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

[wannabeBelle]

That is good to hear. I also know that the food ordering bit we had so many issues has also been done away with. However, my main gripes (AP prices and the whole Genie + ecosystem) are the big factors keeping us away.

And AP prices for out of state people are even more insane. I priced them out recently for a client and they were slightly over $1500.00 per person. Marie

 

[Chef Mickey]

@Master Yoda the resort parking fee was eliminated 1/10/23. Parking has returned to being complimentary for resort guests.

1 stupid thing down, 3,618 more to go.

 

[Chef Mickey]

And AP prices for out of state people are even more insane. I priced them out recently for a client and they were slightly over $1500.00 per person. Marie

What's sad about that is one could argue the 7 day Park Hopper is even more of a rip-off. You only get 7 days (not saying you want to go back) but they really soak you at almost $900 for 7 days in October. LOL!

You're better off buying the AP and spacing out a couple trips so you can actually enjoy yourself. I will say that if you have an AP and can make it down there a couple days, WDW can be a lot more enjoyable when you don't have to cram everything in 7 days.

I'd rather pay $1500 and get 365 days of my choosing vs $900 for 7 days that you have to use in a 10 day span. What a joke. You'll likely save another $300-400 in discounts over 7 days (or more) with the AP, making it closer to $1100-$1200. That's just assuming you spend $3,000 on food/gifts. If you consider the discount on the room, it's probably close to a wash vs a 7 day ticket.

 

[wannabeBelle]

What's sad about that is one could argue the 7 day Park Hopper is even more of a rip-off. You only get 7 days (not saying you want to go back) but they really soak you at almost $900 for 7 days in October. LOL!

You're better off buying the AP and spacing out a couple trips so you can actually enjoy yourself. I will say that if you have an AP and can make it down there a couple days, WDW can be a lot more enjoyable when you don't have to cram everything in 7 days.

I'd rather pay $1500 and get 365 days of my choosing vs $900 for 7 days that you have to use in a 10 day span. What a joke. You'll likely save another $300-400 in discounts over 7 days (or more) with the AP, making it closer to $1100-$1200. That's just assuming you spend $3,000 on food/gifts. If you consider the discount on the room, it's probably close to a wash vs a 7 day ticket.

I agree, if you are planning to go back within a year's time. What if instead of the AP, a guest started looking at other vacation destinations? Cruising, other theme park resorts, national parks, All inclusives, etc? Not taking WDW off the list, just putting it in with the rest of the options out there and then looking at the choices with a more open mind. With the AP Disney does win as you have guests coming, more likely staying onsite, spending money on food and drinks, etc. Multiply that by a few times a year. Not insignificant. Making the initial buy in so expensive may open up other choices for the guest and they may not choose Disney as frequently or at all in that year. Is that the end game? I'm not sure on that one, but it is one more group that is dwindling. Also if they go to a different destination and decide this is pretty cool, I had fun and I felt like I was valued here, let's do this again! that is another group of people that is missing in terms of staying onsite and going to the parks. Marie

 

[Chef Mickey]

I agree, if you are planning to go back within a year's time. What if instead of the AP, a guest started looking at other vacation destinations? Cruising, other theme park resorts, national parks, All inclusives, etc? Not taking WDW off the list, just putting it in with the rest of the options out there and then looking at the choices with a more open mind. With the AP Disney does win as you have guests coming, more likely staying onsite, spending money on food and drinks, etc. Multiply that by a few times a year. Not insignificant. Making the initial buy in so expensive may open up other choices for the guest and they may not choose Disney as frequently or at all in that year. Is that the end game? I'm not sure on that one, but it is one more group that is dwindling. Also if they go to a different destination and decide this is pretty cool, I had fun and I felt like I was valued here, let's do this again! that is another group of people that is missing in terms of staying onsite and going to the parks. Marie

I agree. I travel a lot and used to go to WDW a lot. Lately, I’ve gone a lot of other places which are a lot better in terms of value and fun. Still, some of those places are harder to get to so I’m trying to go back to WDW to have a little more convenience.

If they don’t completely fumble on park management, the fact all the fun is there for you without having to decide so many logistics is a plus versus some destinations.

 

[The Mom]

There are a myriad of reasons but in the end, it all boils down to it costing significantly more to do the same things we did at WDW per-covid. That coupled with a pretty sour taste left in our mouths by our last trip for the 50th anniversary in October of 2021 has kept us almost entirely out of the parks since the aforementioned 50th anniversary trip.

Before all of the changes caused by covid we would get Florida resident seasonal AP's and would do 10-12 3-4 day weekend trips to the parks per year. We stayed and ate exclusively on property.

