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I'm sorry, but Disney World has gone to complete shit. The hoops you have to jump through are absurd.
- Thread starter Maple
- Start date
I feel bad for the locals but something has to give to control the absolute sea of people that is there every single day.
People in the top ~1-10% of earners both domestically and internationally are sitting on so much excess cash right now that I'm sorta surprised they haven't basically doubled the price of everything.
People in the top ~1-10% of earners both domestically and internationally are sitting on so much excess cash right now that I'm sorta surprised they haven't basically doubled the price of everything.
I've been to the Florida Disney stuff once, when I was like 12. Stayed there for 3 or 4 days with my cousin and my grandma.
We stayed at one of the Disney hotels - it had a really big sculpture of a pair of cowboy boots on the property. I think the hotel theme was "rock n roll" or something.
Anyway, if they've made the boot sculpture bigger or more ornate since then, then I think the increased prices are justified. If the boots are the same, or if they've been removed, then I am outraged.
We stayed at one of the Disney hotels - it had a really big sculpture of a pair of cowboy boots on the property. I think the hotel theme was "rock n roll" or something.
Anyway, if they've made the boot sculpture bigger or more ornate since then, then I think the increased prices are justified. If the boots are the same, or if they've been removed, then I am outraged.
Disney should build more theme parks in the US. It's expensive, difficult and risky though.
Its getting rediculous with the price gouging and more crowded by the year I've lost all desire to return
Doesn't appear to have been a success so far. I'm sure they are going to have to re-tool a lot of it. Guest reviews have been all over the map, but I've seen more negative than positive reviews on that place.
Went to Disney World in April for a week and had an amazing time. We're all on west coast time so we went into the Magic Kingdom at 4PM each day and stayed til midnight. 8 hours a day was more than enough to ride every ride we wanted to, and for the kids to get every experience. Plus we got to spend the day at the pool relaxing so it felt like an actual vacation. Epcot does not stay open as late so that day we did go in around noon and it was pretty crowded at a few spots.
Leading up to it everyone kept telling me we had to get to the park to line up by 7AM. Plan every ride out. Make reservations for all our meals. I refused to do any of that. It was so much nicer to take it all in at a relaxed pace. Each day in we'd pass thousands of sunburned, miserable looking families who had burned themselves out with their "magic morning". I think Disney 100% encourages this FOMO bullshit but the online culture of treating Disney World like something to have done, vs something to do, is to blame as well.
Leading up to it everyone kept telling me we had to get to the park to line up by 7AM. Plan every ride out. Make reservations for all our meals. I refused to do any of that. It was so much nicer to take it all in at a relaxed pace. Each day in we'd pass thousands of sunburned, miserable looking families who had burned themselves out with their "magic morning". I think Disney 100% encourages this FOMO bullshit but the online culture of treating Disney World like something to have done, vs something to do, is to blame as well.
Sorry, so how much of this applies to Disney Land? We're planning on going early next year with the kids and family from overseas.
fucking still! I went the year it first opened and it was down longer than that off and on throughout the day. would've figured 2 years later those bugs would be ironed out
I mean, it's always been for the elite, just because of travel alone. If you're talking for locals, at least in CA there are cheaper (but restricted) options for residents that makes it cheaper (besides not having to stay at a hotel).
If they did that, imagine how much more they would've had to hike up Disney + rates, though.
While Disney World is unquestionably more expensive now, my partner and I had a better time at Disney World in June 2022 on vacation than we did in October if 2018.
The park reservation system keeps the parks from being overfull, especially since no park hopping until 2 PM and we loved both Genie and Genie+, and were able to ride every new ride (including Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind twice in one day) and a bunch of our favorites without issue, whereas we barely used Fast pass in 2018.
So I dunno, I don't think the experience has completely gone to crap.
The park reservation system keeps the parks from being overfull, especially since no park hopping until 2 PM and we loved both Genie and Genie+, and were able to ride every new ride (including Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind twice in one day) and a bunch of our favorites without issue, whereas we barely used Fast pass in 2018.
So I dunno, I don't think the experience has completely gone to crap.
The dinner reservations didn't used to be that way either. I'm not sure if they're just taking fewer or what but you didn't always have to get them the second they opened.
Having to choose your parks and book in advance is utterly ridiculous.
When I went to Disney World in 2019, staying on site, I had a blast with my 14 day unlimited ticket that let me just go to whichever park I wanted, when I wanted, on a whim. I could change my mind or just get a sudden urge to go to a different park for a different ride and all I had to do was hop on a bus and do it.
