Oh boy, I have some thoughts on this topic! I just got back a week or so ago. It was the first time I’d been to WDW in six years and I certainly noticed a difference. While we had several “pixie dust” moments from cast members (probably as a result of having a young child with us), I felt the “structural” aspect of Disney service had declined since we were last there.
One of the most noticeable areas where service was lacking was housekeeping. (This was at AKL.) As soon as we checked in to our room, my husband commented that he thought the room might not have been used in a while because there was a layer of dust on the entertainment center so thick you could draw in it. Then our room went TEN days before the sheets were changed on the bed. I realized they were remaking the bed without changing the sheets because of a dirt stain that ended up smack dab in the middle of the bed from my toddler’s shoe on one of our first mornings there. I don’t want to give the impression that it was a huge streak of mud or anything, but an inch or two long and visable enough that anyone making the bed should have noticed it. I will shoulder
some of the blame for the sheets not getting changed in that time — On day 3, we returned to our room for a midday break at 3:30pm and housekeeping had not yet cleaned it, so we declined service for that day. Likewise, we declined service on days 8 and 9 when we were all laid up sick with fevers. But seriously, what about the other week’s worth of days that they serviced our room and didn’t bother to change the sheets? (Sheets that we’re becoming visibly dirtier by the day, mind you, thanks to the aforementioned toddler and his knack for grinding crumbs into every surface he touches.) Beyond the issue of the sheets, the housekeeping just seemed subpar. I got the impression they were emptying the trash, replacing the towels, and remaking the bed but doing nothing beyond that in terms of actual cleaning. I
know that room was never once vacuumed during the 15 days we were there. (Again, toddler and crumbs.) This was the first time, out of all the hotels I’ve ever stayed in domestically or abroad, that I’ve ever noticed the housekeeping as being substandard.
The room checks? Ugh. I’m not going to go into the details in this already lengthy post but holy cow, they were so much more disruptive than I had imagined they could be prior to experiencing them. They don’t just knock softly and then leave to check back a couple hours later if you don’t answer — they
hound you by phone and in person until you open that door. When you answer the phone and tell them “come now, get it over with,” then of course it takes another 15-30 minutes for them to actually show up. This was all hugely inconvenient in our sick-and-sleeping baby/sick-and-wanting-to-sleep parents circumstances.
I came away from this trip more disenchanted than I ever have before. Disney has never been a budget vacation and I’ve always been okay with that. I understand resort pricing is inflated and I’m typically willing to shell out for things that fall under the umbrella of travel/life experiences/family memories. But the rising prices combined with the declining service brought me to a point of feeling like I can’t even justify it anymore. When you’re staying in one of their “deluxe” hotels and you realize you can hear the guest in the next room peeing and flushing (not an exaggeration), you start to think, “Maybe this room isn’t worth $500 a night.”
Osborne Lights and the nighttime light parade at Magic Kingdom are two that really bother me. The projection shows are much easier and cheaper to run night after night, but I don’t like them much and they don’t feel as enchanting.
I also don’t like that they now charge you to park your car at your resort.
I feel like Disney uses “everyone else in our industry does it” as their reasoning for a lot of things now (like resort parking fees), whereas they used to think “we can do this better/different than everyone else.”
Wow, now I feel dumb. I actually asked a CM what time the nighttime parade started. I didn’t realize they had done away with it. I guess I didn’t bother to look into that detail in my trip planning because, you know, Magic Kingdom has done a nighttime parade
longer than I’ve been alive. 
Thanks!
At least keep prices consistent throughout the Festival, not making guests feel as though they are at a disadvantage for attending in October and after. If prices must increase the in 2019 for F&W, so be it, but don't feel that prices should rise mid way throught the festival!
Supposedly food and drink prices have increased throughout the parks also. 
