What has become of Disney?

[French Quarter]

Epcot seemed to have the most space. It was also my favorite park and if I was a local I would enjoy visiting it on occasion. The other parks not so much. Epcot very laid back. You could buy a wine and snack and find somewhere to sit by the lake they had. Magic Kingdom seemed like everyone was always trying to get somewhere and was in a frenzied rush. Seemed like nobody ever stood still long enough to enjoy anything. Strollers were everywhere as it is obviously the park kids would like best. One thing that was different this time than in 92 was there were no characters walking about. In 92 some of the costumed and face characters were always walking about somewhere, it appears you now can only see them by waiting in a long line at designated spits. Very different. We did catch one parade but we learned you had better get a spot in advance somewhere as it got crazy. Same for the fireworks, which were nice but it got insanely congested near the big castle.

Animal Park was relatively quiet. It got very hot and didn't seem like any breeze was getting in. Once is enough for this park for us. Hollywood park was OK but kind of small for the amount of people. Spent most of the last three days at epcot and swimming in hotel pool. Also want to seaworld and Kennedy space center. Didn't go back to magic kingdom as it was too crowded and just not that magical for us. Much better in 92.Went to the downtown disney spring area once in the evening. Nothing but shops really.very dissapointed with that. Insane food prices.

Epcot I would give 4 stars out of 5. Hollywood park 2 stars, Magic Kingdom 1.5. Downtown Disney zero stars-glorified shopping strip.

As far as food, the Bavarian oktoberfest dining at epcot was great. The only negative was seating. It was cruise ship style shared table seating, which is fine. But the people we sat with didn't mind their kids well and they were acting up. One kid spilled a drink on the table And I think a toddler was in desperate need of a diaper change. Counter food was decent for theme park. The lobster roll at a diner in magic kingdom was excellant. Other dining was buffet style at various spots. Not bad but they all seemed to offer the same fare.

This reads like you did no research before your trip and didn't know what to expect. They changed the character meet and greet procedure quite a long time ago, for instance, and this is widely known. As is the name of the "animal park". And it is odd not to expect it to be hot.

I'm not disagreeing that WDW should work harder to manage crowds and fix the Magic Band problem but some of these complaints seem like things one would know before showing up and if they didn't, it's hardly fair to blame Disney.

 

[French Quarter]

I feel compelled to comment about the number of people using scooters. This is a facility that has been a godsend to me & many other guests & yes I appear to be obese.

I suffer from arthritis & a number of related autoimmune conditions, one form of treatment is very high doses of steriods & this has significantly affected my weight to the detriment & according to my specialist this may be something that I will be suffering the effects of for the rest of my life.

I take many different types of medication to support my condition including opiates & morphine based pain relief (just to put my condition in context) but as a RAF veteran weight & fitness was never an issue this was a condition which was a complication that was a direct result of the military failing to deal with another medical condition which then became critical (I had a cadiac failure on the table) this then caused shock induced arthritis.

Now to the casual observer I look for all intents & puposes to be a typical obese abuser of the scooter & Disneys accommodating nature with the extra support they offer, however you no more know my story than I know yours. When you see us next time I suggest you say a quick prayer thanking who or whatever you believe in that you aren't in that position. There but for the grace of god go any of us!

On a side note as this is your 1st visit back after over 20 years, I suggest that perhaps your expectations were coloured by the rose tinted view you had of your previous trip. Of course things have changed, somethings for the better some not, how you deal with those changes will impact on your enjoyment, either positively or negatively.

WRT to your glasses, were they identified, prescription or not without some sort of Id I'm quite sure that the chances of them being easily identified from the other 200 pairs or so glasses lost on the same day is close to negligible. I know for you it was quite traumatic but for that poor individual in lost property it was probably the hundreth time he'd heard the same story that day?

Perhaps a little more expectation management on your part would have greatly improved your enjoyment.

We all know Disney isn't quite what we would wish it to be & that crowd levels are now far higher at all times of the year than they used to be, but all of this information is freely available & you shouldn't have been caught by surprise.

I'm sorry your trip didn't live up to your expectations, however they were your expectations & it appears that they weren't as well informed as they might have been as the reality of your trip has amply identified.

My dear, you do not have to justify your use of a scooter. They are there for people to use. Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Shake it off!

 

[French Quarter]

You know, you don't have to use the FP+ system. We don't and get along just fine. There are only a couple must rides and for them we make sure to hit them first thing in the morning when the wait is usually 30 minutes or less...(January/February). Single rider lanes are nice too. When we're on vacation we don't want to be racing across the park to make a FP time, or show, or meal and standing in line to change one time to another, cancel this or that, not to mention sitting up all hours of the night just to have dinner at a certain restaurant.

