First Time I Ever Felt That WDW Wasn't Worth The Time and Money

[StraightToDumbo]

The other possibility is that lots and lots of people are going to return home disillusioned in the same way the OP now is. Don't overthink this.

There has to be a point when enough people are dissatisfied that it affects attendance. That or a packed park just becomes accepted. I guess there's always a "first time" market to fall back on.

 

[suemom2kay]

I hear you on the buses.

I really don't understand how and why they would let a wait get to 40. Seems like that should be unacceptable to them. It just shouldn't happen at this price point.

OP mentioned it was at the end of the night. Even if they send one bus after another AOA is enormous. I could see it taking 40 minutes to get on the bus with the volume of guests leaving at park closing especially MK & EP. That's a great time to grab a cab or an Uber/Lyft.

 

[wendow]

It's not just that more ppl. are going, but more in my opinion is how Disney keeps cutting
back and running at less and less capacity. We used to always go first week of Sept., the last couple years we've gone the last week of Aug. Our most recent trip, they were only running 1 side of Pirates, so sent every other boat completely empty making our wait almost an hr. (something that not long ago would have basically been a walk on for us during the time we go). They only had 1 bay at Cosmic Rays open, something we've never seen (this was during prime lunch time), didn't run Space or Thunder at capacity and photopass ppl. were basically non existent at the water parks (not to mention the lack of direct bus service to/from them). These were just the things we could see first hand and remembered, and I'm not that observant of a person, it was just so blatant, who knows what else. No nighttime parade, more pay extra party events, less extra magic hours etc.

The motto of Disney the last several years in my opinion is raise prices, provide less. I get it's a business, but for us that's the difference we've noticed.

I agree. We were there this Sept as well. Just as you said, only one side of Pirates running. Only one bay at Cosmic Rays with long lines. Long lines at every CS. Least amount of photopass pics we've had. We did get more from each character M&G but the ones from around the parks are few.

And we had lots of busing problems like the OP mentioned. It's frustrating. It's such an expensive vacation to have those kinds of cuts in what is offered. The lack of a nighttime parade was just so sad altogether. I'm also pretty tolerant and not really observant to things like this but the cuts are obvious and frankly, insulting.

ETA: As a family who has gone every Sept for many years, Sept just isn't what it used to be. That ship sailed and anyone who goes in Sept thinking crowds will be so low, they are in for a huge disappointment. Sounds like summer is the new 'low time', if there even is such a thing.

 

[wendow]

No one offered to help me, but I don't expect it. I have balance issues so I have less of tolerance for being bumped, especially from behind than most would, so I hate to complain. I don't know what WDW would do, because they can't make people be decent. I agree, it sucks though.

I have a dd with Lyme Disease and she has balance issues and also is super sensitive to pain...being bumped by a stroller would be more painful for her than it might be for someone else. I'm sorry no one offered to help you. That completely sucks as does the person's attitude who hit you. We all need to have more compassion instead of trying to only think about ourselves and our family.

 

[wendow]

Yes I agree, a lot of the problem is just the sad state of today's society. I noticed the same thing on Disney cruises. Remember the good old days when you wore a suit when flying or dressed up to go out and eat?

Yep, now people board the plane in their pj's and attend church in their workout clothes. Which is fine, I guess, but things sure have changed.

 

[Davey Jones II]

@SimonSez The crowds didn't bother me. Hot weather doesn't phase me. My interactions with fellow guests were all pleasant.

The rain I experienced last year before Matthew was horrible. The insane prices for wine samples at the Festival were super annoying.

But the thing that irked me the most are the Halloween parties. It made the Magic Kingdom packed for HEA on the nights it played. It caused Epcot to be packed every night that there was a Halloween party.

My family and I are looking at dates for March now. We'd be there during the Flower and Garden Festival. I just hope Iger won't get around to ruining it like he did F&W.

See bolded above. Why Epcot in particular?

