"It's simply gotten too big, too commercial, too regimented"

[KYMickey]

That's a quote in the opening paragraph of this article: Huffington Post article. The sentiments of the article certainly reflect all of my feelings about Disney today. All spontaneity is gone and has been replaced by stress! You have to make and keep a schedule for fear of missing something, you can't decide at the last minute you want to eat someplace or do something nor can you change a plan very easily once you make it. Read the article and see what you think.

 

[Teamubr]

Can't open the link, but...

All spontaneity is gone and has been replaced by stress!

I think this is a personal attitude choice. Relax, enjoy the moment. It's OK not to have every minute scheduled and preplanned.

you can't decide at the last minute you want to eat someplace or do something nor can you change a plan very easily once you make it.

Welcome to summer months. Try walking up to any table service restaurant at 6pm and ask for a table. And my old FP I picked up at noon is for 5:30pm so I can't be on the other side of the park after 5... Now with FP+ I pull out my phone and change the time to later and I'm good to go. That is MUCH easier to change plans.

If the gist of the article is that Disney is too commercial and geared to extract as much money out of us as possible, then the author is apparently new to Disney. This has always been their business plan.

j

 

[disneydude365]

it simply depends on the type of person for those who can't try to do a little planning maybe disney is not for them, there are a lot of guests so it makes sense you need to plan. and reserve stuff.

personally the magic is still alive throughout the parks

 

[circus4u]

it simply depends on the type of person for those who can't try to do a little planning maybe disney is not for them, there are a lot of guests so it makes sense you need to plan. and reserve stuff.

personally the magic is still alive throughout the parks

We don't plan anything and have a great time. I can see where planning might be necessary for a single day, but if your vacation is several days, this isn't necessarily true. Our only plan is that we will catch the first bus that comes to the hotel.

 

[KYMickey]

it simply depends on the type of person for those who can't try to do a little planning maybe disney is not for them, there are a lot of guests so it makes sense you need to plan. and reserve stuff.

personally the magic is still alive throughout the parks

For those that live in the corporate world we have to plan everything on a day-to-day basis as part of our work life. We don't want to have to do that when we are on vacation! People want to take a break from their regular route when they are on vacation and when planning and implementing to a given schedule are part of your daily life you want to break the routine. That's something you used to be able to do at Disney but can't anymore.

If you think the magic is alive today you obviously didn't ever experience at when it really was!

 

[Polydweller]

For those that live in the corporate world we have to plan everything on a day-to-day basis as part of our work life. We don't want to have to do that when we are on vacation! People want to take a break from their regular route when they are on vacation and when planning and implementing to a given schedule are part of your daily life you want to break the routine. That's something you used to be able to do at Disney but can't anymore.

If you think the magic is alive today you obviously didn't ever experience at when it really was!

And then there's me. The magic is definitely still ther and I started going to Disney Parks in 1957, yep, that date is right. And my first trip to WDW was in the 70's, I was there for the opening of Epcot, and have been going now for 24 straight years.

So yep, I experienced it when it really was and that was then and that is now. The secret, don't let the planning become the focus of the trip. Let having fun be the time focus. Do the necessary planning, there has been some in every era, then just go and just enjoy the parks. Drop, vary, change what you are doing when you are there so you can experience the magic.

We never follow plans rigidly and miss Fp+s, go in standby, whatever to make it fun. And, we make every attraction in the place. It can be done and it is magical.

 

[Teamubr]

If you think the magic is alive today you obviously didn't ever experience at when it really was!

I don't quite go back to the 50's like Polydweller, but I have been going to WDW since the 80's.

Is the park experience different today? Sure it is. Walt never expected the places to be static and never changing. But different is just different. Not all bad or all good.

If you truly think the magic is gone, perhaps you're choosing to focus on the bad and overlook the good.

And I am also in the corporate world. Manage 3 distinctly different areas over 3 facilities and navigate the political dynamics with our academic partners in one of the largest hospitals in the Midwest. My calendar makes peoples heads spin. But I still do my Disney homework and have a general plan when at the world.

Taking advantage of the new technology in the parks means you don't have to be as rigid with a schedule to still get to see and do everything you want.

That's magical!

j

 

[flashcal]

I love how the writer basically says that a random strangers magic band not working helped contribute to ruining his vacation. OK then.....

 

[circus4u]

If you think the magic is alive today you obviously didn't ever experience at when it really was!

I'm in my late 60s; I lived exactly one hour away from the main gate and went to WDW when it opened. When annual passes first came out, we had them and went at least twice a month. Sometimes, we went in the evenings after I got off work just to enjoy "the magic." In the year ending in May, 2014, we went five times and we live in AZ now. For us, the magic has always been there. Things change as they should, some we like and some we don't, but the magic has never left for us. We made a decision this past May to wait a year or so until some of the construction is finished. I'm sure the magic will still be there when we go back; right now, it's just hidden behind some construction walls.

 

[beer dave]

This is nice for a change. Good to hear.

 

[skier_pete]

I couldn't answer the poll because the link wouldn't work.

