Why I Gave Up on Walt Disney World

[rteetz]

But the options are all pretty terrible. And they’re even worse if you don’t stay on property.

You still have the options though. Its not like its one way or no way. Depending on your party size you can even get Mine Train FPs day of in some cases.

 

[RamblingMad]

You still have the options though. Its not like its one way or no way. Depending on your party size you can even get Mine Train FPs day of in some cases.

This is like gambling. You can show up to the park and hope you get the FP, but if you don’t, you can stand 2+ hours in line. That’s not fun. Or you can pay up for an on-site hotel, get up super early, and hope you get the FP. This is still pretty terrible alternative. Either way you’re still paying a lot of money for the added stress of the new system.

 

[KingLlama]

Man, I didn't realize it until reading this thread, but Disney World SUCKS

 

[rteetz]

This is like gambling. You can show up to the park and hope you get the FP, but if you don’t, you can stand 2+ hours in line. That’s not fun. Or you can pay up for an on-site hotel, get up super early, and hope you get the FP. This is still pretty terrible alternative. Either way you’re still paying a lot of money for the added stress of the new system.

That’s how disney works. You get a FP, pay for an add on event or wait in line. We don’t live in the 70s where most rides had minimal waits because the park was so much less crowded.

 

[RamblingMad]

That’s how disney works. You get a FP, pay for an add on event or wait in line. We don’t live in the 70s where most rides had minimal waits because the park was so much less crowded.

The lines weren’t bad in the 90s. And the old ticket fast pass worked fine. This planning rides months in advance is a terrible system.

 

[rteetz]

The lines weren’t bad in the 90s. And the old ticket fast pass worked fine. This planning rides months in advance is a terrible system.

Too each their own but I don’t mind it. I’m more or less so used to at this point though.

 

[nickg420]

My wife and I are AP Holders and go to the parks from Georgia quite frequently with almost no planning and still have a great time. We never stay on property and we still usually get to eat wherever we want and we usually get to ride whatever we want. Is that without a wait in line or perhaps a change of plans for a specific night? No of course not. But we still aren't planning anything out 6 months in advance.

However, when we take the kids with us I do make plans. Still not 180 days out because we don't usually plan our lives out that far ahead, much less Disney. My FPs are usually at 30 days because we never stay on property. I have had zero issues getting FPs for what I wanted. Do I get SDD or 7DMT on the first try every time? No but I have found if I check it pretty regular leading up to our arrival date. I can usually grab a FP or make plans to rope drop the park if the kids want to ride something bad enough.

I don't get this attitude of I want to do nothing but pay money show up and not have to wait for anything. There's no way that would ever exist with the sheer volume of people Disney takes in every day. Not to mention I like planning. It's fun to me, it builds the excitement. I get my kids involved and let them help decide what they want to do. To me it's not stressful at all.

 

[Beer Me]

Disney is the victim if it’s own success. It’s huge and massively popular which is going to create problems.

How should Disney handle something like mine train?

I like Universal but their system of paying for express pass (up to $150 per person per day) or staying on site at a $400 hotel (actually a great deal) wouldn’t translate well to Disney. The passes or room reservations would sell out instantly so most people would still be locked out.

FP+ is not perfect but it gives everyone a shot at a reduced wait. And there’s always rope drop. What else should they do?

 

[Lashed34]

We are coming from the UK in December and staying at AS Movies for 3 nights. We have planned out which parks we are doing on what days and booked the FP accordingly. We didn't get SDD or FOP but I check daily just in case either become available. We haven't booked any restaurants, we will eat where we can when we feel like it.

Last time I was at WDW they had the paper FP and we went on everything we wanted, as many times as we wanted, lines were great and we ate in all the places we wanted to. But that was 20 years ago and in that 20 years the only thing that has changed parkwise is SWGE opening and TSL.

There are only 2 of us and when I looked at what I "could" have planned it scared the hell out of me. I'm paying thousands of pounds for a holiday, I want to have fun and relax, so stressing myself out with plans and maps and strategies was never going to happen.

I feel so sorry for families because I understand the stresses they will encounter trying to please everyone without waiting for hours and hours in queues in hot weather. We are lucky, as adults we can please ourselves.

But Disney really do need to look into the way WDW operates, all this planning that people are doing and then facing bigger and bigger crowds year on year seriously needs addressing.

I agree with the DIS guys, WDW needs a 5th gate - a new park to spread the crowds and bring back some of the magic.

I can't wait to visit next month, I am so excited, but maybe that's because beyond FP we have basic plans and will just do what we can when we can.

 

[nickg420]

And let's be honest here.... As much as I love Disney, as I am sure many others here do as well, the fact is that if Disney could figure out a way to monetize a guest waiting less and not disrupting an already chaotic guest flow they would have done it by now.

