The really sad part is that you have an entire generation that has no idea what Disney used to be like and that has been conditioned to accept substandard services and attractions. Same goes for movies and TV shows.
Exactly! And those are the people paying the outrageous prices for parties and extras without an afterthought. The Xmas party was $50 per person in 2009, and we thought that was expensive. I don’t know why you would pay $800 extra for a family of four just to see a parade, special characters, and some bad cookies and watery hot chocolate. No thanks. Universal doesn’t charge extra for their Xmas shows and Macys Day parade, and their profits are skyrocketing!
Exactly, remember the Electric Light Parade?! It was a huge draw especially at Christmas now its gone, no more fun, no more service from an industry that was the reason for its existence its why Walt Disney built it all!!
I was a kid of the 80's and 90s and remember going to the movie theater every holiday season or summer to see an animated Disney film: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, the Lion King...I can still recall the awe and wonderful to watch such beautiful stories on the big screen for the first time.
I am 72 years old. I grew up with Disney as a beacon of wonder, magic, and wholesome values. If it said “Disney” it was sure to be wonderful. Now it is ruined. It is sad to see a legend die.
`I agree, I am 69 I grew up with Disney. If it said Disney you knew the quality would be there, the maijic over the top. Went there about 5 years 't , the parks were dirty, the facades needed painting, Disney didn't try to hide the mechanics of how things worked. There were wires visible, The que lines lacked the magic that used to cause the anticipation to grow as one got closer to the ride. They tried to use LED screens, it was like watching a TV, I could do that at home. Bottom line, I decided that it wasn't worth for me to take my grandchildren, which I had dream of doing one day. We just canceled Disney Plus, berceuse couldn't trust the content on the site. Their shows were teaching that parents were dumb, pushing things I nor their parents wanted them to be taught by them media. Was very Ok with Disney shows showing different races, nationailites getting long and being friends.
I'm 65 years old, grew up going to Disney at least once a month. We took my oldest son for his first time when he was 6 weeks old, my sister worked at Disney for years, i have a cousin that just passed his 40th year working at Disney. All this was good until they changed everything after Walt died. 😢 I have nothing against gay people, trans people, blm supporters and any other group you can name until you shove it in my face and try to force me to be a part of it! When Disney started its pride week or month or whatever it was i thought ok it won't change things very much! Yeah well i was very wrong in thinking that. I haven't been to Disney for years, won't watch a Disney movie or buy anything Disney for my grandchildren. I can not support a company that has turned everything that was good about Disney to the evil it has become! Walt is problem rolling in his grave🙏.
The sad thing is you see very little if any wholesome and uplifting movies, rarely in anything these days. When I was growing up, the Christmas season was a time to be cheerful, happy towards your fellow man and giving, now it is the time or what can you get me, and get out of my way because I’m more important than you are. You can’t say “ merry Christmas “ any more, in fact, they don’t even bother to say happy holidays anymore. It’s just another shopping day. Except you have Christmas lights, and decorations. I really don’t know why they bother to put up the Christmas lights. No one is full of cheer, and no one has the spirit of brotherly love. Everything is focused on sales. Money, money, money, and all this does it show the people, the haves, and the have Nots. Another way to divide us, and take away any help at all, of anything. it’s designed to take away your spirit. and that spirit, is God.
Frankly, this is true of many brands these days. In fact, at least a few should have gone under if not for lobbying to get bailouts; it's high time our nation's companies cease to have their losses covered at the continued expense of its citizens. If we lose GM, Disney; GE, then so be it. Let others have the opportunity to build, improve, and create instead of feeding billions into the pockets of corporate leaders and politicians whose only investment has been into themselves at the expense of everything else.
@@healinghands884yes the frozen ride looks very bad when compared to the characters in Spaceship Earth. Disney has devolved in its artistry and achievements.
@@baronlemarquis Exactly. The activists who are running the company may not be marching around outside holding signs up, but they’ve clearly shown who they are. There’s no fixing this without multiple major leadership changes.
So many things have changed. My family used to joke that the minute a scrap of paper or popcorn kernel hit the ground someone would come out of nowhere to pick it up. It was so clean. Went back in August and the place was filthy.
As a former Cast Member, cleanliness was part of our brand. In fact, Walt Disney insisted that trash cans would be placed throughout the park such that everyone would be within a few steps of a receptacle. The filth of the park now reflects the filth of Disney's new values.
I’m so glad you brought up this topic. I just returned from Disney and it will be my last visit. I have never seen the parks look so NOT like Christmas. It was horrible. The lights being gone was huge for me. The day we were in magic was awful. The park was dirty, I as a disabled person in a wheelchair was treated like crap. When I was at a restaurant I parked my wheelchair where they told me to when I came out it was gone. Found it about 1/4 mile away. Went back in to speak to mgmt and they had gone thru my stuff and it was all over the place and sitting out wet in the rain. I asked who gave them the right to touch my things and the smart ass said “Disney”. I let her have it then reported her to the the guest services the little 19 yr old self entitled snob. Then they changed the time for Happily ever after and told no one which is why I specifically waited and By the time I went to get a spot there was no where I could see I left so infuriated and by that time after only getting to go on 4 rides I just was to mad to care especially since the lights were gone now too! BRING BACK THE LIGHTS AND BECOME FAMILY FRIENDLY AGAIN OR YOU WILL GO BANKRUPT!
I worked there for 9 years and recently left the company is unrecognizable I can’t believe how it’s fell from grace to one of the most hated companies on the planet
Because the handlers hate a Christian country,family unity and males and females and children.Anything HOLY,they hate it.Didn’t they make Mickey and Minnie Break up,too?
Dude. It’s like they’re just _ACTIVELY_ trying to chase customers away at this point…like little baby Bobby Iger is a spoiled, petulant, man-child and if he can’t have Disney-*NOBODY ELSE CAN!* So he’s doing as much damage as he can and is breaking as many toys as possible before he inevitably leaves/gets banished. 🙄
Well, it is the goal of the woke cultural Marxist movement to destroy every vestige of traditional American culture, so it can be remade according to their ideology.
I wonder if he is doing the same move that other guy did with Sears. Cut the stock to a fraction of what it was and then swoop in and buy a ton of shares.
I took my family to Disneyland many years ago and the best part of it was the dazzling light show they put on after dark. I had never been to Disneyland before and was so stunned by the unexpected beauty of the show it literally made my eyes tear up. I am so happy my family was able to see it before Disney went woke.
I would like to return. I just can't get over them replacing one of their most iconic rides for political reasons. I also have a hard time getting over their sanitation of The Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as, making the ride more about the movie. I find that disheartening because when I went to The Pirates of the Caribbean as a kid I was in awe. It was a ride that inspired the movie NOT the other way around. It was all so amazing to me. I never got to witness the Christmas show there, at least not that I can remember. My family lived an hour away from the park when I was 5-6 years old, and we were season's pass holders. I will say that the lights on the castle look absolutely magnificent. They are indisputably way superior to the projections. My grandparents when they would talk about Disneyland they would bring up the light parade, nearly every time. I was unaware they did not do it as often.
That “magic” is what made people hop on planes and pay high ticket prices to experience. There is a threshold that Disney will eventually cross where people will not be willing to fly to Orlando and pay for those expensive park tickets. One day very soon, universal we will be the go to destination in Orlando and Disney will be the afterthought.
Walt Disney: Give the people all that you can give them and make the price reasonable. Disney today: Take away everything that made the parks great and keep raising the prices.
People don't understand how business works. What you want to do when your business is burning to the ground is make your product worse so that even more people avoid spending money on it.
This reminds me of a death spiral restaurants can enter into: ~Revenue dips (be it poor service, bad economy, etc) ~Cheaper ingredients are purchased to save costs ~Customers notice a drop in quality and don't return ~Revenue dips ~Even cheaper ingredients are purchased to save costs... Most restaurants never recover from it. Disney is now in its own death spiral and refuses to do anything about it.
