Pay more, get less. When does it end?

[pax_65]

See that's a problem. I don't know what this slide is? I wasn't there in the 80's and the 90's. What is this "standard", that's one of the disconnects and a parking fee isn't enough for me to get frustrated.

Exactly! That point was made earlier, that people who didn't experience the parks until more recently have no point of reference to compare the vacation value the experience provides.

I'm sure others can give a more comprehensive list, but here's my shot. In the past, WDW had:

Longer hours
Lower prices
Shorter lines
More live entertainment
A nighttime MK parade (Even a nighttime Epcot parade!)
Less stress/less advanced planning required
More personal attention to each guest's needs
Cleaner parks
More frequent ride refurbishment/replacement
Less crowded buses/shorter wait times (I think this is debatable personally)
Easier access to table service food (no need to make ADR months in advance)
(I actually think the quality of the food is better today - especially counter service food.)

That's good for a start - to answer your question. Keep in mind I just returned from a trip and had a great time, but these things are still true based on my experience visiting the parks for the past 3 decades.

 

[HansGruber]

Honestly my concern is that if people are ok with the changes that Disney have made, they will make MORE changes. I want more people to stand up and say, "This is not up to Disney standards" so that the slide doesn't continue.

If Disney can charge more and provide less... and people still continue to pack the parks in droves, praise Disney and recommend the experience to their friends, why should Disney change their strategy?

My thoughts exactly.

Consumers, as a whole, have all the power. Without consumers, Disney doesn't exist.
It's when consumers become apathetic and allow the business to lead the way unabated, that's when the consumer gets burnt.
Disney is riding off "the magic" created decades ago. What's the vision for the next 50 years if cuts to "the magic" today are continuously made?

 

[eliza61nyc]

You're on a Disney forum, which means you have some affinity for the place, as most of us clearly do.
To get me to believe you will simply "stop going" without taking ANY preceding action, just doesn't make sense.
As some others have posted, some posters are:

• Spending less on vacation
• Staying offsite
• Delaying their vacation
• Skipping their vacation
• Complaining to Disney

To someone who has some level of affinity for Disney, all of this makes sense long before one simply stops vacationing there.

lol.

I use to love going to Jamaica, my husband and I had two bad trips. I haven't been back to Jamaica since 1997. have no plans on ever going back. I don't play with my money. fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

I use to shop at kohls' brought shirts for my sons one year. they shrunk like crazy, took them back. haven't gone back to Koh's in 20 years

and I never skip a vacation. sorry the world is huge, they are sooo many other places I can spend my money to ever waste it on a place I am dissatisfied with.
Not going IS my action.

LOL you can also find me on Fodors travel board. I go to Paris also annually so being here doesn't mean anything except for right now I still like the mouseworld

I mean you guys realize its a made up place and not the middle East peace accord right? My life will go on if I never make it back to Disneyworld.

So let say that if I come back and feel the need to post a thread with the title of this one, no i wont be going back for a long while

 

[tomast]

Hans, you have to realize that some of the posters here are likely much younger than you and I (I can guarantee they're more likely younger than I am), and haven't been going to WDW for as long as we have. So they haven't seen all of the cuts, Or they don't remember what's been lost. It's been longer than 10 years, though. If you look back, it started around 2000. Coincidentally (???) about the time Iger took over as COO, and then CEO a couple of years later. Never a lot of things at once. A cut here. A cut there. Who cares?. But years later you look back and realize how they've all added up. It's the proverbial death by a thousand cuts.
Many park visitors today don't know, or have forgotten, that every park once had an afternoon parade. That evening hours at MK used to extend much later at night. That you could buy nonexpiration tickets. That evening EMH lasted 3 hours. And the list goes on. Disney counts on that. They've cruised on their past reputation to keep sailing along.

