We were just there this week and I even commented to my husband on our last day it seemed like some of the magic was gone so it's timely that I see this thread. I didn't witness any grumpiness or nastiness by CMs or guests, but I definitely agree that the overall vibe was not like I remember it from my past visits. WDW always seemed like such a well-oiled machine and everything was always so effortless. This trip you could see the cracks in the curtain.
Having said that, I did love the magic Bands. I was skeptical about them, but after using them, I found it so easy. I didn't use FP+, but we never used the old system either.
The thing I noticed the most was just overall park cleanliness. It was messy, something I've never seen before. I didn't see a single person cleaning in the restrooms and I used to always see someone wiping down counters. I saw a lot of trash along the paths and didn't see many CMs with grabbers. I was constantly looking for a trash can and I got annoyed with how long I was hanging on to a dirty tissue. I took the Keys to the Kingdom tour once, so I know the story about Walt and trash cans! Where did they all go?
And the scooters! Holy cow, it was like a
scooter convention. I'm actually wondering if they didn't allow scooter three years ago, because I just did not remember them.
Anyway, we did have a wonderful vacation and I was sad to go. I'm sorry I just totally tl;dr! I just saw the comments about the "vibe" and it really struck me.