What will it take to stop you from going to WDW?

[Pepper's Ghost]

There are a combination of two things that have greatly curtailed the amount of time, and by extension, money that I spend with WDW.

1) The first is value. I have posted this story before, but I will do it again. I first went to WDW as an adult where I paid my own way in 1999 or 2000. I was recently married, just bought a house, had a new kid and money was tight. WDW was on a budget at that time, and my (then) wife had convinced me to go. I though there were much more affordable vacations out there. Within the first day at the parks, I thought I was getting my money's worth, and then some. Yeah it was expense (to me) but it was worth it. The value was there. The little details, the attitude of the cast members, the sense of relaxation, the being in the "bubble".
Fast forward to today. Suffice to say I can afford a WDW vacation, even at today's prices, easily within our budget. I am also a DVC member, so I have that prepaid room as well. However, every time I go, I come out feeling like I have been robbed. My wife and I come home, look at what we spent, and say "why do we keep going back". In fact, we no longer go back as often. We used to go on a family vacation with our kids every summer, and then F&W 2 out of 3 years with just me and my wife. We haven't been to WDW as a family in two years now (and have no plans to do so this summer). We haven't been to F&W in 3 years (but we do have room reserved for this year).

2) The second is logistics. I manage a team of Technical Project Managers as my job. Any given day I am managing budgets, overloaded IT resources in wildly varying time zones, marketing, legal, supply chain, retail, and network engineering requirements. All while making sure things are reported properly to executives and meeting their requirements. I do not want to do anything approaching this on vacation. I do not want to be up at 6:00 AM with 4 cell phones trying to snag a time to get on a ride. I do not want to have to plan where I am going to eat months in advance, I do not want to have to consult crowd levels, park schedules, and reserved ride times in order to not wait in a 90 minute line. I do not want to have to look at my cell phone - I look at those things all of the time at work, I don't want to do it on vacation. WDW has become a massive planning event, and a lot less of a vacation than it used to be (at least for me)

This post, plus many of the recent ones, rings so true for me. I hate to be that old f@rt who longs for the good ole days, but it's impossible not to. My then girlfriend/wife (in the later 90s/00s) and I used to book the trip with park hoppers for every day, and that was it. All booked with minimal effort a few months in advance, and then relax until about the week before when we'd start to talk about what parks on what days, etc. When we got there, MK on first day, and then the rest of the trip just morphed into whatever we felt like. No strict regimen. We really liked MK the first day, so after visiting AK on day 2 for half the day, go back to MK for the rest. We weren't restricted by FP+ reservations, or anything of the kind. I know you can still hop after 2pm, but you lose any FPs you had and stand in ungodly lines. Back in those days, FP+ wasn't a thing, so there was no 10-1 FP ratio creating lines for every ride that lasts hours. Disney has just ruined spontaneity and relaxation.

And don't get me on the whole mind-melting staring at your cell phones all day. Most people on their vacations become phone jockeys trying so hard to maximize their experience that they miss their entire vacation that's happening in front of them. Those are the same couples I see sitting in a restaurant together at their table... both staring at their phone the entire time, occasionally sharing a picture with the other. People say a zombie apocalypse is impossible, right? Science fiction. Nope, we're living it with people wandering aimlessly staring at their phones. The problem is that Disney has made it so that if you DON'T do this, you don't get to experience all the stuff we used to experience in the 90s/00s. It used to work so well without phones, and now with them, it's less enjoyable. That's a realization I've come to know because the old days without phones are never coming back unfortunately.

The fact that everyone is staring at their phones now is why I believe Disney doesn't clean as much, and tries far less when it comes to the detailed nuances I used to enjoy. Why bother when you've made everyone stare at their hand? Why make the queue intricate when everyone is hitting refresh every 5 seconds. They're not seeing what's around them anyway.

 

[Phonedave]

And let's add to this - I don't want to preselect which park I will be visiting months in advance, and trying to figure out how much a ride will cost via ILL vs just opting for Genie+, or in some cases going sans Genie+. There's always some level of planning with a vacation, but Disney now seems intent on taking it to extremes.

I honestly spend less time planning a vacation in a foreign country than I do when going to WDW

 

[WDWJoeG]

I honestly spend less time planning a vacation in a foreign country than I do when going to WDW

I'm not one of those "what would Walt say" guys but hard to believe he would have wanted a Disney vacation to be such a "chore".

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I'm not one of those "what would Walt guys say" but hard to believe he would have wanted a Disney vacation to be such a "chore".

Wouldn't have mattered. He'd have been kicked out of the park once he lit up on Main Street.

 

[draybook]

For us, it's the pricing. We're most likely going down the first week of April so the Mrs. can do that ToT 10 miler. We were looking at spending a day at the MK, but for the 6 of us, it would run 1k for a single park/single day ticket. Nah, we're good. The boys will be sad that we'll be there without going to a park but we'll just go to Disney Springs to get our fix and find other things to do with the rest of the week. Besides, I'll be taking a severance package at the end of August so we're going to be taking a nice trip at the beginning of September, so there's no rush to visit a park in April.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

So you stopped going in January? I hate to say it but the reason they do not care if because the parks are packed with
vacationers. I am sure it will probably take about a year before they start to care again, once the excitement of the parks
and resorts even being open calms down.

