What (if anything) made you give up wdw

[amberpi]

or part of its services? The entire vacation? The hotels? The dining plan? What was the straw that broke the camel’s back?

 

[momto2girls]

For me it was a combination of things. A big one is the fact that it is ALWAYS crowded now. There is no slow season, and I really hate the crowds.

The final straw for me though was the new Fast Pass system. I was already irritated by planning my meals months in advance, but there is no way that I am going to plan out my rides months in advance too. I find Disney so stressful now.

We used to be huge Disney fans, but now I don't ever plan to return. We purchased DVC about 8 years ago (Bay Lake Towers). The past several years, we just let our points go to waste, so we finally got around to selling them this year. I'm just done.

For several years, we took Disney cruises instead of going to the parks, but I am done with them as well.

 

[cabanafrau]

The ridiculous need to schedule things and adhere to a daily schedule to visit a theme park, feeling like cattle being herded all day, ridiculous pricing for everything, including increasingly marginal, processed food at their table service restaurants.

 

[skyblue17]

Wait, so people who hate Disney now and refuse to visit Disney still post here so they can complain about how awful Disney is? "I hate Disney so much I still hang around a place people who like Disney gather so I can pee on it in front of them."

Cool.

 

[cabanafrau]

Wait, so people who hate Disney now and refuse to visit Disney still post here so they can complain about how awful Disney is? "I hate Disney so much I still hang around a place people who like Disney gather so I can pee on it in front of them."

Cool.

Is this the theme parks board?

Nope.

Phew, the pixie dust is safe!

 

[skyblue17]

Ah, ok, sorry, people JUST think it's FUN to pee on things other people like.

 

[amberpi]

I still do things with not so much notice. The longest out I think I’ve planned out was 6 weeks, but I’ve been a ton and can make it work. Sometimes I don’t get the adrs I want, but I think it’s ok the kids didn’t get to eat in the castle yet. They will live with Cg and their favoriate Sanaa its not like my dh and I wanted that adr that much, let’s be real.

Mine was kinda petty tbh. When the deluxes stopped offering 24 room service and the housekeeping kept getting worse and worse, I went offsite. Sorry, but there are days I get in late and want a cocktail and dessert delivered to my room. When dh was sleeping it was so much easier to order breakfast in than get the kids ready, have breakfast, where they are going to get dirty; and then come back and get them ready again. First world problems, right? My life is invariable. It was the reason I decided I could do better and save money at an offsite hotel. Uber forever!

Btw: I’m not slamming wdw. We’ve taken toddlers twice since August. I don’t think it’s perfect though, not by a long shot.

 

[amberpi]

Ah, ok, sorry, people JUST think it's FUN to pee on things other people like.

You can still think aspects don’t work for you/your family at some point. If wdw ever stops allowing park hopping for instance I’m out. It makes the trips magic for me to end almost every night at Epcot.

 

[Wendy31]

For me, first, it was the new fastpass system. While I don't want to say I hate it, I really dislike it.

Then, & this is the main reason, it was the continued increasing prices w/ decreasing services. Little things - like having to pay to park your vehicle at your resort while so many of the smaller fun "surprise things" are being taken away (like the talking trash can or walking around a corner & just happening upon a character) - just rubbed me the wrong way.

I feel like, overall, there is a lack of attention to the little things which once helped create the Disney magic & made paying the higher prices easier.

 

[skyblue17]

You can still think aspects don’t work for you/your family at some point. If wdw ever stops allowing park hopping for instance I’m out. It makes the trips magic for me to end almost every night at Epcot.

True, true. I saw the subject line and thought it was just going to be a bunch of people proudly "over" something, which tends to happen with a lot of things these days.

I admittedly over-cranked on this! I truly do understand that people have valid reasons for being disappointed about their experiences or lack thereof, and obviously it's important to to be able to discuss it. My frustration with people who enjoy complaining (a general life observation) overshadowed the validity of a thread like this, and I'm sorry about that!

 

[cabanafrau]

Ah, ok, sorry, people JUST think it's FUN to pee on things other people like.

I did not realize there was a set opinion for topics on a discussion board. It does make me wonder what's to talk about if everyone must share the same thought?

How on earth shall I answer what my favorite color is if Buddy the Elf happens to phone me? I wouldn't want to answer differently from the group and make people feel bad if I answer differently.

 

[amberpi]

Also, a perfectly civil response would have been “I’m still all in for the full deal.”

I did the dining plan once by accident for instance. Hated! It. Didn’t work for how I eat at all. And that was like 10 years ago when I guess it offered more value. I think that’s a pretty neutral critique. Wdw still gets most of my dining dollars...but my way.

 

[NHdisneylover]

For us it was a gradual shift of going less and less until not at all as the following things began happening:

CROWDS--there is no longer a low season (when we started going regularly, Thanksgiving week was low season) and while it used to be relatively possible to avoid crowds on a busy day, they seem to allow far more guests (and far more have strollers, etc too, adding to that crowded feel). fighting crowds is just not fun

Cuts in quality---we noticed little things at first---only one of two bubble machines being used in shows which used to always run both, etc and then more and more cut corners----it stopped being better/nicer than other places

Major jumps in price---DL made the prie jump first, and we quit going, then WDW did. DLP still has reasonable annual passes, but on site hotel pricing recently went through the roof, we expect tickets to be too much for the enjoyment we get in the next few years.

