Disney, where you have to be told how to have fun, where to take pictures and pay too much for crap made in China.
Where is “bought DVC points on the used market to make going every two or three years a reasonable thing”?
How’s this work? I’ve been saving up for years to take my family and am all ears on anything that can make it more affordable.
Not sure what your price range is, but they’ve been offering some decent discounts for this coming summer (possibly hurting with tourist travel down). Saw this one for people with Disney+ but there are others out there - https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/disney-plus-room-offer/
Depending on what kind of trip you’re aiming for, staying at their “resorts” can be cheaper or easier. However if you’re going real cheap, then don’t bother with the resorts.
DVC is Disney Vacation Club, their own in-house time share thing. You buy points which are attached to a specific resort, means you get 11 months lead time on booking, where anyone else would get like 6 months I think? You can exchange those points for other resorts if you want, but you get knocked down to that 6 months time frame, too.
You can borrow points from next year, and bank points from last year. That’s what makes “every two or three years” work out nicely. Unused points can be rented to other people if you can’t use them before they expire. Different resorts have more or less expensive points, depending on how popular/nice they are. We’ve got some Boardwalk Orlando, which are on the pricier side, because we like it for what it is and its location, which is basically steps from Epcot, and not far from Hollywood Studios.
If you buy direct from DVC, you get some additonal benefits that do not carry over to resale market points, but I forget exactly what those are. This vacation time share model is really for people who know what they like, know they like to (and can) go regularly enough, and can afford not just the points but also the yearly upkeep fee that goes along with them. If you’re saving up to go once, it’s probably not a good idea yet.
Before we had the DVC, we’d go every five or more years, and we usually stayed at Art of Animation. (Pop Century is right next door, similarly priced.) Family of five makes doing a Disney trip with a single room a little tricky, because a lot of the on property resorts are max four. We’ve also gone once staying off property, which is absolutely cheaper, but adds to travel times in and out of the parks. This can add frustration if you’ve got small children - but even the far-flung resorts that only offer buses are travel-heavy. On property lodging can offer ample time to go back to the room and take a break if needed - another thing that’s easier if your resort is closer to whatever park(s) you’ve got going on for the day.
If you think that’s a lot, my wife is 100x more brilliant with all this stuff than I am.
Been once not that fun…
The really wealthy families aren’t going to a Disney park either. Their kids have had passports since before they could walk, and the family is going to an exclusive foreign resort for a trip that costs more for a week than most folks make in a year.
I assumed the classes were
Never Disney = Rich/Poor Sometimes = Upper-middle Annually = Middle Class
Once dated a girl who’s family who had season passes to Disney.
Neither I nor they even live in the USA.
Eh, this doesn’t quite hold up. Grandparents are retired boomers in Florida so you get to go all summer, but your parents are living paycheck to paycheck.
- Season pass holder
- Season pass and Lightning Lane pass holder
- Member of Club 33
deleted by creator
This is the right answer.
Club 33 is the name of a number of private dining clubs. As of March 2025, the reported cost to join had increased to $80,000 with annual costs of $22,000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_33
People who go to Disneyland multiple times a year could be just a Disney gay who lives close to the park. They are not some exclusive class.
There’s a Mickey park next to where I live (not US) but I never even considered going. I never saw it as anything other than a way to pull US tourists and children in (the two main target demographics apparently).
Not accurate. Plenty of broke people go to Disney regularly. I know a couple of them.
Most of them up and move their entire lives to be within driving distance of it even when unable to afford. Disney families are something else
Yeah there’s the ‘goes into debt to go to disney’ crowd. That’s me.
As a British guy who worked in the USA for a while, my colleagues couldn’t fathom that I had no interest in going to Disneyland. It was kinda weird the obsession some of them had with it.
Yeah, it’s weird and cringy how into it some adults are. I think part of it is status, though. Everyone knows Disney is expensive, so taking your family is a way to show off your status to everyone with the pics you take for social media.
It used to not be that out of line with other amusement parks, but has gotten unattainablely expensive in the last decade or so.
Universal is better anyways.
Cult of Disney is eerily real. Maybe it’s the US version of how some Brits obsess over the royalty.
I remember growing up in the UK and Disneyland or Disney world was always a bit of a joke about giving loads of offers but no takers.
Then again, it wasn’t until I met Americans growing up did I realize how seriously they took Thanksgiving too.
Went to Disney 3x. Once when my grandpa died, then my grandma, then my dad. Allllll paid for by life insurance payouts. Not sure where I fit in here.
We’ll let you hang out in the middle group.
I went once in my early 20s. Drove all night with a friend and stayed with his grandparents. Figured I should see what it’s like since my parents didn’t have vacation money when I was a kid.
Magic Kingdom was pretty lame to a 23 year old stoner. Should have spent the gas money on drugs.