Now though you have to pre-plan in advance which parks you're going to attend on which days, and you cannot deviate from that. I think you can still get Park Hopper after 3pm, but the majority of the day you're stuck with whatever you chose. So if there's an event or something in a different park you didn't know about and now want to go to? Tough.
It started out as a way to pre-plan staffing numbers during Covid, but now it seems it's being used to verify what the bare minimum staffing numbers each park can get away with in a single day to reduce costs.
When I went to Disney World in 2019, staying on site, I had a blast with my 14 day unlimited ticket that let me just go to whichever park I wanted, when I wanted, on a whim. I could change my mind or just get a sudden urge to go to a different park for a different ride and all I had to do was hop on a bus and do it.
Now though you have to pre-plan in advance which parks you're going to attend on which days, and you cannot deviate from that. I think you can still get Park Hopper after 3pm, but the majority of the day you're stuck with whatever you chose. So if there's an event or something in a different park you didn't know about and now want to go to? Tough.
It started out as a way to pre-plan staffing numbers during Covid, but now it seems it's being used to verify what the bare minimum staffing numbers each park can get away with in a single day to reduce costs.
They used to be 6 months before and because of that more people would cancel in that 6 month gap, now that it's only two months people are not just more likely to go, they hold on to their reservations preciously.
I would think most of the same complaints apply. But if you're planning a big trip from out of town, just factor in that you'll spend a more for stuff like Genie services, get your reservations in, etc. and know it's going to be packed especially on the weekends. If it's like a once in a while trip I don't think most of this applies, it's mainly locals who feel left out by all of this, otherwise it's just a bit more money on your vacation.
Yeah, we had recently come back (Feb) for our first post covid trip, There was so much complaints about genie plus/lightning lanes etc that I was worried. Our experience was like yours, everything worked pretty smoothly. Really the biggest gripe was that you couldn't use lightning lane multiple times for the same ride, so we had to be strategic if it was something we wanted to ride more than once (We usually ended up hitting our favorite rides at rope drop and just queued in the regular stand by line) and saved our Lightning Lane for a more busier time.
We never waited more than 15-20 minutes on lightning lane rides, sure you had to plan it out and you needed your phone out a lot to plan. But it was worth it.
I'll attest to this. We went in 2020 before Genie+ and then in 2021 after Genie+ and aside from having to drop money for LL if you spend 5 minutes, or watch a video on how to maximize it, you can really stack rides really good and get a ton done in the parks.
I've had much better experience at this at the Asian Disney parks (which I believe are run under a different company). Much cheaper prices, much more reasonable lines, no need to make reservations.
Best experience ever was at Disney Hong Kong, during a weekday in the off-season - we went on Small World like 3 times because there was literally no line (just however long it took you to walk through the queue). And they had some unique rides that aren't available elsewhere (I really liked their haunted house equivalent).
Best experience ever was at Disney Hong Kong, during a weekday in the off-season - we went on Small World like 3 times because there was literally no line (just however long it took you to walk through the queue). And they had some unique rides that aren't available elsewhere (I really liked their haunted house equivalent).
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I went in 2017 and 2018 and had a blast. But I'm not surprised things have gone crazy especially after covid and everyone rushing out to vacation.
The thing that pisses me off the most as a non Florida resident is getting rid of the magical express complimentary service. I hate traveling through airports and everything surrounding it. The magical express made everything so fucking easy and the fact they removed it is super shitty.
The thing that pisses me off the most as a non Florida resident is getting rid of the magical express complimentary service. I hate traveling through airports and everything surrounding it. The magical express made everything so fucking easy and the fact they removed it is super shitty.
What age are your kids? Ours are currently 11 and 6. But they also went when they were 2 and 7 and 4 and 9. We can DM if you have a lot of questions
Yep! My partner and I also had a great strategy to mostly beat the heat by going to the parks until about lunch, before everyone got there, then going back to the hotel to cool off, eat, nap, or swim and then going back after 4 PM when things were cooling down a bit.
While they did remove the magical Express and that does suck, there are 4-5 companies doing the "Magical Express experience" from the airport straight to your hotel for a pretty small fee. The only difference is that you have to get your bags after getting off the plane but it honestly wasn't that bad and cost us $35 for two people both ways. The customer service was excellent too.
Was even old Magical Express buses and drivers, so basically nothing had changed.
User Banned (3 Days): Accusations of Astroturfing
LOL this reads like a Disney employee astroturfing yelp reviews.
"What's you say the name of that useful app was? Genie+? And it's both convenient AND easy to use? Well that's IT: I'm cancelling my Universal trip, and booking for DISNEY!"
