Disney vacations aren’t cheap. The last thing that anybody wants to do is spend an exorbitant amount of money on vacation only to have circumstances go awry. While humanity tries to think positively, paranoia does creep into play at times. Here are eight things that worry people about a Disney visit.
Earthquakes
Image: DisneySome of the topics here are cyclical. You won’t think about the matter for a long time, but then it will become an almost obsessive focus. A recent example of this is the earthquake at Disneyland Resort.
On July 4, 2019, many attractions closed for a few hours in the wake of a 6.4 earthquake. Less than 48 hours later, a much scarier 7.1 earthquake shook the park’s foundations and forced the evacuation of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Before July of 2019, Disneyland hadn’t experienced a major earthquake in 25 years. Then, Southern California suffered through literally thousands of them in a period of 100 hours. Everyone’s going to have earthquakes in the back of their mind for the next several years in the wake of this shocking turn of events.
Crowds
Image: DisneyA few worries are more general in nature. Some aggravations are totally unavoidable at a popular tourist destination like Disneyland or Walt Disney World.
For example, ochlophobia and agoraphobia are the fear of crowds and feelings of helplessness. Even mostly fearless people may suffer these bouts of stress at a Disney theme park.
After waiting in a few too many lines and getting bruised and battered while walking through congested paths, you’ll develop these fears, at least temporarily. It’s only natural during a rough parking outing. And it’s not a behavior reserved for Disney parks, either. Most theme park tourists are familiar with this sensation.
Fights
Image: DisneyI refuse to link the video because it’s vile, but a family recently received a lifetime ban from Disneyland. Members of the family exchanged punches, with a man violently striking multiple women in the face. It was a disgraceful turn of events, but it’s not as rare as you might think.
Scuffles break out at Disney theme parks on a weekly basis. No, they don’t ordinarily end in extreme fisticuffs, but tempers grow high at times. Also, Disney theme parks sell alcohol, as do Downtown Disney and Disney Springs establishments. A few sips of Fight Juice turn civil folks into enemy combatants.
The last thing that anybody wants is to see a fight at the Happiest Place on Earth. Due to those highly publicized fights that will remain a part of social media updates for years to come, such concerns will stay in people’s minds for a while.
Germs
Image: DisneyOkay, I may be projecting a bit here. I’m not sure how much the average person worries about germs, but I sure do. I should stress that I catch everything. Whenever I’m in a movie theater and hear someone with a wet cough, I gulp and think, “Well, I’ll be laid up in bed next week.”
Also, here’s a hard truth. We all know that kiddie germs are the worst. They’re like this unruly, militant strain of super-strong bacteria that can infect literally everyone. Just think about the last major outbreak in your town. Didn’t it start with reports that bunches of kids were out of school sick that week? If there’s a zombie outbreak, patient zero will be a preschooler, I’m sure.
Where are you most likely to find kids and other disease-ridden sickos? Yes, the answer is a Disney theme park. It’s the cost of doing business. You must accept that sneezing, coughing, never-covering-their-mouths-and-noses sorts will be standing (too) close to you in every line. You can’t do anything about it other than worry, either.
Free advice: pack lots of hand sanitizer.
Hurricanes
Image: NOAA
Jimmy Buffett sings of trying to reason with hurricane season. In recent years, his lyrics have grown more profound in Disney circles. After years of relative good fortune, the greater Orlando area has been victimized by hurricanes in recent years.
Technically, hurricane season is June 1st through November 30th, but September and October seem to bear the brunt of the weather-based hostilities. During 2017 and 2018, Disney had to close parks due to weather concern, a rarity in the history of The Walt Disney Company.
Since then, all of us who prefer to travel in the fall get nervous as our vacation approaches. We nervously check our weather apps for 10-day forecasts, wondering whether a hurricane will wipe out our trip.
To Disney’s credit, they’re spectacular at refunding and rescheduling hurricane-ruined vacations. Still, I have a reservation for late-October, and I’m already sweating the details about potential hurricanes.
Injuries
Image: DisneyI’m not going to link you to a list of horrifying injuries that have occurred at theme parks. You can google them if you’re interested, but the precise list is irrelevant. You can get injured anywhere, which is why worker’s compensation is a thing.
At a theme park, your odds go up a bit due to the large crowds and aggressively designed attractions. Disney is as safety-first as any company on the planet, but they can’t protect you from everything. In fact, I know several people who have suffered mild injuries over the years.
A recent example is when I met another couple for lunch the day before they left for Walt Disney World. They were frequent Disney guests, and he was a doctor. I gave them a few tips to maximize their vacation.
When they returned, I asked how the trip had gone. The man relayed to me that he had broken a rib at a Disney water park. He had become dislodged from a water tube and suffered the injury. As a doctor, he immediately knew what had happened.
His misfortune demonstrates that even safe attractions like water tubes aren’t 100-percent foolproof. Guests innately understand this and always worry about injuries on at least a subconscious level.
Other Weather
Image: DisneyWhile hurricanes are a serious aggravation, Disney’s American theme parks come with other annoyances. At Disneyland, the situation isn’t quite as grave, but the parks frequently have temperatures in the 80s or 90s. At Walt Disney World, those temperatures can and do reach triple digits. With humidity.
I recently spent 12 days at Walt Disney World; on 10 (!) of those days, the afternoon temperature was over 100 degrees. During a vacation, you don’t want to feel like you’re remaking Lawrence of Arabia. You know what’s not fun? Thinking about hydration while trying to stave off heatstroke.
Then, there’s the sudden rainstorm. Predicting the weather in Orlando is like calling ‘tails’ on a coin flip. You know that it will rain at some point just like you know that the coin will show tails. You just can’t say when it’ll happen.
Image: DisneyOne of the worst feelings at Walt Disney World is getting caught without a rain slicker or umbrella. You’ll get drenched in a matter of seconds during one of Orlando’s stunning torrential downpours. And you may need to stick your phone in a bag of rice unless you remember to protect it when the rain strikes.
At Disneyland, you won’t stress about rain very often. However, you may suffer through the occasional cold spell. I once packed like an idiot for a December trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. When I got there, I realized that I needed to buy some pants. All of the shorts I packed were idiotic. The place is right by the water and receives a nightly ocean breeze. It can get chilly, folks.
All of these aggravations are primarily small, but you should definitely check the weather before a Disney trip.
Transportation Issues
Image: DisneyDid you know that Disney buses can wreck? You shouldn’t feel any safer about monorails, either. Walt Disney World has experienced a slew of recent negative headlines stemming from transportation issues.
When theme park tourists hear about these sorts of hassles, they can’t help but worry that they’ll be next. To Disney’s credit, they’ve recently revamped some of the monorails and buses, providing necessary renovations to modernize the vehicles.
Even after these updates, however, the current monorail fleet remains flawed. It’s easily the oldest fleet in the history of Disney monorails. Also, the tracks aren’t in the best shape, either.
As for the buses, Walt Disney World’s broken attendance records for consecutive years now. All of those people need a ride. It leads to more traffic congestion than ever before. While the Disney Skyliner solves some of the problems, people will continue to worry about transportation until self-driving vehicles arrive.
