Never thought I'd do it- Cancelled.

[goofy4prez]

Are we going to see one of these posts every time someone cancels…?

You chose to view this post. You are more than welcome to find one of the many I just booked Disney posts instead.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Every time Disney changes something there are many "I've had it" threads and so forth. Every time.

Not saying I don't agree it is just saying that's the the way it always goes. You would have thought FP+ introduction was going to end the world lol. Now a lot of people miss it.

We are going for a quick trip in February. I wonder how I will feel.

If you read through this entire thread, other similar posts throughout DIS, other blogs, Facebook posts and even articles written on popular sites I think you’ll see this frustration goes way beyond Disney just “changing something”. I don’t think I need to rehash each bullet point item. But the point is there’s about a dozen not so great changes that happened, and are ongoing, that aren’t so great for the wallet or the customer experience. It’s not like you have a bunch of people only up in arms about being charged with genie +, read through the posts and you’ll find it’s genie+ and a handful or two of other “somethings” to grumble about.

 

[Disturbia]

It’s like being in the Matrix; choosing the blue pill (pay for genie+) or red (not pay)! You can literally bend over backwards and dodge bullets like Neo and learn something new about the matrix and your abilities (ran from one end of the park to another under 5 mins-Genie certainly has your weight loss goals in mind). Being glued to your phone and counting milliseconds on another watch to book one ride only to be outsmarted by some other Smith or an error message. You think you are the one (you are the magic-Is Bob the Oracle? Scary senerio)! Then your cell phone battery dies and you can go back and relax at the pool-after you wait in line for transportation and the bunny from Alice hops by.

 

[Eastern]

I canceled my birthday trip. We were set to leave on Monday. Too much Covid. It's irresponsible to travel Florida and then have family Christmas with my 80-year old mother.

Really? Look at the latest maps. I'd stay out of Maine and go to Florida.

 

[goofy4prez]

I am truly surprised they haven't started charging for using the internal bus system or the monorails or boats; maybe they haven't quite figured out how to yet. Would it be a daily charge or per use?
-------------------------------------------------

Great; If Bob Chapek hasn't already planned this, you had to go and give him this idea. Sometime in the near future we will be seeing the new and improved Disney transportation system for a small additional fee for our convenience and enjoyment.

 

[ScarletFire]

Really? Look at the latest maps. I'd stay out of Maine and go to Florida.

That's weird. I've not been to Maine since 1988 for a Dead show. I live in Kentucky. Go CATS!

 

[MomOTwins]

You chose to view this post. You are more than welcome to find one of the many I just booked Disney posts instead.

I know right? Misery loves company, let us wallow just a little. The thought of a year without Disney World just makes me sad but it is for the best. I miss the happiness I had 5 years ago—not the blah experience of 2021. Plus, after reading a post about how great an experience you can have if you pay for all the upcharge bells and whistles, I couldn’t help but think of:

 

[Disturbia]

I hated the idea of paying more for fast passes and waking up at 7 am each morning, but this trip (Nov 21) was better than our June 21 trip by far. Having done 3 trips since Covid, things are improving and CMs are much more trained and friendly. The problem is there Is a sudden influx of people who had vacation money that they weren’t able to use (even international travel had big restrictions until recently) and its hard to rehire all the staff that was furloughed.

I see most of the issues (except for rising costs-a problem everywhere) as a staff shortage problem (shows and parades would help ease the long lines, but it’s taking extra long to hire/train). This is hopefully something that Disney can fix, in addition to bringing back fast passes (tier 3 rides) and let us choose xx days in advance to pay for Remy/Frozen or pay deluxe resort rates for extra hours.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

If you read through this entire thread, other similar posts throughout DIS, other blogs, Facebook posts and even articles written on popular sites I think you’ll see this frustration goes way beyond Disney just “changing something”. I don’t think I need to rehash each bullet point item. But the point is there’s about a dozen not so great changes that happened, and are ongoing, that aren’t so great for the wallet or the customer experience. It’s not like you have a bunch of people only up in arms about being charged with genie +, read through the posts and you’ll find it’s genie+ and a handful or two of other “somethings” to grumble about.

It's always that way...including those that say "but this time it is different".

