Best Strategy for a trip in 2022? Lower Your Expectations

[Melora]

I didn't read all of the posts here but after just coming back (and writing a review about it) I understand what the OP is saying.
We realized that on the next trip we will be doing a completely different park strategy.
We are from the west coast so getting up and going for rope drop was always tough the first few days but we suffered through (we were at Disney after all)
We would get to the park and grab fast passes and do a couple of the other big rides before the lines got too long and feel pretty good about the day.
But this time we got there EARLY (and some of the younger people were tired and not functioning on all cylinders) only to find that ALL of the big rides
had wait times of more than an hour and a half. And no ability to cut any of the wait times down unless we paid for it.
When I would look to see if *MAYBE* Id splurge on Disney Genie the only LLs left were in the early evening.
SO next time we are going to get up on west coast time, take our time to get to the park (probably around lunchtime because no one will feel like they didn't get enough sleep
which eventually catches up to us by about day 3 or 4) and hope that people will begin leaving the parks later in the day and *hopefully* the lines will shorten.
We can stay late because 11 PM is only our 8 PM our time.
I'm still VERY unhappy about how horrible the Disney Genie is but maybe they'll fix it at some point, though I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Turksmom]

We can stay late because 11 PM is only our 8 PM our time.

If only the parks stayed open later.

 

[kaetra]

I'm waiting a while before going back. I currently have a $1,200 park ticket credit from a cancelled 2019 trip and I'm just going to hang on to it for a while.

I hope it gets better someday. I'm keeping a close eye on it.

I've already accepted it will never be the Disney World of the 2010-2018's ever again. But it's going to have to be something different than what it is now, which frankly looks like a miserable experience.

 

[kaetra]

Unfortunately, I agree with the OP. If you lower your expectations, you may be pleasantly surprised and happy.

I just got back from a trip with kids and grandkids and the weather saved this trip as well as our nice accomodation at Kidani. Crowds were more than expected and waiting in lines was exhausting. We got to the parks as early as 12 people (3 children) can (early entry 3 different parks) and stayed till close, so we should have been able to do many things. I was looking at my phone too much for wait times and not enjoying the atmosphere as much as I usually do. I was worrying about mobile ordering when in an attraction. It was really so unmagical (at times) except when we were finally in an attraction or watching a parade/show, which were much fewer this trip than any other for our family. The couple of $LL we bought was irritating money-wise but we wanted to save the time and see the attractions.

Because we own DVC, I will be back and excited but will be planning completely different trips until things change, if they ever do. I will encourage my family to just pick a couple of parks (will be hard to convince them of that) and, maybe, spend the $15 for Genie+ for MK rather than going back a second day. We are used to doing all parks during a trip but it's just not worth the price of a ticket when you hardly see much unless you want to study up and purchase G+ and $LL and hope for the best because that doesn't sound like a guarantee, either. I have old,unused multi-day tickets for DH and myself but I don't want to use them with things the way they are.

ETA - no one in my family except one 5-year-old grandaughter was excited to think about our next back there any time soon.

(I have to wonder why Disney keeps building more resorts without adding another park)

I feel really bad for DVC owners right now. The fact that owning DVC gives you zero extra perks for the parks is very bad business, if you ask me.

 

[woodleygrrl]

Just back from a 12 night trip which had been rescheduled about 10 times since the original date of March 2020 (the very week everything shut down). My husband and I have been DVC owners for about 10 years and we go to the parks at least once a year every year. Well its finally happened: we are done.

Between the INSANE crowds and the inability to ride anything we wanted to without hours waits, we can't see the value in Disney any longer. There were so so many problems over our nearly two week trip that its hard to mention them all. Some highlights: we stayed in a cabin at the Fort and the Friendship boats are no longer running between the Fort and the resorts on Bay Lake. This means crowded boats and capacity limits when you want to go to the parks. They seem to be filling open position from the people that they laid off before with lots of college kids from the college program. To say that the customer service was laking is an understatement. The room only got a good cleaning ONCE while we were there. Funny how the nearly $8K we spent for the room and the tickets for this trip no longer include anything resembling housekeeping any more. We got fresh towels, sure. But never, until I lodged a complaint, did we get a cleaning of the cabin.

The parks look like doo doo. Remember when Disney would sooner shut down the whole joint than allow the parks to be shabby or the restrooms to be dirty? Forget it. The filthy restrooms alone made me nervous about their commitment to public health.

