I'm so glad you guys are finally calling out Disney for their BS. I always admired the way you always tried to make things sound not so bad when they were just getting worse and worse
I’ve been waiting for this one. I grew up here and it feels like a different company that reopened after our lock down. I still love being there whenever I can get away for a few hours but times they are a changin’ and the old ways and days are gone for good.
Naked corporate greed has made Disney a no go for me and my family. Paying extra to go on rides after I pay 160 bucks per person to just walk in? That's absolutely ridiculous
I dont even think paid skipping the lines is a bad thing in theory (my friend is an avid Universal fan and loves their express pass, even a local theme park near me offers a line skip add-on that's worth the cost) but Disney has executed it so poorly. The fact that it's such a confusing disaster makes it seem like a gross money grab instead of an actual trip enhancement.
I did genie + for our entire trip. Totally not worth the extra except for Magic Kingdom. You were lucky to get 2 rides at Hollywood Studios. I did keep refreshing and one time it said I had smugglers run but it disappeared. A cast member was right next to me and said he saw it. He brought me to guest relations who then looked at my genie+ and said oh you already had 2 lightning lanes you are better off than most. She then proceeded to tell me there was nothing she could do. The very next day we had issues with my son’s genie + so we went back to guest relations. They fixed the issue and gave us an extra experience (lightning lane). It all depends on who you get but overall the hassle isn’t worth it at any parks except Magic Kingdom. That’s just my opinion.
The changes since the reopen are truly disappointing. My kids are DYING to go back (we used to visit every year, last trip was before the pandemic) so we are booked for this November. But going forward we'll probably switch up our annual trip to Universal, try a cruise, etc. Disney is becoming too crowded and high stress to justify the price when there are so many other great trip options around the same price point.
I'll be going in May this year. Last time we went was May of last year. My boyfriend and I got annual passes for Universal/Islands. With all these new changes, Disney World isn't all that worth it anymore
just go to Disneyland paris. travel to Europe and see what REAL castles look like. You will end up spending the same amount of money as you do at Disney World
I went last September and had a wonderful time. This is the notorious slow season and not many people were there. We ate at the restaurants we wanted to. We even got a Topolinos' breakfast reservation during our stay. It was an awesome time. The magic is what you make it.
They've managed to suck the magic right out of "The Most Magical Place on Earth". Takes a special kind of greed to do that. We've been 10+ times since 1994, was ok until FastPass+, but at least you got to schedule your rides in advance. Trouble is that started to take the spontanaeity out of your visit i.e. you no longer stopped for street performers as you needed to get to your next ride. Then they cut down/stopped these because fewer people were watching. That was part of the Magic, coming across these performers and stopping to watch. Now you spend so much time with your face buried in your phone/rushing to your next scheduled attraction you no longer have time to stop and see what's around you. Trouble is, first time visitors won't know what they are missing and will continue to visit. Us old-timers don't matter anymore. It's all about stockholder dividends. Don't know if we'll visit again and that makes me sad.
I feel exactly the same way about how it presently seems to be nothing more than a money grab. I would very much love to bring my family for one more “family only” trip before life takes my girls away from home. However, it is difficult to justify paying substantially more for a 7-day trip than we paid for a 10-day trip three years ago, knowing we will be getting less for our money.
It's definitely the end of an era. My family will not be renewing our annual passes for the first time in ages. Used to go multiple times a year and now we're considering even selling our DVC. Genie is a nightmare, the crowds are ridiculous and it's impossible to have the kind of fun that you're paying for. The food has become an embarrassment and their new mantra of "supply chain issues" is just more BS spin.
Your story is the same as ours.. 10 years of AP's on site stays.. im afraid the golden age of Magic is over. Sad but true, thank god we did it when it was fun and magical.
Yup DVC and annual pass member here that abhors Genie+. While I don't know if I will let me AP expire or not, my trips to the parks will definitely be less frequent because of all of the issues we've had our last 2 trips. The first 3 after the reopening were great, the last 2 were a complete mess.
@@MichaelRei99 We had done that for years and years, more so in the past 4 years than ever before, however have you seen the room rates lately? when you add the taxes fees and parking its through the roof. Art of animation is 581 dollars a night excluding tax and parking - that's more than I paid to stay at the contemporary 2 years ago.
A guy who works for me said (3 weeks ago) he was going to take his kids to Disney for spring break. As I asked him about accommodations and park passes, he had done nothing. Thought he’d just show up. I told him he might want to rethink that. They aren’t doin Disney this year.
Listening to the nightmare of planning a trip these days is so disheartening. I went to college in Orlando back in the late 00s and one of my roommates had a family member who worked at Disney. We got in for free several times over a couple of years and obviously we were just walking in and enjoying ourselves at leisure. We'd manage all four parks in a day and do our big-ticket rides without any problems (including the exceedingly silly things like riding Spaceship Earth multiple times in a row in different languages or chilling on the People Mover for a few laps). Granted we weren't really in a huge rush to hit the highlights all at once, but we'd manage to hit the Mountains plus Pirates before noon and then hit up Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom for a couple of hours, pivot to the other park, and finish off the day at Epcot and at no point feel rushed. We could wander at our leisure, enjoy the sights, and more or less just say "Hey, you want to do Expedition Everest?" and yeah, sure, no problems. Also had Fast Passes, of course, and other than the couple of times we had a dining arrangement (made that morning, not two months in advance) that was the extent of our planning. Now it sounds like a nightmare. You HAVE to plan sixty days in advance. You HAVE to make sure you have an itinerary booked. You HAVE to have dining reservations or else look forward to relying on quick service. Locals (whether living in Orlando or taking a day trip from elsewhere in the state) can't just decide on a Wednesday to go to the parks on Saturday. Part of the fun for us was just being able to wander and goof around and go with the flow. I don't want to be stressing about where I need to be at any given time or keeping my eyes glued to a phone to monitor attraction lines and I'm certainly not interested in spending the cost of a ticket to be able to use Lightning Lane. What a shame. Sometimes I think I'd like to grab a couple of friends just to visit Pandora and then I'm reminded of this nonsense and it's just... disappointing.
It is interesting that so many people are unhappy, but the park is packed to capacity. I believe the problem is Capacity itself. When you pack the parks, Genie does not work, lines and lightning lanes do not work. Nothing works. However, when Disney packs the park, they collect your money, whether you are happy or not. And as long as they can pack the park, Disney does not care about your experience, their concern is profit. This will not change until people stop coming. If crowds drop, then they will have to consider experience. Eventually it will happen, but until then, Disney will stuff their pockets.
I think a lot of folks are going as their first trips back after cancelled/postponed trips in 2020/2021. I'd be surprised to see this level of crowds continue once the pent up demand slows down, and once the 50th celebration ends. My family is in the same boat, we'll go this year because the kids are dying to get back after canceling 2020 and 2021, but we're planning to cut back from every year to every 3-5 years instead due to all the recent changes.
@@jessicathompson6403 save your money! Took my kids twice a year from 2019-2021, and then again in January 2022, and it has finally gotten entirely unmanageable - and dare I say nearly impossible to have a stress-free vacation
Absolutely correct! It's why I cancelled my reservation for next month. I may not have a voice, but money talks. And I think Disney is eventually going to reap what they've sown when this "post pandemic" surge is over. People won't keep putting up with the crowds, the nickel and diming, the lack of all the fun things that used to make Disney fun and special. Get rid of Chapek...he's killed Disney.
The era that Disney is entering is sooo disappointing. I’ve planned 3 Disney trips- one with FastPass, one in December of 2020 without FastPass or Genie+, and one for this May with Genie+. Genie+ is frustrating, confusing, and takes away from your experience while you’re there. With FastPass and even with nothing at all at the end of a pandemic, you could go on a whim and planning was limited to what rides you wanted to go on and where you wanted to eat. Dining reservations are also a nightmare. The website crashed when I tried to make reservations. When a time for Cinderella’s castle opened, the app crashed and the opening was taken.
I use to go twice a year and I can recall the parks having very low attendance in mid November and early December. I'm not going anymore I don't need the disappointment or headaches I just want to escape the real world and have some fun.
Took the wife to DisneySea here in Japan a couple months ago it went smooth as eggshells. It’s baffling now to see all the Disney videos popping up saying how hard it is for you guys back in the states to just enjoy. Much love and hopefully something will make Disney get it’s magic back out there!
My family and I were going every year from 2018 through 2021. I don’t know when we will be back. The last couple visits have just been so hard. So much is gone and with prices increasing across the board it’s just not worth the aggravation. It’s a very sad time to be a Disney parks fan 😞
You and me both. I even went last May and then again in January, and January was completely worse and not even worth attempting to do. I can’t say I’ll be back for a while. And I’m DVC :(
@@cainomac The difference between my trips in June and February were drastically different... and not for the better. I am also DVC and an annual pass holder and have not loved most of the new changes.
The last two times we went (not with the fam but with my BFF for three/four days) we didn’t go into the parks at all. We are Dvc members and stayed at several different hotels, enjoyed restaurants by skyliner, and pools. It was pretty dang great.
Frank I’ve been going to Disney since 1976 I was 3 years old on my first visit! I have a paper recipe from the 80s when I went with my 7th grade class I paid $25.00 to get into Magic Kingdom. On that trip suddenly the weather changed and we all needed a sweatshirt we simply walked into a store and picked up Mickey ones for $10.00 bucks now those are 40 -100 bucks
If you have a hotel room and tickets, you should be guaranteed a park reservation. Even though I am an annual pass holder, I still think those paying for a hotel should have park preferences over those that do not. Either that or completely do away with the park reservation system. I should also add that I love to disconnect and escape when I am on vacation and the fact that they continue to push using a mediocre app constantly is beyond frustrating.
I am here now (March 14-18, 2022) and I have never experienced the parks so crowded. We got to Magic Kingdom for resort guest opening and did a couple things and by 11am, there weren’t any genie+ selections until late in the day and everything was a 45min+ wait. I don’t know how families are expected to enjoy this… you battle the crowds all day and even when you pay extra for experiences, that’s not guaranteed either. I was a CM 20 years ago and come to Disney every year or every other year and this time I’m truly disappointed. I knew I was coming at a busy time and we tried to plan accordingly, but it’s been a lot to manage, even paying for genie +, the individual attraction selections, doing mobile order, getting to the park at 7am… It’s just sad knowing that my best Disney memories are likely in the past.
