We go to Disney World every single day.

Yes, really! Every day we spend in the parks, we learn something new. You see, Disney is a mastermind (cue the T. Swift song) when it comes to innovation and keeping things feeling brand new. So, the rules change, the parks themselves change, and even WE change — whether that be our situations OR our bodies that can’t handle staying out from rope drop to park close anymore. We learned a few hard lessons at Disney World in 2023, and we’re here to share those with you for your own planning purposes.

Here are five of the toughest lessons we learned at Disney World in 2023.

There’s no longer an “off season.”

Back in the day, there would be several times throughout the year where you could see a drastic decrease in crowds. You’d be able to visit in early spring and early fall without a lot of crowds.

Now, though, you’ll be met with crowds no matter what time of year you visit. There are busy times, and then there are even busier times. If you’re visiting Disney World in 2024, just be prepared for crowds and higher waits!

Saying goodbye often means something better is coming!

We said many goodbyes in 2023 and in the years prior. (We’re looking at you, Splash Mountain.)

What we’ve learned is that saying goodbye to favorite rides and attractions often means something SUPER cool is coming! (We’re looking at you, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.)

You can’t trust Disney’s opening timelines. Like, ever.

Disney is all about that delayed gratification, y’all. They’ll hype up an opening timeline only to provide us with details regarding last-minute delays.

Think about how long it took for TRON: Lightcycle/Run to open! Think about how CommuniCore Hall and Plaza were supposed to be open at the end of 2023! You can’t trust anyone these days. SMH. (We’re joking. Mostly.)

MagicBand+ is still an iffy investment.

In 2022, Disney released the MagicBand+ which had all the same scanning features of the original MagicBand, but had special interactive features like haptics and vibrations. Plus, they’re chargeable!

Well, it’s been over a year since the initial release, and they’re still falling off people’s wrists willy nilly, still losing their charge halfway through the day, and for a band that ranges from $30 to upwards of $60, that just ain’t worth it for a lot of folks.

Genie+ isn’t an accessible option for many.

In 2022, Disney introduced surge pricing for the Genie+ skip-the-line service. This means that pricing depends on demand, which is based on projected crowd and number of guests for the day, which means it can be as expensive as Disney wants it to be.

So far, we’ve seen it all the way up to $39 PER PERSON for the multi-park option. If you’re a family of four visiting for a week, that’s more than $1,000 for Genie+ alone. This isn’t accessible for a lot of folks — point, blank period. However, with the intense crowds that stick around year-round now, it’s hard to NOT utilize the service. The good news is that now, there are also single-park options, but those aren’t a whole lot cheaper most of the time.

And there you have it! Those are the HARDEST lessons we learned this year, and we hope that they can make your 2024 Disney World vacation a bit easier. We’ll be sure to keep you updated with more Disney news, so make sure to follow along for more.

Looking for some things we’re looking forward to in 2024? Click here! 

What was a hard lesson YOU learned at Disney World this year? Let us know in the comments! 

The post 5 Hard Disney World Lessons We Learned in 2023 first appeared on the disney food blog.