WE WANT DHS PARADES BACK!!!!
and the dragon for FoF Parade

 

[21stamps]

You're on a Disney forum, which means you have some affinity for the place, as most of us clearly do.
To get me to believe you will simply "stop going" without taking ANY preceding action, just doesn't make sense.
As some others have posted, some posters are:

• Spending less on vacation
• Staying offsite
• Delaying their vacation
• Skipping their vacation
• Complaining to Disney

To someone who has some level of affinity for Disney, all of this makes sense long before one simply stops vacationing there.

My process is simple. I pretty much allocate $x to travel per year. Combination between small trips and big trips.. not just Disney. This year we’re skipping Disney. Not because myself or my child are unhappy, but just because there’s other places we want to go, and unfortunately I don’t have unlimited vacation time.

On our “big” annual vacation I typically spend the same wherever it is. Disney, a cruise, a resort, a different destination.. wherever. Sometimes I spend more than Disney. For me, Disney World is probably the best value of all. However, there’s a great big world out there, and until I retire I’ll have to plan my time and destinations accordingly.

 

[TwilightZone]

I'm guessing it's the rose-colored glasses? Maybe take them off for just a second and have an adult conversation?

Never once did I indicate that I 'hated' my trip. I'm simply pointing out the overall trend of paying more and receiving less.
Maybe if more consumers took off the rose-colored glasses and demanded a little bit more, we'd all collectively get it.

I understand your point, but that isn't really the definition of wearing 'rose-colored glasses'.
My use of that term refers to the segment of people who are obsessed with Disney. In their eyes, Disney can do no harm. They will visit the park on a consistent basis, regardless. Any criticism about Disney will be met with anger and passive-aggressiveness. It's like a coddling parent who never scolds their obnoxious child.

I'm not debating their desires; but at least have a little objectivity on the matter.

I get that, I mean, there's a lot of decisions they have made that are pretty bad (incredicoaster). But I think there's a good amount of good to outweigh the bad. There's still many fun classic rides, new rides, and many happy moments to be had exploring.
Really though, technically this did start from consumers asking for more during the pressler era. More disney, more rides, more everything.
The general public got the parks this way, and it's going to stay that way.

 

[HansGruber]

lol.

I use to love going to Jamaica, my husband and I had two bad trips. I haven't been back to Jamaica since 1997. have no plans on ever going back. I don't play with my money. fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Jamaica is a country, not a company.

I mean you guys realize its a made up place and not the middle East peace accord right? My life will go on if I never make it back to Disneyworld.

So let say that if I come back and feel the need to post a thread with the title of this one, no i wont be going back for a long while

You realize you're on a WDW forum, right? I mean, if you don't feel some level of involvement for the place or some connection to it, then you probably shouldn't be posting here.

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

Splash Mountain closing during EMHs became the tipping point for when I decided that EMHs weren’t really worth it.

 

[RustySpork]

 

[Darkseid]

I fully encourage everyone to boycott the parks, particularly during the first week of December. I volunteer to lead the in-park assessment of the boycott.

 

[eliza61nyc]

Jamaica is a country, not a company.



You realize you're on a WDW forum, right? I mean, if you don't feel some level of involvement for the place or some connection to it, then you probably shouldn't be posting here.

Im posting because i love the place. I'm not the one whining about lost magic and getting less. Company or country if you go to a VACATION destination and you keep going back while it disappoints you. You're the problem. Not the place.
I have absolutely no issues with wdw. Can't wait to get back

Ok so not to get into a unless argument, if you feel that you are paying more and getting less, its totally up to you on what you decide to do about it.

Happy vacations
42 days until I'm back in my happy place.

 

[LUVofDIS]

Disney is like 99.9% of all companies in America and probably the world, how to make the most money giving the least amount of product.
Almost every big company I can think of that started out with high quality products plays the game. At some point their quality gets to the point where the customer doesn't except it and they either fall or work to bring that quality product back.

Disney parks have had lull periods before and maybe they are approaching one again.

