How did you feel about your 2014 WDW Vacation?

[Dallas_Lady]

This is my extremely unscientific way of figuring out if WDW vacations are really starting to suck for everyone Please vote only if you have taken a trip in 2014. I'm allowing multiple votes incase you went more than once this year.

 

[LoKiHB]

I'd like to justify my vote of "Disappointing compared to previous trips" not because of anything wrong with Disney, but just my overall experience. We usually go in May during SWW. We chose to go the first week of March this year.

We stayed at BWV- and as nice as it was, it just didn't have the same feel as WLV. LOVE the Wilderness Lodge. The weather wasn't as great - sunny but not swimming weather, and the first day was cold and rainy.

The parks, the people the food and, the atmosphere as always were fantastic, and our little family had a very good experience with FP+.

That being said, our next trip will be for Christmas 2015, followed by SWW 2016- so I'm expecting the next polls to have a different answer

 

[Dr Gevil]

Our trip in June was better in my opinion, but in the interest of full disclosure, it was also our first trip as DVC owners.

We were less commando in the parks and enjoying more of the resort this time around 9and plan to follow that going forward). However, we still employed the time tested rope drop to get a lot done, and then either did late morning/early afternoon FP+ and then had lunch, or did lunch, followed pool games/bar/activities at the resort and then returned/ went to new park for evening FP+. We have the advantage (and good fortune) of many trips to WDW and it's nice to be able to smell the roses as it were, instead of trying to cram in as many rides on Space Mountain as possible.

I loved not running for FP-. Besides old fast passes only worked for me when you could return any time after your window opened. If they kept FP- but truly enforced the windows like they do now, I would be wanting FP+ in a heartbeat.

Does FP+ keep you from doing big rides multiple times a day? Yes it does. It's not a perfect system, as described ad nauseam on this site, but it's what is available and can actually be a nice tool for a lot of guests.

We had some great CM interactions this past trip, and I let them know how much its appreciated with them catching the brunt of the FP+ rollout on the frontlines. To me CM's are the make or break at WDW, not FP+.

Anyway, we have trips scheduled in November and March. Does everything the mouse does make me happy? No. But do we manage to create our own fun at WDW, even when circumstances are less than "ideal"? I think the continuing trips speak for themselves.

 

[ShannonMB]

Just back a couple weeks ago, and for us, I'm happy to report the magic was alive and well!

 

[amg35]

My sisters and nieces just finished a trip this week and said this was a GREAT trip.

I leave soon, so we'll see!

 

[luvmy2babies]

We have been 4 times now since 2010. It was our best trip yet. Each trip for us has been better than the previous one actually. There were several things behind that.

One was weather. We finally after dealing with Tropical Storms on our last two trips had a trip with the normal daily 1-2 hour occasional rain. We still had a great time on those two trips, but not having to spend a whole day or in the case of 2012, several days in a poncho was great. It did rain, but for the most part it was welcome and on our AK day, we did the Safari in the am. Rain was predicted for that afternoon and our driver advised us if we could to return and redo the ride after it rained. We took her advice and it was the best Safari ever. Animals were all over, Elephants were spraying themselves and Lions were running and roaring. It did work against us our first night. They cancelled MSEP due to a storm on the one night we had fast passes for it. Fortunately we got to see it and Wishes on another night.

Another was equipment. My son on our 2013 trip spent most of it with his fingers in his ears, having fun but a bit overwhelmed. I had headphones for him on this trip and he was much more relaxed and fun. As he gets older he is more fun because he is more verbal and it is wonderful how he talks about the days and the things we do.

Having the dining plan made 2014 better than 2013. I don’t think I’m ever going without at least the QS plan unless we are off-site or in a 1br villa. I really underestimated the costs of paying OOP for all of our food. It’s just much better for our family to have it, but I think I will go with the QS plan the next time. I did in 2013 enjoy the freedom of not having an ADR every day.

Took my son to Pirate’s League for the first time this year. He loved it, they loved him and he looked amazing. Taking both children next time as my daughter went to her final BBB appointment this trip. Still within the age limit, but has declared she’s done with it and wants to do Pirate's League with ds next time.

Made it over to the Beach Club resort for that character breakfast and found out for ourselves why everyone loves it.