The lack of parking trams at the parks (minus the TTC) make a long day at the parks miserable when you have to walk a mile back to your car (which we LITERALLY DID at AK.)

our points will be used at HHI and Vero Beach for the foreseeable future. To say that I am mad is an understatement.

 

[peabody58]

That said, Disney is an EXPENSIVE vacation. More expensive for us even than going abroad or to other bucket list destinations.

While that may have been true pre-pandemic, we are finding that our DVC trips to WDW are still comparable it not cheaper than other options. For the 2 of us, our group tour 6 nt Yellowstone/Grand Tetons trip last year was $1,100/nt, our Tulip Holland River Cruise in 2018 was $640/nt. Our average WDW cost with tics/food/travel/DVC MFs/extras since Covid is $425/nt. Pre-Covid it was around $300/nt. Now the fact that we go to WDW so often makes the total OOP higher, but that is our retirement Leisure Life plan in action.

Yeah, I'm a spreadsheet guy. I agree that WDW prices have gone up, but for us, it continues to be our go-to semi-affordable vacation get-away. We will continue to look for ways to help optimize the cost value of our vacationing, such as less TS meals (we eat too much anyway), more resort chilling, and looking outside the bubble for alternative activities to entertain us.

 

[peabody58]

I feel really bad for DVC owners right now. The fact that owning DVC gives you zero extra perks for the parks is very bad business, if you ask me.

Oh thank you, but no need to feel bad for all of us DVC owners (newer DVC owners maybe). We did WDW pre-DVC (moderates/off-site) for 20 yrs with no perks, then got DVC and optimized our perks for 12 years, and still use what perks are left (never leave money on the table). Our DVC buy-in was specifically for access to the deluxe resorts, 1/2 BR's and for always being in the bubble while 'saving' long term on room costs. That part has worked out very well for us, and as retire's spending our kid's inheritance; we are happy as could be. So much so in fact that we recently added on to our DVC points (eyes wide open) to ensure we could get BWV anytime we wanted. Really enjoy the BWV pool now that the scary clown is gone.

But feel free to start a Go-Fund Me page to help. The struggle is real for us!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

While that may have been true pre-pandemic, we are finding that our DVC trips to WDW are still comparable it not cheaper than other options. For the 2 of us, our group tour 6 nt Yellowstone/Grand Tetons trip last year was $1,100/nt, our Tulip Holland River Cruise in 2018 was $640/nt. Our average WDW cost with tics/food/travel/DVC MFs/extras since Covid is $425/nt. Pre-Covid it was around $300/nt. Now the fact that we go to WDW so often makes the total OOP higher, but that is our retirement Leisure Life plan in action.

Yeah, I'm a spreadsheet guy. I agree that WDW prices have gone up, but for us, it continues to be our go-to semi-affordable vacation get-away. We will continue to look for ways to help optimize the cost value of our vacationing, such as less TS meals (we eat too much anyway), more resort chilling, and looking outside the bubble for alternative activities to entertain us.

Hmmm.....there some things in your post that may not be exactly apples to apples.

You can clear it up by adding some clarity.

You did not mention what the amortized cost of the points was that you used for your trip....and there is always the implied value of "what if I had not spent 20-60K on a DVC purchase and simply invested the money and skimmed off a few thousand each year to go towards a vacation" Your DVC visit cost you more than just the cost of your MFs.

Next- if you went on a tour, then that cost included the touring .....which is different than you just doing the national parks on your own. If you had gone on a tour with Disney, we know they are not cheap...and they are only for part of one day.

The bolded section in the quote speaks volumes...........since the place is getting so expensive we are going to change our behavior because of it......that is the part that may drive folks away from Disney.

We should not have to bend over backwards to enjoy our time at Disney.

I am glad that there are many people that will still keep WDW alive and well.

Sounds like you have a plan to deal with the changes and for you, I am happy.

Also glad you are retired and can come and go as you please......the same applies to us!

 

[DisneyFive]

While that may have been true pre-pandemic, we are finding that our DVC trips to WDW are still comparable it not cheaper than other options. For the 2 of us, our group tour 6 nt Yellowstone/Grand Tetons trip last year was $1,100/nt, our Tulip Holland River Cruise in 2018 was $640/nt. Our average WDW cost with tics/food/travel/DVC MFs/extras since Covid is $425/nt. Pre-Covid it was around $300/nt.

