Thoughts from a 20 Year DVC Member

[sagosto]

One of the greatest things I loved about Disney was the planning and feeding the obsession. I'd spend hours reading up on Birnbaum and this forum waiting to book dining and then reservations. Slowly tweaking the plan based for the kids based on my 'guess' of park crowds, weather, etc. It gave me pleasure knowing my hard work would pay off because I put the effort to be obsessed over the little details. I felt a bit special now because I am DVC and would be treated like a first class air traveler. And why not? I spent tons of $$$ and bragged to my friends how great Disney was. And now? Well, I am just like everyone else waking up at 7AM to book a FP on my vacation and waiting in lines with my kids or I can spend MORE money for a ILL$$$. Am I special? No. Or, I would be treated differently.

You might not completely agree but I don't think I am completely wrong.

 

[rcs]

Feeling nostalgic...Just wanted to commiserate as a long-time DVC mom and now grandma. I am sad that for our family that planning a few days together in WDW has become so complicated- overwhelming is the word that comes to mind. Too much! Feel like we had the best of it in the 90's when our kids were small. Did not have trouble getting any DVC room we wanted as long as it was not Christmas or Easter. In the parks, we would use early entry or late hours to decide what parks to go to, and take advantage of the perks of being onsite. We would take turns going to get Fast Pass tickets for the group, and mostly got on the rides we wanted with some simple strategies. Nothing is perfect, but it seemed much more carefree & vacation-like. Yup-I'm old Thanks for listening!
(P.S. Forgot about how easy it made planning/changing plans when tickets did not expire (for free too!)

The OP really made me stop and think back to the 90s and even early 2000s. Back in the day, it was a lot easier to get ready for vacation. It's interesting that back then room reservations were made by calling the 800 number, tickets were purchased the same way, and ditto for the dining reservations. Often you didn't have to wait on hold for someone to pick up and rarely was it more than 15 minutes. The person who took the call could complete everything reliably in maybe 10 minutes. They didn't hang, or crash . It's pretty bad that technology, coupled with policy changes, has made it way harder, more involved, and takes much more time than the human-intensive way of the past.

Back then, we also had free choice the morning of as to which resort to visit. Weather is cold, let's do MK today and we'll go to Typhoon Lagoon on Thursday when it warms back up, for example. We were still planners, carefully reading both the Unofficial Guide and Burnbaum, and developing each park's plan, but that anticipation of the vacation during planning was itself fun. And, we had the plan for which rides to do first and the order we would get fast passes on whatever day we ended up in that park.

Now, I swear it takes me way longer and it's way harder to successfully get the vacation set up using the technology given us, and forget about trying to get a human to help these days. In making operations cheaper (for Disney), they have made it way harder and frustrating for the guest. Fold in all the long-lived (unaddressed) bugs and the technology actually interferes with the "story". It took Disney literally years from the time it was first rolled out to get something as simple as online check in to be reliable. Forget about the fiasco rolling out magic bands and MDE.

The required park reservations still make it impossible (or at least risky depending on the week) to swap days around last minute during the trip. But, I'm really hoping Genie+ (despite the fee and current technology issues) gets us closer to the days of paper fast passes, when we tended to get on a lot more of the rides we wanted and weren't distracted from enjoying the story.

 

[RoseGold]

I felt a bit special now because I am DVC and would be treated like a first class air traveler. And why not? I spent tons of $$$ and bragged to my friends how great Disney was. And now? Well, I am just like everyone else waking up at 7AM to book a FP on my vacation and waiting in lines with my kids or I can spend MORE money for a ILL$$$. Am I special? No. Or, I would be treated differently.

The same "first class" 7AM treatment you'd get for $149 at Swolphin...

 

[jdkdorn]

The same "first class" 7AM treatment you'd get for $149 at Swolphin...

I wish I could get it for $149, we are trying to do a no kids trip and I cannot borrow enough points so tried Dolphin...$399 & Swan $417, we are not even looking at a busy time.

 

[disneyseniors]

If the choices are:

1. Wake up at 7am on vacation to reach the park at open and begin to make ride reservations (legacy FP)
2. Wake up at 7am on vacation to begin making reservations on my phone (Genie+)
3. Wake up at 7am 1-2 months before my vacation begins to make reservations from home, at times of my choosing (FP+)

....I'd take #3 every single time.

Agree with what Chuck said above. Somebody is always going to "lose" along the way. I can't feel sympathy for day guests when they choose to stay off site and not plan in advance.

If the operational changes we see moving from FP+ to Genie+ are truly designed to improve the experience of day guests at the expense of Disney hotel guests and repeat visitors, I think Disney is in for a rude awakening.

REgarding choice #3: I Never woke up at 7am or even 9 am to make my fp selections. I only made them when I got up, woke up with coffee, got my act together, and then sat down to make my fp's. I never had a problem getting the fp's I wanted. So, you didn't have to get up early to make fp's if you didn't want to, IMO.
It's so sad that we have this farce of genie that disney is trying to tell us is so wonderful for us. They must think all of us fans are really stupid. It's irritating. I know we won't be back to WDW anymore. If a miracle happens and they go back to great customer service and actually caring about their guests, then maybe.

