Is the Walt Disney Company actually in trouble?

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Michael Luongo

It seems everything in the media now is written with a negative perspective. It apparently is the greatest form of click bait. And right now, Walt Disney is the target of much disdain. It seems like there is an endless stream of criticism. People are reportedly ubhappy about prices, annoyed with decisions and upset about the direction of the company. A less than stellar earnings report has fueled the flames of contempt. Previous blog posts have touched on this topic. So why is Disney everyone’s favorite target of complaint?

There is no simple answer to this question. It may be as simple as human nature to attack the company that is on top. Disney is an entertainment giant and has a massive following. People want to read all about it, the good and the bad. But is the bad all that it is made out to be?

Many of the complaints I see about Walt Disney World focus on two things that seem to be in conflict. The price is too high, and it is too crowded. Simple supply and demand will dictate the market for travel to Walt Disney World. If you consider the supply is the finite number of guests that can fit in parks and resorts, then the price will have to increase with the intense demand from vacationers. The criticism on price is something I don’t understand and I honestly find it annoying. Again if the price was much lower, there would be even more demand and it would be harder to find resorts and park reservations. The experiences provided at Walt Disney World are second to none. Yes, the cost is high, but what guests actually get for price of admission is essentially priceless.

The fact is that Walt Disney is a business much like many others. There are costs, profits, losses, boards and shareholders. The entertainment landscape is changing with streaming services and the way people consume media. Universal Studios is becoming a bigger competitor. And obviously Disney is not immune to the rising costs of inflation. But Walt Disney has an amazing catalog of characters from Frozen and Marvel, to Star Wars and Mickey Mouse. They will always have that advantage.

All of these inputs into the decision making process have resulted in changes to Walt Disney’s operations. So if they need ways to increase revenue, I can understand that. I can also see why they may need to cut costs by other means, including layoffs. I always have the option to decide if the product is worth what it costs as the consumer. So when I see these stories that predict financial ruin for Walt Disney, I do the smart thing and don’t click.

A Disney World and Universal Studios Cold War?

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Michael Luongo

Walt Disney World is constantly a work in progress. There are new rides under construction, other rides being refurbished, and sadly others being closed. This has been going on forever. I am not sure if it is my imagination, but it seems to me this process has been escalating recently. The 50th anniversary began in October of 2021. Covid-19 derailed many of the ambitious plan, but it still brought about many changes. Some of the rides that have opened, or should have opened, are some of the most advanced and exciting rides ever to be built at Walt Disney World. These rides include Ratatouille, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Tron Lightcycle/ Run. These are some major rides. This might be the biggest expansion ever undertaken at Walt Disney World.

It makes me wonder why Walt Disney World is seemingly improving so aggressively. At the same time, thanks to demand for Harry Potter World, Universal Studios Orlando has seen such a large increase in attendance, it has become more competitive with Walt Disney World. Universal Studios Orlando has recently made many additions including new resorts and their water park, Volcano Bay.

Now for the main event. Universal Studios is building an entirely new theme park. Details are scarce and rumors are plentiful. Some sure things are that the park will include Super Mario Land and more Harry Potter attractions. Epic Universe, as it is called, will also be massive. This will certainly force Walt Disney World to continue to expand and provide bigger and better entertainment. The market dynamics and the spirit of competition will invariably benefit guests to Walt Disney World for years to come.

Wilderness Explorers at Animal Kingdom

Posted on November 3, 2022 by Michael Luongo

Walt Disney World is a massive resort destination for family fun. There are four distinct parks, including Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. Each park has its own unique theme and feel. Animal Kingdom is a combination of a zoo and a theme park. Animal Kingdom is the largest park and is like a walk through nature. It is amazing how walking from Asia to Africa feels like you are being transported across continents.

There is a fun adventure waiting within Animal Kingdom that many people are completely unaware of. It is called Wilderness Explorers. It is a completely free program where kids receive a guide book full of information and activities. Kids can then complete challenges throughout Animal Kingdom. They earn stickers at each challenge location that they add to their guidebooks.

