Just back and not happy

[gericoronado]

I'm sorry the OP didn't have a good time but I know WE will!! 16 days and 15 nights but wasn't able to squeak out any time for Universal...

 

[SpringSprite]

I don't have a dog in the WDW past vs. WDW present fight, but as an impartial observer, I don't see the vitriol from responding posters to the OP that others have mentioned? I did see "sucks, sucks, lame, stupid, sucks" ad nauseam though - both in the original post and directed at others. Talking like that naturally gets peoples backs up...no matter what side of the issue you come down on. It's a tough starting point for intelligent discussion, IMO.

 

[pjhootch]

Then they should stop. It's offensive.

Come on, let this go. It isn't meant to be offensive, the word has multiple meanings and this particular use is legitimate. Many things are offensive to some people but that doesn't mean another person is wrong/bad for saying it.

 

[sonofanarchy]

I'm sorry the OP didn't have a good time but I know WE will!! 16 days and 15 nights but wasn't able to squeak out any time for Universal...

I once did 16 nights at Disney. It was about 5 nights too many, and possibly more. If you're spending 2 weeks in Orlando and only doing Disney, you are really doing yourself a disservice.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Which is why we love the Swan and Dolphin. We get all the Disney transportation while on site, can walk to Epcot and DHS, and are "on site" for all relevant purposes. As for transportation to and from the airport......with the money we save, we hire a Limo Town Car to pick us up and take us back on our schedule, not Disney's, and make a stop at Publix on the way to the hotel to pick up provisions for the week. Something that the Magic Bus won't allow. And we still come out way, way ahead over the Boardwalk area resorts, price-wise.

Absolutely! That is what we do also. The S&D are big convention hotels but few book conventions during the Orlando summers and the prices are unbelievable, especially August.

About 3 years ago we booked an Epcot Fireworks View with a balcony. $169! We're going again this summer and it is a fraction of what they want at BC or YC. They aren't kidding about the heavenly bed either.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

oh yes...then there's that!


I also wanted to add about universal and not being rushed. If something shiny caught my kids eyes, I had no problem letting them go and do it. For instance we were all playing in the Curious George water area and my two year old loved the back room where they have all the balls that you can vacuum up and they dump all over the floor. All she wanted to do was sit on the floor and stick balls into that vacuum and watch them be sent up. I had no ADR to run to, I had no FP to get to....so I sat on a bench and watched my two year old suck up balls for an hour. Yup, an hour. I watched her have the time of her life. She laughed and had a blast and I had a great time watching her. I've learned to stop and smell the roses on my Disney trips and let the kids have their moments in between things. But, it's only for a few minutes because we have something else scheduled. It was just nice to NOT have something scheduled.

That's so funny. In my case it was my 70 year old father who didn't get the no we can't stop and watch such and such we have a FP or ADR to make.

Also, they insisted they stay at POP instead of BC with me that trip. They hadn't been in awhile and forgot they now nap in the afternoon and that is a long trip for a nap break. My DD had to walk them back to my room twice in the middle of the afternoon to nap.

It was like taking a couple of toddlers. They also get impatient waiting for a table.

 

[nickcapp]

The relaxation at Disney is what you make of it. If you let ADR's and fast pass stress you out that's on you.

I don't doubt that the experience at Universal is less hussle and bussle. There are around 9 Million less people there a year! The luxury of Universal is that the attendance is much less allowing people who are there better experiences. There is nothing wrong with this, but don't kid yourself as to why you need to fast pass at Disney and don't at Universal.

Also, have they changed the front of the line thing for Cabana Bay? Is it included now? If not, that will certainly add to the cost of the stay in one of the family suites.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

The relaxation at Disney is what you make of it. If you let ADR's and fast pass stress you out that's on you.

I don't doubt that the experience at Universal is less hussle and bussle. There are around 9 Million less people there a year! The luxury of Universal is that the attendance is much less allowing people who are there better experiences. There is nothing wrong with this, but don't kid yourself as to why you need to fast pass at Disney and don't at Universal.

