Never thought I'd do it- Cancelled.

[RanDIZ]

I am logged onto MDX right now. I put in a vacation arriving on 12-20, check out 12-26. Room only. This is what is available to book for the whole week of Christmas. Having gone 3 Christmas's I know how limited rooms become if there are any at all.

Port Orleans - Riverside
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Caribbean Beach
Coronado Springs
Art of Animation
Port Orleans - French Quarter
Campsites at Wilderness Lodge
Contemporary Resort
Yacht Club
Wilderness Lodge
Grand Floridian
The Cabins at Wilderness Lodge
Beach Club
Boardwalk Inn
Polynesian VillageResort
Riviera Resort
Bay Lake Towers
Bolder Ridge at Wilderness Lodge

I do believe a lot of people have cancelled their trips. There is a lot more availibility now than there was a few weeks ago. Maybe people are starting to vote with their wallets. Only time will tell.

Great! Keep the cancellations coming! It’s time the people spoke, and Disney listens.

 

[PinkPixel]

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.

I usually spend 4 nights at Disney and 4 nights at the beach where I’m from on the east coast of FL. I’ve always wondered what people do for 8 nights. I guess I’ve never spend any vacation in one place that long, even my honeymoon. I
Moved around every 4 nights. Maybe switch up the expectation of how long a trip had to be?

 

[MomOTwins]

Unless they are targeting different potential customers.

They know that if the guests in the parks are happy they are likely to come back and be ambassadors. What’s the demographic they want?

I doubt it’s the disgruntled DIS AP set who are sending vitriolic emails aboit the low stock of limited edition popcorn buckets and how they deserve to have FP+ back because they knew how to game it

But if you read my post, you’ll see I AM the droid they are looking for. I am not a disgruntled AP, I have never had an AP—I am the money pit that spontaneously books an extra trip whenever they open a new attraction and spares no expense. See post below.

I really hope someone at Disney management is monitoring on these boards and sees the nine pages of unhappy customers. You can add me. I am exactly the sort of customer that Disney should want. I have three small kids and thought we had LOTS of disney world trips ahead of us. I have a good income and we save most of our discretionary spending for experiences. Since 2016, those experiences have been almost exclusively Disney World. In prior years, it was international travel and cruises (non-Disney). In five years, we've been going to Disney World around 3 times a year, and have been on four disney cruises, often with an added park day or two before or after the cruises. We stay at deluxe resorts, eat at character or signature meals every day, and splurge on extras (e.g., early morning magic when that was a thing, christmas party etc.). DH and I would joke about how frugal I am in every day life but when it comes to my disney trips, I go completely crazy with the spending. The thing is, the trips brought so much happiness to our family, we didn't care about the expense--we were HAPPY to spend it because it was worth it.

For the first time since we started going to Disney we are taking a year off (2022) with no parks. As stated above, it is not about the cost of genie/ILL to us, we'd happily pay that for something like the old experience. It just feels like death by a thousand cuts at this point. All the little things that used to make the trips feel like an indulgence have been replaced with things that require more work for us (luggage delivery from MCO to the room, fastpasses booked and ready for us on days we wanted to sleep in, changing park plans or hopping whenever we wanted to, buffets with lots for us to choose from instead of limited prix-fixe or family style meals that I have to research carefully to avoid going somewhere my picky eaters can't eat).

 

[PinkPixel]

I am logged onto MDX right now. I put in a vacation arriving on 12-20, check out 12-26. Room only. This is what is available to book for the whole week of Christmas. Having gone 3 Christmas's I know how limited rooms become if there are any at all.

Port Orleans - Riverside
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Caribbean Beach
Coronado Springs
Art of Animation
Port Orleans - French Quarter
Campsites at Wilderness Lodge
Contemporary Resort
Yacht Club
Wilderness Lodge
Grand Floridian
The Cabins at Wilderness Lodge
Beach Club
Boardwalk Inn
Polynesian VillageResort
Riviera Resort
Bay Lake Towers
Bolder Ridge at Wilderness Lodge

I do believe a lot of people have cancelled their trips. There is a lot more availibility now than there was a few weeks ago. Maybe people are starting to vote with their wallets. Only time will tell.

there’s still this Covid thing..no matter what peoples “wallets” say.

 

[casperthegm]

I understand. My wife and I had a very nice 5 day trip to Disney two weeks ago (stayed offsite and saved a bundle despite missing the onsite cocooned feel). We still love Disney and there are plenty of things that are fun- the new rides, especially at DHS are well done. But there is no question that we debate more and more about the "Disney experience vs ever-rising cost."

And not just the rapidly rising cost or diminishing experience, but as others have mentioned, I found myself on the phone so much, trying to get the next ride reserved, battling with that annoying app. I make fun of people who walk around glued to their phones, ignoring the world around them, and that's what I turned into. That's not the experience I want.

There is no specific cut off, but I tell you, for the expense to travel, stay there, park there, eat there, admission, etc...when we add everything up we're suddenly paying as much, or more, than a great trip to Europe, where we can experience so many unique and fun places and cultures.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

there’s still this Covid thing..no matter what peoples “wallets” say.

Oh. I had no idea

 

[twodogs]

I’m not canceling my trip for next week. But I think it’s a little demeaning to accuse those who have made a different decision of acting irrationally based on some random unhinged trip report. Things have changed at Disney. And not all of them were beyond Disney’s control. Many, many guests have reported vastly inferior experiences as a result. I, for one, am still willing to go. And I will be sure to make the most of my vacation, even if, as I suspect, it will at times be frustrating one. But I certainly don’t think less of those who have made a different choice. I totally get it.