We were those people who booked a vacation only to find out there were no park reservations available. We did have a party pass and one of the parks became available while we were there. fortunately, we got to visit twice but my kids hearts were broken. We are DVC members and I’ve been going to Disney for years. we were completely in shock with all the changes. I’m hoping some of these changes will adjust once we are out of this pandemic but I’m sure it’s gonna be a while. I also know New management has a lot to do with some of these bad changes. We are going again for spring break and we planned things way ahead of time. this trip planning was not nearly as enjoyable as it used to be. My daughter and I have a genetic disability . Our symptoms changes from day today. Disney used to be the most accommodating place for a disability, however it’s now one of the most difficult places to visit . We don’t know from day today how we’re going to be feeling so all the pre-planning is difficult when you have no idea how you’re gonna be feeling that day. If Disney starts charging for missed reservations, we will entertain the thought of selling our DVC.
Thanks for this! I'm planning for my first post-pandemic trip. I can't believe how different it feels just on the planning portion, and scary is exactly the right way to put it. They've found a way to make it super stressful. The 3-5 hour wait times when something goes wonky with my reservation just adds to the frustration.
My little family of three saved for four years for a Disney vacation. When the Genie+ news came out (on the heels of all of the other price increases), I was done. We took that money we had saved and bought a Universal vacation instead for this coming September. We'll be staying at a premier resort (so Universal Express is included), we've got park-to-park tickets every day, and with flights and food we're STILL spending less than we would if we had paid for a Disney moderate hotel and Genie+. I have a very strong feeling our family isn't the only one making this choice.
We just came back from our trip to Disney World. We had never been. Myself, my husband, my three year old daughter, my infant son, my sister, her two daughters (15 and 11 years old), and my mom. This is something we have wanted to do since I was a little kid, but we grew up quite poor, so I mainly wanted to make this happen for two reasons: 1) this was an opportunity for us all to go together as a family living in two different states, and 2) I wanted my nieces to go while they were still young, so despite all the difficulties I knew we faced, we went. I did a TON of research, including watching a lot of DFB and AllEars videos as well as some videos just about taking toddlers and babies to the park. First off, we stayed at Pop Century Resort, and even though I wish I would’ve figured out that the good neighbor hotels offer the same perks before we reserved our hotel, I did enjoy this hotel. I really love that it had access to the skyliner. I will say that they are small rooms, but we don’t mind that so much. We also had connecting rooms with our family (my mom, sister, and nieces), which was really nice. We loved the theme and the three pools. Still think it’s overpriced though considering how small it is and that it’s supposed to be “value” when you can get a deluxe sized room at a good neighbor hotel for the same price (with little kids, a suite would be great!) As for the parks: they were insanely busy. If we didn’t have to go during my nieces’ spring break, we wouldn’t have gone during that time. It wasn’t just crowds (although that was obnoxious, especially since so many people think it’s acceptable to walk right in front of your stroller - they probably don’t want to wait on you - super rude.) My biggest complaint is with how Genie+ works during such busy times. By the middle of the day, most of the popular rides had no more Genie+ reservations available (and I’m not even talking about individual attraction selections). For example, my nieces really wanted to ride Frozen Ever After in Epcot, but the lightning lane was sold out all day, and we were not going to wait in 90+ minute line. Especially with a baby and three year old. Then, when you are able to get Genie+ reservations, you have to take what’s available, especially after you book your first ride and have to wait 120 minutes to book the next one (assuming it’s not in the morning, which it usually isn’t - that how fast they get booked). When we were in Hollywood Studios, we had to wait until 10:30 (two hours after parks open) to book the next Genie+ reservation, but literally everyone is in the same boat, so it shows a bunch of stuff available, and then you try to click on it right at 10:30 and everyone is doing the same. The app glitches and all the available times disappear. There were so many rides we wanted to go on and we couldn’t go on them due to this. Once you are able to book those lightning lanes, you do have to take what’s available, and often it’s hours out, and then I’d often have to double book (after waiting two hours), so we would have a slot of time where we had nothing to do (we’d get a snack, rest, I’d have to nurse, or we would just stand in a shorter line for something), and then other times where we would have to race from one end of the park to the other due to the Genie+ reservations we had. It felt stressful and frustrating. Don’t totally get me wrong - we did have fun - I was managing all of this so that the rest of my family wouldn’t have to stress about it. They def thanked me for it later on. My nieces still had a really great time and I’m sure this will be memorable for them for years to come. I just hope they improve their system in the next couple years (maybe Chapek is the reason for all this bonkers nonsense - I don’t know; if so, hopefully he goes). I want to take my kids when they are older and able to ride on more things and actually remember it. I mainly did this for my larger family and my nieces (I would not have gone with just my husband and two little kids - for just us, I think it would’ve been hell). Also, I refuse to go during a really busy time again. I don’t care if I have to pull my kids out of school and tell the school they’re visiting family in Canada. I’ll never go during spring break again. Anyway - it was our first experience, and I’m glad I did do so much research before going, but the whole Genie+ system failed us in so many ways. I’ve been to Universal once with my husband before we had kids, and we had a fantastic time and used the Express Pass. We even rode on some rides multiple times. It also doesn’t require you to be on your phone and stress about rides filling up their reservations. You’re paying for shorter lines not to skip the lines, and I think that’s part of the problem with Disney. You don’t really wait much to get on the ride once you go through the lightning lane thing. But it’s much less stressful to get in a line (a shorter line but still a line) than to try and make reservations and only take what’s offered, race across the park to get to it, and just feel stressed. You don’t feel as immersed in the park. You also don’t get to ride as much. I’m just really disappointed in the whole system and everything. I think after the rush to go on vacation after this pandemic has subsided, Disney will likely see people not going as much (at least I hope so! There has to be some kind of consequence for their terrible decisions and making everyone stressed out on vacation!) ‘nuf said.
My family was there late January into early February for my son's first trip. I was not ready for holiday level crowds as we avoided holidays and weekends. We still had a great time, but did not get to everything we wanted to, especially at MK.
Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane is the beginning for in a few years they will start charging for each attraction or make Genie+ packages for 3, 4 or 5 attractions. They are waiting for us to get used to this new system to introduce another one that is more financially beneficial for them.
I grew up in ca going to Disneyland and had an AP there for years, but I’ve never gone to Disney world. My family decided to go this year as a bucket list 1 time type of situation and it has been the most stressful booking experience. Everything I see online now is that the visit is going to be stressful too. 😔
My favorite part of having AP at Disneyland several years ago is I was able to just be like “long weekend, let’s go to disney” and just roll up, have a good time with my friends, and I didn’t have to do much more than make sure I had a place to sleep that night. It made the experiences so fun. Everything now just sounds like a nightmare
At this point, it doesn't even look fun to go. I watch quite a few of the Disney vloggers. Watch the crowds in the videos. No one even looks happy or like they are having fun : ( after spending all that money and energy required to go.
We’re done at Disney for a long while. We went in May, JUST before the flood gates opened. Had a great time. No fastpasses was incredibly freeing. We also just got back from what’s become our final trip. We forked over the 6k for Galactic Starcruiser. It was incredible, but definitely has transportation problems, on several fronts. To afford GS, we took out an extra 6k in our fall refi of our house. We ALSO pulled out an extra 35k, so we could finally buy into DVC. Well, after fully researching DVC and after the crazy crowds last week, I decided it was CRAZY to buy into DVC! I’m NOT going to compete for a reservation, 11mo this in advance for my obscenely expensive timeshare! Same for dining reservations. It’s ridiculous that the reservation hoarders turn even that into a competition. This last trip, we stayed for 2 park days after Starcruiser. We just did QS. Couldn’t even get day before late ressies. The crazy crowds made DAS return times SO long! With all that, we decided no thank you. We’re DONE. Our next 6k vacation will be a 15 day European river cruise. Something that’s actually relaxing. And will only cost 4k, including flights! We’ve been hardcore Disney fans, but the magic? It’s GONE. and that’s SAD! Waiting 2 hours on hold? The only thing that means is Disney needs WAY more CMs assisting guests in the phone. That’s poor service.
@@markreynolds9135 dont you know how to use google? theress plenty of river cruise with that amount of budget,and its definitelly not a rubber dinghy youre weird
thank you for speaking up about this. i haven’t been since 2019 (been going since i was a 6 month old) and i’m so, so disappointed in the company. the magic was replaced by greed
I remember when Disney was so much easier. One year (early-mid 80s) my family was supposed to go skiing for winter break. Right before we were supposed to leave, there was a freak heat wave and the skiing was not going to be good. One call to the travel agent and we were on our way to Orlando the next day- had a great time at Disney World, even ate at Cinderella’s Castle!
Someone mentioned this but I think it’s worth repeating….. nobody looks like they are having fun. The amount of money and planning only to be herded on blacktop while you stare at your phone for updates. So sad what it’s become! The ones running the company should be made to experience a day in the park like a common vacationer. They are so out of touch. That’s what’s scary :(
The scariest thing to me is all the fights that seem to break out lately! I’ve been going to Disney regularly since 2006 and never heard of such violence and vandalism like has been reported by people that have seen it first hand and other Disney reporting channels
I would rather have a Mickey mini kitchen sink or the Tinkerbell lanyard than an Olaf plate 😂 that said, I can’t believe that anyone who purchase Genie+ in the past 4 weeks would say that they liked and definitely NOT that they had gotten more LL than they had previously gotten FP. Please, don’t mislead people. It’s unfair. The people who had success with Genie+ had it last fall when fewer people bought Genie+, parks weren’t as crowded and there were still some sweet loopholes to exploit. Now more than half of the Guests buy Genie+, parks are selling out several times a week and the loop holes are closed. You can’t book a second LL until 2 hours after park opening, some people think it is still 2 hours after your first 7am LL. LL sell out at most parks before 2pm. That means 3-4 LL per day. Let’s be candid, this new system is a nightmare. Everyone ends up on longer lines. Disney makes money from the sales of Genie+, but loses money every time a family spends 2-3 hours in a line instead of eating or shopping. They need to do better.
