You can’t please everyone, and Disney knows this all too well.
Come prepared for gloomy weather.
Disney Adults are considered Disney super fans and have even influenced the company in the past. Many of our experts proudly wear the Disney Adult labor and you’re guaranteed to come across several Disney Adults during your travels to the Disney Parks all across the globe. Disney Adults are generally a happy bunch that have a pure love of all things Disney — but that doesn’t mean that they never get irrationally angry.
The Disney Parks and experiences are prone to rule changes, and while most are reasonable adjustments, some draw the ire of Disney Adults to the point of real anger. Let’s take a look at some rule changes that have made Disney Adults irrationally angry!
Limited Good To Go Days
Annual Pass
Many Disney Adults are either Walt Disney World Annual Passholders or Disneyland Magic Key Passholders, and with those passes they expect to get plenty of access to their favorite parks. This year, the park pass reservation system at Disney World mostly ended, but Good-T0-Go Days were installed for non-date-based tickets, such as annual passes. These days don’t require reservations, but they are also limited in number, irritating passholders and Disney Adults alike.
Costume Bans
Ariel and Prince Eric in EPCOT
We get it — some Disney Adults want to go above and beyond by dressing up as their favorite characters at the Disney Parks. But we also get the costume rules, which state that no one 14 years old or older can dress up as characters except for certain specified events. Dressing up can get you banned, as costumes are meant for trained professionals and nonprofessionals could give off the impression that they are Disney-approved characters. If you want to look like your favorite characters, we suggest DisneyBounding, where your outfit features odes to characters, without looking like the characters themselves.
Disneyland Pin Trading Regulations
Cast Members trading pins
Pin trading is MASSIVE among the Disney Adult community, so it came as a bit of a shock when Disneyland introduced a new rule that severely limited pin trading. The new rule was introduced in November 2023 and states that pin trading, outside of the use of a lanyard, will only be permitted in Disneyland Park near Westward Ho Trading Company from opening until 3PM. Traders are also only allowed one trading bag for pin trading at specific dimensions without the use of lights, signage, or displays. If there’s one thing Disney Adults HATE, it’s having their goodies taken away.
Fast Pass Becoming Lightning Lane
TRON Lighting Lane
Ok, so we can’t blame Disney Adults at all for this one. After the pandemic, FastPass, a FREE ticket service that allowed guests to skip long attraction lines at the Disney Parks, turned into Lightning Lanes and Genie+, a non-free service that could set you back hundreds of dollars a day depending on your itinerary and party size. Lightning Lanes and Genie+ generally do the same thing FastPass used to do, only way more expensive and much more complicated. Honestly, there is nothing irrational about being upset about this rule change.
No Selfie Sticks
Remember these bad boys?
Some Disney Adults like to photograph and record EVERYTHING from their Disney days, but they can’t use selfie sticks to do it. Selfie sticks are prohibited at the Disney Parks as they can be used as a weapon. If you try to bring one into the park, it could be confiscated and it’s really not worth the trouble of testing this policy. If professional-style photos are that important to you, we recommend you take advantage of the PhotoPass service at the Parks or simply ask a Cast Member to snap a photo of you with your phone — which is TOTALLY FREE!
The Duck Rule
Rubber Duck
This one’s actually quite funny. Aboard the Disney Cruise Line, there’s actually a longstanding tradition where guests, including Disney Adults, hide little rubber ducks all over the ship for other guests to find. Disney doesn’t condone this practice and Cast Members will actively remove any ducks they find. While this feels like a party-pooper policy, it may be a little overdramatic to get upset about.
Genie+ Surge Pricing
©Disney
We briefly mentioned Genie+ already, but what we didn’t talk about was its surge pricing. When the service was introduced, the purchase price was set at $15.00 per ticket, per day. However, that changed in October 2022 when surge pricing was introduced, raising the price based on the day. Pricing got even more complicated when pricing became park-specific in June 2023, meaning some parks were more expensive than others. Genie+ has only gotten more complicated and more expensive over the years, so, yet again, we think the outrage is justifiable.
And there you have it! If you’re a Disney Adult, you’re a major component of the Disney Parks and your passion is one of the many things we LOVE about visiting the Dinsey Parks worldwide. We’re just like you and are here to keep you updated with extensive Disney content, so be sure to stay tuned here at DFB for all the latest Disney news, tips, and reviews!
10 Little Things That Make Disney Adults Irrationally Angry
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Going back to “filling in ALL the available space.” The social distancing markers were something I loved when the parks came back from COVID.
DisneyAdult & AP here and it makes me feel good that I can honestly say that aside from being somewhat irritated by the “good to go days”, I haven’t hit the irrational scale on any of the others. X-D (Park Pass Reservations aren’t a hot button for me and never have been. It’s only irritating that currently APs are the ONLY people who have to make one, but I also understand that reasoning.)
Except… Genie+.
Thanks for acknowledging that it’s not irrational to be outraged about that one. ;-D
And surge pricing itself is a whole ‘nother level of irrational and outrageous.
Not a “rule” but no longer sending the merch you buy in the shops back to your hotel room is the worst.
Disney is loosing it’s focus on the customer and this is clearly the new Disney focus. Disney cares very little of the customer and this has become evident in the past few years.
Over the years, I have been to Disney over 150 times and have had several business meetings in Disney World. But, never again. Going to WDW takes planning and money. But Disney has taken this away.
My feelings of the mentioned items are that the change of the free Fast Pass to Lightning system was a big mistake. Disney has sought to maximize their profit over the pleasure of its guests.
After purchasing a park ticket and spending big bucks to go to the parks, I think it’s downright greedy of them to charge anything to get on a ride.
While selfie sticks are a no no I’ve read that tripods are acceptable as long as there fit in a backpack. Are we saying you couldn’t use a tripod as a weapon but you could a selfie stick? Seems rather silly but I’m going with the tripod option this fall.
64 years old and the Genie + Lightening Lane sound confusing to me. I was there in 2021 with other family members and the Genie+ had just started. I think the younger ones gave it a try and thought it was rather pricey.
I was wondering if the Single Lane ride is still available? I may be taking a Solo Trip in the future and would probably take advantage of it if it is.
Sorry, I meant Single Lane Line, not ride. 😳
Hi Enid! The rides that still have single rider lines are Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run (Hollywood Studios), Test Track (EPCOT) and Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom.) Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (Hollywood Studios) is closed for refurbishment right now, but usually has a single rider line when it’s open. Time will tell if that’s something that returns when the ride re-opens.
Does anyone have information yet about Disney Canadian Adults who stay on resort and if they get to book there fast pass + selections in advance, I know there was rules that you had to be on USA soil to do so but it was up in the air if this applied to Canadians.