Employees---Cast Members used to seem to really love their jobs and to be empowered. Bus drivers nearly all had a funny stchick, ride operators were chatty and happy---if something went wrong they'd make it right, on the spot, without needing manager approval. Now, it seems the CMs have very little empowerment or joy overall.

Variety--it used to be that shops in different lands carried merchandise just for that land/shop (likewise for the hotels). Food was pretty different from place to place too. Now, the same merch is in every store, the food is the same few items over and over for Coutner Serice and fairly so even in table service. No care it taken in having all the little details anymore

 

[Klayfish]

Wait, so people who hate Disney now and refuse to visit Disney still post here so they can complain about how awful Disney is? "I hate Disney so much I still hang around a place people who like Disney gather so I can pee on it in front of them."

Cool.

I'm with you on that. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Sure, it's a public forum and sure everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But if I saw WDW in such negative light, I simply wouldn't post here anymore, I'd move on.

So obviously, my answer to the OP question is "nothing" at the moment. I still go, still LOVE going, still get super excited for it. The price hikes stink, but I still think you get a lot for your money and think it's full of .

I know to "never say never", but the only things that I can imagine being major problems for me would be:

Making it so that off property people have no FP+ at all or some other disastrous disadvantage. I can't ever see this happening, so no worries there.

Making everyone pay for FP+, right from the start. No more 3 free. This I can imagine happening. If it does, I'll decide how I feel then. It won't change how I feel about WDW, but could change how much of a value I see it and if it's worth my money.

Can't bring any food/drink in. That would be really bad. Probably not a total deal breaker, but a major bummer.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Ah, ok, sorry, people JUST think it's FUN to pee on things other people like.

You can continue to like it. This is a discussion forum is it not? Sometimes discussions are about things not positive. The cool thing is you only have to participate a read the threads YOU choose to and ignore the ones you don't like. Yay for choices!!

People have been posting on these boards for years so I'd imagine a lot of them hang around as they've likely me a few people along the way.
The first complaint up top has been here since 2004.

I'm taking my 2 year old to WDW because for a 2 year old, rides don't mean much. She loves dancing and music and parades and characters so I'm not going to worry much about FP's and dining and all that.

Prior to that, I avoided WDW for years as the price just didn't match the product for me.
$100 plus to stand in ridiculously long lines for really antiquated rides that while fun, are to me not really worth it. The price of food and stuff like that never bothered me much as that's going to be high anywhere. The having to plan months in advance what to ride and when was tedious as well.
With Universal And IoA right next door, who have, IMO far superior rides and layout, as well as way lower prices, WDW just didn't seem worth it most of the time. AK never appealed either as Busch Garden was right across I4 and has some really awesome coasters!!

EPCOT was my exception. The food, the drinks, the overall atmosphere of the world showcase couldn't be touched.

Now that I have a little girl though MK looks appealing again. For now.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Things I forgot when posting above:

We also really liked Pleasure Island in its heyday---which was begining on our honeymoon and lasted through our first through APs. We missed that, and EPCOT having a more educational bent.

and we're not huge Star wars fans, or Avatar fans and somehow both feel really out of place totus in the parks.

So, I have nearly two weeks in Orlando in January while DH is there on bussiness, and I will be going to Universal for the first time ever, instead of spending most (if any) time at wdw

That said, I have a couple of 3 day park hoppers we never used which I am excited about using soon---and 2 plus features each left on old tickets that we'll use in May before a cruise---love Blizzard Beach.

 

[E&Cmom]

I am not the target audeince for this question since I have only been there once 3 months ago so am still in the post disney happy stage. Saying that my DH has said several times that he prefers Disneyland and would rather go back there as it is easier both for us to get there and to go between the parks. He didn’t like how long it took to get everywhere. I am hoping to get back to WDW to do things I wanted to do but didn't end up doing but it might be a few years. I think we will be seeing Star Wars at DL first.

 

[soccerdad72]

Kids are teenagers now who prefer different things, like Universal or trips to Europe instead of WDW.

 

[Toolulu22]

It was more enjoyable when my sister, brother and I would go together with spouses and families. Everyone is busy now in different stages of life, and the changes at WDW over the years, not to mention the Florida weather, make it easier to look to other vacation options. A WDW vacay used to be easy breezy and very affordable. Now, in order to get the most bang for your buck you need to be fully invested in research, know exact dates to plan everything from hotels to rides, and it’ll cost you a small fortune if you want to be on site in one of the “deluxe” hotels that are ideal locations with the best amenities.

There is a true shift from the ‘small details’ provided by CM who love their jobs, to a cold hard business run by people who are at a JOB. Sad, but should we be surprised?

 

[ReneeA]

The reason I still post (mostly read) is because I joined disboards in 1997 when i still had dialup...Ive become a bit attached to it here.

However, our vacationing has changed drastically in the past few years. Our last trip to wdw was 2016, and cost us almost double what our trips 8 years previous had. In that 8 years, they added virtually no attractions, and certainly no headliners. They cut park hours, food quality definitely took a hit, our past 2 stays we walked into dingy "clean" deluxe hotel rooms. The return on our investment was not there anymore.

On the other hand, we stayed onsite at Universal the next year and for less money, we got a clean deluxe hotel room that offered front of the line access to rides, many new attractions, attentive staff, and high quality food for much less than WDW charges. I don't see us returning 1-2 times a year like we did Disney all those years, but at least I felt as though my money was well spent.

I do like to see that WDW is doing so much adding onto their parks. We may return in 2021 for the 50th anniversary if they haven't completely priced us out.