We're Canadian, and Disney recently pulled out all their stores from Canada saying that people are shopping online. I get that, however there is no Canadian Disney site, so we have to pay international shipping, conversion, and duty fees, which basically means whatever the cost is on the site we pay double. My main Disney fixes come DFB (thank you AJ and team!!!!)/All Ears, and Disney movies. I have no idea when we will go again, but it won't be any time soon.
@@seascape35 they don't need the expense of bricks and mortar. They just need a distribution centre for Canadians from which they may ship WITHOUT all the excessive added fees.
@J Hoop - Yes it can be stressful, we have experienced those types of stays at WDW. What makes ( made ) our WDW vacations enjoyable was that we never scheduled a bunch of character dining or events that had scrambling to get there or constantly watching the clock to make sure we didn't miss them. We would do maybe one or two for an entire week, that way we could just park hop and roam around and do what ever we wanted.
pro convention goer tip (i haven't been to disney in 25 years but this might help for you as well) if you can, buy an extra meal and have someone bring it back, or pack extra snacks with you for late night meals. If you can, buy yourself an extra something.during the day.
We finally became passholders in 2021 even though we live in Ohio. October and November's visits were truly awful experiences. We sent friends for their first trip in January and they were miserable and struggled to ride a handful of rides each day. After their experience, and ours, we canceled our family trip we usually take in May. :( I hope things improve.
Just wrapped up a trip last week. I’m glad I love the company of those I was with, because it was otherwise not a great experience. It’s easy to blame the crowds, but the only thing I blame is greed on behalf of Disney. Waiting 25+ minutes for a ride akin to a state fair ride isn’t how it needs to be - it is this way because WD oversells tickets to their parks, and then charges for the privilege of having a near-appropriate wait time in the form of lightning lanes. It’s really sad how they’ve destroyed the customer experience they were once known for.
Just planning this trip in April 2022 has been a nightmare. There’s no magic anymore. Can’t say how stressed out I am trying to just plan this trip for 11 people from 4 separate extended families. I hope this isn’t as bad as I’m expecting.
I’m going with my family and its my bf and little nephews first time in August this year and i’m so scared it won’t seem as fun and magical for them. Let us know how it goes for you!
It’s just so different now. When….WHEN have you ever heard of a fight breaking out in Disney? Maybe once a year or so?…..Now it’s at least once a month you hear a fight at a park somewhere. Or the occasional ride break down….now it’s multiple rides a day……It’s just not the same Disney anymore.
I grew up with Disney especially on the Disney Cruise. I went to Disney world 3 years ago and I was able to plan my reservations for my stay at the Walt Disney resort, parking ticket and park ticket. Last time I was still able to use my fast pass for the park. It was a blast to experience the avatar ride, beast castle and Star Wars millennium falcon especially on my cousin’s 8th birthday on her FIRST Disney vacation.
First and only time at WDW so far was last year and while it wasn't ab ideal experience with a lot of the shows and stuff closed due to COVID, it was also a glimpse into a world without Genie+ or even Fastpass, with reduced crowd sizes and the ability to get on almost any ride in less than 30 minutes if you were flexible about when you went on. We're currently looking into doing another trip this year but I'm already starting to get overwhelmed.
I went to WDW in December 2020 and just now (March 2022). This time I kept thinking, "wow, everything was so much more enjoyable during COVID regulations."
Forget 60 days out for popular ADRs, unless you’re staying for 7-10 days. I couldn’t get chef mickeys or topolinos terrace up to 65 days out….Because our stay was 5 days. I even woke up early to make sure to be on at 5:45. 🤦🏻♀️
The sad thing is Disney is not the same anymore as AJ says it has turned into a money machine no more guest experience I know there’s no point to complain about it but I have been at Disney and cast members are not as the same not as nice as they once wore I understand why it’s really depressing to c the downfall how Walt Disneys vision is disappearing.. Thank you AJ for another great video
A problem with the staffing shortages as well is that Disney has been forcing most of their employees to work extra hours, causing burnout. Oftentimes, overtime is mandatory and many employees have been working 50-60 hour weeks for months on end. The reason why calling Disney is so difficult now is not because the amount of people calling has changed, but the call centers have significantly fewer cast members working the lines than pre-pandemic. Disney has also significantly cut the CM perks.
So grateful to hear AJ say this. I'm seeing this kind of issue everywhere, government, private industry, medical, entertainment... Everyone who "knows what's best" is trying to "make things better", and both of those deserve to be in quotes. If the "smart people" who are trying to fix things would just back off and remove the excessive layers of complication, we can have our lives back. We could go to the park and just stand in line for the attractions you want. Unfortunately Morpheus was right, there are just a certain percentage of people plugged into the Matrix who only know the Matrix, and they will fight to defend it because it's all they've ever known. Some Disney fans will defend each new, confusing policy and readily dine on the information given to them by Disney which defends every bad idea as a good idea. Vote with your dollar. Today I attend non-Disney events that are about Disney, presentations by former Imagineers, JC skippers turned authors, etc. I visit the state parks that inspired Walt so much, etc.
thank you for finally explaining morpheus's radical truth about society: disney parks used to be better. i can now join you in the revolutionary action of attending non-disney disney events! everything that has a beginning has an end ✊
THEY NEED A NEW PARK!!! Me and my family have been saying this for years. They were on a very good groove of releasing new parks many years ago but they haven’t had a new park in somewhere near 20 years! It would help crowds so much.
We just booked a Disney trip on a credit from the closure in 2020, so the only way we could access the credit was through phoning. Our wait on hold was a total of 16.5 hours.
Part of the issue was that only « specialized » ticket person could help us, so someone would answer, say they couldn’t help us, and we’d be put on hold again.
I was just there in January and yes, the crowds were ridiculous. Some of that may be from canceled trips and the 50th anniversary, but I don’t buy that as the only reasons. We always liked going in early May. Nice weather and low crowds, but when we went in May of 2018, we were shocked at how crowded it was. Disney has been increasing capacity for a while now. It’s a shame. I love the parks, but it’s just not fun anymore.
We all made it so popular, now complain about how busy it is. Imagine if there were no park reservations? Everyone has forgotten how fast fast passes sold out.
Unless you’ve been to Disney several times I would definitely put off my trip until at least 2023, it just seems like there’s way too much going on and not going on right now
They said that elderly couple was truned away bc they didn't make reservations or something to that nature. I pray they drop all these reservation mess
I don't think I will be going to Disney for a long while after this. I get severe social anxiety and I will would not be able to handle those crowds well at all. So unless I get the chance to go to Disney Japan and Tokyo Sea in the near future (unlikely) I think I will be avoiding Disney until things calm down quite a bit.
I was so pissed when I heard about the Fast Passes changing to Lightning Lanes. My mom paid extra for Genie Plus and we were still paying a ton of money to get on rides. The worst part is that we could only use it to get on 2 rides because even though we went on to pick rides the moment it allows you too, we could still only get certain rides which were always late in the evening when we most likely wouldn't even be in the park
Which is why as much as I've been trying to go since October 2022. I will wait and see what happens. It's so expensive and thankfully I had the chance to go in 2017 and I had the most magical experience every. If I never go back I won't be sad
I'd REALLY like to see you tackle how to navigate the food in the park with both types of diabetes... Like, really, really want to see you tackle that.
Today was my VERY FIRST visit to Magic Kingdom. The bad news: I didn’t get on a single ride. The worse news: I nearly struck out as far as my schwag wish list goes, only got one thing on it. The good news: I’m about to head out to ‘Ohana for dinner and then on to EPCOT for DVC Moonlight Magic 😺
Honestly I think the crowd problem is the lack of shoes and other attractions not just rides. Disney was one of the new theme parks that has a lot of attractions and shows not just rides. Now they took that away and there’s nowhere for anyone to go. Shops/ dining only go so far because those cost extra for people in the parks. They need to bring back shows and maybe add some more
im planning on going in the summer with my mom, and if this is how stressful snd crowded it is in the spring i cant imagine what it would be like. thank you for this video! ill make sure to take all the tips into accounr
Yeah we went the week of Valentine’s Day this year. Had an amazing time but the ride wait times were crazy. We didn’t have an issue with food but it seemed like every ride was an enormous wait.
I didn’t read through all the comments so I’m not sure if someone already pointed this out, but it might have been helpful to mention navigating the new DAS reservation system. You now have to pre-register via phone 30 days in advance.
This really dampens my spirit. My husband & I are celebrating 20 years and 3 years of saving for this trip, I don't know if we should go to Universal instead.
We switched to Universal and LOVED it. My family has flown into Orlando twice in the past year and it was great. The experience was much more laid back, the food was great, and honestly, the staff was far more pleasant than our last Disney experience. We spent over a thousand dollars less for the last trip with much better dining than our Disney trip in 2018. I recommend it. We do go off season but other than Hagrid's wait of 1 hour, the rest was more like 10-25 minutes.
So true! I just did a one day trip while I was on vacation and it was a little chaotic! The lines where insane and even when we decided to buy Genie Plus, that only got us on two rides because everything booked up by 10-11am! We went to Hollywood Studios and I was not expecting to be there from open to close. We didn’t even have time to ride the Aerosmith coaster!
It's like Disney is using one of their magic wands to lure people into believing they need to come to the mouse house and while there are robbed of all the joy because everybody's head is down looking at a phone. I'm leaving mine in the car and if hubby and I get separated I'll just walk myself to lost & found. LOL!
We are just done. It just isn't fun anymore. Going to Disney is now expensive, stressful, and a logistical nightmare. My family has flown into Orlando twice in the past year and switched to Universal. It was so much more laid back and far less expensive. There are so many things to do just in this country that are far less expensive and I can have fun rather than feeling like one planning mistake in a myriad of thousands will bring a well planned vacation crashing down. Truthfully, I think this is what Disney wants. I don't think my middle class family is their target demographic. I think they want people who are not concerned with any budget or financial limitations so they are squeezing those of us not willing to spend on that level out. Who knows? Maybe it will keep working for them after everyone gets done with their post pandemic travel.