@@R.P.-hw2rq This is a parallel to restaurants refusing to change anything because they don't want to "alienate their loyal customers" while failing to realize these customers aren't providing enough revenue to keep the place open. In this case, their "loyal customers" are the woke crowd that is much smaller and not even buying half of the products released. It could be that. People see good reviews, get excited, realize it's actually poor, then lose trust that future products will actually be good, and thus don't immediately go to the first release. Goodwill and reputation may be intangible, but they're invaluable.
Disney: "Hey you know that thing that people love and pay for? We are doing away with them to cut costs." Customer: "Wouldn't it be better to get rid of things people don't want or pay for?" Disney: "What? Are you some kind of bigot?"
Don't forget Roy Disney, as well as (in the context of their current animated films and especially live-action remakes), all of the animators who have ever worked at the company.
The Magic Kingdom's main purpose was to get better and better. The parks were supposed to be magical and this entire corporation can't even identify with that, never mind remember or know it! ESG and DEI destroy and only destroy!
But it is magical. Men dressed as princesses, workers that magically change what pronoun they are each hour, giant rodents and ducks greetings people, $20 sodas, fantastic movies that make the competition money, and all with the permission of the CCP under the present administrations noses.
You forgot one important part of the equation, on what Disney does today... Give less, spend more on what people don't want, and then DEMAND, that your fans like what you give them and accept what you give them.
@@ryananderson5202 They couldn't care less about any form of activism. This isn't them trying to be some kind of shining example of representation, it's just a misguided attempt to take advantage of people who actually do care about such issues. Pathetically, even their target audience rejects their bad faith attempts.
My family chose specifically not to go to the Magic Kingdom this year during Christmas because the lights won't be put up. It's one of our favorite things and without that there's no reason to go. We've been to the park dozens of times (Local Central Floridians who used to be annual passholders) but with all these changes we as a family are seeking other things to do. It's a shame, we LOVE Disney and we've been going for 40 years. My elderly mother was one of the rare few who went on opening day over 50 years ago, and now even she isn't feeling the magic anymore.
i worked at magic kingdom, from 1975 to 1983. it was a great time to be an employee. i stopped visiting the parks for pleasure about 2018, the crowds and expense no longer made them a pleasure to go to. i can't see myself ever going back again its sad , i have such fond memories of my time as a cast member
I was at Magic Kingdom two years ago for early December and to my disappointment the lights were gone on the castle. I remember what it used to look like for the holidays and nothing could ever compare. The Disney magic is gone.
A lot of businesses used the pandemic as an excuse to cut costs by taking away popular items. My favorite pizza place had a reasonably priced buffet that was very popular. They took it away “because of the pandemic” and raised their prices on individual pizzas. Now my family can’t afford to eat there at all because the cost for 2 pizzas is about $80. If you get drinks it easily comes to $100 for one lunch or dinner. Now I make my own pizza from scratch but i miss going out as a family now and then.
We were at the Christmas party 2 nights ago and the cut backs on decorations from even last year, are shocking, they canceled shows for no reason wait time were crazy long and no castle lights really sucked and felt cheap. They also did not do any exterior lights in space mountain. We wanted to ride space mountain with the Christmas overlay but the ride was shut down for almost the entire party.
Hey, I was just at Disney and I certainly noticed cutbacks that were not necessary. They are not concerned with their main customer base anymore. They should be very careful with their cutbacks and changes.
Its crazy how Disney is charging soo much for a lowered experience, but Universal charges nothing extra for their holiday event activities. I was at Universal today and was able to enjoy all the activities including the parade.
The Universal parade was great and free. Disney squeeze every dime they can from you. Too few rides, hours in a line, overpriced merchandise and food and $30 parking for shorter hours. Losing my love for Disney. Such a shame.
We went to Universal on holiday in 2015 and absolutely loved it! Our kids are in their mid 20’s now but want to go again! We’ve not been at Christmas time before so perhaps next Christmas we’ll take a holiday to Florida and spend it with my da while visiting Universal! A warm Christmas sounds lovely!
@@dinosaurwoman we were talking Chrismas events in this discussion. HHN is extra because its actually worth it. 10+ horror houses all high quality and 1,2 great shows. Its almost like a different park when its active.
I agree about universal! My family switched to universal YEARS ago, and it’s so much better and relaxing and experience. I feel like there’s a lot of people that say “oh you just hate Disney, and now you’re switching to universal for no good reason”. Um no. Im from Southern California. Grew up going to Disneyland the OG all the time. I lived two hours from Disneyland my whole life until I turned forty. I can tell you about the downside that Disney has gone through. (And spoiler -it happened at LEAST ten yearsBEFORE the pandemic. ) only it was sequestered to the west coast, so most people in the rest of the US didn’t see it happening. Now, it’s migrated to Disneyworld, and everyone is freaking out. Meanwhile, universal came quietly up from the rear in the great race that is theme park winning, and swiped the quality and lovely guest experience right out from under them while Disney was farting around with pushing their woke ideology. Now Universals got not only a classic great guest experience, but also an ENTIRE freaking new park WITH hotel opening like next year. They’re almost done in fact! While Disney was twiddling their thumbs and pointing fingers at each other for their incredibly stupid movie choices and (let’s face it- terrible actors, ahem Snow White) universal was out striding them in the theme park game. These days most people either go to universal or sea world, or Busch gardens over Disney, or they don’t go to theme parks at all. Preferring instead to take there family LITERALLY ANYWHERE else in the world for the same price or less, than a week at Disneyworld. They’re tanking. And it’s happening incredibly faster and much harder than I think the corporate talking heads ever expected. The stupidity of tanking your own bread and butter in income (that being the US parks), over propping up other black hole ventures, is just mind boggling. It’s like they WANT Disneyworld to fail, and they’re doing it on purpose now.
For far less than one of their failed projects, they could install permanent LED lights for the castle, and run them every night, even control them with a simple controller for special effects. And as a bonus, the maintenance + power consumption would be far less than the old lights.
I was always amazed how Disney had figured out how to turn you upside down, shake all of the money out of your pockets, turn you right side up, thanked them for the pleasure and started saving for the next trip. Amazing how far their quality has fallen for short term gain.
There was always a point in the trip where my husband would say under his breath " worth every penny". It was usually after some special interaction one of our kids had that you could see it all over them how much it meant. He joked after our first visit that they do everything but wipe your bum. We've watched the slow decline since then. Everytime we'd go back there was less and less of that.
Im 30 and started having kids 8 years ago. I’ve never been to Disney but I always thought I would after we paid off our debt. Everything is paid off as of this year and we can finally afford to drop some thousands on having a great time but it’s like they don’t want our money. I don’t believe I’ll ever go to Disney because everything they stand for these days is insulting to the average family.
Ever since they mandated employees to take a recent contraversial treatment, that was clearly known AT THE TIME not to work and to present significant risks to health, I have hoped for their ruin. So far its looking like I will get my wish. Its worth pointing out that at the same time, Universal respected their employees dignity enough to allow them to make their own health decisions.
Disney world is done. Everything that people loved, Disney just throws it out and does something cheaper and charges you even more. People have had it. I was there on opening day back in 1971 as a young boy. Been back there numerous times over the years. Fast forward to today, Disney couldn't pay me all the money on the planet to go there now. The magic is gone, and so am I.
More power to you but I disagree with you if people were done with Disney then what's the point of even talking about it why not ignore it and move on with their lies
@@animezilla4486 Sometimes it takes a while before people get over their disappointments and become numb. It will happen, but many have such fond memories it's hard for them to let go quickly.
