Just Back (10/10 - 10/15): Hanging up my Disney Ears

[grnflash]

Disney HAS increased prices (most assume to get crowds a bit more manageable). The tiered pricing depending on when you go is proof.

I don't assume that at all. Disney figured out how to raise prices while marketing it as a guest distribution benefit. It's genius actually (though I'm not buying it.)

 

[magic458]

While we LOVED our recent trip, I think you could overdo visiting any one place.

We go camping each year to the same spot with family and it is getting long in the tooth. I love new places, but never will there a be a place that does its stuff like Disney.

 

[Jennasis]

Like Avatarland, Star Wars Land, and Toy Story Land? Check.

And if rumors are correct new additions coming in place of some dated rides at Epcot. Seriously, I think WDW has the new stuff covered for now, it just takes a while to build these things.

But I can promise you having all these new rides won't thin the crowds, it will only serve to bring more people into the parks. I expect AK and DHS to both be mad houses for a while once the new lands open up.

One of my beefs with Pandora is (aside from not being particularly enthused with the source material) is that of the TWO attractions they have announced, one is a slow moving/loading boat ride.

There is plenty of room in World Showcase for several new attractions...but instead they're just repurposing one. Not adding...just changing it. Just like Frozen Ever After (a ridiculously slow loader...and a waste of space IMO).

That said, if you'll refer back to my first post in this thread you'll see that we are taking a break from WDW too until some of the construction is done. I AM looking forward to SW and Toy Story, and even Pandora in a way.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

I'm the type that Disney loves...we went in May 2015 September 2015 December 2015 February 2016 and April 2016 and I can't wait to go in January 2017 and am planning for December 2017

 

[bumbershoot]

I am having a hard time swallowing $100 for a 24 mile/roundtrip drive.

So use a cab? Uber? Rent a car?

Realize that we ALL pay for DME and we ALL pay for the onsite transportation AND we all pay for the parking lots when at WDW.

At Uni we pay for the parking lots IF we park. We pay for whatever mode of transportation we take from the airport. We aren't subsidizing others, nor are others subsidizing us for our choices. Onsite transportation we all subsidize each other for, but we all get to take what we want. Walk on the lovely paths (which never have webs across them thank goodness...I would pay big bucks to make sure of that at my own house front walk LOL...we are having to take out our ferns so the critters stop building webs between them and the rhododendron), take the boat to the inside of citywalk, take the bus to the parking lot side of citywalk...heck, pay a little tip and have someone "drive" you in a pedicab!

Apart for what we do onsite, we are paying for what we use at Universal; not paying for others to take DME when we drive, and others aren't paying for our parking fees if they take DME in.

Thinking about it like that, it's nicer.

I think it was a combination of people pushing their trips back a week because of the hurricane and so many more schools having fall breaks now.

Especially the first one, I bet.

AND I've noticed that people can notice entirely differentthings while at Disney at the same time.

I walk down main street and I see garbage, a "protein spill" on the ground, and peeling paint. Someone comes in 5 minutes after me and the garbage has been emptied. 10 minutes later and someone will be cleaning up the ground. An hour later someone coming in will see the maintenance people working on the paint. I can walk into MK and it's a madhouse while someone walks into Epcot and sees vast open spaces and short lines. The next day I go to Epcot and that person goes to MK and our perspectives switch. Or everyone else has switched in the same way, and Epcot is still empty and MK is still crazy.

Unless we literally send our family to different parks at the same time, we cannot know the experience that others are having at that exact moment. Our crowds in Adventureland might be happening at the same time as a ghost town in Tomorrowland.

But I can promise you having all these new rides won't thin the crowds, it will only serve to bring more people into the parks.

YES.

People get excited for new things and decide to visit! But they aren't going to stay on that new attraction or in that new land all day every day. They'll move around, and that means more people.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

You didn't ride Soarin' because you did not want to spend the time in line. I know long wait times can be a drag, but you personally decided on a wait time cutoff for yourself and adhered to that. Not necessarily Disney's fault. I do see where you're coming from in some aspects, but attendance has actually been down.

No matter, I hope you find a vacation destination you do enjoy more than Disney, and if/when you return I hope it doesn't disappoint you again.

