The Magic is gone!

[jimbojones]

Do you spend all of your time in the parks? There’s so much you can do in the resort itself to get away from crowds.

I think the dissatisfaction with crowds may also have to do with where people live or their other non-Disney experiences.. there’s not too many “amusement” places to go where you won’t experience crowds. I also just don’t remember Disney World ever not being crowded.. even as a kid I remember waiting in line for Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion in what seemed like forever.. and starting from outside of SM.

Or maybe..I think some of us, myself included, just change when we get older.. we become less tolerant of crowds.

I think your last point is very true, I certainly have much less crowd tolerance than when I was younger but I am also completely sure that the crowds were less 20 years ago if you went at the right time of year. I remember going in the early 2000s in mid January and no line was greater than a 20 minute wait

 

[Tony the Tigger]

“Bah, Katiebug!”

 

[DryerLintFan]

The last two groups of friends who went in the past year both told me they hated it it and they couldn't understand why I like WDW so much. Both families cited the crowds as the biggest reason that they didn't enjoy their trips and both also said the kids were happier playing at the beach than they were at WDW. I no longer encourage friends who have never been to go, which might help crowd levels for us

Did you experience the parks in the old days, when there were very hard defined busy periods and light periods? The busy periods were the way it is all the time now. The light periods were far more leisurely, laid back, and enjoyable. Yes, you can still have fun now, but it doesn't feel as special when you are constantly dodging and battling huge crowds.

I think this is the crux of a lot of disappointment in the parks. A cursory look online shows a plethora of crowd calendars that pinpoint low crowd days and suggest "slow" weeks to their readers. To their thousands and thousands of readers. Who then get to the parks on what they thought was a slow week only to find themselves face to face with a wall of people. They didn't plan for that. They didn't prepare for that.

The parks are always crowded now, and you can still have fun in a crowded park, but only if you come prepared to experience a crowded park.

 

[pax_65]

If all of the people who complained about the parks being too expensive and too crowded, would stay home they would leave more room for those of us who are willing to pay and enjoy the parks.

We're doing our part. We've gone from 2-3 trips a year to 1 trip every other year or so. The whole experience has changed so much that it's not the WDW I remember. It's still a unique and fun experience, but it's no longer the Magical vacation it once was - and no longer something I want to do annually.

 

[pax_65]

There used to be a lovely lull in the couple of weeks after Thanksgiving. It was definitely slower than the couple weeks leading up to Christmas. It's the reason they have (at least previously) offered free dining during that time.

Sigh... I remember. We used to arrive on Thanksgiving and go into the parks just to people watch. We'd sit on a bench and watch the crowds in amazement. Then Sunday would arrive... and you could just feel everyone relax. The crowds were gone and the cast members were happy and relieved. The parks were decorated for Christmas, and it was beautiful. We'd stay the following week, and have a great time - and do everything we wanted to do with minimal wait times and no advanced planning.

We did our last post-Thanksgiving trip several years ago. The parks were more crowded and the Magic Kingdom was closed several nights that week for a Christmas Party. We had a nice trip but it wasn't quite the same, and since we were already starting to cut back the Fall trip was the first thing to go.

 

[21stamps]

I think your last point is very true, I certainly have much less crowd tolerance than when I was younger but I am also completely sure that the crowds were less 20 years ago if you went at the right time of year. I remember going in the early 2000s in mid January and no line was greater than a 20 minute wait

My family always went during school breaks when I was a kid, so I never experienced what I remember as “low crowds” at Disney. Would have been nice!

 

[DryerLintFan]

Lmao when you have to lie to try to make a point, thats when i respectfully pull myself out of the conversation. We all know BoG is popular and is booked in advance. However, if you are planning a vacation in advance like a normal human being, you can certainly get a reservation. You can also go to MK right now and ride 7DMT 3 times if thats what you choose to do.

I'm going to New Orleans in April and I haven't even looked at places to eat or things to do. I will likely look at food and entertainment options for my April trip around the February time frame, maybe even March. If it were Disney and I wanted BoG, I'd be out of luck because I'm inside the 180 day window and any reservations at decent times are long gone.

So yes, people do plan vacations in advance, but making the argument that this is the same as having to book a meal 180 days in advance at Disney is a stretch.

