Just home, my thoughts

[Laketravis]

I think I have solution!

For just 1/2 of what you spent on WDW, I'll send Elsa to your house and I guarantee she will spend no less than 30 minutes with up to 5 of your children:

But wait! Call now and I'll send Anna along as well. Hurry........operators are standing by...............


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[Laketravis]

That's almost as bad as being reminded this week that The Breakfast Club is 30 years old.

Wow.

 

[MatzoBelle]

Is there any consensus as to why crowds are so much bigger now? Is it because international visitors are capitalizing on favorable exchange rates? Is it because the economy is improving? Perhaps more Americans are opting for domestic rather than international travel these days. Whatever the causes, I wonder whether the increase is sustainable.

 

[chrissyb2411]

I think I have solution!

For just 1/2 of what you spent on WDW, I'll send Elsa to your house and I guarantee she will spend no less than 30 minutes with up to 5 of your children:

But wait! Call now and I'll send Anna along as well. Hurry........operators are standing by...............


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Funny, and a dime a dozen these days. We have seen elseas around at the local indoor play parks. But don't you know "the real one lives at disney world mommy!" Lol. It's funny, she was aware this year that the costumed characters were just people, but still thought the princesses were real. I love the way a kids brain works.

 

[flicx]

Is there any consensus as to why crowds are so much bigger now? Is it because international visitors are capitalizing on favorable exchange rates? Is it because the economy is improving? Perhaps more Americans are opting for domestic rather than international travel these days. Whatever the causes, I wonder whether the increase is sustainable.

At the risk of being taken to task for my response. I think improved economy has much to do with it. Couple that with the reduced cost of gasoline, people have more expendable cash. Most of the businesses in our area of Pennsylvania have seen a substantial increase in traffic. (disclaimer: just my theory)

 

[mom2rtk]

Is there any consensus as to why crowds are so much bigger now? Is it because international visitors are capitalizing on favorable exchange rates? Is it because the economy is improving? Perhaps more Americans are opting for domestic rather than international travel these days. Whatever the causes, I wonder whether the increase is sustainable.

My theory is that rather than growing exponentially, crowds are shifting. People who can no longer afford peak season rates are looking for discounts and shifting into the previously less crowded "off" seasons.

 

[flicx]

My theory is that rather than growing exponentially, crowds are shifting. People who can no longer afford peak season rates are looking for discounts and shifting into the previously less crowded "off" seasons.

You know I never really considered this mom! That is a very very interesting hypothesis! It makes a lot of sense.

 

[lauradis]

Is there any consensus as to why crowds are so much bigger now? Is it because international visitors are capitalizing on favorable exchange rates? Is it because the economy is improving? Perhaps more Americans are opting for domestic rather than international travel these days. Whatever the causes, I wonder whether the increase is sustainable.

Domestic travel has been on the increase in last years. 2002-2010 have been really slow in the terms of travel.

 

[Laketravis]

Is there any consensus as to why crowds are so much bigger now? Is it because international visitors are capitalizing on favorable exchange rates? Is it because the economy is improving? Perhaps more Americans are opting for domestic rather than international travel these days. Whatever the causes, I wonder whether the increase is sustainable.

I think all of those are valid reasons as well as pent up demand from travel/vacation decisions that were deferred during the recession.

People only spend on discretionary items when they are confident it's not a foolish economic decision.

If you were to overlay WDW theme park attendance against consumer confidence you'd see a clear and valid correlation with one following the other:





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[Luckybee]

Wow, this thread has exploded!

I appreciate all the comisseration and story's both positive and negative experiences.

As to expectations, no, it was not a matter of my expectations being too high. I'm generally a person with low expectations. Very easy to please. There was just so much about this vacation that felt rushed, pushed, herded it was unfortunate. Interestingly I didn't feel the same mentality at universal the two days we spent there. Funny enough one of the days was pouring rain, we were drenched, but it felt more relaxed, more fun, more something I can't put my finger on. I had booked universal because dh is not a Disney fan. I never expected to enjoy it much, I love my disney! But right now if I planned another trip to Florida universal would be on my list, not Disney. And honestly, I hate that lol.