 

[suemom2kay]

Nope, it was perfect. We used a break in between to cool down, load back up on waters and relax. Then, we'd decide whether to go back to the same park or go somewhere else. It was a good pace, there were just waaaaaay too many human beings during a time I THOUGHT would at least have average crowds.

Did you plan which park which days? Crowd levels vary in each park. For example, MK is notoriously crowded on Mondays. EMH am will easily bump up the crowd level in a park. Undercover Tourist and Touring Plans both have crowd calendars to help decide which park. A tip, if there are a million people getting on your bus in the morning, you picked the wrong park.

 

[wendow]

I think we will see more and more posts like the OP. There just aren't enough fun places like WDW in the nation and yet, our population keeps growing and international visitors keep coming too. Each year it's more and more and more visitors.

Short of WDW building another park, it's only going to get worse. I just wonder what some other choices would be for middle aged couples who want to have fun, eat well, laugh, play, rest, and touch the child inside?

Do you mean a place to go and not take children? I am middle aged but I am taking 4 kids when I go to WDW. If it were just me and my hubby, I'd much rather head to a Caribbean destination.

I do agree about the Int'l visitors. There seem to be more and more every year we go to Disney also. I guess I wonder, why aren't they visiting Disney's int'l parks that are closer to home? There are so many Asian guests, which I actually find them so pleasant and polite compared to others, but why come here when they have such great parks much closer to them??

 

[suemom2kay]

See bolded above. Why Epcot in particular?

Because Epcot is the 2nd most popular at night. So with no MK, people tend to migrate to Epcot over AK and DHS who often have earlier closing times.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I sympathize with the OP's complaints, but I do think you get a better vacation value when you do more park days. The cost per day goes down, and you're not under as much pressure to squeeze everything you want to do into a handful of days. Also, if something breaks down or a show is cancelled or full, you can always plan to see it later in the trip.

We will be at WDW for ten days, and we will barely be able to do everything we want -- although, granted, we are riding certain favorites multiple times.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Because Epcot is the 2nd most popular at night. So with no MK, people tend to migrate to Epcot over AK and DHS who often have earlier closing times.

Okay, thanks. I'll keep that in mind when I complete our trip planning!

 

[wendow]

There has to be a point when enough people are dissatisfied that it affects attendance. That or a packed park just becomes accepted. I guess there's always a "first time" market to fall back on.

I think many are dissatisfied but are not sure what to do. This type of thread creeps up every now and then here on the Dis and the responses are a lot of the same..."We feel the same and aren't going to go for awhile after our 20xx trip" or " After we go in two months, we are taking a break from WDW too"...And then people go again and have a better experience or can't figure what else to do so we all just keep going to WDW out of habit as much as comfort. And so yes, the bar keeps dropping in terms of what is acceptable and normal. Our Sept trips are NOTHING like they used to be...value has dropped, crowds are much higher and quality has decreased...but a Disney vacation still ticks a lot of boxes. I have kids ranging in age from 6 to 17. That is hard to plan a vacation meeting everyone's needs. My kids still come away from a Disney vacation happy. It's my dh & I questioning if it was worth it.

 

[sunshine1]

Pete Werner said on one of the podcasts and I am paraphrasing here: whatever you plan, halve that, due to the humitity, size of the place, etc.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

OP, I'm with you. I haven't completely thrown in the towel on Disney World, but I'm going on 2 years without a visit, and don't have any immediate plans to return. 5+ years ago, that would have been unheard of, as it was a mandatory component of my life to visit WDW at least once annually. I was sad at first but got over it after a while. It seems that everything Disney does these days, especially regarding park and rule changes, seem to go against the way I like to tour. So after a while, I essentially reached my breaking point and decided that I could better spend my money on other trips.

I started a thread several months ago that Disneyland is now my preferred destination. I don't want to rehash all the reasons why but for me, it's what Disney World was 10+ years ago. So, at least for the time being, when I need my Disney fix, Disneyland will get my money. I've also decided to see more of the international Disney properties which are pretty awesome and make for some really nice international traveling adventures.