Things will settle down to a new normal and life goes on...only more expensively. Not saying I disagree with the complaints per se, I need to go and see what it's like.

 

[MoreThanThis]

I’ve been twice since Covid. Both trips weren’t the same level of excitement line before Covid. Truly, nothing is right now.

To each their own, but I beg of everyone, if you have a bad experience or you decide to cancel, email and tell Disney.

There is a large amount of people investing in Disney trips for the first time that won’t know what could have been. We can’t let this era be the new Disney.

Write the emails becuase they do read them.

 

[Davey Jones II]

It is more accurate to say that Galaxy's Edge is the equal to Wizarding World.

Galaxy's Edge was originally going to be this chintzy trash that would have pissed off every Star Wars fan. Disney could have had the Wizarding World, but they weren't willing to do the level of theming that JK demanded. Disney then had to up their game because of the Wizarding World. So, in uber-theming, Disney is the follower.

To be more precise...Rowling wanted a Harry Potter land, and Disney just wanted to build a Potter ride.

It's true that the success of Hogsmeade probably got Disney to think in terms of lands instead of rides, at least when it comes to star IPs.

 

[akadada]

I’ve been twice since Covid. Both trips weren’t the same level of excitement line before Covid. Truly, nothing is right now.

To each their own, but I beg of everyone, if you have a bad experience or you decide to cancel, email and tell Disney.

There is a large amount of people investing in Disney trips for the first time that won’t know what could have been. We can’t let this era be the new Disney.

Write the emails becuase they do read them.

I appreciate your sentiment and call to action, but people (especially here on Disboards) have been writing to Disney for years and this is still the result. I think it's probably worth writing still but I truly don't think Disney cares much until shareholders care. The largest shareholders are institutional investors, so unless they start saying something, you'll likely not see much going to change other than more ways to increase profit margins at the expensive of Disney magic/nostalgic memories of what was once great.

Probably better off writing to the largest investor groups than you are to Disney itself. However do not write to Vanguard, Fidelity, and Blackrock if you do - they don't care because they own a lot of disney because they are simply market weighted Index funds and are agnostic about company itself, rather only care about market capitalization and how it passively fits into the index. It's not right or wrong, it's just the infrastructure of their funds. You have to write to the active fund managers and pension funds who take an active and deliberate position in Disney. Probably too complicated, but if you could get an advvocacy group together to influence a large active investor, that's probably going to move the dial more than writing to guest services.

 

[Disturbia]

Enough of us complain and tell GET and they are making some changes (current change to genie+ to include rides like frozen, Everest in genie+) AND extend magic morning to 60 mins. However most complaints are falling on deaf ears and there is little being offered other than an apology when issues do arise. Each trip we did feel like we lowered our expectations and just expect nothing now and that’s sad that the illusion that tied us to Disney as a place to relax, connect, leave the worries of the world behind and have fun has been broken. I think everyone is feeling that, but I think it helped us. We were about to buy DVC in March 2020.

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021...-and-pay-per-ride-selections-in-disney-world/

 

[RanDIZ]

Enough of us complain and tell GET and they are making some changes (current change to genie+ to include rides like frozen, Everest in genie+) AND extend magic morning to 60 mins. However most complaints are falling on deaf ears and there is little being offered other than an apology when issues do arise. Each trip we did feel like we lowered our expectations and just expect nothing now and that’s sad that the illusion that tied us to Disney as a place to relax, connect, leave the worries of the world behind and have fun has been broken. I think everyone is feeling that, but I think it helped us. We were about to buy DVC in March 2020.

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021...-and-pay-per-ride-selections-in-disney-world/

It’s definitely great news that these rides will be included. But I wouldn’t get too excited. Those who buy Genie (I will never!) will be stuck with a top tier ride late in the day essentially rendering Genie useless and nothing but a $15 donation to Disney. This was always the problem with FastPass. Nothing more than a strict schedule to follow if you wanted to utilize it. This is worse since it’s one ride at a time.

