Can we talk about how Difficult Disney Vacations are becoming

[Jrb1979]

The issue will be how long down the road the reservations are and whether you really cannot get another until your first ride is done. Go to park at 11, get a ride reservation for 6pm - you now have standby only for 7 hours. If it’s just a matter of your reserved ride wait being equal to the current wait time that would be one thing - but based on maxpass and how the old paper FP worked - wait times for even moderately popular rides quickly got to be hours with the more popular rides being “sold out” in the first hour or two.

I guess rope drop is the answer from now on.

 

[JenLT]

The issue will be how long down the road the reservations are and whether you really cannot get another until your first ride is done. Go to park at 11, get a ride reservation for 6pm - you now have standby only for 7 hours. If it’s just a matter of your reserved ride wait being equal to the current wait time that would be one thing - but based on maxpass and how the old paper FP worked - wait times for even moderately popular rides quickly got to be hours with the more popular rides being “sold out” in the first hour or two.

Oh no. That would really suck. Especially paying for it. We were originally planning on 10 day tickets for 2022 but I’ve figured it out and 6 day tickets with genie + is just slightly more than 10 day tickets without. I’m probably going to reduce my number of days at the park because of Genie + and keep my ticket budget the same as before. I don’t think an additional $1050 is worth it. (There are 7 of us). Especially if it does not add value.

 

[kitkat4622]

My planned April 2022 trip just got uncomplicated. I cancelled and booked Universal instead. As much as I love Disney I don't love paying more and getting less

 

[Dis-Dad]

The issue will be how long down the road the reservations are and whether you really cannot get another until your first ride is done. Go to park at 11, get a ride reservation for 6pm - you now have standby only for 7 hours. If it’s just a matter of your reserved ride wait being equal to the current wait time that would be one thing - but based on maxpass and how the old paper FP worked - wait times for even moderately popular rides quickly got to be hours with the more popular rides being “sold out” in the first hour or two.

I am hoping that since it’s one lightning lane ride at a time, it will be shorter periods of waiting for the next. One thing I didn’t like about FP+ (in addition to the 60 day booking) was that I often had FP scattered throughout the day which limited flexibility on planning the rest of the day.

 

[oceanmarina]

RANT WARNING: We are scheduled to go to WDW in November. We have been many, many times over the years, including twice since Covid. We are normally FL Resident Passholders. We usually go for 5 nights, 2 to 3 times a year and stay on property. With COVID added into the mix, it is just becoming too much. Masks on, masks off. I believe I am fairly tech savy. I try to keep up. All I want to do on our upcoming trip is ride Ratatouille/REMY what ever it is being called now. Now I see that Ratatouille is going to be a virtual queue, which I am not accustomed to, so I had to look that up. Add to the mix, Genie or Genie+ and it’s just getting to be too much. I watched both videos, still lots of questions. I don’t want to have to plan my day every morning of my vacation at 7am every morning.

What they did release seemed pretty self-explanatory to me. I think the issue some have is that they didn't release all the little details, which I'm sure will come to light eventually.

Where are the videos posted for this info? (Both Genie and DAS) Thanks

 

[aweehughes]

I think Genie actually required less advanced planning than FP+. You can't make reservations until the day of.

DME going away does complicate transfers, but I'm confident I can find a ride from the airport to my resort and back.

Also is everyone really having to order food in the morning? I've never waited more than 20 minutes for a mobile order return time, even when park passes were sold out.

I am here now and we haven’t had to advance order anything. I was able to pick up my orders at Docking Bay immediately.

 

[MsThumper]

Where are the videos posted for this info? (Both Genie and DAS) Thanks

If the following doesn’t work, it was on the disney parks blog.
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/08/introducing-disney-genie/

 

[footballmouse]

I mean, yes, I love Disney, but I would expect anyone on a discussion board about all things Disney would?

I love Disney too but I'm not the sucker they are gearing their new changes to. I had a trip planned for next month but due to my son's finances (he was paying his own way) we decided to cancel. I was very upset about this decision 2 months ago but now I'm kind of over it. We may all like Disney on this board, it doesn't mean we will all pay for their new high priced ideas. Some of us know when to say "enough".

Let me give you an example of what I mean about my second point....

