What has been your biggest WDW letdown/surprise over the last 5 years?

[rg35]

I was reading a different thread about Soarin' and it made me realize that I feel like the new Soarin' is probably my biggest letdown over the last few years. I was really looking forward to an HD film, updated projection, and so forth. Unfortunately, when we rode last year none of us loved it - I don't feel like it's a must-do anymore either. First, the movie is so obviously computer generated in some parts, it's painful. I think the original film created a better sense of suspension of disbelief. Secondly, I feel like the jump-scares were a poor addition to the film - one of my kids, who previously loved Soarin' absolutely hated the new one because of the jump scare transitions.

My biggest surprise would probably be Frozen Ever After. I know there have been reliability and uptime issues, and the old system was not the best choice for a ride that needs to move as many people as this one. But man, they did such a great job with the audio/visual that I was very impressed. I was kind of annoyed about having to "waste" a FP+ reservation for this, but walked away from that feeling pretty impressed.

I'm curious to hear about what other people's specific letdowns and surprises would be if they had to pick just one. (By specific I mean that just saying "cost cutting" isn't specifc, or "new rides" isn't a specific surprise.)

We have been to Disney annually since 2011, so that's why I picked a general 5 year timeframe as a point of reference.

 

[tigerlilly]

I don't have a specific experience or letdown since we have not been to WDW in over 10 years, but I really enjoyed reading your thoughts as we are going to WDW in August (last time was 2005)! Hopefully there are some insightful responses . We are frequent Disneyland guests and we felt the same way about Soarin' as you did. I literally cried the first time I rode Soarin' way back in 2002. This time the computer generated additions took something away for me. Now my 20 year old and 15 year old both enjoyed it...but they are used to computer generating lol.
Glad to hear your thoughts on FEA since this was one we could not decide on and now we will try to do it!!

 

[Buffalo2Disney]

I would have to say the biggest letdown I Would have to say would be the change they made in The Great Movie Ride. Adding in the recorded narration part just ruins the ride. It's awful. Now it wasn't one of my favorite rides, but we would ride it every trip at least once just because it was a nice way to sit down for a bit and relax and it was nostalgic. Now we will just skip it.

The biggest surprise? I would have to say eating at Spice Road Table. There is never anyone there and it never gets great reviews. But we had dinner there once and the food was all fantastic and we had a great view of illuminations from our table.

 

[mrsR123]

I am most disappointed by the ever-expanding parade of upcharge events.

I was most surprised by my family's reaction to the new Soarin'. I had read all the reviews and the disappointments regarding the projection, especially from side seats. My DH, though, who is generally done with most of WDW at this point, was blown away. He insisted that we rope drop on a second Epcot day-- during a mostly sleeping in trip-- so that we could ride it again.

 

[Klayfish]

I know I'll be in the minority, but we've been to WDW 8 or 9 times in the past 5 years and I truly can't think of anything that was a total disappointment, let down, etc... My biggest disappointment is going home. I'm just happy being there, so I'm not really critical of a lot of things about the place. Guess I'm just easily amused when it comes to WDW.

If I was forced to pick something, it would probably be the now defunct Jungle Book show at AK. Definitely not quite up to WDW standards.

Biggest surprise in a good way?? The addition of the 3rd queue for TSMM and Soarin. So much easier to get on these rides. Oh, and I really like FEA and 7DMT too.

 

[Jules76126]

I would say the ride I was most unimpressed with was the remodel of Spaceship Earth. I feel that the ride needed a major overhaul but I am very unimpressed with the new narration by Judi Dench. I really liked Jeremy Irons as the narrator. I also don't love the new interactive computer story that you complete as you begin your descent down. I know there is not a whole lot they can do with that space based on the angle, but I just feel it could have been something more. And believe, I love me some SSE.

