Man Who Spent 5 Days At Disney World Says The Park Does Not Bring Out The Best In Anyone
"The happiest place on earth" is a myth.
VIAVAL TOURS / Shutterstock Since their children have off from school during Spring Break, many families plan on spending the week visiting Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. College students and even people who live in colder climates looking for warmer temps have the same idea.
Although Disney is dubbed “the happiest place on Earth,” anyone who chooses to visit during Spring Break will tell you it's more like the most hellish place on Earth, and for valid reasons.
One man who spent five days at Disney World during Spring Break attests to this, and most likely will not be returning to the theme park anytime soon.
A man who spent 5 days at Disney World said it does not bring out the best in anyone.
Content creator Greg (@gregisms), recapped his latest trip to Disney World dealing with Spring Break crowds in an epic rant video that has been viewed over 1 million times.
“I just got back from Disney World, and let me tell you, I have thoughts!” he said.
“First of all, Disney does not bring out the best in anyone. Children, adults, seniors, newborns, they all become wretched human beings. It’s supposed to be the happiest place on Earth, but I’m half convinced whoever said that was on a deluxe combo of Xanax and Percocet because y’all it was intense.”
When we think about it, there is no happiness involved in standing shoulder to shoulder with a massive crowd of people in the hot weather surrounded by children pitching tantrums, all just to get on attractions that will likely have over two-hour wait times.
Since it’s Disney, people will withstand the discomfort anyway, with some of them even participating in 'rope drop' to avoid some of the larger crowds.
“Rope drop” is Disney terminology for the time when the theme park, or part of the theme park, opens for the day.
Some people believe that by arriving before or exactly when the park opens, they will beat those who chose to sleep in and take their time getting ready for the day, allowing them to get on the more popular attractions before the wait times get too long.
If you are staying at a Disney World resort, you have access to the parks half an hour earlier than the posted opening time. However, more and more people are beginning to participate in rope drop, resulting in a swarm of screaming children who were woken up far too early, and adults wearing Goofy ear hats who won’t hesitate to run you over with a stroller if it means getting into the parks earlier.
Greg and his partner Brett were able to experience this firsthand when they decided to rope drop at Epcot during the trip, hoping to get on "Test Track," a high-speed car attraction. When the two first arrived at the park at the crack of dawn, Greg says the first thing he noticed was the energy of the crowd.
“It is no longer the happiest place on Earth,” he claimed. “You’ve now entered the [expletive] 'Hunger Games.'”
Instead of happy-go-lucky Midwestern moms with their toddlers in Princess Tiana dresses or Grandma on a scooter wearing Minnie ears, the moms are fierce marathon runners who won’t hesitate to use their diaper bags as weapons.
“I saw Disney adults in full-on matching suspenders donned with every pin you could possibly collect stretching outside of Space Mountain like they were from District 2 and had been training for this moment their entire life,” Greg joked.
Minutes before Test Track was set to open, there was an endless swarm of people gathered around the ride, prepared to battle anyone in their way just to be first in line.
Eventually, a group of Disney cast members who worked at the ride arrived out front. While Greg initially assumed that they were stepping out to greet the guests, he quickly realized that they were there to keep them under control and from trampling one another to death.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they had tasers on them,” he said.
When other guests noticed the cast members, they all began to press forward, with Greg claiming that the woman behind him was “practically inside” of him.
Despite the cast members warning everyone to walk, not run, single file into the entrance of the ride when they told them it was okay to do so, most of them took it as a sign to push forward and speed walk as fast as humanly possible.
Greg said that when he realized that the entire crowd, which was divided into four lines, would merge into one, he considered tripping some of them.
Photo: s_bukley / Shutterstock
All for a Chevrolet that goes in a circle once at 65 miles per hour.
“Disney, you better be prepared for that therapy bill,” Greg warned.
It is no secret that Spring Break, from mid-March to the beginning of April, is one of the busiest times of the year to visit the Disney parks.
According to BlogMickey, for Spring Break 2024, wait times across the four theme parks at Walt Disney World were up more than 50% than average.
The surge in wait times is primarily blamed on the fact that two Central Florida counties began Spring Break that same day, with other Central Florida counties kicking off their Spring Break later in the month.
Even some of the less popular attractions, such as “Living with the Land” in Epcot were boasting unusually larger crowds this year.
If the massive crowds and long wait times do not deter you from visiting Disney during Spring Break, maybe the prices will.
In 2025, the estimated average cost for a family of 5 staying in Disney for 4 days during Spring Break totals $8,100.
The money will go toward a hotel room that can accommodate 6, but standing in line for nearly an hour in the sweltering heat to get your child a Mickey Mouse-shaped pretzel all while they are screaming from exhaustion that they want to go home — that's priceless.
There are so many other options available for Spring Break vacations, and we can guarantee that they will be more relaxing and less expensive.
There are white beaches with crystal clear waters and sunshine just a couple of hours away from Disney.
While Disney can be fun for the whole family when planned properly in the off-season, the happiest place on Earth for you during Spring Break might just be in your own bed, waking up to the sun shining through your window at 10 a.m., while your spouse prepares you homemade Mickey-shaped waffles that don’t cost $25.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.