Question for those so frustrated they aren't going back.

[Viva Las Disney]

I have been on the DIS for about 6 months and in that time I've read hundreds of posts by people who say they aren't going back to DW due to GAC changes, FP changes, quality dropping, level of service dropping, etc.

Last week I visited WDW for the first time and was blown away by how unique it was, I've never felt that level of isolation from reality at a theme park. I was so completely detached from the real world I could only think of two other vacations that provided that feeling of escape from daily life, camping at Yellowstone and camping at the black hills.

My question to those that are done with Disney is what's your substitute? Are you still going to theme parks or are you just going to vacation completely differently? (national parks, international travel, cruises, etc)

I'm all for voting with your wallet when you don't like the direction a company is taking but after experiencing WDW firsthand I can't think of a comparable replacement without completely changing the type of vacation you take.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Universal Studios?

 

[Laketravis]

I think you can feel pretty isolated on a cruise ship. I've also spent time on a national seashore beach several miles past the "Four Wheel Drive Vehicles Only Beyond This Point" sign, and it sure felt pretty isolated.

Neither of those have rides, though.

I suppose it depends on what type of reality you are trying to get away from. I can go to another city I've never been to before and feel like I'm removed from the factors that caused me to want to get away to begin with.

In terms of theme parks, I don't think anything can compare when you can see McDonald's or the Interstate from the top of the roller coaster.

 

[rt2dz]

I have been on the DIS for about 6 months and in that time I've read hundreds of posts by people who say they aren't going back to DW due to GAC changes, FP changes, quality dropping, level of service dropping, etc. Last week I visited WDW for the first time and was blown away by how unique it was, I've never felt that level of isolation from reality at a theme park. I was so completely detached from the real world I could only think of two other vacations that provided that feeling of escape from daily life, camping at Yellowstone and camping at the black hills. My question to those that are done with Disney is what's your substitute? Are you still going to theme parks or are you just going to vacation completely differently? (national parks, international travel, cruises, etc) I'm all for voting with your wallet when you don't like the direction a company is taking but after experiencing WDW firsthand I can't think of a comparable replacement without completely changing the type of vacation you take.

Well, I'm not sure where we stand yet. I have a quick trip with DS#2 in January. From that trip, I'll start considering if we will keep or cancel our whole family trip for Thanksgiving. FYI, I've been going almost every year since 1976; sometimes twice a year. But, Disney has never been our only vacation spot. We take all types of vacations. IF we do decide to slow down on Disney, possibly 1-2 trips ever again worst case scenario, we'll just continue on with other vacations--dude ranches, lake houses, camping, Europe, cruises, Hawaii, Alaska, etc.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[rebbyparker]

Ok, I'll bite. I haven't seen a lot of people saying they're never going back but more that they're waiting to see how this all shakes out before deciding. For my own answer, we take different vacations for different reasons. We're huge campers, tent campers, as well and Michigan is beautiful for that. That's one type of vacation. Then there's the Bahamas or Hawaii beaches and that's a different type of vacation altogether. Cruising will be something else. WDW is a category all it's own but if the FP+ mess doesn't work out to our vacation benefit then maybe IOA will. I think we're all mainly just waiting for Disney to finally decide what it's going to be and announce it so we can make our decisions.

 

[RhinoIsAwesome]

Last week I visited WDW for the first time and was blown away by how unique it was, I've never felt that level of isolation from reality at a theme park. I was so completely detached from the real world

That's one of the many reasons why I love Disney.

 

[olive]

We also don't vacation just at Disney - there are plenty of places to see and experience. After adding universal to our last Disney trip and being quite blown away by the quality of the parks, express pass perk, hotel and service, we are planning to spend more time at universal's parks, especially with the expansions planned there. We aren't planning on completely cutting Disney out, but we don't need to visit annually.

 

[surferdave]

I have been on the DIS for about 6 months and in that time I've read hundreds of posts by people who say they aren't going back to DW due to GAC changes, FP changes, quality dropping, level of service dropping, etc.

I think that's a gross exaggeration. Somehow every criticism of Disney, especially relating to NextGen, turns into hate or never going back when read by some people here.


I don't have a 4 figure post count or anything, but I've been a citizen here for a pretty long while and I'd put the rate of extreme reactions here (those in the neighborhood of never going back) well below the typical internet message board hyperbole fringe.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I think my kids are too young for Universal. Maybe a few years down the line.

Otherwise I live in Alaska and it's an amazing place to lose yourself to the rest of the world.

I don't plan on ditching Disney anyways though. I'm sad that after our next trip it will be 2015 probably until I go back. BUT we're planning Aulani at least.

 

[Missyrose]

I think it can also be tough for first timers to understand how different a Disney trip can feel now because the parks as they are currently is all they know.