In terms of most surprised, I would say the Test Track refurb and Mine Train. I had a heard a lot of negative reviews on both. I actually prefer the TT ride now. I like that there is no more pre-show video as I think it speeds up the line and I like the concept a whole lot more. In terms of Mine Train, I do agree that it is a short ride, but I really loved the whole theme and feel that it is very Disney.

 

[Pkltm]

Biggest let down for me was the HDDR, went to the second show, the first show ran late, it was an insane down pour and not all the people waiting could fit under the covered part. Half the people were soaked and miserable. When we finally got in the food was cold and not tasty. We agreed it was not one to repeat. Enjoyed the actual show though.

Biggest surprise was Spac Mountain. I hated it 10 years ago! Tried it again and loved it!!

 

[loves to dive]

Can't think of anything I've been really let down about but I wasn't impressed with the new Soarin and unless it has no wait or less than 10 min. we probably won't ride it again. We were o.k. with CG part but the fact that if you aren't sitting smack dab in the middle the screen is bowed was just silly.

We were really surprised at Tiffins, loved everything about it and the Nomad Lounge is our new favorite lounge/bar.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I wouldn't call it a "letdown" exactly, but my biggest stressor has been the new FP+ system. I used to be a heavy planner, but it was always a "Plan A, Plan B..." type of thing, with some wiggle room built in. Locking in plans to such a detailed level so far in advance (without benefit of weather forecasts, etc.) isn't really my style.

Best surprise has been that my 16-year-old is still hugely excited to go this year!

 

[DisneyFive]

One of the biggest surprises for us was just over 5 years ago when we first went to Cape May's for dinner. Loved it, but not only for the food, a lot of it had to do with the beautiful look of that area (Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club). We took the friendship boat over from HS, and were awed. We just love the feel.

HDDR was also a surprise hit.

Honestly, I could go on and on about all of the awesome surprises in the last 5 years.

Hate to bring up FP+ for the 1,000,000,000,000,000,000th time, but our first trip in 2010 and 2011 had the paper FP's with no enforcement of late return (past the time window). Those were the days! The ONLY negative back then was that rope drop became much more important, however, the park schedule during your stay was much more flexible.

Dan

 

[DekrRini]

I think my biggest disappointment would be Epcot changing Norway into Frozen Land. I loved Maelstrom and the way it gave the rider a sense of Norse mythology. Frozen leaves me cold. (No pun intended.) If I could give two disappointments, it would be switching Darth Vader for Kylo Ren. Darth Vader will always be my favorite villain.

My biggest surprise was the food at BOG. After all the negative reviews, I expected lackluster food, but I've found it to be delicious. It's probably my favorite restaurant.

 

[Klayfish]

I would say the ride I was most unimpressed with was the remodel of Spaceship Earth. I feel that the ride needed a major overhaul but I am very unimpressed with the new narration by Judi Dench. I really liked Walter Cronkite as the narrator. I also don't love the new interactive computer story that you complete as you begin your descent down. I know there is not a whole lot they can do with that space based on the angle, but I just feel it could have been something more. And believe, I love me some SSE.

There's no right or wrong here, as it's purely subjective, but one of my favorite things about SE is the narration by Judi Dench. I think it's just as good, if not better, than the old one. The interactive story as you descend is fun, but I do think it's at least time for it to be refreshed some. We've been on it so many times, we're running out of new stories!!

 

[klmall]

Our biggest disappointment has definitely been the turning of a delightful, somewhat authentic restaurant, Akershus, into another princess meal. From 1990 on this restaurant was truly our favorite. We made sure to eat there at least twice each trip.

When it became a princess party we braved it twice with our three adults. The food offerings became ordinary and far less Norwegian in our opinion plus the price dramatically increased. We felt that one of the very few Epcot restaurants (at the time) with some interesting ethnic food was destroyed.

Little did we know that the change in this restaurant heralded a major push by Disney to draw in the parents of little girls at the cost of alienating parents of boys and all-adult parties. I enjoy the occasional character meal and even have pictures of me with a princess or two but I guess we're not the target audience of Disney anymore.