I wonder how much revenue was lost from people deciding they didn’t want to pay extra for the Disney Princess experience and risk ending up with a fairy godmother with a mustache assigned to their child?
OMG! When I saw a video of TWO TRANS at the Disney Princess experience, I was LIVID. Confuse kids is the theme now???? THIS kinda of crap??? Most parents were taking their kids elsewhere and were very angry as you could see on the different videos. I don't blame them. Go woke, go broke. And by the way, BOTH trans were OBESE. Yeah, how "attractive" with beards and hairy arms and FAT. YUCK.
When my kids were growing in the 90's-00's, we bought season passes for Disneyland for a couple hundred dollars, and went for a couple hours at a time, just to see decorations and ride Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of Carrabian, Autopia, Space Mountain, Country Bears, Tiki Room, Mr Toads, Snow White dark rides, Small World, Train Ride, Princesses, Shooting Gallary, Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Star Tours. Nothing to see anymore, won't step foot in park now. Rather take grandkids hiking or skiing.
Wow, that was worded sooooo rude!!!! As Executives you should know better than to talk to your customers like that, without them you wouldn’t have a paycheck!!! Very unprofessional!!!!!! We will not be returning!!!!!!
Disney Parks and resorts have been removing features and services for about 15 years in pursuit of the cash grab. Yep the parks are profitable. Seems like anything they can remove to reduce maintenance costs they have. Guessing at some point you'll be paying for anything that was free. I stopped giving Disney my money about 3-4 years ago hope you do as well in hope of change.
What Iger and his cohorts have done to WDW is totally disgusting! I hate it, and I will not spend another dollar at DIsney ever again unless and until things change. Epic Universe, HERE WE COME!! 2025, I can not wait!!
When I first started going to the parks 10 years ago, Animal Kingdom had a parade, Hollywood Studios, had a parade, Hollywood Studios had amazing fireworks before they eliminated the good launch site, Magic Kingdom had a nighttime parade, we had the Dream Lights, the Halloween and Christmas party included 180° fireworks, July 4 and New Year’s Eve fireworks included 360° fireworks and who knows what I’m forgetting. I don’t mind paying more if they give a better experience, or at least the same experience for goodness sakes. The hours are less, and the parts are dirty. I doubt they ever go back to the old quality.
Im not a big Disney fan. Last time I was there was 2010, but I still remember the 2000 NYE at Disney World, was a spectacle of no comparison. Its sad that they have degraded. That said the Universal holiday parade is top notch this year. Im glad they still do them And IMO the Grinchmas show this year was better than last year's
It's sad to hear about the negative changes at BIW (Bob Iger World). It doesn't sound like it deserves the Walt Disney name any more, it has been transformed into Iger's vision instead. It's better to have heard about this before spending a great deal of money to find out. It's good that Universal sounds healthy still.
So let me get this straight… they double the park ticket cost and they make cuts at the parks to make up for making terrible movies nobody wants to watch?
First rule of business: "give the customers what they want". Disneys' forgotten that. I'm in my 70s and I grew up watching Walt Disneys Wonderful World of Color. I think he would be ashamed to have his name associated with the company today.
Wow my hubs and I went to Disney world for new years 2012/2013. We didn’t leave till 2am. It was still jamming after the new years. We took advantage of no lines on the rides before we left. It’s crazy how this brand just went downhill…..
Raising prices while cutting costs costs customers. The more customers who leave, the more Disney raises prices and cuts costs. What's the business plan here except failure?
This is not the same Disney I worked for in the 80’s. I got the best customer service training. I still use the same skills I learned. It was lucrative and magical. Now it’s just breaking apart one amazing thing after another.
My kids and their friends ultimate treat when growing up was a day (and night) at Disneyland. All through University, that was still the thing they and their friends loved most of all. One by one they and their ftiends have all come back from visits saying they will never go again, that it has been ruined. People dont go to places like Disneyland because they want to be preached to. In fact, they go because they want to get away from all that nonsense.
Projections can enhance certain limited situations, such as the Tree of Life, but I generally not a fan of them. They are lazy and uninspired. Just another way for them to "cheap out" on things. I also much preferred the simplicity of the subtle and understated pastel illumination of the castle as opposed to the "busyness" and cartoonish nature of the projections. Gone are the glory days of magic and majesty - not only the dream lites but also the majestic orchestral accompaniment that added so much emotion to the experience.
It's not just that, they probably could just install LEDs and leave them up permanently (so you cut down on the costs of putting them up and taking them down), and add projections just as a value added thing.
They used to run the projections over the Epcot pavilions for illuminations, and they were breathe taking but only because the pavilions were dark and then boom the light up and reveal of the pavilion Old school imagineers recognized when to use effects minimally for maximum effect.
As you correctly pointed out, giving less but charging more. I am a 59 year old Brit who has lived in Florida for some time. Due to family connections I visited Disney World in 1973, and was in awe. Since living here from 2014 I visited in 2015 and 2017. Still an enjoyable experience. My brother and his family visited my Floridian wife and I this August past. Again he to has visited some years before. This time? He was nowhere near as impressed from his previous trip in 2003.
It amazes me that Disney no longer listens to what their customers want or I should say what the majority of their customers want and don’t want. Families like their little girls to be princesses and princes.. They don’t want them called dreamers because that’s a huge downgrade. It’s too bad Disney won’t change their direction because then they’d have to admit they made a mistake.
Yes! Bring the Dream lights back. I flew from Malaysia just to visit Disney during Christmas to see these light and to my disappointment it was just some lame 3d projections. Bring back the dream lights
This won't go away. The pixie dusters will keep paying more and getting less. As long as they do, corporate disney will keep doing this. As they treat the whales very well and the rest are just bothersome peasants to tolerate in the parks.
Never seen such a tone def company in my 31 years of life! Folks, any hope left for The Disney Company (absolutely REFUSE to call it by Walt's name) is gone! They're just rearranging deck chairs on the titanic at this point, a sinking ship. Yet the fairy dusters will keep them afloat just long enough buying anything labled Disney no matter how bad it gets. Truly sad, good memories of what was though.
I am 54 been living in the EU for 50 years now, i got a picture of me in front of the castle in 1971.. Both my parents have passed away, the ONLY thing i heft left that was been in the USA :)
I thought for sure it was going to be replaced by a pride event, because the headline only showed up as partial in my feed. Five years ago I would’ve never had that thought. How crazy is that.
I'm surprised it wasn't a pride event. Cuz, you know, gays outnumber straights 20 to 1, according to THEM and the libbies. 😅😆😄 They are so much more important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😄
My family just returned from Disneyland. It was the lights on Main Street and Small World that really made our time special. The holiday decorations are our number one reason for going this time of year.
Jungle Cruise, "Red" in Pirates... all these changes were best described by a woman I talked with at DL in 2019: They're the changes nobody asked for. I've just learned that Disney is no longer synonymous with quality. It's hard to accept, but I've had to.
Failure on this level with this amount of consistency at this point is intentional. Normally I'm not the conspiracy believer, but my logical brain tells me that a conspiracy is THE ONLY LOGICAL EXPLANATION AT THIS POINT. I don't what the endgame is, and I won't speculate, but I simply cannot believe that they are simply out of touch or just cutting financial corners. They know what works and what doesn't, and choosing what doesn't work is just that: a choice. An intentional one at that.
I got choked at that Pro. Thank you, I really appreciated that. Yes sometimes holidays are hard on some of us and it really got to me as you are thinking of us who are having a tough time of it...
I see. Lose millions and millions of dollars on movies no one wants or desire, but save money on lights at the park. Pixie Dusters can only take so much.
There’s a show on Discovery Channel that I like called “Mysteries of the Abandoned “. Someday WDW will be an abandoned mess taken over by the swamp it was created. Good enough for them. Ha Ha Ha.