 

[spacemtnfanatic]

Anyone remember the days when even on a pretty crowded days you could do stuff like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Spaceship Earth, and Living with the Land with relatively minimal waits. Sure, you might wait 20 or 30 minutes. But you knew even on a busy day when rides like Space Mountain or Peter Pan weren't doable you could stroll onto some of those rides. You could do the paper Fastpasses for the biggies and then enjoy those rides in the meantime.

Now you need a reservation a month or so out to secure anything and those high capacity rides that always were a manageable wait have the same queue time. If you had told me 10 years ago that on a "regular" day Pirates or Haunted Mansion would be posting 40-60 minute waits I would have thought you were nuts.

Our first visit was in 1997. I would give anything to have the 1997-2003 era back at the parks.

And yes, Universal does get crowded. Moreso than ever. But without MM+, the attraction waits do not get out of control.

 

[21stamps]

Anyone remember the days when even on a pretty crowded days you could do stuff like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Spaceship Earth, and Living with the Land with relatively minimal waits. Sure, you might wait 20 or 30 minutes. But you knew even on a busy day when rides like Space Mountain or Peter Pan weren't doable you could stroll onto some of those rides. You could do the paper Fastpasses for the biggies and then enjoy those rides in the meantime.

Now you need a reservation a month or so out to secure anything and those high capacity rides that always were a manageable wait have the same queue time. If you had told me 10 years ago that on a "regular" day Pirates or Haunted Mansion would be posting 40-60 minute waits I would have thought you were nuts.

Our first visit was in 1997. I would give anything to have the 1997-2003 era back at the parks.

And yes, Universal does get crowded. Moreso than ever. But without MM+, the attraction waits do not get out of control.

This part I don’t understand. What I love about Disney fast passes is - They’re Free!
Universal- not free, unless you are staying onsite.

I was reminded of this forum one day over the summer.. we were at an amusement park, standing in line for a ride, around 45minutes. The man in front of me would not stop complaining about the sale of Fast Lane/Fast Lane Plus tickets, and how they have made all wait times so much worse. He kept trying to engage with me, I smiled politely and told him that FL doesn’t bother me so much. He looked at me like I had 2 heads.

All parks have tried to figure out how to control crowds or give people an option for shorter wait times. Yes, then monetized passes are almost pure profit. Greed? Maybe. Smart Greed- Definitely.

Free or at a price, any type of Fast Lane/Express/Fast Pass doesn’t bother me at all. In my mind it’s a waste of time to be concerned with it. Everyone has the opportunity to book rides on the app, or purchase the passes.

 

[drizgirl]

My family always went during school breaks when I was a kid, so I never experienced what I remember as “low crowds” at Disney. Would have been nice!

My family never went at all when I was a kid. Would have been nice!

 

[21stamps]

My family never went at all when I was a kid. Would have been nice!

I like you so much better in political threads than in Disney themed ones. Lol.

Anyway, here’s the upside to not spending time at Disney parks as a kid- you didn’t lose hours of your life standing in a queue.

 

[drizgirl]

I like you so much better in political threads than in Disney themed ones. Lol.

Anyway, here’s the upside to not spending time at Disney parks as a kid- you didn’t lose hours of your life standing in a queue.

 

[Mander]

Disney isn't the only popular vacation spot that requires advanced planning. I worked in lodging for Yellowstone National Park and it's a very similar situation. I've had plenty of people mad at me because they showed up wanting a day of hotel reservation only to find out that we had been sold out for months. Same for dining reservations at our three most popular restaurants. Reservations for 2019 will open May of 2018 and if you want a guaranteed hotel, campsite, or dinner reservation? You'd better be ready. Overcrowding is an issue too- the parking for many areas near the geysers is just full. You either have to illegally park alongside the road and walk or just circle for a long time (or skip it). It's always possible something will open up but it should never be counted on. If you're going last minute, be patient and flexible.

I get that there are vacation destinations that don't require this. To act like Disney is the only place isn't realistic.

 

[Jedi Stitch]

If you have a legitimate complaint about something that made things unmagical, sometime you just need to vent your frustration. I have, and have seen both sides of the discussion from it, very informative. Some days, I see people post on here and to be frank about, sounds like they are nagging. With out reposting and calling any one out, I just want to paraphrase: "I go to the world a few times a year, and I feel like they charge too much for me to be there, I have seen everything, they are not adding or changing things fast enough, and they let too many people in and thy are always crowded." So if your just not feeling the magic anymore, as a posed to it being actualy un magical, then go take a break. Go hit the other places, and see Disney from a fresh perspective. Hey I'm happy to go the few times in a decade, and enjoy every minute. My opinion for the day. Thank you, and have a magical day.