Also, have they changed the front of the line thing for Cabana Bay? Is it included now? If not, that will certainly add to the cost of the stay in one of the family suites.

No it is not on me that Disney has made the planning and scheduling more complicated.

Can't have your cake and eat it too. Either some posters are "too lazy" to plan or "too stressed" because they do.

Don't blame the victim.

I just wanted to edit this to add. I not complaining about FP just the ride rationing with limits and tiers which you can interpet as either they are so popular we needed to redistribute capacity or we don't have enough capacity or headliners to accomate crowds.

 

[charmed59]

I'm sorry the OP didn't have a good time but I know WE will!! 16 days and 15 nights but wasn't able to squeak out any time for Universal...

I'd love to hear your mega schedule with this amount of Disney time. How many park days? Do you have behind the scenes tours scheduled? How many water park days? Are you getting golf and tennis and horse back riding and boating in there? I know there is much more to do at Disney other than the parks, I'd love to hear how someone would take advantage of all that.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

I too have tried to refrain from jumping into this discussion. The value of Disney vs. Universal really boils down to individual families. I have recently returned from a 4 day trip to Universal with my wife, 2 adult sons and 2 grandchildren 1 & 5. For us it would have been money better spent at Disney as there was not much for the younger ones to do except hang out in suess landing. At MK they could have ridden everything except the mountains. So until my grandchildren both reach the age of at least 10 we will be spending our vacations at Disney. On a side note my sons and I get our Universal fix at our annual HHN trip. Both parks have their plusses and minuses just depends on what you are looking for in a trip.

Great point about the younger kids, I've always felt IoA is aimed at Teens and above. Another thing that bugs me about US is that it is impossible to find a CM to take a photo of myself with a character and if you ask one of the US photographers now with characters to take a photo with someone like Wolverine they are not happy about it. Luckily other guests are more willing to do so. The food at US is also appalling as far as I'm concerned and I tend to just eat at Starbucks or Ben and Jerrys (no proper meals,just snacking) The Cornish Pasties at WWoHP were nothing like a Cornish Pasty (I lived in Cornwall for 12 years) they were more like Samosa and not nice ones at that.

 

[AnAmericanInDisney]

The relaxation at Disney is what you make of it. If you let ADR's and fast pass stress you out that's on you.

I don't doubt that the experience at Universal is less hussle and bussle. There are around 9 Million less people there a year! The luxury of Universal is that the attendance is much less allowing people who are there better experiences. There is nothing wrong with this, but don't kid yourself as to why you need to fast pass at Disney and don't at Universal.

Also, have they changed the front of the line thing for Cabana Bay? Is it included now? If not, that will certainly add to the cost of the stay in one of the family suites.

That used to be true, but now a visitor is forced to be on the app and use technology to get the Fastpasses and make the trip worthwhile. If I'm paying to fly and stay at Disney, I want to ride some rides. You used to be able to wander around and grab a few fastpasses for later. You used to be able to "wing it" and still ride plenty of rides. FP+ has made that impossible, even without adding dining to the equation.

I can see why this poster is frustrated, and I don't understand the anger of the opposition, but I do think Disney is paying reputation defenders to post on message boards since people started being frustrated with FP+. I don't think everybody who posts in favor of FP+ is paid to do so, but there are an awful lot of people who have no signatures, not trips planned, signed up about the same time, etc. posting to defend the new system. It's a common practice to hire these agencies these days, but I'm not sure your run of the mill poster knows that "reputation defenders" exist.

 

[nickcapp]

No it is not on me that Disney has made the planning and scheduling more complicated.

Can't have your cake and eat it too. Either some posters are "too lazy" to plan or "too stressed" because they do.

Don't blame the victim.

I didn't say anyone was too lazy. But come on, you can't choose to not plan and then complain that you are stressed when you get there! That's just nuts.

If you are not a planner or choose not to plan but expect to do whatever you want, then you need to go to Universal where there are less people. Its that simple.

 

[sonofanarchy]

The relaxation at Disney is what you make of it. If you let ADR's and fast pass stress you out that's on you.

