We are losing the Magic

[Disney mac]

I haven’t decided if this crapapp is more about money or park/crowd control or big brother tracking. I think Disney plans to use it to push people towards things in the park. In the past I might have trusted and said it was to balance out the rides, etc, but Disney has turned me cynical. Speaking of turning, I have to wonder what Robin Williams would feel knowing his iconic character is being used for this.

 

[Bearval]

I haven’t decided if this crapapp is more about money or park/crowd control or big brother tracking. I think Disney plans to use it to push people towards things in the park. In the past I might have trusted and said it was to balance out the rides, etc, but Disney has turned me cynical. Speaking of turning, I have to wonder what Robin Williams would feel knowing his iconic character is being used for this.

Robin Williams had a dispute with Disney over the Aladdin cartoon movie and stated he would never work for disney again.

 

[kbeam]

The biggest reason Disney has soured for us is the crowds. The greed, packing in as many people as possible. I can remember not too, too long ago when a 60 minute stand by wait time was too much for us to tolerate. Now, it's not unusual to see 120 and up. The crowds and the long wait times, we find ourselves getting frustrated and cranky.

 

[Bearval]

The biggest reason Disney has soured for us is the crowds. The greed, packing in as many people as possible. I can remember not too, too long ago when a 60 minute stand by wait time was too much for us to tolerate. Now, it's not unusual to see 120 and up. The crowds and the long wait times, we find ourselves getting frustrated and cranky.

I agree it is Disney greed. They still want to pack the parks as much as possible and this is evident by their " new" tiered pricing by adding genie+ as a paid option and just not including it in the ticket price.

 

[AdamsMum]

The biggest reason Disney has soured for us is the crowds. The greed, packing in as many people as possible. I can remember not too, too long ago when a 60 minute stand by wait time was too much for us to tolerate. Now, it's not unusual to see 120 and up. The crowds and the long wait times, we find ourselves getting frustrated and cranky.

Do you think Genie will help? According to the spin it will guide me to rides that are better for riding. I'm cynical about Disney's estimation of wait times. I've seen it go both ways, longer and shorter. I'm not convinced they wouldn't just be directing traffic around the park. Someone mentioned Touringplans.com. I know of them but I didn't realize there was an app.

 

[kbeam]

Do you think Genie will help? According to the spin it will guide me to rides that are better for riding. I'm cynical about Disney's estimation of wait times. I've seen it go both ways, longer and shorter. I'm not convinced they wouldn't just be directing traffic around the park. Someone mentioned Touringplans.com. I know of them but I didn't realize there was an app.

I don't, because everyone will be following the guidance, right? We'll all be directed to the same rides. Makes no sense to me.

 

[sheilafri]

Mears told me today they are exploring having some type of luggage service but have not made a decision. You still would have to bring your luggage to the bus like ME did but maybe a similar service like Bags, Inc. at the resorts where you can drop the bags off. Fingers crossed.

I seem to remember Fast Pass was initially unlimited but then they reduced it to setting up three first then you could try to get more later in the day. That never worked for me.

FP+ worked pretty well for me. I rarely stay onsite so couldn’t get the most desirable rides but I could set up a structure for our daily plan. I had really good luck on scoring good rides after my initial three were used, so maybe G+ won’t totally suck? I’m sure it’ll be easier for DH and I to score two passes for a ride than for a large family group to be able to stay together. I really resent having to pay for it though. I’m not so into the Disney Magic that I‘ll spend any amount of money to experience it.

 

[Sandisw]

People who have been to Disney before will be the ones most likely to stop purchasing the parkhopper option.

True and those who have never been will not have known any other system, so this will work well for them.

I have been going so long been through it all. I found standby waits during my January, June, and July trips…with not FPs…to be manageable and they seemed to move vs standstill.

To be fair, we did not do the big rides that will be IAS…but still I was able to do a lot more rides without needing my DAS.

 

[DeeBee3]

In general Magic Bands work on NFC (Near field communications) similar technology to many credit cards and access cards. However they do have a small battery in them that I believe lasts 1-2 years. The battery is only needed for them to work at 10-20 ft operation. That is when Disney "could be tracking" you. Like when your name pops up on screens on Small World or Everest. The main mode of operation (same as credit card or access card) does not need a battery and is not powered by the magic band. The band couples with a transmitter that is within inches and gets its power from the transmitter. (Tapstile, room door lock, pay station) This mode should work until the device "breaks". The most likely end to these will be security enhancements in the communication protocol that will obsolete the old devices and the transmitter will no longer communicate with them because the current protocol is deprecated or Disney's custom key is hacked and they roll to a new key (getting a little technical there). I still see some folks at the parks using very ond Gen 1 magic bands (5-6 years old) and they work fine for all close proximity situations.

