Disappointed

[Karbase8]

Yes I have noticed even at the Crystal Palace for an example the food choices get slighty skimpier ever year and the quality goes down, I got sucked in to the dining plan but next time I am paying OOP only booking a few things and being more wise about my choices. However, I will say this I went to an amusement park over the summer and the food was 10 times worse then Disney, so still Disney is still a step above most amusement parks and they are feeding mass quantities. But I do see soaring prices and things being cut that can be distressing, I am going Sunday so I will see how I feel after this trip

 

[ConvenientTruth]

Disney can decrease quality and our complaints will matter very little....people still go in droves...For ever customer they may lose due to the decrease in quality....there are 5 more they are gaining.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I understand the business logic that led to abridged evening EMHs. All I know is that my family sure does miss having at least one long romp into the wee hours of the morning at MK each vacation. Missing out on this sucks a certain amount of joy out of a WDW vacation for us.

Dining... what can I say? I like free dining even though I know it is partly to blame for the demise of food service at WDW. With two teens who eat like horses it is a relief for me to tell them to just eat whatever they want when they want it while we are on vacation. We don't have any of those "Snickers moments" when DS13 turns into Betty White or DD16 turns into Joe Pesci.

 

[Nanajo1]

One of my pet peeves is adding $4.00 pp to the buffet prices during holidays! We are a large group and it adds almost $100.00. We are DVC so we plan more in villa meals now, or order pizza.

 

[Praying Colonel]

IMHO Disney dining would've still deteriorated even if the DDP never existed. This is the era of the "green eyeshade guys"--accountants will squeeze every ounce of profits out of us, either by raising prices or decreasing costs.

Yes, Disney's a corporation and that's what corporations do. My point is you can't lay every thing that ills Disney at the feet of the DDP.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Exactly!

Its the Dining Plan effect. I'm sure Disney makes a fortune off of it, but it is ruining the dining experiences in my opinion. If and when people stop buying the plan and going back to paying OOP (which we do every trip and come out WAY ahead), I think things will change. I don't see that happening though anytime soon unfortunately.

Right.

For this trip, I am having a hard time even thinking about paying OOP for table service meals when I know there is free dining starting the day after we leave. Not that I begrudge free dining to anyone! But it makes it too way painful to pay OOP knowing that many people will be getting the same meals for free the day after we leave, especially considering the prices.

 

[ArwenMarie]

IMHO Disney dining would've still deteriorated even if the DDP never existed. This is the era of the "green eyeshade guys"--accountants will squeeze every ounce of profits out of us, either by raising prices or decreasing costs.

Yes, Disney's a corporation and that's what corporations do. My point is you can't lay every thing that ills Disney at the feet of the DDP.

I think this is true too, it's not all the DDP.

 

[leebee]

We have taken advantage of free dining, but we don't usually choose to eat dessert (but we'd LOVE to have an appetizer) so it's not necessarily a great deal for us.

I miss the magical extra things that used to be at Disney but are gone now. Remember the pre-show entertainment? Four for a Dollar used to sing before Beauty and the Beast, and there was a comedy/juggling act at Fantasmic. It made the wait go by faster. Even at Festival of the Lion King, the CMs took the time to teach their section the hand bop that the monkeys do; haven't seen that happen in the past few visits. Does AK still have CMs with caged creatures at the gates, working the lines, so the wait seems shorter? Do the different parks each have a pre-rope-drop show outside the gates- a little extra magic before the park even opened? Are they still throwing around the mickey-head glitter on the streets or at dining tables, where are the mickey-head butter pats, the themed napkins, etc.? Yes, I know that we'd probably have to pay even MORE for our Disney experience, but it just feels like Disney has cheapened itself by removing some of the magical "extras" that made you feel better about paying Disney prices.

We are HUGE fans of the evening Extra Magic Hours. Now that they are gone, and not loving how the "free" dining plan is arranged, I am not sure if we'll stay onsite again or not. Magical Express is a huge advantage sometimes, so we don't have to rent a car, but as we aren't fans of the bus system, either, we usually try to find a car to rent... one FEWER things to make us onsite guests.

 

[Planogirl]

The EMH was quite a lure to us and helped us decide to stay onsite sometimes. We aren't onsite devotees so without it I don't see much reason.

 

[pigletto]

I have been coming to wdw almost annually since 1997- sometimes 2-3x a year - and this is the first trip where I am feeling disappointed.

First off....there have been Major cut backs on extra magic hours. Even when they charged for extra hours in the park, they were offered 2-3 nights a week. I'm here for 9 nights and there is only one evening EMH per park. My family and I love the evening EMHs. Very disappointed that they're not as frequent.

Food choices - the menus at most of the restaurants are limited to 6-7 entrees. To be fair, I am pleased that the chefs work to accommodate food allergies and intolerances (gluten free/lactose intolerant) but I remember when there were so many more details that added magic to each meal. I remember getting Mickey shaped butter at many locations. It just added to the experience...
We dined at Be Our Guest the other evening and while it was good and the restaurant itself is absolutely gorgeous, we could feel how the service was rushed so that they could turn over tables quickly. They brought our appetizers and entrees out together. ��

Those are my two disappointments....
I am not letting it stop me from enjoying my trip or from planning more visits, but I just miss those "good ole days...."

I am going to send a letter btw expressing my disappointment. Just to share with Disney execs....

Thanks for reading. ��

I understand and just wanted to say I heard you. I don't want to debate it or speculate about it. I just get it.
I still enjoy our trips very much, and get excited to go. I just worry that one day all of those little changes are going to add up to too much change and disappointment for us to love going anymore. We aren't there yet thankfully..but I finally get how you can feel let down by the little things. It's because there's so many of them sometimes.