My friend went for the first time and absolutely hated it. She can't understand why I loved it. It's just so difficult to navigate it now. She paid for genie + and got to ride 2 rides each day with it. What a waste. I want to tell her it isn't normally like that but I think this is normal now. Makes me sad.
Genie+…….ugggghhhh…. We were in Disney the last week of January, first week of February this year (btw: insane crowds!) I was our groups designated “guide”. We rope dropped MK and stayed until after fireworks. I felt so mentally exhausted from constantly having to look at my phone to see what and were we needed to go next. I spent the first few minutes of park opening stressing to get a IA for Seven Dwarves (bc it was a must do on our list). I was finally able to secure one, but the anxiety was real. All in all: we did get to ride a LOT! And do a lot! But constantly having to be on my phone made me feel like I personally didn’t get to fully enjoy the magic of the day. I suppose it would be easier with time. But, it just seemed so exhausting. I will say, I feel like it was worth it. I would just suggest really, REALLY knowing the park layout prior to going. And base your LL on what land you’ll be in. Don’t cross cross the park 183)3627 times like we did 😂 In all fairness, I had not been to Disney since I was 15 (I was on my high school dance team and we were invited to March in the parade)! And I am currently 38. So, it was like the first time for me! And it was the first time for everyone else in my group.
I'm planning for 2025/2026. Hopefully it is resolved and back to normal... . And being informed, eyeballing hotels, menu's and all that good stuff is part of the fun right now for me. But planning from minute to minute for everything is a big loss of the holidayspirit, hopefully that will be better.
I’ve never been to Disney world (I grew up in CA and did Disneyland often) and now I have a young daughter I’d love to go to DW. However, everything is so complicated that I’m hesitant to even do that. I don’t want to spend my entire trip with my child on my phone trying to figure out where to go and when, when we can eat and when we can’t.
Its not for our benefit. It's for Disney's benefit so they can maximize profit by knowing how much staff they need on a particular day, if crowds are lower less staff. Less open amenities etc. The info of reservations is priceless to them. I'm sure they have even more reasons but all for their benefit.
I want to say Bob Chepek is doing something nice for Disney World! He's consolidating all the imagineers in Florida. This will help, may not seem like it but it will.
My wife and I went back in October for my 60th birthday. Being older at Disney is not good. We just got eaten up by aggressive crowds. Just strolling around slowly and enjoying the scenery and the shops is just not possible anymore. People just run you over, push you out of the way, and wedge you out of the way. We have been going since 80 so we know how to get around. It was always bad with people with their noses buried in their phones and not paying attention to where they are walking. But genie made it 10 times worse. We love Disney but I am afraid it’s not a place for the older generation anymore.
Thank you for understanding what it's like for us civilians to navigate Disney these days. Did I detect a wee bit of sadness in your voice? Me too. Sad, that is.
We last went before pandemic and park reservations and genie. We were able to do whatever we felt like doing on any day- we would just change our fast passes. Being able to do whatever on a whim was so fun and relaxing. After seeing all the info on this blog we don’t want to return yet. We don’t think we can just do whatever we want with the way it is now - having to make park reservations and using genie is not the way to have fun if you enjoyed going wherever
Been to WDW every year 1982 to 2018. Not going back. Will live vicariously thru vlogs. Last time was not enjoyable and it seems to have gone downhill. All the young vloggers seem to overlook
If I didn't come across these DFB vlogs, then I'd be completely blindsided come June. Sucks how much we have to plan and how much everything is but I'm excited for our trip. This may be our 1st and last trip so we plan to enjoy it the best we can and make it fun and magical for our son.
A lot of places have always charged for a no show. It’s always been a thing. It’s really sad that people react only when things are spelled out. ALWAYS read the fine print🤦🏻♀️
I grew up with Disneyland and disneyworld. We would go to Disneyworld every other year for the past 15 years. I remember finally being old enough to help plan and I felt justified with spending the money for a Disney hotel because of all the benefits. But before I think I will even be able to go on a trip on my own will I even be able to afford it? And even if I can will I have fun? There’s no benefits, the parks have been a MESS, there’s construction, chaos, nobody looks happy to be there, fighting over reservations, having to pay $20 PER PERSON PER DAY ON TOP OF MY TICKET!!! Im so disappointed and just so sad because I don’t even know if the next time I go if I will truly enjoy my experience. I went last September and it was bad. Im going this December with my family and staying at the boardwalk since a family member has DVC, but they don’t even know if they want to keep their DVC. Disney is truly making it so difficult to make it affordable for the kids who grew up going to Disney being able to go to Disney when we are all grown up. I went to Disneyland twice in January this year and truly had so much fun, I still had issues but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I know Disneyworld is.
They fired 28,000 people, but Bob Paycheck still earned 33,000,000 dollars and the executives all got bonuses in the same year!!! What jerks. They have sacrificed service, upped prices, and are using a model where people come once in a year or a lifetime and get gouged for thousands of dollars. Its a slap in the face of the die hard loyal customers who like us made it a priority to have annual passes and visit multiple times a year. Its more profitable to gouge people for a mediocre experience once in a lifetime vs make people happy and keep them coming back repeatedly through value. This will slow eventually when Disney is downgraded due to high costs vs value of experience.
I have asked this question before, and I will keep asking it: Can anyone tell me / explain to me, why in the world you need in addition to your park ticket a park pass / park reservation? That makes no sense what so ever!!!
We were there last week. MK and Hollywood studios were terrible.we couldn't get on anything!!!! We had issues with food at MK too. Epcot and animal kingdom were quite enjoyable,albeit rainy.
I think in the next couple of years Disney will find they’ve harmed themselves overall. Many people in CA I know that we’re AP holders haven’t renewed because of crowds and the new system costing extra with the added hassle taking the fun out of being in the park. The system is unreliable, requires you to walk back and forth, stick to a strict schedule including dining times, plan so far ahead that there’s nothing spontaneous or whimsical about being there. My cousin sold her DVC because we figured out it was cheaper to stay off property since we wouldn’t be going as often (and she would go at least six times a year, but no more). The experience is unpleasant for those who know Disney like she does, overwhelming for those like me that went maybe every other year with her, but I can’t imagine how it is for a new family that’s never been, it must be awful. I was a Disneyland baby, literally born in CA in 1955, and loved the magic, but now it’s a frustrating mess of me missing my childhood memories in a place that is not recognizable.
Yep, we were just there for Spring Break. Our issue with genie plus is you get one time and one time only. You either take it or leave it for that lightning lane/genie. Maybe there's a way around it that we just haven't figured out. But I did notice lines that used to be kind of a walk on or 20 minute wait is no more. Like Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Under the SEa with Ariel. I was shocked. Each one was like a 50 minute wait. i think Small World was like 35. But I remember whenyou used to just get in line and get on it in like 10 minutes. and dining reservations are a must. I had one for Rainforest. The lady in front of me didn't. The lady came out and told her 1 hour and 30 minute wait. Geeeeessshhhh!> I was thankful I had that reservation. They took it seriously.
I was there in January and Small World reached 70 minutes. We finally rode it by skipping the fireworks. We also hit The Haunted Mansion and Pirates during the fireworks.
With Disney Parks being more expensive, the Genie+ app, and the fact they shut down a lot of their 'free' accommodations. And the fact Disney is in serious trouble right now thanks to the current news, I don't think I would go there any time soon.
with the economy and world the way it is right now, who exactly is booking this place solid? where is everyone getting all this money? everyone I know is struggling, and Disney World is still packed????
In our case, we had a trip scheduled for April 2020 that was fully paid for via gift cards. So I’m sure many people like us are just now getting the opportunity to take the trip that got paid off two years ago.
Right now with the Covid restrictions, this still isn't practical. But, pretty soon, it's going to be cheaper, less stressful, and more fun to book a trip to Tokyo DisneyLand/DisneySea instead of US Disney World. You can just go in and have a fun day with fewer crowds and much less planning and hassle. Disney needs to talk to Oriental Land in Japan and find out why they're doing a so much better job of managing their parks.
I still want to go back. But because of the covid aftermath and business model restructuring, I will be waiting a few years to see how things settle down. If the crowds die down, that should cause some changes in charges and smart phone nonsense.
The crowds are increasing. Early in the year (pre spring break) used to be the low crowd time / season but this year as been completely, insanely packed.
I'm so glad you guys are finally calling out Disney for their BS. I always admired the way you always tried to make things sound not so bad when they were just getting worse and worse
Yeah... The name Bob Cheapek can put a shiver down anybody's spine!
I’ve been waiting for this one. I grew up here and it feels like a different company that reopened after our lock down. I still love being there whenever I can get away for a few hours but times they are a changin’ and the old ways and days are gone for good.
Oh I didn’t know a different company started, how did i miss that
@@xK_Editzx it started during, BobIgerLand.
@@timkunk3498 chapekland is worse
Naked corporate greed has made Disney a no go for me and my family. Paying extra to go on rides after I pay 160 bucks per person to just walk in? That's absolutely ridiculous
I dont even think paid skipping the lines is a bad thing in theory (my friend is an avid Universal fan and loves their express pass, even a local theme park near me offers a line skip add-on that's worth the cost) but Disney has executed it so poorly. The fact that it's such a confusing disaster makes it seem like a gross money grab instead of an actual trip enhancement.
No one says you have to…
@@meganlovesdisneyandcrafts4780 but you kinda do now if you want to have a shred of a decent experience.
I said the same thing. It's mere insanity to pay extra after paying $100+ to get through the gates. People still go though. I don't understand it.
I did genie + for our entire trip. Totally not worth the extra except for Magic Kingdom. You were lucky to get 2 rides at Hollywood Studios. I did keep refreshing and one time it said I had smugglers run but it disappeared. A cast member was right next to me and said he saw it. He brought me to guest relations who then looked at my genie+ and said oh you already had 2 lightning lanes you are better off than most. She then proceeded to tell me there was nothing she could do. The very next day we had issues with my son’s genie + so we went back to guest relations. They fixed the issue and gave us an extra experience (lightning lane). It all depends on who you get but overall the hassle isn’t worth it at any parks except Magic Kingdom. That’s just my opinion.
