I agree that I don't want to wait standby for more than 30 minutes. Unfortunately, using that rule when we were there this week (Monday through last night) meant that we could not ride anything in any park at most points during the day and evening. EVERYTHING was greater than 30 minutes. As I said, rides like Spaceship Earth were 60+minutes! Magic Carpets was 50-60 minutes! There was nothing to ride at under 30 minutes.
In looking at your signature, you have taken 6 trips in a 12 month period from July 2015-July 2016. That is fantastic, and most of us are drooling with envy! However, I'd say most of the people complaining about the crowds and Disney's lack of response to the crowds, including me, are people who take 1 trip every year or every other year. We don't have another trip coming up in a few months to "make up" for a really crowded and unpleasant trip. We don't want to just do the resorts and DS when the parks are crowded because this is our chance to do the parks. We won't be back for 2 years. So I think you have a different perspective from me (and maybe some other posters) since you go more often. Not to say your opinion is wrong, but just to say that perhaps looking at it from the perspective of someone who is on the only Disney trip they will be taking for the next 2 years, might help you understand their opinion. I will be one of those people "not in the park" for a while, after my experience this week.
And unlike the weather in Alaska in January which can't be controlled, Disney CAN (and should) do something about crowd management. They can have more CMs, more buses, more options for dining/tables at QS, more people cleaning bathrooms and more bathrooms in general, re-hire some of the street entertainment that they let go in recent years, add more rides/attractions at better than a snail's pace, limit park capacity (I know they won't do this until it is at the extreme, as it cuts into profit). They could open all the ticket windows, open all the park entry lines, open all the bag check lines. I saw none of this happening while I was there. If Disney won't respond to high crowds, then I will have to take a break from Disney because it is not enjoyable to me. If I felt Disney was doing all they could do, I would not be upset. But I don't feel that they were.
You're right, we've had great fortune in being able to visit a lot since 2015, and we'll be doing it again in 2017-2018. However, until then, we lived in PA. We only got to visit every 2 or 3 years because we had to fly down. For a family of 5, that's not cheap. So I 100% understand from the perspective of someone who doesn't get to go but once every few years. Most of those trips we took when we lived in PA were during 4th of July week, as that's what worked best for our schedule, so we're veterans of only going once in a while...and on one of the busiest weeks of the year.
I understand the frustration, I really do. But I just can't sympathize with it. As I said, outside of things like Grand Central Station, it's the most visited tourist attraction in the United States. With that in mind, it's always going to be busy. If you chose not to return because of how busy it was, fine, that's up to you. Perhaps you were expecting something that was unrealistic before you walked in the door.
And what exactly would you want WDW to do about it? Yes, I'm being a Disney "apologist" here, but think about it. So what difference would more CMs and buses really make? There are only so many rides and they only have a certain capacity per hour to accommodate guests. So instead of 4 CMs standing at the queue to tell you the wait is 60 minutes, would having 8 of them make a difference? The lines won't be shorter, the rides can only go so fast. As for building more restaurants, bathrooms (of which I think they already have a lot), etc...from a business owner perspective, that probably won't make a ton of sense. Do I think they can add a few more things (I don't eat in their restaurants, so I don't really care, but I get it...we sit in QS places to eat our lunches)? Sure, a few more wouldn't hurt. But adding enough to easily accommodate Spring Break, 4th of July or Xmas week without guests having to wait would be a massive undertaking. And the other 45 weeks of the year that aren't as nuts as those busiest weeks, those places would be half empty. Probably not want WDW wants. Lower the number of guests they allow in the parks? Oh goodness, imagine the uproar if they did that!!!! It would make this debate seem miniscule. That's not an option. While I have no evidence either way, as I don't work there, I doubt that WDW just sits on their hands and does nothing about being busy. In fact, I would argue they do everything in their capacity to make it better for their guests. We have a family friend who has been a CM for 6 or 7 years, and she says they do a lot to try to accommodate guests.
Sorry, while I do completely understand it's frustrating to have the park be so crowded, I can't get mad about it, blame WDW or say I won't come back. If you want to, that's up to you.