 

[eliza61nyc]

So if your just not feeling the magic anymore, as a posed to it being actualy un magical, then go take a break. Go hit the other places, and see Disney from a fresh perspective. Hey I'm happy to go the few times in a decade, and enjoy every minute. My opinion for the day. Thank you, and have a magical day.

That's a very good valid point. I recognized that going every year, often 2X's a year can definitely take the "bloom of the rose". some times people will say "you let little things like that get you" and I realize that if you go 2x a year you notice if the trash cans are overflowing in the parks where a newcomer would not. lol, on a recent visit to the Beach club, I offhandedly mentioned that the rug in the lobby was filthy. My son's cracked up with laughter and said "mom, only you would notice that".

so we do just as you suggested, we stopped going every year. Also we go for shorter visits. no more 10 night trips, no need.

 

[eliza61nyc]

I think this is the crux of a lot of disappointment in the parks. A cursory look online shows a plethora of crowd calendars that pinpoint low crowd days and suggest "slow" weeks to their readers. To their thousands and thousands of readers. Who then get to the parks on what they thought was a slow week only to find themselves face to face with a wall of people. They didn't plan for that. They didn't prepare for that.

The parks are always crowded now, and you can still have fun in a crowded park, but only if you come prepared to experience a crowded park.

And I'll throw in those commercials. I was in Peco bills on trip relaxing and grabbing a bite to eat and I chatted up a conversation with an older gentlemen who was sitting next to me waiting for his family, I noticed he had on one of those "first visit" buttons so I asked him if he was enjoying his vacation. He said he was but he was a little disappointed. I asked him why and he said he thought the characters would be "milling" in the street along main street. On tv he saw little boys running up into Mickeys arms and he was expecting that for his grandson.

Disney has a awesome marketing department but not to realistic.

 

[21stamps]

Disney isn't the only popular vacation spot that requires advanced planning. I worked in lodging for Yellowstone National Park and it's a very similar situation. I've had plenty of people mad at me because they showed up wanting a day of hotel reservation only to find out that we had been sold out for months. Same for dining reservations at our three most popular restaurants. Reservations for 2019 will open May of 2018 and if you want a guaranteed hotel, campsite, or dinner reservation? You'd better be ready. Overcrowding is an issue too- the parking for many areas near the geysers is just full. You either have to illegally park alongside the road and walk or just circle for a long time (or skip it). It's always possible something will open up but it should never be counted on. If you're going last minute, be patient and flexible.

I get that there are vacation destinations that don't require this. To act like Disney is the only place isn't realistic.

This is exactly correct. Last 2 non Disney “big/expensive trips”- Key West. You better believe I had advance reservations for Dry Tortugas. That was supposed to be the highlight of our trip- cancelled due to weather.
A cruise over Thanksgiving- Cozumel we had a reef snorkel planned- supposed to be the highlight of our trip- disembarked, walked down the pier to check in, cancelled due to rough seas. All other excursions were sold out at that point. We stayed on the ship.

Things happen. Even when you’ve spent a lot of money, and even when you’ve planned “perfectly”.

( edit for Siri spelling correction)

 

[DryerLintFan]

There used to be a lovely lull in the couple of weeks after Thanksgiving. It was definitely slower than the couple weeks leading up to Christmas. It's the reason they have (at least previously) offered free dining during that time.

This is exactly what I read on at least 15 different Disney advice blogs and articles calling it "the best time to go".

 

[21stamps]

This is exactly what I read on at least 15 different Disney advice blogs and articles calling it "the best time to go".

That’s why I went that time last year.. because I read of all of these “low crowds” and great prices. 0 discounts, high crowds. Lol
Sorry there was a discount for 5 of 9 nights. Which is better than 0. Didn’t feel like much of a discount though, but part of that was my fault.

 

[drizgirl]

You also have to remember that MM+ wasn't put into place to help get people fastpasses. It was put in place to help Disney with big data to identify the traditionally slower times so they could "right size" their staffing in the parks. So even if crowds do happen to be lower, Disney is now one step ahead and staffing down, sometimes running fewer ride vehicles, so it still feels busier.