It's not the same...

[pvj1970]

I'm a Disney nut. Used to post a lot on the boards but lost my password and it was tied to an old email so no way to recover. This isn't really my first post.

Just back from our 8th trip. Went 5 consecutive years, and lately have been doing every other year. Always July or August, always 8 day, always a moderate.

It's just not the same. This year I was actually ready to come home. Not that I wanted to, but I didn't have that walk of shame feeling wheeling the bags over to the ME and I wasn't even tempted with the bounce backs. Lots of reasons why - some relate to the family (kids are now teens), but mostly it's on WDW.

1. It's really expensive, almost to the point of being overpriced. Over $800 on average per day for the family including travel costs is a chunk of change if you're not a one and done WDW family.
2. Things are broken. Some just small details, some larger. Boulder on BTMRR, eye lights on flotsam and jetsam in VOTLMM, pop ups and water features in Splash, the Yeti, the popcorn like game in the Pooh pool queue, all sorts of things in Dinosaur...
3. Are rides breaking down more often or is it just me? We were faced with non weather related ride break downs while in queue 5 times that I can remember this trip and these end up being a significant waste of time when you've been in line for 30+ minutes when it happens.
4. You see the best of people when you are at WDW, but you also see the worst of them and I don't remember this seeming so extreme. Angry people make for less fun.
5. The lines! I know we've never waited in lines like we did this year. This all ties back to #1 - when you're spending this amount of money per day and you end up spending 3 to 5 hours per day waiting in lines it just doesn't feel as fun.
6. The profiteering. I get that Disney is a company and exists to make profits for shareholders, but I remember when you could beat the lines and kill the parks by getting up early and hitting rope drop, knowing what you are doing, hopping at the right time, using EMH... This is limited now with the drastic cuts in the amount of EMH times, the parks closing earlier than they used to (to sell after hours tickets), and these extra ticketed morning events that make the rope drop less advantageous.

So I'm sitting here, for the first time in forever back from my WDW week and not thinking about when I'll be able to go back, and that makes me just a little sad.

 

[stewart715]

Things are broken. Some just small details, some larger. Boulder on BTMRR, eye lights on flotsam and jetsam in VOTLMM, pop ups and water features in Splash, the Yeti, the popcorn like game in the Pooh pool queue, all sorts of things in Dinosaur...

Please report all of these to https://twitter.com/wdwtoday and they will alert the appropriate people. Many times they don't know about these things until reported.

 

[stewart715]

EMH stinks now. Way too many resorts and too short. Back in the day it was 3 hours long AND the parks were open 2-3 hours longer. So in some cases, you're talking 5-6 extra hours in park vs the 2 you get now. Unfortunately, paid After Hours is the new EMH.

Lines are a growing issue and IMO part of the reason for the price increases; especially on weekends from Gold APs. Summer doesn't help either.

 

[pvj1970]

EMH do stink now, partially because two of the parks close at 9pm in the summer! So even with EMH you're only open until 11pm or midnight which is when the parks should probably close anyway this time of year.

 

[stewart715]

EMH do stink now, partially because two of the parks close at 9pm in the summer! So even with EMH you're only open until 11pm or midnight which is when the parks should probably close anyway this time of year.

I remember back in the day being at the parks easily until after 3am by the time we left the gate.

 

[Yensid67]

I agree with the expense argument. I fully understand that spending time at Disney equals spending money at Disney. But some of the prices are increasing at a ridiculous rate. I bought a carved Rhino in Animal Kingdom in May as a reminder of my Up Close with Rhinos tour. It cost me $45. I was there in July and, for fun, looked at the same sized Rhino. It was now $55!

 

[hopemax]

Please report all of these to https://twitter.com/wdwtoday and they will alert the appropriate people. Many times they don't know about these things until reported.

Which isn't a good sign either. I remember being in Fantasyland near opening, about 10-15 years ago, and there was a group of 3-4 engineer types and they had a clipboard with a checklist of effects and they were going from attraction to attraction. It used to be procedure to verify the effects are working.

If you need your customers to tell you when something is broken "You are doing it wrong." And that goes for any business. Disney's SOP now is to fix it only if it gets publicity. But only if it's a cheap fix (see Disco Yeti and Unicycle doll in IASW)

I just got back from my first DL visit in 4 years. Disneyland, is by no means perfect, and nothing like it used to either. But it was at least fun. I wasn't constantly rolling my eyes at the inefficiencies in handling people basically everywhere at WDW that makes things take FOREVER. The turnover, the lack of training, the apathy it's showing at WDW. I have been telling people for awhile that I would never describe WDW's staff as "efficient or proficient." And yet they maintain this customer service position because people seem to be placated by some of them getting down to their child's eye level and giving them a sticker. Disneyland there was a lot of frustration from CMs because their equipment wasn't working. In the photo shop, a CM had to try 3 different terminals to get it to show us our picture. She said, "Billions of dollar company and we can't get stuff that works. Ooops, not supposed to say that." My Mom worked for Disney for 15 years, so I told her it's okay, she was among friends. But you could tell it was so hard to be positive her job, when Bob Iger is sending the cast emails about their quarterly numbers and yet they can't do their job effectively because things aren't working.