We're very upset with Disney

[PinkiePie Cupcake]

Firstly, I'd like to say hello, I'm a newbie here, but not to Disney World. My family and I (we're from Toronto, Canada) went twice when I was little, and me and my mom have gone 3 times since 2006. I also want to keep in mind that my mom booked this trip via Disney and not a third party travel provider.

We went a couple weeks ago for a week long stay at Port Orleans (which we stayed in on our last visit); however, this time around we decided to stay in the Royal Rooms.
Anywho, our issues started when we arrived at check-in, where it was only than that we were informed that they are now using wristbands (which were sent to our rooms two days after we arrived); luckily, the staff at Port Orleans was, eventually, able to find a couple of wristbands for us to use.
This is when we were, than, informed that the fastpass system allowed you to book your fast passes in advance, and since we we never told about this new system, neither of us pre-booked any fast passes OR brought digital devices with us (we have a policy of not bringing anything but basic cell phones for emergencies on vacation).

After our extensively long check-in, we went to our rooms, which surprisingly, were behind the building viewing the parking lot. The rooms themselves consisted of white bedding (no comforter) and a single long pillow on one bed. In fact, on entrance, we thought the housekeeping hadn't even *made* the beds yet until my mom looked closer to see that they had.

We were pretty furious about this, since the Disney travel agent didn't tell us anything about there being different qualities of Royal Rooms (since we saw some rooms when we arrived, through their windows, that they did have the beds made-up as shown in the advertisements). Had we know there were lower-grade rooms that were hidden at the back, we would have just spent the money on a basic room with a river view.
We mentioned this to them at the front desk, and they made-up for this by sending us two throw blankets, which we used since the bedding was so thin we would have freezed without them

Later that day, we went to the Magic Kingdom and noticed that the park had a much higher attendance than when we went the same time in 2009, and that the average wait for a ride was 40 minutes to an hour, and of course, all fast passes were sold out in advance.
This was our experience throughout all of the Disney parks, which meant we opted out of going on rides, for the most part.
*ftr, I preferred the old system, where people were only allotted one fast pass per a certain time; this allowed an even playing field for attendees.

Even with a lot of the let downs, we were still optimistic about our trip and trying to have fun, but that pretty much came to an end when we went to Mickeys's Not So Scarey Halloween party on Halloween day.
We bought our tickets back in late August, and when we arrived to get our entrance cards the employee at the booth stated that we were not listed. Luckily my mom carried the confirmation number for the purchase, which than required 15 minutes on the computer for the employee to find out that we had, indeed, bought said tickets and were than given our access cards.

That, however, was not the worst part. When we went into the Magic Kingdom we saw the place jam packed, it seemed to be more packed than it was during any time I've ever been there, yet we were under the impression that this was an *exclusive* event for people who bought a tickets in advance, but it looked like instead they sold as many tickets as they could legally allow people into the park. In other words, it was an oversold ripoff, and judging by some of the people we talked to, they felt the same way.

When we were able to make our way through the sea of people and find a spot for the parade, we happily stood behind a couple who attended with two babies in a stroller and a toddler (this was about 15 minutes before the parade started). Less than 5 minutes before it started, two large men and a woman barged in front of said couple, preventing their kids from seeing the parade they waited longer than us to see.
And this was happening ALL around us; adults, standing in front of children, holding up camera phones, and the Disney staff said or did nothing about it. You'd think they'd try to make a kids in the front only policy, nope, they could have cared less and just danced around.
I could not even keep track at the number of crying kids.

After the parade, me and my mom decided to skip the castle show and fireworks because the entire street and area near the castle was jam packed, so we headed to find the trick-or-treat zones listed on the map. We looked up and down the listed locations, and it wasn't until we went to go on Pirate of the Caribbean that these zones were *hidden* inside places, not even marked to tell anyone, through poorly lit paths where you can't see anything but people.
By 12:00am, I was able to get about half a (small) bag of candy, and that's mainly due to a couple guys giving me multiple handfuls. We also were only able to go on 3 rides within the hour of the parks closing, since a lot of the crowds had left the park by 10:30-11:00.
When we left to go to the bus stop, the wait line for our resort went past the rail lines, and we noticed there were only two buses going there. Seriously? Two buses for a park closing that they know will have maybe hundreds of attendees, from said resort.
We didn't even get on a bus to close to 1:00am and there was still a long line behind us, filled with crying, cranky kids

Had we known that this event was so poorly run, we never would have bought tickets to it.

