Anyone else struggling with the climate of evasiveness?

[NorCalFanatic]

This I can answer from a previous exec: the Peoplemover is full of asbestos and anything they do with it is going to be disruptive to all of Tomorrowland that they think it best to leave it as it is.

Yup! Although there is a proposal to bring a new people mover to Disneyland Forward. Let's not forget Eisner brought us the Rocket Rods!

Chapnek was a total business guy, bean counter! Steps above Iger. He brought us Genie + (love it or hate it), He's the one that wanted to close all the animation studios in Burbank and move it to Florida as a cost savings measure. Directed the parks to make food portions smaller to save money. Increased ticket prices across the board. He was cooking the books at Disney +, and then *****ing that Magic Key holders were costing the company too much money as they didn't purchase Disney Plus or spend enough money in the parks on food and merchandise.

Tomorrowland is vastly overdue for a re-do for sure, it's the bastard step child in the park.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

Lol @ Igor.

I shan’t hear any Emperor’s New Groove slander! A massively underrated gem!

Ha! Damn Spell check didn't catch that one!

 

[PiratesOfTheSea]

This I can answer from a previous exec: the Peoplemover is full of asbestos and anything they do with it is going to be disruptive to all of Tomorrowland that they think it best to leave it as it is.

Supposedly the track incurred so much structural damage from Eisner cheaping out on RocketRods that the only thing they can even do with the track is to completely tear it down.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Agreed. Obviously I'm biased as a consumer but Disney needs someone who knows what the people wants. Eisner was aggressive with the projects he did and not all of them succeeded(*cough* superstar limo *cough*) but when something failed they replaced it eventually with something that did succeed. Chapek was the epitome of purely business minded and disconnect from the fanbase and Iger is a small step above that but it feels like he's just let what Chapek put into place sit there without much change since he left and used Chapek as the fall guy. Instead of nurturing the part of Disney that is actually making a profit it's just been used to cover up the downfalls of other parts of the company.

Some things I just don't understand: Why hasn't Disney refurbished Tomorrowland at Disneyland yet/fixed the peoplemover? Why the hell wasn't canon Star Wars used as the inspiration for Galaxy's Edge? I still think to this day it would've been better as Tatooine with Darth Vader walking around. Then they doubled down with Galactic Starcruiser which priced out the majority of families considering it was only a 2 night experience and then wonder why it failed. There's a lot of simple things they could've done to make the average guest happier.

Compare this to Universal who I hate to say it has been knocking it out of the park. No park passes. Hagrid's is the best themed roller coaster I've ever been on. Velocicoaster is just straight up one of the best coasters I've ever been on and if it isn't obvious from my username and profile picture I am a coaster enthusiast at heart. Then add Epic Universe opening up pretty soon..

I'm not saying Disney needs a bunch of roller coasters because it doesn't. It just feels like Disney is heavily relying on the glory days and these rides are showing their age without any money being put back into the maintenance of them and its showing with the downtime and continuous refurbishments being needed. Like why is Rock N Roller coaster back down again for a significant refurb when it JUST had one not that long ago. I love the Disney parks but it feels like they're falling apart with a competitor down the road on I-4 who is able to build an entire theme park in about the same time it took them to build Tron.

Universal is mostly screen rides…. makes me nauseous…. When they do have a coaster, it’s historically off the shelf so it easy to put up a generic ride

 

[AstroBlasters]

….the only thing good on day 1 was California Screaming, Soarin, Grizzly river run and the Grand Californian.

Um…. Those are 4 of my favorite things on the planet…..

 

[MICKIMINI]

I used to daydream about being at WDW every minute of every day and don't anymore. Somehow "things" just changed for me.

DH and I just designed and built a new home so we are enjoying being here. Our son and DIL have been in Europe more frequently and we certainly are happy they are exploring new places. They are also enjoying the suite we built for them in the new house and indicated they will be here more often yay!

We sold off many small DVC contracts in 2022 when prices were high. We still have direct and resales but we are closer to half the amount of points vs our high. I'm not sad and that is the weird part.

We have two weeks at Halloween this year including a few nights at VB and I am not excited...at...all. Normally I would be planning each day. Our son and DIL have a conference in Orlando at that time so we will all be in the same area which I am happy about.

I am just worn down by threadbare villas (BWV hopefully now is gorgeous), dirty parks, bad (expensive) food, nothing new to see or do, just another 10K for a week of the same old, same old...it's sad. We let our AP's go (four of them)

We were enthusiastically looking forward to new villas at Poly and The Fort, but we will use our direct points to stay if we can get a few nights. We are not buying anymore DVC direct. DVC since 1996.

 

[intamin]

Universal is mostly screen rides…. makes me nauseous…. When they do have a coaster, it’s historically off the shelf so it easy to put up a generic ride

Universal back in the day made WAY too many screen rides. It’s especially worse at the one in Hollywood because they lack space and I hated them for it. It’s funny because it feels like Disney has now switched to a lot of screen based attractions with Flight of Passage, Remy’s and Guardians is pretty much a giant box with projectors lol. To this day I still don’t ride the screen based attractions at Universal really but as of late they’ve been making less of the nauseating ones lol.

The layout for Velocicoaster was definitely not off the shelf. Rip ride rock it probably was. The ones though I’m even more not a fan of are the wild mouses Disney has in their parks like Goofy’s Sky School which has a weird following and Primeval Whirl at AK. But anyways ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ll get off my little soapbox now lol.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

Um…. Those are 4 of my favorite things on the planet…..

Mine too! (And tower of terror that came later) Soarin blew my mind at the time. Still…..rest of the park was rather blah those early years.

