Gotta be honest.... Not my best trip

[DontSpamMe]

Yes. Adjust expectations and adapt to what the park offers.

We just got back from a very busy weekend in the parks and just adapted to what the park threw at us.

Sunday was not a good day for riding the rides. We got Genie+ and still only rode 10 rides during our 15 hour day. We ended up pivoting from the rides to focusing on just enjoying the atmosphere and finding the quiet spaces. It didn't help at all that our rope drop was destroyed by Rise, Space and Indy being down. We went with Matterhorn since we were on the Tomorrowland side and that didn't get rolling until 8:21am.

My advice is to focus on the positives and you'll find a way to enjoy yourself.

 

[serendipityaey]

Yes. Adjust expectations and adapt to what the park offers.

We just got back from a very busy weekend in the parks and just adapted to what the park threw at us.

Sunday was not a good day for riding the rides. We got Genie+ and still only rode 10 rides during our 15 hour day. We ended up pivoting from the rides to focusing on just enjoying the atmosphere and finding the quiet spaces. It didn't help at all that our rope drop was destroyed by Rise, Space and Indy being down. We went with Matterhorn since we were on the Tomorrowland side and that didn't get rolling until 8:21am.

My advice is to focus on the positives and you'll find a way to enjoy yourself.

I believe there are two valid options. We went last week and had a great time. I’ve never had any issue changing course when a ride is down, which I’ve experienced at Disney for many years. Maybe it’s just luck but I had less issues with ride breakdowns on this trip then others. My family also owns a small theme park so I’m on the other side of the breakdowns way more often and I’m not really allowed to get upset either lol. I love the quiet moments I find at Disney, I don’t need to be riding rides 24-7, there are beautiful displays I don’t see anywhere else, and we still found some magic.

The other completely valid option is to be unhappy with your own personal treatment, to write and contact until you get a response, and to not go back until you’ve received an adequate response. I totally respect this. I know it seems hopeless but despite demand there are not an unlimited number of people to replace those who don’t go back. I’m having a good time but my trips are still becoming farther and farther and farther apart and I know I’m not the only one. I think there are still people at Disney that take the concerns to heart.

 

[lcp9]

Yes. Adjust expectations and adapt to what the park offers.

We just got back from a very busy weekend in the parks and just adapted to what the park threw at us.

Sunday was not a good day for riding the rides. We got Genie+ and still only rode 10 rides during our 15 hour day. We ended up pivoting from the rides to focusing on just enjoying the atmosphere and finding the quiet spaces. It didn't help at all that our rope drop was destroyed by Rise, Space and Indy being down. We went with Matterhorn since we were on the Tomorrowland side and that didn't get rolling until 8:21am.

My advice is to focus on the positives and you'll find a way to enjoy yourself.

I understand this. I truly do. It would be very entitled to believe you should be able to walk onto all the rides you want and have the perfect day - when we go to DLR, we are sharing the park with tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people and realistic expectations are in place.

But.

I use this phrase when considering my parenting a lot. "The maximum number of chances you give will become the minimum number they expect." (As in, when you ask your kids to do something and you are willing to give them 10 asks/chances, they're never going to go back to doing something on the first ask.) This idea is applicable here I think in considering the gaslighting, essentially, that Disney does with guest experiences. As we continue to adjust our expectations and adapt to a lesser and lesser experience as normal, that becomes the new standard for Disney. I agree it doesn't help to complain on here - other than to temper newer visitors' expectations of what parks are really like now - but until people are willing to write in and complain, as well as stop going, this is what the parks are going to be from now on. Wanting to have a positive attitude is great, but "focusing on the atmosphere" instead of considering the lesser experience - broken rides, no parades, no nighttime entertainment - is exactly what Disney wants you to do, because they make more money doing less that way.

 

[serendipityaey]

I understand this. I truly do. It would be very entitled to believe you should be able to walk onto all the rides you want and have the perfect day - when we go to DLR, we are sharing the park with tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people and realistic expectations are in place.

But.