My children absolutely loved Wilderness Explorers. They had something fun to talk about throughout our day at Animal Kingdom. They kept busy with the books while waiting and lines and during other down times. They were so excited to be completing challenges and felt real accomplishment when they finished the program. The guidebooks themselves are great souvenirs. The Disney Cast members that work for the Wilderness Explorers program are obviously amazing. They are energetic and enthusiastic and really are happy to work with the children.

It might seem like a silly thing or something extra that will get in the way of the plans of the day. But Wilderness Explorers is so enjoyable and only enhances the experience at Animal Kingdom.

We miss the Disney Dining Plan

Posted on November 3, 2022 by Michael Luongo

The Covid19 pandemic caused so many rippling effects throught Walt Disney World. While much is back to normal, Disney also used the pandemic pause as a reset in several ways. One thing that has yet to return is the Disney Dining plan.

What is the Disney Dining Plan?

The Disney Dining plan is pre-purchased meal plan. There are a few different options, and the names of them are a little confusing. The plans give each guest an allotment of meal options each day. Guests also get a reusable resort drink bottle.

I recommend the Disney Dining Plan, which as it’s name implies I guess is the standard plan. This gives each guest one table service meal, one quick service meal and two snacks per day. This is my ideal Disney Dining strategy. I like the one sit down meal each day to relax, regroup and revitalize. I like the quick service meal to complement that as a fast grab and go, because I don’t want to spend too much time in one day on eating.

The complete options offered are:

Quick Service Dining Plan
- 2 quick service meals and 2 snacks per night
Disney Dining Plan
- 1 table service, 1 quick service and 2 snacks per night
Disney Dining Plus
- 2 combined meals, both can be table service or quick, 2 snacks per night
Disney Deluxe Dining Plan
- 3 combined meals, 2 snacks per night

So what does that all mean. Table service restaurants are basically sit down meals with a waiter. Quick service meals are cafeteria type places where you grab your food and go. Snacks can be non alcoholic drinks, or most other food items. Each meal allotted includes a dessert and a drink. Table service meals include one alcoholic beverage too.

Other points to consider

Thie dining plan provides each allotment per night of your vacation. They are all given upon arrival. So you can use an extra snack or meal on a day when you need it. A quick service meal can be converted to 2 snacks if the need arises. The meal plan is for everyone over 3. Kids under 3 can order their own food, or have a few bites off other plates. Some more expensive restaurants, like Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom, take table service meals. The system works amazingly (no surprise) and it is easy to keep track of.

So why do I love the Disney Dining Plan?

The Disney Dining Plan lets vacationers pay ahead of time for almost all of their food. I truly miss that. It is wonderful to arrive at Disney World knowing you have already paid for almost all of your vacation. It also limits the amount you spend, because you know ahead of time what you have available to you that is already paid for. Now, since you are paying for all your food, I find I spend more frivolous.

Disney has repeatedly said the Dining Plan was returning. However, there is still no timeline available.

Can you really do Disney on a budget?

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Michael Luongo

There are so many stories I see that refer to “Disney on a Budget”. Sometimes I’ll skim through them and still I don’t understand the phrase. Everyone wants to save money as much as they can. But a Walt Disney World Vacation is going to be very expensive. It is something guests have to accept. So much of enjoying a trip to Disney World is in the attitude of the travellers. There will be crowds. It will be hot. It probably will rain. And it will be expensive. I’m not going to spend thousands of dollars to go to Disney World and then obsess over every dollar I spend in the parks.

A vacation to Walt Disney World is an entire experience unlike any other vacation. There are so many expenses like snacks, souvenirs and ride experiences. Especially now with Disney Genie and Lightning Lane, the cost can really add up. But like I said, you have to expect and accept that cost. Would you rather wait 90 minutes for Avatar: Flight of Passage, or buy a Lightning Lane reservation that might cost $100? For me, time is always greater than money.

There are a few things that really can save some money, without taking away from your vacation fun. Reusable water bottles can actually save a lot when you consider Disney sells water for about 4 or 5 dollars a bottle. We also pack snacks in our bag. We will still enjoy Disney snacks as a treat, but our own snacks to eat when we are really hungry is an easy win. We also pack food for in the hotel room before and after going to the parks. We will bring breakfast items, and then chips or some similar munchies for a late night snack .