I feel that any parent that takes their children to Disney needs to have their head examined! This is no longer place for family fun. The best word that comes to mind is, BOYCOTT.
You are right they should give more not less. I have gone twice as an adult and I definitely feel it was a bad financial deal. My son wasn't so happy or impressed 😢. So I'll never go again even when I have another kid or grandkids
i absolutely loved the castle lights on Cinderella Castle around Xmas time. I remember seeing it in 2010 and loving how magical the castle looked. It's a shame that Disney World is not following through with this beautiful magical tradition... definitely won't go back to the Disney parks unless shit changes. damned disappointed. 😬
Considered returning quite a few years ago, but found out the Main St. electric parade was permanently cancelled. Never went, never considered going since. They do not deserve my custom. 😢
The castle lights are my Facebook photo. It’s a shame they’re gone. I’ve put off going back for all the bad choices made by Disney. I want to remember the magic that was once there.
They could’ve spent several less millions on the recent movies and had plenty of money for the lights. Or maybe not give that one executive an 11 million dollar bonus during the pandemic while laying cast members and staff off.
When I did the CP back in 2007, there were two parades running in MK, one in AK, and one in DHS. Now you're telling me there are no parades in WDW at all?
I live not that far from Myrtle Beach, SC. Yesterday, I went Black Friday shopping in Myrtle Beach and stopped into the Disney store at the outlet mall. You now have to buy a shopping bag to carry your items out from the Disney store. They are charging $4.99 for a plastic Disney Christmas themed bag.
We went to FL in Feb 2023. Spent about 4 days at Universal and one at Epcot. Universal had a ticket that you could come and go for almost a week. Epcot, granted the weather that day was bad, but it’s like long walks through empty park like settings. It’s much less immersive. Long bridge like roads with barriers up so you can’t see around the corner. Many attractions looked like regular buildings on the one side. There just wasn’t the little details that I enjoy when I go to these places. I’m in it for the sights. I’ve been to all of these parks many times over 50 years, but I’m just not sure I can bring myself to spend my time and money on what feels like a half hearted effort by a company that thinks it’s too big to fail.
Totally agree! My husband finally agreed to go to Disney World and I just don't want to go now. I want the magic back, the lights and leave the politics outside the gates
The other day when they opened the Christmas season, the lights in the castle show didn't even work. They had to cancel the whole thing at the Florida site. They can't even manage the usual shows that they used to be able to do with no problem. The priorities are all messed up. They need to wait and find out if their movies are actually going to be a hit before they invest hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars on a companion Ride for it.
I live in Orlando. Disney is in a serious decline while universal is hiring and expanding. A buddy of mine got hired by universal. Season ticket holders have been in decline since Covid.
When we went to Walt Disney in the nineties we did an hour earlier for Florida residents and did not stop until 12 midnight and that is when we shopped for trinkets or T-shirts. They had the tram, but we walked to our vehicle because we were so early, we parked near the front. We didn't have to make a reservation, we just went. Gold ole days now they have to track everything, and you want to put your phone away, but they make you use it for everything. I understand using up-to-date technology and that is ok, but dayum... reservations... you can't just spontaneously plan a trip to Disney If you live in St. Pete. This sucks. And now they are cutting corners. Disney NEVER cut corners. If people are going to shell out all this money including the whales, you should get nothing less than the best at Disney which is 3x the price of regular parks. You are always 3 times your money if you're going to Disney.
It’s just sad very very sad and Walt I’m sure is very disappointed! It’s like the Disney company doesn’t care about Walt’s dream and they have forgotten what and who makes them money! By forcing guests out of their parks, by disappointing children and taking the magic away, they are just hammering nails into their own coffins. They need to hire some employees that can honestly tell them what their guests want and need. Instead of being worried about politics and their own bank accts.
On an old promo VHS tape of Disney parks, they talked UP the parades. The whimsy. Having fun once the sun goes down. Now? A time capsule of a childhood I could've had. Things I could have experienced, only to be replaced by...greed.
The really sad part is that you have an entire generation that has no idea what Disney used to be like and that has been conditioned to accept substandard services and attractions. Same goes for movies and TV shows.
Exactly! And those are the people paying the outrageous prices for parties and extras without an afterthought. The Xmas party was $50 per person in 2009, and we thought that was expensive. I don’t know why you would pay $800 extra for a family of four just to see a parade, special characters, and some bad cookies and watery hot chocolate. No thanks. Universal doesn’t charge extra for their Xmas shows and Macys Day parade, and their profits are skyrocketing!
To Me. Toy Story 4 was horrible.
Exactly, remember the Electric Light Parade?! It was a huge draw especially at Christmas now its gone, no more fun, no more service from an industry that was the reason for its existence its why Walt Disney built it all!!
Saw it in 1982… un freaking believable still have the Polaroids.
I was a kid of the 80's and 90s and remember going to the movie theater every holiday season or summer to see an animated Disney film: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, the Lion King...I can still recall the awe and wonderful to watch such beautiful stories on the big screen for the first time.
I am 72 years old. I grew up with Disney as a beacon of wonder, magic, and wholesome values. If it said “Disney” it was sure to be wonderful. Now it is ruined. It is sad to see a legend die.
`I agree, I am 69 I grew up with Disney. If it said Disney you knew the quality would be there, the maijic over the top. Went there about 5 years 't , the parks were dirty, the facades needed painting, Disney didn't try to hide the mechanics of how things worked. There were wires visible, The que lines lacked the magic that used to cause the anticipation to grow as one got closer to the ride. They tried to use LED screens, it was like watching a TV, I could do that at home.
Bottom line, I decided that it wasn't worth for me to take my grandchildren, which I had dream of doing one day.
We just canceled Disney Plus, berceuse couldn't trust the content on the site. Their shows were teaching that parents were dumb, pushing things I nor their parents wanted them to be taught by them media. Was very Ok with Disney shows showing different races, nationailites getting long and being friends.
I'm 65 years old, grew up going to Disney at least once a month. We took my oldest son for his first time when he was 6 weeks old, my sister worked at Disney for years, i have a cousin that just passed his 40th year working at Disney. All this was good until they changed everything after Walt died. 😢 I have nothing against gay people, trans people, blm supporters and any other group you can name until you shove it in my face and try to force me to be a part of it! When Disney started its pride week or month or whatever it was i thought ok it won't change things very much! Yeah well i was very wrong in thinking that. I haven't been to Disney for years, won't watch a Disney movie or buy anything Disney for my grandchildren. I can not support a company that has turned everything that was good about Disney to the evil it has become! Walt is problem rolling in his grave🙏.
The sad thing is you see very little if any wholesome and uplifting movies, rarely in anything these days. When I was growing up, the Christmas season was a time to be cheerful, happy towards your fellow man and giving, now it is the time or what can you get me, and get out of my way because I’m more important than you are. You can’t say “ merry Christmas “ any more, in fact, they don’t even bother to say happy holidays anymore. It’s just another shopping day. Except you have Christmas lights, and decorations. I really don’t know why they bother to put up the Christmas lights. No one is full of cheer, and no one has the spirit of brotherly love. Everything is focused on sales. Money, money, money, and all this does it show the people, the haves, and the have Nots. Another way to divide us, and take away any help at all, of anything. it’s designed to take away your spirit. and that spirit, is God.
I totally agree. There are also a lots of horror movies out there, I don't know who is watching it.@@karenwarren1241
Amen @@karenwarren1241
If the people in charge of Disney today had been in charge in 1923, Disney would now be a long forgotten brand.
What is Disney again? I forgot.
Amen.
Those kind of people don’t really start things. They take them over for power, influence, greed and lust. They destroy. They are locusts.
Yup.
Frankly, this is true of many brands these days. In fact, at least a few should have gone under if not for lobbying to get bailouts; it's high time our nation's companies cease to have their losses covered at the continued expense of its citizens.
