I'm Done!!! Too Many Changes We Don't Like

[bdklein]

Between FP+, not being able to get FP- for at decent times unless there before RD, the changes to GAC/DAS, and the new upcoming ADR CC policy, I really think no more visits to WDW. No longer a vacation. Anybody else feel the same?

 

[stinkpickle]

I will withhold judgement until after my January trip.

 

[ethanwa]

See ya. One less person in the crowd I'll have to deal with.

If THESE are the reasons that you won't visit Disney World, then I think you have your vacationing priorities wrong to being with.

Pointless thread.

Ethan

 

[PEC]

There have been numerous people complaining it is too crowded and this is suppose to be the off season. Maybe this is Disney's way of thinning the crowd out to make it a better experience for the ones still going (being sarcastic people).

 

[bdklein]

If THESE are the reasons that you won't visit Disney World, then I think your have your vacationing priorities wrong to being with.

Our reasons for a vacation are to get away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and all the planning involved on a daily basis. Now we have to plan our attractions and ADR's even more-and make sure we don't forget to cancel ADRs far enough in advance to avoid a CC charge. Our vacation priorites are not wrong.

 

[kmarie99]

Not me... I will still be going and with all the people who are saying 'I am not going to Disney anymore becuase of FP+' it should be less crowded.

Even though every other post that is not about FP+ on this board seems to be about now much more crowded it is that in the past.

 

[disneyworld1977]

Well I am up in the air about this FP+ system. We are going in December and this is how I am viewing it. I am going in to act like we don't have to worry about those attraction times. I know the Legacy FP system is harder know sense times go fast, but I am going to try what I have done before and see how it goes and I will give me review on how it is.

As far as the ADR cancellation, that is totally understanding, I have no issue why that is in effect now.

If you want a less stress vacation, maybe the beach, cruise, or something else will be better for you.

I let everyone else in my family have fun and I do the running, fast passes, making reservations etc so they can enjoy . I don't mind. It is getting a little different with these changes but I will see how it goes.

 

[curemyreed]

I'm not done with Disney, but I feel your pain. Those are so many changes to adapt to at once....that has been my frustration. We became experts at using off-season rope drop touring along with strategic FP- gathering to lessen DD's need to use the GAC. We tested the FP+ along with the GAC earlier this year and it was not as successful; DD ended up needing the GAC more than any previous trip. When we figure in the DAS system changes along with the FP+ in its current version (only 3 attractions, must be 3 different attractions, must be in same park)...... Just typing it out is mind-numbing. The mental gymnastics required to make this work makes me long for those planning days when I didn't have all these variables to consider.

I envision you getting a lot of flaming and patronizing responses. Just wanted you to know I can relate to your feelings of frustration.

 

[jkramer]

Not me... I will still be going and with all the people who are saying 'I am not going to Disney anymore becuase of FP+' it should be less crowded.

Even though every other post that is not about FP+ on this board seems to be about now much more crowded it is that in the past.

This!

 

[kmarie99]

I'm not done with Disney, but I feel your pain. Those are so many changes to adapt to at once....that has been my frustration. We became experts at using off-season rope drop touring along with strategic FP- gathering to lessen DD's need to use the GAC. We tested the FP+ along with the GAC earlier this year and it was not as successful; DD ended up needing the GAC more than any previous trip. When we figure in the DAS system changes along with the FP+ in its current version (only 3 attractions, must be 3 different attractions, must be in same park)...... Just typing it out is mind-numbing. The mental gymnastics required to make this work makes me long for those planning days when I didn't have all these variables to consider.

I envision you getting a lot of flaming and patronizing responses. Just wanted you to know I can relate to your feelings of frustration.

I also understand the frustration too. But alot of people just don't like change. Sometime it is not what is changing but just that there are changes.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

See ya. One less person in the crowd I'll have to deal with.

If THESE are the reasons that you won't visit Disney World, then I think your have your vacationing priorities wrong to being with.

Pointless thread.

Ethan

After reading the first post, i was sooo going to write the same thing.

"I understand change sometimes can be hard to take....but change is good!!! (unless your coke, If your Coke...change is sooo not good...Coke2 anyone???)

 

[conandrob240]

I am going to sort of agree but stop short of saying we aren't going. I think we are going to dramatically scale back our visits, though from 2x per year to once every 2 years or so. here are my reasons:

- crowds. Last two weeks of August is our usual timing. It has gone from really pleasant and empty to extremely crowded. We also usually head back in oct for F&W and found that too to be extremely crowded this year when it was relatively light in years past
- cleanliness & maintenance. I found the resorts, parks and even some rides to have a lot of garbage that wasn't picked up in a timely manner. There should never be debris in an attraction. At Stormalong bay, we watched the same large band-aid and empty water bottle sit along the pool area for DAYS. On Pirates, there was a water bottle in the water. At AKL, a garbage pail along the path from Jambo to Kidani overflowed for two days until it was addressed. Every time we rode Test track (3 x), it was "down" for at least 15 minutes. Soarin went down as well as did the haunted mansion. There were other examples as well.
- FP- right now FP+ doesn't really meet our needs (pain to book, only 3 a day in only one park). And FP has suffered from not having much if any availability at major attractions if you don't arrive at park opening. Also, even the FP lines were slow on our recent Oct visit. Not exactly "fast" at all
- changes to discounts. TIW- More black out dates, removal of V&A. PAP- reduction of store discounts from 20% to 10%
- ADR cc policy. This is a major annoyance for me. I think it is a greedy move by Disney and it really ticksw me off. I don't want to be bound financially to where I am going to eat dinner every day on vacation. I will no longer make ADRs.
- other. F&W festival wasn't quite up to "par" with prior yrs. PFTS a disappointment, food kiosks weren't as great, crowds too high.

