What (if anything) made you give up wdw

[QueenIsabella]

I'm in middle America too, but the Detroit airport is big enough that there are good deals to be had. Being restricted to summer is what hurts, I think; we're pretty flexible on when we travel and do a lot of last-minute trips based on what happens to be cheap at the moment. I hate that we're not jumping on the good overseas fares I've been seeing, but I haven't gotten my youngest her passport yet - the plan was to wait until after July so that her first renewal comes once she's an "adult" for expiration-date purposes, but I'm getting impatient.

On the good side (ha ha), going to Europe in summer can feel very much like a trip to WDW--the heat, the crowds...I swear, going through the Vatican Museum in June reminded me of a WDW queue--wall to wall people. When we went this summer, doing an after-hours tour of the Vatican was worth every penny to me. There were maybe 100 people, total, in the entire museum--we got to visit the Raphael rooms, really study the maps and tapestries, and spend an hour in the Sistine Chapel--even talk and take pictures (both not allowed during the day).

And I have to agree with the PP who said that WDW now seems geared more for the uber-planner who likes to schedule every minute of their time, months in advance. There used to be much more opportunities for spontaneity--not so much, these days.

 

[Disney Doll]

I wouldn't say we've given up completely, because at some point we will be back, but no plans anytime soon. For me it is:
1) Crowds / wait times. Can't stand how crowded it is. We have been on 5 trips between 2011 and 2017. In 2011 (early Jan) and 2012 (early May) we could walk onto rides like IASW. The recent times we've been, it's been a 25-40 min wait. For IASW! There were times in those earlier trips where we felt like we were practically alone in the parks ... not anymore!
2) My kids have gotten whinier as they've gotten older. They were fun to take as babies and toddlers, excited about everything, and would fall asleep in their strollers when tired. Now they complain about various things, and one of them will sit down and refuse to walk anywhere. Yeah I know ... then I should just sit down too and wait him out ... he will sit there all day ... so I've paid $400 to get in so I can sit all day? Nope.
3) Cost ... I can go lots of places for less $$
4) Personal preference for variety - we like different kinds of vacations - national parks, Europe, cruise, other theme parks, New England, etc. We've BTDT with Disney.
5) Planning. I'm a planner, so I even like planning trips, but planning WDW has just gotten ridiculous. Yeah, like someone else said, I don't want to stay up until midnight to pick what 1 minute ride I want to do at 3:35pm several months from now.

I wouldn’t be taking the one who sits down and refuses to move anywhere. Behavior like that doesn’t deserve a vacation.

 

[Disney Doll]

I am wondering if they are hit or miss. We tried them last year and they were to die for. We went last month and they were not that great and disappointing.

What is a zebra dome?

 

[Disney Doll]

One thing that has annoyed me is thevpay for resort parking thing. I actually shot an email to Disney and received a lovely reply about how people who weren’t hotel guests were parking in the hotel and using the bus transportation to the parks. I responded with how is that possible when every hotel has a guard at the entrance and you have to show ID or have a magic band scanned and they have a list of who has reservations at the hotel restaurants if someone is going to use the “I have an ADR at Chef Mickeys” so they can park in
The CR and walk to the MK. The parking fee is a money grab. Nothing more.

FP doesn’t really bother me. I make them to have them and if it doesn’t work out for that day, so be it. Same with ADRs. If my day isn’t going to shake out the way I thought I just cancel.

I think the food is pretty good overall. I never expect much from QS anywhere, so if I get a decent burger I’m happy. The higher end table service places are great IMHO. I’ve had some very good meals at WDW.

I’m a bit concerned about the WoD store. We were there in September. They’re redoing. Changing the concept. I’ll reserve judgment until it’s all done but I was underwhelmed by the new concept based on what I saw in September.