As to the meet and greet times, I think some people are not getting what I mean. Anna and elsa felt rushed. Elsa literally drapes an arm around a kid and herds them on mid sentance. I was thinking about the few other meet and greets we did. Chip and dale in HS was probably just as quick. But they goofed, and hugged, and played, and never once ushered dd out. It certainly wasn't much longer, a minute and a half, 2 minutes at most, but it didn't feel like we were shoved out. And chip and dale don't even talk! And honestly, if disney really cared about guest experience wouldn't they limit more the number of people either getting in line or booking a fast past for these hot ticket meet and greet / rides? It feels now like it's more about quantity and how many people can we pack through an attraction a day, and less about ensuring the quality of the experience is good. Sure there will always be those people that want more, bigger, better, but I assure you that's not me.

I was interested to read the thought about Disney's best times in the mid 2000's. We went in 2008, and 2010. I remember we noticed a few downgrades in 2010, bus issues, toon town closed, bad service at the resort. But I don't remember feeling letdown at the end.

It was still a good time, because let's face it, anytime you don't have to pack lunches, heard kids into the school bus, help with homework, shovel snow you're winning. The kids had some great times. It wasn't all awful, and overall I would rate it "ok". It just wasn't enough to consider going back anytime soon.

Hey Chrissy

You were us when it comes to Universal. You described exactly what we felt in Oct. esp the not expecting to enjoy it that much part. and the rushed scheduled feeling we had at Disney as a comparison. We too are saddened esp since I've been going since I was a kid, and Im in my 50's now. I think you beautifully expressed what a number of us are feeling

 

[Cormoran]

I'm really excited about my upcoming trip. We love Flower and Garden, but the thing I'm most excited about is the last 3 days at Universal. I thought it would be wiser to save the more relaxed and spontaneous portion of the trip for last.

 

[Laketravis]

I'm really excited about my upcoming trip. We love Flower and Garden, but the thing I'm most excited about is the last 3 days at Universal. I thought it would be wiser to save the more relaxed and spontaneous portion of the trip for last.

Funny you mention it - while I'll be in Orlando starting the day after tomorrow thru the 21st of the month and have AP's to both, we've got our WDW itinerary micro-planned but the USO itinerary is nothing more than showing up and doing stuff.


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[MrInfinity]

just home from a week at disney and here's my thoughts. This was our third stay in 8 years, each time we stayed at a disney moderate. We are a family of 4, kids are 9 and 6. We are very mellow, quiet people, just sort of go with the flow. Our last 2 trips I had us booked solid. This time I booked our fp+ and that was it.

Thanks for the summary -- love reading these! Bummer that it was so rushed.

IMO, things have changed so much. Our time at the disney parks felt like we were being rushed along and herded, move move move. It was a bit much.
I put a lot of effort into making sure we had an Anna and elsa fast pass, dressing my daughter up, talking it up so she was so excited. And the whole experience was such a letdown. We arrived right at our fast pass time, we were the only people in the inner que, and the cast member came over and rather sternly told us we needed to make sure the autograph book was open, and the pen was ready before we met elsa. Twice. My daughter missed the instruction the first time since she was so enraptured with actually seeing the princess, and I was so busy taking photos of her amazed look I missed it. So he said it again, while reaching for the book in her hand to "help" her out. Once she met elsa she got less than a minute of her time before elsa was quite literally pushing her over to Anna to move her along. Another minute with Anna and the highlight of our trip was over. In less than 5 minutes total. It was a huge letdown.

We saw A&E when they first moved to the MK. I have to say it was pretty awesome. We got to see them together... and while our DD sat there singing Let it Go to them, you could see the CM over to the side about to nudge her along, and Elsa kind of motioned to her to be patient. She got the whole thing out. Quality CM. Have it all on video. Since then, I've heard they've split them up, and try harder to keep the crowds moving. Guess we got in at a great time.

Similar experience at the akerhaus princess meal. It wasn't terribly busy, but nobody really had time to stop really visit. I can remember our first ever character meal where we got probably a good 5 minutes with the characters to goof around and visit and take pictures. I mean for goodness sake, we paid a lot of money for the akerhaus meal to be rushed in and rushed out. The waiter was standing there wanting our drink and food order before we had even sat down. It was insane.

Here my experience concurs with yours. I would not recommend Akershus to anyone. Princesses seemed forced, parade was silly, no on really hung out and chatted. Oh well. We've done it now.