Also, the current FP and MDE system was developed with data gathering in mind far more than guest convenience. Is it convenient to not have to have your wallet much, or keep up with a room key, or tickets? Sure... But It's much more valuable to Disney to know how man times you came,what you did, where you ate, how much you spent. All of those pieces of info are HUGE to Disney.

 

[nickg420]

Let's also be really clear here. When we talk about ADRs 180 days out we are only talking about sit down Table Service restaurants.

There are PLENTY of quick service meals to be had in WDW that you can walk up at anytime and get food. In fact many of them you can mobile order and not even have to wait in line at all.

 

[ZuuL]

@ZuuL - As I've never done a Universal stay, but am curious - would you care to say which hotel this was?

Hard rock hotel

 

[slpeters]

Everybody needs to get the word out, because I just got back from DLR about an hour ago and I'm looking to figure out WDW in the Fall and if everyone else decided not to go for those 8 days I'd really appreciate it...

 

[RamblingMad]

Disney is the victim if it’s own success. It’s huge and massively popular which is going to create problems.

How should Disney handle something like mine train?

I like Universal but their system of paying for express pass (up to $150 per person per day) or staying on site at a $400 hotel (actually a great deal) wouldn’t translate well to Disney. The passes or room reservations would sell out instantly so most people would still be locked out.

FP+ is not perfect but it gives everyone a shot at a reduced wait. And there’s always rope drop. What else should they do?

Implement DLs fast pass system in FL.

 

[rteetz]

Implement DLs fast pass system in FL.

At this point that won’t ever happen. The two resorts are run completely different and rightfully so. They serve two different types of visitor.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

People act as if it’s impossible to fix the crowds and wait times. Or that the FP system needs a major overhaul. The elephant in the room has always been capacity. And how do you fix that, aside from more attractions? Longer hours. Every day. Every park. And without an extra charge. They don’t need a time machine to go back to days with less people, they don’t need to scrap the FP system they’re clearly very invested in, they just need the willingness to open the parks longer and staff attractions accordingly.

Would it be perfect? Of course not. Would it do a hell of a lot when it comes to spreading out crowds? I think so. EEMH did great things for crowds not only during their 1-3 hour time, but all day long. Give early birds an option to get a ton accomplished before lunch and leave. Give late risers the incentive to arrive later since the park will close later. Stop trying to cram everyone into less hours. Guaranteed people feel a whole lot less pressure to plan when multiple rides arent regularly in the triple digits year round and there are options you can reasonably choose without a FP that aren’t bottom tier attractions (sorry Figment, I still love you) or shows.

 

[Beer Me]

Implement DLs fast pass system in FL.

I haven’t been to DL. Isn’t that just like the old paper fast pass system? What makes it better at DL? Is the real advantage not that it’s just smaller and less crowded?

I used to take full advantage of the paper FP at Disney world but it made for a hectic day running all over the park. If they went back to that I can imagine lines at those FP machines all day and you’d still have to get there early for e ticket attractions because they would run out just like virtual FP do now.

 

[YesterDark]

I just found this thread, and read the article and rolled my eyes when I got to this paragraph:

But the worst thing by far, and the biggest change that Disney has made that destroyed the Disney guest experience for me, is the My Disney Experience app. In the past, if you wanted a FastPass, you physically visited the attraction, put your ticket in the machine, and got a FastPass. It required some effort. If you wanted a dining reservation, you picked up the phone and called, or you could stop by Guest Relations or the restaurant in person. This also required effort. Today, you can literally sit on your toilet at home and make your dining reservations 6 months out effortlessly with the flick of your finger. You can do the same to grab your FastPasses 3 months out. Seems convenient right? Not for me. I don’t want to plan my vacation that far ahead, and thus, when I get to the park, there are no FastPasses and no dining reservations left. I am sure that it is cheaper and more convenient for Disney, but it ruins the vacations of people like me.

My first thought was just to reply "Ok Boomer".

But this whole "effort" mentality that he has, but he doesn't want to put the effort to plan a trip 6 months ahead of time? Seems lazy.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

I haven’t been to DL. Isn’t that just like the old paper fast pass system? What makes it better at DL? Is the real advantage not that it’s just smaller and less crowded?

I used to take full advantage of the paper FP at Disney world but it made for a hectic day running all over the park. If they went back to that I can imagine lines at those FP machines all day and you’d still have to get there early for e ticket attractions because they would run out just like virtual FP do now.

Yes, DL has the old paper fast pass system, but they also have Max Pass. It's an additional charge (I thin $15 per day per person), but basically it allows you to use the app on your phone to book the fast passes so that your not running around all day. Same concept though. No pre-booking fast passes 60 days out. Only allowed one fast pass at a time for the most part.

 

[RamblingMad]

Yes, DL has the old paper fast pass system, but they also have Max Pass. It's an additional charge (I thin $15 per day per person), but basically it allows you to use the app on your phone to book the fast passes so that your not running around all day. Same concept though. No pre-booking fast passes 60 days out. Only allowed one fast pass at a time for the most part.

Much better system.