For me, planning IS half the fun...it's like playing a game of Chess (which I'm actually terrible at) or maybe better analogy is Stratego, how can I get the most out of my trip to keep the Disney money-sucking machine from "winning"? But I do realize that the planning is not for everyone.


I don't think every change that has come out from DME is good, some are and some aren't. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. I remember my first adult trip in 1997 with my DGF (now DW) There was no FP back then, but I still had a guidebook and park strategies and ADRs, yet ended up waiting in long lines frequently. Now with FP/FP+ we rarely wait in lines and have no problem getting to do what we want. It doesn't feel "worse" to me.

But if it does to you, than you can either deal with the changes and find a way to enjoy the trip, or your other choice is to stop going. It's supposed to be fun. If you are not having fun, then you really should consider a different vacation destination. It's too much money to spend to be miserable.

 

[bellablue2]

disney will make changes to deal with the negativity surrounding the required planning...IF it affects their profit negatively. otherwise, i expect more of the same...cramming them in the parks.

 

[Sparkly]

Did they close all the standby lines???? You still can be spontaneous, just have to actually wait in a line.

 

[rteetz]

Did they close all the standby lines???? You still can be spontaneous, just have to actually wait in a line.

Bingo

I will say that you cannot go to Disney without any such planning tho you need to have some sorry of plan even if it's vague.

 

[Little c Travel]

Disney can be as regimented or spontaneous as you as the visitor want to make. In fact it has always been that way. Personally we have found that FP+ let's us be more spontaneous.

 

[mcd2745]

Interesting...Poll results are spread out pretty evenly. With no one option getting more than 25%.

I found the article even though the link doesn't work. I disagree with most of what the author said. I also disagree with the idea you can't be spontaneous - even though you see that sentiment shared all over the DISboards. Like stated above, you can - just be prepared to wait. I find the thinking that everyone should be able to decide what ride they want to go on at the spur of the moment....and then always be able to walk right on that ride to be pretty ridiculous. Why not just ask to have the park all to yourself while at it?

 

[jon18uk]

Did they close all the standby lines???? You still can be spontaneous, just have to actually wait in a line.

Yep, you need to book table service restaurants and this has been the case for the last 8 years at least I think. but for rides I don't think FP+ is no less spontaneous enabling than paper FP. On paper FP if the return time was the same as my dinner reservation then I couldn't take a FP, with FP+ you can select from a range of times.

 

[Suvadoo]

Yep, you need to book table service restaurants and this has been the case for the last 8 years at least I think. but for rides I don't think FP+ is no less spontaneous enabling than paper FP. On paper FP if the return time was the same as my dinner reservation then I couldn't take a FP, with FP+ you can select from a range of times.

On my sister's last trip, she had to wait 1 hour to be seated for her ADR at CP so she missed her FP+ window for A&E. She knew she was cutting it close but there were no other times available for A&E for a party of 4. So your theaory about haveing a wind range of options depends on what you want to see or do. If she had canceled her CP reservation she would've been charged $10pp fee. I really don't think FP+ is just as spontaneous as FP. I agree with the author.

 

[Little c Travel]

We were staying at Anna Maria Island for a week this summer and decided one morning we wanted to go to Epcot. We got up that morning and on the drive to Orlando we booked a 5:30 PM dinner at the Rose and Crown. We could have booked any restaurant in Epcot for lunch and numerous choices for dinner from 5:00 to 5:50 and 8:00 to 9:00. We bought tickets online and added them to our magic bands from a trip in January. We parked walked into the park at 9:20 we went to a kiosk to booked a FP+ for Soaring at 8:00 and a FP+ for the Maelstrom at 3:00. We then headed over to Test Track waited 50 minutes to ride it and then just bounced all over the park doing whatever we wanted. We did manage to make both FP+s and our dinner reservation that we booked that morning. However we were not stressing out about the 3:00 Maelstrom FP+. We did not book a 3rd FP+ because we did not see one that excited us and we never waited more than 20 to 25 minutes for any of the rides others than Test Track. It was a very enjoyable day, that we did no planning for other than during the drive to the park and for 10 minutes at the kiosk. This was mid-July on a Wednesday.

 

[SeanWM48]

i looked the article up on google. not hard to find.

i was just in disney 2-3 weeks ago. i do agree with many points. i think the author would be better off going during a "slower" (there is no real slow) period in terms of attendance. all three of my trips to disney have been in october and november and i've never had to use fast pass. this is easier said than done because i do see the author has kids and i do not.

i had zero interest in planning out my rides. i know some people love it but i want to roam the parks and hang out and do what i want. it's vacation. if i feel like doing a ride i do it. if i feel like eating i do it.

even dining reservations get old by the third day. next trip, whenever it is, we're skipping the dining plan because the food isn't really THAT great anyway. it's fine, it's fun, but i don't need that many sit-down meals and desserts. that's my fault though.

that's just me. we'll all feel differently about this stuff because we're all in different situations. but i do suggest you guys read the article instead of just disregarding it and judging it based on its title. at the same time the author has to realize disney needed to come up with new ways to work the crowds. attendance can't keep growing without them adjusting to it.