The scooters don't bother me so much as the huge strollers with large kids riding in them does, blocking crowded pathways and pushing them thru already crowded shops and restaurants.

You also don't have to visit WDW. Some people think they have to go even though they have a mediocre or bad time and that Disney has an obligation to be everything they want it to be. Neither of these things are true. Disney offers the product they want to offer. Buy it or don't.

 

[French Quarter]

One thing disney parks does do well is manage the shuttle system. Given the unbelievable crowd levels at magic kingdom, they moved people very efficiently using the shuttle bus system. That really was impressive and is a model of efficiency.

My overall impression was that they are doing the best they can to deal with crowds. But given that a business must increase sales and revenue to grow, how can they do it without expansion? You really can't fit any more people in there, unless you want to stuff them in restrooms or on rooftops. No doubt management is grappling with this question. They need to expand the magic kingdom park and/or find incentives to funnel people to less crowded venues. Otherwise, it will eventually reach the point where it implodes under demand pressures. You just can't put more people into the space it now occupies. It's already packed sardines.

Did you miss the news about the major expansions that are taking place?

 

[French Quarter]

I really didn't want to start a fight about scooters. I just commented there appeared to be a lot at disney when compared to other theme parks.

That actually isn't all you said.

 

[French Quarter]

The scooters take up a lot of room and the drivers are usually fairly rude.

On a higher level it just annoys me how weak and feeble US citizens have become. They justify all of it. Last time I was in WDW the crowd was at least 50% foreign and it was so noticeable who was who. The main difference was weight. No European is showing up at WDW weighing 300 lbs wearing stretch pants. I don't see South Americans riding around in scooters unless something is very wrong with them.

Another thing is I take my kids out to State Parks to hike or do other activities, well worth it to see things for yourself as opposed to TV. I was shocked in up state NY that I was hiking around some nice water falls and the foreigners out number Americans by a large amount. Middle of NY and I'm talking to some people from France, big group of Japanese hiking around even a lady in a full Indian sari hiking around. Have the Americans become so whiny and out of shape that most can't even live a normal active life? Making excuses for them is not helping matters. Also it is just so low class what I am seeing.

So...you have no real good reason?

You are the one letting these things annoy you. Live and let live.

 

[rucifee]

This reads like you did no research before your trip and didn't know what to expect. They changed the character meet and greet procedure quite a long time ago, for instance, and this is widely known. As is the name of the "animal park". And it is odd not to expect it to be hot.

I'm not disagreeing that WDW should work harder to manage crowds and fix the Magic Band problem but some of these complaints seem like things one would know before showing up and if they didn't, it's hardly fair to blame Disney.

This stuff is generally not widely known unless you do nothing but sit on a theme park forum all day reading all of the latest gossip and do little else. OP's account is very new, you can't blame OP for not having information that Disney doesn't advertise themselves. It's unrealistic to expect everything you read on the internet to be true anyway.

 

[SandraAnn]

This isn't about individuals on scooters. I will never believe that people are choosing scooters for the fun of it. It is so much easier and enjoyable to walk.

But if the parks are overcrowded, and if strollers and scooters are adding to that overcrowding, and they are, then they need to limit the amount of people they let in to accommodate the number of vehicles. In other words, a person on a scooter might actually be taking the space of two people, and ditto for a large stroller.

What if everyone was on a scooter? Or everyone was pushing a double wide jogging stroller? The place would become total gridlock.

 

[rucifee]

This isn't about individuals on scooters. I will never believe that people are choosing scooters for the fun of it. It is so much easier and enjoyable to walk.

But if the parks are overcrowded, and if strollers and scooters are adding to that overcrowding, and they are, then they need to limit the amount of people they let in to accommodate the number of vehicles. In other words, a person on a scooter might actually be taking the space of two people, and ditto for a large stroller.

What if everyone was on a scooter? Or everyone was pushing a double wide jogging stroller? The place would become total gridlock.

Disney has foretold of this future.

They should have a scooters only path to exit the parks and they should push everyone on a scooter into it for safety, but that would require competent management and a desire to correct problems like this.

 

[Nemo14]

This isn't about individuals on scooters. I will never believe that people are choosing scooters for the fun of it. It is so much easier and enjoyable to walk.

But if the parks are overcrowded, and if strollers and scooters are adding to that overcrowding, and they are, then they need to limit the amount of people they let in to accommodate the number of vehicles. In other words, a person on a scooter might actually be taking the space of two people, and ditto for a large stroller.

What if everyone was on a scooter? Or everyone was pushing a double wide jogging stroller? The place would become total gridlock.