I wouldn't say I loved or hated the fast pass+. We got decent fast passes, since I stayed up til 2 in the morning to get them. It was hit or miss about how long we waited. Sometimes walked straight in, others we waited 20-30 minutes in line. We never hit the kiosks for more fast passes, because when we walked by them they all had lines. Stand in line to get a ticket to maybe not have to stand in line. No thanks. I tried a couple times to change things on the iPhone app, but it was really glitchy inside the parks. I never had trouble with it at home. Overall I liked the magic bands a lot. We didn't have any trouble with them.

Fair enough...

We liked sdmt, my daughter and I liked it a lot. Toy story midway mania for us was meh. I wouldn't wait in line or scramble for a fast pass if we had it to do again. Buzz light years space ranger spin was just as good. My kids really loved the magic card game at magic kingdom (I don't remember what this was called) and the agent P adventure at Epcot. We discovered both of these by accident. If you have kids that like treasure hunt type games you should be sure to do these.

We didn't get to ride the SDMT! We were there the week before it opened. Gah! Next time. Do love the P&F quests, Adventureland pirate quests, and AK Wilderness Explorer stuff.

The food at disney has taken a big nosedive since our last visit. We didn't have anything all week that I would call good. Akerhaus was ok, everything else was mediocre at best.

Oh, while I found Akershus to be quite lame, other stuff was cool. Some new favorites. Biergarten was a huge hit. That whole feeling like you're outside when you're inside had my kids amazed. We're gonna do it again. Oh... Yak & Yeti we tried for the first time. Another win for us.

I think we are probably done with disney for awhile. For us there was a lack of magic, and the magic is what always made the cost worth it for me. This time I felt it was more about moving us along, turning everything over quickly, quantity instead of quality. We vacation infrequently enough that I can't really consider spending significant money on a mediocre experience. It bums me out, but there it is.

One question... was this the first time you've ridden TSMM and Buzz? You said neither impressed you but this was your 3rd trip.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I just read this recount of another DISer's interaction with Anna and Elsa here. IMO, this is a complete 180 from what the OP in this thread experienced. I am truly happy for that poster that they had such an amazing experience, but it's sad to me that there's such a huge range of what character interaction can be. I know these are people playing the characters, and people can't be exactly the same all the time..they aren't robots after all, and I don't expect them to be. And I am truly happy for the pixie dust meeting that that poster's family had. I'm certainly *not* suggesting that characters should be spending 10 mins/guest all the time. But there really should be some kind of sustainable happy medium between these extremes...extra pixie dusting when possible, but not acting like a guest is being pushed along as quickly as possible as the OP described. I think that, generally, this happy medium does happen...but in moments when it doesn't, like what the OP described her experience as being, I don't think the disappointment about it is unreasonable.

 

[blizzard]

Totally agree with OP.

We are DVC members since 1997, and have been making trips to WDW every 1-2 years since. We just returned from a 12 day trip, with 7 Disney days, and 5 Universal days.

One of the highlights of our trip was supposed to be the BBB with my 7 yo daughter, followed by meeting Anna and Elsa (with Fastpass). We also felt rushed through. BBB was awesome, a great experience. Meeting Elsa was 30 seconds and done. Anna was 45. My daughter was excited to meet them, but it really did feel a little disappointing. I was so busy trying to make sure she got an autograph, that I never got a picture. I thought the next day when we met the other princesses would be better, but it was only marginally better. In the past, Cinderella had "remembered" the last time my daughter had visited, and commented how much she'd grown. This time felt like we were being pushed through. My daughter still enjoyed visiting the princesses, but I felt like it was a waste of a FP.

We also did most of the night shows that we haven't done in a few years. Fantasmic! needs to be rewritten without as much Pocahontas (shows its age). Illuminations was only a shadow of its former self (a real disappointment). Even MSEP didn't feel like it was worth waiting for. None of the live entertainment was as good as previous trips.

We stayed at AKL-Kidani, and loved ithe resort. In contrast, at Universal we stayed at RPR, and had some housekeeping issues. We really liked the Express Pass though, and will stay at Universal only for this reason again.

The main takeaway is that we aren't going near Disney again until 2017. We have an Orlando trip planned again for next year, but I can't do Disney again that soon and feel good about it.

 

[chrissyb2411]

Thanks for the summary -- love reading these!



We saw A&E when they first moved to the MK. I have to say it was pretty awesome. We got to see them together... and while our DD sat there singing Let it Go to them, you could see the CM over to the side about to nudge her along, and Elsa kind of motioned to her to be patient. She got the whole thing out. Quality CM. Have it all on video. Since then, I've heard they've split them up, and try harder to keep the crowds moving. Guess we got in at a great time.



