Why I Allow Mickey Mouse to Rob Me Blind
- Thread starter Elizabeth Grunewald
- Start date
Ditto. I can drive from home in the morning and be at Disney when the gates open. After closing, I can get home with time to spare before bed. Combine this with my Annual Pass and I'm in serious danger of going broke. And that's perfectly fine with me. I try to go at least once a month.ThyNameIsMud said:I was born and raised in Florida and have been to WDW many, many times throughout my life and I still have those feelings when I go there
It's honestly not too bad on price though. As long as you don't go overboard, you can get away for the same price as a regular night on the town. No matter how blatant the marketing is or how obnoxious some of the people are, the Disney experience is always worth the $100 price tag.
Hollywood Studios is my favorite park. The street shows are always entertaining and the food at the '50s Prime Time Cafe is simply fantastic.
Manga.
I tend to walk into the shop and try not to look at the prices. The books here in the UK are ridiculously over priced, especially since you can burn through a volume in an hour if the story is good... and they usually are.
I look at my manga stack and think how much money I spent.
I'd spend it again...
I tend to walk into the shop and try not to look at the prices. The books here in the UK are ridiculously over priced, especially since you can burn through a volume in an hour if the story is good... and they usually are.
I look at my manga stack and think how much money I spent.
I'd spend it again...
I have an obsession for products from Starbucks.... For me, it's quite expensive... But even so, I still buy it...
Gencon is my happy place that always kills my wallet. Sure I can justify my purchases by saying that the prices are similar to online but I don't have to pay shipping but really, even if that was a complete lie, I'd still go every year and buy a new board game or costume item. Ah, Gencon...
My happy place is breakfast diners, preferably a little dirty, with basic menus and bad coffee. Although, it is hard to lose a lot of money when an entire meal is under $10.
That and Lego. I have sunk far too much money into my Lego, and I still haven't enough. I worked at a toy store for 3 years and made a net wage of zero. My paycheck went straight back into the cash, and I got another set. My Lego collection dwarfs all my other material possessions combined, clothes included. I guess that is my happy place.
That and Lego. I have sunk far too much money into my Lego, and I still haven't enough. I worked at a toy store for 3 years and made a net wage of zero. My paycheck went straight back into the cash, and I got another set. My Lego collection dwarfs all my other material possessions combined, clothes included. I guess that is my happy place.
My purse weeps whenever I step in to a book shop or GAME. The Waterstone's in town stocks fiction, Manga and comic books and with a comic book shop around the corner, a trip in to town can be rather expensive.
I've been to both WDW and Euro Disney.
Euro Disney is the one we frequent the most as a family because it's closer, but WDW seemed a lot cleaner, the atmosphere was far more positive and Euro Disney hasn't changed since I went there as an eight year-old!! Most of the things they offer to buy, like the pens, the plushies etc. don't appeal. I was lucky in that my family are good at shopping about for deals or saying "no" to buying awfully expensive things that aren't worth the price being asked.
I've been to both WDW and Euro Disney.
Euro Disney is the one we frequent the most as a family because it's closer, but WDW seemed a lot cleaner, the atmosphere was far more positive and Euro Disney hasn't changed since I went there as an eight year-old!! Most of the things they offer to buy, like the pens, the plushies etc. don't appeal. I was lucky in that my family are good at shopping about for deals or saying "no" to buying awfully expensive things that aren't worth the price being asked.
I went to WDW once, and won't ever go back. It felt too childish for me, I was bored pretty much the whole time I was there. Actually, theme parks in general bore me now. Throw me on a roller coaster that goes 70mph, takes me 300 feet in the air, drops me straight down afterward, and flips me upside down three times in a row, and I'll only want to laugh at the people around me screaming their heads off.
I wish I was exaggerating, but that's my reaction to roller coasters. I'd like to enjoy them, but I don't. I want to go skydiving now, maybe that will prove to be a thrill.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, I don't really have a happy place, like other posters have. It'd be nice to find one soon.
I wish I was exaggerating, but that's my reaction to roller coasters. I'd like to enjoy them, but I don't. I want to go skydiving now, maybe that will prove to be a thrill.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, I don't really have a happy place, like other posters have. It'd be nice to find one soon.
