Why I Gave Up on Walt Disney World

[a1tinkfans]

Just back from an 8 day visit. Fla res w/a recent AP. My friends and family look at me funny .. why on Earth would I need that long, lol.
Did no water parks, DS for a lunch and no shopping and did not do Any hopping nor emh. Visited each of the parks and repeated 2. The rest of the time was a relaxing mix of seeing some holiday decorations, reading and enjoying my Disney “fix”.
It’s easier than years back... what I don’t see or do, I know I’ll do next visit.
My Overall observations were that the parks were busier, way more kiddos missing school, very limited CM interaction and not many smiles, people are less patient and more... aggressive. But, when on Any vacation, I really try to let most things slide by. This visit had several annoyances, inconveniences and even abit of craziness, but I didn’t let it ruin my visit.

 

[CBMom01]

IMO, the biggest benefit of deluxe is proximity to parks. Club level benefits are not worth it to me but staying at an Epcot resort gives me hours of vacation time where I’m not on a bus or otherwise traveling from place to place.

That being said, while proximity of deluxe is a huge perk (along with other Disney hotel perks) it’s always been a splurge and the cost benefit ratio is getting worse. I’m looking at all options for our next trip and off-site looks better and better.

This is my take, though there is a big quality difference between value and Deluxe. I’ve never done a moderate cause they always seemed like the worst of both worlds to me.

Maybe I’m jaded because of how much I disliked the whole experience at Pop. Trying ASM in a couple of weeks because others in the group chose it but honestly not looking forward to the resort or transp experience at all

 

[disneysteve]

Help me wrap my head around how you can spend 7+ days at WDW.

Seriously? We go for 2 weeks whenever possible and it still isn't nearly enough.

For one thing, we aren't commando park people. We aren't doing rope drop to closing every single day. We like to go in after breakfast, take a break midday, and maybe go back in the evening though sometimes not. And we like to take breaks from the parks so we don't go to one every day of our trip. In a 2-week stay, we might do 6-8 park days.

We love visiting the various resorts, whether for dining, drinking, shopping, or just wandering. We'll always do Trader Sam's at least once and usually eat at Captain Cook's when we're there. We'll browse the concourse shops at the Contemporary. We might watch fireworks from the Poly beach or Contemporary viewing area one night. We like renting the speedboats for an hour one day. We'll go to French Quarter for beignets. We fell in love with Three Bridges Bar and Grill at Coronado last trip so that will definitely be on our to do list on future trips. And of course there's Disney Springs. We primarily like the Marketplace section but will usually end up wandering through the rest of it once.

And that's just the onsite stuff. We also like hanging out in our condo/house (we stay offsite in Windsor Palms). We're not big pool people unless we rent a house with our own private pool like we did last trip and then we'll use it at least a couple of times. My wife and I work out regularly so we do our best to get a workout or two in each week during vacations. There are a couple of places we like to eat offsite. Sometimes we'll head over to the Florida Mall for a bit. We used to do the outlets more but they're so crowded we haven't bothered the last few trips.

And some trips we'll do some offsite attraction. We've done airboat rides, zip lining, Bok Tower Gardens, downtown Kissimmee. We try to schedule a volunteer shift at Give Kids The World Village every trip.

There is NEVER enough time there to do even half of what we'd like to do in a 2-week stay. That's a big part of why we keep going back and hope to eventually at least snowbird down there if not move entirely.

 

[rteetz]

Seriously? We go for 2 weeks whenever possible and it still isn't nearly enough.

For one thing, we aren't commando park people. We aren't doing rope drop to closing every single day. We like to go in after breakfast, take a break midday, and maybe go back in the evening though sometimes not. And we like to take breaks from the parks so we don't go to one every day of our trip. In a 2-week stay, we might do 6-8 park days.

We love visiting the various resorts, whether for dining, drinking, shopping, or just wandering. We'll always do Trader Sam's at least once and usually eat at Captain Cook's when we're there. We'll browse the concourse shops at the Contemporary. We might watch fireworks from the Poly beach or Contemporary viewing area one night. We like renting the speedboats for an hour one day. We'll go to French Quarter for beignets. We fell in love with Three Bridges Bar and Grill at Coronado last trip so that will definitely be on our to do list on future trips. And of course there's Disney Springs. We primarily like the Marketplace section but will usually end up wandering through the rest of it once.

And that's just the onsite stuff. We also like hanging out in our condo/house (we stay offsite in Windsor Palms). We're not big pool people unless we rent a house with our own private pool like we did last trip and then we'll use it at least a couple of times. My wife and I work out regularly so we do our best to get a workout or two in each week during vacations. There are a couple of places we like to eat offsite. Sometimes we'll head over to the Florida Mall for a bit. We used to do the outlets more but they're so crowded we haven't bothered the last few trips.