Another complaint I had with the parks is their obvious reduction in product quality. I bought a red Mickey t-shirt back in 2006 that's cotton and well made, for the same price as the less detailed, thin, clearly sweat shop made clothing they now sell. Even a plastic pen, dollar store quality, cost $10!

In comparison, we went to Universal Studios for a day, went to both parks, on 7 rides within the time it would take to go on two at Disney. Their lines were long, but clearly moved quicker due to better organization, they also had a lot more rides which, I would guess, prevented over crowding.
Their products were also cheaper and better made than Disney's; I bought a well made plush at the Harry Potter section for about the same price of a poorly made, small, stuffed plush at the Disney Parks

That's 7 rides within less than 6 hours. Within our entire 7 day park stay at Disney, we got to go on 4 rides

I don't want to sound like a complainer, but really, this was a bad experience from a multiple attendee like us. Our visits in 2006, 2008 and 2009 were totally different and we had nothing but nice things to say about Disney.
I don't know if it's new park management or what, but we both agreed that we won't be going on anymore Disney vacations, which is sad, since my mom was hoping to try their cruise line [/rant]

 

[Granny square]

Did you research at all? Sorry, but that seems crazy to me. Many of your issues would have been addressed.

Blaming Disney for crowds? I love universal but the reason you could do so much was because they have fewer visitors.

 

[RJP77]

I feel your pain. I sometimes will let one or two issues slide because it is Disney, or because I am on vacation and don't want to be too stressed out, but when they just pile up one on top of another it can be too much. Lately the crowds are getting worse and worse. And common decency among people is vanishing. If I have to worry about my kids getting trampled it becomes just too much to put up with. I know it's all about profit, but I would pay more money to attend a less crowded experience. There has to be a balance.

Ok. That's my grumpy old man rant for the day.

Go T.O. (Rob Ford doesn't represent all of us)

 

[Tigger1]

Sorry to hear that your trip was not as usual. A couple years ago we were leaving the MK about the time that MVSHP was about to start. There was so many people entering the park. I heard someone say that the Special Photo Pass they do was 1 1/2 hours long. I think the party is only 3 hours. No way would I use up that much time on one picture. Halloween night is also always sold out which makes a very busy park.

As far as the new fast pass and arm bands, I think they are both in testing mode, not ready to go public. I found out about them from the Disboards. You can only reserve 3 passes per day with the Fastpass+. I doubt a smart phone s going to work very well if you want to change your fast passes as mine did not work in some buildings and going in and out of service uses lots of battery juice.

 

[disneycrazi]

We have gone to MNSSHP the last few years and the candy stations were noted with the large glowing signs as well as CM at the beginning of each trail. My only thought is perhaps they had the signs down?
As for the bedding changes, I have seen that change for years in upscale off site hotels. I was told the removing of the comforters was due to the fact they cannot be washed as easily and in Disney Resorts I have stayed at that have made those changes they have had 2 sheets, plus a blanket plus a puffy overlay thing. I was told it also makes the rooms appear larger due to the more white and clean look by removing a busy printed bedspread. I guess its a green thing as well as for aesthetics.
Maybe the Royal Rooms are different?
I am sorry your trip was less than you expected, I hope though you did enjoy some magic! Best wishes to you.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Yes, crowds getting worse, quality going down, prices going up, and schedule your entire trip months in advance. We have gone every year since 02, and never thought I would not want to anymore, but it has finally happened . We also had a wonderful time at universal. We had planned 2 of our 11 days at universal, and ended up the kids asked if we could use the free third day on our universal tix and go back our last day instead of MK!! So....universal is getting my money next year.

 

[kellyg403]

Sorry you had such a rough trip OP.

I don't think you can blame WDW for the crowds though. The economy is supposedly in an upswing. People have more disposable money than they did in the last 7 years. I think you can blame the economy for that! What a great problem to have if...if..it continues.