I literally grew up in Disney World. For almost two decades, my family visited there every year, starting when I was 14 months. After graduation from college, I moved to Florida (did not work at Disney). We had annual passes.
About 6 years ago, my love affair with Disney started to fade. Disney seemed to be cutting corners on things, prices seemed to go up more quickly than normal, service quality felt weaker, the production quality of the souvenirs declined and Disney started to lose the unique items that could be had there, replaced by just about any piece of cheap plastic you can imagine with a mouse stamped on it. Then the quality of the food dropped like a rock. At first, I thought it was just my (then) fiancee and my impressions - we were both quickly climbing the corporate ladder. Our tastes were refining.
About a year later two things happened that changed my opinion that it wasn't just "us":
1. We started business school in Orlando and several of our fellows were Disney managers of assorted levels. Disney was apparently on a cost cutting tear and the restaurants (traditionally my favorite part of Disney trips) were under the most pressure. While in B school, more than half of them left Disney (all were lifers) because they company was changing so much.
2. My folks, who were Disney fanatics before I was born, began to complain. They even stopped visiting some of their favorite restaurants because they lost their uniqueness, quality of food, etc.
Today, we don't live in Florida, and I don't plan on returning to Disney until we have kids. Maybe.
Want an example:
A decade ago, Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge had a berry cobbler desert. It consisted of a 6" wide "cake" freshly baked in the skillet it was served in, covered with fresh berries and 3 scoops of ice cream for $6. Last time my folks ordered it, the cobbler was a cold hockey puck with a single scoop of ice cream some blue berries and a single strawberry for $11.
I consider the past with rose colored glasses, but I really feel that that the heart has left Disney and today it's all about monetization.
Speaking of cheap plastic crap with a mouse stamped on it, make sure you get your cheap plastic crap today before Disney puts it back in the vault and you have to wait two more years before they rerelease your cheap plastic crap as the Ultra Family Edition cheap plastic crap, with all new packaging and costs 30% more.
About 6 years ago, my love affair with Disney started to fade. Disney seemed to be cutting corners on things, prices seemed to go up more quickly than normal, service quality felt weaker, the production quality of the souvenirs declined and Disney started to lose the unique items that could be had there, replaced by just about any piece of cheap plastic you can imagine with a mouse stamped on it. Then the quality of the food dropped like a rock. At first, I thought it was just my (then) fiancee and my impressions - we were both quickly climbing the corporate ladder. Our tastes were refining.
About a year later two things happened that changed my opinion that it wasn't just "us":
1. We started business school in Orlando and several of our fellows were Disney managers of assorted levels. Disney was apparently on a cost cutting tear and the restaurants (traditionally my favorite part of Disney trips) were under the most pressure. While in B school, more than half of them left Disney (all were lifers) because they company was changing so much.
2. My folks, who were Disney fanatics before I was born, began to complain. They even stopped visiting some of their favorite restaurants because they lost their uniqueness, quality of food, etc.
Today, we don't live in Florida, and I don't plan on returning to Disney until we have kids. Maybe.
Want an example:
A decade ago, Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge had a berry cobbler desert. It consisted of a 6" wide "cake" freshly baked in the skillet it was served in, covered with fresh berries and 3 scoops of ice cream for $6. Last time my folks ordered it, the cobbler was a cold hockey puck with a single scoop of ice cream some blue berries and a single strawberry for $11.
I consider the past with rose colored glasses, but I really feel that that the heart has left Disney and today it's all about monetization.
Speaking of cheap plastic crap with a mouse stamped on it, make sure you get your cheap plastic crap today before Disney puts it back in the vault and you have to wait two more years before they rerelease your cheap plastic crap as the Ultra Family Edition cheap plastic crap, with all new packaging and costs 30% more.
I was raised on Disney and the California park is still the happiest place on Earth for me. I'm a roller coaster/thrill junkie and I still prefer Space Mountain to everything else. Disney owns me and I'm strangely comfortable with it, nice to know I'm not the only pathetic one.
Im not a sucker for Disney, but will spend my last dollar on a lift ticket for snowboarding or mountain biking. Resorts are a sort of adult theme park, carefully crafted, and damn if it doesn't do it to me every time.