Not apples to apples. BridgetBordeaux beat me to it, but you need to include your amortized DVC costs (including annual dues) into the per night cost to make it apples to apples. FWIW, the cost for our 8 night WDW summer trip (renting a DVC studio) crossed into the 4 figures / night for the first time ever this year. ($1,100)

Dan

 

[AndreaDM]

Okay so here's the thing. For those who are of the mind that "attitude is everything" and "it's what you make of it," and "if you go looking for problems you will find them but if you go with the right attitude it will be wonderful." This is true ... TO AN EXTENT. I say this as someone with an upcoming trip that we are committed to due to renting DVD, who is unable to change our booking now, and who IS going into this next trip actually excited and with much of the "it's what you make of it" mindset. So I do get it.

That said, Disney is an EXPENSIVE vacation. More expensive for us even than going abroad or to other bucket list destinations. When you spend that kind of money, you shouldn't have to psych yourself up to overlook the crummy stuff. You shouldn't have to lower expectations. For that kind of money, you SHOULD have high expectations. I love Disney but I am also not willing to turn a blind eye to their blunders, to their shortcomings, or to the areas where I might feel they are slipping.

I'm keeping an open mind going into this trip, hoping for the best, and knowing that we will have a great time whatever the circumstances. But that doesn't mean I'm lowering my expectations going forward... it means I'm evaluating the situation and this trip is basically a litmus test for whether we'll be returning.

Yes!!! Why should we have to lower our expectations while paying MORE than ever before? Most of us wouldn't put up with that in other aspects of spending money. I just bought some new furniture and new appliances, I certainly have high expectations that my very expensive dishwasher will work the way it should. We also went into our last trip with a "good attitude" and weren't looking for flaws, but when rides are breaking down left and right and lines just to get a snack are insane and our very expensive resort room doesn't get cleaned, well, my very mediocre expectations were far from being met.

 

[Momtomouselover]

All I can say is if you want Disney to change we, the consumer, are going to have to spend less money at the parks with them. It’s hard to do if you love Disney or have nostalgia or kids of “just the right age”…I get it. It’s not that you can’t have any fun or BYOM (bring your own magic ) but it’s certainly not the same. If you stay longer in order to get the same amount done as previous trips the Disney benefits. If you stay shorter but throw money at it to get the same enjoyment then Disney benefits. I have tried both but the value proposition is definitely different now. However, people are going and spending (look at those earnings) so I don’t expect any changes in the short term.

 

[Momtomouselover]

Oh nevermind, somehow I messed up and deleted part of my post but you get it.

 

[pixiedust2u]

I agree with all this!

I am not upset with the price increases, it is everywhere and expected. I always knew we would eventually have to pay for Fastpass, Universal has always done this , but I am upset with all the changes that inconvenience us. The new system is a mess. Waking up at 7am is ridiculous. Not being able to change and or edit your plans without losing everything you previously booked. No mousecleaning and charging for parking while paying outrageous hotel prices. Disney has gone too far!

The waking up at 7 and lack of a modify feature are what I find most infuriating about genie +
I can’t think of any other “premium” vacation where the “premium” experience requires such policies. Can you imagine “stay at our ocean front suite at our 5 star resort and wake up at 6:45 am to reserve your beach chair ” At premium resorts if you want a cabana you can choose to pay extra in advance, not telling your guests to wake up on vacation! Or you can likely get a decent spot without paying extra.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

While that may have been true pre-pandemic, we are finding that our DVC trips to WDW are still comparable it not cheaper than other options. For the 2 of us, our group tour 6 nt Yellowstone/Grand Tetons trip last year was $1,100/nt, our Tulip Holland River Cruise in 2018 was $640/nt. Our average WDW cost with tics/food/travel/DVC MFs/extras since Covid is $425/nt. Pre-Covid it was around $300/nt. Now the fact that we go to WDW so often makes the total OOP higher, but that is our retirement Leisure Life plan in action.

Yeah, I'm a spreadsheet guy. I agree that WDW prices have gone up, but for us, it continues to be our go-to semi-affordable vacation get-away. We will continue to look for ways to help optimize the cost value of our vacationing, such as less TS meals (we eat too much anyway), more resort chilling, and looking outside the bubble for alternative activities to entertain us.

