What would Disney have to do to keep your family away?

[Nebraska_Disney]

We have 2 kids, 14 and 10 and have been to Disney 8 times over the last 10 years. This year will be our last for a while, as the construction going on is taking away a lot of attractions, we'd like to see the new lands when they are done, and the price is getting out of hand. My kids also want to do other things/places for vacation and not just Disney. Disney does a lot well, they just need to remember that that and not fix what is not broken or ignore what is.

 

[robinb]

They already have for us. No new attractions in years combined with increasing the prices has done us in. Having to make reservations for food 6 months out and rides 30 days out hasn't helped the situation. It takes the joy out of it. They should be adding a new attraction (a show, or ride or something) at each park each year. The parks are just so stagnant right now. They should not raise prices or change pricing structure until after new things open.

I've been pretty close to throwing in the towel myself for all of those reasons and more: FP+, increase in the cost of park passes, increase in the cost of food, needing to book ADRs at 120 days in advance, reducing the PAP discount from 20% to 10%, raising the price of the TIW to $150, being chained to a plan made 60 days in advance because FP+ selections not available in the park I want to change to, reduction in entertainment in Epcot, no good discounts on park passes for DVC members and the shocking cost of WDW resorts. We upgraded our 7-day PH to a Gold AP the day before we left in January and I am currently regretting it. I don't know if we'll be back before December after all even though I have reservations for late June. I'm certain something will push me over the edge in the not too distant future.

 

[eliza61]

It's an honest question, and one poster already answered, which I find helpful. Look back through my past posts - I'm not a bomb-thrower. I like honest dialogue. Nothing wrong with that.

I thought it was a great question. never thought of it as stirring the pot.

My family and I are the ultimate disney fans, we love watching youtube videos, looking at old vacation pictures. we've been going for almost 20 years straight so it's not like we are negative. lol

And we always have a great time BUT we only have so much vacation dollars and lately our trips have been "blah". Hollywood studios is a joke imo and not likely to get better until 2018 and every year ticket prices jump.

we have considered going for a quick weekend trip and not doing the parks

 

[loves to dive]

Shut the whole thing down is the only way I'd stop going. We don't go for just the rides or for the resorts or for the food but a combination of all three plus it's somewhere we can go where we can just relax and forget the world. Right now it is still less expensive than most dive vacations we take and for a long weekend it's less expensive then places I go solo.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I thought it was a great question. never thought of it as stirring the pot.

My family and I are the ultimate disney fans, we love watching youtube videos, looking at old vacation pictures. we've been going for almost 20 years straight so it's not like we are negative. lol

And we always have a great time BUT we only have so much vacation dollars and lately our trips have been "blah". Hollywood studios is a joke imo and not likely to get better until 2018 and every year ticket prices jump.

we have considered going for a quick weekend trip and not doing the parks

Thanks!!!

I see what you're saying... We went to DL for the first time as a family last month for the SW half, and it was nice to experience so many new things! Once Avatarland and SW Land come online, I think there will be that feeling of a good deal of new things at WDW. For now, it's incremental for us... new experiences we haven't tried... Ferrytale Wishes, new SW fireworks, a special booking like the Wild Africa Trek last WDW trip... that sort of thing. We've also started doing a lot of runDisney races with shorter WDW trips, so that keeps things interesting. And then there are always the old favorites.

If we hit a point where a WDW trip just isn't doing it for us, we'll take a break. Haven't hit that point yet...

 

[JimmyV]

Not being snarky -- I REALLY want to understand -- why spend time on these boards? If I was done with Disney and going elsewhere, no offense to DIS, but I wouldn't be on here!

The value derived from these Boards comes not only from people who plan to go to WDW, but also from people who are experienced guests who can answer questions and offer insight from their past trips even if they have no immediate intention to return. After our upcoming trip in April, it is likely that we won't be going back for quite some time. College tuition looms and I want to wait until some really innovative, new stuff opens up. But I would hope that my intention to stay away from the parks for a while does not suggest that I should stay away from the Boards to offer suggestions, answer questions and provide commentary. I can certainly see why someone who is done with WDW would cut ties here. But I can also see why they might want to continue to participate in discussions.

 

[Julylady]

We have also "thrown in the towel." We have two trips planned for 2016. An April spring break trip with the girls and an adults only trip for F/W in November. We will make those two trips and then will not return to WDW until at least 2019 (3 years). I have already discussed it with the girls and they are on board. We are planning a trip to Disneyland in 2017 and possibly Aulani in 2018. We have also talked about a Universal only trip to Orlando for spring break one of those years.

Why am I still reading these boards? Good question. Short answer is because we are planning an April trip. Long answer is that we own DVC and may need to make a decision about selling if we don't feel differently about WDW three years from now than we do today.

 

[Bethislucy]

It would have to be rude staff. Not like a few cm's having a bad day, but just if every place you went you came in contact with rude cm's I would be out.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The value derived from these Boards comes not only from people who plan to go to WDW, but also from people who are experienced guests who can answer questions and offer insight from their past trips even if they have no immediate intention to return. After our upcoming trip in April, it is likely that we won't be going back for quite some time. College tuition looms and I want to wait until some really innovative, new stuff opens up. But I would hope that my intention to stay away from the parks for a while does not suggest that I should stay away from the Boards to offer suggestions, answer questions and provide commentary. I can certainly see why someone who is done with WDW would cut ties here. But I can also see why they might want to continue to participate in discussions.

