What's deflated your WDW enthusiasm the most: Pandemic or Genie+

[John park hopper]

I am reminded of how SC increased the price of hunting licenses $25 went up to 50 and they actually brought in less money because many people would buy a license and never go hunting. When they increased the price those marginal hunts quit buying licenses. By Disney now charging for parking, fast passes etc etc those marginal Disney fans IMO will stop going ==lost revenue

 

[RoadiJeff]

People in this thread often mention free parking going away. When did this happen? When we stayed at the AKL a few years ago the parking was $25 per night, if I recall. A few years before that when we stayed at the Dolphin parking was $20-something back then.

I'll be arriving in Orlando in 4 days and this time around I'm staying at a Comfort Inn, close to Universal. Parking there is included in their $3.95/day resort fee and free shuttles to the parks, although I'll probably still drive.

 

[wdwmagic]

People in this thread often mention free parking going away. When did this happen? When we stayed at the AKL a few years ago the parking was $25 per night, if I recall. A few years before that when we stayed at the Dolphin parking was $20-something back then.

I'll be arriving in Orlando in 4 days and this time around I'm staying at a Comfort Inn, close to Universal. Parking there is included in their $3.95/day resort fee and free shuttles to the parks, although I'll probably still drive.

Disney to begin charging for overnight self-parking at its Walt Disney World Resort hotels

Parking at a Walt Disney World Resort will now cost between $13 and $24 per night.

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[RoadiJeff]

Disney to begin charging for overnight self-parking at its Walt Disney World Resort hotels

Parking at a Walt Disney World Resort will now cost between $13 and $24 per night.

www.wdwmagic.com

So, it's been this way for over 3.5 years. People make it sound like this just happened in 2021.

 

[Andrew25]

So, it's been this way for over 3.5 years. People make it sound like this just happened in 2021.

Probably because the people who visit every few years are just starting to realize it.

People who visited prior to SWGE's opening are starting to see how much more it costs.

 

[jpinkc]

I hope Disney's day of reckoning has come and they are forced to go back to the Disney of old---- am I delusional

Unless a Disney rises from the Grave, I think we are all delusional to think they will go backwards. It would take someone of Walts caliber to step into a leadership/creative roll and the Board and Bean Counters would never allow that to happen. A good creative person like that would want to do things and be creative and proactive on problems, but that costs money and the other 2 I mentioned no like that.

 

[Cliff]

It's been happening for years, it's just more obvious now

It is my belief that in most large companies, the people that are the highest, the people that are the furthest away from their actual product.

The CEO of Ford knows their truck division is important but is not knowledgeable about "exactly" what F150 buyers are "really" wanting. The CEO of Hewlett Packard doesnt "really" understand what customers want "exactly" from their computers and printers. He/she only knows they have to be good products in general.

I doubt Chapek could actually even tell you what the EPCOT acronym used to stand for. As customers... we are FAR.. .FAAAR more knowledgable about what the product means to us then he does.

To some degree, this is normal, I think.

 

[John park hopper]

Disney to begin charging for overnight self-parking at its Walt Disney World Resort hotels

Parking at a Walt Disney World Resort will now cost between $13 and $24 per night.

www.wdwmagic.com

Within a year they raised the parking fee

 

[Greg in TN]

They have a long history of making decisions based on the way people vacation, which included the free legacy FP sometime in the 90’s and the FP+ system that lasted for years. The new system won’t make them money if it doesn’t take into account how people vacation.

Seems to me the most they've cared about the way people vacation, is when they try to influence the way people vacation. Book FP+ & ADRs in advance so they'll know the demand & crowds to staff for; Use Magical Express to keep people on-property exclusively; DVC to lock people in and keep bringing them back. Granted, FP+ and Magical Express didn't, in & of themselves, make any money, but they certainly provided information &/or circumstances that did.

 

[Chi84]

Seems to me the most they've cared about the way people vacation, is when they try to influence the way people vacation. Book FP+ & ADRs in advance so they'll know the demand & crowds to staff for; Use Magical Express to keep people on-property exclusively; DVC to lock people in and keep bringing them back. Granted, FP+ and Magical Express didn't, in & of themselves, make any money, but they certainly provided information &/or circumstances that did.

Yes, like any business, they would like to know where people intend to go and what they want to do so they can decide on staffing levels. Also, they want to keep guests on property and to keep them coming back. I don't disagree with anything you've said, but it seems you think these are negatives and I don't know why.

 

[Greg in TN]

Yes, like any business, they would like to know where people intend to go and what they want to do so they can decide on staffing levels. Also, they want to keep guests on property and to keep them coming back. I don't disagree with anything you've said, but it seems you think these are negatives and I don't know why.

Correct, they're not reacting to the way people vacation, they're trying to influence the way people vacation. I don't see these as positives or negatives; they're business practices. Just like building a new attraction in hopes of influencing more people to visit, is also a business practice. Positive? Negative? Depends. If someone really enjoys that attraction, they'll see it as a positive. Someone who's more concerned about the overcrowding may view it as a negative.