 

[Stargazer65]

Guides can’t tell you things that haven’t been announced yet, that is the job of the bus drivers

Exactly! Just ask me what you want to know, I certainly can give you an answer.

 

[lowlight]

Exactly! Just ask me what you want to know, I certainly can give you an answer.

What is my Riviera contract going to be worth in 2035 once the trust is announced with 11 month booking priority everywhere, and make it an answer that both surprises and pleases me.

 

[Brian Noble]

What is my Riviera contract going to be worth in 2035 once the trust is announced with 11 month booking priority everywhere, and make it an answer that both surprises and pleases me.

It's worth lots of great vacation memories for you and your loved ones.

That's what it is worth.

 

[lowlight]

It's worth lots of great vacation memories for you and your loved ones.

That's what it is worth.

So you’re saying under 100 a point? Shoot.

 

[maui22]

So you’re saying under 100 a point? Shoot.

Not having to tell your family and friends you gave Disney thousands to buy their trust....priceless.

 

[bakerworld]

We didn't do any research - unless requesting the free DVC marketing CD's over the 90's is research. It was raining out, we were walking along the Boardwalk, my youngest didn't want to stand in lines and DVC's incentive was 3 anytime FP's per group so I pulled DH into the DVC showroom to make an appt. The next day we walked out with a contract bought/financed direct and 12 anytime FP's.

It's been 15 years. We didn't save $ on our purchase but we're cheap vacationers so I figure it all evens out.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We didn't do any research - unless requesting the free DVC marketing CD's over the 90's is research. It was raining out, we were walking along the Boardwalk, my youngest didn't want to stand in lines and DVC's incentive was 3 anytime FP's per group so I pulled DH into the DVC showroom to make an appt. The next day we walked out with a contract bought/financed direct and 12 anytime FP's.

It's been 15 years. We didn't save $ on our purchase but we're cheap vacationers so I figure it all evens out.

That’s hysterical
Honestly sounds like a good way to do it and sounds fun

 

[Cfabar1]

We have no idea what the future has in store, but overall I think Disney is doing things better than the other companies so far...

What happens moving forward, we shall see. I really feel the company is at a crossroads... The whole model feels like it is becoming borderline unsustainable, yet the remarks seem to be like it might be on the verge of a reset when the next recession happens/when people tire of travel.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We have no idea what the future has in store, but overall I think Disney is doing things better than the other companies so far...

What happens moving forward, we shall see. I really feel the company is at a crossroads... The whole model feels like it is becoming borderline unsustainable, yet the remarks seem to be like it might be on the verge of a reset when the next recession happens/when people tire of travel.

Oh, absolutely! There is no way they can demand these premiums once an economic downturn hits and people have to cut back on discretionary spending and can’t just leverage up on credit cards. It was only a year ago that we were in the middle of a regional banking crisis….

They also have to get streaming to start making money, set ESPN on a sustainable long term strategy, and fix their various movie studios so that parks isn’t the only thing carrying the company….

 

[Sammie]

When they shamefully quickly flipped the BPK into VGF, I knew it was the beginning of the end for me. Now we have the ugly Poly tower and moderate level CFW coming with possibly a trust setup. I am going to give it time to play out before making a rash decision, but I have lost all confidence in DVD and Disney as a whole to preserve their products value, and will likely sell my 3 contracts and rent points when I decide to go. Some people expect the absolute bare minimum from companies and are happy when they get just a room. Those are the ideal customers for DVC, “thank you sir may I have another” comes to mind.

Or they have realistic expectations and like the current product. The way you see it is your opinion not fact and that is your right just as it is others to see it differently. The thing is DVC does what it feels is best for them as a company and the entire membership not just a few. I think the new Polynesian tower is going to be awesome and how anyone can have a negative opinion about something that is not finished and not experienced is beyond me. I also like the new Big Pine Key addition and the cabins at the Fort.
It does seem like it's time for you to sell and I am sure someone will gladly buy.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Or they have realistic expectations and like the current product. The way you see it is your opinion not fact and that is your right just as it is others to see it differently. The thing is DVC does what it feels is best for them as a company and the entire membership not just a few. I think the new Polynesian tower is going to be awesome and how anyone can have a negative opinion about something that is not finished and not experienced is beyond me. I also like the new Big Pine Key addition and the cabins at the Fort.
It does seem like it's time for you to sell and I am sure someone will gladly buy.

Yeah….sometimes it’s just time to pass the torch and move on…. find something in this world that brings you joy…..

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

I think the new Polynesian tower is going to be awesome and how anyone can have a negative opinion about something that is not finished and not experienced is beyond me. I also like the new Big Pine Key addition and the cabins at the Fort.
It does seem like it's time for you to sell and I am sure someone will gladly buy.

Yep completely agree. I love the look and feel of the resort studios at BPK and don’t really mind not having the full kitchenette since we don’t really use them in a studio anyway, although I see why some don’t find them as useful. I love the current longhouses at PVB but really look forward to seeing what they actually do with the tower because it feels like it has so much potential, and it’s not even painted and prettied up yet!

And, I’ll be be honest, I’ve been super speculative of the cabins but sometimes you just have see it from a different perspective. I’ve been following @bama_ed current trip report and he just makes Fort Wilderness look so magical and welcoming and different in the best way from all the other resorts that I think I get it now. FW was never on my radar but now I’m really looking forward to doing a Halloween/holiday season trip over there in the next few years!

When something stops working for you, that’s totally valid to comment on, but making generalizations about everyone who continues to enjoy that same thing is unfair and unnecessary.