Disappointing Trip

[Smugpugmug]

I suppose its because I don't live in the area and I don't get to go to Disney very often. But I have been there often enough to just enjoy being there soaking in the atmosphere. Of course I'd rather the parks be less crowded. But what is there to do about it? Not go? So far, I've found ways around the crowd by taking advantage of early morning hours, paying more for hard ticket after hours events like OBB, and getting on E-ticket attractions during shows and fireworks in the evenings. Since we're DVC, we like to hang at the hotel, or enjoy a table service dining, and rarely try to ride rides between 11-6.

I dunno, I don't go to Disneyland as often as people on this forum (I've only been twice) and I don't live anywhere near California but I don't think I can spend thousands of dollars to soak in the atmosphere. Truthfully I would rather not go and do a non Disney vacation instead. No judgement in your vacation style btw. It's just something that I can't see myself doing.

 

[DLgal]

I dunno, I don't go to Disneyland as often as people on this forum (I've only been twice) and I don't live anywhere near California but I don't think I can spend thousands of dollars to soak in the atmosphere. Truthfully I would rather not go and do a non Disney vacation instead. No judgement in your vacation style btw. It's just something that I can't see myself doing.

Not to mention, the "atmosphere" on super crowded days is NOT enjoyable either! People everywhere, angry guests, lots of yelling, nowhere to sit, etc. It's just chaotic.

 

[serendipityaey]

I suppose its because I don't live in the area and I don't get to go to Disney very often. But I have been there often enough to just enjoy being there soaking in the atmosphere. Of course I'd rather the parks be less crowded. But what is there to do about it? Not go? So far, I've found ways around the crowd by taking advantage of early morning hours, paying more for hard ticket after hours events like OBB, and getting on E-ticket attractions during shows and fireworks in the evenings. Since we're DVC, we like to hang at the hotel, or enjoy a table service dining, and rarely try to ride rides between 11-6.

This is exactly how I feel. We are *lucky* if we get to go once every 12-16 months. It means so much to us to be there. We don’t do hard ticket events or DVC but we take advantage of the early times and show and firework times like you said and just enjoy it.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I dunno, I don't go to Disneyland as often as people on this forum (I've only been twice) and I don't live anywhere near California but I don't think I can spend thousands of dollars to soak in the atmosphere. Truthfully I would rather not go and do a non Disney vacation instead. No judgement in your vacation style btw. It's just something that I can't see myself doing.

To each is own and I get you. We all enjoy our vacations differently. What is a vacation anyway but an escape from our own day-to-day grind or reality. For me, my day-to-day reality are palm trees, white sand beaches, and green mountains. After 6 months, my family is dying of island fever and can't wait to visit Disney. Believe it or not, Aulani is our last choice for Disney vacations. We still love it. But we'd much rather walk down a busy main street, or run around Grizzly Peak, get QS from Pacific Wharf, or just walk down Cars Land. Perhaps I'll grow tired of it like everything else. But for now, I'll take a crowded Disneyland or WDW any day over being in my office right now.....

 

[HIRyeDVC]

This is exactly how I feel. We are *lucky* if we get to go once every 12-16 months. It means so much to us to be there. We don’t do hard ticket events or DVC but we take advantage of the early times and show and firework times like you said and just enjoy it.

 

[PinkPixel]

Never have I been to Disney and left feeling like I got ripped off and wish my family had taken another vacation, until last week. We did half day on Wednesday (arrival day), OBB on Thursday and full park day on Friday. We went in knowing it would probably be crowded, but OMG, we did not expect the level of crowds we experienced. We used to be local, were annual passholders for a dozen years and have been to DL probably over 100 times. We know the parks. It wasn't the same place we remember.

Pros
* Mobile ordering food was great. Only time we had an issue was when trying to order Dole Whip. There was not one person picking up or even at the counter, and they wouldn't let me mobile order for anytime sooner than an hour the time the app showed, and were super rude to us. I encountered this last year at the same stand and the guy working said to just order and he will check me in. Just annoying because they were standing around just talking and were rude, and I know could have helped us if they wanted to.
* Residence Inn stay After my deliberation we ended up at the Residence Inn Convention Center. We have 3 older teenagers and needed the space. The hotel was fantastic. Rooms were clean, breakfast was really good, service was top notch (they even let us check in at 1:00). We also enjoyed being close to CVS and dining options. Hubby and I went one night and sat in the hot tub. The pool deck is wonderful and hot tub is huge. Walk to the park is 15 minutes.