I don't doubt that the experience at Universal is less hussle and bussle. There are around 9 Million less people there a year! The luxury of Universal is that the attendance is much less allowing people who are there better experiences. There is nothing wrong with this, but don't kid yourself as to why you need to fast pass at Disney and don't at Universal.

Also, have they changed the front of the line thing for Cabana Bay? Is it included now? If not, that will certainly add to the cost of the stay in one of the family suites.

No, I don't agree. That's like the old saying, "If a man gives a chimp a gun and the chimp shoots someone, you don't blame the chimp." A major part of the Disney experience for many people is the dining, and obviously, the rides. They've made doing both of these things more difficult over the years.

Again, let's not confuse WDW with the Magic Kingdom. The MK is the only park that draws such higher attendance over Universal. The other 3 parks draw about 2 million more people per year. And who said you don't need Express at Universal? I wouldn't go without it. Try going in July and getting on Spider-Man or the Hulk in the afternoon without Express. Just as bad as any Disney line.

The difference is, at Universal, for a price, I have a choice not to stand in the long lines. At Disney, I don't.

 

[eliza61]

I didn't say anyone was too lazy. But come on, you can't choose to not plan and then complain that you are stressed when you get there! That's just nuts.

If you are not a planner or choose not to plan but expect to do whatever you want, then you need to go to Universal where there are less people. Its that simple.

yes it is that simple but yes we do get a right to complain. and for the record, a negative review is allowed.

there is a reason why we expect it, ITS BECAUSE THAT WAS THE WAY IT WAS NOT TO LONG AGO!!
We're not pulling crap out of thin air. Two years ago I was able to go to Disney without having to pull out my cell phone every 9 seconds. Now Disney has forced this change on me. I was able to ride Soarin, over and over again with relatively little planning. Now one is almost restricted to a certain number of times. Yes, I get to write a negative review about that.

And the choices are not between two "good" things.
YES, I most certainly do get a chance to vent my opposition.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

Sorry, me again. With all the complaints about the FP+ system, I recall the old system, you had to head over to the attraction to get the FP for it then return later (extra walking) dashing to The Land for Soarin' or TSM at rope drop, the being stuck not being able to ANY more FP until that was used, no changing it or nothing if you decided that after getting a TSM FP at RP that was for 4pm you didn't want to do it after all. I recall queues for the FP machine being 20 minutes long and standing behind Tour Group guides with dozens of tickets and the time increasing and increasing. Happy memories
Now, I can do it at home or at my hotel room or if I get to the park and decide that the FP+ queue is too long (believe you me, it happened with the old system when Tour Groups returned) I whip out my phone and either change the attraction FP to a later time or change the experience, if there isn't anything else available at the such short notice (it happened just twice in two weeks) then I either join the queue or I do something else, so I wasted a FP+, it was free! Chill out, if going to WDW is such an ordeal with you then go somewhere else would be my suggestion. It's like the people who complain about TV shows, but, have no clue how to use the remote control to change channel, preferring to complain about it instead.

BTW, Disney are not forcing anyone to do anything, they are not rounding you up off the streets by force to go into their parks, make you buy their food, souvenirs, party tickets etc...you do it by choice. So please stop saying Disney force you to whip out your mobile phone every 9 seconds, from my last trip I observed 90% of guests happily doing that anyway to check texts, FB etc. No one is being forced to do anything by anyone, except by your kids.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I've been a few times since FP+ and have ridden plenty of rides, even without using FP+ for most of them.

They may not be the rides most people want to ride though, and I didn't do any repeats. There are a lot of folks on the board who say they did multiple repeat rides using old FP with little waiting. Of course WDW is trying to cut down on use of FP for repeat rides so they might consider that a success.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

I'm sorry the OP didn't have a good time but I know WE will!! 16 days and 15 nights but wasn't able to squeak out any time for Universal...

