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

[Dr. Ludwig von Drake]

Short answer: cost.

Long answer:

My family and I visited regularly from 2002 to 2019. My oldest even did a year in DCP (that was fun - more visits than usual when he was there). We live in Florida, so we can get to Orlando in about 4 hours and always kept an eye out for good Florida resident deals. We were AP for most of that time. And we were FastPass experts! Good times.

While in DCP, my son and his friends bought Universal passes. They were getting a little tired of doing WDW all the time. He enjoyed it and convinced us all to check it out. It's not Disney, but it was a lot of fun and we were disappointed we had waited so long to visit. Florida resident deals, free express passes with hotel, butterbeer, we had a blast. And we realized it was quite a bit less expensive than WDW.

So now, we have two choices: Universal or WDW. I like WDW better, but Universal is just more affordable. There are seven of us, so you can imagine the cost savings.

I still have my Disney Visa racking up dollars (and now have a Universal rewards Visa, too!). I did a three-day trip to DLR this May with a couple of my kids since I had work-related travel in SoCal. Great trip, but so expensive.

For the foreseeable future, we'll be a Universal family. To get back to WDW, either I get richer or Universal and WDW prices get similar so there's no significant price advantage to USO.

 

[Master Yoda]

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!

I believe you. Numerous articles came out after the prices spiked showing somewhat exotic vacations being less than going to WDW. Even going to Tokyo DisneySea including airfare came in under WDW.

Is it cheaper to go to Tokyo Disney than Walt Disney World in 2024? - Coaster101

Prices have risen at WDW and Disneyland a lot over the last few years. So we were wondering, is it cheaper to go to Tokyo Disney than Orlando?

www.coaster101.com

 

[graphite1326]

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.

It was a toss up for me. CUT IN PERKS: The luggage pick up and the loss of Magical Express. I loved the idea of dropping off my luggage at my airport and have it arrive in my room. That meant that my relaxation/vacation started at my home airport. AND then all I had to do is get on the bus to my resort scanning my paperwork or magic band as I walked by. Also, and this is also a biggy, I could check into my returning flight and drop off my luggage at the resort. Loved it. DO NOT LIKE RECENT CONTENT: EPCOT for example, it seems they are turning EVERTHING IP. I love GotG which replace Ellan's energy. Yes that ride did need updating but EPCOT wasn't about thrill rides and being emmersed in everything Disney. Don't get me wrong I love GotG but they put it in the wrong park. Same thing with Frozen. I enjoyed the previous ride to what is there now (I have no young children and know nothing about the movie). LAST they keep getting rid of my favorite rides; The Great Movie Ride, Alien Encounter, Splash Mountain (I know it's changed but they replace the a lot of the animatronics with screens. I'm a tool maker/engineer so I really liked what they had). Now I hear they took out the shootin Arcade. I always stopped and shot a few rounds. It was fun. What was up with that?

 

[graphite1326]

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.

You are right. Can I add these reasons to my list?

 

[graphite1326]

Short answer: cost.

Long answer:

My family and I visited regularly from 2002 to 2019. My oldest even did a year in DCP (that was fun - more visits than usual when he was there). We live in Florida, so we can get to Orlando in about 4 hours and always kept an eye out for good Florida resident deals. We were AP for most of that time. And we were FastPass experts! Good times.

While in DCP, my son and his friends bought Universal passes. They were getting a little tired of doing WDW all the time. He enjoyed it and convinced us all to check it out. It's not Disney, but it was a lot of fun and we were disappointed we had waited so long to visit. Florida resident deals, free express passes with hotel, butterbeer, we had a blast. And we realized it was quite a bit less expensive than WDW.

So now, we have two choices: Universal or WDW. I like WDW better, but Universal is just more affordable. There are seven of us, so you can imagine the cost savings.

I still have my Disney Visa racking up dollars (and now have a Universal rewards Visa, too!). I did a three-day trip to DLR this May with a couple of my kids since I had work-related travel in SoCal. Great trip, but so expensive.

For the foreseeable future, we'll be a Universal family. To get back to WDW, either I get richer or Universal and WDW prices get similar so there's no significant price advantage to USO.

Just a little insight; you can use your Disney rewards toward the airline ticket even if you go to Universal.

 

[graphite1326]

Maybe it felt like that when you were younger, but Splash Mountain was quite a tame ride, there was no tension.

Are you sure these complaints are entirely down to what Disney is and isn't doing, or could there be an element of you simply perceiving things differently as you get older? They say nostalgia is a powerful drug.

Just a little observation of ours when we visited the new Journey of Water. We were looking down into one of the pools of water and my DW says all the plants are fake to which someone replied "that's because there is so much clorine in the water nothing will grow." I chuckled about that, which by the way is true, because Disney claims to be so evironmentally friendly which in this case, and with all the water features at EPCOT, terrible for the environment.

 

[Master Yoda]

Just a little observation of ours when we visited the new Journey of Water. We were looking down into one of the pools of water and my DW says all the plants are fake to which someone replied "that's because there is so much clorine in the water nothing will grow." I chuckled about that, which by the way is true, because Disney claims to be so evironmentally friendly which in this case, and with all the water features at EPCOT, terrible for the environment.

If I am not mistaken per Florida building code, water features follow the same rules as pools, splash parks etc.

If Journey of Water is harmful to the environment and should be removed then you will also want to add every swimming pool on property, every decorative fountain, and every water attraction up to and including PoTC, Small World, Three Cablinaro's, etc. to that list.

 

[esskay]

Cost, perks and quality. We all have different reasons, mine are based around being a UK visitor who goes for a minimum of 2 weeks.