Cons
* Genie+ We only bought it on our full park day. We were regretting not buying it on our half day to do more, but now that I've been through a full day with it, I'm glad we saved our money. The day we used it went got a few rides quickly in the late morning, but once I used my 1:00 reservation all other rides were either out of times for the day or weren't until 7pm. Once 7pm came everything else was taken. So we paid $100 for my family of 5 to skip lines for 4 rides. I was at WDW this time last year, 3 days before Genie+ started. We kept commenting on how nice it was because the lines moved so quickly for all of the rides without it. Since we had to wait in a long line for pretty much every ride, even lines that looked short took FOREVER. Felt much worse than Fast Pass, which we found we really missed.
* SO MANY PEOPLE Yes, I'm fully aware I booked a trip during fall break and during Halloween, there will be crowds. I work at a school and my teenagers can't miss school for a late January Disney trip, it's what we have to deal with. But it was just so much more crowded this time than any other trips. Very few lines under 60 minutes. Even Fantasyland rides were 30-60 minutes. Then with lack of availability for Genie+ rides, it was too much waiting. Every inch of the park was wall to wall people.


Has anyone else come back from the parks lately and felt disappointed? I can't believe I'm even saying this about a Disney trip, but ugh.... I'm so sad it wasn't very good. For the amount of money we spent and time I put into planning this isn't how you want to feel coming out of a vacation. I've been reading this more and more on FB Disney groups I belong to. And now they are about to raise prices even more. My family decided we are out and that was probably our last Disney vacation, at least for a long time.

On a packed holiday weekend sure there's bound to be disappointment. It's the busiest time and also exspensive. Skiing is like this now too. The mountain I've been going to my whole life in VT has promised to limit tickets sales on holiday weekends (I don't believe it) because lift lines were 40 mins waits in the cold. Same story, just too busy. Something that used to be a kind of "secret" for those in the know and kind of difficult thing to do, is now possible and more desirable to strive for with social media.
Even the local apple farm is a mob scene on the weekends. A place that's been around for 50 years is now a hot destination, 4 years running, full of people from all surrounding towns to experience fall and document it.

 

[By-Tor and Snow Pup]

Disney magic can be found on a crowded day, but it does reach a certain level of crowding that kills the magic. Lately, they have been packing the parks beyond the point of reason.

 

[Diana ZP]

I think something to consider for ANY consumer and destination is this :

Does it bring me joy ? if not why do I continue to go/pay for this ?
Is the value I am PERSONALLY getting , worth the cost * I * am paying ?
What could I do different ( if anything) to make this more enjoyable for *me* ?

Unpopular opinion time but Disney has and always will be a LUXURY. Everything has changed even before Covid was an excuse
( or in some cases valid points) and the idea that everything will or should remain the same just isn't how businesses operate.
Yes , Disney to me first and foremost is a business and I have no rose colored glasses about that. However in my personal experiences there is value in just being at Disney , FOR ME.

For the next person sitting next to me they may see value in their starbucks everyday in which I literally will never have an interest in and consider a waste of money , to each their own !

Trip reviews lately are focused on one thing - "Price paid vs perceived value in return."
As humans we tend to especially now with rising costs of everything , expect a high price tag to come with the best of the best with absolutely little to no issues at all, I mean I am paying this much so why am I not getting what I FEEL I should be ?
And that right there is both the issue and solution.

Every single resort , destination , country , city has it's good and bad. Tell me how many good experiences you hear over the bad on average ? It's easily 5 bad experiences or issues to 1 good.
Social media also has a part in this when I daily see influencers sharing "inside tips and tricks" , some of which were random pixie dust moments that CM's had ability to provide are now seen as being expected and the this puts unrealistic expectations on guests and of CM's many of whom make minimum wage , but as a company yes many including Disney could and should do better , but that is another discussion in itself.

I'm no blind loyalist , in fact I've had several dissapointing experiences while at DLR the last year. However none of that I have remembered past the day until I had to really focus on it.
I also acknowledge as a Magic Key holder in the northern California area gives me a better chance to experience more and so I can be picky what I do and when to go , at some point it's okay to decide that right now , Disney parks aren't a good fit for me.

