By Zilber
Travelers who are booking vacations to Walt Disney World gripe that the process has become mind-numbingly arduous and complicated following a slew of COVID-era changes at the Orlando, Fla. theme park.
Disney visitors planning a trip this year are being forced to navigate a byzantine reservation system that requires guests to book each day that they intend to visit the park – a quirk that was introduced during the pandemic to avoid overcrowding.
Guests need to make sure they have both a Park Pass reservation as well as a park ticket for the park they plan to visit – both of which need to be booked months in advance in order to accommodate capacity.
“It’s insane how much work has to go into planning a Disney vacation,” a travel industry employee told CNBC. “I would need a vacation just from planning my vacation.”
Vacation planners then need to decide which of the four theme parks at Disney World they wish to patronize – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
There are also the two large water parks – Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach – as well as the Disney Springs shopping district.
Jonathan Alder, the CEO of travel agency Jonathan’s Travels, told CNBC: “The problem is the system is so incredibly complicated that it requires its own doctorate to really understand.”
Those looking to book a trip to the Magic Kingdom must worry about the logistics, including travel arrangements and hotel accommodations.
In years past, Disney footed the bill for free shuttle buses from Orlando International Airport to the theme parks known as “Magical Express.” But that perk was discontinued last year, forcing guests to arrange transportation themselves.
At the theme park, visitors must make sure that they have booked reservations for restaurants, which must be done two months in advance.
The employee told CNBC that she joined several Disney-related groups on Facebook in order to get planning tips.
“Oh my goodness – what a rabbit hole,” she said, comparing the experience of planning the trip to an “Olympic sport.”
Once visitors arrive at the park, they need to plan which rides they want to go on as well as which payment plan they will opt into in order to skip lines. Guests can opt for the free Disney Genie feature or they can go for the paid service known as Genie Plus.
A Genie Plus subscription, which replaced the old FastPass+ system and will set you back between $15 and $25 per day per person, lets visitors skip lines at certain rides and attractions by going through Lightning Lanes.
That means customers will spend less time waiting for popular attractions such as Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It’s a Small World.
Guests are also allowed to purchase individual Lightning Lanes for those rides that offer the perk individually. Those who use Lightning Lanes will have to book the times and rides in advance.
Alder told CNBC that Genie Plus has “made everyone’s life even harder” because visitors must book attractions on the day of their visit – for a fee.
Those who wish to go on some of the more popular, newer attractions such as Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Tron Lightcycle must enter a “virtual queue” or buy an individual Lightning Lane.
The virtual queues are free, but they’re only available between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.
“You have, I’d say, a good 15 to 20 seconds, if you’re lucky, before the ride is gone,” Alder said.
Individual Lightning Lanes, which cost between $9 and $15, usually sell out in the morning, according to Alder.
“Individual Lightning Lanes are much easier to get if you are staying at a Disney property as at 7 a.m., they open up for hotel guests only” he said. “From the minute that park opens, all guests are able to purchase it, and it’s usually gone, if it wasn’t already, in moments.”
Then there are the rule changes to park-hopping. Before COVID, Disney guests could freely go from one park to another. Now park-hopping has been banned after 2 p.m. – meaning that guests are limited as to where they can go and which restaurants they can eat at.
Aside from the time needed to book the vacation, there is also the exorbitant cost – $179 for adults on days with the most demand.
According to the MouseHacking blog, a “baseline” vacation to Disney World that includes a family of four – two adults, one child over the age of 10, and another child between the ages of three and nine – could cost a minimum of $6,320.
That includes flights, transportation to and from the theme park, a five-night stay at a Disney hotel that charges $316 per person per night, five day tickets with no park-hopping privileges, a Genie Plus pass at two theme parks, and food.
A company spokesperson told CNBC: “We are always listening to our guests and continue to make updates to improve their experience, which includes rolling out new ways to make planning easier and simpler, now and into the future.”