If we lose GM, Disney; GE, then so be it. Let others have the opportunity to build, improve, and create instead of feeding billions into the pockets of corporate leaders and politicians whose only investment has been into themselves at the expense of everything else.
Disney could have afforded to plug those lights back in if they hadn’t lost $1B in the box office in the past year
Way more than 1b
Let's hope it's closer to 2B.
I was just thinking that exact same thing. Disney went woke which I still don't get.... I mean feelings?
Really?
@@starmnsixty1209why
They still Can afford to lol
Anytime Disney adds a Frozen overlay to anything, its an instant downgrade. Those lights look amazing. The projection looks cheap and lazy.
Yes, their frozen ride has faceless statues and then project a face on it.. it looks terrible... and cheap...
It's bad enough the prices are outrageously high before food and transportation.
Cheap is the idea. Disney is trash.
@@healinghands884yes the frozen ride looks very bad when compared to the characters in Spaceship Earth. Disney has devolved in its artistry and achievements.
How about firing the activists and let them cry and sue. Hire talent and forget ESG.
Let's thaw out Walt and have him run the company. Just as likely.
If that was the case, Bob Iger would have to fire him... by himself.
@@baronlemarquis Exactly. The activists who are running the company may not be marching around outside holding signs up, but they’ve clearly shown who they are. There’s no fixing this without multiple major leadership changes.
You'd have to shut down their interior ESG departments & ignore pro ESG investors. The rot goes too deep for a simple fix like that.
Where do you think creative types come from?
So many things have changed. My family used to joke that the minute a scrap of paper or popcorn kernel hit the ground someone would come out of nowhere to pick it up. It was so clean. Went back in August and the place was filthy.
Don’t they still have street sweepers who paint character portraits on the ground with water?
My daughter was just there and said Magic Kingdom was filthy. Trash was everywhere.
As a former Cast Member, cleanliness was part of our brand. In fact, Walt Disney insisted that trash cans would be placed throughout the park such that everyone would be within a few steps of a receptacle.
The filth of the park now reflects the filth of Disney's new values.
Some people are ghetto and lazy. Don’t appreciate anything.
Yes, just came back from a trip. Filth is everywhere. Even the rides are filthy. The visitors on the whole look slovenly. No one cares anymore.
They need someone in charge that has the same thoughts and dreams that Walt Disney himself once had.
Even half of it would be better because then they would be on the right track.
I’m so glad you brought up this topic. I just returned from Disney and it will be my last visit. I have never seen the parks look so NOT like Christmas. It was horrible. The lights being gone was huge for me. The day we were in magic was awful. The park was dirty, I as a disabled person in a wheelchair was treated like crap. When I was at a restaurant I parked my wheelchair where they told me to when I came out it was gone. Found it about 1/4 mile away. Went back in to speak to mgmt and they had gone thru my stuff and it was all over the place and sitting out wet in the rain. I asked who gave them the right to touch my things and the smart ass said “Disney”. I let her have it then reported her to the the guest services the little 19 yr old self entitled snob. Then they changed the time for Happily ever after and told no one which is why I specifically waited and By the time I went to get a spot there was no where I could see I left so infuriated and by that time after only getting to go on 4 rides I just was to mad to care especially since the lights were gone now too! BRING BACK THE LIGHTS AND BECOME FAMILY FRIENDLY AGAIN OR YOU WILL GO BANKRUPT!
War on Christians = war on Christmas.
I worked there for 9 years and recently left the company is unrecognizable I can’t believe how it’s fell from grace to one of the most hated companies on the planet
Yep, that's what "wokeness" causes
Because the handlers hate a Christian country,family unity and males and females and children.Anything HOLY,they hate it.Didn’t they make Mickey and Minnie Break up,too?
Go woke, go broke. Seems like "woke" means mediocrity in all things.
Dude. It’s like they’re just _ACTIVELY_ trying to chase customers away at this point…like little baby Bobby Iger is a spoiled, petulant, man-child and if he can’t have Disney-*NOBODY ELSE CAN!*
So he’s doing as much damage as he can and is breaking as many toys as possible before he inevitably leaves/gets banished. 🙄
Perfectly said.
Well, it is the goal of the woke cultural Marxist movement to destroy every vestige of traditional American culture, so it can be remade according to their ideology.
I wonder if he is doing the same move that other guy did with Sears. Cut the stock to a fraction of what it was and then swoop in and buy a ton of shares.
He might had an unhappy childhood, that's why he and other wokers are devoted their life to destroy kids and adults' childhood
Sadly true 😢
I took my family to Disneyland many years ago and the best part of it was the dazzling light show they put on after dark. I had never been to Disneyland before and was so stunned by the unexpected beauty of the show it literally made my eyes tear up. I am so happy my family was able to see it before Disney went woke.
I would like to return. I just can't get over them replacing one of their most iconic rides for political reasons. I also have a hard time getting over their sanitation of The Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as, making the ride more about the movie. I find that disheartening because when I went to The Pirates of the Caribbean as a kid I was in awe. It was a ride that inspired the movie NOT the other way around. It was all so amazing to me.
I never got to witness the Christmas show there, at least not that I can remember. My family lived an hour away from the park when I was 5-6 years old, and we were season's pass holders. I will say that the lights on the castle look absolutely magnificent. They are indisputably way superior to the projections.
My grandparents when they would talk about Disneyland they would bring up the light parade, nearly every time. I was unaware they did not do it as often.
Ditto
Same here. Disneyland was a wonderful experience back when I was 8 years old. Now I'm 23. I miss the old Disney.
That “magic” is what made people hop on planes and pay high ticket prices to experience. There is a threshold that Disney will eventually cross where people will not be willing to fly to Orlando and pay for those expensive park tickets. One day very soon, universal we will be the go to destination in Orlando and Disney will be the afterthought.
Exactly, 12 years ago disney still had the warm feelling. now its just sad with all these new crap
Walt Disney: Give the people all that you can give them and make the price reasonable.
Disney today: Take away everything that made the parks great and keep raising the prices.
Disney will lose in the long run. Makes no sense.
quit the filth
People keep paying for it. Which to me is astonishing.
Yet another case of late-stage capitalism. How else can they show their investors year on year growth at this point?
People don't understand how business works. What you want to do when your business is burning to the ground is make your product worse so that even more people avoid spending money on it.
The old "Death Spiral" strategy.
Exactly, the New World Order strategy!
Then maybe they should cut their diversity and woke budget first.
This reminds me of a death spiral restaurants can enter into:
~Revenue dips (be it poor service, bad economy, etc)
~Cheaper ingredients are purchased to save costs
~Customers notice a drop in quality and don't return
~Revenue dips
~Even cheaper ingredients are purchased to save costs...
Most restaurants never recover from it. Disney is now in its own death spiral and refuses to do anything about it.
I stopped going to my local diner this year for exactly the reasons you mention. It was the quality of the meal not the higher prices that did it.
@@R.P.-hw2rq This is a parallel to restaurants refusing to change anything because they don't want to "alienate their loyal customers" while failing to realize these customers aren't providing enough revenue to keep the place open. In this case, their "loyal customers" are the woke crowd that is much smaller and not even buying half of the products released.
It could be that. People see good reviews, get excited, realize it's actually poor, then lose trust that future products will actually be good, and thus don't immediately go to the first release. Goodwill and reputation may be intangible, but they're invaluable.
@@thebull3206 If the quality is good, a lot of people are willing to pay for it.
You think so? I think it’s been in a death spiral for the past 8 years and it’s like a horror movie monster that won’t die.
Well a projection is something for a regional park. But Disney should feel like the premium experience, if you pay premium prices.
On a side note: The Christmas offerings at Universal Studios Parks for 2023 look like they will be fantastic!!!
