Is anyone getting as turned off as I am?

[OtherScott]

I want change, and I want it badly.

I look at the projected shows like Muppets and Philharmagic and I think "my local theater has better pictures than this now, DISNEY NEEDS TO CHANGE IT.

Not to mention the minivan DVD system and iPad (or bargain tablet) the kid is experiencing as he arrives at the park.

 

[SydneyFalco]

All this time I thought Howard Cosell was dead.

I fancy I'm more like Louis Kazagger.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Not to mention the minivan DVD system and iPad (or bargain tablet) the kid is experiencing as he arrives at the park.

Looking at the attractions/shows I'd love to see change and don't are about as frustrating as the things that change and IMHO shouldn't. I'm looking at you, Stitch/Ellen's Energy Adventure/Figment/Innoventions/Backlot Tour/MSEP, just to name a few.

 

[Laketravis]

I think that is a huge part of the problem, people are trying to re-create the magic of trips they had before.

That is what I would call nostalgia, and yes - it's a huge part of the problem for Disney who has really done nothing more than leverage that nostalgia capital over recent years while eradicating the reasons for it.

It's why families go to begin with and why they return.

The things Disney is giving me and my family to remember today are not the same things they gave me to remember years ago. Huge long term problem for them, because years from now today's experiences will replace those of yesteryear and instead of remembering the "magical experience" we'll be left with memories of "the great money grab".

 

[DisneyKidds]

Not harder- impossible. If you don't book at the first available date- good luck.

I'm always sorry to hear from the people who have so much trouble getting FP+ reservations or ADRs. I guess I am just extremely lucky. For our last trip (end of July this year) I don't make FP+ reservations until 45 days out....and I got everything we wanted for our party of 12, A&E and 7DMT (multiple times) included. I also didn't finalize dining reservations until 45 days out and also had no trouble getting meals we wanted. Sure, no BOG dinner, and I had to grab a Le Cellier lunch instead of dinner....but otherwise we got what we wanted, when we wanted.

 

[OtherScott]

That is what I would call nostalgia, and yes - it's a huge part of the problem for Disney who has really done nothing more than leverage that nostalgia capital over recent years while eradicating the reasons for it.

It's why families go to begin with and why they return.

The things Disney is giving me and my family to remember today are not the same things they gave me to remember years ago. Huge long term problem for them, because years from now today's experiences will replace those of yesteryear and instead of remembering the "magical experience" we'll be left with memories of "the great money grab".

Well said.

Disney knows this. Nostalgia fades, and competition is coming from every angle.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

A note about food at WDW......I don't find it bad at all. As for the theme parks, I think you'd be hard pressed to go to any other amusement park and find better food for less. Hershey Park? Been there, nope. Six Flags (New England, Great Adventure)? Been there, nope. Is there some better and some worse food in spots? Sure....but it's theme park counter service food that, low and behold no matter what park you go to (Disney or otherwise) cost you $10 give or take for a meal with drink. Not sure what people expect or what their frame of reference is, but I don't get the criticism.

I also don't tend to get much counter service food, because as standard (quality and prices) the food is for theme park fare, that's not generally what I like to eat.

So, let's criticize the resort and sit down restaurants then! Well, be it Morton's Steakhouse in Hartford, CT or Yachtsman's or Shula's steakhouses in WDW.......the prices and quality are the same! I have no criticism there. There is very good food to be had in WDW, and it isn't priced terribly compared to what I pay in most places where I live. Nice meal in a good Italian restaurant with a couple apps and a bottle of wine......same price as at home, and while the overall quality of the food may not be AS good (we are in a theme park, remember) it is very good, and the enjoyment of the overall experience is just as good.

We really enjoy the food we have at WDW. Sure, at a few locations like Le Cellier the price of the filet may be a little too high......but our country operates on the law of supply and demand!

We go to Six Flags, Sesame Place and other local amusement parks often since we are in NJ. I don't mind bad food for a day trip. Usually we get breakfast at a diner on our way to the park and then snack at the park and get dinner when we leave since the food is crappy their too. Sometimes we even pack hoagies and other things for lunch if we are up to it. The parking lots are very close to the entrance and not a long walk.