Grave robber
I know this is a joke but there’s people who don’t accept life insurance payouts because they legitimately feel this way.
Seems like a gross misunderstanding of life insurance and the wishes of the deceased, but people get weird about death.
That’s super strange. I hope they’re wealthy.
I have friends that used to go to Disney 2-3 times a year. They did not live in Florida. They used to spend so much money to go multiple times a year.
They are now declaring bankruptcy.
Going to Disney is just keeping up with the Joneses.
It is not just Disney, vacations in general for a family are very expensive but a lot of people are doing them. Granted some of thwm prolly have the money but I bet most don’t but they do it.
I don’t understand why people obsess over vacations so much. Such a weird “consumer” behaviour
Because it’s like a way to pay to maximize your time off
Staycations are way more relaxing, but are generally forgettable - a week can go by before you know it when you’re just at home
A week in a different place where you cram in as many activities and experiences in as possible creates far more memories, so it feels longer
It’s like retail therapy - a way to soothe that voice in the back of your head asking “is it really worth it to sell my life away like this?”
I think you’ve been vacationing wrong.
I like vacations that are a mix of your two descriptions: Go somewhere new, but with zero itinerary. I have the most fun that way, just organically figuring out stuff to do. Of course, still do some research ahead of time.
I don’t understand why people obsess over vacations
Maybe in this case where the “vacation” is just going to Disney and buying Disney themed stuff, but do you really not get the idea of a vacation in general?
I feel like (based on my experiences and talking to other people) is vacations are more for new experiences, new food, new cultures, new people. Not just “consumer behaviors”.
My position is that tourism is cancer especially the modern version where you have idiots going to tourism traps to experience
new food, new cultures, new people.
Which is literally just “consumer behaviors”
Most historic urban cores are fucking gutten from obnoxious behaviour and these places unlivable and devoid of any culture beyond architectural style.
Alternative are cruises and resorts… Which are prolly less damaging to the cities… But what fucking culture is there
The only types of vacations you can imagine are visiting historic urban cores, going on a cruise, or going to a resort?
What about a camping trip? Or a beach trip? Or visiting family that lives far away?
I don’t think that wanting to experience other cultures is a consumerist behavior.
Pretending that visiting tourist traps in Prague or Paris or Rome is experiencing “other cultures” is a delulu mind set aka blind consumerism at its finest.
Same guy prolly think he is a “liberal” and he is fighting climate change ge while at it 🤡
Who besides you said anything about tourist traps?
Tourism money flows
Agreed. People claim flying halfway across the planet exposes them to “different cultures” , but then do the most homegenized, Westernized touristy activities. I can learn more about a country and it’s culture in a single day via Wikipedia and documentaries than most tourists will gain on their “vacation” in same country.
Eat pray love is what they are going for…
Hard rock cafe is where they end up
Haha
Then they make travel their personality on online dating apps!
vacations are more for new experiences, new food, new cultures, new people. Not just “consumer behaviors”.
This. I haven’t gone to multiple countries in latin america for weeks to just buy shit. The food in lima is some of the best i’ve ever had, just don’t go alone for safety :P
I mean, I guess that depends on what you’re defining as a “vacation”. If you’re talking about some big grand trip where you spend a ton of money and show off to everyone when you get back, sure.
But that’s not my experience with vacations, nor most people I know. A vacation is a break. It’s a chance to change your daily routine, change your scenery, and just disconnect from the normal stresses of daily life for a bit. It doesn’t need to be somewhere expensive or even far away. Hell, a weekend camping trip can cost virtually nothing and is a great vacation.
And for kids, vacations can be a great bonding and learning experience with parents and siblings. It takes them out of their comfort zone and forces them to experience and try things they might not have otherwise, simply because their environment has changed. Again, it doesn’t need to be something grand or expensive. Just something different.
Vacations aren’t just “consumer” behavior. They’re pretty important in a lot of ways.
Is there a “went to Disney recently and didn’t like it” category?
Don’t need to go there to know I wouldn’t like this commercial overcrowded monstrosity
Not anymore, you’re now declared an undesirable immigrant and will be deported.
There should be another Disney class. The “Lightning Pass/Stayed at a Disney Resort/going to multiple parks over several days” Class
The park fees alone are pretty expensive if you’d like to see more than just “Disneyland” and want to see EPCOT, Studios, etc. The try to ride the rides during any popular season you buy Lightning Passes for hundreds or even a thousand more per person, pay for parking over multiple days, stay at an expensive “resort” property…
Yeah. You can go “cheap” and stay off property, but it’s a whole different experience.
My Uncle and his family are like this, his kids are adults now and they still go to Disney every year.
We’re Canadian. and he is a staunch opponent of the Canadian Healthcare system, He believes that because he can personally throw money at a Doctor, that everyone should be treated that way, first paid first served.