Christmas at Universal Studios is amazing. We go every year. I love the parade and how it snows at the end. 🥰
Disney: "Hey you know that thing that people love and pay for? We are doing away with them to cut costs."
Customer: "Wouldn't it be better to get rid of things people don't want or pay for?"
Disney: "What? Are you some kind of bigot?"
I’m actually glad they stopped the dreamlights. I hated the weeks of the crane going up every year to put them up or take them down.
That - is perfectly put!
Lol aaf
And now that crane operator out of a job....@@Cheezbat
@@gypsybluewaves580 not in central Florida….the amount of new complexes and high rises….oh and Epic Universe..I’m highly doubting it.
Walt is rolling in his grave!🤬
Spinning I should say.
Walt wasn't that great either. Freemason there are lots of p e s o s working there.
Don't forget Roy Disney, as well as (in the context of their current animated films and especially live-action remakes), all of the animators who have ever worked at the company.
The Magic Kingdom's main purpose was to get better and better. The parks were supposed to be magical and this entire corporation can't even identify with that, never mind remember or know it! ESG and DEI destroy and only destroy!
Money is going to foreign parks.
But it is magical. Men dressed as princesses, workers that magically change what pronoun they are each hour, giant rodents and ducks greetings people, $20 sodas, fantastic movies that make the competition money, and all with the permission of the CCP under the present administrations noses.
but dont you know? it is better now. the princess at the nicknack shop is a dude with a beard now. all better!
@@bloodlinefilms aah, now that is better
Its morphing into a traveling circus.
Remember the 7Ks+ employees Disney let go? I think Disney let go the wrong people!
filth
You forgot one important part of the equation, on what Disney does today...
Give less, spend more on what people don't want, and then DEMAND, that your fans like what you give them and accept what you give them.
Feminism
@@ryananderson5202No, trying to see how much shit customers are willing to consume before the walk away.
@@ryananderson5202 They couldn't care less about any form of activism. This isn't them trying to be some kind of shining example of representation, it's just a misguided attempt to take advantage of people who actually do care about such issues. Pathetically, even their target audience rejects their bad faith attempts.
Nope.
Yep. Sounds like tyranny to me.
My family chose specifically not to go to the Magic Kingdom this year during Christmas because the lights won't be put up. It's one of our favorite things and without that there's no reason to go. We've been to the park dozens of times (Local Central Floridians who used to be annual passholders) but with all these changes we as a family are seeking other things to do.
It's a shame, we LOVE Disney and we've been going for 40 years. My elderly mother was one of the rare few who went on opening day over 50 years ago, and now even she isn't feeling the magic anymore.
That’s so sad
I joked knowingly that the only magic Disney has anymore is to make guests money disappear.
Nah the real magic is the new theme park their building down the road as a result of their business choices 😂😂
@@idleminded1
The one from Universal..
Nintendo land..
Disneyland was wonderful 65 years ago, and pretty good for twenty years or so until I left California.
@@warrengwonka2479- It’s still been good, up until the lockdowns…kinda like everything else that’s gone to 💩.
i worked at magic kingdom, from 1975 to 1983. it was a great time to be an employee. i stopped visiting the parks for pleasure about 2018, the crowds and expense no longer made them a pleasure to go to. i can't see myself ever going back again its sad , i have such fond memories of my time as a cast member
I was at Magic Kingdom two years ago for early December and to my disappointment the lights were gone on the castle. I remember what it used to look like for the holidays and nothing could ever compare. The Disney magic is gone.
A lot of businesses used the pandemic as an excuse to cut costs by taking away popular items. My favorite pizza place had a reasonably priced buffet that was very popular. They took it away “because of the pandemic” and raised their prices on individual pizzas. Now my family can’t afford to eat there at all because the cost for 2 pizzas is about $80. If you get drinks it easily comes to $100 for one lunch or dinner. Now I make my own pizza from scratch but i miss going out as a family now and then.
Story is not believable. What is the name of this pizza place with buffet {usually means cheaper pizza} that costs 80 dollars.
@@bethanyschneider5230 look up their menu yourself. Rocky’s pizza battle ground wa
We were at the Christmas party 2 nights ago and the cut backs on decorations from even last year, are shocking, they canceled shows for no reason wait time were crazy long and no castle lights really sucked and felt cheap. They also did not do any exterior lights in space mountain. We wanted to ride space mountain with the Christmas overlay but the ride was shut down for almost the entire party.
Disney hates Christianity and American values now.
Frankly I'd think a permanent LED light installation would make far more sense than a projection... They could change the colors seasonally.
It doesn’t matter what they do now, bc God is removing evil Disney
@@genitagray6126 ....because Disney sold it's soul to the devil.
Hey, I was just at Disney and I certainly noticed cutbacks that were not necessary. They are not concerned with their main customer base anymore. They should be very careful with their cutbacks and changes.
Its crazy how Disney is charging soo much for a lowered experience, but Universal charges nothing extra for their holiday event activities.
I was at Universal today and was able to enjoy all the activities including the parade.
The Universal parade was great and free. Disney squeeze every dime they can from you. Too few rides, hours in a line, overpriced merchandise and food and $30 parking for shorter hours. Losing my love for Disney. Such a shame.
We went to Universal on holiday in 2015 and absolutely loved it! Our kids are in their mid 20’s now but want to go again! We’ve not been at Christmas time before so perhaps next Christmas we’ll take a holiday to Florida and spend it with my da while visiting Universal! A warm Christmas sounds lovely!
Their Halloween Horror Nights is extra. I went in 2018 and had to pay extra.
@@dinosaurwoman we were talking Chrismas events in this discussion. HHN is extra because its actually worth it. 10+ horror houses all high quality and 1,2 great shows. Its almost like a different park when its active.
I agree about universal! My family switched to universal YEARS ago, and it’s so much better and relaxing and experience. I feel like there’s a lot of people that say “oh you just hate Disney, and now you’re switching to universal for no good reason”. Um no. Im from Southern California. Grew up going to Disneyland the OG all the time. I lived two hours from Disneyland my whole life until I turned forty. I can tell you about the downside that Disney has gone through. (And spoiler -it happened at LEAST ten yearsBEFORE the pandemic. ) only it was sequestered to the west coast, so most people in the rest of the US didn’t see it happening. Now, it’s migrated to Disneyworld, and everyone is freaking out. Meanwhile, universal came quietly up from the rear in the great race that is theme park winning, and swiped the quality and lovely guest experience right out from under them while Disney was farting around with pushing their woke ideology. Now Universals got not only a classic great guest experience, but also an ENTIRE freaking new park WITH hotel opening like next year. They’re almost done in fact! While Disney was twiddling their thumbs and pointing fingers at each other for their incredibly stupid movie choices and (let’s face it- terrible actors, ahem Snow White) universal was out striding them in the theme park game.
These days most people either go to universal or sea world, or Busch gardens over Disney, or they don’t go to theme parks at all. Preferring instead to take there family LITERALLY ANYWHERE else in the world for the same price or less, than a week at Disneyworld. They’re tanking. And it’s happening incredibly faster and much harder than I think the corporate talking heads ever expected. The stupidity of tanking your own bread and butter in income (that being the US parks), over propping up other black hole ventures, is just mind boggling. It’s like they WANT Disneyworld to fail, and they’re doing it on purpose now.
For far less than one of their failed projects, they could install permanent LED lights for the castle, and run them every night, even control them with a simple controller for special effects. And as a bonus, the maintenance + power consumption would be far less than the old lights.
That actually takes effort. Disney wants to keep being lazy.
Oh but the wokies won’t do that😂
Iger has no respect for Disney's core customers. His whole regime needs to be replaced.
Whenever Disney lowers the magic, it never comes back.