I have been going since 94 and since my first visit Disney has added one main park, one water park, many resorts and many wonderful attractions. They have also lost some, I feel they have gained more than they have lost.

As for ticket pricing, it makes sense to me, it is easy to get people to purchase a four day ticket when there are four parks, it is much tougher to get people to stay for ten days when there are only four main parks and two water parks. I don't like that prices have gone up much more than inflation, but as many have said, the market can obviously bear it.

As for all the planning that is all but necessary, I think that has more to do with technology than just corporate greed. If Disney didn't do these things than people would complain that they need to get with the times. Of course, in 94, I had to reserve my Hoop-Dee-Doo table. We did this months in advance and had to settle for a table on the balcony because it was almost sold out. The contemporary was around $250 a night and I remember it was a "few" dollars more to eat at the California grill than some of the counter service locations.

I complained about the food cost to corporate and their response was that their prices were in line with the surrounding area. I wrote back that Disney sets the prices for the surrounding area. They didn't return a response. But on our next trip the following year they left a basket of fruit and some other goodies for us. That was amazing, a letter said something to the affect of, "we hope this helps with food prices".

There are costs that are money grabs, parking, after hours, dessert parties, etc. Those are upsetting but some are also popular.

 

[HansGruber]

Im posting because i love the place. I'm not the one whining about lost magic and getting less. Company or country if you go to a VACATION destination and you keep going back while it disappoints you. You're the problem. Not the place.
I have absolutely no issues with wdw. Can't wait to get back

Ok so not to get into a unless argument, if you feel that you are paying more and getting less, its totally up to you on what you decide to do about it.

Happy vacations
42 days until I'm back in my happy place.

I tried, I really did. But this is all going over your head.

You can lead a horse to water...

 

[HansGruber]

I complained about the food cost to corporate and their response was that their prices were in line with the surrounding area. I wrote back that Disney sets the prices for the surrounding area. They didn't return a response. But on our next trip the following year they left a basket of fruit and some other goodies for us. That was amazing, a letter said something to the affect of, "we hope this helps with food prices".

I complained about the daily construction right outside our patio as our kids were trying to nap during the day. Mind you, this was the summer season and at a deluxe resort....

they gave me some "pardon our pixie dust" pins.

I'm not accusing them of not caring....but they don't care.

 

[LUVofDIS]

I complained about the daily construction right outside our patio as our kids were trying to nap during the day. Mind you, this was the summer season and at a deluxe resort....

they gave me some "pardon our pixie dust" pins.

That sucks, they should have moved you. Pins do nothing to help the situation. WDW failed in this circumstance.

I do find gems with the CM's here and there. One example of many, my wife wanted a Figment coffee cup but only if it was dishwasher safe, the CM tried to find out if it was but was unable to come up with an answer. She told my wife that we buy one cup and that she would throw in a second for free and also shipping to our house for free. She said that way you can wash one a few times and if it gets ruined you have another. This does not make up for all that is lost but it is small things like this that still make WDW special.

 

[HwdStudio]

I complained about the daily construction right outside our patio as our kids were trying to nap during the day. Mind you, this was the summer season and at a deluxe resort....

they gave me some "pardon our pixie dust" pins.

I'm not accusing them of not caring....but they don't care.

Did you request a move? Did you expect them to stop construction while your kids slept?

 

[Lyman]

It ends when you decide to stop going.

Amen

 

[HansGruber]

Did you request a move? Did you expect them to stop construction while your kids slept?

I expected a $400+/night "deluxe" resort to not perform construction during the busy season.

Yeah, I know...it's really asking a lot.

 

[Lyman]

Bought DVC when it was cheap. Sitting at the pool is a great pass time. Does Disney have parks?

Hmmm, wonder when they will have a pool charge based on length of stay.

 

[Chef Mickey]

I expected a $400+/night "deluxe" resort to not perform construction during the busy season.

Yeah, I know...it's really asking a lot.

It’s always busy and they have to do it sometime.