When I go to WDW I stay for 7-10 days onsite. I expect CS to not be the greatest but some of these TS places are not good at all for the price. I understand it's Disney and we will pay a markup to eat their but it's getting out of control now. I think a big reason is the DDP. $160 plus tip for my family to eat at Ohana? I've never had a terrible meal at WDW. I've been satisfied with the food but not for those prices.

When we go to WDW we like to stay onsite and have the all inclusive feel. I don't rent a car. I don't leave property. I don't want to leave the resort to eat a good dinner elsewhere.

Next year we are staying onsite and doing the whole thing but for further trips (maybe 2018/2019) I think it'll be offsite at Bonnet Creek and making it more of an Orlando attraction trip. Doing Disney, SeaWorld and Universal and eating mostly offsite. I may consider onsite stay in the future if it's a shorter mother/daughter mother/son or myself and SO only type trips. But if it's a trip with all 4 of us it'll be offsite. The prices for resorts and food are getting out of control. Even the resort price increases from 2014 to 2015 are a bit ridiculous for some resorts and seasons.

We did a similar offsite trip in 2008 (before we knew all about Disney resorts, etc) and we ate all dinners offsite. We spent 4 days at Disney and had either TS or CS in the parks for lunch. Then two days at Universal.

 

[Cira]

I have not heard either way and this is pure guessing/speculation, but with the new parking garage going up, I think that at SOME point, maybe way down the line, just a parking space (not valet) WILL come with a price. I hope I am wrong, I enjoy DTD (especially 28 Days To Christmas).

Sorry..that was my mistake on the parking. It seems it is for valet. I just assumed (you know what that means) that when they get the lot built that they were gonna start charging for that, too.
Glad to know I'm not alone in my disappointment.

 

[BrytEydBelle]

To be honest, I had cut back on Disney a few years ago. The only time I have gone in the past five years was to a single MNSSHP. With the lack of changes to the parks, I haven't really felt like I was missing much. I love Disney, but I grew up going for a week each year, and though it makes me nostalgic, I have been spending the past few years cruising (on non Disney lines).

The main draw for my mini trip this fall, where we will be attending the MNSSHP/Villain's Soiree is actually Halloween Horror Nights since they are doing a Walking Dead house which we have missed the past few years due to moving/buying a house/etc., so Disney can thank Universal for getting me to the hard ticket within a hard ticket event

I do plan to take a weeklong trip late fall next year to see the Christmas decorations (Bucket list item), but my future Disney trips from that point will be very dependent on how that goes especially since my husband has no Disney nostalgia to draw from, so this trip must convince him of Disney Magic as well. Am hoping for the best, but if things do not go well, there will probably not be much Disney in my future, which I never thought I'd say.

 

[msb578]

Well said. Disney knows this. Nostalgia fades, and competition is coming from every angle.

I agree that they know it. But still most of the moves they've made public recently have been geared toward short-term profit.

If they do have a long-range strategy in mind, what is it that they're not sharing? Could it be that they just plan to squeeze as much as possible out of existing attractions until their profits stop increasing? Then come up with a new plan?

Sadly, I am one of those suckers that won't stop going no matter what (within reason) I would go just to soak up the atmosphere- because of an attachment I formed as a kid. But, maybe my own kids won't feel that way as they get older, if Disney continues with this strategy.

 

[PrincessV]

The Fife & Drum Corp is much more than just a musical performance; it is a living representation of our Nation's heritage, honoring the courage and vigilance of the Americans who defended our country’s independence.

I understand shaking up the entertainment schedule once in a while. But I never, ever considered Fife & Drum to be in the same category as Mo Rockin' or Off Kilter. Fife & Drum was part of the overall American pavilion experience, a core segment of the theme and show. Dumping that makes zero sense to me at all.

I want change, and I want it badly.

I look at the projected shows like Muppets and Philharmagic and I think "my local theater has better pictures than this now, DISNEY NEEDS TO CHANGE IT.

