I love taking Pixie Dust Addicts to UOR. Being a former addict myself I know how to show them a good time, because I know what they are looking for. Rule #1, Don't start with Marvel Super Hero Island. Rule #2, Ask them what they like doing most at WDW. Rule #3, Ask them what is their favorite WDW restaurant.
So when it's time for us to do our first Uni vacation I'll be in touch with you for that guided tour!
I read what the Hatter has to say often and I remember so well the days I felt the same way he did. I couldn't fathom ever arriving at the ho-hum that we feel towards WDW now. I won't say it's for any one reason, it's actually a combination of many, a few of which aren't by fault of TDO. The "decline-by-degrees" that many describe often is one of the biggest driving factors. Not everyone sees or feels that same decline but we definitely, deeeefinitely do. Then there's the messed-up-ed-ness of of the resort stays. We stayed at Pop 4x in 3 years between 2004 & early 2007. Then, we stayed at 5 different deluxe resorts for 6 trips + 1 moderate for 2 trips from late 2007 thru mid 2011. In May of last year we stayed at Pop a few nights pre-cruise (because I was out-voted when I pushed to stay off-property). Ya know what? Pop was like a breath of fresh air after the 8 stays at 6 other resorts in a 5 year period. Why? Because when we got in our room it was impeccably clean which is NOT something we found at all those other resorts. So why would that bother us? Well, consider this: back in our early visits to Pop we usually paid around $55/night (I was hell on discounts). All those other resorts we stayed in ranged from about $130/night up to $455/night (highest we have ever paid for any room anywhere). For more than double the money you kinda expect a little better. In some ways the resorts offered more but why not consistancy in a fundamental like cleanliness??? Maybe it's because I'm a girl and I'm the housekeeper in my own home that I notice these things and they chap my to such a high degree. Seriously. The $455/night stay (Contemporary, MK view, Dec. 2007) was the filthiest I have EVER found a room we've checked into at Disney. I'd almost compare it to checking into a funky service station bathroom. Gross. In our many years we've visited a lot of restrooms all across the WDW property, parks & resorts. Filthiest bathroom one of us ever experienced aside from OURS that we arrived to at the Contemporary in Dec. 2007??? That award goes to the men's room near 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian also Dec. 2007. Husband wouldn't even use a urinal. Not a stall. A urinal. And that's at WDW's FLAGSHIP resort!!! Appalling doesn't even begin to describe it.
As a kid growing up in the Orlando metro area I am definitely one of those "old folks" who "remembers when". Yes, I remember when any piece of trash, even a candy wrapper, on the ground was extremely short-lived. You never saw garbage. The restrooms each had a CM assigned to them and every inch of every restroom was gleaming with cleanliness. My mother would say things like, "You could eat in there!" It was true. Would I say that now??? Um...hell to the NO! And my mother who is far more relaxed in her obsessive housecleaning in her old age has also been several times to WDW in recent years and wouldn't dare say anything like that anymore. Queues are litered with garbage. Buzz Lightyear has been the most consistantly bad. I can't ever remember walking thru that line without shuffling thru garbage on the ground. And we go during what's touted as the OFF season. Craziness.
The food. Ugh. Been thru this one many times. I'd happily pay the menu prices for food at the QS and TS restaurants if I was sure I'd enjoy what I got. I'm not, tho. Food quality is so bad right now. Heck, I think the local Chilis puts out a better dish for a fraction of the cost of most meals I've had at WDW in recent years. Our most expensive meal ever, the Yachtsman, at $350+ for 5 people on my anniversary was the biggest crash-down (because let-down doesn't even begin to describe the feeling) I've ever had in any restaurant in my entire life. I was sad for a moment then the anger started to seeth in. Not things I should've ever dealt with on a Disney vacation and especially on my anniversary. Will I ever spend the big bucks to even TRY another of what WDW describes as a "signature" dining experience? It's not likely, not when I have no faith that the return for my dollar will be safe. To bring up one of the things asked by I believe Hatter previously, do we always eat the same restaurants or do we try different ones at WDW? Well, when we were still spending vacations there we had old favorites we'd return to (but towards the end found most of them disappointing and not warranting return visits anymore) but we also made efforts to try places we hadn't been to in the hopes of finding something magical in the experience. Didn't happen too much. Mostly all disappointments. At some point you sign those $100+ checks and think, "What the hell am I doing??? I just spent an hour and a half's worth of hubby's hard work on grub that should've cost half as much and tasted twice as good."
It's when I think of all the expenditures for the disappointments in terms of the time the hubby spent at work earning that money that I my stomach twists and I feel my blood pressure rise with my seething red-headed temper. That's time he spent working for us to have the opportunity to vacation. It's also time that could've been spent at home together with us. I don't like to feel like he's working for nothing or that someone else takes those hours for granted. I don't. To say it es me off when I feel like someone else doesn't care is an understatement of mammoth proportions. I'm a bit of a lioness when it comes to my family...viciously protective and all. LOL!