 

[danc18]

We are going in November for the first time in 10 years and the first time with grand kids. It's insanely expensive but just wanted to take the kids. I can understand those who are frustrated, based on the number of problems reported on the board. I've planned to the hilt and plan to relax and enjoy. Ill report on the success of that. I get the feeling though that if I never saw this board and just booked a week and went, it'd be a disaster. Small kids won't wait in line for 45 minutes and they only last a half day in the park. Hope everyone can find a way to enjoy.

Btw, I did look and look for alternative places to vacation and couldn't come up with anything on the same scale. They just have no competition. I like universal but it's not as good for preschoolers. West coast is a long plane ride to try Disneyland.

 

[Minnesota!]

gotcha
Universal is a more relaxed destination, as long as you get there early and hit the most popular attractions first you will be fine. My son works there so we get free tickets and never buy their Express, but since you will be staying on property you will have access to that
Feel free to ask any questions via private message and I will do mu best to help you out

Thank you!!! I might just take you up on that!

Our last trip to Disney using DVC points was gasp....a trip with no parks. We just chilled at the resort(Kidani). We hit the pool, toured other resorts, went to Disney Springs, watched the animals and attended various talks, etc. With cheap flights to Orlando, free transport to the resort, points for the room, all we paid for was food. Staples were delivered by Amazon, we then ate at various spots in the resorts. It was beyond relaxing, and easy on the pocketbook.

With that being said, we had a great park trip last October by averaging the free crowd calendars. Others reported busy, we wondered where everyone was at. The only busy we saw was Epcot on Wednesday night, and it had become a drunk fest. We had planned on doing Illiminations but ended up leaving at 6:45.

We love the resort only vacations, too!!

So use a cab? Uber? Rent a car?

Realize that we ALL pay for DME and we ALL pay for the onsite transportation AND we all pay for the parking lots when at WDW.

At Uni we pay for the parking lots IF we park. We pay for whatever mode of transportation we take from the airport. We aren't subsidizing others, nor are others subsidizing us for our choices. Onsite transportation we all subsidize each other for, but we all get to take what we want. Walk on the lovely paths (which never have webs across them thank goodness...I would pay big bucks to make sure of that at my own house front walk LOL...we are having to take out our ferns so the critters stop building webs between them and the rhododendron), take the boat to the inside of citywalk, take the bus to the parking lot side of citywalk...heck, pay a little tip and have someone "drive" you in a pedicab!

Apart for what we do onsite, we are paying for what we use at Universal; not paying for others to take DME when we drive, and others aren't paying for our parking fees if they take DME in.

Thinking about it like that, it's nicer.

Cab is still sitting near $100. Renting a car is nearly double that when you add in the daily parking fees, etc. I get it, we rent a car anywhere else we go, or cab it. It costs money. However, theme park vacations, to me, up till this point have included the "free" transportation. So, it's just a shock to the system to have to budget/plan that part. Am I paying it, yes. And, after this time, I will decide if it is worth it.

Disney can be done so much cheaper than what I am doing with USO, but Disney is tired for me right now. So...we are trying something new.

 

[Chrelaine]

Last year was our first trip to WDW when DD was 4. DH had never been and I hadn't been since I was 9. DH and I took an adult trip this past August and are taking DD back in August 2017 ( to make up for going without her). Then, we are done for awhile. The cost is so high and we just don't feel the same Disney magic that others do. There are other places we'd like to see and things we'd like to do, so we will take some other trips for a few years.

 

[scrapquitler]

Sorry - I should have been more clear - transportation to the resort from the airport. We are spoiled by DME. I am having a hard time swallowing $100 for a 24 mile/roundtrip drive.

I have been stalking the Uni boards here...still so in the dark about things.

When we went to Universal in September 2015, the bus driver from our resort to the park told us that Universal IS working on a transport similar to Magical Express. I don't know when, but thats what we were told. I hope so, because I not only had to rent a car, but I had to pay a daily parking fee for parking at the US resort, and it would be nice to avoid that.

 

[Devi8or]

Fortunately for us, we have o fly all the way across the country from Alaska so we don't get to do it as often as we would like. I think this helps keep everything fresh and new every time we go there. My girls are 10 and 8 now, and they've been to Disney World twice and Disneyland once. I think it keeps their interest high even though they are getting older. My oldest told me she would be tired of Disney when she's dead. We are going back at the end of January 2017 for our 3rd family trip there

If you live close by or have easier access to these places then we do, don't take it for granted as it's a big trip for us to make it across the country from literally the top left to the bottom right of the map lol

 

[otten]

I think part of the reason behind the crowd complaints is that there is so much information out there about how October is a great time to go because of moderate crowds.

