. We are going to Universal for the first time in 21 years! We may even hit the Keys.

The thing with Disney now is the planning. I am a wing it person. I like doing things on a whim. I hate having to plan fast passes and parks and restaurants in advance. I like getting up and saying lets hit Typhoon lagoon and then Epcot and not worry when my ADRs are or FP+ are. I like hanging at the resort, renting a boat or a bike. I like swimming in the pool and sitting by the pool lounge.

This time we will sit by the pool at the house we rented, BBQ and go to the beach. We will visit with our DD on her days off and maybe do the park just a few days.

That's the whole point. I plan 50 weeks a year at work. I dont want to do it on vacation.

RunDMV;2459237 wrote: That's the whole point. I plan 50 weeks a year at work. I dont want to do it on vacation.

I agree that how much planning you have to do makes it tedious. And I can't, for the life of me, see how Disney markets FP+ as allowing you to be "more spontaneous". But it's not enough to bring my wife to her breaking point. I think that she really loves having the schedule. She's still flexible, and we change up the schedule every time we go, but she still likes the organization of it all.

I'm a few weeks out from my trip now, and my anger at the Epcot CM has cooled. As the presents I had bought for people were delivered, I realized what a great job most cast members do. The chance that the wrong item could be delivered or something would be broken is always there. Everything was perfect though. One or two bad apples shouldn't give the whole orchard a bad name.

What I can't shake though is how unmagical the atmosphere was. The walk through the castmembers entryway and the sight of construction everywhere still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I realize those are probably temporary, so I try to put it aside.

Fastpass + is a whole different ball game. I didn't like it. I can't imagine any instances where I might like it. I think it wouldn't be so bad if they had fastpass + and the old machines, so that you could reserve your 3 in advance and use the old system after your first three. You could even just use the old system instead of Fastpass + if you wanted to.

Another thing that is still really bothering me was the lack of photopass photographers, especially in DHS. I paid quite a bit of money for the Memory Maker package, because I wanted plenty of pictures with my friend. In the past, I have had wonderful pictures with friends in many spots along the streets of america. This trip, there wasn't a single photopass photographer there all day long except for the one dedicated to the Cinderella coach. We did have some amazing photographers in AK, but I feel like they should be available like that in all the parks.

I'm also not thrilled with Disney firing its employees to hire people from other countries.
I'm not ready to completely call it quits on Disney, but I'm perfectly happy with shifting my trips from Disney World to Disneyland.

We are just back from a trip that was combo WDW and a cruise on the Fantasy, ending a two-year run where we've gone more than ever. In May 2013 we did a WDW-Fantasy cruise trip; in April 14 we did a few days at DL; in Jan 15 we did a week at WDW, and now the trip that just finished.

This is quite the glut for us.

I kind of got the feeling on this last trip that Gary articulated so well - it's not as completely, purely magical for me anymore and I've wondered if it's just overexposure. But honestly for me I it's just that we've been taking a little tyke. My son is 4.5 and taking a little one is a lot of work!

When we started going years ago my daughter, now an adult, was eight and easygoing. But a 4yo can take you out of the magic really fast with a tantrum or crankiness or stubbornness or refusing to ride a ride he loved the day before. While in many ways it enhances the trip (watching his response to any number of magical moments), it definitely makes it more like work and thus less a complete break from reality for me.

The FP+ system. I had a change in my work schedule, and the wife and I thought we'd head down to WDW this week for a short 5 day visit. But after remembering the FP+ an how its changed the system and approach to the park visit, decided to pass. We almost decided on an all Universal/Sea World trip. A lot of the changes have made us spend less money w/ Disney. The worsening bus system, leads us offsite more. DTD cluser fuss, makes us avoid it altogether. We usually drop a few bucks at the Christmas and the Art store.

This year (Nov) will be the last with all my "kids" - the oldest is a senior in high school next year. I fear it will be my breaking point until I get grand children. :confused:

DadTriton;2459758 wrote: This year (Nov) will be the last with all my "kids" - the oldest is a senior in high school next year. I fear it will be my breaking point until I get grand children. :confused:

Doesn't have to be. This year, my oldest graduated. But my 15 year old and 10 year old still want to come. I'm sure we'll come back, year after year.