And for the record, I've got plenty of concerns about FP+, but I've also got three trips planned for 2014 to see how things will work for me in the park. Luckily our trips are less about rides than they were five years ago.

ETA: I have already been once WITH FP+, so my concerns stem from first hand experience.

 

[BenbowInn]

I feel isolated at every vacation whether it be Disney, a cruise, beach, camping or whatever else. I find it sad that some people are so consumed by Disney that they miss a whole world that's out there. I adore the theming at the Disney parks, but Disney is the least relaxing vacation so in terms of that I never really feel like I'm on vacation when I'm there We just got back from 8 days at Disney and feel like we need a vacation to recover!

I love Disney World. Even more than that I love what I know of Walt, his life and all that he stood for and created. So even if I never step foot in another Disney park I will still get my Disney fix by watching movies and enjoying the fantasy world Walt created.

We had a great trip, but honestly we felt a little burned out this time. You can only do the same things so many times before you need a break. It will be a good 3 years before we head back. We have a trip to France in March and a cruise next fall and we will enjoy those just as much as we enjoyed our Disney trip. I love Disney but its not my life and I can have just as much of an escape from reality elsewhere and I attribute that to the fact that I turn off my phone and go electronic free as much as possible while on vacation, so no matter where I vacation I feel isolated from reality

 

[ArwenMarie]

Lots of replacements out there! Just keeping it to the U.S.

Universal
Disneyland (I guess that doesn't count!)
Definitely different cities...San Fran, New York, Las Vegas (for adults), San Diego

For me, I don't think that the beach and camping etc are replacements for Disney. They can be awesome in themselves. I think of city trips as more of a replacement than a nature trip. Cruises would be in the middle somewhere.

We also had a great trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg last spring. We stayed at Kingsmill and it was totally immersive and an escape..the resort was beautiful. We had just as much fun as we do at Disney.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[mickeyway]

I think it can also be tough for first timers to understand how different a Disney trip can feel now because the parks as they are currently is all they know.

This is it exactly. People that are upset because of what Disney has become over the years. There was a time when "the Show" was #1 priority and a "bad" show never went on. That meant you did not see construction or backstage. One of the things Walt was concerned about was that cars could be seen from the skyride. He did not want people to be reminded of the hustle and bustle of the real world outside of Disney. The parks were immaculate and smiles were perma pressed on Cast members. That just isn't so anymore. Is it above and beyond other theme parks absolutely. But it not what it used to be. One look at the neighboring Theme park's numbers will show how this is true.
For me I will visit Disney still but for not as long or as often if this FP+ turns out to be a minus. I will Disney Cruise and tour the Keys and beaches.

 

[wdw4rfam]

This is it exactly. People that are upset because of what Disney has become over the years. There was a time when "the Show" was #1 priority and a "bad" show never went on. That meant you did not see construction or backstage. One of the things Walt was concerned about was that cars could be seen from the skyride. He did not want people to be reminded of the hustle and bustle of the real world outside of Disney. The parks were immaculate and smiles were perma pressed on Cast members. That just isn't so anymore. Is it above and beyond other theme parks absolutely. But it not what it used to be. One look at the neighboring Theme park's numbers will show how this is true.
For me I will visit Disney still but for not as long or as often if this FP+ turns out to be a minus. I will Disney Cruise and tour the Keys and beaches.

Will agree here. First timers don't know how it used to be. We used to go to Disney for 10 days, and hop over to universal for a day or 2, and couldn't wait to get our feet back on disney property, even though we had fun. This year, the kids were begging to use the third free day on our universal tix instead of the final day at MK. They were asking if next year we could just stay there, and we agreed. Universal quality has gone up, and Disney down. No brainer for us. Just sad because I never thought I would say that

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I think that's a gross exaggeration. Somehow every criticism of Disney, especially relating to NextGen, turns into hate or never going back when read by some people here.


I don't have a 4 figure post count or anything, but I've been a citizen here for a pretty long while and I'd put the rate of extreme reactions here (those in the neighborhood of never going back) well below the typical internet message board hyperbole fringe.

I didn't mean never going back, just not going back in general. The hundreds of posts is including all the annual pass people who aren't renewing, the people who say they normally go 3 or 4 times a year and are only going once, the ones who say they won't be going back for a few years until things are sorted out, etc.

I'm not trying to start a debate or argument, I'm just honestly curious because I was expecting WDW to feel like a bigger DL (which I love) but now that I've been I can't think of another amusement/thrill/theme park that's comparable in terms of size, scope, feeling, and isolation.

I love forests, lakes, and the great outdoors and have been to Yellowstone dozens of times (it is my favorite place on earth), maybe that is a big part of the reason that I loved WDW so much, it is surrounded by trees and space so for an amusement park junky who loves nature it had the best of both worlds.