I get one day at US in each trip, I never feel the need to do more. I find plenty to do at WDW like you and it doesn't involve running myself ragged. I love to spend an afternoon chilling on The Boardwalk, I take my resort mug with me and have endless refills of beverages with a nice cake and watch the world go by, lovely jubbly and I did that at Kidani this trip watching the wildlife from a balcony whilst enjoying a lovely Raspberry iced tea (I wish that was available at Pop Century, yum)

 

[NYDisGuy]

That used to be true, but now a visitor is forced to be on the app and use technology to get the Fastpasses and make the trip worthwhile. If I'm paying to fly and stay at Disney, I want to ride some rides. You used to be able to wander around and grab a few fastpasses for later. You used to be able to "wing it" and still ride plenty of rides. FP+ has made that impossible, even without adding dining to the equation.

I can see why this poster is frustrated, and I don't understand the anger of the opposition, but I do think Disney is paying reputation defenders to post on message boards since people started being frustrated with FP+. I don't think everybody who posts in favor of FP+ is paid to do so, but there are an awful lot of people who have no signatures, not trips planned, signed up about the same time, etc. posting to defend the new system. It's a common practice to hire these agencies these days, but I'm not sure your run of the mill poster knows that "reputation defenders" exist.

The bold is simply not true. It's not impossible to go on rides in between fast passes or even before. It seems like the people bashing the system are either Universal enthusiasts who are beating their chest about the express system or people who have never used FP+ and are jumping to conclusions. All you are doing is planning 3 rides, that's it. Everyone knows which park they are doing on a specific day, this makes it more convenient instead of bull rushing a headliner to grab a fastpass.

 

[JoeA]

I can see why this poster is frustrated, and I don't understand the anger of the opposition, but I do think Disney is paying reputation defenders to post on message boards since people started being frustrated with FP+. I don't think everybody who posts in favor of FP+ is paid to do so, but there are an awful lot of people who have no signatures, not trips planned, signed up about the same time, etc. posting to defend the new system. It's a common practice to hire these agencies these days, but I'm not sure your run of the mill poster knows that "reputation defenders" exist.

I recently signed up. Have no signature. And no trips planned. If somebody wants to pay me to defend the system then I will gladly accept all incoming checks!

I may not have trips planned, but I had two trips within a six month span using FP+ and MB. And I just don't get why people are bashing the system, frankly. I remember the "old days", standing in-line for Space Mountain and the waits were loooooooong! And I remember when Fast Pass first launched and I got a FP, but had to be there between 1:35 and 2:35. I didn't choose that time slot...I sure would like the flexibility to choose another time slot! And I had to take time out of my day to walk to that part of the park when I really would prefer to ride POTC while I am waiting. Or maybe I wanted to start my morning at Animal Kingdom and get an evening FP to Space Mountain...but I couldn't because I had to be at MK to physically get my FP from the kiosk.

FP+ gives you more flexibility. You can manage your time better from where ever you are! Like I said on this thread a few days ago - wife and I went to Star Wars Weekend on May 18th and I got early time slots for Toy Story, Star Tours and ToT 4 days before we arrived at the park. I didn't need to be at my computer at 60 days out. I was sitting on a beach in Naples, FL having a cold adult beverage at the time.

People have to realize that MK alone has >2X the annual visitors as IOA and as a result they need different queue management. Think about that for a minute - 10M more people walk through MK gates, which is 2.3M more people than who attend IOA in the first place. So perhaps Express Pass or whatever it's called wouldn't work as well with 10M more people standing in line!

And because of all those extra people we have things like ADR. Sure, you may not need them while playing at Universal but they don't have the same traffic levels. They (MK) have to accommodate a lot more people!

It's all about traffic counts. MK has more. Way more. Period.

I only used MK and IOA as my examples since that is the grand daddy of all parks and Universal's best attended park, and Disney has to have the same system across the "World" so please don't say anything Like, "Animal Kingdom only has X more visitors than Universal...".

I'm not defending Disney, or bashing Universal. I am simply saying they are different parks, with different traffic levels, and the experience will be dissimilar as a result.

*I used the TEA #'s.

 

[flicx]

In its simplest terms Disney execs chose to spend billions on the my magic system, when spending billions on new rides would have definitely made more customers happy. They are now seeing a lot of unhappy long time customers who know why they opted for the my magic system instead of the new rides.