Attraction Profile: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Michael Luongo

Something truly amazing is happening at EPCOT. What Disney World is working to vastly improve the park. Without getting into too much detail here, there was a time not too long ago where I would travel to Walt Disney World and spend half a day at EPCOT. And that seemed like too much. Last year EPCOT welcomed Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. And they followed with the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is an unbelievable attraction. It is described by Disney as a rotating roller coaster adventure. My spoiler free review confirms that. It is definitely a one of a kind coaster experience. It is something different than most other coasters. And the entire attraction is just that, an experience. It’s almost like Disney Imagineers dreamt of a ride that combined Rise of the Resistance with Space Mountain. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is more than just a ride. It is an entertaining adventure.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is one of the most fun rides I’ve ever been on. Especially that first time, when everything is unexpected and guests don’t know what is happening. Disney did a wonderful job incorporating the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They created a blockbuster level movie in a theme park. I must admit that I do love the MCU and the Guardians of the Galaxy, so my experience was even that much better.

The attraction is obviously in high demand. As of right now, the only way to ride is with a virtual queue or Lightning Lane reservation. We purchased the Lightning Lane and it was well worth it. Much like Rise of the Resistance, there is more to the attraction than just the ride. The guests are pulled into the story and the experience.

Park Hopping Post Covid

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Michael Luongo

The Covid19 pandemic had lasting implications throughout Walt Disney World. The park reservation system apparently is here to stay. Park Hopping still remains altered, as you can only go to your second park after 2pm. But other than that, it was a seamless process.

I recently enjoyed a single day trip to Walt Disney World. I’m doing so, I purchased a park hopper pass and made a reservation at Animal Kingdom. My second park was going to be EPCOT. I really wanted to buy a Lightning Lane reservation for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Genie+ said guests can purchase reservations for any park even without a reservation, as long as you have a park hopper ticket. I was nervous Genie+ wouldn’t allow me to or it wouldn’t work right. My concerns were put to rest early, as I was able to buy the Lightning Lane reservation just before 7am.

The My Disney Experience App showed our park reservation for Animal Kingdom. We were then able to add into Genie+ that we were going to EPCOT as well. That was a fun and intuitive feature so we could see EPCOT attractions on our Tip Board. When we eventually got to EPCOT, it no longer suggested anything at Animal Kingdom.

We left Animal Kingdom at 1:30 which was a little later than we wanted. We couldn’t find the bus initially because the bus to EPCOT was off to the side of all the other bus pickups. We missed a bus as we were walking over and then had to wait almost 15 minutes for another one. We still got to EPCOT right around 2, but I would have expected busses more frequently as park hopping began.

In any case, we got into EPCOT easily. There wasn’t any back up or delay. The International Food and Wine was happening so we were worried it might be rough getting in, but we didn’t have any issues. Disney once again showed their process works and they provide the best guest experience.

A One Day Visit

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Michael Luongo

I recently did something I had never done before when visiting Walt Disney World. I went for just one day and didn’t stay on property. It was a very unusual experience to say the least. So how did it go?

I was in Orlando and decided to plan for a one day visit to Walt Disney World. Needless to say, it was difficult to pick which park to go to. So the first decision we made was to plan on park hopping. We definitely wanted to try and ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Also, the Food and Wine festival was going so we knew we wanted to end the day at EPCOT. For the morning we wanted to pick a park that had a few great rides that we would be able to do in a short time. We would begin the day at Animal Kingdom.

It was very unusual to go to Walt Disney World for just one day without planning for a long stay. We didn’t make any dining reservations and didn’t plan on using Disney Genie+. We did hope to get a Lightning Lane reservation for Guardians of the Galaxy and we were able to purchase those around 6:50 am.

We used a rideshare app to get to Animal Kingdom and it was smooth. We made it there by 8:30 am for a 9 am park opening. It wasn’t too busy yet and we got dropped off close to the entrance and didn’t have to wait in traffic.

We started at Expedition Everest and barely waited. We rode that twice and hopped on Dinosaur, again with nearly no wait time. We then headed over to Avatar: Flight of Passage with a wait of 60 minutes. After that we made it just in time to catch Festival of the Lion King. We almost didn’t make it in, but did so after the initial seating and ended up with front row seats. We had a quick lunch at Pizzafari, watched It’s tough to be a Bug and made our way to the exit.