I use this phrase when considering my parenting a lot. "The maximum number of chances you give will become the minimum number they expect." (As in, when you ask your kids to do something and you are willing to give them 10 asks/chances, they're never going to go back to doing something on the first ask.) This idea is applicable here I think in considering the gaslighting, essentially, that Disney does with guest experiences. As we continue to adjust our expectations and adapt to a lesser and lesser experience as normal, that becomes the new standard for Disney. I agree it doesn't help to complain on here - other than to temper newer visitors' expectations of what parks are really like now - but until people are willing to write in and complain, as well as stop going, this is what the parks are going to be from now on. Wanting to have a positive attitude is great, but "focusing on the atmosphere" instead of considering the lesser experience - broken rides, no parades, no nighttime entertainment - is exactly what Disney wants you to do, because they make more money doing less that way.

Except that wasn’t my experience. I rode the rides I wanted to, had very minimal issues with breakdowns, almost none, experienced parades and nighttime entertainment and loved the atmosphere that truly made me happy. My experience is valid too and we can choose to enjoy what we want to.

 

[Aspencreek]

There are definitely good days to still be had at DL. BUT... I think the AVERAGE experience is getting much worse over time with fewer good days and more/worse bad days sadly.

On average the crowds are higher. On average the breakdowns/wait-times are worse. On average the tickets, food, and merch costs are much higher. On average the amount of shows / parades / experiences have decreased. Etc, etc. So yes, good times can still be had for sure. But the average experience has gone down which makes it more and more of a gamble for visitors to go and spend their hard-earned money on a trip to the parks. Like LCP9 mentioned we figure that for our family of 4 coming from out of state it costs at least $1000 day for us to visit when you figure in flights, hotels, tickets, genie+, park food, etc.

So when we think about the $1000+ cost for a day and then weigh that against what is increasingly poor odds of great park days.... well, at some point it doesn't make sense to go. Which stinks because we really want to go. Would love for the CEO change to mean the parks will trend back in better direction asap so the math adds up for us!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

There are definitely good days to still be had at DL. BUT... I think the AVERAGE experience is getting much worse over time with fewer good days and more/worse bad days sadly.

On average the crowds are higher. On average the breakdowns/wait-times are worse. On average the tickets, food, and merch costs are much higher. On average the amount of shows / parades / experiences have decreased. Etc, etc. So yes, good times can still be had for sure. But the average experience has gone down which makes it more and more of a gamble for visitors to go and spend their hard-earned money on a trip to the parks. Like LCP9 mentioned we figure that for our family of 4 coming from out of state it costs at least $1000 day for us to visit when you figure in flights, hotels, tickets, genie+, park food, etc.

So when we think about the $1000+ cost for a day and then weigh that against what is increasingly poor odds of great park days.... well, at some point it doesn't make sense to go. Which stinks because we really want to go. Would love for the CEO change to mean the parks will trend back in better direction asap so the math adds up for us!

This is such an excellent observation. All very true.

 

[lcp9]

There are definitely good days to still be had at DL. BUT... I think the AVERAGE experience is getting much worse over time with fewer good days and more/worse bad days sadly.

On average the crowds are higher. On average the breakdowns/wait-times are worse. On average the tickets, food, and merch costs are much higher. On average the amount of shows / parades / experiences have decreased. Etc, etc. So yes, good times can still be had for sure. But the average experience has gone down which makes it more and more of a gamble for visitors to go and spend their hard-earned money on a trip to the parks. Like LCP9 mentioned we figure that for our family of 4 coming from out of state it costs at least $1000 day for us to visit when you figure in flights, hotels, tickets, genie+, park food, etc.

So when we think about the $1000+ cost for a day and then weigh that against what is increasingly poor odds of great park days.... well, at some point it doesn't make sense to go. Which stinks because we really want to go. Would love for the CEO change to mean the parks will trend back in better direction asap so the math adds up for us!

Absolutely! Halloween was actually a fantastic day. Standby was 45 mins at worst even for RSR most of the day. We didn't encounter a ton that was broken down. I really appreciate they've left Halloween Screams at DLR and we even got fireworks with the projections. All of that was overshadowed by the horrendousness of the Tuesday and Wednesday that followed. So - sure I would have paid $1000 for Halloween again. Would not have paid it for 11/1 and 11/2. Based on all of our prior experiences, those kinds of days are few and far between and that's a lot of money to gamble.