We haven't been back since March 2019, the week that the pandemic started.

 

[OG Runner]

We haven't been back since March 2019, the week that the pandemic started.

Sorry, you mentioned you made the decision when DME ended, which was in January.
I hate to be a pill but the pandemic started in March of 2020. I ran the Disney Marathon
in January of 2020, no masks or restrictions.

You really should go back. There is still plenty to enjoy, including a few new rides.

 

[Hitchens]

I just cancelled our reservations for August, and (more sadly) our reservations for Universal Orlando.

While I hated the thought of getting up at 3am (Pacific time) to make restaurant reservations,
and have heard some bad things about Genie+ & Lightning Lane,
and am disappointed at not having Magical Express,
& Tron's nonexistent opening date,
what got me off the fence and inspired me to finally cancel was Chapek's weak support for some of Florida's worst politicians, especially regarding LGBTQ issues. I remember Michael Eisner heroically (& before many other corporations followed Disney's lead) supporting Disney's many gay employees by offering benefits to their partners. When Southern Baptists said they'd boycott Disney because of this, he basically said fine. Then after years they called off their boycott.

I couldn't find where to cancel the hotel reservation online, so I waited 50 minutes to speak to a human to cancel it, and I was then disappointed that the Disney rep said they aren't doing email, text or any kind of confirmation of cancellations besides a verbal confirmation. Universal didn't make me wait on the phone and sent me a (comforting, contrasted with Disney) cancellation confirmation almost instantly, as all other hotels seem to do.

I used to be a Disneyland Tomorrowland Attractions Host & Jungle Cruise Guide in the 80s,
I went to WDW every summer from 1972 through 82, and then about every other year for the next couple of decades,
& I've been on a Disney Cruise to Alaska, to Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris; so I know how outstanding Disney service can be, and it's sad to see Disney declining in some ways.

 

[WDWJoeG]

I just cancelled our reservations for August, and (more sadly) our reservations for Universal Orlando.

While I hated the thought of getting up at 3am (Pacific time) to make restaurant reservations,
and have heard some bad things about Genie+ & Lightning Lane,
and am disappointed at not having Magical Express,
& Tron's nonexistent opening date,


I couldn't find where to cancel the hotel reservation online, so I waited 50 minutes to speak to a human to cancel it, though I was disappointed that the Disney rep said they aren't doing email, text or any kind of confirmation of cancellations besides a verbal confirmation. Universal didn't make me wait on the phone and sent me a (comforting, contrasted with Disney) cancellation confirmation almost instantly, as all other hotels seem to do.

I used to be a Disneyland Tomorrowland Attractions Host & Jungle Cruise Guide in the 80s,
I went to WDW every summer from 1972 through 82, and then about every other year for the next couple of decades,
& I've been on a Disney Cruise to Alaska, to Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris; so I know how outstanding Disney service can be, and it's sad to see Disney declining in some ways.

Say it with me....because they just don't care.

And because the customers keep coming no matter how poorly they are treated, it just reinforces their behavior.

At Disneyland, they just now reopened the trams after making people walk a half mile to the entrance for absolutely no reason for months - and I heard people PRAISE them!

It's truly an unbelievable dynamic the way these Disney Apologists guzzle the Kool-Aid.

At this point, you can't blame the executives, blame the customers.

 

[kat621]

I love Disney, but with all the not so good changes going on, my husband and I are looking to Universal if it gets any worse. We're planning our trip to WDW in November 2022 for our 20th anniversary, but sadly my husband says this will probably be the last trip there. Universal Studios Orlando doesn't seem to have all the "Chapek" touches so far.

 

[NickMaio]

What do you base your statement on? You realize the attendance numbers are up in the parks?
I was not happy with some of the changes to the park, but who do you know that is telling you
Disney does not care? Stop just throwing out statements without any support to them.

The writing is on the wall...........if you can't find support as to why DIS no longer cares about customers, you simply aren't looking.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We _have_ stopped going. We spent President's Day week in Orlando and have 2-day WDW comped parkhoppers in our possession, and my family didn't even want to go there for "free" under the current regime. We had a marvelous time at Universal instead.

We will surely go back to Disney eventually, but not for a few years, ideally after they've opened all the under-construction areas and attractions, restored all-day parkhopping, and fixed or replaced Genie+. I do treasure my memories of our many Disney trips and I'm glad others are still enjoying it -- as for me, I just refuse to pay so much more for so much less when other destinations will be able to give me a better "benefit of the bargain" for the foreseeable future. Obviously, every family has their own budget and unique priorities, so the analysis and breaking point are different for everyone. For us, the recent changes (replacement of FP+ with a costly and inferior offering that would require us to bury our noses in our phones all day, replacement of EMH with an inferior amenity, elimination of all-day parkhopping, elimination of DME, failure to resume normal hotel housekeeping or in-park entertainment, etc.) have each made WDW less and less attractive, and dampened our enthusiasm for returning.