 

[RoseGold]

I wish I could get it for $149, we are trying to do a no kids trip and I cannot borrow enough points so tried Dolphin...$399 & Swan $417, we are not even looking at a busy time.

I use the Marriott app, and not third party stuff. My dates are $229. Theres a Friday night in there which bumps it up. I'm considering canceling my BW and saving the points.

Swolphin is making me feel more confident about selling a contract.

 

[Murron]

I agree but with specific complaint. I go on vacation to get away from my phone. I'm all for new, evolving Disney parks--update rides, update the process for going on rides, those kinds of things, I can change. But I HATE being tied to my phone at home due to kids, work, and such. When I am on vacation I want to leave my phone at home and/or in my room and just be away. Having to take my phone to track rides and ride times and is awful.

I agree a thousand times over. This is EXACTLY the issue for me. I can adapt to change and I can handle technology. But having my face in the darn phone during vacation is just horrid. I spent 45 years working for IBM with my phone attached to me like a leash. I threw the leash out upon retirement. I don't want it back.

 

[Chuck S]

I have to carry my phone, even in the parks, for business...that does not mean I want to be tied to the screen to try to get on a ride, or be up at 7am to try to get a boarding time for Rise of the Resistance. I liked being able to plan with FP+ from home, even if it was just 3 rides per day, I could work those rides around dining reservation times and such. This new system does not take any other pre-made reservations into account, even though the MDE app shows all your reservations.

 

[Spivey378]

Thoughts from a 2 Month DVC Owner: It is awesome!

 

[dvcfanjoe]

End of the day, DVC is a hedge against inflation. Room prices go up every year. Member dues do not come near to what the cost per point dues are for the points used per stay vs. booking cash i.e. 100 point stay at Poly could be $3600 cash for six nights vs. $800 annual dues (roughly). Everything else is a bonus and shouldn’t be the driving factor on whether to buy or not.

 

[lovwdwalot]

If the choices are:

1. Wake up at 7am on vacation to reach the park at open and begin to make ride reservations (legacy FP)
2. Wake up at 7am on vacation to begin making reservations on my phone (Genie+)
3. Wake up at 7am 1-2 months before my vacation begins to make reservations from home, at times of my choosing (FP+)

....I'd take #3 every single time.

Agree with what Chuck said above. Somebody is always going to "lose" along the way. I can't feel sympathy for day guests when they choose to stay off site and not plan in advance.

If the operational changes we see moving from FP+ to Genie+ are truly designed to improve the experience of day guests at the expense of Disney hotel guests and repeat visitors, I think Disney is in for a rude awakening.

early entrance to the parks use to be one hour earlier when staying on Disney property, now its only a half hour earlier. Which really doesn’t allow much time to ride more than two rides before everyone is allowed in the parks. Another perk taken away by Disney.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

early entrance to the parks use to be one hour earlier when staying on Disney property, now its only a half hour earlier. Which really doesn’t allow much time to ride more than two rides before everyone is allowed in the parks. Another perk taken away by Disney.

Except it's every park every day now vs rotating parks on various days of the week. In theory spreading out the same number of possible participants over 4 parks vs 1. I'm more happy that they have brought back evening hours. They were completely eliminated and much better for coming from the west.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

But while we think it was level, IT WAS NOT. Do you think the people in wheelchairs had an even chance? Older people who can't walk fast? Was it an even playing field to them? Absolutely not. How about for parents with 2 year olds? Was it even for them? Ever try to herd a 2 year old across a park at breakneck speed amidst a stampeding horde of large feet?

It was an even playing field only for able bodied people or groups with able bodied runners.

A theory you have or actual experience for you? I have actual experience in our group and that doesn't correlate. I couldn't tell you the number of days I've spent in Disney parks - some sort of hundreds - but I know that rope drop numbers less than 10. If you left out Disneyland plus the time of the wholly stupid ROTR virtual queue when you had to be in the park already before park opening the number was probably once, maybe twice. And we used paper FP's to the fullest including TSMM and I never ran for a FP nor hurdled anyone. And my sister who was in wheelchair? She somehow managed to get FP's too and arrived even later.

If you ARE speaking from experience then it was quite different from ours.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

A theory you have or actual experience for you? I have actual experience in our group and that doesn't correlate. I couldn't tell you the number of days I've spent in Disney parks - some sort of hundreds - but I know that rope drop numbers less than 10. If you left out Disneyland plus the time of the wholly stupid ROTR virtual queue when you had to be in the park already before park opening the number was probably once, maybe twice. And we used paper FP's to the fullest including TSMM and I never ran for a FP nor hurdled anyone. And my sister who was in wheelchair? She somehow managed to get FP's too and arrived even later.

If you ARE speaking from experience then it was quite different from ours.

