Best Strategy for a trip in 2022? Lower Your Expectations

[Westerner]

Universals setup is better for sure. Staying onsite is a massive advantage there with express pass included. We prefer WDW parks but Universal is so much easier. Hopefully things will improve at WDW soon.

I agree that staying onsite provides much more benefits at Universal than WDW. With 1 hour early access, Deluxe Express pass, good bus service, water taxi, walking path access, and better value resorts like Cabana Bay it's a compelling proposition.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

This is our main problem with it as well. We liked to rope drop, be in the parks until early afternoon, then go back to the resort for pool time knowing we may or may not come back out in the evening. Our strategy was to hit it hard in the morning, then take it easy/play it by ear more in the evenings. Now it seems the only way to get any value out of G+ will mean stacking rides into the late afternoon/evening when we often prefer to be done for the day. And I've had a baby in the time since our last trip, so late nights in the parks sounds even less appealing. We are still planning to go this summer, as we're dealing with 3 years of pent-up demand at this point (like so many others), but I'm definitely taking the advice of this thread and lowering my expectations. However, being in the position of needing to lower my expectations when this trip is costing a lot more money for less than we would have had with our trip that was cancelled in 2020 is leaving a bad taste in my mouth before I even get there.

Your plan of attack is basically the same way we handle the parks.....before covid.

Recently, we wound up having a looooong lunch break each day and getting to park number two a few minutes before 2pm.

We would do a couple of stacked rides, but by that point it was just to ring out a little bit of "value" out of the G+ system. Mentally it was not very rewarding for us and it made our days in the parks longer than normal while getting less done than before.

We did, however, always try to visit a resort for our lunch.......Poly/GF/WL/Riviera all provide a nice relaxing place to pass the time until we were able to hop.

 

[TinkB278]

Seems we aren’t crazy for having these feelings…

https://apple.news/AKJCr3KTyRImHrX6hj2xXXQ

 

[jlundeen]

Seems we aren’t crazy for having these feelings…

https://apple.news/AKJCr3KTyRImHrX6hj2xXXQ

Washington Post paywall... can you tell us what it says?

 

[TinkB278]

Washington Post paywall... can you tell us what it says?

It basically says people are priced out and the magic is gone. People are paying more now for a worse experience than they were a few years ago. You know it’s gotten bad if the Washington post does a story about it. They quote Len testa who mentions that prices have increased at rates that are much higher than inflation. They also mention how genie plus is complicated and a worse product than the previously free fast pass.

 

[Westerner]

@TinkB278 thanks for posting this, it's a great article!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/03/07/disney-world-disneyland-ticket-prices-fees/
^nonpaywall link

Most interesting part for me was from Prof. Scott Smith, a former CM who now teaches theme park management. Paraphrasing him:

• parks are facing huge pent-up demand and labor shortages which hurts the value prop
• combination of highest ever prices and worst ever experience breeds extreme dissatisfaction
• many loyal fans will keep coming even though they complain, but ordinary people might avoid wdw as word spreads

I agree with Prof. Smith. I think Disney is probably right in betting that most of its fanbase will keep coming despite the changes, and in a year's time the DIS community will probably have cracked the code on G+ and be able to once again get the #rides needed to feel happy about their day. But the nature of the relationship will have been altered, it'll feel more transactional and less magical than before. Further, I hope Disney is keeping a close eye on cust.sat. from 1st time guests. The key metric is not whether they bought G+ - which might look good in an earnings release - but whether they intend to come back...

 

[jlundeen]

I still can't see the article, must have used up all my "free" visits to WAPO...

Thanks to those who posted the gist of it.

I agree that 1st time visitors are probably a key to ongoing success - but at the same time, I wonder if all/many of us hard-core "disney-philes" will eventually start drifting away. We may just also come to the place where what magic is left just isn't enough for what we have to pay for it.

When they tell us "You are the Magic" do they really mean "Don't count on it from us.... bring along your own"?

 

[Princesca]

I haven't really been tempted by Universal, but if they come up with more contemporary and magical offerings for preschoolers, I would certainly give it a try.

 

[Darcy03231]

I still can't see the article, must have used up all my "free" visits to WAPO...

Thanks to those who posted the gist of it.

I agree that 1st time visitors are probably a key to ongoing success - but at the same time, I wonder if all/many of us hard-core "disney-philes" will eventually start drifting away. We may just also come to the place where what magic is left just isn't enough for what we have to pay for it.

When they tell us "You are the Magic" do they really mean "Don't count on it from us.... bring along your own"?

This is us. After two disappointing trips in 2015 & 2016 we started branching out to other destinations and realized we were having way more fun and spending lots less money. The transition was painless for my husband as he was never a Disney fan, but it was hard for me in the beginning. I was one of those who visited at least once a year, and sometimes 2-3x a year. He and I went back for a couple of days in 2017 (tacked on to the end of a cruise) because he wanted to see Pandora and I wasn't making a separate trip for one area of the park).

My neighbor and I planned to take her two girls in the fall of 2020, but that was canceled due to COVID. With all the new changes and reports we're waiting for at least another year. While I expect I'll go back at some point, it's no longer a priority for me.