 

[wen8jr]

I'm one of those who cancelled our Disney trip due to the uncertainty. We are going to Uni for the entire upcoming trip instead and we are waiting to see how it all shakes with FP before coming back to Disney. We go during pretty busy times due to our son's school schedule and I couldn't imagine it working out for us without FP- or something like FP-. Just not worth the money for us.

We don't vacation just at Disney though. We've done Universal/Discovery Cove without Disney before this trip and had a wonderful time. We are nature lovers and like historical things as well. We go to Charleston, SC, Gatlinburg, TN, Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN, Savannah, GA, Asheville, NC, St. Augustine, FL quite often as well as go up to the theme parks in Ohio. We camp, boat, hike and ATV. All the trips are wonderful and different in their own way but we really have a special place in our heart for Charleston, SC.

We are thinking of exploring out farther on our next big trip in place of Disney - maybe Italy, Virgin Islands or Hawaii.

 

[johde]

This is it exactly. People that are upset because of what Disney has become over the years. There was a time when "the Show" was #1 priority and a "bad" show never went on. That meant you did not see construction or backstage. One of the things Walt was concerned about was that cars could be seen from the skyride. He did not want people to be reminded of the hustle and bustle of the real world outside of Disney. The parks were immaculate and smiles were perma pressed on Cast members. That just isn't so anymore. Is it above and beyond other theme parks absolutely. But it not what it used to be. One look at the neighboring Theme park's numbers will show how this is true.
For me I will visit Disney still but for not as long or as often if this FP+ turns out to be a minus. I will Disney Cruise and tour the Keys and beaches.

Some of those thing may have existed at Disneyland, but I'm not sure if they ever existed at WDW and if they did it's been over 25 years ago. Everything was new and fresh to people so they may not have noticed things. For example, I can remember going before Splash Mountain opened in 1989 and watching the ride test run boats going down the final drop, without water and construction workers watching the boats go down. The Haunted mansion show building has been visible if you knew where to look for as long as I can remember.

 

[rpayton1974]

There will always be something that will rub you the wrong way when on vacation especially when you have high expectations of what that trip should be. That has really never made me not want to go back to WDW especially when my 2 young boys love to go. I just suck it up and put on a happy face for them.

 

[Colleen27]

My question to those that are done with Disney is what's your substitute? Are you still going to theme parks or are you just going to vacation completely differently? (national parks, international travel, cruises, etc)

I'm all for voting with your wallet when you don't like the direction a company is taking but after experiencing WDW firsthand I can't think of a comparable replacement without completely changing the type of vacation you take.

I haven't reached "never going back" levels of frustration yet, but I do anticipate taking several years away from Disney World until the time comes that some of the new projects start opening. And that decision is directly related to the changes in the last year or so that have made a Disney vacation much less enjoyable for me and my family.

I'm not really a theme park/amusement park person - we live a few hours from Cedar Point and might go once every 5 years or so. But there are two theme parks on our list of alternatives: Disneyland as part of a larger California trip and Universal Orlando as part of a larger Florida vacation. We've never been to either and would like to see them once. Other than that we are completely changing the type of vacation we take and frustration with the changes at WDW is only one of several reasons for that. Disney has never been our only destination, but since our youngest was born it has been our main vacation focus simply because it is easier and more enjoyable at toddler/preschooler pace than most other places. Now she's getting older and we'd be branching out regardless of anything going on at WDW. I had planned on holding onto my AP and continuing my habit of popping down for a weekend when the airfare is cheap, but WDW wasn't going to be our big annual vacation for the next few years regardless.

At this point I've more or less made the decision not to renew my AP. This trip hasn't been fun to plan at all and I'm not even sure the kid-free trip is still on. That will depend in part on my experiences next week. Taken as a whole, however, the changes just don't fit the way I like to travel - I want to ride my favorites and have nice sitdown meals without being locked down to completely inflexible plans months in advance. So after my AP expires in March I don't plan to return to WDW until Pandora and the Star Wars project are realities.

 

[rebbyparker]

Well, let's face it. Walt had a vision of how he wanted things to be and he did something on a scale that no one had ever done before. He immersed you in the whole experience of every ride, every attraction. It wasn't just another theme park, it was all encompassing and so very magical. But magic is hard to hang on to when the visionary is gone and the bean counters get just a little more leverage. Is it still magical? Of course, the man was a genius. But some things are a little tarnished, crowds are a little higher, CM's are a little less motivated, food is a little less gourmet and some of the things that made THE MAGIC are gone. I've been going to Disney since the year after the MK opened and yes, things have changed. Some for better and some for worse and some like the FP+ we don't know yet. So, like I said, I don't think anyone here wants to stop going forever. I think we just want to know what's next.