I also believe the magic bands/fp+ is really in its infancy at this point. I think there is more to come. I will say though, we had issues with the KTTW cards. One year if it wasn't a card that wouldn't work at the park gates, we had no dining plan. It was a long long vacation. My point is that the issues some are experiencing are not MB exclusive. They happened before too. Just a lot more right now.

I hope that you are able to let Guest Services know how you feel. Its important to shed light on your stay to those who can help!.

Kelly

 

[Mousemommy1]

OP, I am so sorry you had such a bad experience, but I have to wonder if you did any research at all prior to your trip?

You are clearly familiar with at least the Disboards (as you are posting on it) and with a little research, you would have known about the magicbands, the new bedding at POR...and I have even seen stuff posted (outside of the Disboards) that the Halloween day MNSSHP was sold out, which I would imagine is to be expected and I personally would not book for that date.

I went to the Halloween party on 9/29/13 and it was amazing. Barely any crowds, a ton of candy and we had an absolute blast!

Again, hopefully next time you will do a little research on your vacation destination. I do it for every place we go, not just Disney. We go annually, and I am still constantly researching because things can, and do, change very rapidly. I've got to keep up!

 

[luvmy3]

I'm not sure you can blame Disney for you not doing your research about your trip. If you haven't been since 2006 you have to expect some things may have changed since then
The MB and FP+ system are still being tested as far as I know, so you could have opted out and just used your key card to access regular FP. I don't know what time you arrived in the parks, but if you arrive late on high crowd days some FPs are going to be gone regardless of whether or not guests are using regular FP or have pre-booked.
You mentioned going to MNSSHP on Halloween, I'm surprised you didn't expect it to be extremely crowded that day.

I'm sorry you had such a bad time, but honestly if you had done some research you could have saved yourself some trouble.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Firstly, I'd like to say hello, I'm a newbie here, but not to Disney World. My family and I (we're from Toronto, Canada) went twice when I was little, and me and my mom have gone 3 times since 2006. I also want to keep in mind that my mom booked this trip via Disney and not a third party travel provider.

We went a couple weeks ago for a week long stay at Port Orleans (which we stayed in on our last visit); however, this time around we decided to stay in the Royal Rooms.
Anywho, our issues started when we arrived at check-in, where it was only than that we were informed that they are now using wristbands (which were sent to our rooms two days after we arrived); luckily, the staff at Port Orleans was, eventually, able to find a couple of wristbands for us to use.
This is when we were, than, informed that the fastpass system allowed you to book your fast passes in advance, and since we we never told about this new system, neither of us pre-booked any fast passes OR brought digital devices with us (we have a policy of not bringing anything but basic cell phones for emergencies on vacation).

After our extensively long check-in, we went to our rooms, which surprisingly, were behind the building viewing the parking lot. The rooms themselves consisted of white bedding (no comforter) and a single long pillow on one bed. In fact, on entrance, we thought the housekeeping hadn't even *made* the beds yet until my mom looked closer to see that they had.

We were pretty furious about this, since the Disney travel agent didn't tell us anything about there being different qualities of Royal Rooms (since we saw some rooms when we arrived, through their windows, that they did have the beds made-up as shown in the advertisements). Had we know there were lower-grade rooms that were hidden at the back, we would have just spent the money on a basic room with a river view.
We mentioned this to them at the front desk, and they made-up for this by sending us two throw blankets, which we used since the bedding was so thin we would have freezed without them

Later that day, we went to the Magic Kingdom and noticed that the park had a much higher attendance than when we went the same time in 2009, and that the average wait for a ride was 40 minutes to an hour, and of course, all fast passes were sold out in advance.
This was our experience throughout all of the Disney parks, which meant we opted out of going on rides, for the most part.
*ftr, I preferred the old system, where people were only allotted one fast pass per a certain time; this allowed an even playing field for attendees.

Even with a lot of the let downs, we were still optimistic about our trip and trying to have fun, but that pretty much came to an end when we went to Mickeys's Not So Scarey Halloween party on Halloween day.
We bought our tickets back in late August, and when we arrived to get our entrance cards the employee at the booth stated that we were not listed. Luckily my mom carried the confirmation number for the purchase, which than required 15 minutes on the computer for the employee to find out that we had, indeed, bought said tickets and were than given our access cards.