I go on rides with broken animatronics and out of date technology, I think DISNEY NEEDS TO CHANGE IT.

I see what was supposed to be an awe inspiring vision of the future at attractions in Tomorrowland or Future World that became dated 10 years ago, I think DISNEY NEEDS TO CHANGE IT.

I see a princess musical or a stunt show I've seen a dozen times now, I think DISNEY NEEDS TO CHANGE IT.

I am not terribly nostalgic or sentimental and I know most people fall far to the other side of the curve, so I certainly understand why other people want to keep some of these things the same like a comfortable pair of shoes. But THAT's what being resistant to change means.

Yes!

 

[Cira]

Next time I go it will be for one day, I won't be using FP+ or anything else, just a single ticket and am walking in, with all this planning, will I NOT be able to ride any rides because everyone is using FP and FP+, etc;???

None of the changes are bad enough yet to keep us from going.

The change that I'm most sympathetic about, for the OP and others that have AP's and visit regularly, is the FP+ system.

No longer can you decide the day before to visit on a whim and expect to ride the headliners without a wait. With onsite guests being able to reserve 60 days out, and offsite at 30 days, some of the main draws are just gone. Seven Dwarves Mine Ride, A&E meet and greet, etc... I see these as things that regular park visiters would particularly want to see, since all the other stuff the have already done over and over again.

No longer are you on an equal footing with everyone else, like when paper FP's were around.

Dan

 

[Planogirl]

I love change if it's done right. I suspect that is one big reason as to why I'm so entranced with Universal nowadays. That place is changing like a whirlwind. However change should be smart and enhance rather than make things worse.

Would you want to see the Haunted Mansion or Splash Mountain replaced with something else? Would you want to see the castle torn down for a different structure? Change just for the sake of change is pointless.

 

[PrincessV]

I'll add this, speaking from a semi-local perspective: Universal has changed the game for me and my family. BIG time. We aren't big on super-thrill rides (okay, I am, but my son isn't so...) so Universal never held much appeal. Until Harry Potter came along. And Transformers. And Despicable Me. And Potterland 2. Diagon Alley is everything WDW used to be: complete and total immersion into a fictional realm. We spent a good many days in Diagon this summer without even riding its main attraction (Gringotts) and found that the Disney parks paled in comparison.

Why?

Attention to detail.
Guest satisfaction as a #1 priority.
Staff members who are clearly happy to be there, working their jobs in even the harshest conditions.
Better food quality.
Facilities in clean, working order.
Better technology. (save for public Wifi - WDW's got Universal beat on that.)
Happier, more relaxed guests.

After a vacation with several days/nights at Universal, followed by several more at WDW this summer, my son and I agreed that we had a far more enjoyable experience overall at Universal. Doesn't mean we don't still want some WDW in our lives... but it has meant more time (and money) spent at Universal than ever before. Are there enough of us in this situation to impact WDW's bottom line? Probably not. But every time Disney sends me a survey, they hear it, at least.

 

[Cira]

Could be there are thousands of NEW visitors that don't know the system. I have been going since 1972 and only now finding out about all these newer things, including what tix to buy for one day, rides, etc; Maybe that explains everyone that is going, they may not necessarily be "going back" because this is their first time? (or they are recent new visitors). it takes awhile to get to know everything Disney, and you never really know it all because of all the changes.

Seems to me we've been hearing all the "I'm not going" any more rhetoric for quite a while now.

Changes (of any type) get made and people claim they're not going back.

If all these people aren't going back then why are the parks still crowded?

If FP+ for (insert ride/meet and greet here) is impossible to get, then why do "other" people have them?

Starbucks doesn't bother anymore than McDonalds or any other sponsor does.

Have to agree with PPs who said Disney fast food is no better/worse/more expensive than other theme parks. Even with changes the selsction is far better than places like HersheyPark.


Our last two trips were the week before Easter. High crowds. I enjoyed not running around to get my Fastpasses. Number of attractions was very close when comparing legacy to FP+ trips. What was a lot lower was walking distances.