 

[NickMaio]

We _have_ stopped going. We spent President's Day week in Orlando and have 2-day WDW comped parkhoppers in our possession, and my family didn't even want to go there for "free" under the current regime. We had a marvelous time at Universal instead.

We will surely go back to Disney eventually, but not for a few years, ideally after they've opened all the under-construction areas and attractions, restored all-day parkhopping, and fixed or replaced Genie+. I do treasure my memories of our many Disney trips and I'm glad others are still enjoying it -- as for me, I just refuse to pay so much more for so much less when other destinations will be able to give me a better "benefit of the bargain" for the foreseeable future. Obviously, every family has their own budget and unique priorities, so the analysis and breaking point are different for everyone.

More and more people will start to develop this mentality.
Sure people are busting the doors now because they have been pent up and have extra cash.
Once they get home things might be a little different.
WDW got many of us hooked a long time ago, for good reasons. They really have forgotten these reasons and will eventually need to reimplement them again.
It really is too bad.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Sorry, you mentioned you made the decision when DME ended, which was in January.
I hate to be a pill but the pandemic started in March of 2020. I ran the Disney Marathon
in January of 2020, no masks or restrictions.

You really should go back. There is still plenty to enjoy, including a few new rides.

…so you just disregarded her concern…that’s the kinda customer Bob loves to see

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What do you base your statement on? You realize the attendance numbers are up in the parks?
I was not happy with some of the changes to the park, but who do you know that is telling you
Disney does not care? Stop just throwing out statements without any support to them.

nothing they’ve done over the last 2 years (I’ll just leave it there) has been well received.

You can be a Fan and not be an apologist for a huge public company that operates like all the others.

Would you take a bullet for Amazon because your stuff shows up the next day?

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

nothing they’ve done over the last 2 years (I’ll just leave it there) has been well received.

Does that include the time they were closed? Cause I didn’t like it at the time. But now...seems like it might be a good idea.

 

[Hitchens]

I honestly spend less time planning a vacation in a foreign country than I do when going to WDW

Me too.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Does that include the time they were closed? Cause I didn’t like it at the time. But now...seems like it might be a good idea.

Some things:

Like laying off your staff in a notorious state that treated its workers like disposable supplies and then spending every day since crying about how you can’t get labor?

Yeah…I’m gonna remember that one.

Criticism for Precautions? Caution?…absolutely not.

 

[OG Runner]

Me too.

I definitely can't argue with that. The way it is set up right now also takes additional planning while you are on vacation.
I am not saying Disney is perfect. Genie+ is hard to deal with and I was surprised to find first you need to purchase the
lightning lane for the rides for $15.00 and then add an additional $11.00 to get lightning lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Despite that, overall I still had a great vacation and marathon weekend.

 

[msha88]

Genie+ is the biggest of a fairly long list of annoyances for me so I voted for that. The cost cutting, increased prices, too many upcharge events, overcrowding, poor maintenance, hating Disney management, reduced entertainment / capacity of restaurants and stores are all a factor in my family not enjoying our last few trips as much as those prior to 2019 but it’s Genie+ that I think will be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

We‘re from the UK so having not been able to visit for a few years I think we had rose tinted glasses on when we booked to come back over Christmas 2021. All of the above was a factor in why we didn’t enjoy our trip as much as we did in the good old days but Genie+ is just the ultimate annoyance. The 7 am booking, glitches with the app, not being able to get what we want, clashes with existing plans such as ADRs that were difficult to get in the first place, constantly having to be on the phone to book something else….it’s just not fun and relaxing. And I would say all of the advanced planning (Park Passes, ADRs) and not being able to park hop until 2 pm doesn’t help with that either. I want some flexibility when I’m trying to relax on vacation. A few days on-site at Universal with included Unlimited Express does that and it’s better value for money too (we’ve done that every time we’ve visited central Florida even when we skipped Disney in 2020 because of how fed up we were with the money grabbing management of the parks.)

We had already booked to come back to WDW for August ‘22 when we visited at Christmas (again, the pandemic made us miss the Disney that was I guess, rather than the one that still exists) and although I was able to shorten the Disney part of the stay, we would have lost money to cancel so we’ll suck it up this time. But if it’s another disappointing experience I can’t see us returning while Genie+ is still in place. That makes me sad because I grew up visiting Disney World and our children have too. But it’s not the same place it was because of the way it’s being run to please the shareholders only. In 2023 we’ll do a California road trip with a few days at Disneyland where I’ve heard Genie+ works better if it’s needed although I haven’t been since I was a teenager. Our teens are really excited to experience the West Coast parks for the first time.