 

[lcp9]

Except that wasn’t my experience. I rode the rides I wanted to, had very minimal issues with breakdowns, almost none, experienced parades and nighttime entertainment and loved the atmosphere that truly made me happy. My experience is valid too and we can choose to enjoy what we want to.

That's great! I'm so glad you had a great day. My comment was directed at the poster that intimated we should all just make the best of it - insinuating it wasn't great, but he made the best of it. My point is, if we keep making the best out of what is typically a worse experience than 2019, this worse experience will become Disney's standard and their standards typically do not increase over time, in my experience. (see: daily afternoon parades, daily nighttime entertainment, free fastpass, park hopping at your leisure.)

 

[chezcurrie]

That's great! I'm so glad you had a great day. My comment was directed at the poster that intimated we should all just make the best of it - insinuating it wasn't great, but he made the best of it. My point is, if we keep making the best out of what is typically a worse experience than 2019, this worse experience will become Disney's standard and their standards typically do not increase over time, in my experience. (see: daily afternoon parades, daily nighttime entertainment, free fastpass, park hopping at your leisure.)

i hope I wasn’t the poster you thought was saying just make the best of it. I was trying to say that we can have different definitions of what a successful day is, and for me # of rides isn’t it.

Unfortunately right now comparison is the theif of joy as I don’t think the parks will go back to the before times, just by the simple fact that demand is still high. And maybe that’s what they were/are banking on - people who don’t have that history of trips to compare to.

I am very curious what changes, if any will come with Iger back at the helm. At the very least my cast member friends are ecstatic which has me hopeful for a more magical experience for all moving forward.

 

[Disneylandkat]

I want to start with; we love Disney! We have been to Disney World 10 times in the last 11 years. We were so excited to go on our 1st Disneyland trip! We had a great day on Monday the 14th, but Tuesday the 15th was so disappointing.
The rides kept going down; we were only able to use the genie plus for one ride of our choice. We received all experience passes for Big Thunder, The Incredicoaster, and Splash Mountain Going down. Our lightning lane for Haunted Mansion wasn’t honored, and Soarin went down after we checked in to the ride. If I knew we would only get one ride from G Plus I would have bought the ILL for Rise which was down in the morning causing 11/2 waits.
Buyer Beware for Genie Plus.

 

[whoever]

Yes. Adjust expectations and adapt to what the park offers.

We just got back from a very busy weekend in the parks and just adapted to what the park threw at us.

Sunday was not a good day for riding the rides. We got Genie+ and still only rode 10 rides during our 15 hour day. We ended up pivoting from the rides to focusing on just enjoying the atmosphere and finding the quiet spaces. It didn't help at all that our rope drop was destroyed by Rise, Space and Indy being down. We went with Matterhorn since we were on the Tomorrowland side and that didn't get rolling until 8:21am.

My advice is to focus on the positives and you'll find a way to enjoy yourself.

I always do and we did. Still, NOT what I paid for...

 

[whoever]

I understand this. I truly do. It would be very entitled to believe you should be able to walk onto all the rides you want and have the perfect day - when we go to DLR, we are sharing the park with tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people and realistic expectations are in place.

But.

I use this phrase when considering my parenting a lot. "The maximum number of chances you give will become the minimum number they expect." (As in, when you ask your kids to do something and you are willing to give them 10 asks/chances, they're never going to go back to doing something on the first ask.) This idea is applicable here I think in considering the gaslighting, essentially, that Disney does with guest experiences. As we continue to adjust our expectations and adapt to a lesser and lesser experience as normal, that becomes the new standard for Disney. I agree it doesn't help to complain on here - other than to temper newer visitors' expectations of what parks are really like now - but until people are willing to write in and complain, as well as stop going, this is what the parks are going to be from now on. Wanting to have a positive attitude is great, but "focusing on the atmosphere" instead of considering the lesser experience - broken rides, no parades, no nighttime entertainment - is exactly what Disney wants you to do, because they make more money doing less that way.