Genie+ was a step down from fast passes, and having to pay extra to get on rides kind of sucks too, but on the other hand I did get on star wars and ratatouille without having to wait hours and after doing the phone stuff in the morning I felt like we had more time and didn't have to worry about running to the parks at opening. So I don't know. We're going back for the marathon weekend so I'm sure that will be terrible though.
Eh. I haven't been for a few years, and since then they've added Slinky Dog, the Alien Saucers, Millenium Falcon, Rise of the Resistance, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ratatouille, they've got Tron coming soon... considering the whacking great pandemic in the middle, that's not bad.
Universal are obviously building Epic Universe, but in terms of what they've actually added in that span, it's just, what, Hagrid's and Velocicoaster? They look like great rides, but that's not as much on the face. Oh, and Fast and Furious, which seems like the worst major ride I've seen at a park of that calibre.
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Yep. I was stacking like a god in June. It was way better than I thought.
And if you do a bit of research you can figure out secret drop times . Slinky dog was totally sold out. But a secret drop happened, and I got one for only 5 min away. The line was 90 min long and we just walked on.
I took my kids to Disneyland a dozen years ago and that will in all likelihood be the last time I'm there. Far too expensive and crowded. And now with all this planning, different lines and all that it just sounds like nonsense.
Nah, they are right, Universal wait times are absolutely horrendous for basically every ride. They've been overstuffing both parks so much that even shit like Jimmy Fallon's ride can be up to a 2 hour wait some days which is absolutely atrocious.
The only thing that made Universal doable for my partner and I was a VIP pass since you skip literally every line.
I went like 14 months ago right before things really opened up and there was essentially no passes of any kind other than a reserved tickets for a specific day. It wasn't too bad, now it's ridiculous.
So the community isn't allowed to enjoy something near them? Ok.
I've gone to Disney World three years in a row, coming up on the fourth around the end of October, mostly for Epcot's Food and Wine festival. I hadn't been since like '95/'96 before 2019.
It hasn't broken the bank, and it's been a great time. I haven't had a bad food experience yet. I'd heard so many bad things about the food and how expensive it is, so I guess my expectations were rock bottom. Food hasn't been all that expensive, and has tasted fantastic. I was also surprised that they let you bring in outside food and water, so it could even be significantly cheaper if I stuck to my own food, but I genuinely like the food at Disney. Is Disneyland significantly worse in that department or something?
It hasn't broken the bank, and it's been a great time. I haven't had a bad food experience yet. I'd heard so many bad things about the food and how expensive it is, so I guess my expectations were rock bottom. Food hasn't been all that expensive, and has tasted fantastic. I was also surprised that they let you bring in outside food and water, so it could even be significantly cheaper if I stuck to my own food, but I genuinely like the food at Disney. Is Disneyland significantly worse in that department or something?
I think it's totally fair to complain about having to do a good deal of research on how to use Genie+ and having to book literally everything is a nuisance, but I understand the need to control flow of traffic simply because so many people are there all the time.
It really feels like with the level of crowds at all the Disney parks that aren't Animal Kingdom, park hopper may not be worth it anymore. There's just no way to get through the parks that much, even with Genie+. I remember seeing the argument that Universal's fastpass is better than G+ simply because it's more expensive, which means less people have it and it keeps the standby lines moving and I think that argument may be valid.
I'm going again for a few days since my wife has never been and I always love going to HHN at Universal if I can afford it but I don't stay on Disney property since not having to find a way back to a Universal hotel at 2am for Horror Nights is the biggest selling point.
Nope, You can bring outside food and water. Prices seem decent. (The Grilled Cheese/Tomato Bisque at Jolly Holiday was a slam dunk, and it was I want to say $10?).
FWIW Hagrid and Velocicoaster are my two favorite rides in Orlando. Fast and Furious sucks ass, but Bourne Stuntacular is actually pretty nice and is a worthy replacement for T2:3D (one of the few theme park shows I could stomach).
Nearly all of the recent additions made to WDW have been in Hollywood Studios, and the park still has huge capacity issues with insanely long lines for just about everything that isn't Star Tours or MuppetVision. Their other parks are also hurting for capacity and have received relatively little.
I feel bad for my kids because I don't think I could ever take them to DW. The annoyance of just having to manage the day to every minor detail to get an decent experience is terrible. I really feel that they could offer a better experience and probably still be as profitable if they capped attendance and used a reservation system all year (higher ticket prices for higher traffic times would be acceptable).
When I was a kid and went we never had to wait more than 5-10 mins to get on a ride and were able to see the entire park.
Epcot during the Wine and Food festival is different from Magic Kingdom. I've gone to that and it was fine but you aren't really going on the rides or attractions during that. Walking around, eating and drinking while looking is the most you do (at least what we did).