And some trips we'll do some offsite attraction. We've done airboat rides, zip lining, Bok Tower Gardens, downtown Kissimmee. We try to schedule a volunteer shift at Give Kids The World Village every trip.

There is NEVER enough time there to do even half of what we'd like to do in a 2-week stay. That's a big part of why we keep going back and hope to eventually at least snowbird down there if not move entirely.

Exactly. I could easily justify 2+ weeks at WDW not even doing outside stuff.

 

[Heather07438]

Help me understand visiting resorts. They’re just hotels with restaurants and shops.

True, but there's more than that.

Go to AKL, walk the Savannah, look at the animals and have an awesome meal, chill by the fire outside after. Sanaa & Boma we love, even the QS Mara surprised me with one of the best burgers I've had. There's other things people do there but this is what we like.

Monorail resort hopping holidays is extra fun to check out the decorations. Chocolate Bacon is always a great snack at Poly, dozens of snack options. Watch fireworks from the beach or Contemporary. I love walking around the river at Port Orleans, so peaceful. A ton to see. Visit WL and rent a row boat. Go chill on a hammock. Visit new Gran Destino or Riviera. Watch a movie on Beach Club lawn with people who love also Disney. Yeeha Bob!

The Void at DS is awesome, and I've wanted to try going up in that balloon. Legos are always fun. I'm not a big shopper but there is plenty to see or buy! During Art Fest we saw fantastic statue performers in the courtyard. Think other performers visit too. Food variety is the winner for me, but I do enjoy the whole set up around the lake. More interesting atmosphere than your average outdoor mall. My son's HS marching band once played in DS, if you're lucky you can catch something like that

Things you can never find the time to do on shorter trips. Take a break from the over-stimulating parks. Parks are fun but boy it's nice to alternate with some less hectic activities.

On 5 day trips we do 10-14 miles a day, often getting back to our room close to midnight. Quick snack and a wash up, in bed in 20-30 minutes. Up 7am or earlier to repeat. On one of these trips, the last day we did a 8am to almost 2am day at MK (11p-1a EMH & 18 miles) then took a quick nap in our rental car and returned it at 5am to make our 7am flight home. Of course we chose to torture ourselves like that but there's just never enough time!

 

[disneysteve]

Help me understand visiting resorts. They’re just hotels with restaurants and shops.

Let's see. Last trip in August we were there for 10 days. We stayed offsite. During those 10 days we visited the Contemporary, Polynesian, Boardwalk, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter, and Art of Animation. I think that's all but I might be forgetting something.

Contemporary: We were attending the DIS event that was held there so that was part of it but we also met friends for lunch at Contempo Cafe. Another day we did a monorail crawl that started at Outer Rim and then moved to Trader Sam's at Poly. My wife had lunch with friends one day at The Wave.

Polynesian: As above, we went to Trader Sam's one night. We also had dinner at Captain Cook's.

Boardwalk: We did an Illuminations cruise. Those leave from the dock at Boardwalk. We went over a little early and walked around and had a snack at the quick serve spot before heading out to the boat.

Coronado: We met friends for drinks at the new Destino Tower which we hadn't seen yet. We then went out to Three Bridges Bar and Grill, also our first time there, and were joined by a few more friends. Had food and drinks out there.

Port Orleans: We went there to get beignets, one of the best snacks on property. Yum. Definitely worth a visit.

Art of Animation: Met DIS friends for a little social gathering and had dinner over there.

 

[PiratesMansion]

WDW is really a destination designed for extended stays. It seems most of the complaints are from people staying offsite and travelling down for 3 or 4 nights. While your free to do that, your not the target market of WDW.

In my case I've generally done the "proper" stay lengths of a week or more, sometimes on site, sometimes not.

This continuing assumption (in a general sense) that people who don't worship at the altar of WDW obviously just "did it wrong" in varying capacities is tiring and stifles discussion of the resort's legitimate issues IMO.

I guess my take is this: the resort aspects of WDW are indeed very nice, and provide a number of options that simply have no equivalent elsewhere. But ultimately why are most people coming to WDW? The parks. And they simply aren't as great of an experience as they could be or as they are elsewhere, IMO.

Maybe the other Disney parks aren't true resorts, but as a consequence they put a lot more attention into the actual park experience, which is something I think WDW has lost sight of in the quest for more money, new upcharges, moar planning!1!!!1! that seems to show no sign of stopping.