When we first started going to Disney... here is what we experienced that we don't anymore, yet pay considerably more for.

1. Luggage that magically arrived in our room after we dropped it off at the airport.. no need to lug it around with the kids in tow...easy peasy
2. The same in reverse on the trip home... drop it off at the resort airline check in desk... go for one last park day and the luggage gets home magically.
3. No need to rent a car, hire an uber etc., magical express and tragical express did all the driving and we got to watch Disney tv on the bus.
4. Daily mousekeeping... with towel art and my kids stuffies set up in fun scenarios when we returned from a fun day at the parks.
5. The ability to swim after park closing when you get back after fireworks hot and exhausted.
6. The ability to get FP either the paper kind or the prebooked kind for the price of admission... thus leading to less wait times for big rides at no extra cost
7. Magic bands included with our stay, with an engraving to mark the name and date for a memory.
8. Your packages were delivered to your resort.
9. They didn't charge to receive your food delivery.
10. Park hours were much longer
11. EMH were much longer and more plentiful.

This is what I'm talking about.

Now you have to manage your own luggage, find your own way from the airport to the resort and back, you don't get your room cleaned regularly and forget any fun touches in your room, you can only swim at very shortened hours during the day otherwise it's locked up, you now have to pay for any sort of FP and potentially shell out much more for the VQ rides as there is not an option for standby, no free magic bands, no package delivery, pay to receive your groceries, shorter hours and more crowded parks, and no skipping down Main Street eating ice cream at 2:00 am as EMH are pretty much a thing of the past.


Yes everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I hope you can see why some might see the direction that Disney is going as tragic, not magic.

We took our last big family vacation staying onsite in 2012. We stayed at the BC, had the dining plan, went to all the parks, flew down instead of driving. We felt so pampered, my grown kids still talk about the things we did on that trip. These are the things that I will miss if we ever go again. And it was these type of things that made our trip extra special.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I love Disney too but I'm not the sucker they are gearing their new changes to. I had a trip planned for next month but due to my son's finances (he was paying his own way) we decided to cancel. I was very upset about this decision 2 months ago but now I'm kind of over it. We may all like Disney on this board, it doesn't mean we will all pay for their new high priced ideas. Some of us know when to say "enough".


We took our last big family vacation staying onsite in 2012. We stayed at the BC, had the dining plan, went to all the parks, flew down instead of driving. We felt so pampered, my grown kids still talk about the things we did on that trip. These are the things that I will miss if we ever go again. And it was these type of things that made our trip extra special.

I think everyone knows when to say "enough" for their personal situation. I just don't think that point is the same for everyone. Just because it is "enough" for you, doesn't mean it is for everyone. So I don't think it's really fair to say that everyone should be saying that right now. It's not even remotely close to there for me yet. Which is totally fine, I definitely respect that everyone does their trips differently. There have yet to be any changes that significantly alter how I do my trips, which is why I am far from that point. But I realize that not everyone does their trips like we do (which I've said before), just providing our perspective.

 

[Flagondry]

Yup, I’m out. Had planned for Feb, but universal is getting my money instead.

Once the system is rolling smoothly andI can see what lines are like, I’ll think about it for the future. The very notion of paying to enter the park and then paying 75 dollars for my family of three to ride a ride without a huge wait is insane.If it stays this way, I’m Disney done.

 

[magicalfoursome]

So much magic is just lost. We went with our kids - now in their 20’s- many times and have wonderful memories. Their customer service was like no other. I remember my son crying because he was just a hair too short for a ride in animal kingdom. He was given a fast pass to ride a smaller ride. I remember my young daughter going to trade a pin with an executive and he just let her have one without trading. And my family often talks about how much we miss spreading magic with the paper fast passes. Whenever we were unable or just changed our minds about riding a ride, we would go to the ride and look for a family of four and give them our fast passes. It was great to see the joy and surprise in their faces. And we had been recipients of this gesture a few times ourselves also. Something is just missing now. Disney and the people that go there just seem different.