Apparently I've just had perfect trips the past 20-25 times. No.. SOMETHING was DIFFERENT this trip. Outside of a select few aspects, it was a POOOR experience. I attribute most of it to long wait times as EVERYTHING was 101 during our trip. As I said, the Hotel and hotel staff was amazing and on par with pre-covid. The parks sans c33.... Not so much

 

[whoever]

I want to start with; we love Disney! We have been to Disney World 10 times in the last 11 years. We were so excited to go on our 1st Disneyland trip! We had a great day on Monday the 14th, but Tuesday the 15th was so disappointing.
The rides kept going down; we were only able to use the genie plus for one ride of our choice. We received all experience passes for Big Thunder, The Incredicoaster, and Splash Mountain Going down. Our lightning lane for Haunted Mansion wasn’t honored, and Soarin went down after we checked in to the ride. If I knew we would only get one ride from G Plus I would have bought the ILL for Rise which was down in the morning causing 11/2 waits.
Buyer Beware for Genie Plus.

THIS!!

 

[whoever]

That's great! I'm so glad you had a great day. My comment was directed at the poster that intimated we should all just make the best of it - insinuating it wasn't great, but he made the best of it. My point is, if we keep making the best out of what is typically a worse experience than 2019, this worse experience will become Disney's standard and their standards typically do not increase over time, in my experience. (see: daily afternoon parades, daily nighttime entertainment, free fastpass, park hopping at your leisure.)

I always make the best of it, but this was NOT my long awaited Disney vacation I expected or longed for. I was exhausted vs. refreshed.

 

[serendipityaey]

That's great! I'm so glad you had a great day. My comment was directed at the poster that intimated we should all just make the best of it - insinuating it wasn't great, but he made the best of it. My point is, if we keep making the best out of what is typically a worse experience than 2019, this worse experience will become Disney's standard and their standards typically do not increase over time, in my experience. (see: daily afternoon parades, daily nighttime entertainment, free fastpass, park hopping at your leisure.)

Yes I agree and this is a much clearer way to state it. I’ve said more than a few times that if your experience was subpar absolutely write and contact until something is done. And I think this is so important and support it. In your first post it came across much more that you were attacking anyone that was happy enjoying the atmosphere. Also to say there are *no* parades and *no* nighttime entertainment isn’t true.

 

[wendlle]

I want to start with; we love Disney! We have been to Disney World 10 times in the last 11 years. We were so excited to go on our 1st Disneyland trip! We had a great day on Monday the 14th, but Tuesday the 15th was so disappointing.
The rides kept going down; we were only able to use the genie plus for one ride of our choice. We received all experience passes for Big Thunder, The Incredicoaster, and Splash Mountain Going down. Our lightning lane for Haunted Mansion wasn’t honored, and Soarin went down after we checked in to the ride. If I knew we would only get one ride from G Plus I would have bought the ILL for Rise which was down in the morning causing 11/2 waits.
Buyer Beware for Genie Plus.

I was there the same week, Monday we found good but that was it. We were there 5 days in total and the rest of the 4 days were horrible to be honest.
I spent almost $18K on this trip and it was the worst we ever had.

 

[whoever]

I was there the same week, Monday we found good but that was it. We were there 5 days in total and the rest of the 4 days were horrible to be honest.
I spent almost $18K on this trip and it was the worst we ever had.

I'm sorry, and if I had spent that I would be LIVID. We shall see if Iger corrects Chapek's issues. One can only hope and look at the upside.

 

[DLgal]

I was there the same week, Monday we found good but that was it. We were there 5 days in total and the rest of the 4 days were horrible to be honest.
I spent almost $18K on this trip and it was the worst we ever had.

$18k American dollars??? For 5 days?

 

[lalasmama]

$18k American dollars??? For 5 days?

In another thread, they mentioned that they came from Australia, so I'm wondering if that's AUD. They said they are about $0.60 AUD to $1.00 USD. Not sure how many kids or adults. If they are counting flights, that can definitely add up super quickly!

Still a lot of money regardless!

 

[DontSpamMe]

I always do and we did. Still, NOT what I paid for...

I completely agree. The current state of DL does not justify the current cost. My advice was for those that already had a trip planned. I send emails after trip expressing my frustration with genie+. I absolutely hate it and just wish everyone banded together and didn't buy it.