Choose a Carpool

[JeffH]

I was hoping that they'd resurrect the "Jolly Holidays Christmas Dinner" in the Millenium Village building after it closed. It was a very popular (sold-out) event.

 

[ContempoSMT]

How can we say it is fading. I feel the same way every time i go back and i get excited for my next trip as soons as i come back from disney world. The magic is 100% their to me.

 

[TXDeb]

I had to vote car #3. I wanted to be able to choose car #2, but with all the recently announced cut-backs, reduced hours, closed attractions and restaurants, I was forced to admit I am now most definitely in car #3, no matter what I wish for.

I have to admit I am still living on the magic of past trips. Each time we go, I manage to find that magic deep inside even when things are not so magical in reality. I really do still hold out a little hope for the return of the magic, but it may be too late for my teens - future parents who will be deciding where to spend their vacation dollars before too long. All three used to be huge WDW fans, but over the past couple of trips, I have seen their enthusiasm fading. They would much rather go to Universal and IOA, now. Yes, they are at the age where they really enjoy thrill rides, but that is not the reason they now prefer the other parks.

Even with our last trip they still preferred staying at a Disney resort, and spending most of the time at the WDW parks. They said that Universal and IOA just didn't have the same 'feel' to it as WDW, and they preferred staying at WDW, even though they did enjoy the Universal parks. For the trip that we have been planning for December, things are different. They tell me that WDW just isn't the same any more. There are so many closed attractions, it is often dirty, some of the CMs just seem to lack that Disney magic, and it looks like the parks will be closing so early almost every night. They aren't quite old enough to go to PI on their own, and don't like the idea of going clubbing with their parents either. There are only so many things they can do, and movies that they can see at DTD, so they are worried about what they can do in the evenings, if the parks are all closed early.

For past trips, they have always had great fun in helping to choose our WDW resort, but this time they could care less. We have only stayed off-site one time, and we all admitted that was our least favorite trip. However, this year they were asking if we could rent a condo or a house offsite for the December trip. They would rather not stay at a WDW resort. When I asked them why they would rather stay off-site, they couldn't really tell me. Just said that they really didn't care that much where we stayed. Actually, I think they could care less if we even go, although they are not totally happy about canceling either. Something is missing this time.

Now these are the same kids who have always loved WDW. My daughter was such a Disney fan that she couldn't wait until she was in college so she could work at WDW through the college program. She spent all last year researching it, but after our last trip, she has never even mentioned it again. It's not that they think Disney is too 'babyish' for them now, they just don't feel the 'magic' anymore.

 

[YoHo]

TXDEB. I hope your following the USF boards as well, from what I've heard their cutbacks are as bad or worse then Disney.


I Have not, nor will I choose a car. As usual, I'm sitting astride a Harley darting in between all the other cars.

Right now I'm very concerned about the Parks.

 

[TXDeb]

Hey YoHo,
I have been wondering about Universal/IOA. I'll have to pop over there and see for myself how they are handling things.

Actually, a Harley sounds like the way to go. More fun than the cars, and easier to switch positons as more info becomes available!

I am a little more upbeat about things today. I do understand some of the cut-backs, but I question the wisdom of others, especially when considering the short-term benefits vs the long-term harm to customer trust and good will. I also disagree with Disney's lack of consistent and reliable info about the current changes. It's not fair to those already on site (or leaving this week), and it's certainly not good customer service.

Guess, I'm really still torn between car #2 and #3, but hoping that I may be able to move back to car #1 someday!

 

[YoHo]

The problem seems to be that almost nobody from out of state is going to Disney anyway. They can afford to do all this at the last moment, because as much as it sucks for those of us going, their really isn't anyone there anyway. its all weekenders.

 

[TowerTerror]

I am riding in the backseat of car #2. The magic has faded somewhat, but WDW is still my favorite vacationing spot. Some reasons for being in second car:

1. Cutting attendance hours.
2. Building cheap attractions in quantity instead of quality.
3. Closing attractions that need to stay open. (COP and Timekeeper)
4. Not Completing Theme Parks at least 85-90% before Opening Day.
5. Updating the Magic Kingdom. Last E-Ticket attraction was Splash Mountain.
6. Getting rid of E-Ticket night and Early Entry days.

I feel that Disney needs to sit back and think about what Walt would have done differently.

 

[Lesley]

Shoot, it appears I can't change my car preference.....but anyway...I am increasingly worried about WDW and can pretty much count myself in car 3 now.....I was waffling before. The magic seems to be crumbling before my eyes....those things TowerTerror just mentioned as influences for the second car choice have pushed me into car 3. It was fading a bit before (still had a great time, but some of the changes that were designed specifically to get more $ irked me...plus small lapses in cleanliness, friendliness, etc...) but now it has gone well beyond that.

 

[TiggerFreak]

Am I bummed out or what?
Just as our 1st trip home as DVC members draws near, a plethora of closings, cutbacks and cancellations.

