A devoted Canadian father of two boys wanted to take his family to Disneyland. What was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime ended in fury when they realized how much it would cost them to be there. He took to social media to express his outrage.
Disneyland is an undeniable global destination beloved by people from all corners of the world. However, a common and enduring challenge of Disneyland visits is the monumental wait times. Thrill-seekers often queue for hours to experience a fleeting five-minute rush on their favorite rides. This speaks volumes about the magnetic appeal of Disney’s enchantment. Mario Zelaya, a Canadian husband and father of two boys, was captivated by Disneyland’s charm and planned a trip with his family.
While the magic of Disneyland remains unparalleled, it comes with a substantial cost that can quickly add up. The price of admission has soared to astronomical heights in recent years, sparking widespread outrage among potential visitors, including Mario. He turned to social media to share his budgeting experience at Disneyland. The trip was meant to be an exciting adventure for his family of four but ended in horror when he saw the bill at the end of the day. In a video posted on social media, now viewed over 240,000 times, he said, “I made a huge mistake, I went to Disneyland in Paris. I’m almost ashamed of how much money I spent.”
Mario was outraged to see that Americans would pay $1,100, but for Canadians, it was $1,600 just for their flights to Paris. Mario was already deeply concerned. “Just the tickets alone, that’s $1,200. Why on earth would I do that?” he said.
One thing he was certain about was the upgraded passes he bought for his family. Somehow, he knew the queues would be extraordinarily long, so the extra cost seemed worth it. But this didn’t stop him from criticizing Disney for it. He showed videos he took of the queues with his face superimposed on them. “It’s incredible how packed Disney is,” he said in the clip. “Whether it’s in Paris, Orlando, or California, it’s always like this,” he said, showing a video of a long line for a “mediocre ride” with a wait time of an hour and 15 minutes without the premier pass.
According to Mario, this is what you can expect at Disneyland: “Here are Disney’s rules: Expect very long wait times. If you don’t want to wait in line, expect a huge bill to upgrade to a Premier Pass. If you decide to wait in line because the Premier pass doesn’t cover all the rides, expect a huge bill anyway.”
The upgraded passes he bought allowed him and his family to use the faster queues. Without them, they would have had to wait up to two hours for an average ride. “Now, if you add up all the rides we did, we would have been waiting for over 25 hours,” he said. “It’s better to buy the Disney access pass to skip the line than to buy a three-day park pass.” He added, “My advice: don’t go to Disney.”
Then we get to the comments section, and it seems many viewers agreed with his view of Disneyland. One person wrote: “So true, waiting a whole two hours for a lame five-minute ride.” Then another said, “My family went once and that was enough for us… it cost us about $5,000 for a family of 5, and it wasn’t worth it.”
However, one person said they wait until everyone leaves. Why? Well, they say the lines are shorter. They wrote, “I go to Disneyland Paris so much and never bought the Disney Premier Access; you can do many attractions after 7 pm when many guests already leave the parks.”