Here my experience concurs with yours. I would not recommend Akershus to anyone. Princesses seemed forced, parade was silly, no on really hung out and chatted. Oh well. We've done it now.



Fair enough...



We didn't get to ride the SDMT! We were there the week before it opened. Gah! Next time. Do love the P&F quests, Adventureland pirate quests, and AK Wilderness Explorer stuff.



Oh, while I found Akershus to be quite lame, other stuff was cool. Some new favorites. Biergarten was a huge hit. That whole feeling like you're outside when you're inside had my kids amazed. We're gonna do it again. Oh... Yak & Yeti we tried for the first time. Another win for us.





One question... was this the first time you've ridden TSMM and Buzz? You said neither impressed you but this was your 3rd trip.

We had ridden buzz last trip, but not tssm. We were there right after tssm opened. Fastpasses (paper) were gone by 930 am and the standby time was 6 hours!! I wouldn't say I didn't like tssm, but I think it's a bit over rated. I wouldn't wait 2 hours in line ( the standby time this trip), or stress about needing to ride it. The best part of the ride is the que, but when you come in the fast pass lines you miss a lot of the Que. Also , we are not line people. My kids were happy to walk right past attractions and shows with long lines. They would have happily skipped tssm if it meant a 2 hour wait. And they are super flexible. We had been standing in line to meet stitch (one of ds's favs) and stitch went on break when we were 3 people away. We waited and met chip and dale. There was a tad bit of disappointment, but it was shrugged off pretty quick. He was too cool to meet chip and dale, but dd enjoyed the visit lol.

 

[GAN]

I truly think the mid 90's to early 2000's were what I considered the best era for Disney to date. So much was constructed in that era, prices were very affordable, especially in offseason. Heck they were still putting up whole parks then.

I agree -looking back, early 90's - 00's. Probably pre-AK.

 

[Laketravis]

I truly think the mid 90's to early 2000's were what I considered the best era for Disney to date. So much was constructed in that era, prices were very affordable, especially in offseason. Heck they were still putting up whole parks then.

Found this interesting little paper that looks at the cost of opening a new park (including Disney) in terms of dollars spent per first year guest - which led me to believe that Disney's ongoing decision to not open a 5th gate isn't due to cost:

Initial Investment Cost per First Year Attendee

From the paper:

"When viewed in this manner, it is quite apparent that the majority of parks (59 percent) were opened at a cost per first-year attendee of less than $100. Almost a third or 29 percent invested somewhere between $101 and $200 dollars, and only a few invested more than $200—six percent invested between $201 and $300, and six percent invested more than $300."


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[ArwenMarie]

I just read this recount of another DISer's interaction with Anna and Elsa here. IMO, this is a complete 180 from what the OP in this thread experienced. I am truly happy for that poster that they had such an amazing experience, but it's sad to me that there's such a huge range of what character interaction can be. I know these are people playing the characters, and people can't be exactly the same all the time..they aren't robots after all, and I don't expect them to be. And I am truly happy for the pixie dust meeting that that poster's family had. I'm certainly *not* suggesting that characters should be spending 10 mins/guest all the time. But there really should be some kind of sustainable happy medium between these extremes...extra pixie dusting when possible, but not acting like a guest is being pushed along as quickly as possible as the OP described. I think that, generally, this happy medium does happen...but in moments when it doesn't, like what the OP described her experience as being, I don't think the disappointment about it is unreasonable.

We still do a lot of character greets and our A&E was noticeably shorter than the others. Which I think gave it that rushed feeling because the princesses themselves were adorable It's interesting, it could only be the difference of 15 seconds, but that might be the tipping point where one feels that you are being rushed.

 

[Eastern]

Disney is a tough vacation in that you have to plan so much. Even then, you can't beat the crowds every time. My young adult kids still like the atmosphere. They usually stay late to get on rides. Otherwise, they do FP+ or just go on what's available.

It must be really hard with young kids nowadays; I see that. When they were small, we went in off times and had no waits for anything. Just not the same today.

We met A&E last visit and we probably spent about 5 minutes with each. They made a little conversation and we took pictures. We had fun doing it but it was definitely in and out. I think that getting autographs takes time away from real interactions and is a waste. (I know I will suffer for that comment!) My kids never felt cheated that I didn't buy the autograph books. Maybe it's different for boys.