That, however, was not the worst part. When we went into the Magic Kingdom we saw the place jam packed, it seemed to be more packed than it was during any time I've ever been there, yet we were under the impression that this was an *exclusive* event for people who bought a tickets in advance, but it looked like instead they sold as many tickets as they could legally allow people into the park. In other words, it was an oversold ripoff, and judging by some of the people we talked to, they felt the same way.

When we were able to make our way through the sea of people and find a spot for the parade, we happily stood behind a couple who attended with two babies in a stroller and a toddler (this was about 15 minutes before the parade started). Less than 5 minutes before it started, two large men and a woman barged in front of said couple, preventing their kids from seeing the parade they waited longer than us to see.
And this was happening ALL around us; adults, standing in front of children, holding up camera phones, and the Disney staff said or did nothing about it. You'd think they'd try to make a kids in the front only policy, nope, they could have cared less and just danced around.
I could not even keep track at the number of crying kids.

After the parade, me and my mom decided to skip the castle show and fireworks because the entire street and area near the castle was jam packed, so we headed to find the trick-or-treat zones listed on the map. We looked up and down the listed locations, and it wasn't until we went to go on Pirate of the Caribbean that these zones were *hidden* inside places, not even marked to tell anyone, through poorly lit paths where you can't see anything but people.
By 12:00am, I was able to get about half a (small) bag of candy, and that's mainly due to a couple guys giving me multiple handfuls. We also were only able to go on 3 rides within the hour of the parks closing, since a lot of the crowds had left the park by 10:30-11:00.
When we left to go to the bus stop, the wait line for our resort went past the rail lines, and we noticed there were only two buses going there. Seriously? Two buses for a park closing that they know will have maybe hundreds of attendees, from said resort.
We didn't even get on a bus to close to 1:00am and there was still a long line behind us, filled with crying, cranky kids

Had we known that this event was so poorly run, we never would have bought tickets to it.

Another complaint I had with the parks is their obvious reduction in product quality. I bought a red Mickey t-shirt back in 2006 that's cotton and well made, for the same price as the less detailed, thin, clearly sweat shop made clothing they now sell. Even a plastic pen, dollar store quality, cost $10!

In comparison, we went to Universal Studios for a day, went to both parks, on 7 rides within the time it would take to go on two at Disney. Their lines were long, but clearly moved quicker due to better organization, they also had a lot more rides which, I would guess, prevented over crowding.
Their products were also cheaper and better made than Disney's; I bought a well made plush at the Harry Potter section for about the same price of a poorly made, small, stuffed plush at the Disney Parks

That's 7 rides within less than 6 hours. Within our entire 7 day park stay at Disney, we got to go on 4 rides

I don't want to sound like a complainer, but really, this was a bad experience from a multiple attendee like us. Our visits in 2006, 2008 and 2009 were totally different and we had nothing but nice things to say about Disney.
I don't know if it's new park management or what, but we both agreed that we won't be going on anymore Disney vacations, which is sad, since my mom was hoping to try their cruise line [/rant]

What did you think of the food?

 

[myhouseofmouse]

research, research, research!

 

[Dayton Flyer]

Within our entire 7 day park stay at Disney, we got to go on 4 rides

It sounds to me like you are either exaggerating, you are extraordinarily averse to lines, or your definition of what constitutes a ride is different than most.

Would be interested in knowing which of these is the case, and which rides you were able to ride.

 

[pieface]

I can feel your pain I've been going to Disney since 1972. We went to Disney the second week of October and have never seen crowds like this. The Halloween party was so crowded that I left at 1030 normally stay to midnight. I don't think I will go back in October again. I have to say the cast members were always friendly and helpful.

 

[PinkiePie Cupcake]

Did you research at all? Sorry, but that seems crazy to me. Many of your issues would have been addressed.

Of course we did, as well as ask a lot of questions. If you're asking if I spent hours looking through the multitudes of Disney sites, daily, I can't say that I did. Should we blame ourselves for being naive enough to think Disney's official travel agents would, at the very least, inform of us of the magic-bands?
Heck, they booked our trip and didn't send us the bands until two days into our stay.
Had our resort not had extras on hand, I don't know what would have happened

Blaming Disney for crowds? I love universal but the reason you could do so much was because they have fewer visitors.

