It had been 11 years since my husband and I went to Disney. Many things have changed, and many stayed the same. Here’s my take on the best and worst things about Disney World from our recent trip.

Let’s start with the worst…

1. The cost. Going to Disney is EXPENSIVE! No matter how you cut it, it will cost you. We purchased 4 adult tickets on sale. It was a 3 day, 3 park promotion that excluded the Magic Kingdom. It $99 a person per day before we added the Waterpark & more option for our 2 adult kids, and it cost $1,486.76 total for 4 adults. BUT- I opened a Disney Chase Credit card, and they gave me a $400 statement credit for spending over $1,000, so it really cost $1,086.76.😁 I also used the Disney card for EVERYTHING after we booked, so I accumulated $380 in Disney Points to use at the park. 👍 We booked Disney’s Art of Animation Resort on Priceline for $1,382.00 for 5 nights. The food in the park and at the resort was around $11-16 a person, not including drinks, so for 4 of us, every meal was around $55-65 with tax. We asked for cups of ice water to drink, which are free. For a few meals, we used the microwave in the cafeteria at the resort to heat up oatmeal, or we made sandwiches. There are mini (very small) fridges in the room, but no microwaves in the room. We also used the refillable resort mugs for $21.99. We were able to refill our mugs with pop, coffee, or tea as much as we wanted at our resort during our stay. (These do NOT work at the parks!)

2. The HEAT! We went June 27th through July 6th. There was a heat advisory every single day, and the real feel was 108-110 degrees! By the time noon hit, it felt like we were baking…🤪 Obviously, this would not be the case in other months, but prices and crowds often increase in the cooler seasons.

3. The size of the parks. My husband and I are now in our 50s. We remember running all over the parks when our kids were young, but now that we are older, we realize how much walking there is! We did 8.72 miles just at Epcot. I chose to leave out the blister pictures- YUCK!! Disney is a lot of walking!

4. The crowds. People are more rude than I remembered. They would squeeze in the middle of our family to get just 2 people ahead in line. They would be on their phones not watching where they were going and run into us. They would bump into the grandkids’ stroller regularly and not even apologize. But maybe I’m just getting old?🤷‍♀️

5. The elimination of the “Fast Pass”. When our kids were young, my husband and son would sprint ahead and get fast passes for our favorite rides. We would move from Fast Pass ride to Fast Pass ride and never really deal with lines at all. The Fast Pass is gone. This time, they had a “virtual queue” online for only 3 rides in all the parks or a Genie+ Lightning Lane that cost extra money per person. Some rides had their own Lightning Pass just for them too, so essentially you could pay $17 a person to skip the line for that one ride. We had to sprint at the park’s opening to get to the ride we wanted to ride the most, and then take our chances from there. Thankfully, resort guests get in 30 minutes early, otherwise, we would have had long waits all the time. We definitely missed the old days of Fast Passes. 😫

Now, for the BEST!

1. The “magic”! The Disney rides, attractions, and atmosphere are truly amazing, and they keep getting better and better all the time. We rode the Avatar Flight of Passage (a more recent attraction) and the details and experience were breathtaking. The shows, simulators, parades, thrill rides, films, scenery, buildings… everything at Disney is planned and sends you to a different world. It is absolutely incredible to spend time with family getting away from it all.

2. The food! The food is not cheap, but it is delicious! We ate often at our resort, and there wasn’t anything that we didn’t like. From the salads, to the pasta, to the burgers, and desserts- everything tasted restaurant quality at the resort’s cafeteria. All the food we had in the park was also delicious!

3. The characters! We spent a lot of time with characters this trip since we had our grandkids with us. The characters are so fun and engaging. There are many places to meet and greet the characters, indoors and outdoors, and many just show up unexpectedly. You never know who you will see!

4. The Skyliner! This was new for us as it opened in 2019. We could easily get to Epcot and Hollywood Studios from Art of Animation using the “Skyliner”. These cable cars are high quality, very sturdy, and fit about 6 people. We had 8 total in our party, so we rode split into 4 and 4. The Skyliner was SO much better, faster, and more fun than the bus! They run continuously, so no waiting (unless you’re coming back from the firework show or at closing time). They are a fun ride in themselves, but not at all scary. You get a nice breeze in them too. The Skyliner picks up at Art of Animation, Pop Century Resort, the Riviera Resort, and the Caribbean Beach Resort, and it was a game changer!

5. Family Time!! Disney is the perfect family vacation! There’s something for every age. We did some things with all 8 of us, but then we also split into different groups for different rides or attractions, and we all got fun, quality time together! So this ONE thing on my “best” list far outweighed all 5 things on my “worst” list. It was such an amazing vacation for me with memories that I will cherish for years to come!❤️❤️

Is Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Worth the Cost?