Disney Magic? Still feeling it?

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

We just got back from one of many trips to WDW, and wondered how others are feeling about all the changes. (Personally, we liked the magic bands, but Fastpass+...not so much.) So I thought I'd put out a poll: Still feeling all that Disney Magic? Or, to quote Inigo Montoya out of context, "(Magic?) You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

 

[kaybird]

Yep! Feeling it more than ever!!! We have enjoyed the Magic bands, FP+ has worked great for us, and the Magic is alive and well! Booked two extra trips this year, and no, we are not locals, it is a 24 hour drive.

 

[Meriweather]

Love it!! Grew up with DLR, so go to both and love them both.
Love the Magic Bands, don't mind the FP+.
I have been twice so far this year with 2 more trips booked (it's WDW year....next year will be a DLR year).
5 hour flight to WDW.....now I don't feel the magic for the airline prices these days

 

[lovin'fl]

I miss some of the old magic. I still remember our 1st on-site stay (2nd WDW trip) at POR with DDP. Our kids were all under 10 so DDP was cheap (adults were only @ $37) and we got app, entre and dessert plus tips were included. That trip was so magical...after having stayed off-site the previous trip. And the daily housekeeping person would display my DDs' stuffed animals (Disney plushes) in a neat way. We'd come back to the room at night excited to see what the plushes had been up to that day...my girls loved that. Then we bought DVC and got the 'Welcome Home' and it was still magical. Just ditched DDP for TIW and had some great trips.

But around 2-3 years ago, we started to notice it was getting more and more crowded (no more slow times) and ADRs were tougher to get. And to push through the numbers I think Disney has given up some of the things that made it 'magical'. But, still, we love it. We just adjust. Not a fan of all this pre-booking every detail. Just had to do FP+ for Aug trip with my mom and DDs-15. I found it tough to know what rides my mom would want to do and what time she'll be moving in the morning (she's not an early riser or especially quick in the mornings) and wish we could just go and use old paper FP system...that worked fine for us.

 

[disnut8]

I voted that it's still as magical as ever BUT, my definition of "magical" changes with each trip. My husband and I went in March for the Flower and Garden Festival but mainly because we needed to destress from the previous six months of stuff, including my beloved father passing. We didn't have access to advance FastPass + since the Annual Passholder access hadn't started and we were staying offsite. But the "magic" for that trip was still there as we just took our time, did standbys when we could, visited all four parks and got all of our troubles resolved. For our Memorial Day trip, we finally had MagicBands for the Annual Passes but my husband's had a problem and I incorrectly thought I couldn't make FastPass + reservation unless we had the MagicBand. Once I got that straightened out (and the MagicBand problem was my fault), I made our FastPass + reservations just two days before we left on the trip and was able to get what we wanted.

Now I'm planning the July 4th weekend trip and did the FastPass + 30 days out (staying offsite) and got what we wanted and even changed things around yesterday to better suit our wants.

I like the FastPass + system although I do wish we could choose park hop fastpasses in advance but that will probably come so no big deal. The "magic" for us is to escape from the real world. And we can do that just by stepping into a park. That's all it takes for us.

 

[Tonyz]

Come on... still as magical as ever!

 

[Library Lady]

Just got back from a 9 night stay. It's still as magical as ever! Hoping to post a trip report this week. The Disney magic is still there, yes things have changed, but it was still magical to us.

 

[B.B. Sots]

It is still Magical as ever, but the nostalgia makes the past trips seem better.

As Mary Schmich would say: "nostalgia, is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth"

And I am ok with this as that is part of the magic.

 

[MichiganDVC]

Even more magical! Just got back from four nights at Walt Disney World: two before our cruise and two after. We are exhausted and our feet hurt from all the walking. Four days just is never enough to do and see everything we want. Got back yesterday and booked our December trip so we can have five solid days in a row and hopefully find time to do the things we missed on this trip. And of course, repeat our favorites as usual.

In December, it will be freezing here in Michigan and at least probably 70° in Florida. I don't care how busy it is as long as it isn't 90°.

 

[Eoywin]

My daughter is five and her first trip was this past October. Seeing her experience the magic for the first time made our last trip even more magical than all the other ones.

I don't get to go back every year which I think helps keep the magic alive for us. I won't be back until 2016 though I'm still looking very forward to it.

Disney is too expensive to go to if the magic is waning. But that's just my opinion

 

[LAS321]

I still love Disney and still return each summer, but I do feel the magic is slowly diminishing. I'm just not a huge fan of all the planning that it takes now to do the things you want to do. Between planning the ADRs 180 days out and now having to plan when and where I want to use my FP+ 60 days out, it takes all the spontaneity out of the trip. We are doing more QS meals this time so we aren't so over planned.
I also feel the "Disney touch" is being lost....first it was online check-in and now they're testing bypassing check-in altogether. The contact with CMs that made you feel so special at check-in, giving you buttons for special events and going over all the resort info is being replaced with a text. Just seems so impersonal.
It's still a special place but not so sure it will continue to be magical at the pace their going.