• Magical Express was a big one for us. Yes there's Mears but its now a paid service.
• UK guests often got free dining, thats obviously been absent but is back next year and has indeed meant we've booked to stay on site again.
• Other basic basic perks like daily house keeping (this one is inexcusible), fastpass+ (genie+ is utter is crap, you wont change my mind on that), etc
• The poor execution of extra hours. Gettting in early to find half the park closed off isn't great.
• The dining has plummeted in quality. When you've got a board up at your quick service advertising a "limited time special" of a korean chicken rice bowl, initially you think 'oo that sounds great, I'll try that'. Fast forward a week and you've seen that same damn sign at almost every single resort quick service and have realised that they're all selling the same menu and just changing out 1 ingredient to make it seem different.
• Cast member quality decreases - we had this last year and the year before, both times had issues at the resort (CBR, no house keeping at all, no internet, power constantly tripping, air con broken, etc), cast members at reception couldn't have cared less if they tried. After the 3rd time of no house keeping we asked to speak to a manager, they also couldn't care less, we got someone sent over with a bag of soaps and coffees....yeah that really makes up the rooms not being touched at all for days, not even taking out the trash).

 

[WishIWasRetired]

I had a trip to WDW booked for August that I just canceled. I have been a previous out of state AP holder and would go multiple times a year since 2000. The short reason is that I was just looking at the total cost of the trip and combined with how hot it would be I just did not see the value in it for me. Maybe once the weather cools a little, I will reschedule it.

Also, I used to like going to Disney Springs for dinner and some live music after the parks. I don’t know if it is related to the parks price hikes, but it has become extremely crowded there and it’s just not that much fun anymore.

 

[GigglesMcSnort]

• Cast member quality decreases - we had this last year and the year before, both times had issues at the resort (CBR, no house keeping at all, no internet, power constantly tripping, air con broken, etc), cast members at reception couldn't have cared less if they tried. After the 3rd time of no house keeping we asked to speak to a manager, they also couldn't care less, we got someone sent over with a bag of soaps and coffees....yeah that really makes up the rooms not being touched at all for days, not even taking out the trash).

I'm going there myself soon and this point has me worried. Can someone confirm if this is still the case or does housekeeping maintain the room regularly during stays again now?

 

[IanDLBZF]

I'm going there myself soon and this point has me worried. Can someone confirm if this is still the case or does housekeeping maintain the room regularly during stays again now?

Can confirm: Daily in the Deluxe Resorts, every other day in moderate and value resorts as per my experience.
Disneyland Hotel did housekeeping daily when I was there.

 

[GigglesMcSnort]

Can confirm: Daily in the Deluxe Resorts, every other day in moderate and value resorts as per my experience.
Disneyland Hotel did housekeeping daily when I was there.

Ok, that's a relief, thanks!

 

[esskay]

I'm going there myself soon and this point has me worried. Can someone confirm if this is still the case or does housekeeping maintain the room regularly during stays again now?

FWIW it was supposed to be every other day when we were there. But they were short staffed at the time, so it was all over the place. I've not seen/heard of anyone having the same issues in a while though so it does sound like it's been resolved now.

It certainly isn't enough to put me off staying again, we're staying there again next May and may sneek in a trip Sept/Oct this year and would happily stay at CBR.

 

[IanDLBZF]

FWIW it was supposed to be every other day when we were there. But they were short staffed at the time, so it was all over the place. I've not seen/heard of anyone having the same issues in a while though so it does sound like it's been resolved now.

Where and when was this? This is a value or moderate resort I assume?

 

[esskay]

Where and when was this? This is a value or moderate resort I assume?

CBR in both 2022 and 2023. It should still be every other day, but as I said, it wasn't really every other day when they failed to do anything other than poke their head around the door and leave without so much as emptying the trash or topping up soaps, coffee, etc.

 

[Raineman]

Expensive, too many cuts and other, which for me, is that living in Canada, we couldn't travel for a couple of years during COVID, and it kind of killed any plans I had, and kind of killed my love and passion for the parks. Our last trip was November 2019, so we snuck in there just in time. Edit: my vacations the last couple of years have been spent in Mexico, both at a resort and in a vacation home. For my family of 3 to get a presidential suite at a new all-inclusive resort in Cancun for 2 weeks was less than what we would pay for a moderate resort and park tickets for a week at WDW.

 

[John park hopper]

After many years going 2019 was our final visit also Disney you killed my desire to go anymore --thanks a lot

 

[Tuvalu]

After many years going 2019 was our final visit also Disney you killed my desire to go anymore --thanks a lot

Sincere question - why continue participating on a Disney fan forum if you don’t ever plan to return? (You are far from the only one who does so, and I am curious for the reasoning.)

 

[monothingie]

Sincere question - why continue participating on a Disney fan forum if you don’t ever plan to return? (You are far from the only one who does so, and I am curious for the reasoning.)

The hope that one day something you had an attachment with changes back for the better.

I haven't sworn it off yet, but if I did, It wouldn't take a lot to get me back on board. However the farther I'm pushed away the less desire I have to go back.

(Referring to Disney not wdwmagic.com of course)

 

[wannabeBelle]

The hope that one day something you had an attachment with changes back for the better.

I haven't sworn it off yet, but if I did, It wouldn't take a lot to get me back on board. However the farther I'm pushed away the less desire I have to go back.

(Referring to Disney not wdwmagic.com of course)

Very eloquent!!! And exactly so. We know that this can be turned around and the Disney that we knew and loved and many of us spent a lot of money on can be brought back. Will they? We live in hope.... Marie