Definite experience. On top of that, it just makes sense. Come on - your memory can't be that bad. Do you remember when TSMM opened? They (Disney) had to walk the crowd back to the FP machines and it was not a slow walk. And yeah - if you think a wheelchair was in that crowd, you are really not remembering it very clearly. I was there once in a wheelchair and I remember kittle kids running around and in front of me and I couldn't get anywhere. it was incredibly frustrating. By the time I got to TSMM, they were into late afternoon.

I remember trying to carry my screaming 3 year old to Splash Mountain as well. That was probably one the most painful experiences for both of us.

Like I said, even putting aside what you remember, just use your common sense. Anytime the parks are crowded, wheelchairs and ECV's are a very frustrating experience. They are also limited in speed to a very slow walk (much slower than any human can speed walk). There is no LOGICAL way that an ECV in a full on crowd is going to keep pace - you KNOW that.

 

[mustinjourney]

Feeling nostalgic...Just wanted to commiserate as a long-time DVC mom and now grandma. I am sad that for our family that planning a few days together in WDW has become so complicated- overwhelming is the word that comes to mind. Too much! Feel like we had the best of it in the 90's when our kids were small. Did not have trouble getting any DVC room we wanted as long as it was not Christmas or Easter. In the parks, we would use early entry or late hours to decide what parks to go to, and take advantage of the perks of being onsite. We would take turns going to get Fast Pass tickets for the group, and mostly got on the rides we wanted with some simple strategies. Nothing is perfect, but it seemed much more carefree & vacation-like. Yup-I'm old Thanks for listening!
(P.S. Forgot about how easy it made planning/changing plans when tickets did not expire (for free too!)

non-expiry tickets would be nice.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Definite experience. On top of that, it just makes sense. Come on - your memory can't be that bad. Do you remember when TSMM opened? They (Disney) had to walk the crowd back to the FP machines and it was not a slow walk. And yeah - if you think a wheelchair was in that crowd, you are really not remembering it very clearly. I was there once in a wheelchair and I remember kittle kids running around and in front of me and I couldn't get anywhere. it was incredibly frustrating. By the time I got to TSMM, they were into late afternoon.

I remember trying to carry my screaming 3 year old to Splash Mountain as well. That was probably one the most painful experiences for both of us.

Like I said, even putting aside what you remember, just use your common sense. Anytime the parks are crowded, wheelchairs and ECV's are a very frustrating experience. They are also limited in speed to a very slow walk (much slower than any human can speed walk). There is no LOGICAL way that an ECV in a full on crowd is going to keep pace - you KNOW that.

If your memory can recall I said I've done virtually no rope drops so why would I be remembering the mad rush that I only read about? We'd arrive a bit later and get FP's for later in the day. Honestly though if not it was even easier to just make it a last ride of the day and be able to do it multiple times before the park closed. However we frequented the FP's machines for Toy Story most days we were at DHS. Did you only ever subject yourself to rope drop? If so your idea of necessity will be skewed. My memory isn't perfect but yes, it's fine thank you. As pretty much all my families goal is to beat me in TSMM every trip you can be assured we do frequent the attraction and the times I was not in the FP line have been few.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

If your memory can recall I said I've done virtually no rope drops so why would I be remembering the mad rush that I only read about? We'd arrive a bit later and get FP's for later in the day. Honestly though if not it was even easier to just make it a last ride of the day and be able to do it multiple times before the park closed. However we frequented the FP's machines for Toy Story most days we were at DHS. Did you only ever subject yourself to rope drop? If so your idea of necessity will be skewed. My memory isn't perfect but yes, it's fine thank you. As pretty much all my families goal is to beat me in TSMM every trip you can be assured we do frequent the attraction and the times I was not in the FP line have been few.

So, yes - I was saying specifically that it was not fair for the mad rush across park - that's a RD thing. If you're not rope dropping, then obviously the argument I was making does not apply. But clearly no one can believe that at RD it's the same access for a 16 year old kid vs 2 people in their later years in ECV's was my point.

 

[RJake1]

These things I know:
A vacation should be relaxing. WDW has made it complicated and stressful.
Technology doesn't always make things easier.
The focus of the WDW "experience" has shifted from simple enjoyment at the parks to planning, calculating, and analyzing.

 

[Boardwalk III]

These things I know:
A vacation should be relaxing. WDW has made it complicated and stressful.
Technology doesn't always make things easier.
The focus of the WDW "experience" has shifted from simple enjoyment at the parks to planning, calculating, and analyzing.

A 22 year DVC veteran myself and this statement hits the nail on the head (and I love to plan, but the current environment is not fun at all!)

 

[Chuck S]

These things I know:
A vacation should be relaxing. WDW has made it complicated and stressful.
Technology doesn't always make things easier.
The focus of the WDW "experience" has shifted from simple enjoyment at the parks to planning, calculating, and analyzing.

I don't mind the pre-planning, as long as I can do it before the trip from the comfort of home. This up at 7 am to try to book something the day of, or be at rope drop, is awful.