Problem 1: The restructuring of APs.
Prior to covid the Florida resident APs were perfect. The cost was in the $400 range and the blackout dates were reasonable. You were not able to use them for a couple of weeks around spring break, just shy of 3 months in the peak of summer and Christmas to New Year's...all the times we did not want to be in the parks anyway. Fast forward to today and the comparably priced Pixy Dust AP is basically a park wide weekday pass. The $800 Pirate pass is not much better with seemingly every weekend near every minor holiday being blacked out. The only real usable AP is the Sorcerer Pass at $1000 which still comes with blackout dates.

Problem 2: Resort Prices
This one has actually gotten a bit better as of late, but our last stay at Coronado in a standard room at around $500 a night still sticks with me. What really sticks in my craw is now having to pay for parking at the Disney resorts.

Problem 3: Genie+, Lightning Lane, boarding groups, and all that jazz.
I could go on forever on this topic so I will do my best to make it brief. The idea of having to pay additional money to ride attractions at the theme park with a 3-digit gate price pi$$es me off to no end. I absolutely refuse to do it.

Problem 4: The last trip
The last trip that went from 9/30/2021 to 10/2/2021 and were probably the most disappointing days I have ever spent in WDW. It started at check-in and went down from there. We purchased new MagicBands from Disney about a month prior. Several CM's tried and failed to get them to work with no luck. After numerous attempts, we were told to use our room keys instead of the bands. No offer of replacements, just use the room keys. To add insult to injury, the room keys barely worked. They would let us unlock our room door and the tickets on the read OK, but we could not use them for room charging or anything else. The next issue came when we wanted to eat at a counter service restaurant at MK. We were told that we needed to order ahead of time on the app. No problem....I'll just pull up the app...order lunch at Pecos Bill's....that went fine, now I just need to pay....I got the "Opp's something went wrong!" message. Try again...same thing. The wife tries it on her phone...same issue. We ended up having to have one of our friends order on their phone and paid said friend back in cash. After lunch I went to guest services to see if they could fix the issue. After more than an hour, I left with the app just as broken as it was when I went in there. This same issue played out over and over again for the rest of the trip. We were reduced to either begging the CM's to let us order at the counter or having to have one of our travel companions buy our meal for us and then pay them back. About the only thing we could get to work on the app was unlocking our room door. The last issue worth mentioning (there were many many more little annoyances) was Diseny's handling or rather lack of handling of the 50th anniversary. A little backstory...we had been to the 25, 30 and 35th anniversaries of Epcot and they were some of the best days I have ever spent in a theme park in my life. There were special displays, guest speakers, a rededication ceremony, fireworks, etc. We all assumed that the 50th at MK would be more of the same. It was no different than any other day in the park. Literally nothing outside of a special popcorn bucket was done to acknowledge a 50 year anniversary. To sum up, when I am asked about that last trip I respond "It turned us into Universal Studios passholders".

Add in that the 2 hrs to drive door to door has turned into 3 makes me a less frequent visitor. Like you, I made a dozen trips a year in the "good old days." Staying onsite, eating at WDW restaurants, and purchasing an AP.

 

[Master Yoda]

Add in that the 2 hrs to drive door to door has turned into 3 makes me a less frequent visitor. Like you, I made a dozen trips a year in the "good old days." Staying onsite, eating at WDW restaurants, and purchasing an AP.

I still make it in around 2 as I maintained my rally car driving style into my old age.

That being said, marathon day trips are no longer a thing like when I was in my 20's and 30's. We will go for a short day trip to meet up with friends for lunch or dinner and/or a few hours in a park, but going for open to close in the parks being bookended by a 2-3 hour drive is not something I have any desire to do.

 

[_CJ]

Like Disney Star Wars and the changing of its fan base, maybe we have today’s new, “Iger WDW” and there will be fans of the old WDW that do not like the new “Iger WDW” and what is happening now is a changing of the fan base of WDW too.

I agree with this, and this is why we’re thinking about selling our DVC. We imagined one relatively consistent product would stay relatively consistent but the LARGE unnecessary unforced errors are a bit too much.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

They overcharge for what they deliver, and what they deliver is increasingly uninteresting to me.

Genie+, park hopping restrictions and reservations, virtual queues and the other greatest hits of the 2020s are also bad.