We are not DVC owners, so accommodations are still a big chunk of our vacation budget when we visit Disney. For our East Coast family of four, for a 10 night stay through DVC rental including flights, tickets, accommodations, food, Genie+/LL costs, airport transfer, our trip is likely going to run us just shy of $9000. And that's with one of our kids under 3, so no park tickets. I just priced a trip to Hawaii for us - same dates and length of stay, flights for all four of us, highly rated accommodations, car rental, and a generous food budget .... and it prices out just about the same, probably a smidge closer to $8000 than $9000. So when you're comparing a Disney vacation (which, again, I love Disney) to a bucket list vacation (Hawaii being a bucket list item for lots of people on the east coast, flights get costly).... my point isn't even that Disney is TOO expensive, but just that there are lots of other options if you channel those funds to other destinations. I don't like the idea of cutting back on TS meals, just like I don't want to wait in super long lines. So when I realize that those things are non-negotiable for me, those costs are going to be included in what I consider the cost of a Disney vacation. I really don't mind shelling out for Disney assuming the level of service is there, the flexibility and ease and vacation vibe are there, that the level of cleanliness and the Disney magic are upheld. But without those factors that have previously knocked my socks off and made Disney something beyond a run of the mill "theme park trip," I'd prefer to put that money towards different types of experiences that are going to knock my socks off. If Disney isn't knocking my socks off, we can easilly take that money and go somewhere else that will.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Of all the ways they could’ve changed or modified the fast pass+ system I still can’t imagine why THIS is what they came up with.
Couldn’t they just have charged for fast pass + and then only allowed you to ride every ride only once on fast fast +?

While that may have been true pre-pandemic, we are finding that our DVC trips to WDW are still comparable it not cheaper than other options. For the 2 of us, our group tour 6 nt Yellowstone/Grand Tetons trip last year was $1,100/nt, our Tulip Holland River Cruise in 2018 was $640/nt. Our average WDW cost with tics/food/travel/DVC MFs/extras since Covid is $425/nt. Pre-Covid it was around $300/nt. Now the fact that we go to WDW so often makes the total OOP higher, but that is our retirement Leisure Life plan in action.

Yeah, I'm a spreadsheet guy. I agree that WDW prices have gone up, but for us, it continues to be our go-to semi-affordable vacation get-away. We will continue to look for ways to help optimize the cost value of our vacationing, such as less TS meals (we eat too much anyway), more resort chilling, and looking outside the bubble for alternative activities to entertain us.

Comparably the price of our 2019 trip to a trip priced out in 2022 (non DVC) the price isn’t too far off. The problem is the line items that were included in our 2019 trip that are no longer included, no longer available or are now an increased charge. It’s “skimpflation” at its finest. So though the price isn’t too far off, we are getting so much less. Not sure if you’ve found that as well with DVC.

 

[starousse]

The waking up at 7 and lack of a modify feature are what I find most infuriating about genie +
I can’t think of any other “premium” vacation where the “premium” experience requires such policies. Can you imagine “stay at our ocean front suite at our 5 star resort and wake up at 6:45 am to reserve your beach chair ” At premium resorts if you want a cabana you can choose to pay extra in advance, not telling your guests to wake up on vacation! Or you can likely get a decent spot without paying extra.

I'm in absolutely no way defending this Genie+ or how it works. It's ridiculous and I honestly can't see it staying this way too long...with all the negative feedback. However, I will say this... we did have a similar issue elsewhere. The year prior to Covid, we took a break from Disney and did a five-star Carribean all inclusive resort instead. Not only did we have to wake up at 6 to be "pool weasels" in order to secure a lounge chair, but we had to be at the concierge every day by 2 (prime time to be at the pool/activities) to reserve a table in any of the good restaurants for dinner. 9/10 times, the seats in their "premier" places were completely sold out which made the only other option eating at a buffet. We spent over $10k for that trip to wake up early and have slim pickins of places to eat. Honestly, I was more stressed and annoyed than I was when I had to get up at 5 in the morning to try to get a boarding group for ROTR.

 

[VandVsmama]

I've only read some of the replies so far, but just wanted to say thanks for the OP's advice to reset one's expectations. We are going to WDW in early October of this year with a group of 6 - me, DH, our 2 kids, & a married couple who we are dear friends with. It'll be the couple's 1st time ever to WDW, so they won't have anything to compare it to.

DL is normally our "home" resort since it's geographically much closer to us than WDW is (we're in AZ). And so far, every time we've been to WDW (3 times now, 2 of which were in 2021), DH forgets that it's not like DL...he'll invariably say at some point in the trip, "But we didn't get on as many rides as when we're at DL." Our family has found that a WDW is a slightly slower pace than how we experience Disneyland. Will we end up riding POTC 3 times in a row w/o a wait (it was walk on!) at WDW like we did that one time at DL during the 2nd showing of Fantasmic? Probably not. Will we still have a good time? I think so. I'm still looking forward to it. I'll end up being the person up before 7 am because that's what I do anyway on all of our Disney trips.