I can certainly appreciate that not everyone wants the same thing from a vacation. But, Disney must being doing something that people like because the parks are far from empty.

JMO.

 

[Cira]

I am not as eloquent as you, but when you said, " who is that forty year old man-child in the mirror and why cant he separate from something so clearly tied into the all-too-American race-to-the-lowest-common-denominator? you touched a nerve. I, too, cannot let it go, but the reality is, I am no longer a child (as much as I feel like one inside). I live paycheck to paycheck and my finances are not like others where I can be traveling the country, cruising, etc; regardless of what bargains there are out there. I have no kids or grandkids, but I still feel the nostalgia and magic and ask myself why?

It's funny, this thread. I was ready to start one four years ago. (And yet I'm going back to WDW this fall).

I'm still ready to start a thread, but it wouldn't have anything to do with the nickles and dimes stuff -- fastpasses, and what I can and can't do, and what's been charged, etc. My Disney doubts always strike at me in the more philosophical/ethical/political/personal sphere. What am I doing, indulging a taste for increasingly more poorly produced juvenilia and "no-brow" pablum? What does it mean that I subject myself to continued corporate maintenance of an original nostalgia trip that was socially questionable when it debuted a half decade ago? Who is that forty year old man child in the mirror and why cant he separate from something so clearly tied into the all-too-American race-to-the-lowest-common-denominator? It's a hullaballo inside my head. Freakin' fastpass reservations and food complaints? Chicken feed ... and not enough to severe the tether to that inexplicable Disneyland something that the corporate bean counters have yet to eradicate.

 

[Cira]

How MUCH do they decorate Disney vs Epcot for Christmas? I have to decide which ONE to go to this Christmas and want the most "spirited" one.
Good luck, by the way! Enjoy!

To be honest, I had cut back on Disney a few years ago. The only time I have gone in the past five years was to a single MNSSHP. With the lack of changes to the parks, I haven't really felt like I was missing much. I love Disney, but I grew up going for a week each year, and though it makes me nostalgic, I have been spending the past few years cruising (on non Disney lines).

The main draw for my mini trip this fall, where we will be attending the MNSSHP/Villain's Soiree is actually Halloween Horror Nights since they are doing a Walking Dead house which we have missed the past few years due to moving/buying a house/etc., so Disney can thank Universal for getting me to the hard ticket within a hard ticket event

I do plan to take a weeklong trip late fall next year to see the Christmas decorations (Bucket list item), but my future Disney trips from that point will be very dependent on how that goes especially since my husband has no Disney nostalgia to draw from, so this trip must convince him of Disney Magic as well. Am hoping for the best, but if things do not go well, there will probably not be much Disney in my future, which I never thought I'd say.

 

[HM]

We've been going once a year at least) since 1999. I'm pretty positive my last trip for quite some time was last month and it was only a four day trip. FP+ and planning isn't that big of a turn-off to me, but I'm tired of the cost of everything going up each year. They've pretty much priced me out of my ideal vacation there now.

 

[NancyIL]

How MUCH do they decorate Disney vs Epcot for Christmas? I have to decide which ONE to go to this Christmas and want the most "spirited" one.
Good luck, by the way! Enjoy!

Do you mean Magic Kingdom vs. Epcot? It's ALL Disney, but my preference is Epcot.

 

[Cira]

...and this is what I worry about. That Disney has lost its "Christmas" spirit. I don't want to go to a park that no longer has much holiday spirit. I have photos of all the Christmases I spent at MK and Epcot and it used to be festive. Ten years to date, a little less, but don't really know how much. That is why I am inquiring of board members who have been there in the past couple of years and who love the holidays. I hope they are a better gauge.

I think I would not miss the Lights of Winter so much if they had bothered to put up something equally festive.

BUT NO. That area is the black hole of Christmas nothing not even some festive trees or lights. One big tree but that whole bridge area in fact all of Future World looks so non-festive. Put up some dang lights, Disney. OR some DECORATIONS. Make it LOOK like CHRISTMAS.