I don't blame Disney for the crowds (except for the Halloween event, which was oversold. People pay extra for this event, and should be allowed access to all the benefits of such)
However, the general crowds can be dealt with better if there was proper organization put in place (i.e have policies to insure children are always in the front to view parades), they could also build more rides to quicken the wait time. If they have the land and cash to build new resorts, why not add more attractions?
Seriously, they have this huge amount of space and most of it is filled with gift shops....

I feel your pain. I sometimes will let one or two issues slide because it is Disney, or because I am on vacation and don't want to be too stressed out, but when they just pile up one on top of another it can be too much. Lately the crowds are getting worse and worse. And common decency among people is vanishing. If I have to worry about my kids getting trampled it becomes just too much to put up with. I know it's all about profit, but I would pay more money to attend a less crowded experience. There has to be a balance.

Ok. That's my grumpy old man rant for the day.

Yes, this! I can only imagine how scary it must be for people going there with small children, with how rude and inconsiderate some people are. When we went to the Fanatasmic show at Hollywood Studios, we stopped on the stairs to allow a family with small kids to go in front of us, since so many people were barging and pushing ahead, I'm sure they were frightened of them getting trampled or lost in the crowd.

Another huge problem I had was people, stopping, in the middle of a busy walk way to look at their devices!

Go T.O. (Rob Ford doesn't represent all of us)

lol word

Did you research at all? Sorry, but that seems crazy to me. Many of your issues would have been addressed.

Blaming Disney for crowds? I love universal but the reason you could do so much was because they have fewer visitors.

They had quite a lot of people at Universal, when I went, too, much their lines moved quicker, which could be due to them having people drop their bags off ahead in lockers, and the fact that there are simply way more rides there.
Outside of Magic Kingdom, most of Disney consists of pathways and stores, not rides

We have gone to MNSSHP the last few years and the candy stations were noted with the large glowing signs as well as CM at the beginning of each trail. My only thought is perhaps they had the signs down?
As for the bedding changes, I have seen that change for years in upscale off site hotels. I was told the removing of the comforters was due to the fact they cannot be washed as easily and in Disney Resorts I have stayed at that have made those changes they have had 2 sheets, plus a blanket plus a puffy overlay thing. I was told it also makes the rooms appear larger due to the more white and clean look by removing a busy printed bedspread. I guess its a green thing as well as for aesthetics.
Maybe the Royal Rooms are different?
I am sorry your trip was less than you expected, I hope though you did enjoy some magic! Best wishes to you.

I didn't find that it made the room look larger, it looked out of place and unfinished; something I'd expect from a motel

Yes, crowds getting worse, quality going down, prices going up, and schedule your entire trip months in advance. We have gone every year since 02, and never thought I would not want to anymore, but it has finally happened . We also had a wonderful time at universal. We had planned 2 of our 11 days at universal, and ended up the kids asked if we could use the free third day on our universal tix and go back our last day instead of MK!! So....universal is getting my money next year.

Yeah, we were talking about how we wished we stayed at Universal instead; we could have stayed at the Portofino for less, and it's as nice (if not nicer) than a deluxe resort at Disney. I will definitely be heading to Universal next time (btw love your Minion avatar)

Sorry you had such a rough trip OP.

I don't think you can blame WDW for the crowds though. The economy is supposedly in an upswing. People have more disposable money than they did in the last 7 years. I think you can blame the economy for that! What a great problem to have if...if..it continues.

I also believe the magic bands/fp+ is really in its infancy at this point. I think there is more to come. I will say though, we had issues with the KTTW cards. One year if it wasn't a card that wouldn't work at the park gates, we had no dining plan. It was a long long vacation. My point is that the issues some are experiencing are not MB exclusive. They happened before too. Just a lot more right now.

I hope that you are able to let Guest Services know how you feel. Its important to shed light on your stay to those who can help!.

Kelly

Thank you.
My mom was contacted for a survey about the trip, by Disney, a couple days ago. Unfortunately it was all computerized so we don't know if we'll ever get a reply

OP, I am so sorry you had such a bad experience, but I have to wonder if you did any research at all prior to your trip?