We got to the EPCOT bus stop just after 1:30, which was a little later than we wanted to be. As we approached, the bus was leaving. We then had to wait about 15 minutes for another bus. That seemed kind of long, as it was the beginning of the park hopping window and there were many people trying to move.

We entered EPCOT without much of a line at all. I expected there to be more of a rush at the 2pm opening of park hopping. There was a bit of a hitch, as none of our fingerprints worked on the first try.

We had our Lightning Lane reservation for 4pm to 5pm, so we didn’t want to do too much before that. We enjoyed some snacks and drinks at World Showcase. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is unbelievably awesome.

We then enjoyed some more dining and exploring of the Food and Wine Festival. We only made it on Soarin’ and Test Track to end the night. There was just too much to doin EPCOT for a half day. We got off Test Track just in time to watch Harmonius.

Leaving EPCOT using a rideshare was, unfortunately, not easy. Walt Disney World has seemingly not prepared enough for the rise in this technology. There were too few signs directing us where to go. We got lost at least once when we followed a sign to an area and then got there to find another sign pointing us back. There were temporary rideshare signs placed around as guides, but they were difficult to find. When we finally stumbled upon the right spot, there was no organization to the area. People were just standing around hoping to find their rides. It really was a mess. Disney World is going to have to devise a system for this emerging transportation method.

Check the Park Hours

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Michael Luongo

Planning your Walt Disney World vacation is fun, exciting, and deeply involved. There are so manybthings to consider that some important details can get overlooked. This is easy to do when thinking about dining reservations and which new attractions might be available. And it seems that the Disney Park Reservation is going to be hanging around for quite some time. Walt Disney World executives enjoy the benefits of forecasting guest attendance. So there is one important detail that is often overlooked during the planning phase that can really hurt your plans. You have to confirm the park hours.

Walt Disney World maintains fairly consistent park hours. They don’t change much during the season. So you can check the weeks before the hours are released during your vacation and get a good idea of what the hours will be while you are there. You then would want to plan on going to parks that are open the longest each day of your trip.

Another important thing to check is if there are any special events during your vacation. These occur mostly at Magic Kingdom and include Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. On those select nights, Magic Kingdom closes early (usually 7pm). So you don’t want to be at Magic Kingdom that day if you are not attending the event.

What about Water Parks

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Michael Luongo

Walt Disney World is home to four distinct world class amusement parks. There are so many rides, attractions and dining options that planning can be overwhelming. Each day needs to be planned out, especially now with the Disney Park Reservation System. Planning can (and should) be exciting when considering new rides and attractions at each park. There is an inordinate amount of news constantly surrounding the four parks. But what about the water parks.

Walt Disney World contains two separate water parks. Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon have distinct themes and different attractions. This purpose of this post is not to get into details about each park, but to encourage vacationers to consider a day at one of these locations. If your kids are anything like my kids, they absolutely love playing in the water. Like really love it. And these water parks are so different than the theme parks, it takes your vacation on a totally different direction. Also unlike the theme parks, you would not spend a whole day in a water park. It is a really fun excursion that can be completed by lunch time. Then it is a trip to the resort to change and then off to another park for the rest of the day.

There is very little excitement within the online community for Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. I am not exactly sure why. I guess that most people overwhelmingly prefer the other amusement parks. And I guess it is hard to compare one of these water parks to Magic Kingdom. But it really is like comparing apples to oranges. I get that Walt Disney World Vacations only last for a short time and going to a water park may seem like a waste of time. But it is really enjoyable for the kids and they get to have a little more freedom. They don’t have to be rushed to rides and wait in long lines. In the water parks they get to run and splash and play.

The added expense for the water park option can certainly be a deterrent. I already would recommend getting the park hopper option on almost all vacations. Adding in the water park option as well can make the cost per person per day increase a fairly significant amount. The cost per day actually decreases over time, so longer stays make the water park option slightly more affordable. It is easy enough to compare these prices on the Walt Disney website and see what works for you.

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