I will be moving to car#2, but reserve the right to blithely fly, utilizing pixie dust augmentation, back to car#1 if trip to world next week turns out better than I now believe it will be.

Maybe if I take off those RoseColoredGlasses and put on some RayBans....

Are we going to need one of those empty Disney buses to take the place of car#2

 

[Lesley]

Tigger Freak, you can have my old seat in #2....I've hopped over to #3.

Still wishing I could be in car #1!

 

[Judge Doom]

I'm going to hop in Car 4. I was in car 3 but with all the closings and cheap replacments...I'm a DVC member too...I'll be putting my points up for sale this year

a. If your going to cut things out give us something else ie 20,000 leagues remains empty, Timekeeper empty, Cop empty etc...

b.poor comunication to your guests, we know all your times and events are subject to change...just tell us when you decide to cancel or change something.

c Disney has just turned into another theme park for me. I was planning on getting married at Disney but with the way things are now I find getting married in Disney and getting married at Six Flags are the same thing

d If the way you treat your guests is the same way you treat your castmembers its lucky you have any left. Eisner gets himself a huge bonus living in a mansion somewhere and you have the guts to ask the hourly CMs to cut their hours?

e Now that I think about it Disney is not a theme park any more. It's a mall with some rides.

f Don't tell me the economy is to blame. Japan right now has the highest unemployment rate yet Disney Sea is doing outstanding. Why because it's not a piece of junk ...California Adventure vs Disney Sea...you be the judge...

 

[ksdave]

I'm also between car #2 and #3. I spent two days at USF/IOA and 5 at WDW in May. If I had a chance to do it over, I would do at least three days at USF/IOA, maybe even four. It seems to my DW, DD (11), DS(9), and I that Disney is no longer the creative geniuses; Universal has taken that away and now Disney is just reacting. If you look at MIB at USF, then compare Buzz Lightyear, you will see what I mean. MIB is an awesome experience that hits all the senses. Buzz is just a poor attempt to copy MIB, using the same track and all as If You Had Wings. They couldn't even change the "tunnel" section!
I also agree with all the earlier posters that they must do something about the old 20,000 Leagues ride area. This area has been a gaping hole in MK for too long. If you are going to continue to raise ticket prices way beyond the rate of inflation as Disney has done the last ten years, you have to give us something new.
My trips to WDW in the 80's were always 5 days of all Disney. In the early 90's, they started to be 4-5 days at Disney and a day or two of USF. Now they are going to a 50-50 split. If I listen to my kids (and my head, not my heart), my trips in the next few years will probably be 4 days at HRH at USF/IOA and a couple of WDW days staying offsite.
Hey Disney, guess where my money is going?

 

[raidermatt]

Car #1 here. Cutting hours, especially given the current situation, does not have anything to do with magic. DL used to be closed on Mondays, back in the "good old days". And that's with no other park or Disney attractions.

EE? Have no use for it. It just turns that park into the most crowded one for that day. E-Nights? Nice idea, but if they were being introduced for the first time, we'd be hearing an uproar from the doomsayers because there was a fee. "This should be a perk for resort guests", they would roar.

Poor service? Been to both WDW and DL Resort in the last 14 months, and were treated very well. Any special requests were accomodated, and were never treated rudely or even indifferently. CMs are pleasant, and often do more than we even ask them to.

AK is a great park. Sure it can get better, but its already better than any other animal park. The theming is great and the shows are strong. Its a big plus to the resort, and its clear that more will be added, though its at a slower pace than originally planned.

The DL resort has been transformed from a single park and hotel, into a true resort destination. The GC is beautiful, and the service is top-notch. DL used to be a park bordered by city streets, with a hotel across the street. Land limitations keep it from being the escape that WDW is, but considering its in the heart of SoCal suburbia, what Disney has accomplished is amazing. DCA is not perfect, but its still themed very well, and improvements have already been made. (DL was also HEAVILY criticized when it opened).

I'm concerned about the animation division (non-Pixar), though we've seen these lulls before. But the parks will be fine. The events of 9/11 merely accelerated the economic downturn that we were in the midst of. Disney will weather the storm and be just fine. For those who rely on EE to provide magic, it will return when there are enough guests to justify it.

 

[Leota]

This infrequent visitor to the RB is squeezing into car #2....near the back, because I'm sadly on the verge of car #3.....
The final straw which pushed me over the edge was the closing of CoP right before Walt's b-day - if there was ever such a glaring denial of Walt Disney in Walt Disney World !!! Kinda proves the point that the current management has absolutely no concern or regard for Walt's vision....
The quality of the CM's has been on a steady decline, which is sad to me, there are still some great CM's there & the CMs have always been such a huge part of the Magic for us....
The cuts in hours have been a slap in the face, coming so soon after ticket price increases....
"Hey, Got a great idea - we'll charge folks more, close a few attractions & decrease hours!"
E-Nights, were something we enjoyed, even tho we were kind of po'd at the fact we had to pay for something we used to get for free. I remember going as a kid & MK was open til midnight every night.
The Magic is in serious jeapordy IMHO. I'm hoping that a senior imagineer wrests power from the magic-impaired bean-counters that seem to be at the wheel.....
Yes, there is still enough Magic for this family to keep coming back, but too often of late, do we mutter the words "you never used to see ______ happen here!" or "boy, I sure do miss_____"

 

[ArcticWildMan]

Make room for me in car #3 (car #4 is a tad too extreme for me, I'll just visit less frequently). Having just returned from WDW a few weeks ago, I'm planning next years vacation...and it's not going to be WDW. A lot of my disappointment probably stems from a lousy experience at the Swan, but I want to see park hours increased again, EE days restored, shows opened back up, etc...before I spend thousands of my hard earned dollars at WDW again.