You are clearly familiar with at least the Disboards (as you are posting on it) and with a little research, you would have known about the magicbands, the new bedding at POR...and I have even seen stuff posted (outside of the Disboards) that the Halloween day MNSSHP was sold out, which I would imagine is to be expected and I personally would not book for that date.

I went to the Halloween party on 9/29/13 and it was amazing. Barely any crowds, a ton of candy and we had an absolute blast!

Again, hopefully next time you will do a little research on your vacation destination. I do it for every place we go, not just Disney. We go annually, and I am still constantly researching because things can, and do, change very rapidly. I've got to keep up!

I sadly didn't find out about the disboard until I cam back from Orlando.
And I was aware that the Halloween night party was probably going to sell it, what I didn't know is that they over sell tickets to jam the park to the fire-code occupancy maximum!

I'm not sure you can blame Disney for you not doing your research about your trip. If you haven't been since 2006 you have to expect some things may have changed since then
The MB and FP+ system are still being tested as far as I know, so you could have opted out and just used your key card to access regular FP. I don't know what time you arrived in the parks, but if you arrive late on high crowd days some FPs are going to be gone regardless of whether or not guests are using regular FP or have pre-booked.
You mentioned going to MNSSHP on Halloween, I'm surprised you didn't expect it to be extremely crowded that day.

I'm sorry you had such a bad time, but honestly if you had done some research you could have saved yourself some trouble.

I can't blame Disney for not telling us about major changes despite the fact that we booked directly through Disney?
Or I can't blame Disney for sending our Magic bands two days after arrival, despite the fact that the entire trip was booked by them?

ftr, our last visit was 2009, not 2006

What did you think of the food?

I loved the food, this is one thing that never disappoints. We didn't know about the Cajun options at French Quarter on our last visit, so we got to try the amazing Beignets and other yummies. We also, revisited, Fultan's Crab House which, is always amazing. Sansa at Animal Kingdom Lodge is a must for people who are into new types of foods; they have the best butter chicken I've ever had and the view is amazing.
But the best was, hands down, 50's Prime Time Cafe; we loved the whole atmosphere and the food was delicious, but plentiful! Had we known they give you, like, half a chicken fried we would have just shared one plate.
Seriously, I'd buy a one day park ticket to Disney just to go back there
The high tea at the Floridian was fantastic as well

The only down side we had was the change in coffee providers (they now use a company called Joffery's) it was really weak coffee; even their coffee press at Kona was weak (and we used to love the Kona coffee press). The only good coffee we could find was at Animal Kingdom, since they use Kenyan company

One other thing I must still compliment them on is the awesome booze, particularly my beloved orange Grande Marnier slush at the French stand in Epcot

Though neither of us want to build a vacation solely on good food and drink, especially since we live in a city with a lot of both

 

[Nakkira]

Firstly, I'd like to say hello, I'm a newbie here, but not to Disney World. My family and I (we're from Toronto, Canada) went twice when I was little, and me and my mom have gone 3 times since 2006. I also want to keep in mind that my mom booked this trip via Disney and not a third party travel provider.

We went a couple weeks ago for a week long stay at Port Orleans (which we stayed in on our last visit); however, this time around we decided to stay in the Royal Rooms.
Anywho, our issues started when we arrived at check-in, where it was only than that we were informed that they are now using wristbands (which were sent to our rooms two days after we arrived); luckily, the staff at Port Orleans was, eventually, able to find a couple of wristbands for us to use.
This is when we were, than, informed that the fastpass system allowed you to book your fast passes in advance, and since we we never told about this new system, neither of us pre-booked any fast passes OR brought digital devices with us (we have a policy of not bringing anything but basic cell phones for emergencies on vacation).

After our extensively long check-in, we went to our rooms, which surprisingly, were behind the building viewing the parking lot. The rooms themselves consisted of white bedding (no comforter) and a single long pillow on one bed. In fact, on entrance, we thought the housekeeping hadn't even *made* the beds yet until my mom looked closer to see that they had.

