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That really sucks. If you can reach a human (it's worth trying an actual phone call!) and tell them how hard up you are, you might be able to break it down into small payments, ask if you can make it $10/month.

Something like 60% of Disneyland's attendees are locals. It does absolutely make it a vibe on some of the classic iconic rides like Haunted Mansion

Let's do a quick hypothetical. A solo traveller from De Moines, Iowa going to Disney Orlando. We'll be leaving on 28th July and returning 30th, giving us one full day at the park. I picked those dates for being approximately the cheapest option on an Expedia search for flights.

• Flights: $357 return
• Hotel (at Disney): $288
• Park entry (using the "1 Park per Day" option I got when trying to book the hotel): $823

That's $1468, before you add in even basic meals, let alone snacks and souvenirs a person is likely to want on a theme park holiday, or travel to and from the airport. And I chose there to look for dates that were cheaper. A real person might not have that option.

I've never been to Disneyland, but I am very familiar with Disney World in Orlando. Disney World is a city. It has four theme parks, and each park has enough to do to occupy a family for 2-3 days. Tickets for each park are at least $100 per day per person, and that just gets you in the door. You also need to stay somewhere, and hotels in the area are not cheap. Expect to spend about $75 per person per night for lodging. Food inside the parks is not cheap, either, but plates are usually big enough to share. Estimate $100 per person per day for food and beverages. Lastly, most visitors don't live within driving distance, so you probably take a flight. Round trip to Orlando is going to be $150-300 per person. Add it up for four days and four people, and you're already at $5,000, and that is the least expensive version of the trip. It's going to suck.

If you have a few hours to kill and want a deep dive into why Disney lines suck so much, check out this documentary about the FastPass system from Defunctland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjZpBq1XBE

The FastPass system has been replaced with the Genie/Lightning Lane system, but it has most of the same problems (and a bunch of new ones). While it was originally free and available to all, it is now a paid premium feature, with additional costs for specific rides AND preference given to people who stay on property. On-property hotel rooms are at least twice as expensive as the previously mentioned budget. Premium hotel rooms on-site also provide perks like better transportation and extra "Magic" hours before or after the park is normally open for the plebeians.

There are additional upgrades to the ticket, like park hopper that lets you go to a different park in the same day. Photopass allows you to access all the ride and cast photos you take throughout the day.

So the $100 tickets per person per day can easily jump to $250 per person per day. If you want to eat at the restaurants like Cinderella's Castle, Beauty and the Beast, Pooh's Corner, The Brown Derby, or any of the hotel restaurants (did I mention the previous budget didn't include sit-down restaurants or any booze?) then your price per plate can easily triple. Some of these dining experiences are the only way to get to meet specific characters, which may or may not be a concern if you have kids.

So yeah, you could buy a good used car or a year of tuition at a state college for the price of a family Disney trip.

The average six flags amusement park is 300 acres.

Disney world is 27,520 acres across 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, and multiple mini cities of shopping and resort centers.

Each of the 4 main parks take 2-3 days to fully explore, especially if your goal is to do every of the 173 rides. Or attend every attraction and show of which there are 30 or more unique stage performances on the average week plus parades, fireworks and other events. Then there are 200 unique restaurants including two which have Michelin stars. It’s even longer if you’re rich enough to afford the private events and secret areas where they do bespoke experiences, weddings, and conferences.

Another way to look at it is that Disney World is larger than:

• Manhattan in NYC
• all of San Francisco
• 100 Las Vegas Strips

But they get to deal with the customers all day, who are I'm sure the loveliest people having their best day ever.

This old reddit post NAILS it, worth a read.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25896020

People who think they are in the middle class*

This was 20 years ago .... 1997/98? ... holy shit that's almost 30 years

I don't remember where we were or what we had to do. All I remember is that we pulled up in the car to try to figure it all out and all we could see was a long line of people in rain gear and I thought there is no way I'm going to stand in the rain to even start to go inside.

Is that like a tenure thing?