Never thought I'd do it- Cancelled.

[Timandalicia]

After all these years, and so many great trips, magical moments, and a lifetime of memories, I never thought I would get to the place where I'm just not excited and looking forward to WDW; but that is where I am right now. Yesterday I did the unthinkable and canceled our February reservation and our 8-night stay at the Yacht Club. I'm just having a hard time getting excited about spending 9K for just the room and park tickets. In addition, this Genie, Genie+, iLL$, slave to a smartphone, no Magical Express, more cutbacks, more add ons for extra money, closures, limited experiences, masks, the uncertainty of the near future of this nearly 2-year pandemic, I have just lost interest.

I guess I'm just getting old and not feeling the magic this time around. I'm sure I'll get flamed and there are some who will say, "Good, fewer people for me." I would say, "Your Welcome." To each their own. I'm not attacking Disney, just that I think they are starting to move in a different direction than I am going. I guess I'll just take some of that money, pack up the truck, attach the boat, and head from N.E. Ohio and find a nice cabin on the lake somewhere in Kentucky, NY, Tenn, or somewhere that's a several-hour drive away and enjoy a quiet and relaxing vacation this time around.

Just got back. Had a bit of a similar feeling. The genie plus actually made things a lot easier but I hear you in being a slave to the iPhone. We always stay Beach Club so I hear you there too on the fact that it is so much more expensive than 10, 5, heck 4 years ago. We are going to take smaller trips. Maybe go less frequent. It was always the plan for us though.
Good for you. Enjoy!

 

[susustudios]

I cancelled an annual pass a couple years ago. As of now I don't expect to go back unless it again seems worth it to me. Unlikely with the cutbacks and extra charges. Went a lot over the years though. I'll always have the memories and photos and footage.

 

[sweetmama17]

We were supposed to go March of 2020 but then everything closed down. I had pre-purchased our Florida APs in anticipation of that trip. Since we didn't go the vouchers are still good til 2030 (these also seem to be some golden ticket since I know APs are being sold right now). We decided early on we wouldn't go until things were more "normal" but my kids are getting older too (will be 7 and 9/10 if we activate them now) and we want to do other things. I feel if we wait too much longer it won't be the same Disney magic as teenagers' (especially using APs). So now I have a trip planned in a few weeks to activate our APs finally. Hoping all the new rides will open up too in the next year. So here's to one more hopefully magical year of Disney.

 

[Darcy03231]

Just got back. Had a bit of a similar feeling. The genie plus actually made things a lot easier but I hear you in being a slave to the iPhone. We always stay Beach Club so I hear you there too on the fact that it is so much more expensive than 10, 5, heck 4 years ago. We are going to take smaller trips. Maybe go less frequent. It was always the plan for us though.
Good for you. Enjoy!

We became a bit disillusioned earlier than many here after a two disappointing trips. Our last trip was in 2017 when we tacked two days (three nights at AKL and two day park hopper tickets) on the end of a cruise because DH wanted to see Pandora and I wasn't making a special trip just for that. It ended up being a lot of fun. I was able to get fast passes for both Flight of Passage (Day 1) and Navi (Day 2). As it turned out Navi had been down on Day 1 and after we got off of FOP it was up with a 5 minute wait so we were able to do it on the first day and gave up our fast pass for day 2. We also went during a slower time of year (end of August) so we were able to get a lot done with little to no lines. We decided this was the only way we'd go, as an add on to another vacation. Having said that, we did have a trip planned in September 2020 with my neighbor and her children (like grandchildren for us - we're really close), but we canceled due to COVID. With all the new changes I'm not sure whether we'll be back anytime soon.

 

[tlaw66]

I feel the pain you all are talking about. We are going to Disney in Jan 2023 with 9 people. 7 people over 18 and 2 kids, we are sharing all the expenses and used the dis boards to rent dvc points. there are 3 families all tied in one account so only one needs to have their phone. we have cut all unneeded expenses and still are at $13000.00 with genie plus for 7 days that is a lot of money I know but if you divide that by 3 it is about $4500.00 each family for 7 days not bad right. I guess what I am trying to say is if you are able to share some of the expense then your trip can still be somewhat affordable. We are staying at Animal Kingdom in a 2 bedroom suite for this amount. I hope that this will help and some of you can change your mind and still enjoy what you love doing. Oh the fun part of this is we all met on the dis boards.

 

[leeniewdw]

I think it's important to really know what you are paying, so good on you for doing that. (I have to admit that having 7 adults in a 2 BR unit seems.....close quarters...especially if there are 3 families).

We're at the stage that spending an entire week at WDW is not even in the conversation (though we did it when our kids were little). We aren't retired yet and with limited PTO and an empty nest, those funds are used for a week out West most of the time. Pretty certain they are far less money than a week at WDW.