Then there's the stuff that TDO isn't really at-fault with. Or maybe they are. Again, we always went to WDW in what's said to be the off-season. The swelling of the crowds from year to year to year from 2004 thru 2011 really did get to a point where it put us off. I guess maybe not so much swelling as shift in the crowds. Disney looooves to cater to those lovely foreign tour groups, half or more of which we found pretty miserable to be anywhere near at any time or any place. They're like mini-mobs just freight-training their way along either by all collectively sitting in a major walkway so people can't get past or having their rep monotenizing a FP machine in front of you while they're getting their large bulk quantity of passes. Or when they all collectively decide to start chanting or screaming...it's loud and disruptive. It's like a freight train rolling right over your little bubble o'magic...and bursting it. Not fun. Could Disney do anything with that? Sure. Set rules. Force these people to abide. They'll never do that because of the cash cow they've tapped. Add to this the youth groups (Pop Warner, dance/cheer competitions) that Disney caters to, etc. It's sad when you have to comb fan forums to try and figure out how to avoid a LIST of groups to choose your travel dates. But again, don't expect Disney to ever care even 1 iota about any of this because the money that they make off the big groups is all they'll ever see. When there's an entire channel on the resort tv...special pins produced for specific groups...yeah...you definitely know your place in the food chain. You either take it or go home if you have the misfortune of erroneously vacationing during these other groups' visits. That is so so sad to me.
Ugh. Then there's the micro-planning that has to take place 6 months ahead of your visit. I'm a stay-home/homeschooling mom. I barely have the time or energy to expend figuring out all the variables, creating spreadsheets, etc. for this task. When I used to work outside the home I would pour over it during every break, lunch, hours at home, etc. Why does planning a vacation have to be a full research project??? Why? Why must it be this way? It's mentally draining. It's WORK. WORK!!!! Early on I found the challenge exhilarating. Now it's a chore that I don't want to do. I'd love to be able to tell you that staying concierge at a deluxe is the answer because their pre-arrival IPO folks can do all this stuff for you for a price. Not the case. I found myself telling them what was coming up, what was going to be available, things that were happening that they didn't even know about. I had to beg with them to look again, check, because I didn't want to miss out on something. Again, more work for me that I have neither the time nor the inclination to give anymore. There's no escaping it.
Then there's the little nagging things...like the overselling of hard-ticket events...the homogenizing of the merchandise (well, that's a bit bigger an issue for a girl who loves to shop)...the necessity of getting up so darned early on vacation to maximize time...all sorts of little things that over the years I've arrived at a point where I'm totally "over" it.
And, yes, it is possible that at some point you've been so much that you are bored. Yep. Bored. When I was a kid and we were seasonal pass holders this happened for me and my siblings. That's when we became
WDW Hooligans. Yes, I know all too well that a point does exist when you're standing in the middle of the "magic" and nobody in your group can think of a single thing they want to go and do. It's a puzzling moment to behold. But then, unlike my younger years, as an adult watching those dollars siphoned from the bank accounts to be in that moment it easily flops over to irritating, exasperating, and angry. Is that the fault of Disney? Some say yes. Some say no. Yes in that they've just not been adding things or evolving the parks at a rate to keep the return visitors captive. I almost lean towards no because Disney can't control how often some visitors return. Even in the best of times when new additions are rolling out at a feverish pace I think maybe there's a rate of return visiting that can outpace the mouse. I think a lot of the Hatters feelings and such definitely come from the fact that he only visits once every 2 years. Maybe that's an error on our part to become so fixated that we chase our heart's desire too fast and hard. No doubt about it: my old man and I are known for our level of passion towards what we adore, determination, and lack of patience. LOL!
Something I won't fail to point out that TDO can't touch is our evolving vacation style. When our boys were little guys, we were younger with more energy, the Pixie Dust high hit us with such vigor we could run non-stop. As we all get older and the Pixie Dust thins for us that vigor has trailed off into more of a meh. I don't want to go non-stop. I want to relax. I don't want to get up early, I don't want to keep schedules, I want to relax and savor the moments. I'm definitely open to the fact that our evolved, slowed, vacation style could impact our overall enjoyment at a place like WDW. Maybe other destinations better fit our needs now. Won't deny that. So for those who may feel defensive of ol' Mick keep in mind that I don't hold him responsible for absolutely everything. I'm usually the gal who takes her own personal stock first before eyeballing the world around me. K?
So for today, right now, I'm not at all cool with a situation where I feel like I'm spending more, waaaaay more, to get less. Would anybody do that knowingly with anything and feel good about it??? Some people don't feel the getting less part which is cool for them. That's fine. I do feel an overall sense of getting less which drives us to go elsewhere. It's not that I don't love WDW. It'll always be a special place to me especially because it touches so many points of light throughout my entire life. I guess I'm taking a break for now. Maybe I'll go back. Maybe I won't. Who knows? The overall decline we've found across the board has definitely cost TDO our vacation bucks which is where I'm feelin' the original post for this thread.
Quality of food 