Poll: For those who curbed visits or stopped visiting Disney Parks, what are your top reasons?

[DisneyHead123]

Background: I like to think of myself as a Pixie Duster but a reasonable Pixie Duster, open to criticizing the parks and thinking about what could be made better. I see lots of different intuitions on these boards regarding why attendance seems to be down. I thought an anonymous poll might be interesting to see what people choose as their top reasons for limiting or stopping visits to the parks. Lurkers welcome!!

A few notes:

- If you feel Disney does not represent your values, please choose "Do not like Disney's recent content". That answer also applies to people who don't like recent content for any reason - they found it boring, not enough, didn't like a certain animation style, etc. Trying to keep this poll on neutral ground so that seemed like the best option.

- You can pick up to 3 reasons, but don't have to pick 3.

- Please don't respond with why you think other people aren't attending - only why you, specifically, have curbed or stopped travel (if you have.)

I know this board is a limited sample but curious what the overall "top 3" reasons are here.

 

[Chi84]

Expensive, complicated and cuts will end up being the top 3.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Expensive, complicated and cuts will end up being the top 3.

That's my intuition as well, but wanted to see if this lines up or if I'm surprised.

 

[John park hopper]

All of the above but top 3 --too expensive, planning too complicated, don't like Disney's recent content
Disney cuts hours on a whim but still charges the same entrance fee. It's like buying a car and finding out on the day you are to pick it up you only get 3 wheels----What a company

 

[Br0ckford]

I chose other. Lots of family stuff coming up from weddings, milestone b-days, etc....
Has nothing to do with Disney.

 

[Tjaden]

I picked the Disney content option because I'm not interested in the IP additions. I'm more of a give me a unique story or edutainment person so I've been dropped for those that prefer the established IP experience. I don't think the analytics will ever be in favor of courting the small number of people that feel the way I do either so I guess I'm just out of luck. Oh well, big world of things to do out there.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

For us it’s 99% from the loss of perks/value/quality.

Free Magical Express is now at $50 Uber ride, free FP is now $50 for LL, food prices are up, drink prices are up, your $150 ticket doesn’t even guarantee you access to the newest rides anymore, you have to resort to frantically hitting refresh on your phone at 7am and hoping for the best.

 

[Graham9]

Loss of quality, ridiculously overpriced, removal of free perks and the whole Genie+/ Lightning Lane garbage. I will also throw in Disney’s apparent discrimination against international visitors in booking LL’s.

 

[Mark Dunne]

I would of never thought I’d want to miss a trip WDW, we try and arrive each year in Jan , but this news that uk and international guests won’t be able to use the 7 day perk when the new LL pass gets released even though we are staying at ASM, could tip the balance , and maybe not bother to try and trip annually . It’s ridiculous that you have to use you phone so much now with planning .

 

[Sans Souci]

It's just the over-planning aspect and the cuts for me. My last trip was Sept. 22 and I came home thinking I really didn't want to return for a long time. We spent so much money and I just felt like the quality of my experience was not commensurate with what we'd spent. We started going on vacation elsewhere.

My husband is going to a conference at Coronado Springs in September and I am on the fence about joining him. I know they've changed Genie + again and I am not sure I can be fussed to look at the changes.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I wish there was a poll choice like, "Too many cuts to perks and overall quality while at the same time constantly raising prices on everything"

 

[DisneyHead123]

I wish there was a poll choice like, "Too many cuts to perks and overall quality while at the same time constantly raising prices on everything"

You can choose up to 3 so you pick both too expensive and too many cuts.

 

[Disstevefan1]

You can choose up to 3 so you pick both too expensive and too many cuts.

Oh, I did not know. Done

 

[m steve]

I voted "other." That "other" was, specifically, the imposition of Genie +. Disney charging us for something that was free was the last straw. That, and the elimination of resort perks, chased us away in 2021.

 

[jloucks]

Crowd levels are too high.

Although word is this may be changing.

I don't mind expensive, so long as the experience is commensurate with the price. Too many cuts for that to be possible.

I will say the planning requirements are a bit ridiculous, but I figure they are related to the overbooking/crowd levels.

I think of WDW like I do the newest cruise ships. They can handle way more passengers, but the venues remain the same size. If I go cruise/WDW I expect to be able to see and do everything I want to do. Anything sold out seems like a gee-golly scam to me. Don't sell the ticket if you cannot deliver the goods.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Not being as familiar and comfortable with tecchie devices and relying on those devices throughout our trip, thats the # 1 issue that makes it difficult for me to decide on a trip. My DS is given complete control over this because hes so well versed in how things work.
#2 is inflation and life circumstances which makes a trip challenging to justify. Any luxury expense like a WDW trip, takes a back seat to other expenses that must be looked after first. Raises and bonuses which come infrequently dont keep up with inflation.
#3 is the expense. With raising costs everywhere and for every aspect of our lives, it takes longer to save for the trip and any extras we want to do. Because it takes longer we wont be going back quite as often as we would in the past.

 

[erasure fan1]

It's all a matter of value for us. It's become way to expensive for what you are getting. So much taken away, capacity that's been basically the same for two decades. Food that's taken multiple steps backwards in quality for the cost. After our trip last summer, our first since 2016, it's a real hard argument to say it's worth going to the parks in the next couple few years.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It's all a matter of value for us. It's become way to expensive for what you are getting. So much taken away, capacity that's been basically the same for two decades. Food that's taken multiple steps backwards in quality for the cost. After our trip last summer, our first since 2016, it's a real hard argument to say it's worth going to the parks in the next couple few years.

I hear ya, its the long time retuning guests who see the value go down.

New folks don't know any better....

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I posted other too.
The ROI is not there anymore for us. I don't mind paying for an expensive experience, but that is not true of WDW anymore. Things were always expensive and we paid it because we felt the experience was worth it.
That's the main reason for us. And we have stopped going to WDW, and so has our extended family. Those with teenagers find that they want to go to Universal, not disney, anymore. Other reasons are all of the above. I'm just glad we experienced WDW before all the changes were made and the guest experience was changed, not for the good, IMO.

 

[Coaster Lover]

I grew up going to Disney every other year, so for me, a huge reason I go to DIsney is for the nostalgia. However, as I got older, I sought variety. Nothing specifically against Disney, but when investment slowed, the "shiny new stuff" everywhere else caught my attention and I never looked back and this same travel pattern has remained since having a family of my own. As my kids never had that "every other year trip to Disney", they don't have the same nostalgia I do and don't have the same drive to get back to Disney. I think if Disney got into a pattern of opening major new attractions more regularly, it might spur more regular visits, but otherwise, we're happy to wait until a bunch of new attractions have accumulated, and then plan a trip. Personally, I'd love to go every year AND do one of our other trips (we have Kings Island, a Texas trip, Dollywood, a Universal Studios Orlando, and a trip to Cedar Point lined up for the coming years), but finances just don't permit that much travel in a summer.