Magical ? Not so much.

[PurpleDog]

My wife and I purchased a no expire 8 day pass [1 park per day] about 12 years ago, and have always enjoyed all 4 of the parks.
We visit Disney every year to 18 months, and usually see and experience one park per visit.
We have family near Tampa, and also enjoy many other Orlando area attractions, so we always stay off site. [We have stayed at the same Holiday Inn Express on IDrive for many year, but on this most recent trip we found a great IHG property place with an amazing heated pool in Lake Buena Vista.]
Our last visit before this most recent visit consisted of 3 of the 4 parks over 5 days in 2011 with a daughter and granddaughter.
We visited MK last Wednesday 12.09.15.
Wow, things have changed !
It's not so magical anymore.
Please note that the observations, opinions, and information I am relating are my own personal experiences.

* Within 30 minutes of entering the park, I remarked to my wife that MK is dirtier. My wife agreed. We saw cigarette butts, discarded food, trash, and empty soda & water bottles all over MK.

* MK to me appeared to be "oversold". It was jam packed on a weekday when kids in the US are [I think] in school. It's now $105 per person per day, and maybe it's just me, but I don't think you should have to wait more then 30 minutes a for ANY ride or attraction if you are paying that type of admission price. There were literally times when we found ourselves in a crowd of people with no way to move 3 feet in either direction.

* We both felt as though the cast members were less friendly and less willing to be helpful. We also thought that there were less cast members working

* The current Fast Pass system is new since our last visit, and no one at the park could really explain it well. The most frustrating part of this new system is that you have to go - not to the attraction you want to visit - but to what appeared to be almost hidden on purpose areas in the park to get your 3 FP's. Would it not make more sense to get the FP like we used to - at the attraction ? In addition, the new system also seems to make you need to stay in the park longer than you may want to. We got our 3 each attractions Fast Passed at about 11am. We received times of: 230-330 for Haunted Mansion, 445-530 for Big Thunder, and then 545-630 for Pirates. So, it was a wait of 6 hours and 65 minutes to see Pirates !! Huh ?

* I always make sure to enjoy a full breakfast before heading to a park, but I know that I will need to have at least lunch and some snacks while in the park. The prices in the park are laughably high, and are for average or below average quality products. I used to be a vendor to Disney, and can tell you from experience that they squeeze vendors on price ALL THE TIME. They are making a obscene profit margin on the food and beverage, and yes, this is America, and you are allowed to charge whatever you feel folks will pay. But, but if prices were 10-20% lower, I'm sure they would have a lot more folks eating there, and therefore staying longer, and presumably spending more.

In closing I will say this: if there was a way that I could sell my remaining 3 days on the 2 passes I have, I would in a heartbeat. There are just too many other fun things to do while on vacation in and around Orlando !

 

[PurpleDog]

I also wanted to add that I have been able to upgrade 1 park per day tickets to Park Hopper passes.
I remember paying a per day up charge of like $30 bucks.
We were told on this most recent visit that doing that is no longer allowed.

 

[subtchr]

I also wanted to add that I have been able to upgrade 1 park per day tickets to Park Hopper passes.
I remember paying a per day up charge of like $30 bucks.
We were told on this most recent visit that doing that is no longer allowed.

It is not allowed for the tickets you have, but it is allowed on a currently available ticket. It's $50 plus tax for one day.

Sorry your visit was not fun. We had a wonderful time last week and did not encounter the same issues you did. We always look for the positive.

 

[Oswin]

* The current Fast Pass system is new since our last visit, and no one at the park could really explain it well. The most frustrating part of this new system is that you have to go - not to the attraction you want to visit - but to what appeared to be almost hidden on purpose areas in the park to get your 3 FP's. Would it not make more sense to get the FP like we used to - at the attraction ? In addition, the new system also seems to make you need to stay in the park longer than you may want to. We got our 3 each attractions Fast Passed at about 11am. We received times of: 230-330 for Haunted Mansion, 445-530 for Big Thunder, and then 545-630 for Pirates. So, it was a wait of 6 hours and 65 minutes to see Pirates !! Huh ?

The only thing I can offer input here for is that FP+ is not based on actual wait times at all, but I'm not sure if that's what you're implying. The issue with not booking FP+ in advance is people staying onsite have been booking them for 60 days and other people offsite have been booking them for at least 30 days. If you book day of, especially after park opening, you will get whatever attractions and times are still leftover. If you mean you were having to wait that long to ride due to the FP+ times you chose, that's also something you could've prevented by bumping your other FP+ attractions sooner. You could've done a noontime HM and a 1-2pm Big Thunder, and then a 2-3 Pirates. If these times weren't available when you were choosing your FP+, that's because you waited until the day of.

 

[rwdavis2]

You probably should have done a little research on the new Fastpass system before you went.