Fast pass plus worked out fine for us except that one time when I went to exchange one ride for another and didn't notice it gave me a different time. Went over to Under the Sea at 4:30 only to find out I'd set up fast pass for 10pm. Thankfully the regular line wasn't too long.

Not sure what 2015 will bring. Tossing around options now. My son was 41 inches at his last checkup so that alone may make for a significantly different trip.

 

[Gru]

We went in August. After spending two fun-filled days at Universal, we were very disappointed with our Disney portion of the trip. We left Epcot after 5 hours- we were at rope drop and by the time we reached TT the line was already over 30 min. If we didn't have a lunch reservation we would have easily been done in less than four hours. The FP+ kiosks were so out of the way, and not being able to reride our favorites really put everyone in a bad mood.

At DHS we were only able to ride Star Tours once....every other year we have been it was 20 min wait max, so we would ride it at least 4 times. We spent a lot of time on a bench waiting for our next FP, diner reservation, or Fantasmic. If we weren't going to watch Fantasmic, we would have been done with DHS by 1:00.

We went to MK three days. We usually ride the teacups 2-3 times each day (our teenagers love trying to make us sick), we only rode it one time over three days. I refuse to wait 20-30 min for that ride! The other wait times were just as ridiculous.

The only bright spot was AK. The park was pretty empty. My daughter loved becoming a Wilderness Explorer, and the line for EE was so short I was able to finally get up the nerve to ride it. The line moved constantly so I didn't have time to think about chickening out!

Everyone was miserable.....we are not parade or fireworks watchers, the entertainers at Epcot are fine to watch for a few minutes, but we don't watch the whole show. The character meet and greets feel so rushed now compared to a few years ago. We are not huge shoppers either. Not much left to do there if you are limited on the amount of rides you can get on in a day. I guess we are not content with just being at Disney....we actually want to be able to do what we enjoy.

So for all you "Disney-can-do-no-wrong" people, you can be happy, there will be one less family to compete with for FP+ and dining reservations. We won't be going back until some changes are made.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Our first post-FP+ trip is next month. We have never been "ride multiuple times" people, we do something once and then move on to the next thing. I can see how FP+ messes that up for people who enjoyed that.

I am really looking forward to not having to send a FP runner around the parks, though.

 

[aaarcher86]

I was going to vote 'better' but ended up voting 'as good as.' We enjoyed the events and things MORE this trip than previous trips because it was a different time of year.

I feel like the time of year events aside, it was equal.

 

[kmarie99]

From the multiple threads about how much more crowded it is right now then in past years (growing more each year) it seems like alot of people are really enjoying their trips and returning

 

[pluto377]

Our trip was the first week of May and while it was more crowded than I expected our trip was as good as all our others. However, we were traveling with four adults and 2 kids under the age of 3. So we didn't really have to worry about most of the headliners b/c the kids were too little and the adults either didn't mind missing them or didn't want to ride them period. I think once we get to the point of having to deal with that my answer might change. But I've got plenty of time before then!

 

[cakebaker]

We had no issues on our trip at all that we could lay at Disney's feet.

The weather was horrible, rain, rain and more rain. It was crowded and the people were pushier and more rude than I've ever experienced before. Other than that, we were very pleased and had a great time despite the weather and people.

So I chose just as good because we tried our best to ignore the weather and not the let the just downright nasty people ruin our vacation.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We have been twice so far this year. First in March during spring break. We took our 2 college ds as a pre graduation gift. One ds had a broken foot so he was walking around with a crutch or his boot. He was kind of grumpy and almost ruined the trip. One day he just took off by himself. He refused to swim with us etc. That was worse than our previous trip. I already told ds2 that I refuse to take him again unless he pays for some of it since he really almost ruined the trip with his attitude etc. I am sorry he broke his foot but he had the choice to go or not etc.

The 2nd trip it in August with just youngest college ds and I. He wanted to do something before he started more classes. It was hot and I loved the weather and he kept going and going and we did so much. I liked it much better than the March trip because when I go with my dh he says a vacation is to rest and he spends half the morning in the room telecommuting with work anyway. So ds and I were both happy on this trip.

I am going with dh in Dec. and I already know what I am going to be in for. Not leaving the room until 11 am at the earliest. Him asking me where we are eating etc. So then my third vote would be worse because I know what is in store.