I generally have good interactions with the CMs. Once or twice I’ve encountered an unpleasant one but people are people and there’s usually one or two bad apples anywhere. I will tell you that last Novemberbweveere in Epcot at the character greeting thing. My SIL had been ill with cancer, having chemo. We weren’t sure if she would be able to do the trip but by sheer force of will (her grandchildren were going) she went. A lower key trip. She needed a scooter. We were with Mickey and did the family group photo. My SIL started to pull away with her scooter and Mickey literally chased her down and kissed her on top of her bald head. She died somewhat unexpectedly 2 weeks later.

And that is why I love Disney. Because I was as close to my SIL as if she were my sister. Her loss has left a GAPING hole in our lives. But I have that memory.

 

[fhtpdw20]

I agree with all of the statements made in terms of quality, service, upcharges, etc.. Disney is content to gouge the consumer now that the economy is a little better and people are willing to spend the money. Where will they be after the hype and hoopla dies down after Star Wars or the 50th anniversary? Where will they be when the cycle changes and there is an economic downturn? This repeat visitor was there when things were not so rosy and now Disney has pretty much depleted the good will bank I use to have. Look around the parks and see the number of people with their noses in their cell phones trying to adjust schedules when all the uber planning does not jive with the real conditions be it weather, break downs, stress from heat/meltdowns, or travel time makes it impossible to make it to one place from the other to keep to the schedule. I was known as the Disney lady and was a HUGE cheerleader for WDW vacations. No more. When people ask they get a "yes but" with a litany of the same statements made in this thread. I longer recommend Disney to anyone for a vacation. I will be taking a long break from WDW. I am waiting to see what the Disney Cruise line will do. If they follow suit to gouge the consumer then they will be out as well. I will be lurking more than posting just to keep up with the changes for good or bad.

 

[amberpi]

@Disney Doll - im sorry for your loss. What a beautiful memory y’all have of her.

 

[Skellingtonj]

Eh, we still love it. But i agree with the majority here. Once a year is enough for us, even as dvc members. It’s still pricey for the flights, food, etc.

 

[indimom]

Age has made our interest decline a bit. There are components we still love; but, with grown kids and no little people in the family, there are parts that don't interest us anymore. DH can't handle any rough rides or anything that increases vertigo, so there are quite a few rides he won't do anymore. It takes a little of the appeal out of trips. I do think we'll still go occasionally because we do love the atmosphere, the water parks, and Epcot.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I will tell you that last Novemberbweveere in Epcot at the character greeting thing. My SIL had been ill with cancer, having chemo. We weren’t sure if she would be able to do the trip but by sheer force of will (her grandchildren were going) she went. A lower key trip. She needed a scooter. We were with Mickey and did the family group photo. My SIL started to pull away with her scooter and Mickey literally chased her down and kissed her on top of her bald head. She died somewhat unexpectedly 2 weeks later.

And that is why I love Disney. Because I was as close to my SIL as if she were my sister. Her loss has left a GAPING hole in our lives. But I have that memory.

It is the experiences like that, Patty, that create memories that live a lifetime. Cherish them. Those, among other things, are what keep me coming back. My condolences to you and all your families, Patty. 's

 

[slpeters]

These threads always make me wonder what the parks used to be like. We went for the first time last Fall and thought it was awesome--so much so that we've planned a couple more trips already, and one to Disneyland for good measure.

But I guess the expectations were different. It was something I had always wanted to do that I was finally doing--I went into it the same way I did a trip to Paris. It was a splurge, far from the most expensive vacation we've taken, but solidly a splurge nonetheless. We had a week and wanted to do pretty much everything and, thanks to all the ways you could plan, we were able to. Dh was constantly commenting about how long everyone else was waiting. In a week we waited over 15 minutes a handful of times and never over 30 minutes. I suppose we could have spontaneously waited in hour long lines, but this was good too... Were there some reservations we couldn't get because we only planned for 3 months? Yeah, maybe we'll do them next time, maybe not.