Yes, mine were from Oct 2019 and worked fine. I would not pay for magic bands if I had to. I would just use the card they give you. I don't like the tracking part of it, but I guess I have resigned to certain parts of that although we do avoid other pieces of that in non-Disney parts of our life.

 

[4Ds4Diz]

As much as Disney World and DVC have changed and will continue to change so do I.

We have been DVC members since 2007.

After so many years visiting the parks is not about the rides, we often would go to one of the parks in the evening for dinner and to watch the fireworks. That was when we could get an annual pass. Won't miss the Fastpass system and won't pay for Genie either. We just don't go on many rides. Like I said, visiting the parks was more for entertainment and strolling. Until the annual pass returns we will likely go offsite for dinners and see more of Orlando.

When brings up Disney Magic Express, we loved it and will miss it. Will miss having our luggage magically arrive in our room. We have rented a car in the past and will likely do this more often. It will make it easier for us to get out of the Disney bubble and explore Orlando. Something we rarely did when we used Disney Express.

Magic bands were nice and convenient. Will use one we already have and see what happens.

The recent decisions by Disney have made it easier for us to have resort only vacations. Not a bad thing actually. slower pace and we will be able to relax and not always go go go. Disney's decision are also making it easy for us to get out and explore, something we have not really done since 2007 but will start doing.

As Disney changes, so will we, they will likely see less of our vacation dollars but other businesses in Orlando will. Maybe it's time for a change after all these years, maybe not a bad thing.

This is us too. Just did a trip with our family in June.. parks and all. We now have a trip planned for late March going to be resort only except for 1 Epcot day. Spend our dollars elsewhere. Lots of other things to do!

 

[Bearval]

True and those who have never been will not have known any other system, so this will work well for them.

I have been going so long been through it all. I found standby waits during my January, June, and July trips…with not FPs…to be manageable and they seemed to move vs standstill.

To be fair, we did not do the big rides that will be IAS…but still I was able to do a lot more rides without needing my DAS.

I forgot to add to an earlier post that we participated in a survey at Epcot and one of the questions was would we be willing to pay a resort fee. I ask what it would cover and I was told resort entertainment. So don't be surprised if you see the pool side activities and movie nights go away.

 

[cpep42]

Well as a long time DVC member I am very very upset about the luggage and the NEW fast pass system. For the amount of time I stay I will probably be shipping my clothes down as it would be cheaper that way and I would avoid having to carry and retrieve my luggage. I don't mind paying for the transportation but the luggage is huge with us older folks. And along with that, there will be no way I'll be paying for the rides for the months I go down for. It's just getting to be too much.

 

[blluefaerie]

Id be happy if they increased late night hours for on property guests. My family misses that the most. If we had that opportunity again the positives would put us right back in our magic bubble. Hopping into the night gives my family the most fun and value for these expensive trips.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I agree that the magic is getting lost as Disney seems to have lost it's focus on making the trip easy for its patrons. A WDW trip is now more complex than many other vacations and the cost is also very high. That is not a good recipe.

More than anything I'm surprised by the amount Disney is cutting benefits to on site guests. Orlando has a surplus of hotel rooms and the rates just offsite are much lower. In their effort to increase revenue they may have made a miscalculation on the loyalty of their guests to the hotels.

No, they hate the company and everything it stands for (or once stood for). That’s why they are trying to change it into a “woke” company. Woke=mediocrity.

Disney has always gone out of their way to be welcoming to all patrons and employees.

