Disney is different now

[Ted C]

The mentality changed because I can no longer be who I want to be in the parks and neither can their CM's when they go to work. It has nothing to do with deserving anything. You have a right to be able to escape when you go to Disney. That's what you're paying and longing for. We go for the escape, that's where the magic is. I could care less about 3 or 5 fast passes, I just want it to feel right.

 

[3Gsandme]

Why would that effect anything....wouldn't you simply be able to....I don't know update the app? I know I have done it with dozens of other apps without losing any data, why should the MDE be any different?

How is it poorly designed? The MDE app is fairly easy to navigate, I've used the bands recently without issue.

FP+...you mean I don't have to walk to all my favorite attraction several times to...not ride the ride, but get a piece of paper (reservation) to come back later....I can do that on my phone. The madness must stop!!!

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I see the progress for a more technological system to be a good thing. I like being able to go to one place and see everything and change them as I feel the need to.

Yes. How do any other apps manage? You update it. It's easy, I guess, or there wouldn't be millions of apps. I liked FP+ and MDE but we're really techie people and it worked for us.

 

[Ted C]

It safe to say nobody has ever tried to write an app like this. Think about it..

 

[richkaryn]

We went the first week of June 2013 and that was pre-FP+. I agree.....we have always said Disney trips were our least stressful vacations....then the June trip happened. It was one bad experience after another the 9 days we were there. I definitely agree about the CMs attitudes being different. I emailed customer service after we returned, not seeking anything but just wanting them to be aware of what their parks were turning into. They ended up calling and offering us something for our trouble. I was appreciative, and we are actually returning in late March for our 10th anniversary (mainly bc I forgot to get passports for myself and son so we could do our cruise....so we changed plans). Hoping for the best because I'd say if this trip bites as bad as the last it will put Disney on our poo list for a long time, and I really don't want that to happen.

 

[dwheaton]

I think the parks have changed due to guest mentality changing.

Once upon a time, some magic happened, you came home and told your 10 friends about it and they nodded and smiled and said that is so neat!

Now you come home, post on a forum and 10,000 people say "I deserve that too -- how do I MAKE that happen?" and then it doesn't happen and then they get angry .

The mentality has partially changed due to the price, which has gone WAY above inflation. When a six-day park hopper with pleasure island and water parks was around $200 in 1998 and it never expired, I thought it was a decent deal. When that price is heading towards double the amount today if not more (don't have the numbers in front of me), it seems a bit different.

And that's just the tickets. Food prices are through the roof, hotels are higher, parking is higher, etc.

What that does is create higher expectations. When you add that Disney marketing the parks solely based on "magic" instead of rides, the expectations get even crazier.

Finally, when all this is added to larger crowds for the most part, it leads to the current situation.

And I haven't even mentioned FP+...

 

[Ted C]

Agreed, and we don't either. Its heart breaking..

 

[ConvenientTruth]

It safe to say nobody has ever tried to write an app like this. Think about it..

The app is just an access point to the servers that house the information...not all that different then a banking app....

The MDE app is not that complicated...

 

[Ted C]

Agreed, somebody has to pay for this -- billion dollar mess...

 

[Ted C]

No but the whole program is...

 

[faneuil]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I see the progress for a more technological system to be a good thing. I like being able to go to one place and see everything and change them as I feel the need to.

I like the app - it surely has saved me many a walk from one side of a park to another, only to find out the SB line is longer than I'm willing to wait.

I may be in the minority here - or I may be naive to think there's a big enough population, but what about the technologically un-savvy? When my father was alive he could barely use his "calls only" flip phone without screwing up a setting. a smart phone? are you kidding me? an app?? I dunno. Maybe 99% of the population is just fine with it.

One thing though. If most everyone is going to be using their phones/iPads/etc for FP+, dining, whatever - Disney needs to boost the WiFi. I found myself dumping it, and using my data because it was faster.

 

[ConvenientTruth]

No but the whole program is...