And as far as the CMs, we thought they were awesome. In fact there's this one kid at POC that we joked about for the longest time. He was like 22 and he was loading people on POC. He was kind of phoning it in. It wasn't that he wasn't doing his job, he wasn't rude--he just wasn't fully engaged like everyone else. And he stood out for that. Seriously he would have been an average employee at our Target, I'm pretty sure he'd be employee of the month at Walmart--and he was the worst employee we encountered, in a week of sometimes 14 hour days! That's amazing to me.

Maybe things will change but I think we have a lot more good trips in us. On the other hand when people talk about having been twenty, thirty times I can't think of anywhere I could go that many times that I wouldn't get tire of. I mean there are a lot of great places to vacation out there...

 

[anniemae]

These threads always make me wonder what the parks used to be like. We went for the first time last Fall and thought it was awesome--so much so that we've planned a couple more trips already, and one to Disneyland for good measure.

It was much less crowded for one thing. You could walk right in, no lines. I have photos of us waking down Main St. at about 10 in the morning and there are maybe 12 other folks on Main st. Pretty much every ride was a walk on. As I said in my earlier post, a 20-30 min wait was considered absurd. CM's were great, and most still are today, but the "old school" cm's just had a certain quality/way about them (think Richard from GF.) Also, there was no need to plan. You could literally wake up and say, "which park today?" No need for fp's no need for dining reservations, no need to plan to the minute, which meant no need to have your nose in the cell phone timing your day out. We used to get to the bus stop some mornings and just take the next bus, wherever it was going. Some would say you could still do that today, but it's more difficult. You really need to know what park you are going to and plan dining/rides around that. Without a plan today, you can certainly still have fun, but may wait in long lines, not get into a restaurant you want etc. It's just different now, but also exciting with all the new stuff coming up.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Visiting Disneyland in California back in 2015 pretty much made me realize there's no reason to visit Disney World in Florida anymore. DL was superior in practically every way. I just came back from a return visit to DL this past week.

We're visiting Orlando in late November and have no plans to go to WDW.

 

[Colleen27]

On the good side (ha ha), going to Europe in summer can feel very much like a trip to WDW--the heat, the crowds...I swear, going through the Vatican Museum in June reminded me of a WDW queue--wall to wall people. When we went this summer, doing an after-hours tour of the Vatican was worth every penny to me. There were maybe 100 people, total, in the entire museum--we got to visit the Raphael rooms, really study the maps and tapestries, and spend an hour in the Sistine Chapel--even talk and take pictures (both not allowed during the day).

And I have to agree with the PP who said that WDW now seems geared more for the uber-planner who likes to schedule every minute of their time, months in advance. There used to be much more opportunities for spontaneity--not so much, these days.

Well, you just made me feel MUCH better about the fact that we usually *can't* travel in summer! LOL

The clock-watching at WDW wears me down too. I joke that I don't have a smartphone: I have an average intelligence phone, and its battery life is not the greatest. Since MDE and FP+, I have to tuck a portable charger or two in my bag just to get through a day in the parks if I want to adjust or add to our plans. And I really hate that. The nature of my job is such that I'm tied to my phone All. The. Time. in "real life", not only during working hours, and I don't want to be just as tied to it for my recreation.

It was much less crowded for one thing. You could walk right in, no lines. I have photos of us waking down Main St. at about 10 in the morning and there are maybe 12 other folks on Main st. Pretty much every ride was a walk on. As I said in my earlier post, a 20-30 min wait was considered absurd. CM's were great, and most still are today, but the "old school" cm's just had a certain quality/way about them (think Richard from GF.) Also, there was no need to plan.

I missed the no-planning era, mostly (our first family trip was the first year of free dining, so ADRs have always been a thing), but making ADRs for a handful of popular places was a whole different game than the current system of having to pre-plan every sit-down meal and FPs for the popular attractions. And park hours were longer back then, despite the lower crowds. I have a picture of my 17yo when she was about 6 or 7, standing in front of the clock on Main Street because she knew her friends would never believe we stayed in the Magic Kingdom until 3 a.m. unless she had proof. Now we're lucky if EMH nights keep the park open until 11, and ride capacity is cut back at a lot of attractions so that even at the slowest times of day at the slowest times of year, rides aren't walk-ons the way they used to be.

