Does anyone else feel the urgency to visit WDW at this point more than ever?

[MichRX7]

We used to go at least once per year, many times 3+, but we have not been back since the first week of December in 2021. After that trip my daughter (now 40) turned to me and said, "Dad, it just didn't feel like Disney" and that was like she had picked the words right from my brain. Many employees were rude, and seemed rushed. Many of the rides needed serious maintenance. Many of the perks were no longer included when staying on property. It just felt off. I don't know when we will return at this point. No special reason to not go, but would rather spend my money elsewhere.

Having said that, we did take our son and daughter-in-law to Disneyland last September and it was fantastic. The employees were very Disney and we had a great time. We plan to take our oldest (the daughter mentioned above) and our grandkids to Disneyland at the end of March since she is the only of our 4 children to not visit Disneyland.

So, I guess we'll go when we go and hope for the best.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

We don’t feel any urgency either, we’ve got DL APs we haven’t used in 3 months and can’t even get motivated to book a trip there, and it’s just a car ride away.

We still love the parks but the hassle required to take a Disney trip has really turned us off. I miss the days of just waking up and deciding to drive down for a couple days and then just simply walking in the gates with my AP, with reservations a lot more advanced planning is required.

 

[marni1971]

No.

Paris and Hong Kong though? Can’t wait.

 

[DisAl]

I feel an urgency to stay away...
On top of everything else relating to the parks Disney is holding Spectrum / Charter hostage as the fall football season starts.
Then they run adds inviting you to subscribe to their services.
Then they announce a price increase.
I had come to think of Disney's current business practices as a pain in the neck. Now my opinion is somewhat lower.

 

[Graham9]

The urgency was ripped away when they ripped away fastpasses, hyped up both ticket and hotel prices, along with unnecessary park reservations and this 2pm hopper time, not to mention messing with after hours.

 

[MichRX7]

No.

Paris and Hong Kong though? Can’t wait.

I shall start with a preface... granted this was 10 or so years ago and the park was newer... having said that...

Both my wife and I thought the Paris park was more vibrant color-wise than WDW and DL. It was also fun trying to find when the shows were in English (they rotated them in Eng, Spanish, and German when we were there). I also mistakenly got all excited for 20k Leagues before realizing it was a walk-through display (Les Mystères du Nautilus). And, of course, it was great fun (to me) seeing the signs translated into English instead of signs translated into Spanish like the parks here in the US.

 

[Grimley1968]

It's an interesting motive in the OP to visit WDW: Disney is in lots of trouble, so maybe one should visit WDW while it still offers a reasonable vacation value, before even that diminished value disappears (relative to the prices).

I agree that Disney is in loads of trouble, and the WDW parks are certainly not immune to those troubles. But I wouldn't want to visit WDW parks sooner rather than later just to avoid what would probably be a worse trip later. IMO, the likelihood of decreasing vacation value in the near future should be a disincentive to continue to go to WDW, and continuing to patronize WDW while this strong disincentive exists serves only to delay the needed attitude change by Disney in terms of the Florida parks.

I think WDW will hit a bottom in their vacation value at some point, though I don't think they're near it quite yet. Hopefully when that time comes, Disney will make a better effort to increase the value they offer in return for the ever increasing prices they demand. When that happens, at least I feel there will be more of an incentive to visit WDW, and then I'd consider it more favorably. It doesn't seem like that could happen for years, though.

 

[Grimley1968]

I WAS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE! I am beginning to think otherwise.

Me too. It's been a long and depressing disillusionment.

 

[MichRX7]

I think WDW will hit a bottom in their vacation value at some point, though I don't think they're near it quite yet. Hopefully when that time comes, Disney will make a better effort to increase the value they offer in return for the ever increasing prices they demand. When that happens, at least I feel there will be more of an incentive to visit WDW, and then I'd consider it more favorably. It doesn't seem like that could happen for years, though.

So, what you are saying is that they need to go to their own Disney Institute and take their own classes on quality/service/leadership?

 

[Epcot81Fan]

Every time you spend a dollar in the resort, you are telling management you support their direction and you are participating in and encouraging the further decline.

 

[Thepuma]

Just don't make a decision based on certain people saying the parks are quieter than normal...they aren't.

 

[Thepuma]

Every time you spend a dollar in the resort, you are telling management you support their direction and you are participating in and encouraging the further decline.

Yep..and as from Saturday when I bord my flight home, Disney Florida will not get a penny of my money.

The ONLY time I will spend in a Disney park is when I visit Disney Sea in Tokyo in January...after that it's boycott.

 

[Lilofan]

Yep..and as from Saturday when I bord my flight home, Disney Florida will not get a penny of my money.

The ONLY time I will spend in a Disney park is when I visit Disney Sea in Tokyo in January...after that it's boycott.

Do not think Disney will notice . As you said, it is busy in the parks.

 

[Thepuma]

Do not think Disney will notice . As you said, it is busy in the parks.

Not at all. Certainly not with Disneys way of dealing with things.

If they see a 10% reduction in attendance they will just add 10% to the entry price and G+/LL+

No matter what the attendance its a win win for them.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

We're in the process of planning a trip for next year. Now that my surgery's done, I feel like I can talk about it more.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I have an upcoming trip because it was the grandparent’s dream to go with their grandchild and, sadly, there’s probably a limited window moving forward when they will still be able to travel. So yes, for us, there’s an urgency.

I am floored by how expensive everything is right now. In the past we’ve always split expenses with other people, this is the first time we’re paying for a family group entirely on our own, so my perception of cost was no doubt skewed. Add in inflation, and it’s - insane.

To be fair this is not just a Disney thing. As I like to say, the “Experience Economy” is huge right now, and prices reflect that. I don’t see that changing, but I do see people thinking hard about quantity and quality when it comes to “experiences”. A trip to Disney, staying onsite, easily costs 10k for a medium sized family right now. (This includes all costs, such as airfare and transportation, but mostly costs that come from Disney, like room, tickets, food, etc.) As much as I love Disney, I can only justify paying so much for a little under a week’s worth of “experiences” when that money would go a lot further towards smaller or more local “experiences”. I may be in the minority in that I still think Disney is fabulous, but five days of fabulous-ness vs. 30-50 “smaller” experiences (live shows, day / weekend trips, local festivals, etc.) gets to be a tough sell.

I know not everyone thinks this way. Some people will forgo Panera, the local sushi bar, and happy hour for months to afford that one experience at a $500 a head restaurant. More power to them. But I feel like for many, myself included, they want their families to have special experiences that are more frequent but lower cost.

 

[JusticeDisney]

I'm looking forward to going to Universal and Sea World in the following year....

As for Universal, just about any complaint that someone has about WDW will be found there in equal if not greater fashion.

Regarding Sea World, I can’t really comment on that place other than to say it is a cut way below WDW and Universal.

All that said, I hope you have the best time at both places!

 

[draybook]

We somewhat feel it and then we look at the prices. Like you, we used to go multiple times per year. That stopped when APs got cut. Now that they're back and ridiculously priced, I don't see it happening again unless/until we move to Florida and get resident APs. We are going next month for my birthday/MNSSHP, but we won't be able to go to any other parks due to the insane cost. So, we're just going to toss in a HHN at Universal and a couple of beach/free time days.

 

[m steve]

We have zero urgency to return to WDW. Disney made it very clear that it doesn't want us to visit again when it eliminated FP, Magical Express, etc.

 

[John park hopper]

Many Hotel chains have rewards programs for repeat and loyal customers if Disney valued loyal repeat customers they would do the same-----Nope . The only reward is higher and higher prices and less amenities for resort guests. Disney you have extinguished my burning desire to return.