 

[ZuuL]

In my case I've generally done the "proper" stay lengths of a week or more, sometimes on site, sometimes not.

This continuing assumption (in a general sense) that people who don't worship at the altar of WDW obviously just "did it wrong" in varying capacities is tiring and stifles discussion of the resort's legitimate issues IMO.

I guess my take is this: the resort aspects of WDW are indeed very nice, and provide a number of options that simply have no equivalent elsewhere. But ultimately why are most people coming to WDW? The parks. And they simply aren't as great of an experience as they could be or as they are elsewhere, IMO.

Maybe the other Disney parks aren't true resorts, but as a consequence they put a lot more attention into the actual park experience, which is something I think WDW has lost sight of in the quest for more money, new upcharges, moar planning!1!!!1! that seems to show no sign of stopping.

I have to disagree with you about the parks. I'm not sure where the whole "they put more attention into the actual parks experiences". When WDW has just as much if not more than Disneyland and you can see it as DL is behind in almost all of its parks advances. Hell, the cast members at DL complain that they are second fiddle to WDW when it comes to attention from upper management. (Also it doesn't help that Disneyland isn't even in the top ten in most visited parks, where as all of WDW is)

 

[maxiesmom]

IMO, the biggest benefit of deluxe is proximity to parks. Club level benefits are not worth it to me but staying at an Epcot resort gives me hours of vacation time where I’m not on a bus or otherwise traveling from place to place.

That being said, while proximity of deluxe is a huge perk (along with other Disney hotel perks) it’s always been a splurge and the cost benefit ratio is getting worse. I’m looking at all options for our next trip and off-site looks better and better.

I so agree with you. And that is why the Swan and Dolphin have become my go to resorts. I can get a room at one of those resorts far cheaper than I can any of the Disney boardwalk area resorts.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I have to disagree with you about the parks. I'm not sure where the whole "they put more attention into the actual parks experiences". When WDW has just as much if not more than Disneyland and you can see it as DL is behind in almost all of its parks advances. Hell, the cast members at DL complain that they are second fiddle to WDW when it comes to attention from upper management. (Also it doesn't help that Disneyland isn't even in the top ten in most visited parks, where as all of WDW is)

It's simple reality. There's almost no reason to go to Disneyland if you don't go to the parks, so that's where they put their attention. Even when Magic Kingdom was the only park, it was competing for resources with the rest of Walt Disney World. Imagine how it is now when resources are divided between four theme parks, 2 water parks, 30ish hotels/DVC complexes, golf, etc.

DLR as behind: Depends on what you're measuring, but if we're going by sheer attraction count, WDW isn't as far ahead as it should be. I want to say there are MAYBE 15 more attractions at WDW than all of DLR? Shouldn't a resort with 4 parks theoretically have much more? Would that not help solve some of the perpetual capacity problems WDW now seems to have?

I don't find DL behind in park advances, but perhaps if you could clarify what you mean? Park advances could mean virtually anything. If you're calling Magic Bands and FP+ as advances than I'm afraid we disagree.

And I don't know where you're getting your attendance data from. It's certainly not wrong to say in aggregate that the whole of WDW gets more than the whole of Disneyland Resort. However, you mentioned individual parks. Disneyland is the 2nd most highly attended park in the entire world, behind only Magic Kingdom, and ahead of Epcot, the Studios, Animal Kingdom, and the internationals. This data is consistent and has held true for decades. If 2nd in the world is being dismissed as glorified Six Flags numbers than I don't know what to tell you.

And if Disneyland is truly 2nd fiddle in the eyes of corporate, explain to me why a number of WDW rides over the past decades have been slowly changed to become more in line with their DL equivalents, but the opposite has not occurred? Not a practice I like or am defending, mind you, but it has definitely been happening and I don't see it shifting the other way.

To me, if corporate cares more about WDW than DL it is as their own personal ATM and nothing more. It would certainly explain all the service and show quality declines. Declines I pointedly don't see as much of at Disneyland.

 

[ZuuL]

It's simple reality. There's almost no reason to go to Disneyland if you don't go to the parks, so that's where they put their attention. Even when Magic Kingdom was the only park, it was competing for resources with the rest of Walt Disney World. Imagine how it is now when resources are divided between four theme parks, 2 water parks, 30ish hotels/DVC complexes, golf, etc.

DLR as behind: Depends on what you're measuring, but if we're going by sheer attraction count, WDW isn't as far ahead as it should be. I want to say there are MAYBE 15 more attractions at WDW than all of DLR? Shouldn't a resort with 14 parks theoretically have much more? Would that not help solve some of the perpetual capacity problems WDW now seems to have?