 

[year2late]

My heart tells me to hop in car #1.
If anything, my Disney attendence is on the rise!I also have my rose tinted glasses on when it comes to my Disney vacations.

 

[eddiewells]

I am in car #2....I wish there was a car #2.5 though. Disney seriously needs to take the TIME and MONEY to perfect the parks they have now, and to make a new one. I'm not sure what the new one would be, but Disney needs one to bring back the publicity it had before AK opened. I mean, in 2000 you would see about 5 Disney commercials a day on TV. Now? I have seen 1 commercial the entire year of 2002!!! I'm not worried about "improving" Disney for myself. Disney could stay the exact same and I would continue to visit it as often (if not more often) for years and years to come. However, I feel Disney needs all these improvements so everyone ELSE will start coming.

One thing I do feel might be the cause of this is the 2000 celebration. 2000 was the year everyone and their mother came to WDW. I went in July and it was extremely crowded. When you look at it that way, everyone went in 2000 and might not have the money to go back for a couple years. I know we didn't. We used to go every 4 years (now we're cutting it to every 2-3 years). So I feel if Disney gets the publicity it needs, 2003 and 2004 will be big years. If everyone has the same idea as my family, you can expect an attendence equaling close to that of the year 2000 these next couple years.

 

[dvcHammer]

Car #1 and hoping that I won't have to get into car #2

I first consider the fact that we are having this discussion at all as evidence that there is plenty of magic left. If the magic was gone, we'd all log off and go elsewere. Is Disney not as magic as it may have been in the past - maybe.... from the point of view that as the WDW experience has changed, and so have we. I've been going since 1972 and have seen the changes, but for the most part - how much of it that we are getting older and seeing the past through the haze of remembering the "good old days".

Some rides I really liked have come and gone. When i was a kid I liked Misson to the Moon even. A great ride for it's day. But no one is asking for that to return. The CoP was a great ride and true experience - in the 1970's and even into the 80's, but now it is getting tired and time to let it go. We love it because of the memories, but it will not hold the interest of todays kids and I've ridden it on days when the park was packed and CoP was running half full. 20,000 was a great ride, as a kid I loved it, but it was always such as a long wait to board and I have to admit deep down that it had become dated and was time for it to go. I do hope that something will be put in it's place someday. While we're at it, bring back the "Wings of Man"......... Can't we all make a list of the attractions we really miss? We all have our list of the changes that we disagree with and some things that really have ticked us off in the last few years.

BUT......This year we're bringing a family with us that has never been for a week at WDW with their 5 year old. Can't you just see the eyes of a 5 year old lighting up going to the MK for the first time? The "magic" may have changed for those of us that have years of history, but it will be the same magic that we once knew in the eyes of that child. I can't wait to once again see WDW from a childs viewpoint again. I hope it will make me slow down and see everything again for the first time.

Disney may not be the place that we remember from our memories... what can ever live up to the filter of our memories?.. The greatest theme park and vacation resort in the world may not be eveything it once was, but it is still a magic place. Bad decisions have been made in some areas and I hope to see some changes for the better happen. But the change in the corporate culture is in part a reflection the the change of the overall culture of the country.

I'm counting the days till we get there again. For me anyway, I can still find pixie dust in abundence. Sorry for rambling

 

[yepod]

I found this thread today & found it amazing that the grumbling had started 6 months ago!
I would have voted for car #1.5 in July.
We had been to WDW 9/2000 & loved it.
I was'nt aware of the issues until planning our trip in 12/01.
Boy what a change in my opinion in such a short time.
After returning my DW & myself both vote for car #3.
We have seriously talked about staying offsite (we loved onsite in 2000 but not in 2001)!
We will definately be doing US & IOA for our first time when we return in October.

Disney needs to get their act together.
I truly think Walt is rolling after we experienced his Birthday with mediocre (at best) feelings.

Replace Eisner with someone who can take Walt's vision FORWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[raidermatt]

yepod- I'm curious to know what went wrong on your trip that has made you become pessimistic about Disney's future. Most of the grublings on the other boards (note-Rumors board excepted) has come from those who have not been in the last 6 months or more, and are reacting to the word "cuts". Most of the trip reports are actually very positive, noting that while hours are shorter than they were last year, so are the lines.

You obviously had a different experience. What happened?