 

[BrianL]

Your Fast Pass issue could have been avoided by setting up in advance instead of going to the in-park kiosk. You can use MDE account to set up 30 days prior for off-site guest, and you would likely have had better time availability at that time. I know the new system is confusing, though the gang here can always help you out.

I'm sorry that the rest of your visit didn't go so well. I haven't noticed cleanliness issues getting that bad, but I'm sure it happens sometimes, especially when it's so busy. It seems busy is the new normal too as the old "off-season" times aren't so off anymore. Planning helps, but we have to get used to the fact that more people are visiting WDW than ever.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

You probably should have done a little research on the new Fastpass system before you went.

This. It can be used to your advantage, but you can't just go in blind. You need to book them before you get to the parks. You can always edit them via the app if your plans change, but at least that way you have more options and don't need a kiosk right off the bat. Sorry you didn't have a great time but I feel a little pre-planning would have done wonders for you.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Sorry you were disappointed.

I think the MK especially is suffering from too-high crowds, too often.

 

[GreatLakes]

* The current Fast Pass system is new since our last visit, and no one at the park could really explain it well. The most frustrating part of this new system is that you have to go - not to the attraction you want to visit - but to what appeared to be almost hidden on purpose areas in the park to get your 3 FP's. Would it not make more sense to get the FP like we used to - at the attraction ? In addition, the new system also seems to make you need to stay in the park longer than you may want to. We got our 3 each attractions Fast Passed at about 11am. We received times of: 230-330 for Haunted Mansion, 445-530 for Big Thunder, and then 545-630 for Pirates. So, it was a wait of 6 hours and 65 minutes to see Pirates !! Huh ?

Your complaints are all valid, especially when it comes to the crowds and food prices, but I think waiting until you are in the park to try and reserve FP+ reservations is just not the way to use the system efficiently. FP+ is quite different then legacy FP and requires some research before you are in the park to use it optimally whether you like the model or not. How much time before arriving in Orlando did you spend researching the system? If your answer is none then even with an FP+ expert giving you the rundown getting your FP+s from a kiosk would have been inefficient and many of the FPs would be gone before you even had a chance at them. Did you download the MDE app? Hopefully someone at least gave you that bit of advice on day one.

Get a Magic band, attache your non-expiring media to it, and in the future you'll be able to make FP+s reservations from the app or online 30 days before arriving (60 if you stay onsite).

 

[PurpleDog]

I purposely did not do a lot of research before this visit; it was a one day / 8 hour visit.
I mean, gee, it's the Magic Kingdom ! What could go wrong ?? =)
I realize now that I should of done some research beforehand.
I was relating my experience so that [hopefully] someone else could avoid what we experienced with the FastPass system.

A large part of our frustration was that no one at the park could explain the system to us.
Also .. the locations used to get those FP's were in hard to find [what seemed like temporary] locations.

Also, how would a one day "spur of the moment" visitor know that you can and should book FP weeks in advance ??
Or is the answer simply that going to Disney without researching the heck out of the visit .... ie: deciding to go because it's a sunny day just a stupid thing to do ?

 

[DavidNYC]

I also wanted to add that I have been able to upgrade 1 park per day tickets to Park Hopper passes.
I remember paying a per day up charge of like $30 bucks.
We were told on this most recent visit that doing that is no longer allowed.

You could not upgrade per day for a hopper - it was always all or nothing. And with non-expiring tickets I believe you still had to make any upgrades. within 14 days so that hadn't changed.

As for your other criticisms - the parks are definitely more crowded. That's just a fact. And prices have gotten high - no argument there. But while I'm not one to recommend planning out your entire day minute by minute - there is a certain amount of pre-planning that can help. For example, it sounds like you didn't make FPs in advance and when you did, you accepted the times that you were given. Making reservations even a day in advance gives far more flexibility. Also - you can change your times once you get them. Making FP at 11am and expecting top rides and prime times isn't going to work. Honestly, this wasn't a FP+ problem - you seem to assume that you could have walked up to those three rides and gotten an immediate return time under the old system - hasn't worked that way for while with the crowds. You probably would have been in the same position but would have had to walk all over the park to see it.

You also went to MK on a day that it was scheduled for EMH which will make it one of the busier parks that day. If you were going for just a day and wanted MK, you had no choice. And unfortunately if you don't have a hopper if you want to catch Wishes or the evening parade you had to visit on a non-party day.

I'll disagree about cast members and cleanliness (other than noting cleanliness can scale with crowds in some respects) having been there every year for the last 10 at least once. In fact, this past November I remember thinking I had some of the nicest cast members I've ever had during my stay.

In short - next trip if you go back do a little pre-planning with FP and it might make a big difference.

 

[subtchr]

Also, how would a one day spur of the moment visitor know that you can and should book FP weeks in advance ?

They wouldn't. But how many people truly do "spur of the moment" trips, dropping hundreds of dollars for tickets?

Most travelers do some research before any trip, in this, the internet age.