The changes since the reopen are truly disappointing. My kids are DYING to go back (we used to visit every year, last trip was before the pandemic) so we are booked for this November. But going forward we'll probably switch up our annual trip to Universal, try a cruise, etc. Disney is becoming too crowded and high stress to justify the price when there are so many other great trip options around the same price point.
We’re going November as well. I’m scared we won’t get to do the things we want
I'll be going in May this year. Last time we went was May of last year. My boyfriend and I got annual passes for Universal/Islands. With all these new changes, Disney World isn't all that worth it anymore
just go to Disneyland paris. travel to Europe and see what REAL castles look like. You will end up spending the same amount of money as you do at Disney World
You could combine Disney and a cruise by going on a Disney Cruise Line cruise
I went last September and had a wonderful time. This is the notorious slow season and not many people were there. We ate at the restaurants we wanted to. We even got a Topolinos' breakfast reservation during our stay. It was an awesome time. The magic is what you make it.
They've managed to suck the magic right out of "The Most Magical Place on Earth". Takes a special kind of greed to do that. We've been 10+ times since 1994, was ok until FastPass+, but at least you got to schedule your rides in advance. Trouble is that started to take the spontanaeity out of your visit i.e. you no longer stopped for street performers as you needed to get to your next ride. Then they cut down/stopped these because fewer people were watching. That was part of the Magic, coming across these performers and stopping to watch. Now you spend so much time with your face buried in your phone/rushing to your next scheduled attraction you no longer have time to stop and see what's around you. Trouble is, first time visitors won't know what they are missing and will continue to visit. Us old-timers don't matter anymore. It's all about stockholder dividends. Don't know if we'll visit again and that makes me sad.
I feel exactly the same way about how it presently seems to be nothing more than a money grab. I would very much love to bring my family for one more “family only” trip before life takes my girls away from home. However, it is difficult to justify paying substantially more for a 7-day trip than we paid for a 10-day trip three years ago, knowing we will be getting less for our money.
It's definitely the end of an era. My family will not be renewing our annual passes for the first time in ages. Used to go multiple times a year and now we're considering even selling our DVC. Genie is a nightmare, the crowds are ridiculous and it's impossible to have the kind of fun that you're paying for. The food has become an embarrassment and their new mantra of "supply chain issues" is just more BS spin.
We are in the same boat. Supply chain issues are real but for what they charge they could have their corporate jet pick up the junk in China.
Your story is the same as ours.. 10 years of AP's on site stays.. im afraid the golden age of Magic is over. Sad but true, thank god we did it when it was fun and magical.
Yup DVC and annual pass member here that abhors Genie+. While I don't know if I will let me AP expire or not, my trips to the parks will definitely be less frequent because of all of the issues we've had our last 2 trips. The first 3 after the reopening were great, the last 2 were a complete mess.
Considering selling our DVC also.
@@MichaelRei99 We had done that for years and years, more so in the past 4 years than ever before, however have you seen the room rates lately? when you add the taxes fees and parking its through the roof. Art of animation is 581 dollars a night excluding tax and parking - that's more than I paid to stay at the contemporary 2 years ago.
A guy who works for me said (3 weeks ago) he was going to take his kids to Disney for spring break. As I asked him about accommodations and park passes, he had done nothing. Thought he’d just show up. I told him he might want to rethink that. They aren’t doin Disney this year.
Just go to Universal Studios
@@ddpg9976 it's pretty crowded too and their Express Pass costs as much as a regular ticket. Not sure that's a better deal.
@@chrystieschmelter9251 I’m going to Disney Paris. It is cheaper for me.
Listening to the nightmare of planning a trip these days is so disheartening. I went to college in Orlando back in the late 00s and one of my roommates had a family member who worked at Disney. We got in for free several times over a couple of years and obviously we were just walking in and enjoying ourselves at leisure. We'd manage all four parks in a day and do our big-ticket rides without any problems (including the exceedingly silly things like riding Spaceship Earth multiple times in a row in different languages or chilling on the People Mover for a few laps).
Granted we weren't really in a huge rush to hit the highlights all at once, but we'd manage to hit the Mountains plus Pirates before noon and then hit up Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom for a couple of hours, pivot to the other park, and finish off the day at Epcot and at no point feel rushed. We could wander at our leisure, enjoy the sights, and more or less just say "Hey, you want to do Expedition Everest?" and yeah, sure, no problems.
Also had Fast Passes, of course, and other than the couple of times we had a dining arrangement (made that morning, not two months in advance) that was the extent of our planning.
Now it sounds like a nightmare. You HAVE to plan sixty days in advance. You HAVE to make sure you have an itinerary booked. You HAVE to have dining reservations or else look forward to relying on quick service. Locals (whether living in Orlando or taking a day trip from elsewhere in the state) can't just decide on a Wednesday to go to the parks on Saturday. Part of the fun for us was just being able to wander and goof around and go with the flow. I don't want to be stressing about where I need to be at any given time or keeping my eyes glued to a phone to monitor attraction lines and I'm certainly not interested in spending the cost of a ticket to be able to use Lightning Lane.
What a shame. Sometimes I think I'd like to grab a couple of friends just to visit Pandora and then I'm reminded of this nonsense and it's just... disappointing.
It is interesting that so many people are unhappy, but the park is packed to capacity. I believe the problem is Capacity itself. When you pack the parks, Genie does not work, lines and lightning lanes do not work. Nothing works. However, when Disney packs the park, they collect your money, whether you are happy or not. And as long as they can pack the park, Disney does not care about your experience, their concern is profit. This will not change until people stop coming. If crowds drop, then they will have to consider experience. Eventually it will happen, but until then, Disney will stuff their pockets.
I think a lot of folks are going as their first trips back after cancelled/postponed trips in 2020/2021. I'd be surprised to see this level of crowds continue once the pent up demand slows down, and once the 50th celebration ends. My family is in the same boat, we'll go this year because the kids are dying to get back after canceling 2020 and 2021, but we're planning to cut back from every year to every 3-5 years instead due to all the recent changes.
This!!!
@@jessicathompson6403 save your money! Took my kids twice a year from 2019-2021, and then again in January 2022, and it has finally gotten entirely unmanageable - and dare I say nearly impossible to have a stress-free vacation
Absolutely correct! It's why I cancelled my reservation for next month. I may not have a voice, but money talks. And I think Disney is eventually going to reap what they've sown when this "post pandemic" surge is over. People won't keep putting up with the crowds, the nickel and diming, the lack of all the fun things that used to make Disney fun and special. Get rid of Chapek...he's killed Disney.
Frankly if I had known all of this, would not have booked our trip.
Just spent vacation at WDW was surprised by how difficult it was to have fun
The era that Disney is entering is sooo disappointing. I’ve planned 3 Disney trips- one with FastPass, one in December of 2020 without FastPass or Genie+, and one for this May with Genie+. Genie+ is frustrating, confusing, and takes away from your experience while you’re there. With FastPass and even with nothing at all at the end of a pandemic, you could go on a whim and planning was limited to what rides you wanted to go on and where you wanted to eat.
Dining reservations are also a nightmare. The website crashed when I tried to make reservations. When a time for Cinderella’s castle opened, the app crashed and the opening was taken.
I use to go twice a year and I can recall the parks having very low attendance in mid November and early December. I'm not going anymore I don't need the disappointment or headaches I just want to escape the real world and have some fun.
Took the wife to DisneySea here in Japan a couple months ago it went smooth as eggshells. It’s baffling now to see all the Disney videos popping up saying how hard it is for you guys back in the states to just enjoy. Much love and hopefully something will make Disney get it’s magic back out there!
My family and I were going every year from 2018 through 2021. I don’t know when we will be back. The last couple visits have just been so hard. So much is gone and with prices increasing across the board it’s just not worth the aggravation. It’s a very sad time to be a Disney parks fan 😞
You and me both. I even went last May and then again in January, and January was completely worse and not even worth attempting to do. I can’t say I’ll be back for a while. And I’m DVC :(
@@cainomac The difference between my trips in June and February were drastically different... and not for the better. I am also DVC and an annual pass holder and have not loved most of the new changes.
The last two times we went (not with the fam but with my BFF for three/four days) we didn’t go into the parks at all. We are Dvc members and stayed at several different hotels, enjoyed restaurants by skyliner, and pools. It was pretty dang great.
I am so sorry, I can't help it, "No park is worth the aggravation - that's ancient history, been there, done that!"
Frank I’ve been going to Disney since 1976 I was 3 years old on my first visit! I have a paper recipe from the 80s when I went with my 7th grade class I paid $25.00 to get into Magic Kingdom. On that trip suddenly the weather changed and we all needed a sweatshirt we simply walked into a store and picked up Mickey ones for $10.00 bucks now those are 40 -100 bucks
If you have a hotel room and tickets, you should be guaranteed a park reservation. Even though I am an annual pass holder, I still think those paying for a hotel should have park preferences over those that do not. Either that or completely do away with the park reservation system. I should also add that I love to disconnect and escape when I am on vacation and the fact that they continue to push using a mediocre app constantly is beyond frustrating.
I am here now (March 14-18, 2022) and I have never experienced the parks so crowded. We got to Magic Kingdom for resort guest opening and did a couple things and by 11am, there weren’t any genie+ selections until late in the day and everything was a 45min+ wait. I don’t know how families are expected to enjoy this… you battle the crowds all day and even when you pay extra for experiences, that’s not guaranteed either. I was a CM 20 years ago and come to Disney every year or every other year and this time I’m truly disappointed. I knew I was coming at a busy time and we tried to plan accordingly, but it’s been a lot to manage, even paying for genie +, the individual attraction selections, doing mobile order, getting to the park at 7am… It’s just sad knowing that my best Disney memories are likely in the past.