 

[ktlm]

Here now. Don't get me wrong, we are still having a lot of fun, just not quite as much as past trips. We definitely have the feeling that we paid more and got less. We also feel like guinea pigs. TSM and BOG have been FP+ only. In the past we have waked up to BOG, stood in line 15 minutes and have gotten in. This time couldn't get a FP so couldn't eat there. RNRC is my favorite DHS ride. I had FP+ TSM for DD instead( thank goodness since it turned out to be FP+ Only) so I didn't get to ride RNRC at all because I couldn't get a FP for it as our 4th and the line was an hour and I couldn't leave DD for that long. We were going to try to switch parks to hit DHS again, but we couldn't check if we could pick up a TSM FP+ for that day without cancelling all of ous in the other park and we weren't willing to take that risk, so we decided not to go back to DHS. Changing FP on the app resulted in glitches and issues, that CMs could make better. But could not fix. We feel like we have lost lots of flexibility. We also did not ride Splash or BTMRR because of the FP+ situation. FP+ definitely makes the standby lines longer. It is still fun. But we feel like we can't do as much as we used to and we are somewhat tied down.

 

[kidd_freeper]

We went in July of 2014.

I've been to WDW a dozen times.

In the past, I was always sorry to leave.
Not this time.

I didn't have a bad time.
But unlike the past, I just don't have that bug to return.

Not really sure why. Might be a combination:
- my kids are teenagers now
- FP+ destroys spontenaity
- prices
- Fantasyland was supposed to be the big change. Big disappointment.

 

[secretpantssam]

We just got back from a trip and I agree with Kidd Freeper. We didn't have a terrible vacation but it just didn't seem as magical. There just seemed to feel like something was missing in Disney this time. It felt like a theme park when it used to feel like an experience.

I think Fastpass+ wasn't a huge help. We are rope droppers and park hoppers and I feel like fastpass+ isn't a benefit for either one of those groups. And not having a smartphone made it even harder to keep track of or adjust.

We went in July of 2014.

I've been to WDW a dozen times.

In the past, I was always sorry to leave.
Not this time.

I didn't have a bad time.
But unlike the past, I just don't have that bug to return.

Not really sure why. Might be a combination:
- my kids are teenagers now
- FP+ destroys spontenaity
- prices
- Fantasyland was supposed to be the big change. Big disappointment.

 

[JeJecm]

Got back 3 days ago and will be going back in Nov. Yes WDW is still great. The FP+is a little different but no problems. I had no problems changing attractions and times if I wanted different than I had planned. I was surprised with the crowds in Oct. I would suggest to not get near the World Showcase in Epcot during F&W festival unless you are there for F&W. In the past Oct had been a less crowded time but I think more schools are having fall breaks. I'm also planning my next year trip which will be in Nov.

 

[PSUGuy]

Our March 2014 trip wasn't supposed to be. Our Oct trip, starting next week, was already on the books when March approached. We planned to do a Southern Swing the first week in March, hitting Fayetteville on the way down, staying in Savannah for two days followed by 4 in Myrtle Beach where we hoped to golf. The Sun. before the trip the long range forecast called for temps every bit as bad as in Pa and Pa had a horrible Winter. So that Sun afternoon, we called Disney, found that only AllStar Music had vacancies anong all the Value and Moderate resorts, we booked 5 days, we lost 4 days to travel by car or we would have done more, and off we went. First, we will never drive to Fla again unless it's to stay for the Winter, or forever, but the Disney stay was all we could have hoped for. Our first on site stay in 1999 was at AllStarMusic so we had fond memories of that even though we 'graduated' to S/D and BoardWalk since. The weather was great we got to do all we could have hoped for and we weren't shivering in gloves and mittens in Savannah and MB. The only fly in the ointment was that we weren't staying at BoardWalk and even as we sat on the Belle Vue Lounge porch we didn't feel like we were 'at home'. Next week we will.

Bill From PA

 

[disneyfantotheend]

This survey surprises me. I guess it goes to show all the negative threads don't tell much. We haven't visited this year, so can't vote, but happy to see a big majority enjoyed their trips.

 

[Dawn68PA]

I'm one who likes the new FP system. We don't spend so much time tiring out at the parks. At rope drop we hit stuff that doesn't get a quick line, then do our FP stuff and were gone around lunch. So relaxful to be at the resort and swim, have a beverage, even nap! Then we do our dinner ADR and something fun in the evening.

All in all I voted the trip was as good as ever. Can't wait to go back!