We were pretty furious about this, since the Disney travel agent didn't tell us anything about there being different qualities of Royal Rooms (since we saw some rooms when we arrived, through their windows, that they did have the beds made-up as shown in the advertisements). Had we know there were lower-grade rooms that were hidden at the back, we would have just spent the money on a basic room with a river view.
We mentioned this to them at the front desk, and they made-up for this by sending us two throw blankets, which we used since the bedding was so thin we would have freezed without them

Later that day, we went to the Magic Kingdom and noticed that the park had a much higher attendance than when we went the same time in 2009, and that the average wait for a ride was 40 minutes to an hour, and of course, all fast passes were sold out in advance.
This was our experience throughout all of the Disney parks, which meant we opted out of going on rides, for the most part.
*ftr, I preferred the old system, where people were only allotted one fast pass per a certain time; this allowed an even playing field for attendees.

Even with a lot of the let downs, we were still optimistic about our trip and trying to have fun, but that pretty much came to an end when we went to Mickeys's Not So Scarey Halloween party on Halloween day.
We bought our tickets back in late August, and when we arrived to get our entrance cards the employee at the booth stated that we were not listed. Luckily my mom carried the confirmation number for the purchase, which than required 15 minutes on the computer for the employee to find out that we had, indeed, bought said tickets and were than given our access cards.

That, however, was not the worst part. When we went into the Magic Kingdom we saw the place jam packed, it seemed to be more packed than it was during any time I've ever been there, yet we were under the impression that this was an *exclusive* event for people who bought a tickets in advance, but it looked like instead they sold as many tickets as they could legally allow people into the park. In other words, it was an oversold ripoff, and judging by some of the people we talked to, they felt the same way.

When we were able to make our way through the sea of people and find a spot for the parade, we happily stood behind a couple who attended with two babies in a stroller and a toddler (this was about 15 minutes before the parade started). Less than 5 minutes before it started, two large men and a woman barged in front of said couple, preventing their kids from seeing the parade they waited longer than us to see.
And this was happening ALL around us; adults, standing in front of children, holding up camera phones, and the Disney staff said or did nothing about it. You'd think they'd try to make a kids in the front only policy, nope, they could have cared less and just danced around.
I could not even keep track at the number of crying kids.

After the parade, me and my mom decided to skip the castle show and fireworks because the entire street and area near the castle was jam packed, so we headed to find the trick-or-treat zones listed on the map. We looked up and down the listed locations, and it wasn't until we went to go on Pirate of the Caribbean that these zones were *hidden* inside places, not even marked to tell anyone, through poorly lit paths where you can't see anything but people.
By 12:00am, I was able to get about half a (small) bag of candy, and that's mainly due to a couple guys giving me multiple handfuls. We also were only able to go on 3 rides within the hour of the parks closing, since a lot of the crowds had left the park by 10:30-11:00.
When we left to go to the bus stop, the wait line for our resort went past the rail lines, and we noticed there were only two buses going there. Seriously? Two buses for a park closing that they know will have maybe hundreds of attendees, from said resort.
We didn't even get on a bus to close to 1:00am and there was still a long line behind us, filled with crying, cranky kids

Had we known that this event was so poorly run, we never would have bought tickets to it.

Another complaint I had with the parks is their obvious reduction in product quality. I bought a red Mickey t-shirt back in 2006 that's cotton and well made, for the same price as the less detailed, thin, clearly sweat shop made clothing they now sell. Even a plastic pen, dollar store quality, cost $10!

In comparison, we went to Universal Studios for a day, went to both parks, on 7 rides within the time it would take to go on two at Disney. Their lines were long, but clearly moved quicker due to better organization, they also had a lot more rides which, I would guess, prevented over crowding.
Their products were also cheaper and better made than Disney's; I bought a well made plush at the Harry Potter section for about the same price of a poorly made, small, stuffed plush at the Disney Parks

That's 7 rides within less than 6 hours. Within our entire 7 day park stay at Disney, we got to go on 4 rides

I don't want to sound like a complainer, but really, this was a bad experience from a multiple attendee like us. Our visits in 2006, 2008 and 2009 were totally different and we had nothing but nice things to say about Disney.
I don't know if it's new park management or what, but we both agreed that we won't be going on anymore Disney vacations, which is sad, since my mom was hoping to try their cruise line [/rant]

I am sorry you had a disappointing trip.

I have to admit the crowds put a HUGE damper on (but I did not let it ruin) our trip.