Your sentiments are becoming more and more popular where some folks want to admit it or not.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

There has to be a point when enough people are dissatisfied that it affects attendance. That or a packed park just becomes accepted. I guess there's always a "first time" market to fall back on.

I use to think it was coming, but I think we are still quite far from it. As you say, the "first time" market is likely always going to be there. Disney have become experts at event planning to continuously draw in crowds, one of the big reasons why there are no longer quiet times. And while I think there was a general feeling that the parks were becoming stale, Disney just recently announced lots of new rides and attractions that are coming. By 2021, the parks, to some extent, will almost feel like a completely new experience, likely even drawing in the folks who have sworn it off.

 

[JerseyJanice]

See bolded above. Why Epcot in particular?

Because it is open until 9:00, I think. Every night that the MK closed at 7:00 for the party, Epcot was slammed because people chose to go there instead.

ETA: I see now @suemom2kay had answered already. It's hard not to notice that Epcot gets packed when MK closes early. A lot of people don't buy park hoppers so an early closing at MK makes Epcot crowded for the entire day.

 

[melanielll]

I sympathize with the OP's complaints, but I do think you get a better vacation value when you do more park days. The cost per day goes down, and you're not under as much pressure to squeeze everything you want to do into a handful of days. Also, if something breaks down or a show is cancelled or full, you can always plan to see it later in the trip.

We will be at WDW for ten days, and we will barely be able to do everything we want -- although, granted, we are riding certain favorites multiple times.

Yes - the cost of being in the park goes down every day, but all of the other costs still remain high and continue to pile up. We stay at The Contemporary. Each additional park day costs $10 per person on the tickets. Great! But the room is still $800 a night for each additional day. Not so great! Plus - we still eat on each additional day - there goes a few hundred per day. An extra day of pet sitting - $45. An extra day of vacation used for my husband - that has a cost. So each additional day costs us over a thousand dollars.

Maybe that's Disney's genius masterplan... make the trip way better if you stay longer and drop an extra 3 or 4 thousand dollars. Add as many mood killers until you reach that perfect spot. Don't make people so unhappy that they won't come back, but make them feel that they can only get the full experience by staying longer. If true, whoever came up with that deserves a bonus.

Edited to add that the insane increase in party nights has significantly altered park traffic. HEA - I am almost at the point of only watching it from the hotel during party season.

Also - I am expecting the Christmas party to start running into January by next year. Then - Mickey's Fabulous Easter party will be born. And then Mickey's Sweaty Summer Celebration.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Edited to add that the insane increase in party nights has significantly altered park traffic. HEA - I am almost at the point of only watching it from the hotel during party season.

Also - I am expecting the Christmas party to start running into January by next year. Then - Mickey's Fabulous Easter party will be born. And then Mickey's Sweaty Summer Celebration.

Well, you're doing it wrong. If you really wanted to see HEA in all its glory, you'd spring for a dessert party. For the low price of only $50-$70 per person plus tax and park admission, you'd have a perfect view of HEA complete with cake and punch.

 

[Disneylover99]

It's not just that more ppl. are going, but more in my opinion is how Disney keeps cutting back and running at less and less capacity.

I agree. We typically go the end of August and Christmas week. It's physically more crowded Christmas week, but lines seem like they are always moving because everything is running at full capacity. Bus service is amazing that week!

 

[melanielll]

Well, you're doing it wrong. If you really wanted to see HEA in all its glory, you'd spring for a dessert party. For the low price of only $50-$70 per person plus tax and park admission, you'd have a perfect view of HEA complete with cake and punch.

Perfect - until the six foot guy who also paid the toll standing in front of you puts his 8 year old on his shoulders and the kid then records the whole show on a tablet held over their head while waving a glowing light saber.