 

[luv2cheer92]

So much magic is just lost. We went with our kids - now in their 20’s- many times and have wonderful memories. Their customer service was like no other. I remember my son crying because he was just a hair too short for a ride in animal kingdom. He was given a fast pass to ride a smaller ride. I remember my young daughter going to trade a pin with an executive and he just let her have one without trading. And my family often talks about how much we miss spreading magic with the paper fast passes. Whenever we were unable or just changed our minds about riding a ride, we would go to the ride and look for a family of four and give them our fast passes. It was great to see the joy and surprise in their faces. And we had been recipients of this gesture a few times ourselves also. Something is just missing now. Disney and the people that go there just seem different.

Curious what you mean by the last sentence? I've been going for over 30 years, the magic has only grown for me, but I realize that is a personal opinion and not everyone agrees with that. But I definitely haven't noticed anything like that.

 

[magicalfoursome]

Curious what you mean by the last sentence? I've been going for over 30 years, the magic has only grown for me, but I realize that is a personal opinion and not everyone agrees with that. But I definitely haven't noticed anything like that.

I just see so many more people line jumping, and having one person stay in line and then having the rest of the family catch up to them. And by rest of family I mean more than a parent and child. I understand sometimes someone may need the restroom but 6 of them? People ruining rides, parades, shows, and fireworks with cell phones. They are recording everything and experiencing Disney thru their phone and distracting those of us who want to be in the moment and enjoy without lights everywhere. Of course I still meet and talk with many wonderful people from all over the world at Disney. And Disney , in my opinion, is putting the almighty dollar above all else. I know they need to make a profit but raising prices while offering less is a let down.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I just see so many more people line jumping, and having one person stay in line and then having the rest of the family catch up to them. And by rest of family I mean more than a parent and child. I understand sometimes someone may need the restroom but 6 of them? People ruining rides, parades, shows, and fireworks with cell phones. They are recording everything and experiencing Disney thru their phone and distracting those of us who want to be in the moment and enjoy without lights everywhere. Of course I still meet and talk with many wonderful people from all over the world at Disney. And Disney , in my opinion, is putting the almighty dollar above all else. I know they need to make a profit but raising prices while offering less is a let down.

While mostly true, I've been seeing pretty much all of that for as long as I can remember. Nothing new.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

The old system was plenty confusing for newbies, you were just use to it. TAs made plenty of money knowing how how and arranging trips for people because there was so much to know.
Now all of that is out the window and some new things are headed our way....

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Duplicate

 

[Mousefan mom]

I wonder if you will be able to get a refund of your $15 when you can't get an additional 'fast pass' until 4 hours after you just rode your first one (especially if you are park hopping) because of "limited availability"--or the only fast passes you can get are the ones you really don't want or need like Mickey's Philharmagic or tea cups--however, even when we were there in July the lines to these sometimes hit 30 minutes long. All you can hope for is more and more people (even those of us who have loved Disney and gave so much of our vacation time and money to it) simply begin to reject it--less trips, shorter trips, etc. It is just simply affordable compared to many other quality vacations you can take your family on. When Universal opens its new park, I think Disney is in for a real hit--then Universal truly becomes a week long vacation destination.

One of the reasons we loved Disney was due to the all inclusive nature of the place--we paid our money--and yes we paid a lot--but you got so much value for your dime.

Honestly, what real value do you get now staying on property? Not much. Not much at all. Unless I missed it, nothing Genie perk wise for on site guests...we just stayed at the BW, rooms were pretty tiny, nearly $500 a night...I bet we can get something much more spacious and fancy staying off site.

 

[Marionnette]

The old system was plenty confusing for newbies, you were just use to it. TAs made plenty of money knowing how how and arranging trips for people because there was so much to know.
Now all of that is out the window and some new things are headed our way....

I'm wondering how this is less confusing for a new guest? They added a price tag to FP- and moved certain attractions to a pay-to-play status. How is this more easy to understand than FP+?

 

[Drew729]

I tell you what I wouldn't mind paying for... give my a reality show with all the c suite executives each staying at a different resort with their families over Thanksgiving week. Show me from start(airport) to finish(airport). Just the base package with no addons.

I would honestly pay more to watch this rather then purchasing a premiere access movie on Disney+

 

[aviva5675]

Wonder if you can get a BG thru VQ at 7 and also a LL for the same ride, and go twice in one day?