Again...not really....with the launch of any new program there are going to be issues (glitches), but MDE is nothing more then a reservation holding system...it is simply organizing the data of millions of people and their daily activities...not sure how that is overly convoluted.

 

[mom2rtk]

The app is just an access point to the servers that house the information...not all that different then a banking app....

The MDE app is not that complicated...

Try telling that to the family in this thread.

Is it really OK to sacrifice people's expensive vacations as "collateral damage" on the way to technological progress?

 

[ConvenientTruth]

Try telling that to the family in this thread.

Is it really OK to sacrifice people's expensive vacations as "collateral damage" on the way to technological progress?

Her experience is most likely an anomaly and not the norm...

What is the alternative?
Should Disney stay stagnate as others progress? If they did then people would complain that they are not investing in the infrastructure. Now that they do, they complain again...moving Disney forward and taking advantage of people use of cell phones and apps is a move in the right direction.

 

[Ted C]

They should have built or expanded another park. That's how you "stay" up.

 

[ConvenientTruth]

They should have built or expanded another park. That's how you "stay" up.

They are, they just broke ground on Avatar land in Animal Kingdom and are finishing up the completely redesigned Fantasy Land...

 

[Ted C]

And some of us want to get away from our freaking hand held devices when we go on vacation. They've flat alienated their older clientele with this move.

 

[Ted C]

Fantasyland was a revamp, not another park. And Avatarland?? Who knows...

 

[morethananyonex]

Her experience is most likely an anomaly and not the norm...

What is the alternative?
Should Disney stay stagnate as others progress? If they did then people would complain that they are not investing in the infrastructure. Now that they do, they complain again...moving Disney forward and taking advantage of people use of cell phones and apps is a move in the right direction.

Her experience has happened to far too many people on their vacations that they have paid thousands of dollars for. Not okay. Period.

Disney should not stagnate, but they should have backup systems and reasonable fixes available for when these problems do arise. It is totally unacceptable for a paying guest to be wasting that much of their vacation time trying to deal with Disney's system that is not working. It is ridiculous that guests have been spending hours trying to get CMs to fix these problems with no resolution. It really doesn't matter that it's only happening to a select few, it should not be happening to anyone.

The problem isn't Disney innovating and people disliking it (at least the problem being discussed here). Guests should not be penalized for random system errors, however big or small, especially when they've paid lots of money to be part of this "test". If they want lowered expectations during this "test" the prices should match that. They don't.

When the system fails for individual guests, Disney should be quick to fix it for them.

 

[dwheaton]

Her experience is most likely an anomaly and not the norm...

What is the alternative?
Should Disney stay stagnate as others progress? If they did then people would complain that they are not investing in the infrastructure. Now that they do, they complain again...moving Disney forward and taking advantage of people use of cell phones and apps is a move in the right direction.

I think few of us want Disney to never change and not adjust with the times. It's one thing to shift the focus to online use, apps, etc. However, Disney is running this test while guests continue to pay full price for their vacations. That is the issue at this point. The IT issues should be resolved before there's a massive roll-out for paying guests.

It's like opening a ride and forgetting to install the protective bars to keep guests from flying out of their seats. There are reasons there is so much testing happening at the Snow White Mine Train. They want to make it right. Why is FP+ so different?

 

[bcrook]

I'll never quite understand this admonition. Suppose you went to a resort and spa noted for its golf course, spa tratments, beauty salon and dining. You pay $1,000 per day for your stay and use of the facilities. During your stay, the golf course is cut back to 15 holes because they are rebuilding three of the holes. The spa is training new massueses and the massage you get is sub-par. You go to get your hair done and some incompetent stylist chops off a hunk of your hair. And the restaurant's food is served cold instead of hot, and is completely flavorless. Are you supposed to ultimately brush all of this off because "you are on vacation"? It is possible for a vacation destination to fail to live up to reasonable expectations and WDW is not immune from this phenomenon.

Sums up my thoughts too. I have agreed to pay Disney more than a $100,000 over the next 50 years (probably a lot more) with DVC purchase and tickets etc.

I expect great service for that money. And I expect it every single trip.