 

[heapster411]

For years the DW and I have traveled to the "world". We used to go twice a year, were AP holders. Things were affordable "back in the day". To drive from the New Orleans area was easy. Now as the years progressed, we are down to once a year, as long as we get discounts from the mouse or rent points. DW brought up that at one time each Resort had its own brand of products specific to the resort. Little by little things got generic. We are slowly reaching our price point that it's not worth the cost. To us the constant cost for "this and that" is taking its toll. Kinda of feels like we are slowly getting nudged into a cost for day tickets and a separate cost for night. We have been going since the 80's and from then to now, things have drastically changed. It's getting to be more work that relaxation. Maybe being a "grumpy old fart" and being spoiled with perks and experiences from then, to the bare minimum that the parks are trying to present as magic, we are not feeling it. So we are going again this year and we will probably say that THIS is the last time. But as the rest of us here usually do, we will be planning the next trip as soon as we leave this one. Addiction is a B@#$%#!

 

[freediverdude]

For years the DW and I have traveled to the "world". We used to go twice a year, were AP holders. Things were affordable "back in the day". To drive from the New Orleans area was easy. Now as the years progressed, we are down to once a year, as long as we get discounts from the mouse or rent points. DW brought up that at one time each Resort had its own brand of products specific to the resort. Little by little things got generic. We are slowly reaching our price point that it's not worth the cost. To us the constant cost for "this and that" is taking its toll. Kinda of feels like we are slowly getting nudged into a cost for day tickets and a separate cost for night. We have been going since the 80's and from then to now, things have drastically changed. It's getting to be more work that relaxation. Maybe being a "grumpy old fart" and being spoiled with perks and experiences from then, to the bare minimum that the parks are trying to present as magic, we are not feeling it. So we are going again this year and we will probably say that THIS is the last time. But as the rest of us here usually do, we will be planning the next trip as soon as we leave this one. Addiction is a B@#$%#!

Yes, remember the days when each resort had its own refillable mug with that resort logo on it? People collected those. And lots of resort specific merchandise also. The shops used to have different merchandise depending where the shop was- now it's mostly the same stuff in all the park shops. Remember when MouseGear in Epcot had a fine watch collection?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Yes, remember the days when each resort had its own refillable mug with that resort logo on it? People collected those

Yes! I have several. I even remember when each resort had its own key to the world card! Loved those!

It’s all the little details that I loved.

 

[rct247]

Weather/Too hot, crowds/rude people, complicated planning are my top 3. In addition, cuts/quality, expensive, "been there done that" and other normal life desires are also my reasons.

 

[Stellajack]

I know I will be bombarded with "I don't believe you" responses, but DH and I spent a week in Rome, in May 2022 after Italy had opened up to tourism following Covid. We actually spent less dollars in that one week than we would have spent at our favorite resort (Riverside), parks, and meals for a week! Taught us a lesson about wasting $$$$ on non-moving queues in WDW. Having said this, we have a WDW ressie on the books for next year. Call us CRAZY!

 

[Tiny Tim!]

When attractions are closed, Disney is a poor value for my family. When everything is open and running I think it’s represents a value for us. All it takes is a couple of attractions down and wait times balloon for the rest.

We’ve wanted to have some new theme park experiences, so we’re taking a break from Disney. We just got back from Holiday World and it brought us back to Earth from the bubble of Disney pricing. Holiday World offers free parking, free sunscreen and unlimited free soda and Gatorade. Admission was only $99 per person for 3 days.

 

[NickMaio]

When attractions are closed, Disney is a poor value for my family. When everything is open and running I think it’s represents a value for us. All it takes is a couple of attractions down and wait times balloon for the rest.

We’ve wanted to have some new theme park experiences, so we’re taking a break from Disney. We just got back from Holiday World and it brought us back to Earth from the bubble of Disney pricing. Holiday World offers free parking, free sunscreen and unlimited free soda and Gatorade. Admission was only $99 per person for 3 days.

Wow.
Where is it

 

[Tiny Tim!]

Wow.
Where is it

Santa Claus, Indiana. The park is located 70 miles west of Louisville, KY.

 

[unmitigated disaster]

I voted other; my father is 94 and too frail and I have Stage 4 cancer and while I am doing well my stamina is in the pits.

 

[NickMaio]

I voted other; my father is 94 and too frail and I have Stage 4 cancer and while I am doing well my stamina is in the pits.

I wish you all the best.
I hope you can recover.

 

[crispy]

When attractions are closed, Disney is a poor value for my family. When everything is open and running I think it’s represents a value for us. All it takes is a couple of attractions down and wait times balloon for the rest.

We’ve wanted to have some new theme park experiences, so we’re taking a break from Disney. We just got back from Holiday World and it brought us back to Earth from the bubble of Disney pricing. Holiday World offers free parking, free sunscreen and unlimited free soda and Gatorade. Admission was only $99 per person for 3 days.

Holiday World is a great little park! Definitely recommend Dollywood if you haven't been. Really great park, and East TN is a nice vacation spot.