I was always amazed how Disney had figured out how to turn you upside down, shake all of the money out of your pockets, turn you right side up, thanked them for the pleasure and started saving for the next trip. Amazing how far their quality has fallen for short term gain.
There was always a point in the trip where my husband would say under his breath " worth every penny". It was usually after some special interaction one of our kids had that you could see it all over them how much it meant. He joked after our first visit that they do everything but wipe your bum. We've watched the slow decline since then. Everytime we'd go back there was less and less of that.
🤣🤣🤣
Im 30 and started having kids 8 years ago. I’ve never been to Disney but I always thought I would after we paid off our debt. Everything is paid off as of this year and we can finally afford to drop some thousands on having a great time but it’s like they don’t want our money. I don’t believe I’ll ever go to Disney because everything they stand for these days is insulting to the average family.
Ever since they mandated employees to take a recent contraversial treatment, that was clearly known AT THE TIME not to work and to present significant risks to health, I have hoped for their ruin. So far its looking like I will get my wish.
Its worth pointing out that at the same time, Universal respected their employees dignity enough to allow them to make their own health decisions.
I never took it and I fought back!
@@piscesrunner855good deal 👍👍
I took the shot, but I am strongly opposed to forcing it on anyone who does not want it.
That’s good to know about Universal. Thank you.
The magic keeps getting eroded by this stuff. Walt would be appalled at what's happening to his dream. Shame on them all.
Disney world is done. Everything that people loved, Disney just throws it out and does something cheaper and charges you even more. People have had it.
I was there on opening day back in 1971 as a young boy. Been back there numerous times over the years. Fast forward to today, Disney couldn't pay me all the money on the planet to go there now. The magic is gone, and so am I.
Here's👍 to you, friend.
More power to you but I disagree with you if people were done with Disney then what's the point of even talking about it why not ignore it and move on with their lies
@@animezilla4486 Sometimes it takes a while before people get over their disappointments and become numb. It will happen, but many have such fond memories it's hard for them to let go quickly.
I wonder how much revenue was lost from people deciding they didn’t want to pay extra for the Disney Princess experience and risk ending up with a fairy godmother with a mustache assigned to their child?
Yep screw Disney.
😏👍🏻
OMG! When I saw a video of TWO TRANS at the Disney Princess experience, I was LIVID. Confuse kids is the theme now???? THIS kinda of crap??? Most parents were taking their kids elsewhere and were very angry as you could see on the different videos. I don't blame them. Go woke, go broke. And by the way, BOTH trans were OBESE. Yeah, how "attractive" with beards and hairy arms and FAT. YUCK.
I wonder what Dollywood is doing about now for Christmas.
When my kids were growing in the 90's-00's, we bought season passes for Disneyland for a couple hundred dollars, and went for a couple hours at a time, just to see decorations and ride Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of Carrabian, Autopia, Space Mountain, Country Bears, Tiki Room, Mr Toads, Snow White dark rides, Small World, Train Ride, Princesses, Shooting Gallary, Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Star Tours. Nothing to see anymore, won't step foot in park now. Rather take grandkids hiking or skiing.
It's called; Being Penny Wise & Dollar Foolish.
"It takes too long to untangle all those lights every year. We're using a projection from now on!"
-- Disney Executives, 2023
They are projecting failure lol
Wow, that was worded sooooo rude!!!! As Executives you should know better than to talk to your customers like that, without them you wouldn’t have a paycheck!!! Very unprofessional!!!!!! We will not be returning!!!!!!
Disney Parks and resorts have been removing features and services for about 15 years in pursuit of the cash grab. Yep the parks are profitable. Seems like anything they can remove to reduce maintenance costs they have. Guessing at some point you'll be paying for anything that was free. I stopped giving Disney my money about 3-4 years ago hope you do as well in hope of change.
What Iger and his cohorts have done to WDW is totally disgusting! I hate it, and I will not spend another dollar at DIsney ever again unless and until things change. Epic Universe, HERE WE COME!! 2025, I can not wait!!
👍👍👍👍👍
When I first started going to the parks 10 years ago, Animal Kingdom had a parade, Hollywood Studios, had a parade, Hollywood Studios had amazing fireworks before they eliminated the good launch site, Magic Kingdom had a nighttime parade, we had the Dream Lights, the Halloween and Christmas party included 180° fireworks, July 4 and New Year’s Eve fireworks included 360° fireworks and who knows what I’m forgetting. I don’t mind paying more if they give a better experience, or at least the same experience for goodness sakes. The hours are less, and the parts are dirty. I doubt they ever go back to the old quality.
You KNOW they won't.
Im not a big Disney fan. Last time I was there was 2010, but I still remember the 2000 NYE at Disney World, was a spectacle of no comparison. Its sad that they have degraded.
That said the Universal holiday parade is top notch this year. Im glad they still do them
And IMO the Grinchmas show this year was better than last year's
The lights take a lot effort. The projections are like a cheap cheat. Just like screens in the rides.
It's sad to hear about the negative changes at BIW (Bob Iger World). It doesn't sound like it deserves the Walt Disney name any more, it has been transformed into Iger's vision instead. It's better to have heard about this before spending a great deal of money to find out. It's good that Universal sounds healthy still.
So let me get this straight… they double the park ticket cost and they make cuts at the parks to make up for making terrible movies nobody wants to watch?
$20 million to put up and take down lights? That’s nuts.
First rule of business: "give the customers what they want". Disneys' forgotten that. I'm in my 70s and I grew up watching Walt Disneys Wonderful World of Color. I think he would be ashamed to have his name associated with the company today.
Its the Magical Christmas Castle for a 'modern audience' 😂
Wow my hubs and I went to Disney world for new years 2012/2013. We didn’t leave till 2am. It was still jamming after the new years. We took advantage of no lines on the rides before we left. It’s crazy how this brand just went downhill…..
Raising prices while cutting costs costs customers. The more customers who leave, the more Disney raises prices and cuts costs. What's the business plan here except failure?
This is not the same Disney I worked for in the 80’s. I got the best customer service training. I still use the same skills I learned. It was lucrative and magical. Now it’s just breaking apart one amazing thing after another.
My kids and their friends ultimate treat when growing up was a day (and night) at Disneyland.
All through University, that was still the thing they and their friends loved most of all.
One by one they and their ftiends have all come back from visits saying they will never go again, that it has been ruined.
People dont go to places like Disneyland because they want to be preached to. In fact, they go because they want to get away from all that nonsense.
Projections can enhance certain limited situations, such as the Tree of Life, but I generally not a fan of them. They are lazy and uninspired. Just another way for them to "cheap out" on things. I also much preferred the simplicity of the subtle and understated pastel illumination of the castle as opposed to the "busyness" and cartoonish nature of the projections. Gone are the glory days of magic and majesty - not only the dream lites but also the majestic orchestral accompaniment that added so much emotion to the experience.
It's not just that, they probably could just install LEDs and leave them up permanently (so you cut down on the costs of putting them up and taking them down), and add projections just as a value added thing.
They used to run the projections over the Epcot pavilions for illuminations, and they were breathe taking but only because the pavilions were dark and then boom the light up and reveal of the pavilion
Old school imagineers recognized when to use effects minimally for maximum effect.
As you correctly pointed out, giving less but charging more. I am a 59 year old Brit who has lived in Florida for some time. Due to family connections I visited Disney World in 1973, and was in awe. Since living here from 2014 I visited in 2015 and 2017. Still an enjoyable experience. My brother and his family visited my Floridian wife and I this August past. Again he to has visited some years before. This time? He was nowhere near as impressed from his previous trip in 2003.
It amazes me that Disney no longer listens to what their customers want or I should say what the majority of their customers want and don’t want. Families like their little girls to be princesses and princes.. They don’t want them called dreamers because that’s a huge downgrade. It’s too bad Disney won’t change their direction because then they’d have to admit they made a mistake.