Very good point!! I guess if it were ME -- if I was ready to say "See ya'!!" to Disney -- I'd not be in the mood to contribute to the boards! But I see your point -- thanks for the answer!

 

[MomofKatie]

We haven't gone to WDW over 2 years, and have no plans to for the foreseeable future. That is due to a combination of Disney's and our choices and situations.
Things Disney has done/is doing:
-Price increases
-Cuts in entertainment/staffing
-Higher crowd levels
-Closing large sections of the parks for long periods
-Too regimented, even for a planner

Things that have changed in our family:
-DD is older, can't take trips because of living far from home and soon to be in college.
-College $$$$$ for the next 4 years
-DH isn't a Disney lover
-Most "vacations" for the next 4 years will be going to drop off/pick up DD from out of state college

 

[shanethesaint88]

My big thing is the crowds. I don't like to be in huge crowds. I don't like waiting in long lines, call me spoiled idc, I won't do it lol so this year when staring at 4500 dollars for 2 people and then thinking on top that I would have to deal with the crowds, I just couldn't pull the trigger. So we canceled and decided to book a Disney Cruise.

Long story short, if the crowds don't diminish or they get greater than I could see myself not going back.

 

[Mrsjvb]

already have. our last trip was so over scheduled between FP+ and ADRs that we spent all our time going from reservation to reservation and never actually enjoyed anything. especially since half of our ADRs we still waited ages past our time to be seated. combine with the fact that we honestly felt Club level was overpriced and the so called CL staff basically told us to do everything ourselves( make reservations for a spa visit, etc) we thought we wasted our money. I could have spent less and gotten a ten day cruise for the amount we paid for 7 days at Mouse town. even though we are moving to Florida next week, any theme parks we do going forward will be Universal.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! Definitely not looking for any type of fight, just genuinely curious how Disney could keep you all away. For me, no matter how crowded the parks get, or how expensive things are (to a limit I guess, since I am hardly wealthy), the parks pretty much have me with that emotional connection bit.

I am the WORLD's biggest Harry Potter fan (I come to Harry Potter conventions yearly, pretty much my entire life revolves around HP in one way or another) and yet Universal's WWOHP just cannot grab me the same way Disney can. I love to go there and even bought an AP when I lived in Orlando, but I really think what Disney has is the nostalgia factor. My parents took me there as a kid, not every year but every few years, and I really latched on, and now I'm 22, and someday I'll get married and take my kids there, and they will continue to go to Disney (I sure hope!).

HOWEVER. If they remove the things that make me nostalgic (such as my favorite rides)...then that nostalgia will be gone and there will be no reason for me to go back.

 

[GillianP1301]

There isn't a single thing that would keep me away. If there were ever enough not so great or negative things happen in one trip that they overshadow the positive, then I would stop.

 

[soniam]

The rumored pricing that limits to a certain number of attractions would definitely have me thinking. I would try it first, but I definitely don't like the idea. Makes me feel like I am at a fair. I hate thinking is such-and-such ride worth $50 more, because it probably isn't.

 

[W.E.D.]

I think FP+ may do me in. IDK. Our last trip was pre-FP+. We were never big FP users to begin with. We try to visit at slower times of the year and have made enough visits that we don't feel like we MUST see everything. It's also just us now, the kids have moved along. But I hear more and more reports on here that FP+ has made for lengthy waits on even the most mundane attractions.

Also, value for my money. We all know what it costs to visit WDW, even with discounts. Those costs used to include street entertainment, and CMs with more than a days training in customer service and the Disney outlook on life--for just a couple examples. PUT THE FLAMETHROWERS DOWN. I am well aware there are still plenty of CMs who have made WDW a way of life. They are amazing and treasured.

My two cents.

 

[mshanson3121]

There's a lot of negativity on these boards (as always), and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. We're discussing things that we aren't sure Disney is doing right- but of course there are plenty of things they DO do right. We're all here because we love Disney, and at the end of the day we keep going back because there's something special about it. That being said:

What could Disney do to actually keep your family away from the parks?

For me, all they need to do is start taking out classic attractions like the Jungle Cruise, The Haunted Mansion or Peter Pan's Flight. Any hint of the wrecking ball, and I'm out!

Continue like they are - raising prices and making cuts left, right and center. Tiered pricing will be another blow that will probably prevent us from going back - OR, if they implement the ticket booth approach that is now being rumored. We will definitely not be back. If I wanted to do a "pay for ride" approach, I'd go to my local carnival.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I don't want to be a trouble-maker, but this Spring Break we opted for our first ever cruise with DCL!!

We're doing WDW in August for the first time as well -- just became too much of an ordeal to take the kids out of school for long periods.

Fun!

Same here. We're down to the last week of August here for WDW trips. The weather is dreadful in the afternoons, but we still have a good time that week so we'll stick with it for now. It's nice to have one last hurrah before school starts lol.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

There's nothing specific. If we stop enjoying our trips, we'll stop going.

This sums it up.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

The rumored pricing that limits to a certain number of attractions would definitely have me thinking. I would try it first, but I definitely don't like the idea. Makes me feel like I am at a fair. I hate thinking is such-and-such ride worth $50 more, because it probably isn't.

This pricing idea makes me beyond nervous. I am not a fan at all.