 

[DisUniversal]

Still love WDW, but the magic seems to be fading.

 

[btk2333]

still feeling it- while i miss things there's no iteration of wdw as a whole that i prefer over this version

 

[ampersand]

Yep! Feeling it more than ever!!! We have enjoyed the Magic bands, FP+ has worked great for us, and the Magic is alive and well! Booked two extra trips this year, and no, we are not locals, it is a 24 hour drive.

That 24 hour drive is probably why. I think the people who feel like Disney magic is wearing off are the ones that just go way too often. I know you wanna get your money's worth for your AP's but I bet if you guys took a couple years off, you'd get that feeling back again.

I haven't been to Florida since the 90's and it's all sorts of sparkle shiny pixie dust magical whatever cavity causing adjectives we're using today

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

Yep... It's still alive here! Were AP and go four times a month at least.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Soooo Magical still. I went as a 4 year old and an 8 year old on wonderful WDW vacations which I have great memories of. Did not go back for almost 20 years when my future wife and I went as a dating couple and then again 2 years for our first anniversary. Every year we return to FL. to visit my snowbird parents and we sneak a day in at one of the parks. Every single time it is pure Disney magic.

I'm a fairly logical, emotionless guy in my workplace and damn if the thought of my lil' guy finally experiencing his first WDW trip doesn't already have the eyes welling up.

 

[MataHari22]

I had to laugh at that last choice in the poll because The Princess Bride is one of my all time, very favorite movies.

I was there last October and had a great and magical time. Having said that, I do sort of wish it was like years ago, when we didn't have to do so much planning. Last year, I didn't book early, it was sort of a last minute trip, and I booked 60 days in advance. This year, I just booked this week, which is a little better than last year, but still, only about 90 days out or so. I feel like all the planning is taking a bit of the magic out of it.

I sort of wish things could be a little more spur of the moment and you would still be able to eat in restaurants you would like to without calling in ADR's 180 days in advance. I think of the 8 TS I have, I only managed to get 3 of the things I wanted. There have been things I have missed out on, because I simply cannot get in. (CRT, BOG, and a few of the rides when the wait was 80-90minutes and I had already used my fast passes....)

I have also noticed that some of the service has slipped a little, just a few not so special moments with cast members that were not as polite as they should have been.

All of that takes away a bit of the magic for me.
On the whole, it still is magical, but holy smokes, it's a lot of planning and work to get it to run smoothly. I do all the planning, and my friend goes along for the ride. I wish I had someone that did all the planning for me. Lol

Now that everyone has fastpass+ and magic bands! I am interested to see if it will run as smoothly for me as it did last year.

 

[Seeker615]

It is still magical but over the years I noticed things are not as magical.

When I took the the kids in 1998 it was probably our best trip ever to Disney. Parks were not crowded and we were surprised everywhere with character interactions. It was very magical indeed!

Fast forward to 2011. I took a mom and daughter trip and while we enjoyed ourselves we found the lack of character interactions kind of sad. In fact we only got two pictures with characters. One was a spontaneous pic with Brer Rabbit and the other was with the evil stepmom. We got tons of character pics over at Universal. The parks was pretty crowded but not unmanageable. We got to ride everything we wanted to with minimum waits and the rest we fast-passed with the old system. (which was awesome)

My last visit was in November. My hubby and I did the Christmas party. We were staying at Royal Pacific at Universal and took a shuttle over to MK around 4pm. Holy craziness! We waited forever for the monorail and getting into the park was a mess. People were testing their new magic bands and a lot were not working. It took awhile to work our way to the entrance. Inside the park was just plain scary. We watched a man fall on Main Street as he was trying to navigate around the crowds and got bumped into the curb. I was a little afraid for him! Once the crowds thinned out for the party it was very nice overall. Pirates was down for about an hour and the Haunted Mansion had quite a few issues during our ride. We were stuck twice for about 10 minutes each time. It kind of ruined the momentum of the ride. The parade and fireworks were pretty and the cast members were jolly overall.

I plan on heading back when my grand babies are a little older.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think the magic is still in the parks. Not too sure about the resorts but that is probably for another thread.

I think the key to feeling the magic, especially with FPP, is being ok with just letting things happen and not getting to do everything. In other words, you have to be willing to do some upfront planning AND be ok when and plans unravel due to weather etc. Kind of a tall order, but that's the way it is now.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I definitely think that there is still so much magic there! There are certainly think I miss that I think have taken some of the magic away (there aren't as many characters as there once were, I miss some of the excellent parades like Disney Stars and Motor Cars and Share a Dream Come True, and other little details that seem to have added up in my mind), but then they have added some nice things that bring in their own magic. I guess I want both!

I think it is still magical, but I do have certain things I really miss.