Who has two thumbs and hasn’t been to WDW in a decade??

[heymoonkid]

This guy!

Who wants to share their experience of what’s changed since 2014?

I know, I know, we could fill the whole forum with descriptions of the changes but maybe just give me your top 3?

When we last went, we spent 11 nights at AKL, booked the cheapest room ($200/night at the time, boo inflation) but got pixie dusted up to the savannah view room with bunk beds.

Kids were little then so we did a few hours in the parks in the morning, back to the hotel for long naps and dinner, then a bit more in the evening.

I’m going first week of December with my 15-yo and need to start planning now!

 

[wild4dis]

This guy!

Who wants to share their experience of what’s changed since 2014?

I know, I know, we could fill the whole forum with descriptions of the changes but maybe just give me your top 3?

When we last went, we spent 11 nights at AKL, booked the cheapest room ($200/night at the time, boo inflation) but got pixie dusted up to the savannah view room with bunk beds.

Kids were little then so we did a few hours in the parks in the morning, back to the hotel for long naps and dinner, then a bit more in the evening.

I’m going first week of December with my 15-yo and need to start planning now!

We took our 3 kids to WDW approx 10 times while they were growing up, our last trip in 2012. We just went back in Oct 2022 with our 3 "adult" kids. It was a totally different experience, we were drinking around the world instead of chasing character meet/greets !! We loved it and had a blast, one thing is for sure, all the time in the parks at a young age has made my kids Disney fans for life !!

Whats changed...
1.well the obvious is fast pass to Genie (2022), there was a learning curve, but we managed to get the hang of it ( I was the designated early morning reservation guy !) and use it to our advantage to ride everything we wanted. One thing also was that since we had been to the parks many times, if there was a ride with a long wait (and we had ridden many times in the past), we did choose to skip and maximize our time on newer rides or favorites we didnt want to miss.
2. Crowds...maybe Im losing patience as I get older but there seemed to be more people, lines at food, rides, shopping etc, we used some tips/tricks we learned in the past or online to get past some of the crowds.
3. new rides...Guardians is by far our favorite ride, its awesome (even the virtual queue and LL was new to us, but we were able to secure multiple rides during the week). The technology in Avatar and Rise and some other attractions is very impressive and a noticeable upgrade.
4. lodging (new for us) as a family who stayed DVC at OKW almost every time in the past, we stayed at AKL this time and the animal views were well worth the expense, plus Boma is one of our favorites !!
5. Time...what a different experience going with our 21+ yr old kids and experiencing so many things that we did with them when they were 3-17, the joy and laughs we had on non thrill rides that you would think would be pretty boring for their age was just the opposite and it made the trip even that much more satisfying...one tip, if going with adult kids, offer to pay for dinners and let them buy the alcohol, you will make out better !!

What hasnt changed...THRILL OF DISNEY !! the sights, sounds, smells, their all still there. The magic that we felt as a family of young kids, while different, its still happens. The excitement of planning before we arrive, getting to the resort and parks and seeing so many things that have turned out to be life long memories, they were still there and our family had a blast. We wont wait 11 years to get back (2025 planning underway)

 

[_19disnA]

We last went to Disney in 2019 after not being there for over 10 years. In the past we generally went only about every 3-5 yrs since the rides/shows never changed that much to keep doing the same things. It was just one of the places in our vacation rotation. Relatives with small children invited us to go with them was the reason for that recent trip. We were mostly amazed at how crowded and expensive everything had become compared to our prior visits. I would guess it takes at least 2x as long to do all of the rides/shows you want because of the crowds. This was before that whole Genie thing, but not sure it makes that much of a difference even if you want to spend a lot of extra money for that. No amount of advance planning will make the crowds any smaller. We had park hoppers and made good use of them since on some days during the week, one park was so crowded it was virtually impossible to move, so we went to a different park.

We still like to do all of the things we enjoy in one area of the park and then move on to the next. Zig-zagging all over the park has never been our style and can add MILES to your visit for very little benefit. Even with some new rides compared to your last visit, the basic layouts of the parks haven't changed. Personally, I think Disney should make more of an effort to enlarge walk-ways and eliminate bottlenecks in order to be better able to handle the larger number of people who now attend, but that doesn't seem to be a prioity for them.

Might consider staying off-site as the prices for most Disney hotels are NOT worth what they charge. Over the years, we have stayed both on-site and off-site and enjoyed them both for various reasons. I don't think any Disney hotel is worth $500+/night regardless of where it is located or what particular theme it has.

 

[crazymomof4]

No more Magical Express.

Paid Fast Pass (aka LL)

No more complimentary Magic Bands with a resort stay.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

If you have a certain type of ticket (AP, undated), you'll need to read up on making park reservations (if you have tickets purchased for the time period you're staying, you probably will NOT need them) - but be aware. That started during the pandemic and has not yet gone away completely.

 

[Genie+]

This guy!

Who wants to share their experience of what’s changed since 2014?

I know, I know, we could fill the whole forum with descriptions of the changes but maybe just give me your top 3?

When we last went, we spent 11 nights at AKL, booked the cheapest room ($200/night at the time, boo inflation) but got pixie dusted up to the savannah view room with bunk beds.