 

[Scifidiner]

It was much less crowded for one thing. You could walk right in, no lines. I have photos of us waking down Main St. at about 10 in the morning and there are maybe 12 other folks on Main st. Pretty much every ride was a walk on. As I said in my earlier post, a 20-30 min wait was considered absurd. CM's were great, and most still are today, but the "old school" cm's just had a certain quality/way about them (think Richard from GF.) Also, there was no need to plan. You could literally wake up and say, "which park today?" No need for fp's no need for dining reservations, no need to plan to the minute, which meant no need to have your nose in the cell phone timing your day out. We used to get to the bus stop some mornings and just take the next bus, wherever it was going. Some would say you could still do that today, but it's more difficult. You really need to know what park you are going to and plan dining/rides around that. Without a plan today, you can certainly still have fun, but may wait in long lines, not get into a restaurant you want etc. It's just different now, but also exciting with all the new stuff coming up.

This X 10.

I remember fall '84 experiencing this very scenario. Granted there was less to see and do, but it seemed we had the parks to ourselves and the freedom to do what we wanted when we wanted. A more simple and innocent time, without the need for a schedule on a spreadsheet or getting strip searched to get in the parks.

 

[720L]

There used to be certain rides that were almost a guaranteed walk on,(Small World, Ellen's Energy Adv, etc) until the new FP system.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

There used to be certain rides that were almost a guaranteed walk on,(Small World, Ellen's Energy Adv, etc) until the new FP system.

Yep. When everybody has a fastpass, nobody has a fastpass.

My recent trip was the first time I used FP+. I’d read complaints about how it negatively affected wait times so I knew to expect that, and I found the complaints to be true. One side effect of the new system that I hadn’t expected was how it impacted the flow of our day. We’d use one FP and then find ourselves in a situation where we had time to kill before the next window opened, but not enough time to go elsewhere and do another ride standby and make it back in time before the window closed. There was far too much time spent standing in front of attractions waiting for our window to open — ten minutes here, twenty minutes there... It made for a lot of stopping and starting, and killed the ability to move from one ride to the next to the next.

I dunno, maybe that issue could be remedied with better planning/FP scheduling, but I’m going to have to get my WDW trip planning doctorate degree before I fully master The Ultimate Touring Plan Specifically Designed for TipsyTraveler’s Family’s Vacation Needs and Preferences.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Like others have mention FP+ is what killed WDW for me. I still do DL (maxpass is awesome) and I love the movies but it would take a lot to get me to spend money on WDW ever again.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I would really love to go, but I find it cost prohibitive.

 

[Nayan]

A number of things: prices are outrageous, planning months in advance for food and rides I may or may not want to eat/do on that day at that time, crowds, the general loss of uniqueness as far as food and merchandise goes. I have no interest in any of the new things they have added and I feel I get much more out of my vacation dollars elsewhere.

 

[smiths02]

One thing that has annoyed me is the pay for resort parking thing. I actually shot an email to Disney and received a lovely reply about how people who weren’t hotel guests were parking in the hotel and using the bus transportation to the parks. I responded with how is that possible when every hotel has a guard at the entrance and you have to show ID or have a magic band scanned and they have a list of who has reservations at the hotel restaurants if someone is going to use the “I have an ADR at Chef Mickeys” so they can park in
The CR and walk to the MK. The parking fee is a money grab. Nothing more.

If they were only worried about lost revenue from people parking there and using the buses for free, then why don't they charge EVERYONE who uses the hotel parking (then you can get it validated with your hotel stay or spending a certain amount on food/shopping in the hotel)?