 

[PeterPanic]

Our reasons for a vacation are to get away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and all the planning involved on a daily basis. Now we have to plan our attractions and ADR's even more-and make sure we don't forget to cancel ADRs far enough in advance to avoid a CC charge. Our vacation priorites are not wrong.

Everyone has their individual level of tolerance and if this is it for you then you are making the right choice. You should not spend you money and not enjoy yourself. However, when you consider that because of the size and the offerings that WDW has you might be able to realize why some of the changes were necessary. Planning has been an important part of a Disney Vacation for a long time, "IF", doing and seeing everything is a priority. If you do a more laid back touring system, that becomes unnecessary. GAC vs, DAS... really hasn't been around long enough to really display any solid based knowledge on how it will affect anyone. It might be a plus for all we know. Charging CC's for ADR's, well again the result of the size and the lack of fairness that many people felt entitled to use. That came about because people were making multiple ADR's for the same exact time thus depriving others of the ability to make ADR's themselves. Then they would, for the most part, just go to one and never cancel the others. Even if they did cancel, there wasn't enough time to fill the positions.

What it boils down to is a place like WDW has to set themselves up for the benefit of the most people, not just a few. If people had been a little more ethical instead of greedy, the CC's charges would never have had to be instituted. However, all that said, the only way to experience Disney now is under the new rules. You have always had the option of not finding it worthwhile and there are many, many things to do in the world other then Disney.

To the person that felt it was overcrowded. Well, what are they going to do. Everybody and their brother is now saying that they aren't going to go anymore. You'd think that the place would be empty, but it appears to be more crowded then ever. I guess our protests are all going to be detrimental to only us. We will no longer be able to go because we want everyone else to stay at home. I guess the changes haven't discouraged many people from going. Reminds me of the old line from Yogi Berra..."nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Between FP+, not being able to get FP- for at decent times unless there before RD, the changes to GAC/DAS, and the new upcoming ADR CC policy, I really think no more visits to WDW. No longer a vacation. Anybody else feel the same?

I'm a little bummed at the FP changes. I thought the system was working fine as it was. Actually the BEST was when they didn't enforce the return times.

We aren't scheduled back as a family until 2015 so we'll have plenty of time to see how it all pans out once it is rolled out in full. So we will withhold judgment until then.

 

[PrincessJo]

Nope, my family won't stop going.

As I understand it, Disney is still in the testing phase.

I work with inventors at my company and I'm glad they don't give up before the testing phase is even over. If they did, we wouldn't have some pretty cool stuff now.

After our January trip, I'll have more first-hand info. Until then, I'm keeping an open mind.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

More turkey legs for me.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I don't blame anyone for having anxiety over all the changes but also think it's premature to say you're never going back without giving it a chance. It you take a vacation and don't like the changes I don't think anyone would argue you shouldn't go back but making a decision to never go back to WDW based on others frustration doesn't make any sense.

If you don't want to be a guinea pig don't plan a trip to DW for a year or 2 until it's sorted out, or plan a trip to Disneyland where they don't have MB and FP+.

By making a choice not to go back based on DIS drama and negativity you're only hurting yourself in the long run.

 

[maxiesmom]

What it boils down to is a place like WDW has to set themselves up for the benefit of the most people, not just a few. If people had been a little more ethical instead of greedy, the CC's charges would never have had to be instituted. However, all that said, the only way to experience Disney now is under the new rules. You have always had the option of not finding it worthwhile and there are many, many things to do in the world other then Disney.

Exactly. Disney typically only changes the rules when they are forced to. Chipping the mugs, CC numbers for ADRs, DAS instead of GAC are all things brought about because too many people couldn't follow the rules.

I'm sorry you feel things have changed to the point that you wouldn't enjoy a Disney vacation.

 

[boBQuincy]

I can understand the position of the OP. In the many years since I started going to WDW regularly there have been many changes, some good and some I don't like. At some point people may decide it just isn't worth it anymore and spend their travel time/$$$ somewhere else.

Disney obviously thinks all the changes will result in more profits. They may be correct and if not (or even if so) they will make more changes. As usual we will like some of the changes and dislike others.

As for me, I haven't found somewhere else that provides all the fun of WDW so I will keep going there.

 

[disneyworld1977]

- crowds. Last two weeks of August is our usual timing. It has gone from really pleasant and empty to extremely crowded. crowds too high.

Crowds seem to be a concern across the board I guess with alot of people. I will see how much more bad they are in December when we go. We went last yr so I will be able to compare.

Question then, how does Disney, which they don't probably want to, control crowds? We complain about prices but if they are still racking in the crowds, what do they do, raise them up some more until it lightens up the crowds?

Here is one thing too I noticed and I am not saying this is anyone on here, but when someone complains about a crowd I ask when they went (summer, holidays) or what time they got to a park etc. And sometimes it was because they went during high crowds and a few hours after the park opened. Now I saw a picture last year during the time we went and it was actually the day we were at this particular park and the crowd was crazy in one area. I never saw that or a problem with crowds. We went early during EMH, got on buses quick wtih some hardly having anyone on them, stayed about 4-5 hours, ate lunch at park, went back to hotel to rest or whatever and went to a night cap at another park. Best and most relaxing time we had at Disney!

Having said that, this year with more family, FP+, not as good EMH (maybe, haven't compared) we will see how it goes. I am not really concerned, but anxious.