Kids were little then so we did a few hours in the parks in the morning, back to the hotel for long naps and dinner, then a bit more in the evening.

I’m going first week of December with my 15-yo and need to start planning now!

Where are you staying and for how long?

That would help me narrow down the 3 biggest differences between 2014/2024

 

[Bound4DisneyWorld]

Extra Magic Hours is gone. Now, Early Entry is available at all 4 parks, everyday for 30 minutes before official opening. Twice each week, one park stays open for 2 hours beyond the official closing time - but only for guests in Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resorts.

Skyliner is now available. Caribbean Beach Resort is its “hub”, with lines to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Guests staying at Riviera Resort, Art of Animation, Pop Century and Caribbean Beach have a dedicated Skyliner stop. Guests staying at Epcot resorts don’t have dedicated stops but are within walking of the Epcot station at International Gateway.

Mobile Ordering is a thing now. Lots of Quick Service and several Table Service restaurants offer it. Use it to save some time in line.

Similarly, the main shop at each park and Disney Springs (Emporium, Creations, Mickey’s of Hollywood, Discovery Trading Company and World of Disney), plus a few other big merch locations offer mobile checkout. Scan and pay for items from your phone and show a QR code when you exit.

Check in for Table Service reservations from your phone, or join the walkup wait list from your phone.

Estimated bus times are available in your resort reservation in the app - as well as viewing your room bill, and dining plan entitlements. Outside of the Disney app, if you use Google Maps, there are times for all Disney transportation by clicking on the bus stop, boat dock, monorail or Skyliner stations.

Prices have gone up. Noticeably. For everything.

Virtual queues are a thing. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom and Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at Epcot use them. Familiarize yourself because without paying extra for Multi Pass for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and/or Single Pass for Cosmic Rewind, without a Virtual Queue reservation, you won’t be able to experience either of those rides. Disney has said Tiana’s Bayou Adventure wouldn’t use one for long, but they’ve been using one since it opened in July. Tiana’s could stop using virtual queue by December. But Cosmic Rewind has been using one for two years and I haven’t seen any rumors about when it will disappear. Tron used to use a virtual queue, but it stopped on September 9.

If all of that was gibberish, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure replaced Splash Mountain. Cosmic Rewind is new at Epcot and Tron is new at Magic Kingdom. Epcot will also look VERY different between Spaceship Earth and World Showcase.

Pandora World of Avatar has opened at Animal Kingdom, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land have opened at Hollywood Studios. This has brought lots of new rides, dining, and shopping. Of those new things, I strongly recommend Flight of Passage, Rise of the Resistance, and Slinky Dog Dash.

If you use Disney transportation, buses have now added WiFi.

Others have mentioned that Fastpass+ first morphed into Genie+ which has evolved into Multi Pass and Single Pass. You’re paying for skip-the-line privileges which is the big part of it. But when you purchase Multi Pass digital downloads of all your on-ride photos are included for each day you purchase multi pass. That’s important for my family. We aren’t big photo people, so Memory Maker is a big expense when all we really want are the ride photos.

If you’re dining plan people, I think it would be new to you that adults can get an alcoholic beverage with the dining plan. That’s not a new perk, but I think it was introduced within the last 10 years.

That’s all I can think of right now that hasn’t already been mentioned. Happy planning!

 

[Genie+]

For a December trip it’s worth mentioning MK party season. There is a BIG difference in crowd levels depending which day you go to MK. Party days MK closes around 6pm and does not have fireworks for day guests, but those days are like a crowd level 3 or 4. Non-party days get the longer hours and fireworks but the crowd levels are 7 or 8.

Between 2014 and 2024 they’ve added one more party per week. That is cramming more people into those non-party days.

 

[FairyGodmother00]

My last trip was in 2007 but in 128 days I will find out

 

[Bound4DisneyWorld]

My last trip was in 2007 but in 128 days I will find out

I’ll be there a week before you for a quick, long weekend getaway. Enjoy the lower crowds and cooler weather!

 

[elvispursley]

Mobile checkout at a lot of the larger gift shops.

 

[OwnedByRetrievers]

We haven't been since 2007! The last time we went we used paper fastpasses and Tour Guide Mike.

 

[StageTek]

This guy!

Who wants to share their experience of what’s changed since 2014?

I know, I know, we could fill the whole forum with descriptions of the changes but maybe just give me your top 3?

Top 3:

#1: No more Magical Express and luggage transfer. You now pay for transportation for MCO
#2: No more Fast Pass.
#3: Some new very good rides. Flight of Passage. Cosmic Rewind. Rise of the Resistance.

 

[corellianskies]

1. Mobile ordering. This makes navigating the big stores so much easier and less chaotic feeling (to me, at least). And being able to mobile order food has been amazing as well. It allows us to find a place to sit before we end up lugging trays around.
2. FastPass system is different & paid - but 1000% worth it if you have an impatient family like I do. You spend more time on your phone, but if you're comfortable with tech and use it regularly like I do, then it doesn't seem that drastic, in my opinion.
3. Park overhauls/new rides. I think this is the most bittersweet and wonderful thing about the parks. They've changed so much that some of the places are just unrecognizable from the way they used to be. Some of it is great (new rides, updated areas), but some of it is disappointing (more homogenized merch, loss of nostalgia, etc).