 

[AngiTN]

You had a series of things working against you.
First, you had old tickets so you didn't have to log in and purchase them online, where it would have mentioned FP
Second, you didn't stay on site, where they would have sent you things both in the mail and via email that mentioned FP
By not knowing about FP before hand you were are a huge disadvantage.

The rest of your issues are totally opposite of our trips.
We find the staff most magical and DH and I always remark to each other that it's truly shocking how clean they keep the parks. We attend a local multi day music festival each year. You want to see trash? Check out something that like that. What they accomplish at Disney is remarkable.
And we actually think they price things reasonably considering the captive audience they have. And they are fully accommodating to any who want to bring in their own food. Where else allows that? I grew up going to Opryland and even back in the 70's the cost of their food was more than the cost of food at Disney, and they did not allow food to be brought in. Disney is far from perfect but as far as theme park management goes, they are really about as good as it gets.

 

[BudgieMama]

Also, how would a one day "spur of the moment" visitor know that you can and should book FP weeks in advance ??
Or is the answer simply that going to Disney without researching the heck out of the visit ie: deciding to go because it's a sunny day just a stupid thing to do ?

Personally, I'd think that visiting ANY theme park (or any significant tourist attraction) without doing some level of research is a poor decision. We made a trip this year to a theme park here in the UK that I'd visited approximately 3/4 years before, and I spent a couple of hours trawling their website for updates and info before we picked a date. That's a run of the mill theme park, not somewhere that is a huge tourist destination like WDW, but it meant there was no surprises when we arrived. We knew what was new, we knew what was out of action, and we made ourselves familiar with the details and cost of their FP equivalent system (which is all paid for, not included) before deciding whether or not to make use of it.

 

[subtchr]

Would it not make more sense to get the FP like we used to - at the attraction ? In addition, the new system also seems to make you need to stay in the park longer than you may want to. We got our 3 each attractions Fast Passed at about 11am. We received times of: 230-330 for Haunted Mansion, 445-530 for Big Thunder, and then 545-630 for Pirates. So, it was a wait of 6 hours and 65 minutes to see Pirates !! Huh ?

To revisit this, since you say you would prefer the old legacy FP system...

So you arrived at 11:00. If the old system was in place, say you went to grab a FP for Big Thunder Mountain. (I'm skipping Haunted Mansion because that did not have legacy FP.) Let's say you got a paper FP for 1:00 - 2:00. Then you might go ride Haunted Mansion and Pirates, and grab some lunch, before the FP. After you rode it, you might get another for Space Mountain. If you grabbed that at 2:30, it might not be until 5:00 or 6:00, or later, or might not be available at all. So under the old system, in the time you had 3 FP under the new system, you would only have 2 at most. And you walked all over the park to get them. How is that better?

 

[PurpleDog]

AngiTN:
All Nascar tracks allow you to bring in your own food and beverages - including beer if you want.
But I understand your point.

 

[kaybird]

I am sorry your trip was less than magical. Any one at the kiosks or in Guest services would have happily explained the FP+ system, and it is covered fairly well in the park map. The benefit for us to the system is NOT having to go to the ride to pull a pass. As for spontaneous trips, most of ours are not planned, and I have made the FP+ in the car or on the bus on the way to the parks. Been going over 40 years now, CM's still friendly, parks more crowded during holidays, and guests often litter.

 

[AngiTN]

AngiTN:
All Nascar tracks allow you to bring in your own food and beverages - including beer if you want.
But I understand your point.

True. I didn't really mean NO ONE allowed you to bring it in. Just that many do not.

 

[PurpleDog]

Everyone:

As I mentioned in my first post, the "review" I posted consisted of my opinions and were and are related to my personal experience at MK.
I do not think that one should have to research a visit to an amusement park, but I also understand that doing the research beforehand would of enhanced my visit.

So, if I was to take my 5 and 6 year old granddaughters, they should be smart enough to go on the web and choose what attractions they want to visit a couple of weeks in advance ?

That, my Disney friends, is ridiculous !

But, thanks for all your comments !

 

[sanfran22]

To revisit this, since you say you would prefer the old legacy FP system...

So you arrived at 11:00. If the old system was in place, say you went to grab a FP for Big Thunder Mountain. (I'm skipping Haunted Mansion because that did not have legacy FP.) Let's say you got a paper FP for 1:00 - 2:00. Then you might go ride Haunted Mansion and Pirates, and grab some lunch, before the FP. After you rode it, you might get another for Space Mountain. If you grabbed that at 2:30, it might not be until 5:00 or 6:00, or later, or might not be available at all. So under the old system, in the time you had 3 FP under the new system, you would only have 2 at most. And you walked all over the park to get them. How is that better?

You could get 2 top flight rides, now you get one. In my experiance, I could get several fast passes for most of the big rides. Want test track and soarin? No problem. Now, no chance.