I don't find DL behind in park advances, but perhaps if you could clarify what you mean? Park advances could mean virtually anything. If you're calling Magic Bands and FP+ as advances than I'm afraid we disagree.

And I don't know where you're getting your attendance data from. It's certainly not wrong to say in aggregate that the whole of WDW gets more than the whole of Disneyland Resort. However, you mentioned individual parks. Disneyland is the 2nd most highly attended park in the entire world, behind only Magic Kingdom, and ahead of Epcot, the Studios, Animal Kingdom, and the internationals. This data is consistent and has held true for decades. If 2nd in the world is being dismissed as glorified Six Flags numbers than I don't know what to tell you.

And if Disneyland is truly 2nd fiddle in the eyes of corporate, explain to me why a number of WDW rides over the past decades have been slowly changed to become more in line with their DL equivalents, but the opposite has not occurred? Not a practice I like or am defending, mind you, but it has definitely been happening and I don't see it shifting the other way.

To me, if corporate cares more about WDW than DL it is as their own personal ATM and nothing more. It would certainly explain all the service and show quality declines. Declines I pointedly don't see as much of at Disneyland.

I get it you a DL fan over WDW.

But If they get so much attention: Why do They upgrade the parks less frequent, they open rides second to WDW (ROTR is opening in WDW first even though galaxys edge opened first in DL), and Magic bands tech are far far superior to the card key and more convenient (Universal is worse in that regard as well, three separate passes). Not to mention Disneyland is almost as expensive as WDW and it has less.

To be fair, multiple Disney parks attraction are copying each other.

I'm not sure how you can say one park is declining over the other because if service goes down in one, its the same as the other.

*The attendance thing was my bad I read it wrong.*

 

[rteetz]

Not to mention Disneyland is almost as expensive as WDW and it has less.

Actually the two parks at Disneyland have more attractions than all four at WDW... Disneyland makes great use of the small amount of space it has.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I get it you a DL fan over WDW.

But If they get so much attention: Why do They upgrade the parks less frequent, they open rides second to WDW (ROTR is opening in WDW first even though galaxys edge opened first in DL), and Magic bands tech are far far superior to the card key and more convenient (Universal is worse in that regard as well, three separate passes). Not to mention Disneyland is almost as expensive as WDW and it has less.

To be fair, multiple Disney parks attraction are copying each other.

I'm not sure how you can say one park is declining over the other because if service goes down in one, its the same as the other.

*The attendance thing was my bad I read it wrong.*

As I said, I disagree that Magic Bands are an "upgrade," and it has less resort amenities but a very similar number of attractions. Magic Bands, like many WDW "upgrades," are flashy but are largely irrelevant to the actual theme park experience, unless for you it continues to be a novelty. Depends on what you value. I, and most people, go to theme parks to go on attractions, but if you'd rather spend time enjoying hotel lobbies, more power to you.

The parks have different management teams and systems in place, it's not as if there is one committee that is solely operating both resorts. You can't say they're just the same because they're operated by the same company. That's not how reality works. They have different needs and different people running them. Therefore they do not "decline" equally as you seem to imply.

DLR opened GE and SR first, but I guess ROTR opening first at WDW disqualifies that for you? This whole point is meaningless.

Finally, I'd like to remind you that it's easy to say WDW is getting more now, but you seem to have forgotten that not that long ago there was a whole lot of nothing that came to WDW between TSM and ~HEA. Expansion ebbs and flows at every resort for a variety of reasons.

 

[old lady]

Maybe if they make a new park they won’t copy so much.

 

[Heather07438]

I have to disagree with you about the parks. I'm not sure where the whole "they put more attention into the actual parks experiences". When WDW has just as much if not more than Disneyland and you can see it as DL is behind in almost all of its parks advances. Hell, the cast members at DL complain that they are second fiddle to WDW when it comes to attention from upper management. (Also it doesn't help that Disneyland isn't even in the top ten in most visited parks, where as all of WDW is)

I think the distinction between WDW being different from the way others are park focused is because of the drive to maximize upcharge event potential there. WDW is now relying heavily on these where elsewhere the parks aren't as distracted with that.

They have different needs

Very true. Each park has a unique mix of visitors and trip styles to consider.

ROTR was planned to open 1st in DL. When problems with completed structures being incompatible with RFID were discovered, WDW was not at that stage yet and benefitted by learning that lesson beforehand which put WDW in the lead to open 1st.

 

[rteetz]

ROTR was planned to open 1st in DL. When problems with completed structures being incompatible with RFID were discovered, WDW was not at that stage yet and benefitted by learning that lesson beforehand which put WDW in the lead to open 1st.

