I worked at Disney. American and Canadian families seem to stay 5-7 days. While I never met a European family who stayed less than 10 days.
Edit: I was referring to the entire state of Florida. Not Disney specifically. Orlando has Universal Studios as well. And most everytime they would do a beach day as well.
Amazon Now some groceries to your hotel. You pick it up at the front desk and you can pack food to bring and can likely skip (or go light on) a meal to save money in the park. We recently did this for Disney World and it’s my favorite go-to advice for saving money and having a familiar food for picky eaters.
We did this with all sorts of snacks like fruit, chips, crackers, yogurts, pepperoni, Nutella, bread, chocolate drinks, bottle water etc. While they don’t have every brand or flavor of some things they have plenty of variety to get you by.
It’s a little more expensive to have it delivered this way but it’s still much cheaper than the park or hotel prices. It’s also great if you don’t plan to rent a car to be able to get it yourself. But honestly you didn’t plan a trip to Disney to go grocery shopping anyway so the delivery is a nice time saving convenience as well.
Food is the biggest variable in the park and when you can carry a backpack around having pocket snacks to give the kids while in line is invaluable.
I'm a server at a theme park. I try to see every table as a family from Michigan. Dad, mom, two kids. They don't have a lot of money, so they drive to Florida. Overnight so that mom and dad can switch off driving while the kids sleep. No stopover other than pee breaks and fast food. They get a motel instead of a hotel, and when they go to the park, they get a one day, one park pass for each of them. They come in, get a soda and a churro, maybe a corn dog. Then they get to my restaurant and sit down.
Scaling and saving, doing without souvenirs that the kids want, they have already spent over one thousand dollars to sit at my table. So I try to give every table a one thousand dollar dining experience. Does it work every day for every table? No. Bit do I do my damndest to make their experience memorable and amazing? You're god damn right I do. I'll dance with the kids. I have a pocket of my apron designated for toys for fussy babies that I sanitize after every one. I have a million jokes you've never heard and a bunch you have. I care only as much as I'm paid, and I'm paid by YOU.
THERE are other servers in my restaurant that don't care like I do. I don't know what they make. Maybe the same as me. Maybe more. But I leave work smiling about the magic I spread and the patents that didn't have to worry about their kids because I took them on a walking tour and gave them 5 minutes to breathe. I think about my hungry babies (everyone is a hungry baby. You can be 95 years old and you're my hungry baby) and how I did everything I could to feed them and allow myself only the amount of time it takes from walking out of the door to when I get to my car to fret about the tables I didn't do great on. Because tomorrow is another day.
I know most people are more involved with what ride they're going on next than the server that's keeping their sodas refilled. That's how it should be. But know I love you guys and I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to fine with me. Especially if you have a baby. Double points if they have those chubby cheeks. Talking seriously to babies about the day is how I keep sane. Sorry for the giant wall of text. I just love my job and my guests and I appreciate you guys.
![image showing [OC] Cost of Disney World trip for a family of 4 in the US, domestic flights included](d0583c7f-d4c3-545a-b168-e64420f346f9.jpg)
EvolvedQS on April 4th, 2018 at 02:41 UTC »
I worked at Disney. American and Canadian families seem to stay 5-7 days. While I never met a European family who stayed less than 10 days.
Edit: I was referring to the entire state of Florida. Not Disney specifically. Orlando has Universal Studios as well. And most everytime they would do a beach day as well.
Owens2k3 on April 4th, 2018 at 02:54 UTC »
PRO TIP for food or snacks:
Amazon Now some groceries to your hotel. You pick it up at the front desk and you can pack food to bring and can likely skip (or go light on) a meal to save money in the park. We recently did this for Disney World and it’s my favorite go-to advice for saving money and having a familiar food for picky eaters.
We did this with all sorts of snacks like fruit, chips, crackers, yogurts, pepperoni, Nutella, bread, chocolate drinks, bottle water etc. While they don’t have every brand or flavor of some things they have plenty of variety to get you by.
It’s a little more expensive to have it delivered this way but it’s still much cheaper than the park or hotel prices. It’s also great if you don’t plan to rent a car to be able to get it yourself. But honestly you didn’t plan a trip to Disney to go grocery shopping anyway so the delivery is a nice time saving convenience as well.
Food is the biggest variable in the park and when you can carry a backpack around having pocket snacks to give the kids while in line is invaluable.
roxymoxi on April 4th, 2018 at 04:30 UTC »
I'm a server at a theme park. I try to see every table as a family from Michigan. Dad, mom, two kids. They don't have a lot of money, so they drive to Florida. Overnight so that mom and dad can switch off driving while the kids sleep. No stopover other than pee breaks and fast food. They get a motel instead of a hotel, and when they go to the park, they get a one day, one park pass for each of them. They come in, get a soda and a churro, maybe a corn dog. Then they get to my restaurant and sit down.
Scaling and saving, doing without souvenirs that the kids want, they have already spent over one thousand dollars to sit at my table. So I try to give every table a one thousand dollar dining experience. Does it work every day for every table? No. Bit do I do my damndest to make their experience memorable and amazing? You're god damn right I do. I'll dance with the kids. I have a pocket of my apron designated for toys for fussy babies that I sanitize after every one. I have a million jokes you've never heard and a bunch you have. I care only as much as I'm paid, and I'm paid by YOU.
THERE are other servers in my restaurant that don't care like I do. I don't know what they make. Maybe the same as me. Maybe more. But I leave work smiling about the magic I spread and the patents that didn't have to worry about their kids because I took them on a walking tour and gave them 5 minutes to breathe. I think about my hungry babies (everyone is a hungry baby. You can be 95 years old and you're my hungry baby) and how I did everything I could to feed them and allow myself only the amount of time it takes from walking out of the door to when I get to my car to fret about the tables I didn't do great on. Because tomorrow is another day.
I know most people are more involved with what ride they're going on next than the server that's keeping their sodas refilled. That's how it should be. But know I love you guys and I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to fine with me. Especially if you have a baby. Double points if they have those chubby cheeks. Talking seriously to babies about the day is how I keep sane. Sorry for the giant wall of text. I just love my job and my guests and I appreciate you guys.