Love the Fort, but...

[bsjs0708]

We have a trip to the Fort planned for January, but...

First the question: is there really and spontaneity? Is there any way to wake up and change your mind on which park? What about dining? What about just deciding last minute to race across the park to ride your favorite ride real quick B4 the park closes?
Now the frustration:
With the need for park reservations, dining reservations, even quick service, there seems to be no way to get around planning,scheduling, Watching the time, dealing with apps, paying extra for the opportunity to ride certain rides? And losing some of those special, magical touches that made Disney stand out for visitors. Not to mention the value resorts aren't such a value anymore, heck we have 2 and a half weeks reserved for January at the Fort and the weekends are over 200/night...at..a...campground! I remember being excited to plan for a Disney vacation and now it is more stress than fun! Now, its alot like my 9 to 5 job...we've been doing Disney as a family since 1999 and this year none of us are "feeling it" no matter how much we want it, that feeling if nostalgia, warmth, "coming home" is quickly fading with the direction Disney has gone in the past few years. I get it! "Gotta change with the times"..."embrace change"...but considering the vast amounts of money we dole out for Disney, there are some things that should be left alone..."if it ain't broke"
What happened to Walts idea of "plussing" an experience? And with other changes that go against our personal convictions,which I WILL NOT go into,
sadly, we are canceling, the family is sad but more for the changes in our beloved Disney than for canceling the trip.
Disney, we loved you, but this family is saying goodbye...

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Youre not alone in many of your observations.

I think the last 18 months have shown many people that they can live without things they thought they couldnt.

 

[PaHunter]

We have a trip to the Fort planned for January, but...

First the question: is there really and spontaneity? Is there any way to wake up and change your mind on which park? What about dining? What about just deciding last minute to race across the park to ride your favorite ride real quick B4 the park closes?
Now the frustration:
With the need for park reservations, dining reservations, even quick service, there seems to be no way to get around planning,scheduling, Watching the time, dealing with apps, paying extra for the opportunity to ride certain rides? And losing some of those special, magical touches that made Disney stand out for visitors. Not to mention the value resorts aren't such a value anymore, heck we have 2 and a half weeks reserved for January at the Fort and the weekends are over 200/night...at..a...campground! I remember being excited to plan for a Disney vacation and now it is more stress than fun! Now, its alot like my 9 to 5 job...we've been doing Disney as a family since 1999 and this year none of us are "feeling it" no matter how much we want it, that feeling if nostalgia, warmth, "coming home" is quickly fading with the direction Disney has gone in the past few years. I get it! "Gotta change with the times"..."embrace change"...but considering the vast amounts of money we dole out for Disney, there are some things that should be left alone..."if it ain't broke"
What happened to Walts idea of "plussing" an experience? And with other changes that go against our personal convictions,which I WILL NOT go into,
sadly, we are canceling, the family is sad but more for the changes in our beloved Disney than for canceling the trip.
Disney, we loved you, but this family is saying goodbye...

We agree, all this planning takes the fun out of it. Used to be all we had to kind of decide was which park on a certain day for dining reservations. But you could park hop, easily if you wanted to eat somewhere else. Now as you stated, you have to do a lot more planning, and work on our part. Heck, last trip we had to check ourselves in to the restaurant by QR code while the Cast member stood there telling everyone she could not check you in.
We have one last trip scheduled so we can see the Christmas displays, and that will most likely be our last trip. Sadly, Disney has taken all the fun out of vacation.

 

[Teamubr]

I'm hoping the new Genie/+ frees up some of the preplanning that had to be done. FP+ forced you to plan things out 60 days in advanced and hopefully that aligned with the ADRs you made at 180 days. I understand the reason for park reservations during Covid and now that Disney has a way to determine park volume in advance, I doubt it goes away. That really is the only significant planning, along with some ADRs that can be done now. I tend to go during slower times and I found that pulling out my phone to look for a last minute ADR or switch FP+ for what was available worked out pretty well. I'm sure that doesn't work as well during the busy times. I wouldn't think there would be any last minute anything during Spring Break or Christmas.

So far, since they reinstituted park hopping, I haven't heard anyone say they could not get to the 2nd park they wanted. Time will tell if this continues and Genie/+ is successful at eliminating the extensive pretrip planning we have all had to do for a while.

j

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Ask @bama_ed if I like to plan...