Is it because of Spring break? We're planning to go in June, but after watching this video I'm 😭
We were those people who booked a vacation only to find out there were no park reservations available. We did have a party pass and one of the parks became available while we were there. fortunately, we got to visit twice but my kids hearts were broken. We are DVC members and I’ve been going to Disney for years. we were completely in shock with all the changes. I’m hoping some of these changes will adjust once we are out of this pandemic but I’m sure it’s gonna be a while. I also know New management has a lot to do with some of these bad changes. We are going again for spring break and we planned things way ahead of time. this trip planning was not nearly as enjoyable as it used to be. My daughter and I have a genetic disability . Our symptoms changes from day today. Disney used to be the most accommodating place for a disability, however it’s now one of the most difficult places to visit . We don’t know from day today how we’re going to be feeling so all the pre-planning is difficult when you have no idea how you’re gonna be feeling that day. If Disney starts charging for missed reservations, we will entertain the thought of selling our DVC.
Thanks for this! I'm planning for my first post-pandemic trip. I can't believe how different it feels just on the planning portion, and scary is exactly the right way to put it. They've found a way to make it super stressful. The 3-5 hour wait times when something goes wonky with my reservation just adds to the frustration.
My little family of three saved for four years for a Disney vacation. When the Genie+ news came out (on the heels of all of the other price increases), I was done. We took that money we had saved and bought a Universal vacation instead for this coming September. We'll be staying at a premier resort (so Universal Express is included), we've got park-to-park tickets every day, and with flights and food we're STILL spending less than we would if we had paid for a Disney moderate hotel and Genie+. I have a very strong feeling our family isn't the only one making this choice.
We just came back from our trip to Disney World. We had never been. Myself, my husband, my three year old daughter, my infant son, my sister, her two daughters (15 and 11 years old), and my mom. This is something we have wanted to do since I was a little kid, but we grew up quite poor, so I mainly wanted to make this happen for two reasons: 1) this was an opportunity for us all to go together as a family living in two different states, and 2) I wanted my nieces to go while they were still young, so despite all the difficulties I knew we faced, we went. I did a TON of research, including watching a lot of DFB and AllEars videos as well as some videos just about taking toddlers and babies to the park.
First off, we stayed at Pop Century Resort, and even though I wish I would’ve figured out that the good neighbor hotels offer the same perks before we reserved our hotel, I did enjoy this hotel. I really love that it had access to the skyliner. I will say that they are small rooms, but we don’t mind that so much. We also had connecting rooms with our family (my mom, sister, and nieces), which was really nice. We loved the theme and the three pools. Still think it’s overpriced though considering how small it is and that it’s supposed to be “value” when you can get a deluxe sized room at a good neighbor hotel for the same price (with little kids, a suite would be great!)
As for the parks: they were insanely busy. If we didn’t have to go during my nieces’ spring break, we wouldn’t have gone during that time. It wasn’t just crowds (although that was obnoxious, especially since so many people think it’s acceptable to walk right in front of your stroller - they probably don’t want to wait on you - super rude.)
My biggest complaint is with how Genie+ works during such busy times. By the middle of the day, most of the popular rides had no more Genie+ reservations available (and I’m not even talking about individual attraction selections). For example, my nieces really wanted to ride Frozen Ever After in Epcot, but the lightning lane was sold out all day, and we were not going to wait in 90+ minute line. Especially with a baby and three year old. Then, when you are able to get Genie+ reservations, you have to take what’s available, especially after you book your first ride and have to wait 120 minutes to book the next one (assuming it’s not in the morning, which it usually isn’t - that how fast they get booked). When we were in Hollywood Studios, we had to wait until 10:30 (two hours after parks open) to book the next Genie+ reservation, but literally everyone is in the same boat, so it shows a bunch of stuff available, and then you try to click on it right at 10:30 and everyone is doing the same. The app glitches and all the available times disappear. There were so many rides we wanted to go on and we couldn’t go on them due to this.
Once you are able to book those lightning lanes, you do have to take what’s available, and often it’s hours out, and then I’d often have to double book (after waiting two hours), so we would have a slot of time where we had nothing to do (we’d get a snack, rest, I’d have to nurse, or we would just stand in a shorter line for something), and then other times where we would have to race from one end of the park to the other due to the Genie+ reservations we had. It felt stressful and frustrating. Don’t totally get me wrong - we did have fun - I was managing all of this so that the rest of my family wouldn’t have to stress about it. They def thanked me for it later on. My nieces still had a really great time and I’m sure this will be memorable for them for years to come. I just hope they improve their system in the next couple years (maybe Chapek is the reason for all this bonkers nonsense - I don’t know; if so, hopefully he goes). I want to take my kids when they are older and able to ride on more things and actually remember it. I mainly did this for my larger family and my nieces (I would not have gone with just my husband and two little kids - for just us, I think it would’ve been hell). Also, I refuse to go during a really busy time again. I don’t care if I have to pull my kids out of school and tell the school they’re visiting family in Canada. I’ll never go during spring break again.
Anyway - it was our first experience, and I’m glad I did do so much research before going, but the whole Genie+ system failed us in so many ways. I’ve been to Universal once with my husband before we had kids, and we had a fantastic time and used the Express Pass. We even rode on some rides multiple times. It also doesn’t require you to be on your phone and stress about rides filling up their reservations. You’re paying for shorter lines not to skip the lines, and I think that’s part of the problem with Disney. You don’t really wait much to get on the ride once you go through the lightning lane thing. But it’s much less stressful to get in a line (a shorter line but still a line) than to try and make reservations and only take what’s offered, race across the park to get to it, and just feel stressed. You don’t feel as immersed in the park. You also don’t get to ride as much. I’m just really disappointed in the whole system and everything. I think after the rush to go on vacation after this pandemic has subsided, Disney will likely see people not going as much (at least I hope so! There has to be some kind of consequence for their terrible decisions and making everyone stressed out on vacation!)
‘nuf said.
I'm giving it three years before I book my next disney world trip and I hope to god that by the time I go, Chapek will be far FAR away from disney
My family was there late January into early February for my son's first trip. I was not ready for holiday level crowds as we avoided holidays and weekends. We still had a great time, but did not get to everything we wanted to, especially at MK.
No more fast passes and magical express. That’s a huge disappointment.
Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane is the beginning for in a few years they will start charging for each attraction or make Genie+ packages for 3, 4 or 5 attractions. They are waiting for us to get used to this new system to introduce another one that is more financially beneficial for them.
I grew up in ca going to Disneyland and had an AP there for years, but I’ve never gone to Disney world. My family decided to go this year as a bucket list 1 time type of situation and it has been the most stressful booking experience. Everything I see online now is that the visit is going to be stressful too. 😔
My favorite part of having AP at Disneyland several years ago is I was able to just be like “long weekend, let’s go to disney” and just roll up, have a good time with my friends, and I didn’t have to do much more than make sure I had a place to sleep that night. It made the experiences so fun. Everything now just sounds like a nightmare
@@miward0528 yes exactly!
At this point, it doesn't even look fun to go. I watch quite a few of the Disney vloggers. Watch the crowds in the videos. No one even looks happy or like they are having fun : ( after spending all that money and energy required to go.
I noticed everybody looking down at their phone. Sad sad sad!
We’re done at Disney for a long while. We went in May, JUST before the flood gates opened. Had a great time. No fastpasses was incredibly freeing. We also just got back from what’s become our final trip. We forked over the 6k for Galactic Starcruiser. It was incredible, but definitely has transportation problems, on several fronts. To afford GS, we took out an extra 6k in our fall refi of our house. We ALSO pulled out an extra 35k, so we could finally buy into DVC. Well, after fully researching DVC and after the crazy crowds last week, I decided it was CRAZY to buy into DVC! I’m NOT going to compete for a reservation, 11mo this in advance for my obscenely expensive timeshare! Same for dining reservations. It’s ridiculous that the reservation hoarders turn even that into a competition. This last trip, we stayed for 2 park days after Starcruiser. We just did QS. Couldn’t even get day before late ressies. The crazy crowds made DAS return times SO long! With all that, we decided no thank you. We’re DONE. Our next 6k vacation will be a 15 day European river cruise. Something that’s actually relaxing. And will only cost 4k, including flights! We’ve been hardcore Disney fans, but the magic? It’s GONE. and that’s SAD! Waiting 2 hours on hold? The only thing that means is Disney needs WAY more CMs assisting guests in the phone. That’s poor service.
$6K will not get you a 15-day River cruise in Europe unless you are onboard a rubber dinghy.
@@markreynolds9135
dont you know how to use google?
theress plenty of river cruise with that amount of budget,and its definitelly not a rubber dinghy
youre weird
thank you for speaking up about this. i haven’t been since 2019 (been going since i was a 6 month old) and i’m so, so disappointed in the company. the magic was replaced by greed
I remember when Disney was so much easier. One year (early-mid 80s) my family was supposed to go skiing for winter break. Right before we were supposed to leave, there was a freak heat wave and the skiing was not going to be good. One call to the travel agent and we were on our way to Orlando the next day- had a great time at Disney World, even ate at Cinderella’s Castle!
Someone mentioned this but I think it’s worth repeating….. nobody looks like they are having fun. The amount of money and planning only to be herded on blacktop while you stare at your phone for updates. So sad what it’s become! The ones running the company should be made to experience a day in the park like a common vacationer. They are so out of touch. That’s what’s scary :(
The scariest thing to me is all the fights that seem to break out lately! I’ve been going to Disney regularly since 2006 and never heard of such violence and vandalism like has been reported by people that have seen it first hand and other Disney reporting channels
Doesn't sound like it worth it to go anymore.
I would rather have a Mickey mini kitchen sink or the Tinkerbell lanyard than an Olaf plate 😂 that said, I can’t believe that anyone who purchase Genie+ in the past 4 weeks would say that they liked and definitely NOT that they had gotten more LL than they had previously gotten FP. Please, don’t mislead people. It’s unfair. The people who had success with Genie+ had it last fall when fewer people bought Genie+, parks weren’t as crowded and there were still some sweet loopholes to exploit. Now more than half of the Guests buy Genie+, parks are selling out several times a week and the loop holes are closed. You can’t book a second LL until 2 hours after park opening, some people think it is still 2 hours after your first 7am LL. LL sell out at most parks before 2pm. That means 3-4 LL per day. Let’s be candid, this new system is a nightmare. Everyone ends up on longer lines. Disney makes money from the sales of Genie+, but loses money every time a family spends 2-3 hours in a line instead of eating or shopping. They need to do better.