 

[Snake]

It's death by a thousands cuts, so many its very hard think of them all at once.
-Polynesian changes on the outside ruining the look and reminding us how they ruined the inside years ago all over again. They replaced the tropical vegetation outside that had wooden landscaping with a generic concrete curb an generic plants that look more like a new Denny's or Best Western, not the biggest tourist destination in the world-hotel-charging-$500+ a night.
-Bland new rides might be the worst of them all, my favorite ride is still Tower of Terror, I've ridden the new rides and could care less about Rise of the Resistance, Smugglers run, Slinky Dog Dash, Run away Rail Way. It's a sad day when you realize Universal builds better rides now like Haggrids coaster.
-Eliminating no expiration date passes, this is an old one, but I'm still mad.
-Tearing out old rides to build new ones, I hear Disney recent sent out a survey asking guests what to do about over crowding? Seriously? Build a new park, its been 20+ years and demand only keeps increasing. They keep building hotels, why did they stop building parks? I'm sure the hotels make lots of money with less upkeep.
-Animal Kingdom still only has 3 attractions worth doing, Avatar, Everest, Dinosaur, and they tore out the Dino-rama spin coaster? This park is worth about 2 hours tops. Maybe only 1.
-The lines, everyone bum rushes the newer rides(Seven Dwarf Mine Train), some older rides no longer draw the crowds to spread out like they used to. Dated rides need updating without losing their charm.
-Reservations, next we will need to make reservations to use the toilet.
-Park hopping restriction, having this restrictions does not keep crowds down, it makes them worse. If we entered a park early in the day and see lots of crowds, we hit a few rides and leave for another park. You can't do that now. Who is the moron that thinks hopping restriction keeps crowding down? EXACTLY the opposite.
So many more I can't remember at the moment.

 

[Simba's Mom]

As a PP said, it's been the nickel and dime-ing. Genie + was the final nail in the coffin for me. Then the day of the 50th anniversary, from what I heard (I wasn't there), really affirmed my belief that WDW has become just all about money. Was anyone at Disneyland on their 50th? DS worked on stage as part of the ceremony -yes, Disneyland had an actual major ceremony, complete with Mickey and the gang. What did they have at WDW? Souveniers of the 50th anniversary, another big money grab. Yeah, DL had souvenirs, but unlike WDW, they did more.

 

[OG Runner]

Honestly it all amazes me. On the surface it appears that Disney has done a lot to deflate people's enthusiasm for the Parks and Resorts.
Why is it then that both the Parks & Resorts are doing so well? Both the Parks and Resorts are filling up and crowded. Despite the cries
of nickel & diming and money grabbing, it appears an awful lot of people are still going to what they consider an enjoyable vacation. Go figure.

 

[Cliff]

it's funny....I am such an absolute "sucker" for Walt Disney World. This place, in general, has created so many powerful memories for me in the past 40 or so years.

No matter how expensive it gets, no matter how much of the past they wash away today....those "past" memories will compel me to keep going and keep buying anual passes

In a way, Im "locked-in" on always wanting to be there even if its just to relive "past" memories.

Weird....right?

 

[danyoung56]

If they're going to try and charge me extra for using the "Lightning Lane" I already told my wife and daughter that I will let my pass expire.

I guess you'll be letting your pass expire, then. You'll need to spend $15 per person per day for the right to use LL for a list of rides, and a charge per ride for the super headliners. Sucks, but there it is.

 

[Familyof5]

I'm not sure why you're confused. There are people (a whole lot of them) who are bothered by having to wear a mask at a theme park and having to socially distance from characters. In fact, many have reported they'll stay away from the parks because of COVID restrictions. Obviously those things don't bother you personally, but are you really confused that others may feel differently?

I'm not confused. Disney implemented Genie; they didn't need to. The Pandemic is global and we all do what we need to do to keep children and elderly safe.

 

[Familyof5]

I read this here all the time, and I just don't think every type of vacation is destined to be stress-free.

WDW is so large now and offers so much; 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, an entertainment/restaurant/shopping district and resorts like AKL that are destinations in themselves. People go for a week (some even longer) and want to experience specific attractions or events, such as fireworks shows, the newest ride or a popular restaurant with a specific view. They go with their families, who often have to accommodate the schedules of younger or older members. Itineraries are the only way these people are going to get a shot at getting what they want at a time convenient to them. Despite rising costs, the parks are full and these experiences book up far in advance.

We take at least two trips each year - some with just my husband and me and others with the entire family (currently expanded to 6 adults and 3 grandchildren under 3 years old). DH and I would book FP+ and ADR's in advance because we wanted to ensure that we could do certain things at certain times (for example, go to a water park during the day and then hit FOP, EE and KS in the evening at AK with Tiffins thrown in somewhere for dinner). But just about every vacation, we made some last minute changes, usually based on weather.

Our April 2022 trip with the family is going to be challenging, but I would have much preferred the old FP+, 180-day ADR system to whatever is being put in place now. You just don't "wing it" when it comes to making dinner reservations for 9 people. Disney long ago made the decision to favor the certainty of getting particular experiences to the spontaneity of last-minute choices. What I fear is that they have now come up with a weird hybrid of letting people make reservations (60 days out for ADRs and last-minute with Genie+) that will force spontaneity without the certainty of getting what you want.

We've been going to WDW since 1984, when you made dining reservations on the phone or at a kiosk in the parks and there was no line reservation system. We've never had a bad vacation there, and I've always said that the two things most necessary for success are a positive attitude and the flexibility to work with any system Disney currently has in place. This next year is going to test that concept, but I'm willing to give it a chance before deciding it won't work for us.

For some of us, it's too expensive a trip not to be sure that you have dining reservations and three fast-passes. I think sadly, our Disney days are over.

 

[Familyof5]

Yes. Large families will feel the hurt more. But those with large families have more expenses all around. We are me, DW and sometimes DS so we can work around the changes.

And, people travelling a significant distance which adds to the cost. It's just too expensive not to be sure of Dining reservations and three fast-passes.

 

[Ayla]

Within a year they raised the parking fee

Current rates are $15, $20 and $25 per night.