This is so heart crushing! It’s very very sad 😢 Way to take away the magic. I feel very sorry kids today.
Kids are finds
Yes! Bring the Dream lights back. I flew from Malaysia just to visit Disney during Christmas to see these light and to my disappointment it was just some lame 3d projections. Bring back the dream lights
This won't go away. The pixie dusters will keep paying more and getting less. As long as they do, corporate disney will keep doing this. As they treat the whales very well and the rest are just bothersome peasants to tolerate in the parks.
This is such a cheap out decision by Disney. What a bummer.
I’m with you. No one should be forced to go to a theme park they don’t approve of.
Never seen such a tone def company in my 31 years of life! Folks, any hope left for The Disney Company (absolutely REFUSE to call it by Walt's name) is gone! They're just rearranging deck chairs on the titanic at this point, a sinking ship. Yet the fairy dusters will keep them afloat just long enough buying anything labled Disney no matter how bad it gets. Truly sad, good memories of what was though.
I am 54 been living in the EU for 50 years now, i got a picture of me in front of the castle in 1971..
Both my parents have passed away, the ONLY thing i heft left that was been in the USA :)
I thought for sure it was going to be replaced by a pride event, because the headline only showed up as partial in my feed. Five years ago I would’ve never had that thought. How crazy is that.
I'm surprised it wasn't a pride event. Cuz, you know, gays outnumber straights 20 to 1, according to THEM and the libbies. 😅😆😄 They are so much more important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😄
Thanks for the nice words for those having a hard time this holiday season. I know it's appreciated 👍
My family just returned from Disneyland. It was the lights on Main Street and Small World that really made our time special. The holiday decorations are our number one reason for going this time of year.
Jungle Cruise, "Red" in Pirates... all these changes were best described by a woman I talked with at DL in 2019: They're the changes nobody asked for. I've just learned that Disney is no longer synonymous with quality. It's hard to accept, but I've had to.
Its like they are turning their parks into just another amusement park, except in comparrison their rides suck.
Failure on this level with this amount of consistency at this point is intentional. Normally I'm not the conspiracy believer, but my logical brain tells me that a conspiracy is THE ONLY LOGICAL EXPLANATION AT THIS POINT. I don't what the endgame is, and I won't speculate, but I simply cannot believe that they are simply out of touch or just cutting financial corners. They know what works and what doesn't, and choosing what doesn't work is just that: a choice. An intentional one at that.
Spot. On.
They killed the magic.
*It's safe to say, that Disney has lost its magic.*
I got choked at that Pro. Thank you, I really appreciated that. Yes sometimes holidays are hard on some of us and it really got to me as you are thinking of us who are having a tough time of it...
I see. Lose millions and millions of dollars on movies no one wants or desire, but save money on lights at the park. Pixie Dusters can only take so much.
People may want frozen
There’s a show on Discovery Channel that I like called “Mysteries of the Abandoned “. Someday WDW will be an abandoned mess taken over by the swamp it was created. Good enough for them. Ha Ha Ha.
Gotta cost cuts. That's only towards the consumer. They'll upcharge more, provide less and you'll be happy. Then send all the money to the China park.
Disney has gone to the dark side! $$$
"Just Project A JPEG On It And Make It Lame!" --- Eric Cartman
Disney is cutting cost while increasing their prices.
I feel that any parent that takes their children to Disney needs to have their head examined! This is no longer place for family fun. The best word that comes to mind is, BOYCOTT.
You are right they should give more not less. I have gone twice as an adult and I definitely feel it was a bad financial deal. My son wasn't so happy or impressed 😢. So I'll never go again even when I have another kid or grandkids
i absolutely loved the castle lights on Cinderella Castle around Xmas time. I remember seeing it in 2010 and loving how magical the castle looked. It's a shame that Disney World is not following through with this beautiful magical tradition... definitely won't go back to the Disney parks unless shit changes. damned disappointed. 😬
I agree! I am so beyond sad that the MAGIC is gone!!!! Never going back. I guess I will just have to live with my magical memories from way back when.
Considered returning quite a few years ago, but found out the Main St. electric parade was permanently cancelled. Never went, never considered going since. They do not deserve my custom. 😢
The castle lights are my Facebook photo. It’s a shame they’re gone. I’ve put off going back for all the bad choices made by Disney. I want to remember the magic that was once there.
Even Cinderella can’t afford the price of inflation these days.
Disney is to broke to send her royalty checks… i cant wait for cinderella to sue disney!
I agree! I'm glad you create this channel to provide a different message than WDW
They could’ve spent several less millions on the recent movies and had plenty of money for the lights. Or maybe not give that one executive an 11 million dollar bonus during the pandemic while laying cast members and staff off.
When I did the CP back in 2007, there were two parades running in MK, one in AK, and one in DHS. Now you're telling me there are no parades in WDW at all?
I live not that far from Myrtle Beach, SC. Yesterday, I went Black Friday shopping in Myrtle Beach and stopped into the Disney store at the outlet mall. You now have to buy a shopping bag to carry your items out from the Disney store. They are charging $4.99 for a plastic Disney Christmas themed bag.
We went to FL in Feb 2023. Spent about 4 days at Universal and one at Epcot. Universal had a ticket that you could come and go for almost a week. Epcot, granted the weather that day was bad, but it’s like long walks through empty park like settings. It’s much less immersive. Long bridge like roads with barriers up so you can’t see around the corner. Many attractions looked like regular buildings on the one side. There just wasn’t the little details that I enjoy when I go to these places. I’m in it for the sights.
I’ve been to all of these parks many times over 50 years, but I’m just not sure I can bring myself to spend my time and money on what feels like a half hearted effort by a company that thinks it’s too big to fail.
Totally agree! My husband finally agreed to go to Disney World and I just don't want to go now. I want the magic back, the lights and leave the politics outside the gates
Disney must think losing money is a sign of nobility
The other day when they opened the Christmas season, the lights in the castle show didn't even work. They had to cancel the whole thing at the Florida site. They can't even manage the usual shows that they used to be able to do with no problem. The priorities are all messed up.
They need to wait and find out if their movies are actually going to be a hit before they invest hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars on a companion Ride for it.
At the price they now charge to get into the park ….. THEY CAN AFFORD “REAL” LIGHTS! I will no longer go! 😂
“How to kill a company”…Disney knows how. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
I live in Orlando. Disney is in a serious decline while universal is hiring and expanding. A buddy of mine got hired by universal. Season ticket holders have been in decline since Covid.
When we went to Walt Disney in the nineties we did an hour earlier for Florida residents and did not stop until 12 midnight and that is when we shopped for trinkets or T-shirts. They had the tram, but we walked to our vehicle because we were so early, we parked near the front. We didn't have to make a reservation, we just went. Gold ole days now they have to track everything, and you want to put your phone away, but they make you use it for everything. I understand using up-to-date technology and that is ok, but dayum... reservations... you can't just spontaneously plan a trip to Disney If you live in St. Pete. This sucks. And now they are cutting corners. Disney NEVER cut corners. If people are going to shell out all this money including the whales, you should get nothing less than the best at Disney which is 3x the price of regular parks. You are always 3 times your money if you're going to Disney.
It’s just sad very very sad and Walt I’m sure is very disappointed! It’s like the Disney company doesn’t care about Walt’s dream and they have forgotten what and who makes them money! By forcing guests out of their parks, by disappointing children and taking the magic away, they are just hammering nails into their own coffins. They need to hire some employees that can honestly tell them what their guests want and need. Instead of being worried about politics and their own bank accts.
On an old promo VHS tape of Disney parks, they talked UP the parades. The whimsy. Having fun once the sun goes down.
Now? A time capsule of a childhood I could've had. Things I could have experienced, only to be replaced by...greed.
And woke garbage.