We're Canadian, and Disney recently pulled out all their stores from Canada saying that people are shopping online. I get that, however there is no Canadian Disney site, so we have to pay international shipping, conversion, and duty fees, which basically means whatever the cost is on the site we pay double. My main Disney fixes come DFB (thank you AJ and team!!!!)/All Ears, and Disney movies. I have no idea when we will go again, but it won't be any time soon.
Disney should keep at least one store open in Canada!
@@seascape35 they don't need the expense of bricks and mortar. They just need a distribution centre for Canadians from which they may ship WITHOUT all the excessive added fees.
Vacations are supposed to be fun and relaxing, unless you just stay at your resort and lay around the pool all day almost everything about WDW is NOT
@J Hoop - Yes it can be stressful, we have experienced those types of stays at WDW. What makes ( made ) our WDW vacations enjoyable was that we never scheduled a bunch of character dining or events that had scrambling to get there or constantly watching the clock to make sure we didn't miss them. We would do maybe one or two for an entire week, that way we could just park hop and roam around and do what ever we wanted.
@J Hoop Agreed. 293K steps in 12 days between Land/Sea/Land from March 10th-21st. Over 150 miles/250 kms walked. I come HOME to relax!!
pro convention goer tip (i haven't been to disney in 25 years but this might help for you as well) if you can, buy an extra meal and have someone bring it back, or pack extra snacks with you for late night meals. If you can, buy yourself an extra something.during the day.
We finally became passholders in 2021 even though we live in Ohio. October and November's visits were truly awful experiences.
We sent friends for their first trip in January and they were miserable and struggled to ride a handful of rides each day. After their experience, and ours, we canceled our family trip we usually take in May. :(
I hope things improve.
Just wrapped up a trip last week. I’m glad I love the company of those I was with, because it was otherwise not a great experience. It’s easy to blame the crowds, but the only thing I blame is greed on behalf of Disney. Waiting 25+ minutes for a ride akin to a state fair ride isn’t how it needs to be - it is this way because WD oversells tickets to their parks, and then charges for the privilege of having a near-appropriate wait time in the form of lightning lanes. It’s really sad how they’ve destroyed the customer experience they were once known for.
Just planning this trip in April 2022 has been a nightmare. There’s no magic anymore. Can’t say how stressed out I am trying to just plan this trip for 11 people from 4 separate extended families. I hope this isn’t as bad as I’m expecting.
I’m going with my family and its my bf and little nephews first time in August this year and i’m so scared it won’t seem as fun and magical for them. Let us know how it goes for you!
It’s just so different now.
When….WHEN have you ever heard of a fight breaking out in Disney? Maybe once a year or so?…..Now it’s at least once a month you hear a fight at a park somewhere. Or the occasional ride break down….now it’s multiple rides a day……It’s just not the same Disney anymore.
I grew up with Disney especially on the Disney Cruise. I went to Disney world 3 years ago and I was able to plan my reservations for my stay at the Walt Disney resort, parking ticket and park ticket. Last time I was still able to use my fast pass for the park. It was a blast to experience the avatar ride, beast castle and Star Wars millennium falcon especially on my cousin’s 8th birthday on her FIRST Disney vacation.
First and only time at WDW so far was last year and while it wasn't ab ideal experience with a lot of the shows and stuff closed due to COVID, it was also a glimpse into a world without Genie+ or even Fastpass, with reduced crowd sizes and the ability to get on almost any ride in less than 30 minutes if you were flexible about when you went on. We're currently looking into doing another trip this year but I'm already starting to get overwhelmed.
I went to WDW in December 2020 and just now (March 2022). This time I kept thinking, "wow, everything was so much more enjoyable during COVID regulations."
Forget 60 days out for popular ADRs, unless you’re staying for 7-10 days. I couldn’t get chef mickeys or topolinos terrace up to 65 days out….Because our stay was 5 days. I even woke up early to make sure to be on at 5:45. 🤦🏻♀️
The sad thing is Disney is not the same anymore as AJ says it has turned into a money machine no more guest experience I know there’s no point to complain about it but I have been at Disney and cast members are not as the same not as nice as they once wore I understand why it’s really depressing to c the downfall how Walt Disneys vision is disappearing.. Thank you AJ for another great video
What did they wear?
A problem with the staffing shortages as well is that Disney has been forcing most of their employees to work extra hours, causing burnout. Oftentimes, overtime is mandatory and many employees have been working 50-60 hour weeks for months on end. The reason why calling Disney is so difficult now is not because the amount of people calling has changed, but the call centers have significantly fewer cast members working the lines than pre-pandemic. Disney has also significantly cut the CM perks.
I think newcomers may be less confused than seasoned Disney vacation goers since they don’t have any context on how it used to be.
So grateful to hear AJ say this. I'm seeing this kind of issue everywhere, government, private industry, medical, entertainment... Everyone who "knows what's best" is trying to "make things better", and both of those deserve to be in quotes. If the "smart people" who are trying to fix things would just back off and remove the excessive layers of complication, we can have our lives back. We could go to the park and just stand in line for the attractions you want. Unfortunately Morpheus was right, there are just a certain percentage of people plugged into the Matrix who only know the Matrix, and they will fight to defend it because it's all they've ever known. Some Disney fans will defend each new, confusing policy and readily dine on the information given to them by Disney which defends every bad idea as a good idea. Vote with your dollar. Today I attend non-Disney events that are about Disney, presentations by former Imagineers, JC skippers turned authors, etc. I visit the state parks that inspired Walt so much, etc.
thank you for finally explaining morpheus's radical truth about society: disney parks used to be better. i can now join you in the revolutionary action of attending non-disney disney events! everything that has a beginning has an end ✊
THEY NEED A NEW PARK!!! Me and my family have been saying this for years. They were on a very good groove of releasing new parks many years ago but they haven’t had a new park in somewhere near 20 years! It would help crowds so much.
We just booked a Disney trip on a credit from the closure in 2020, so the only way we could access the credit was through phoning. Our wait on hold was a total of 16.5 hours.
Wow wow wow. I thought my puny 2 he wait was bad.
We waited nearly 2 hours in the uk to get through. Absolute madness.
Part of the issue was that only « specialized » ticket person could help us, so someone would answer, say they couldn’t help us, and we’d be put on hold again.
And this is why I’m already immersing myself in your videos before we go as a family tribe (about 20 of us!) for our first trip for Halloween!
I was just there in January and yes, the crowds were ridiculous. Some of that may be from canceled trips and the 50th anniversary, but I don’t buy that as the only reasons. We always liked going in early May. Nice weather and low crowds, but when we went in May of 2018, we were shocked at how crowded it was. Disney has been increasing capacity for a while now. It’s a shame. I love the parks, but it’s just not fun anymore.
We all made it so popular, now complain about how busy it is. Imagine if there were no park reservations? Everyone has forgotten how fast fast passes sold out.
Unless you’ve been to Disney several times I would definitely put off my trip until at least 2023, it just seems like there’s way too much going on and not going on right now
2025
They said that elderly couple was truned away bc they didn't make reservations or something to that nature. I pray they drop all these reservation mess
Aj this is how we felt at DL. My younger brother, a teenager, hated being on the phone all day. We tried but got annoyed and extra tried.
I don't think I will be going to Disney for a long while after this. I get severe social anxiety and I will would not be able to handle those crowds well at all. So unless I get the chance to go to Disney Japan and Tokyo Sea in the near future (unlikely) I think I will be avoiding Disney until things calm down quite a bit.
Paris is also far from overfilled
I was so pissed when I heard about the Fast Passes changing to Lightning Lanes. My mom paid extra for Genie Plus and we were still paying a ton of money to get on rides. The worst part is that we could only use it to get on 2 rides because even though we went on to pick rides the moment it allows you too, we could still only get certain rides which were always late in the evening when we most likely wouldn't even be in the park
Which is why as much as I've been trying to go since October 2022. I will wait and see what happens. It's so expensive and thankfully I had the chance to go in 2017 and I had the most magical experience every. If I never go back I won't be sad
I'd REALLY like to see you tackle how to navigate the food in the park with both types of diabetes... Like, really, really want to see you tackle that.
Today was my VERY FIRST visit to Magic Kingdom. The bad news: I didn’t get on a single ride. The worse news: I nearly struck out as far as my schwag wish list goes, only got one thing on it. The good news: I’m about to head out to ‘Ohana for dinner and then on to EPCOT for DVC Moonlight Magic 😺
Honestly I think the crowd problem is the lack of shoes and other attractions not just rides. Disney was one of the new theme parks that has a lot of attractions and shows not just rides. Now they took that away and there’s nowhere for anyone to go. Shops/ dining only go so far because those cost extra for people in the parks. They need to bring back shows and maybe add some more
I’m going to Disney World in May and found your channel. I love it 🥰! Thank you for the great tips.
im planning on going in the summer with my mom, and if this is how stressful snd crowded it is in the spring i cant imagine what it would be like. thank you for this video! ill make sure to take all the tips into accounr
Yeah we went the week of Valentine’s Day this year. Had an amazing time but the ride wait times were crazy. We didn’t have an issue with food but it seemed like every ride was an enormous wait.
I didn’t read through all the comments so I’m not sure if someone already pointed this out, but it might have been helpful to mention navigating the new DAS reservation system. You now have to pre-register via phone 30 days in advance.
What is DAS?
@@indiapullum3341 Disability Access Service
Greed...ruins everything
This really dampens my spirit. My husband & I are celebrating 20 years and 3 years of saving for this trip, I don't know if we should go to Universal instead.
We switched to Universal and LOVED it. My family has flown into Orlando twice in the past year and it was great. The experience was much more laid back, the food was great, and honestly, the staff was far more pleasant than our last Disney experience. We spent over a thousand dollars less for the last trip with much better dining than our Disney trip in 2018. I recommend it. We do go off season but other than Hagrid's wait of 1 hour, the rest was more like 10-25 minutes.
So true! I just did a one day trip while I was on vacation and it was a little chaotic! The lines where insane and even when we decided to buy Genie Plus, that only got us on two rides because everything booked up by 10-11am! We went to Hollywood Studios and I was not expecting to be there from open to close. We didn’t even have time to ride the Aerosmith coaster!