My most recent trip in June/July we took it at such a slower pace than our last trips. I planned the park reservations and ADRs like Teamubr discussed, but that was really the extent of it. We let the kids or the absence of crowds lead us to where we wanted to be. If we didn't have a dining reservation we pulled the phone out a few hours before we were hungry to get a mobile order done. We park hopped at will in the afternoons.

I don't mind the planning. I don't mind the technology. What I do mind is paying more for less. The limited hours, no/paid fastpass, etc is really ringing that last bell hard.

 

[YawningDodo]

We have a trip to the Fort planned for January, but...

First the question: is there really and spontaneity? Is there any way to wake up and change your mind on which park? What about dining? What about just deciding last minute to race across the park to ride your favorite ride real quick B4 the park closes?
Now the frustration:
With the need for park reservations, dining reservations, even quick service, there seems to be no way to get around planning,scheduling, Watching the time, dealing with apps, paying extra for the opportunity to ride certain rides?

Based on my last trip in January of this year, I'd say that yes, there's still plenty of room for spontaneity--moreso, actually, than in the FP+ era. Yeah, I had to book a park reservation for each day, but once I was at the park I could just go where my mood took me without worrying about precious FP+ I'd had to book two months out (continuing to not have to book rides further ahead than morning-of is the one bright spot for me in all of this Genie+ business). And if I felt like it, I could park-hop in the afternoon, though I didn't particularly feel like it any day that trip. Hopefully the park reservation system will go away again, but even with it in place it was still less pre-planning than I've had to deal with in the last half decade. And yeah, several times I did indeed scuttle across a park to jump in a line right before closing! There's nothing stopping you from doing that.

Dining reservations have been tough for years, which is a bit of a bummer, but my attitude is that if I don't care enough about a meal to preplan it, I don't care if I end up not being able to eat at that particular table service restaurant. I'm not sure what you're referring to re: quick service; I know BoG does its weird hybrid thing with reservations for their QS lunch, but other than that QS is the same as it's always been, just with more convenience due to the mobile ordering option (which also increased my spontaneity - real easy to suddenly decide what meal I want after the next ride and put in an order while I'm in line).

And while I'm not thrilled about the FP+ replacement costing money, and especially not thrilled about a la carte rides, I feel like I was emotionally prepared for it since the rumors were circulating for ages before it happened. It's not annoying enough to turn me off of going at all; I didn't always bother with FP+ and anymore I've ridden everything and don't need to ride every ride on every trip. YMMV.

All that being said: it's still fun for me, but if it's not fun for you, you're not somehow obligated to keep going and keep giving Disney your money.

 

[TheWitherington's]

One one of our last trips, Nov. or Dec. 2020 we left a lot up to spontaneity. We had no dining reservations - and just opened the app to see if anything we wanted was open or if we wanted to do quick service instead. I love watching all the vloggers, but I do feel like watching all the videos, following everyone on Instagram, etc. can be intimidating and make things feel daunting. As a current out of state annual passholder, it feels more like vacation, and less like a sight seeing trip, when there is less planned and we fly by the seat of our pants. Want to lounge hop around the Magic Kingdom, done. Want to spend the day at the pool, done. I think there is plenty of room for spontaneity but your expectations have to be up to it.

 

[nomorethan8]

First the question: is there really and spontaneity? Is there any way to wake up and change your mind on which park? What about dining? What about just deciding last minute to race across the park to ride your favorite ride real quick B4 the park closes?

We go to the Fort with one of 2 goals. #1 Do the parks and restaurants. Yes there is almost no spontaneity. And expensive. My kids love it.

Or #2 We go to the Fort and don't do the parks and have no reservations. The Fort is a wonderful place. We find things to do. And it doesn't mean we don't eat at the restaurants. There are plenty of restaurants outside the Fort to eat at. The Springs or other resorts. We always find a place. It an adventure. We never go hungry. Complete spontaneity. And you do Disney at a completely different pace. My kids love it.

We just tell them long before going that they are not doing the parks and then ask them if they still want to go. What do you think they say? LOL.

Different ways of doing it. Completely different experiences. Both completely enjoyable.