I fully believe if you are stressing about a vacation , the bar is already set up to fail and anything less than spectacular could "ruin the magic". Don't let that happen , we are still in control of how we choose to enjoy the parks and how.

I encourage both positive , negative and even suggestions always through the app and email. It may feel like one voice doesn't matter but thousands together are harder to be ignored.

Eloquently and wonderfully said! I so agree with this!

 

[Diana ZP]

To each is own and I get you. We all enjoy our vacations differently. What is a vacation anyway but an escape from our own day-to-day grind or reality. For me, my day-to-day reality are palm trees, white sand beaches, and green mountains. After 6 months, my family is dying of island fever and can't wait to visit Disney. Believe it or not, Aulani is our last choice for Disney vacations. We still love it. But we'd much rather walk down a busy main street, or run around Grizzly Peak, get QS from Pacific Wharf, or just walk down Cars Land. Perhaps I'll grow tired of it like everything else. But for now, I'll take a crowded Disneyland or WDW any day over being in my office right now.....

my two favorite places- Disneyland and World and Hawaii...but I hear you, it does get meh and you need a different view for a while.

 

[pharmama]

It's just always crowded now, it seems. A random less crowded day will pop up and be reported on but can't plan on any slow days anymore. There used to be slow seasons, but disney added specials events to those times so the traditional slow seasons are now the busier times. We went on a Tuesday in mid May, before schools got out and not around any holidays. A quick one day trip on our way to AZ. Rope dropped and stayed til midnight. First and last hour were good, although there were still some long lines in that last hour. Did not get all rides done like you used to be able to do in a full day, and didn't ride anything twice.

Right- mid May. When the special SoCal tickets usually expire. So it "shouldn't" have been busy but it was because people wanted to finish up their discounted tickets before they turned into pumpkins. All that, of course, just reinforces your point that Disney has figured out how to make the "slow" times not slow through a wide variety of mechanisms.

 

[ktlm]

Same thing for us last October. There was no Genie+, no max pass, and no fast pass then. I was hoping people would have a different experience this year with Genie+. It was by far our worst Disney trip and we have been to WDW in a hurricane. We've been to WDW the week between Christmas and New Years, and we have been to DLR those days right before the passes are blocked for the summer, so we know crowds and how to deal with them. My teen DD has been a Disney/Disney parks fanatic since she was 2, our house was all Disney all the time, she could hands down beat any CM at the parks at Disney history and trivia, and her goal in life was to be an Imagineer for years. She started asking if we could change our flights and go home early-- that is when you know it is awful because the Disney parks have always been her favorite place in the world. Oogie Boogie was actually the only thing that saved our trip--- we had a fantastic time that night.

Except for 2020, we have been to WDW or DL, or most years both, every year since 2008. After our trip last year, this is the first year we decided not to go to WDW or DL. The prices have gone up too far for an experience that has gone way down. The park reservation system is awful (we saw crying kids every morning because their parents did not realize advance reservations were necessary and they could not get in). The restrictions on park hopping are not workable (stuck in miserable crowds at DL, we looked at the app and saw extremely short lines at CA, but it was too early to hop). We just can't justify the outlandish prices right now, for the restrictions, limitations, and problems with the parks. I wish they would just bring back FP/Max pass, get rid of park reservations, and eliminate the hopping restrictions. Personally, we are no longer getting the value we should for the price they are charging. It just felt like they could care less about the customers.

 

[DharmaLou]

I won't ever go in October again. I just know that it's always crowded then. My favorite times to go are January and February.

 

[Aurora0427]

Never have I been to Disney and left feeling like I got ripped off and wish my family had taken another vacation, until last week. We did half day on Wednesday (arrival day), OBB on Thursday and full park day on Friday. We went in knowing it would probably be crowded, but OMG, we did not expect the level of crowds we experienced. We used to be local, were annual passholders for a dozen years and have been to DL probably over 100 times. We know the parks. It wasn't the same place we remember.