 

[Glasgow]

Every single one of the situations in the OPs note is exacerbated by there not being enough content (ie. attractions) in the parks. To me, the biggest failing in Disney right now is that the ratio of content to cost (what I define as value) is not what it used to be. When there is too much competition for that quality content, then what happens? Overcrowding in popular areas, stressed CMs, rude guests (well, rude people are always going to be rude - they'll just get ruder), fast pass and dining resv scarcity, etc. The answer is to expand - this is expensive and slow moving because most decisions have to be completely vetted by the Accounting and Exec depts .. so you end up with the situation we have now. Simple! ha.

Of course, at the end of the day it is what you make it. We just got back from a week trip and it was wonderful as usual - but if I had to complain about anything, it's the general competition for everything .. attractions, sit down restaurants, parade and fireworks viewing space, food lines, you name it. You have to re-calibrate your brain and expectations now - it's just not what it used to be and probably never will be. If you can find contentment with that situation, then you'll probably have a good time again.

 

[rucifee]

Every single one of the situations in the OPs note is exacerbated by there not being enough content (ie. attractions) in the parks. To me, the biggest failing in Disney right now is that the ratio of content to cost (what I define as value) is not what it used to be. When there is too much competition for that quality content, then what happens? Overcrowding in popular areas, stressed CMs, rude guests (well, rude people are always going to be rude - they'll just get ruder), fast pass and dining resv scarcity, etc. The answer is to expand - this is expensive and slow moving because most decisions have to be completely vetted by the Accounting and Exec depts .. so you end up with the situation we have now. Simple! ha.

Of course, at the end of the day it is what you make it. We just got back from a week trip and it was wonderful as usual - but if I had to complain about anything, it's the general competition for everything .. attractions, sit down restaurants, parade and fireworks viewing space, food lines, you name it. You have to re-calibrate your brain and expectations now - it's just not what it used to be and probably never will be. If you can find contentment with that situation, then you'll probably have a good time again.

You have to retrain your brain to expect it to be a competition rather than a magical vacation. If you do that, you can have an OK time in the parks.

 

[SandraAnn]

Disney has foretold of this future.
They should have a scooters only path to exit the parks and they should push everyone on a scooter into it for safety, but that would require competent management and a desire to correct problems like this.

Then they also need a stroller-only path.

One easy thing they could do is ban the jogging strollers.

 

[rucifee]

Then they also need a stroller-only path.

One easy thing they could do is ban the jogging strollers.

I would agree with either of these options whole heartedly.

 

[216bruce]

This isn't about individuals on scooters. I will never believe that people are choosing scooters for the fun of it. It is so much easier and enjoyable to walk.

But if the parks are overcrowded, and if strollers and scooters are adding to that overcrowding, and they are, then they need to limit the amount of people they let in to accommodate the number of vehicles. In other words, a person on a scooter might actually be taking the space of two people, and ditto for a large stroller.

What if everyone was on a scooter? Or everyone was pushing a double wide jogging stroller? The place would become total gridlock.

Everyone on scooters? Double-wide strollers? WDW would be a giant Dodgem ride and that'd be awesome!

 

[Hockey89]

Saw some idiot in a scooter tonight almost run two children over as she swerved in and out of people on the way out of the park not bothering to look around to verify her surroundings first. She had the deluxe scooter too complete with vinyl walls and windows to protect her highness from the elements. Fortunately the boy, who looked about 10 pulled his younger I assume sister out of the way before she was hit. It was a sight to see.

One almost ran me over last time at the ticket line to get into Epcot...She could not have cared less...All about her....

 

[Hockey89]

This isn't about individuals on scooters. I will never believe that people are choosing scooters for the fun of it. It is so much easier and enjoyable to walk.

But if the parks are overcrowded, and if strollers and scooters are adding to that overcrowding, and they are, then they need to limit the amount of people they let in to accommodate the number of vehicles. In other words, a person on a scooter might actually be taking the space of two people, and ditto for a large stroller.

What if everyone was on a scooter? Or everyone was pushing a double wide jogging stroller? The place would become total gridlock.

So the group of college students last time that was using them? They 100000% could walk... Group of 4 or 5 of them....

 

[SandraAnn]

So the group of college students last time that was using them? They 100000% could walk... Group of 4 or 5 of them....

Yeah, I know, I can't say abuse never happens. I just think 99% of the time it's because the person really needs it for whatever reason.

 

[Hockey89]

Yeah, I know, I can't say abuse never happens. I just think 99% of the time it's because the person really needs it for whatever reason.

No way it's 99%.... Not even close.... We are a lazy and out of shape of country and it's epidemic

 

[wm49rs]

No way it's 99%.... Not even close.... We are a lazy and out of shape of country and it's epidemic

And you have no way of knowing that, Carnac. As you would have thought your other deleted posts would attest. But keep on trolling....