Best advice in all the videos I’ve seen “assume it will be crowded…and it’s not crowded on your day of visit it’ll be an great surprise” ❤😊
It's like Disney is using one of their magic wands to lure people into believing they need to come to the mouse house and while there are robbed of all the joy because everybody's head is down looking at a phone. I'm leaving mine in the car and if hubby and I get separated I'll just walk myself to lost & found. LOL!
We are just done. It just isn't fun anymore. Going to Disney is now expensive, stressful, and a logistical nightmare. My family has flown into Orlando twice in the past year and switched to Universal. It was so much more laid back and far less expensive. There are so many things to do just in this country that are far less expensive and I can have fun rather than feeling like one planning mistake in a myriad of thousands will bring a well planned vacation crashing down. Truthfully, I think this is what Disney wants. I don't think my middle class family is their target demographic. I think they want people who are not concerned with any budget or financial limitations so they are squeezing those of us not willing to spend on that level out. Who knows? Maybe it will keep working for them after everyone gets done with their post pandemic travel.
My friend went for the first time and absolutely hated it. She can't understand why I loved it. It's just so difficult to navigate it now. She paid for genie + and got to ride 2 rides each day with it. What a waste. I want to tell her it isn't normally like that but I think this is normal now. Makes me sad.
Genie+…….ugggghhhh…. We were in Disney the last week of January, first week of February this year (btw: insane crowds!)
I was our groups designated “guide”. We rope dropped MK and stayed until after fireworks. I felt so mentally exhausted from constantly having to look at my phone to see what and were we needed to go next. I spent the first few minutes of park opening stressing to get a IA for Seven Dwarves (bc it was a must do on our list). I was finally able to secure one, but the anxiety was real. All in all: we did get to ride a LOT! And do a lot! But constantly having to be on my phone made me feel like I personally didn’t get to fully enjoy the magic of the day. I suppose it would be easier with time. But, it just seemed so exhausting. I will say, I feel like it was worth it. I would just suggest really, REALLY knowing the park layout prior to going. And base your LL on what land you’ll be in. Don’t cross cross the park 183)3627 times like we did 😂 In all fairness, I had not been to Disney since I was 15 (I was on my high school dance team and we were invited to March in the parade)! And I am currently 38. So, it was like the first time for me! And it was the first time for everyone else in my group.
I'm planning for 2025/2026. Hopefully it is resolved and back to normal... . And being informed, eyeballing hotels, menu's and all that good stuff is part of the fun right now for me. But planning from minute to minute for everything is a big loss of the holidayspirit, hopefully that will be better.
I’ve never been to Disney world (I grew up in CA and did Disneyland often) and now I have a young daughter I’d love to go to DW. However, everything is so complicated that I’m hesitant to even do that. I don’t want to spend my entire trip with my child on my phone trying to figure out where to go and when, when we can eat and when we can’t.
What good is a park pass reservation when the parks are beyond crowded?
Its not for our benefit. It's for Disney's benefit so they can maximize profit by knowing how much staff they need on a particular day, if crowds are lower less staff. Less open amenities etc. The info of reservations is priceless to them. I'm sure they have even more reasons but all for their benefit.
@@maeganhoney5593 I feel bad for the cast members. Having to deal with those crowds must be miserable.
I want to say Bob Chepek is doing something nice for Disney World!
He's consolidating all the imagineers in Florida. This will help, may not seem like it but it will.
My wife and I went back in October for my 60th birthday. Being older at Disney is not good. We just got eaten up by aggressive crowds. Just strolling around slowly and enjoying the scenery and the shops is just not possible anymore. People just run you over, push you out of the way, and wedge you out of the way. We have been going since 80 so we know how to get around. It was always bad with people with their noses buried in their phones and not paying attention to where they are walking. But genie made it 10 times worse. We love Disney but I am afraid it’s not a place for the older generation anymore.
Thank you for understanding what it's like for us civilians to navigate Disney these days. Did I detect a wee bit of sadness in your voice? Me too. Sad, that is.
We last went before pandemic and park reservations and genie. We were able to do whatever we felt like doing on any day- we would just change our fast passes. Being able to do whatever on a whim was so fun and relaxing. After seeing all the info on this blog we don’t want to return yet. We don’t think we can just do whatever we want with the way it is now - having to make park reservations and using genie is not the way to have fun if you enjoyed going wherever
Agree rocking roller coaster and tower of Terror were 2 hrs and 30 mins wait
Been to WDW every year 1982 to 2018. Not going back. Will live vicariously thru vlogs. Last time was not enjoyable and it seems to have gone downhill. All the young vloggers seem to overlook
If I didn't come across these DFB vlogs, then I'd be completely blindsided come June. Sucks how much we have to plan and how much everything is but I'm excited for our trip. This may be our 1st and last trip so we plan to enjoy it the best we can and make it fun and magical for our son.
Thank you AJ.❤️
A lot of places have always charged for a no show. It’s always been a thing. It’s really sad that people react only when things are spelled out. ALWAYS read the fine print🤦🏻♀️
I grew up with Disneyland and disneyworld. We would go to Disneyworld every other year for the past 15 years. I remember finally being old enough to help plan and I felt justified with spending the money for a Disney hotel because of all the benefits. But before I think I will even be able to go on a trip on my own will I even be able to afford it? And even if I can will I have fun? There’s no benefits, the parks have been a MESS, there’s construction, chaos, nobody looks happy to be there, fighting over reservations, having to pay $20 PER PERSON PER DAY ON TOP OF MY TICKET!!! Im so disappointed and just so sad because I don’t even know if the next time I go if I will truly enjoy my experience. I went last September and it was bad. Im going this December with my family and staying at the boardwalk since a family member has DVC, but they don’t even know if they want to keep their DVC. Disney is truly making it so difficult to make it affordable for the kids who grew up going to Disney being able to go to Disney when we are all grown up. I went to Disneyland twice in January this year and truly had so much fun, I still had issues but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I know Disneyworld is.
I love Disney...Walt's Disney. I now hate Disney World...Chapek's Disney.
They fired 28,000 people, but Bob Paycheck still earned 33,000,000 dollars and the executives all got bonuses in the same year!!! What jerks. They have sacrificed service, upped prices, and are using a model where people come once in a year or a lifetime and get gouged for thousands of dollars. Its a slap in the face of the die hard loyal customers who like us made it a priority to have annual passes and visit multiple times a year. Its more profitable to gouge people for a mediocre experience once in a lifetime vs make people happy and keep them coming back repeatedly through value. This will slow eventually when Disney is downgraded due to high costs vs value of experience.
It used to be such fun. Now it's just a money pit!
@@lindamcdaniel2419 You are right about that -
Nice timing with the 4 castmembers caught in a child trafficking ring
I have asked this question before, and I will keep asking it: Can anyone tell me / explain to me, why in the world you need in addition to your park ticket a park pass / park reservation? That makes no sense what so ever!!!
We were there last week. MK and Hollywood studios were terrible.we couldn't get on anything!!!! We had issues with food at MK too. Epcot and animal kingdom were quite enjoyable,albeit rainy.
I think in the next couple of years Disney will find they’ve harmed themselves overall. Many people in CA I know that we’re AP holders haven’t renewed because of crowds and the new system costing extra with the added hassle taking the fun out of being in the park. The system is unreliable, requires you to walk back and forth, stick to a strict schedule including dining times, plan so far ahead that there’s nothing spontaneous or whimsical about being there. My cousin sold her DVC because we figured out it was cheaper to stay off property since we wouldn’t be going as often (and she would go at least six times a year, but no more). The experience is unpleasant for those who know Disney like she does, overwhelming for those like me that went maybe every other year with her, but I can’t imagine how it is for a new family that’s never been, it must be awful. I was a Disneyland baby, literally born in CA in 1955, and loved the magic, but now it’s a frustrating mess of me missing my childhood memories in a place that is not recognizable.
Yep, we were just there for Spring Break. Our issue with genie plus is you get one time and one time only. You either take it or leave it for that lightning lane/genie. Maybe there's a way around it that we just haven't figured out. But I did notice lines that used to be kind of a walk on or 20 minute wait is no more. Like Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Under the SEa with Ariel. I was shocked. Each one was like a 50 minute wait. i think Small World was like 35. But I remember whenyou used to just get in line and get on it in like 10 minutes. and dining reservations are a must. I had one for Rainforest. The lady in front of me didn't. The lady came out and told her 1 hour and 30 minute wait. Geeeeessshhhh!> I was thankful I had that reservation. They took it seriously.
Going to be that way for a while as people want to get back to taking vacations that were canceled due to the pandemic. That's life!
I was there in January and Small World reached 70 minutes. We finally rode it by skipping the fireworks. We also hit The Haunted Mansion and Pirates during the fireworks.
I went to get a cookie from Gideon’s at Disney Springs. Virtual queue was 4.5 hours. For a cookie! 😩
With Disney Parks being more expensive, the Genie+ app, and the fact they shut down a lot of their 'free' accommodations.
And the fact Disney is in serious trouble right now thanks to the current news, I don't think I would go there any time soon.
with the economy and world the way it is right now, who exactly is booking this place solid? where is everyone getting all this money? everyone I know is struggling, and Disney World is still packed????
In our case, we had a trip scheduled for April 2020 that was fully paid for via gift cards. So I’m sure many people like us are just now getting the opportunity to take the trip that got paid off two years ago.
Right now with the Covid restrictions, this still isn't practical. But, pretty soon, it's going to be cheaper, less stressful, and more fun to book a trip to Tokyo DisneyLand/DisneySea instead of US Disney World. You can just go in and have a fun day with fewer crowds and much less planning and hassle. Disney needs to talk to Oriental Land in Japan and find out why they're doing a so much better job of managing their parks.
Truth! The crowds are extreme.The app is useless.
I still want to go back. But because of the covid aftermath and business model restructuring, I will be waiting a few years to see how things settle down. If the crowds die down, that should cause some changes in charges and smart phone nonsense.
The crowds are increasing. Early in the year (pre spring break) used to be the low crowd time / season but this year as been completely, insanely packed.
I'm not trying to sound disrespectful or rude but i cant stop hearing how after every line you read you take a vary deep breath