 

[morrik5]

We agree, all this planning takes the fun out of it. Used to be all we had to kind of decide was which park on a certain day for dining reservations. But you could park hop, easily if you wanted to eat somewhere else. Now as you stated, you have to do a lot more planning, and work on our part. Heck, last trip we had to check ourselves in to the restaurant by QR code while the Cast member stood there telling everyone she could not check you in.
We have one last trip scheduled so we can see the Christmas displays, and that will most likely be our last trip. Sadly, Disney has taken all the fun out of vacation.

QR codes make me laugh, my husband uses a flip phone and wouldn't even know how to use a smart phone of any kind

 

[Disneyloverliz]

I'm hoping the new Genie/+ frees up some of the preplanning that had to be done. FP+ forced you to plan things out 60 days in advanced and hopefully that aligned with the ADRs you made at 180 days. I understand the reason for park reservations during Covid and now that Disney has a way to determine park volume in advance, I doubt it goes away. That really is the only significant planning, along with some ADRs that can be done now. I tend to go during slower times and I found that pulling out my phone to look for a last minute ADR or switch FP+ for what was available worked out pretty well. I'm sure that doesn't work as well during the busy times. I wouldn't think there would be any last minute anything during Spring Break or Christmas.

So far, since they reinstituted park hopping, I haven't heard anyone say they could not get to the 2nd park they wanted. Time will tell if this continues and Genie/+ is successful at eliminating the extensive pretrip planning we have all had to do for a while.

j

I have not heard of genie+. why is this?!

 

[Disneyloverliz]

We go to the Fort with one of 2 goals. #1 Do the parks and restaurants. Yes there is almost no spontaneity. And expensive. My kids love it.

Or #2 We go to the Fort and don't do the parks and have no reservations. The Fort is a wonderful place. We find things to do. And it doesn't mean we don't eat at the restaurants. There are plenty of restaurants outside the Fort to eat at. The Springs or other resorts. We always find a place. It an adventure. We never go hungry. Complete spontaneity. And you do Disney at a completely different pace. My kids love it.

We just tell them long before going that they are not doing the parks and then ask them if they still want to go. What do you think they say? LOL.

Different ways of doing it. Completely different experiences. Both completely enjoyable.

We just returned from the Fort, and did not do that parks. It was a great time!

 

[mickeyfan0805]

I was among those who didn't mind the planning - it was part of the experience for me. I'm a planner by nature, so prepping for trips simply added to the hobby in a way that I enjoyed. I will be honest and say that I was concerned that our trip last month might be a letdown - with all of the changes and Covid realities, I was worried. In the end, we had a blast, and the magic is still very much there for our family. I understand the frustrations over the recent announcements, but I am in the camp of those who think it is just too soon to tell. Some of this is going to have to play out before we know the real impact on daily visits, and we are willing to see where it takes us before we jump to any conclusions.

As for park reservations specifically, I think concern about that is more hype than reality right now. If Disney keeps capacities at historic levels, park reservations will rarely come into play as an issue (phased closures only ever occurred on holidays and major events at certain parks). Even more, it could turn out to be a benefit to those who visit on those high-demand days, as it would assure their entry into the park without having to get up to be in line at 5am. If it turns out that Disney takes a more dynamic approach and starts adjusting capacities to spread out guest demand, it could become more of a detriment. For now, however, the only two days on the calendar that aren't wide open are Oct. 1 and 2, which are likely days that phased closures would have come into play anyway. So, for the moment, I'm reserving judgment to see how it plays out in the long run.

 

[mash]

I hear ya @bsjs0708. We are long time passholders and campers of DW. We have so many happy memories of Disney and of camping at the Fort. But with all the recent announcements we are thinking about how much of our vacation dollars we want to give to Disney. It seems like they want more and more of our dollars, which is their right as a business. Yea, I know and understand how a large corporation makes money and needs to keep the stockholders happy. I’m just considering my own budget.

Having said that, Disney has been such a huge part of our lives that it’s hard to think about letting our passes go. Will I be the person that complains and still renews? I don’t know. We still have 6 months left on our passes. If I feel like it’s too hard to enjoy the parks without paying for more extras then we will probably drop our passes. But if the crowds are lower and we aren’t paying up charges to get on rides maybe we will keep them. It will also depend on FOMO!

As much as we love the Fort and live nearby, I don’t have any reservations planned for over a year. Over $100 per night in the low season is a lot of money. Think we are going to branch out and try some new places.