It does feel like they are overselling/over packing a bit.
I heard other people who had gone to the MNSSHP say that they did not get much out of it this time.
I hope they work out the kinks.
OR consider a MASSIVE expansion (more than just the new Fantasyland) to provide more attractions so the crazy lines and sardine situation are dispersed a bit better.


For all those telling the OP they should have researched, I think that you should know that even seasoned Cast members where surprised by the crowd levels on my trip. I spoke with several of them and they agreed that it was an unpredicted CRUSH.

 

[PinkiePie Cupcake]

It sounds to me like you are either exaggerating, you are extraordinarily averse to lines, or your definition of what constitutes a ride is different than most.

Would be interested in knowing which of these is the case, and which rides you were able to ride.

I'm totally serious. We went on 3 rides during the Halloween party (Pirates, Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion) and waited over an hour to get on Soarin
But yes, in all fairness, I'm adverse to spending over an over waiting for a 2 minute ride in an over conditioned building when we're spending thousands of dollars to get out of the cold

I can feel your pain I've been going to Disney since 1972. We went to Disney the second week of October and have never seen crowds like this. The Halloween party was so crowded that I left at 1030 normally stay to midnight. I don't think I will go back in October again. I have to say the cast members were always friendly and helpful.

Some guy my mom was speaking to (when I was getting reading in the room), at our resort, said his party also left early due to the crowds. Just by looking at the people in the crowd, I could tell a lot of people we're disappointed with what they walked into

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Did you research at all? Sorry, but that seems crazy to me. Many of your issues would have been addressed.

Blaming Disney for crowds? I love universal but the reason you could do so much was because they have fewer visitors.

Yeah, you can't blame any place for crowds. Especially if it's one of their busiest times of the year.
The fast pass thing your travel agent should have said something to you about that I would think

 

[elaine amj]

From all accounts, Disney has gotten much, much busier than normal this year. (sounds like their marketing folks are doing a good job!). That sounds like it made the biggest impact on your vacation. And of course, not knowing about FP+/magic bands - which is a pretty big change. And unfortunately, one of the downsides of a Disney trip (an upside for research-mad me) is the need for extensive, intensive research - unless you can completely go with the flow.

I was there in mid March this year for 1 park day. I've only ever gone during low crowds. I did everything wrong - showed up at MK (by car!) at 11am and didn't have an ADR AND decided for the first time to "wing it". We still had fun - but it was definitely much more challenging. We waited in long lines for everything (not used to waiting in lines at Disney!). Part of it was the choices we made - waited 1 hour to have lunch at BoG and 1.5 hours to have dinner at Tony's (and yes, we knew how long it would take when we got into those lines). It got better in the evening when I gave up on winging it, had a solid plan in place, AND we decided not to worry much about rides and spend an hour playing the Sorcerer's game - my kiddos adored it. We had a great time - but I would not have wanted this to be our experience for an entire week's trip.

IMO a large increase in crowds definitely makes for a completely different experience.

 

[luvmy3]

I can't blame Disney for not telling us about major changes despite the fact that we booked directly through Disney?
Or I can't blame Disney for sending our Magic bands two days after arrival, despite the fact that the entire trip was booked by them?

ftr, our last visit was 2009, not 2006

I read recently on a thread that MBs are not shipped to those that don't live in the US, and you have to pick up your bands at check in. That would explain why you didn't have them before your arrival.
Also, you say you booked through Disney, not a third party, so did you not receive any info via snail mail, or email about your upcoming trip? Did you not have access to the website and use MDE?

 

[Disneymom83]

I'm not sure you can blame Disney for you not doing your research about your trip. If you haven't been since 2006 you have to expect some things may have changed since then
The MB and FP+ system are still being tested as far as I know, so you could have opted out and just used your key card to access regular FP. I don't know what time you arrived in the parks, but if you arrive late on high crowd days some FPs are going to be gone regardless of whether or not guests are using regular FP or have pre-booked.
You mentioned going to MNSSHP on Halloween, I'm surprised you didn't expect it to be extremely crowded that day.

I'm sorry you had such a bad time, but honestly if you had done some research you could have saved yourself some trouble.

This!!! I completely agree with this!