My other biggest disappointment though is as someone stated earlier, the incessant roll-out of money-grabbing events such as the Tomorrowland tent scheme and dessert/fireworks parties etc. All these remind me of those staff meetings I used to attend where my boss issued an edict to come up with as many ideas as possible to improve student achievement or improve client evaluations. We would flood the table with any and every idea possible, some of which were totally outlandish in the hope of pleasing our boss. But often these ideas were without any substance, no research behind them and no real resources to support implementation.

I used to feel that changes implemented by Disney were reasonable; even grew to like the FastPass+ and Magicbands but everything seems so money-grubbing, hurried and hit/miss now.

Yes, I still like Disney but I no longer 'love' Disney as I used to.

 

[No.1000]

I am disappointed that there is no longer a nighttime parade at Magic Kingdom. And I am already mourning Wishes.
I was most surprised about how much my family and I enjoyed staying at POFQ.

 

[PollyannaMom]

One of the biggest surprises for us was just over 5 years ago when we first went to Cape May's for dinner. Loved it, but not only for the food, a lot of it had to do with the beautiful look of that area (Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Beach Club). We took the friendship boat over from HS, and were awed. We just love the feel.

So excited to hear this! We are trying it for the first time in April.

 

[Jules76126]

There's no right or wrong here, as it's purely subjective, but one of my favorite things about SE is the narration by Judi Dench. I think it's just as good, if not better, than the old one. The interactive story as you descend is fun, but I do think it's at least time for it to be refreshed some. We've been on it so many times, we're running out of new stories!!

I can totally see that. For me, it is a nostalgia thing. I worked SSE on the college program when it went down for rehab and they removed the wand. My friends and I knew all the words of the narration and even got to walk the ride after hours one of the final nights before it went down for refurb. It was so much fun. Now when I go on it, it just doesn't feel the same (not a bad thing, just different). And I agree the ending videos could use an update. That's one of the things that I love about Disney - there are always things I love and miss but new things are constantly popping up that make new memories. Now if only I could get my husband to Disney more often (he has only been once )

 

[rg35]

Very interesting variety of answers. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share.

Best surprise has been that my 16-year-old is still hugely excited to go this year!

I hope that my kids don't "outgrow" going to Disney. I've got a ways to go, but I hope they'll always enjoy it - especially once they are older and can have some freedom to go off and do what they want to.

 

[rlduvall]

I totally agree with you about Soarin'. That was always one of my favorite attractions at the parks, but the new one is so ridiculously CGI laden that it takes me out of the moment instead of transporting me away like the old version. [how's that for hyperbole]

I also agree with a PP that Spaceship Earth with Jeremy Irons is much better than the Judi Dench version . . . who I happen to really like. I just miss some of the simple effects that were removed and definitely miss the music when you are going backwards down the sphere at the end.

As for the biggest pleasant surprise: Frozen Sing-Along Celebration. As a middle aged woman, I am most likely not the target audience and did not even consider doing it until last December. I laughed so hard at the 'comedian' interactions through-out the show and just had a really all around great time.

 

[prprincess]

Letdown--the food at BOG. It took me forever to get dinner ressies, and while the restaurant is gorgeous, the food was not the best. At least I can say that I've been.

Surprise--the new Soarin'. I'm in the minority, was never a fan of the original, and love it!

 

[Spoisal]

Biggest Letdown? I would say Wild Africa Trek (I know i'm in the minority here). I was really looking forward to this and it sounded SO adventurous from the descriptions. It really wasn't. We were so far away from the gators and hippos - I definitely didn't feel immersed in anything. Just an expensive zoo attraction. Did I say expensive?

Biggest Surprise? This is going to sound silly....but the Pink Grapefruit Hefeweizen at Sommerfest. OMG - amazing and life changing - lol. Give me one of those and some Nudel Gratin and my trip has been made!!