What Do You Like Better Now Than Before COVID?

[DisneyFive]

About the only thing I like better are the new rides. I do like the 60 day ADR window and mobile order as well.

I really miss FP+ and MDE in particular

Dan

 

[dwheaton]

I'd say the biggest difference on our trip this March was my approach to the parks. I wasn't as focused on maximizing our time; we slept in and stayed up late. We did all the big things we wanted to do, but there wasn't any pressure. We also loved mobile ordering, which made it easy to just grab food when we wanted and make it easier for my girls (who are picky eaters). It was packed on Spring Break, but it was still a lot more pleasant than in the past.

 

[emily nicole]

No sitting with strangers at Biergarten!!!! YES!!! I hope they keep it that way forever.

 

[DisneyOma]

There is a lot we like. Individual Lightning Lanes, Genie+, lower crowds at the Halloween Party, mobile food ordering and full service restauranats that do To Go Orders.

I'm confused - ILL and Genie+ are a paid service that used to be free - what is the thing you like about that?

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

With all the disappointments that people are experiencing these days and with how much more complicated it is to plan a trip to WDW or DL, what do people like BETTER now? I would love to be able to focus on the bright spots. We have really liked the Cavalcades we have seen at both resorts (but love having the "Meet and Greets" back too!). And some people have been a bit friendlier and more patient because they are just so thrilled to be able to be back in the parks (I know, some have become just the opposite, but I try to ignore them lol!).

I like that they took away all of the perks for staying on site. I stayed off site (never would have considered that before Covid), and found that offsite is SOOOOO much nicer than onsite, for less than a third of the price, especially in multi-bedroom timeshare rental hotels like Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek and Sheraton Vistana.

 

[emily nicole]

I like that they took away all of the perks for staying on site. I stayed off site (never would have considered that before Covid), and found that offsite is SOOOOO much nicer than onsite, for less than a third of the price, especially in multi-bedroom timeshare rental hotels like Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek and Sheraton Vistana.

I SO AGREE.
We started staying in Flamingo Crossings which is just a hop, skip and a jump to Disney property with very little traffic on the way. That's our new go-to. I never would have considered it back in the day when we had DME, early access to FP+, night EMH (MK until 3:00AM, those were the days!), etc.

 

[ShannyMcB]

Totally forgot about family style dining instead of buffet! So much easier with little kids

 

[JodyK]

Disney tecnology is a bit infuriating but I do like they are a company that is looking for ways to try introduce technoology into their parks even if it isn't always perfect. So increased focus on mobile ordering both QS and at stores, still doing virtual queues and even MB+. I can understand frustrations around some of these things but personally I think I'm more on the early adopter side that likes to try new things.

l also like the move towards not having to have everything booked 180 days in advance. Personally we were rarely booked that far in advance. I don't like everything about Genie+ that's for sure ($) but I do like if I am planning a trip 3-4 months in advance not feeling like I've already missed all the good reservations.

 

[Tyler's Dad]

I love the parks now more than ever. ILL and Genie + a free r an upgrade for us over FP+, mobile ordering is great, not having to plan our whole trip 6 months in advance is the best part, and we bought DVC last year, so now we have that as well.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Totally forgot about family style dining instead of buffet! So much easier with little kids

Yeah, I hate that the buffets are coming back. Family style dining is so much nicer.

 

[lizzytizzy]

I love the mobile ordering, especially with picking the time so that I don't have to wait. DD has T1D and mobile ordering makes it so much better because I have an idea when she's going to hit low. The idea that I don't have to go on line to order and then wait made the trip less stressful for me.

 

[Bullseye]

Mobile Ordering. So much more convenient then standing in line while people try to decide what they want, but waiting until they get to cash register to do so.

 

[DVC92]

Nothing!

 

[DVC92]

Yeah, I hate that the buffets are coming back. Family style dining is so much nicer.

I do agree, family style was nicer.

 

[pens4821]

I thought I’d be the only one, but have seen a couple people mention it. I like LL/ILL. Yeah I don’t love paying for it, but I actually liked it much more than FP and have no issue paying for a better service. I hated making a plan 60 days in advance. You can still make it work with the new system and get everything you want. While ILL is another expense, it doesn’t bother us much because that one ride you can ride first or last and not have to pay if you don’t want to (we did pay for rotr twice and wouldn’t hesitate to again).

Other than not having to pick two months before your trip, I did like you have to pay for it because it has drastically (for us anyway) cut down wait times while using your LL. We went spring break and didn’t wait long at all, meanwhile back in January of 2018 we waited in long lines that snaked way out of the queues often.

I also like that the dining ADRs aren’t as long either. Nothing like planning a dinner 6 months in advance.

When we were there in ‘18 mobile order was becoming a thing but not all over. I like that there are a lot more places that offer it now. However, we had horrible luck with waits for food and ended up finding out it was quicker for us the week we were there this year to just order at the restaurant. Hopefully that is getting fixed.

 

[musicguy856]

Although Genie+ costs $15/day, I like that onsite resort guests no longer have priority for booking attractions (except for the one ILL in each park).

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I'm excited for the Galactic Starcruiser. It's insanely expensive but it's an ambitious leap forward in immersive, interactive entertainment and I think it's great that WDW stuck with the concept despite Covid, unlike the other projects that were announced and never mentioned again (like Cherry Tree Lane. Maybe someday they'll bring that idea back with an ambitious ride like a carousel where the horses go off track into an animated world like the one in Mary Poppins. Sigh.)

But other than that, it seems like most things are subtractions or an extra charge where things used to be included. Magical Express and FP+ especially. And the combination of ADR hoarding and limited capacity due to understaffing in restaurants has made it beyond frustrating to get a table at popular places, even more so if you have a short trip. I'm glad they've got mobile ordering online with most QS places because it looks like we'll be eating QS for nearly every meal.

 

[asc]

DAS

 

[gharter]

Mobile ordering.
The random Cavalcades would be a close second.

 

[Sammie]

I'm confused - ILL and Genie+ are a paid service that used to be free - what is the thing you like about that?

We found it worked better than Fast pass. There was never anything offered that resembled ILL, We don't buy souvenirs anymore, we don't drink alcohol so spending money for Genie+ or ILL, wasn't a deal breaker for us. We also used stand by. We liked the 3 options.