where did my wdw go?

[firemanx]

wdw was always our families happy place, but now its just kids crying as parents push to maximize there $ spent! understandable, but has anybody else feel wdw is losing the magic?

 

[gottalovepluto]

I think something changed with you rather. Disney has always been a place with kids crying and parents trying to maximize the money they’re realizing they spent for their kids to have breakdowns at the most expensive place on earth.

Are people ruder and more entitled acting now? Yes. Like they are everywhere after losing a couple years of social skills. #ThanksCovid

 

[man-from-nantucket]

wdw was always our families happy place, but now its just kids crying as parents push to maximize there $ spent! understandable, but has anybody else feel wdw is losing the magic?

Well, very interesting question. My answer is yes, I miss ‘the days of old’, but I think it’s strongly influenced by nostalgia. Pluto’s right, we’ve changed. My DW and I have been going to WDW for over 25 years (yearly at least). This is driven solely by our special needs daughter who, for her, loves DW. For me (and not to sound like a curmudgeon), it’s the money grab and elimination of little things. The continued elimination of everything ’non-Disney’ (remember the Viking ride and Norway exhibit), to Disney only themed items. Don’t get me going on the elimination of ME and TIW! . Has it always been a money grab? sure, but seems to have advanced greatly with dynamic pricing for LLs and many other examples. I think answering this question requires some years of attendance. If not for my daughter, my years of going would have ended many years ago. But instead, 63 more days until our 6 day stay at BWV ( but who’s counting ).

 

[fla4fun]

wdw was always our families happy place, but now its just kids crying as parents push to maximize there $ spent! understandable, but has anybody else feel wdw is losing the magic?

No, the magic is still there. Sometimes the value for dollar spent isn’t there and sometimes people get cranky when it’s hot and humid. I think people also see others posting their vacations on social media and it creates more pressure to have the perfect trip. However, if you let go of the idea that your vacation is ruined if it’s not absolutely perfect in every detail, there is still plenty of magic. In fact, sometimes the magic comes to you because of the imperfections.

 

[redrosesix]

Well, very interesting question. My answer is yes, I miss ‘the days of old’, but I think it’s strongly influenced by nostalgia. Pluto’s right, we’ve changed. My DW and I have been going to WDW for over 25 years (yearly at least). This is driven solely by our special needs daughter who, for her, loves DW. For me (and not to sound like a curmudgeon), it’s the money grab and elimination of little things. The continued elimination of everything ’non-Disney’ (remember the Viking ride and Norway exhibit), to Disney only themed items. Don’t get me going on the elimination of ME and TIW! . Has it always been a money grab? sure, but seems to have advanced greatly with dynamic pricing for LLs and many other examples. I think answering this question requires some years of attendance. If not for my daughter, my years of going would have ended many years ago. But instead, 63 more days until our 6 day stay at BWV ( but who’s counting ).

100 percent this. For me and my family it's the little things that all add up to be a big thing. Like when we first started going the merch was different year to year and in every park, and we would gladly spend our money and have our parcels sent back to the resorts. Now the prices are much higher and the merch isn't so interesting and if we want to buy we have to carry it with us everywhere through thick crowds of cranky people. God forbid they would extend the hours or double the events so everyone could get a chance...things like that just don't happen anymore if you want to see the fireworks you have to book a dessert party

 

[HopperFan]

I took a break from WDW at the end of 2019. WHY? Not Disney or lack of Disney Magic. It was because of other guests' behavior. It had been getting worse and worse over the years but I had just had enough. There is no excuse for bad behavior, especially when you direct it at your child. And yet I see it over and over. So in that respect, yes it is sad that guests ruin the magic for their families and others.

But Disney ~ no they haven't tarnished the magic for us. Things have changed over the years, as they have at all businesses, we just roll with the changes. And if something becomes of no value for us, we don't buy. The ONLY thing at Disney that is not in our control is tickets. Everything else is in our control.

As I say often, if something no longer brings you joy, especially a vacation, it is time to find a new joy. Vacations are too priceless to spend somewhere where you have no joy. And sometimes you just need to take a break like I did to find your joy again.

 

[StarStruck393]

Some of it's the people. The behavior of society in general seems to be getting worse and worse; every time we go there seems to be more rudeness than the last trip. But also, I don't know if it's due in part to social media or what, but despite attendance being about the same as it was 15+ years ago, and still down significantly from ~10 years ago to the start of the pandemic, demand has skyrocketed across the board. Dining reservations, party tickets, merchandise, etc. I remember in the mid-2000s, we decided mid-trip we wanted to eat dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table (a day or two before new year's eve no less), and we just went to the concierge in our hotel and they got us a reservation no problem. Nowadays if you're not booking that 60 days out you're pretty much screwed. It just feels like a rat race, and again it doesn't seem like it's caused by an increase in attendance.

But some of it is definitely Disney. Increased nickel and diming. Getting rid of magical express. Moving fast passes to pay-to-play. Crap like that...

 

[NickC]

has anybody else feel wdw is losing the magic?

This is a tough one because they set the bar so high. So when there is one or two bad interactions, it becomes very amplified in our minds. A popcorn vendor rolling his eyes at my daughter, who was probably 10 at the time, is something so out of place in WDW that it sticks out. I don't even know where or how it started, but for some reason, and only at Disney, we refer to popcorn as pop-a-da-corn--which is how she ordered it. He apparently didn't think it was cute. It's not the norm, but that would have never happened 10 years ago even. But, then on another recent trip, my kids bumped into an automatic door and it came off the track a bit. I fixed it and called the front desk to let them know that it might need to be looked at by the maintenance department. But the person on the phone started to apologize to me for the "bad experience." I tried to convince her that Disney did nothing wrong and my kids broke their door solely through their own actions, but she kept telling me how sorry she was that that happened to us.
I would say that, yes, the magic is still there. But, it's not a constant thing like it was in the past.

Guest behavior never really bothered me all that much. I notice it, but I generally just go about my day. Want to cut in front of me in line? Go for it. I'm there to be with my family. I will get on the ride, but I'm usually having more fun in the line anyway. A big group wants to sing chants while walking down Main Street? Cool. They'll be gone soon. Bump me in the ankle with a stroller? I've been there, man. Never hit anyone, but there were come close calls. It's crowded. It happens. Smoking outside 'Be Our Guest?' Meh. A CM will tell him to put it out. Besides, he just spent $80 for some chicken nuggets because his daughter didn't want scallops and duck.

One thing that does bother me is the changes. Country Bears was the best attraction in all of WDW, IMO. Magic Express was the best way to travel--and it was always exciting to see Gus the bus driver on video. That meant we were on our way!