We haven't experienced WDW yet with Genie+ & paid ILL, though. The TS options at WDW is definitely superior to DL, so we're looking forward to that.

 

[nancyrye]

Just back from a 12 night trip which had been rescheduled about 10 times since the original date of March 2020 (the very week everything shut down). My husband and I have been DVC owners for about 10 years and we go to the parks at least once a year every year. Well its finally happened: we are done.

Between the INSANE crowds and the inability to ride anything we wanted to without hours waits, we can't see the value in Disney any longer. There were so so many problems over our nearly two week trip that its hard to mention them all. Some highlights: we stayed in a cabin at the Fort and the Friendship boats are no longer running between the Fort and the resorts on Bay Lake. This means crowded boats and capacity limits when you want to go to the parks. They seem to be filling open position from the people that they laid off before with lots of college kids from the college program. To say that the customer service was laking is an understatement. The room only got a good cleaning ONCE while we were there. Funny how the nearly $8K we spent for the room and the tickets for this trip no longer include anything resembling housekeeping any more. We got fresh towels, sure. But never, until I lodged a complaint, did we get a cleaning of the cabin.

The parks look like doo doo. Remember when Disney would sooner shut down the whole joint than allow the parks to be shabby or the restrooms to be dirty? Forget it. The filthy restrooms alone made me nervous about their commitment to public health.

The lack of parking trams at the parks (minus the TTC) make a long day at the parks miserable when you have to walk a mile back to your car (which we LITERALLY DID at AK.)

our points will be used at HHI and Vero Beach for the foreseeable future. To say that I am mad is an understatement.

I forgot to mention about the lack of boats between WL, Contemporary, and Fort. When we planned the trip we assumed we would use the boat to go to Contemporary and either eat there or use monorail for Poly or GF. Nope! So stuck eating at same sit down and cafe restaurants in WL over and over, (as Artist Point is now a character event) taking Uber (which we did) or finagling buses.

Talked with boat captain and he said they have been requesting for MONTHS that they bring the other boat route back, to no avail.
Not listening to guests or employees requests...

 

[nancyrye]

Just back from a 12 night trip which had been rescheduled about 10 times since the original date of March 2020 (the very week everything shut down). My husband and I have been DVC owners for about 10 years and we go to the parks at least once a year every year. Well its finally happened: we are done.

Between the INSANE crowds and the inability to ride anything we wanted to without hours waits, we can't see the value in Disney any longer. There were so so many problems over our nearly two week trip that its hard to mention them all. Some highlights: we stayed in a cabin at the Fort and the Friendship boats are no longer running between the Fort and the resorts on Bay Lake. This means crowded boats and capacity limits when you want to go to the parks. They seem to be filling open position from the people that they laid off before with lots of college kids from the college program. To say that the customer service was laking is an understatement. The room only got a good cleaning ONCE while we were there. Funny how the nearly $8K we spent for the room and the tickets for this trip no longer include anything resembling housekeeping any more. We got fresh towels, sure. But never, until I lodged a complaint, did we get a cleaning of the cabin.

The parks look like doo doo. Remember when Disney would sooner shut down the whole joint than allow the parks to be shabby or the restrooms to be dirty? Forget it. The filthy restrooms alone made me nervous about their commitment to public health.

The lack of parking trams at the parks (minus the TTC) make a long day at the parks miserable when you have to walk a mile back to your car (which we LITERALLY DID at AK.)

our points will be used at HHI and Vero Beach for the foreseeable future. To say that I am mad is an understatement.

I forgot to mention about the lack of boats between WL, Contemporary, and Fort. When we planned the trip we assumed we would use the boat to go to Contemporary and either eat there or use monorail for Poly or GF. Nope! So stuck eating at same sit down and cafe restaurants in WL over and over, (as Artist Point is now a character event) taking Uber (which we did) or finagling buses.

Talked with boat captain and he said they have been requesting for MONTHS that they bring the other boat route back, to no avail.
Not listening to guests or employees requests.

 

[Ikaikalani]

I'm waiting a while before going back. I currently have a $1,200 park ticket credit from a cancelled 2019 trip and I'm just going to hang on to it for a while.

I hope it gets better someday. I'm keeping a close eye on it.

I've already accepted it will never be the Disney World of the 2010-2018's ever again. But it's going to have to be something different than what it is now, which frankly looks like a miserable experience.

I wouldnt wait too long to use that $1200 credit. Even if it has no expiry date, the way things have been going at WDW lately, in a couple years it probably wont even buy you a lightning lane ticket. Lol