 

[Davey Jones II]

This is an interesting point and something that has crossed my mind. A lot of people have complained about "yet another additional cost" for Genie+, but TBH I was pretty surprised when the pricing structure came out. I expected it to be more expensive, in line with UO's Express Pass. I think with the low price point, a lot of people are just buying it without putting any thought into it (my sister is a TA and has seen this happening with nearly all of her clients). I think that causes two problems: 1) it decreases availability (as you mentioned) and 2) it skews expectations. If someone buys it, without thinking about whether they will actually need it or not, then gets to the park and realizes they don't need it, then that's perceived as a "waste of money."

I agree I do think the UO EP model works well, however I understand Disney not wanting to go with that, at least initially. You see the reaction from folks just going from something being "free" to $15. If you went from free to $85+, people would lose their minds haha. I think the $15+ala carte pricing model was probably seen as a way to dip their toes in the water of charging. I, personally, would not be upset to see them go the UO EP route though.

At Universal, most guests don't use the EP, which is why it works well. If Disney had a similar model, I think most guests would buy it, thereby rendering it pretty useless. If everyone is at the front of the line, no one is.

With the current system, people choose LL "a la carte" and not everyone will have a LL for every ride at the same time.

 

[Disturbia]

You can book genie+ 2 hrs after park opens (the 120 min rule):

https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-genie-usage-tips-and-strategy-only-thread.3857056/page-118

 

[RoseGold]

Like everyone here, I'm the crazy Disney person who plans everything for everyone who knows me. The last two trips I planned for others were all Universal-focused and staying at Universal, with one day in Galaxy's Edge.

 

[HopperFan]

After all these years, and so many great trips, magical moments, and a lifetime of memories, I never thought I would get to the place where I'm just not excited and looking forward to WDW; but that is where I am right now. Yesterday I did the unthinkable and canceled our February reservation and our 8-night stay at the Yacht Club. I'm just having a hard time getting excited about spending 9K for just the room and park tickets. In addition, this Genie, Genie+, iLL$, slave to a smartphone, no Magical Express, more cutbacks, more add ons for extra money, closures, limited experiences, masks, the uncertainty of the near future of this nearly 2-year pandemic, I have just lost interest.

I guess I'm just getting old and not feeling the magic this time around. I'm sure I'll get flamed and there are some who will say, "Good, fewer people for me." I would say, "Your Welcome." To each their own. I'm not attacking Disney, just that I think they are starting to move in a different direction than I am going. I guess I'll just take some of that money, pack up the truck, attach the boat, and head from N.E. Ohio and find a nice cabin on the lake somewhere in Kentucky, NY, Tenn, or somewhere that's a several-hour drive away and enjoy a quiet and relaxing vacation this time around.

Vacations are supposed to have you excited, leave you full of great memories and should be worth every penny. When you are missing those components then I fully agree with your decision. I think some of the good to come of the last almost two years is that many of us have put values on our vacations, our family time, how we spend our money, how we are enjoying our lives. I love so many have found other things to give them joy. You should absolutely plan something that will excite you! Disney World isn't going anywhere so maybe at some point you'll be excited about returning.

Note our ENTIRE family went in July (no mask time) and we had fun being with each other and enjoying Disney and Universal. It has changed big time since July. I would not be heading back at this time with the entire family. None of them would be excited with all the work involved. Now just DS and I went in November, under new conditions. Yup, it was work but with just the two of us, staying offsite (three trips booked on points), FL lowest AP .... we can enjoy ourselves because we aren't spending big bucks, we do as much as we can, and we don't stress because we'll be back in a few months.

All this might backfire on them. No way I'm spending the big bucks and work hard every day and still not get to do everything I want to or used to do.

 

[acarsme123]

At Universal, most guests don't use the EP, which is why it works well. If Disney had a similar model, I think most guests would buy it, thereby rendering it pretty useless. If everyone is at the front of the line, no one is.

With the current system, people choose LL "a la carte" and not everyone will have a LL for every ride at the same time.

Disney should have left old FastPass+ in place and just charged for it. But still give us the opportunity to book 3 rides 90 days out for on site guests. It would have been MUCH better than this mess. No early wake up calls. No staring at the phone all day.

 

[shawthorne44]

we can enjoy ourselves because we aren't spending big bucks, we do as much as we can, and we don't stress because we'll be back in a few months.

I think this is a key. Accepting less and do as much as you can, is fine. Spending big bucks is fine. Both together?!? No, absolutely not. I guess that is OK for some