 

[lopo]

corpcomp, I agree with most of the details you provided RE: 'We are losing the Magic'. I didn't know that BCV did away with Jacuzzi tubs; bummer. Like you, I enjoyed using it and, sometimes, my grandchildren and DH used it, too. Fans?! What were they thinking eliminating the fans in refurbished resorts? Sometimes I preferred to have the fan on instead of the AC. I thought that most homes in FL utilized fans. Resort luggage service is a huge loss for us. It was so much more convenient to check in our luggage and receive boarding passes at our resorts. Now, it adds quite a bit of time to our arriving at the airport and getting to the gate. I am not a mobile phone lover; I prefer to use it for emergencies and contact with family when we are separated (used to use walkie talkies LOL) Paying for FP and transportation to/from MCO is disappointing (although I am not at all surprised about ME. When it began, I told friends that I expected that, eventually, they would charge for it. I didn't expect Disney to abandon it altogether.) As a DVC owner, I shall still visit WDW but I probably will not use the parks as much and I am annoyed that we "captive" guests (due to our ownership) are paying more for less (and it's not small increments as we know that prices rise; the changes are big bucks.)

 

[dkostel]

Honestly the entertainment cuts were the worst in my opinion. Not things they cut because of the pandemic but this started before COVID(Buridika comes to mind). I will be shocked if the Grand FL society orchestra is back, and they’d be idiots if they didn’t bring back YeeHaw Bob, he packs that usually empty lounge at POR. But they aren’t necessarily making smart decisions these days.

 

[Simba's Mom]

The biggest reason Disney has soured for us is the crowds. The greed, packing in as many people as possible. I can remember not too, too long ago when a 60 minute stand by wait time was too much for us to tolerate. Now, it's not unusual to see 120 and up. The crowds and the long wait times, we find ourselves getting frustrated and cranky.

Last month when I was at AK, the wait for FoP was 3 hours!

 

[Simba's Mom]

No more freezers in the rooms and no parking lot trams. Some people say they'll be back....sometime. But I've heard speculation that tram service may be eliminated or at least reduced.

 

[Blondie58]

My family joined DVC in 2006 at BCV. We were thrilled. No more staying at hotel style rooms. We can walk to the parks (EPCOT and HS) and relax in really nice rooms with balconies and a great pool area SAB.

So much has changed. Especially in the last year. For example:

1. Free Magic Bands are gone (I have not been down there in almost two years because of COVID so I have not used the mobile device access. I just liked the bands better and don't want to pull out a phone in the parks all the time. And they were great for buying food and gifts.

2. Free Magical Express - Now Mears Connect is $96 RT for DW, DS and I. And that is the "Introductory" price. I know many of you get a limo or rental car but DS loved the Mickey programs on ME.

3. Free Fast Pass - Now $45 a day ($225 for the trip) for DW, DS and I (God help larger families) and it will be interesting to see if we can actually get on the rides we want without the time slots already being taken up by others faster than me. After the three Fast Passes were used (usually by 2pm), all other rides for Fast Pass were booked and we could not get any more. But I was fine with that, after all, it was free.

4. BCV eliminated the Jacuzzis and fans - OK that is my gripe. DW and DS never used it. I used it every night and I loved having a fan on slow at night over the bed. We don't have fans at our home in CT. 7 foot ceilings are too low for that with a 4 poster bed which is about 3 inches from the ceiling.

So what else has changed that you wish had not?

Well written and I so agree. I also would LOVE to have a paper menu and not have to order off my phone!!! All the scrolling and the little print. OMG. And I fear the hand-off approach and lowering of the personal touches has become standard. I won't judge Genie until I use but once again, I do not want to be tied to a cell phone and I think Genie makes that a must. I know we will miss the ME. We like you go often enough that we used our three fast passes and then park hopped or did other things, We do not "park crawl" for hours on end. Genie may have us double timing the parks and then just doing off-site resort days. Our trips are normally to escape the snow and we don't need the parks to do that with the decrease in services and upcharges for things that used to be included.

 

[bakerworld]

Losing Magical Express was a big downer for us (my wife hates ride share services). We'll have to spend on something else. We're new enough going to WDW that we're not nostalgic for some of the older stuff but they do seem to keep on getting rid of one thing or another.
Paying for rides isn't a huge deal breaker. I wish they had copied Universal, which we go to as well and their express pass is worth it for us.

Our daughters use UBER all the time but we've not as yet. Currently an Uber from MCO to WDW is $32 and a 'multi-passenger' Mears is $38. We've used Mears multi-passenger transport 4 times from MCO to Dolphin and we've never been in a bus - either passenger vans or town cars - with only 2 stops. Since Mears is the company that provided ME you might want to consider it. You can go online to reserve round trips once your flights are settled.