It was more than just that. WDW also had delays which is why both opened later.

 

[ZuuL]

As I said, I disagree that Magic Bands are an "upgrade," and it has less resort amenities but a very similar number of attractions. Magic Bands, like many WDW "upgrades," are flashy but are largely irrelevant to the actual theme park experience, unless for you it continues to be a novelty. Depends on what you value. I, and most people, go to theme parks to go on attractions, but if you'd rather spend time enjoying hotel lobbies, more power to you.

The parks have different management teams and systems in place, it's not as if there is one committee that is solely operating both resorts. You can't say they're just the same because they're operated by the same company. That's not how reality works. They have different needs and different people running them. Therefore they do not "decline" equally as you seem to imply.

DLR opened GE and SR first, but I guess ROTR opening first at WDW disqualifies that for you? This whole point is meaningless.

Finally, I'd like to remind you that it's easy to say WDW is getting more now, but you seem to have forgotten that not that long ago there was a whole lot of nothing that came to WDW between TSM and ~HEA. Expansion ebbs and flows at every resort for a variety of reasons.

Please do not tell me what I like and don't like. I go to the theme park and spend my time there. Its just WDW gives me for my dollar than DL.

I guess using a magic band as a doorkey, ticket/fastpass and credit card are a novelty. At least these wont demagnetize and aren't easily misplaced. But you like what you like. I can't change that.

We an agree to disagree, But I find the cleanliness of both parks on par. Both have issues after parades, fireworks, etc.

Never said ROTR opening first in WDW disqualifying anything. Thats all on you.

Again. We can agree to disagree. I find DL isn't given enough updates in comparison to WDW.

 

[Lashed34]

The one thing that WDW has, that DLR doesn't is huge competition. DLR has Universal Hollywood as a rival, but WDW has Universal Resort, a new Universal resort coming in 2023, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and more, which are all very popular and offer an alternative day out.

Usually good competition keeps prices lower, but having revised and researched everything on offer last year we found Universal Resort (Premium) far better value than anything at Disney for this coming December.

Yes, I can get earlier FP+ access if I book Disney Club rooms, but then I'm paying a far higher price for the privilege.

I'm sorry but at Disney not eveyone has the same chance and same opportunities as others - the more money you have the more chances you have to get those early FP+ etc - the playing field is not even with people who simply want to have a magical holiday but can only afford a value resort.

WDW ignores competition - no matter what happens in Orlando, WDW prices will continue to increase and people/families will be forced to go elsewhere more and more due to their spending power and the ability to afford a holiday there.

 

[RamblingMad]

The one thing that WDW has, that DLR doesn't is huge competition. DLR has Universal Hollywood as a rival, but WDW has Universal Resort, a new Universal resort coming in 2023, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and more, which are all very popular and offer an alternative day out.

Usually good competition keeps prices lower, but having revised and researched everything on offer last year we found Universal Resort (Premium) far better value than anything at Disney for this coming December.

Yes, I can get earlier FP+ access if I book Disney Club rooms, but then I'm paying a far higher price for the privilege.

I'm sorry but at Disney not eveyone has the same chance and same opportunities as others - the more money you have the more chances you have to get those early FP+ etc - the playing field is not even with people who simply want to have a magical holiday but can only afford a value resort.

WDW ignores competition - no matter what happens in Orlando, WDW prices will continue to increase and people/families will be forced to go elsewhere more and more due to their spending power and the ability to afford a holiday there.

WDW experiences are tied to how much money you throw at Disney far more than if you go to DL. It’s cheaper to pay for max pass than to stay on property in WDW. If you really want to pay up at DL, VIP touring makes the most sense.

Universal Orlando is a far better value than WDW. If you really want to pay up, you can get Express Pass. I’ve never had it, and I still had a great experience.

What WDW provides is an opportunity to pay up for your stay. You see this with the cost of the hotels. You see this with the cost of dining. And you see this with all of the up charges in the parks.

I can go to DL for the fraction of the cost of WDW. I can ride pretty much the same rides over a weekend, rather than a week. And I’ll have money left over to go on another trip.

 

[rteetz]

What WDW provides us an opportunity to pay up for your stay. You see this with the cost of the hotels. You see this with the cost of dining. And you see this with all of the up charges in the parks.

I really don’t understand why the “pay up” is such a negative thing. I don’t “pay up” for much of anything at WDW and have an amazing time every time. Sure there are bits and pieces maybe that doesn’t work like I may have wanted but that happens with every vacation.

Also cost of dining isn’t very different between DL and WDW. They are priced relatively the same in that front so I really don’t thats a factor.