Agree 1000%. We are still going this weekend, but as a family who has done VIP tours for the last 7 years, I have been on hold for 60 minutes,2 hours and today, 2.5 hours, just to talk to someone in the VIP tours office in the last month. Pre-COIVD, you would never, ever be on hold when you are calling to drop $4500 in one day (not including tickets). So this alone tells me how Disney as a company sees the guest, even the very high revenue guest. They see them as very, very replaceable. I don’t fault anyone on these boards for voting with their wallet and spending that hard earned vacation time and money elsewhere. This will be our last WDW trip for a long time, unless we are somehow wowed in a way that I am not anticipating this weekend. PS we can’t actually even have a VIP tour; we have been on the ”waiting list” for 6 weeks (I am not even sure this is a real thing anymore; it makes me sad that I feel so cynical about a company I used to admire).

 

[a1tinkfans]

I get it. I'm a great planner but you know what? I'm tired of planning and spending more money for my plan to come together. At $10K we should be able to ride what we want, when we want for a reasonable 20 minute wait.

We canceled our WDW trip and are going cruising on Royals Allure of the Seas. 3 balcony cabins, 6 nights is far less than the $10K we were going to spend for 2 rooms and 4 day tickets to Disney. And the Allure includes food and entertainment. Early dining is already reserved and we reserve shows the day we board. Easy peasy. None of this up at 7am each morning to reserve ONE ride. That's just STUPID!

Great ship… have an awesome time!

 

[a1tinkfans]

This is depressing. I’m just not sure I can lower my expectations as much as Seems to be needed. I’m still on the fence for our Jan visit. Gonna feel it out next couple weeks. Then just read how Orange Cty is the New covid Hotspot.
And thinking of the requirements that will likely will entail… yeah will likely cancel and just use the Tix cost towards new Tix. Ugh!

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I hear you. We have been priced out of the deluxe resorts. We need to bring help for our disabled child so need two rooms. We found offsite really brings the price down. We got food from Publix and no more table service restaurants. It’s not the same offsite but affordable right now. I do wonder though if we will eventually be totally priced out.

 

[JulieODC]

Our February trip is going to look different - some time off-site, fewer park days, and less dining. And I’m also feeling less excited about the whole thing - but our daughter has a gymnastics meet at WWOS, so we’re still planning to make the trip.

Have you ever tried a Disney cruise? A lot of DCL cruisers have also sworn off the parks.

we’ve also got a Greece/Italy cruise booked for this summer and are starting to lean towards canceling. We love DCL, but it’s way too much $$$ and planning and way too much uncertainty right now.

 

[jknc]

Great! Keep the cancellations coming! It’s time the people spoke, and Disney listens.

Are they truly listening?

 

[nycdisneygal]

I hear you! we are going to Universal in Jan and had a 2 day (1 night) stay at WDW that I am debating cancelling. I havent been in 2 years and i really want to go to epcot so may keep it but...

 

[Pooh2]

We lost 3 months value on our Annual Pass that we purchased May 2019 (did not request a refund because we hoped to return but masking children and reduction in entertainment made us choose to cancel).

We are do not plan to return to the parks within the next few years. Figured we would wait and see how things pan out.

We had two amazing road trips this year as well as a stay at Disney's Hilton Head resort (ha, so they did still get some of our money but a mere fraction compared to a 10 day park trip).

If you don't like the changes, vote with your wallet.

 

[RanDIZ]

Are they truly listening?

Probably not. We can only hope.

 

[emmabelle]

we're still going to WDW in three days but I really don't think I'll renew our AP's in March. I just bought two Universal AP's for $449 each. I enjoy Uni's deluxe hotels and they are much cheaper than Disney's.

 

[goofyernmost]

Did you do any planning for previous Disney trips?

Only when I wanted to take my vacation, how long I was going to be in the area and most of the time where to stay. I had times that I drove down there from Vermont and didn't even have reservations for a hotel. I sometimes bought my tickets ahead of time back when one could buy 10 day, non-expiring park hoppers. I never used them up in one trip, it was usually three. Other than that it I did what I felt like doing on a daily basis. That's the beauty of staying offsite. I should say one of the many beauties of doing so.

 

[goofyernmost]

Sorry, double post!

 

[VandVsmama]

I’ve only read 3 of the 10 pages so far. I understand how people are feeling about this right now. We will be headed back to WDW next October. We went in early June of this year.

We also did a quick 2 day trip to DL in early October a couple of months ago because we had unused pre-pandemic tickets to use. Based on that DL experience, though, I’m going to pass on DL for awhile. We are DL veterans and often go every year. But that DL visit, it just wasn’t as fun anymore.

The park vibe was different. People were angry, grumpy. Getting QS food was a pain in the neck. It took over an hour just to get from the Toy Story lot to the esplanade. Merchandise options in the stores sucked…I mean, usually my kids drop all their spending money in the World of Disney store and this time, there literally was nothing worth buying. Plus you can’t park hop until 2 pm, which is stupid.

So we are skipping DL for the next year. I’m a little sad about that.

 

[goofyernmost]

Are they truly listening?

I don't really care anymore! After spending 10's of thousands of dollars for Disney trips over 39 years. I am looking at a stranger now. The things that still exist are nice for a brief flight into nostalgia land and the new ones from what I have seen are really detailed, but are mostly coasters that I can most of the time easily pass by. They don't care about me anymore (and there was a time that I felt that they did) so, like I said before, there is a great big beautiful real world out there that I would like to see before I leave. Of course, between the Pandemic and the general feeling of the world in general around us, I find no joy in much of anything for now.