For whatever reason that turned out not to be the case at all this year, with resorts almost fully booked through much of October. It definitely came as a surprise to us but fortunately we had been watching the crowd calendars so we weren't shocked when we arrived. And then there was the hurricane too.

 

[Sparkly]

Why are these types of post always on theme parks? Shouldn't this be on the trip reports? How does this help people plan?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Fortunately for us, we have o fly all the way across the country from Alaska so we don't get to do it as often as we would like. I think this helps keep everything fresh and new every time we go there. My girls are 10 and 8 now, and they've been to Disney World twice and Disneyland once. I think it keeps their interest high even though they are getting older. My oldest told me she would be tired of Disney when she's dead. We are going back at the end of January 2017 for our 3rd family trip there

If you live close by or have easier access to these places then we do, don't take it for granted as it's a big trip for us to make it across the country from literally the top left to the bottom right of the map lol

That's a really good point.

I live right by KCI. Being in the middle of the country has it's advantages. Granted we are still limited on airlines, costs and schedules if flying but still there are many places out there that are within reach.

I doubt that even if my husband was ok with going to the same place every year or two we still wouldn't do it because there are many options out there. I'd like to keep my WDW visits though on the 5 to 6 year that I've got going on but we'll see if that changes due to children. I honestly would like to go for the 50th which will only be 4 years from when I will have last been there (which is next Sep) but we'll see.

 

[Flametamr]

To the OP I guess it's a matter of perspective. We drove in under hurricane Matthew for a weekend birthday trip for my daughter. We were in the parks all weekend and found the crowds very reasonable. The only issue was at HS on Monday. With RNR being down and the park was busy we blasted off to the MK after going by guest services to change our fast passes and they comped us two bonus FPs. The MK was busy but still nothing like it is in July. We'll be there for 8 days starting this Sunday. So we aren't burnt out yet.

 

[SaintsManiac]

When we went to Universal in September 2015, the bus driver from our resort to the park told us that Universal IS working on a transport similar to Magical Express. I don't know when, but thats what we were told. I hope so, because I not only had to rent a car, but I had to pay a daily parking fee for parking at the US resort, and it would be nice to avoid that.

I wish they would!

 

[BigAlsGal]

Man. The day I hang up my Mickey ears will be a sad day indeed. I don't see that day coming but honestly....it would be an all hope is lost moment.

I kind of wanna puke thinking about it....

 

[DavidNYC]

This week was more crowded due to lots of people with rescheduled vacation from storms. However, I was there the 14th-17th got on Soarin twice at rope drop, once with our FP, and we actually got 2 more FP as additional FP on Sunday the 16th (it took a lot of refreshing availability on my phone but they popped up now and then). Waits on Soarin were only 45 most of the day we were there. Not phenominal but definitely not a wait that should have precluded you from waiting. Not sure how often you checked on wait times but I know on Friday standby was 45-60 minutes a lot of the day.

 

[Accident]

Went 10/10 to 10/15th. Skipped the weekend but did not help.

It's been so insane with people and how disney crammed everyone who needed to schedule since the hurricane. It's a crowd I would compare to xmas week and it might have been larger.. It just started to come down a little today but rides were still insane with some crazy waits, just not as crazy the previous week.

I can completely understand why someone has decided it's time to take a break from WDW. with prices and so many things coming, why not do other things for a few years and then decide if it's time to check it out again.

 

[AmyA]

I can totally understand the OPs feelings. Universal was also *packed* 10/8 and 10/9 after the hurricane...to the point where my 15yo DD said she was tired of not being able to swing her arms when she walked because they were hitting people in front of and behind her (I thought that was a hysterical way to describe that sort of crowd). We were staying at HRH so had express passes and we were still waiting 20+ mins for some rides.

It's one thing when you plan to go at Christmas or Spring Break...you are prepared for the crowds. 10/8 and 9 were the last days of a 11 day WDW/UO trip for us so we were able to deal with the crowds just fine....we had hit all our must dos. However I can see how disappointing it would have been if we had gone for a short trip and the crowds were like that for the entire time.