 

[Scalemaster34]

I haven't really been tempted by Universal, but if they come up with more contemporary and magical offerings for preschoolers, I would certainly give it a try.

Well Epic Universe likly will add a few preschooler offerings... and might inch the resort to more of a destination all on it's own, especially if you count the water park for a day. But yeah it's more of a "let's do this too, than let's do this instead".

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

@BridgetBordeaux - seems Disney caught on to your thread title based on their rewording today around G+…. That guests can except to ride 2-3 attractions using G+ if they book early in the day….

If that’s not lowering expectations, I don’t know what is!

You’ve nailed it spot on!

 

[TinkB278]

@BridgetBordeaux - seems Disney caught on to your thread title based on their rewording today around G+…. That guests can except to ride 2-3 attractions using G+ if they book early in the day….

If that’s not lowering expectations, I don’t know what is!

You’ve nailed it spot on!

Was there some sort of announcement? If so could you post it?

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Was there some sort of announcement? If so could you post it?

No formal announcement- but all over various wdw blogs today about wording changes on the website…. Not sure if I can post those links here or not. (?)

 

[jlundeen]

Disney World Attempts to Lower Guest Expectations of Genie+ Paid Skip-the-Line Service

https://blogmickey.com/2022/03/disn...xpectations-with-genie-paid-fastpass-service/

 

[jknc]

So many things Disney has full control to change and it’s obvious they refuse to do so. What a mess.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Disney World Attempts to Lower Guest Expectations of Genie+ Paid Skip-the-Line Service

https://blogmickey.com/2022/03/disn...xpectations-with-genie-paid-fastpass-service/

Give them credit for trying to be transparent on this.

Now if they could also add "By the time you complete checkout, the actual time slot you book for a LL$ may be materially different from the time you initially chose"

 

[jknc]

Genie + is truly awful. For some reason I’d be interested to know if the percentage of folks who complain are staying on site or off site. I literally complained every day we were there. I felt like such a sucker. They even refunded one of our days after we got home.

 

[starousse]

Wow, they must've added that in the description due to the overwhelming amount of people crowding the Guest Relations counter demanding a refund. I'm hoping that now due to this new verbiage, less and less people are willing to purchase this. Then maybe they'll make the decision to scrap this failure of a system. I find it insane how a company who's supposedly so concerned about customer experience & satisfaction could go from a free fast pass system which would potentially give you the opportunity to get on rides all day long to charging you extra for the chance of getting on two.....but only if you rise and shine by 6:30.

 

[kathy884]

Thanks all. We lowered out expectations for our days at the Disney parks last week and really enjoyed the trip.

We are offsite visitors and what our 20 somethings missed most was the rope drop advantage. We were at the front of the offsite rope drop, but test track already had a 40 minute wait at Epcot and Space Mountain already had a 35 minute wait at offsite rope drop. I totally get it that if you are paying the premium to stay onsite that you get rope drop and those of us who are offsite don't get it., but that doesn't mean we liked it. This is the first time we ever visited without the rope drop advantage.

Now Genie + worked way better for us than the old FP system hands down. Even though we only used it for maybe one or two rides at Epcot, it was worth the $15. And at the MK we were able to use it for quite a bit more (Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World -- a bunch more too). We didn't feel tied to the phone. As an offsite visitor the old FP was pretty worthless. At least Genie helped with a few lines (e.g. I had a bunch of 80 + year old people in my group who wanted to try the new Frozen boat ride. With Genie + they walked on and the line OMG at that time was two hours). I also was able to do Soar'in with Genie + (super valuable to me) as the 80 + year old group I was hanging didn't want to do it, so I could do it quickly without them having to wait long for me. Well worth the $15. And Flower and Garden was beautiful. With the old FP system we could maybe get one ride worth doing during the fireworks or something like Soarin at 6 0r 7 when we weren't even planning to stay that long. I for one HATED the old FP system as an offsite visitor. Anything, even Genie + IMHO is so much better for offsite visitors like me.

By the way, we couldn't as offsite visitors get a pay LL for Remie at Epcot. The onsite people bought all of those, meaning none were left at park opening when we offsite visitor's could try for one. Our kiddos who wanted to do it had to wait in a stand by line that was a little over an hour and a half. They thought the ride was great and worth it, though. It didn't damper their day in the least.

My niece who is 30 liked her Universal / IOA day best as with the one time Express pass I bought for the kiddos for $130 pp (ouch on the budget) that was the most relaxed day for touring. The one bummer at Universal is that the kiddos waited 85 minutes for the Hargrid's ride and then it broke down, when they were next in line. They left then and didn't get to do it. It was down for over an hour too. The only other ride with a line was that new Velosicoaster and they only waited about 40 minutes. Doing just one day there with the big crowds that EP was worth it for sure.

Despite all the change and the crowds, DS (26) enjoyed the Magic Kingdom day most. Wild though that the Carousel of Progress had a line of 20 minutes and that it was actually a good move to use a LL on "It's a Small World" really??

We'd go again. It was super busy with sold out park days, but nothing anywhere near five different Christmas week trips we have done crowd wise.

We are always up by 7 on park days, so logging on at that time is no big deal to us.

 

[RoseGold]

Wow, 2-3 rides for G+. Expectations definitely feeling lowered.