Pros
* Mobile ordering food was great. Only time we had an issue was when trying to order Dole Whip. There was not one person picking up or even at the counter, and they wouldn't let me mobile order for anytime sooner than an hour the time the app showed, and were super rude to us. I encountered this last year at the same stand and the guy working said to just order and he will check me in. Just annoying because they were standing around just talking and were rude, and I know could have helped us if they wanted to.
* Residence Inn stay After my deliberation we ended up at the Residence Inn Convention Center. We have 3 older teenagers and needed the space. The hotel was fantastic. Rooms were clean, breakfast was really good, service was top notch (they even let us check in at 1:00). We also enjoyed being close to CVS and dining options. Hubby and I went one night and sat in the hot tub. The pool deck is wonderful and hot tub is huge. Walk to the park is 15 minutes.

Cons
* Genie+ We only bought it on our full park day. We were regretting not buying it on our half day to do more, but now that I've been through a full day with it, I'm glad we saved our money. The day we used it went got a few rides quickly in the late morning, but once I used my 1:00 reservation all other rides were either out of times for the day or weren't until 7pm. Once 7pm came everything else was taken. So we paid $100 for my family of 5 to skip lines for 4 rides. I was at WDW this time last year, 3 days before Genie+ started. We kept commenting on how nice it was because the lines moved so quickly for all of the rides without it. Since we had to wait in a long line for pretty much every ride, even lines that looked short took FOREVER. Felt much worse than Fast Pass, which we found we really missed.
* SO MANY PEOPLE Yes, I'm fully aware I booked a trip during fall break and during Halloween, there will be crowds. I work at a school and my teenagers can't miss school for a late January Disney trip, it's what we have to deal with. But it was just so much more crowded this time than any other trips. Very few lines under 60 minutes. Even Fantasyland rides were 30-60 minutes. Then with lack of availability for Genie+ rides, it was too much waiting. Every inch of the park was wall to wall people.


Has anyone else come back from the parks lately and felt disappointed? I can't believe I'm even saying this about a Disney trip, but ugh.... I'm so sad it wasn't very good. For the amount of money we spent and time I put into planning this isn't how you want to feel coming out of a vacation. I've been reading this more and more on FB Disney groups I belong to. And now they are about to raise prices even more. My family decided we are out and that was probably our last Disney vacation, at least for a long time.

We are locals and have keys…. It’s the only reason we go. If we were out of town, we’d spend the thousands of dollars and go to Hawaii or Europe.

 

[Bigmace]

We are here now and things are pretty bad. Insane wait times, insane crowds, several rides down several times per day. This will probably be our last Disney park trip for a while. Honestly would have done something else but out enchant keys expire this week and wanted to get one last trip in. Will not be renewing them.

 

[Bossy22]

I always thought I'd just rather be at Disneyland then almost anywhere. We live in Canada and always had a trip planned. This summer we went and although we still had fun it was NOT worth the money we paid, this is the first time I have ever said that. This is also the first time in 10 years we aren't already planning another trip. I LOVE Disneyland (or at least I did). This new version is causing me to reconsider things I never would of reconsidered before!

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Grabbed some ice cream, decided to duck into the Cinema to relax and get out of the crowds. They had removed the seating.

 

[ironband74]

Has anyone else come back from the parks lately and felt disappointed? I can't believe I'm even saying this about a Disney trip, but ugh.... I'm so sad it wasn't very good. For the amount of money we spent and time I put into planning this isn't how you want to feel coming out of a vacation. I've been reading this more and more on FB Disney groups I belong to. And now they are about to raise prices even more. My family decided we are out and that was probably our last Disney vacation, at least for a long time.

Our trip in April left me feeling like this. We checked all the boxes and did everything we wanted to do, and yet the magic was not there. I didn't feel like a guest. I felt like a customer. And that's not why I go to Disney.
I figured I'd give it some time and eventually the desire to return would come back, but it hasn't. After today's announcement, I think we're also going to be taking a break for a few years.

 

[DLgal]

Grabbed some ice cream, decided to duck into the Cinema to relax and get out of the crowds. They had removed the seating.

That happened YEARS ago.

 

[GatorChris]

Same! I leave Sunday and I'm preparing myself. Unfortunately I don't have other options on another time of year to visit this time. So it's October or nothing. I didn't have to pay for tickets, so I'll take October!

Cool. Yip, coming in on Sunday and staying at a place across the street. Look for a guy with a Jurassic Park hat eating a clam chowder bread bowl on Monday for lunch. Tradition to start my trip that way.

Free tickets??? Man, how do you rate?

 

[DisneylandFan22]

That happened YEARS ago.

Did it really? I thought I remembered sitting on a bench in there in February.