When I was a kid and went we never had to wait more than 5-10 mins to get on a ride and were able to see the entire park.
Epcot during the Wine and Food festival is different from Magic Kingdom. I've gone to that and it was fine but you aren't really going on the rides or attractions during that. Walking around, eating and drinking while looking is the most you do (at least what we did).
This was an incredible video when I watched it a while ago, the math behind it is fascinating but mostly I had no idea it had gotten this bad. I live close to Disneyland but I haven't gone in years and years, last time I went I got in for free thanks to a friend that works for Disney. I definitely don't think I'd go with a paid ticket anytime soon.
They do cap attendance/use a reservation system though at Disney Land, I'd assume they use something similiar for DW?
It pained me to see Disneyland Paris following the US examples when I was there earlier this year. For the longest time now Disneyland Paris have had free unlimited Fast Pass, but that's all been taken away to charge for it now instead as "Disney Premier Access", which costs between €9-18 per person per ride.
Alternatively you can get an unlimited 1 day Premier Access for €90 per person.
And it currently can't be used on anything in the new Avengers Campus area.
I think it's only a matter of time before Disneyland Paris stop giving free Park access when you book an on-site hotel and start charging extra for Park Tickets.
Alternatively you can get an unlimited 1 day Premier Access for €90 per person.
And it currently can't be used on anything in the new Avengers Campus area.
I think it's only a matter of time before Disneyland Paris stop giving free Park access when you book an on-site hotel and start charging extra for Park Tickets.
I won't rule out that they have some better way to run things, but I'd think most of these improvements are because of less demand.
Yup! There is a trick to just keep refreshing over and over and every now and then somebody will have missed a lightning lane and you may be able to get a much sooner reservation.
Within 2 minutes of this they explain stacking lightning lanes and initial bookings.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L_602DoAdQ
We went on Jimmy Fallon's ride since it was far and away the ride that had the shortest wait time, and they have live entertainment while you're waiting. The one I saw was a barbershop quartet that I felt absolutely terrible for. Not funny and could hardly catch a harmony, but hey, you gotta make a living. It was very cringe-worthy.
Essential viewing.
Yeah, it sounds like the experience is just horrendous now. I was a Florida resident for a good chunk of time, and I had a year pass once or twice. The trips were always spontaneous. I think in the time I had it, I only had a planned trip once or twice. It's a shame they've completely destroyed that experience for locals. Fast Pass now sounds insane as well. I watched the Defunctland documentary on it, and I was not aware of the switch away from the physical printed out passes you got day of in the park. Everything after that change sounds like just an insane amount of work for something that was always billed as a "perk" and now seems essential.
They basically just keep getting away with it cause of the insane demand. A big problem is that things opened up world wide and there has been a huge influx of pent up vacation demand. Lot of people were not taking big vacations the past couple covid years, and now everyone is rushing out to vacation and the parks are insanely packed. Even with the reservations being limited and limiting park hopping, the crowds and parks are just bursting at the seams with people.
Price increases, limited APs, limited attendance with reservations, nope, nothing is affecting Disney and if anything the reservations are making folks rush out to gobble up slots. They are raising prices more and more just cause they can at this point and it's having no affect on their performance
Yea out of state and international vacationers will typically make Disney more money. Often these tourists will book much longer stays that cost more than FL resident tix, as well as often wanting to stay at a Disney resort for added perks. They will be spending most of their money at parks while locals with APs often know to be more frugal or the tricks to save on spending. Locals have less reason also to stay at the resorts and pay for other extras.
The ride is massive and has so many elements too it, the problem is any one thing clogs up the entire chain. Parts of it is also not just mechanical but staffing related as so many parts of the ride require certain amount of staff actors to be taking part of the experience. Its multiple rides and "shows" all mixed together so there is so many points of failure that can just stop the entire chain of movement.
Price increases, limited APs, limited attendance with reservations, nope, nothing is affecting Disney and if anything the reservations are making folks rush out to gobble up slots. They are raising prices more and more just cause they can at this point and it's having no affect on their performance
Yea out of state and international vacationers will typically make Disney more money. Often these tourists will book much longer stays that cost more than FL resident tix, as well as often wanting to stay at a Disney resort for added perks. They will be spending most of their money at parks while locals with APs often know to be more frugal or the tricks to save on spending. Locals have less reason also to stay at the resorts and pay for other extras.
The ride is massive and has so many elements too it, the problem is any one thing clogs up the entire chain. Parts of it is also not just mechanical but staffing related as so many parts of the ride require certain amount of staff actors to be taking part of the experience. Its multiple rides and "shows" all mixed together so there is so many points of failure that can just stop the entire chain of movement.
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