Texans_loyal
Operation Disney is Underway!
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2016
Were the busses not coming or was the line so long you had to wait for multiple busses?
No buses were coming for POP or AOA.
Were the busses not coming or was the line so long you had to wait for multiple busses?
Were the busses not coming or was the line so long you had to wait for multiple busses?
I disagree. You have created a false dichotomy. Here's why:I was with you up to this portion of your post. The fact that you encountered such heavy crowds would tend to disprove your premise, no? One of two things must be true: Either the masses you witnessed find WDW to be worthwhile, or...everyone you saw was having a lousy time. Whether something is worthwhile is relative. That said, I would agree that more and more people are coming around to your conclusion especially if they are people who have aged with WDW and seen the changes. But this doesn't translate to "most people". But it is "many people".
Thanks, I really appreciate the reply and I'll only trouble you with one question, do you use a travel agent or do you plan these trips yourself and if self planned using what info?
Thanks,
Bill From PA
Way overthinking it.I disagree. You have created a false dichotomy. Here's why:
1. When folks say crowds, they aren't talking raw statistics of how many people are at WDW. They mean their personal experience with 1.) queue waits and 2.) guest rudeness.
When it comes to queue waits, WDW gets better every day at managing them. I don't mean lowering waits, I mean precisely regulating waits we'll tolerate.
Most attractions and restaurants have an ability to adjust. They adjust the number of: cars running, open registers, open park gates, security queues, how long guests wait to be seated (TS), and much more. WDW adjusts the number of buses, monorail trains, and boats that are running.
Speeding us along is not in WDW's interest. Waits aren't the same as total number of guests, far from it.
Every guest who eats onsite instead of offsite = more money for WDW.
People love/hate the waits. Crowds mean WDW is popular. Popular people vacation at popular spots. But, we also like to complain. Just as kids have a love/hate relationship with school and taking medicine.
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Guest rudeness is probably also on the uptick. We don't control other guests, so it is hard to calculate the impact. While we mentally prepare for the possibility of rude guests, most of us try to be optimistic about the individuals around us.
We only go every 4-5 years. This last trip we stayed 8 nights with 8 day park hoppers. This made it easier to do every attraction we wanted. Sometimes we only hit parks for a half day, enough to use up fastpasses for high demand attractions and then go relax. I don't think I would do anything less than a full week again.
Way overthinking it.
Simple math. Lots of people were at WDW. That is what the OP is reporting. We have to take that at face value. What drew them there? What kept them there? If they were returning guests, what brought them back? If a trip to WDW is no longer worth the effort, (which was the OP's premise), then people wouldn't go. And yet they do.
Conclusion? It is either "worth it" to the people who are going, or the people who go learn upon arrival that they miscalculated their fun factor and they are actually miserable.
Where do you rent from? I can't find a decent place in MCO.I totally get it. Here is what I did to love Disney World again. Rent a car always and drive to parks whether we stay off property or not. Very few (if any) ADR's. we rope drop most days but rarely do the nighttime stuff and spend a lot of time lounging at the pool.
But the real key IMO is the rental car. For me it is worlds better than the busses. I know others disagree.
Why not support the legitimate taxi services and use them instead? They pay a fee for their license and are regulated. I'm surprised WDW lets Uber and Lyft on property, into the parking lots and into resort parking lots. Do they have to pay to get into the park lots? They should.
It's not just that more ppl. are going, but more in my opinion is how Disney keeps cuttingI also think the "secret" slow month of September is no longer that slow month it used to be. People are reading up on vacations and planning their dates. That's why I think the crowds were lower in the summer this year too. I know for our upcoming trip the very end of November we booked it because of the potentially lower crowds. Those crowd predictions have slowly risen over the past 6 months.
Way overthinking it.
Simple math. Lots of people were at WDW. That is what the OP is reporting. We have to take that at face value. What drew them there? What kept them there? If they were returning guests, what brought them back? If a trip to WDW is no longer worth the effort, (which was the OP's premise), then people wouldn't go. And yet they do.
Conclusion? It is either "worth it" to the people who are going, or the people who go learn upon arrival that they miscalculated their fun factor and they are actually miserable.
No, I think the pp is correct. The start of magic bands and Disney tracking your every move enabled them to figure out exact numbers/times etc., and they're using that to figure out how close they can cut it, services etc., and how much a guest will put up with so they can spend the least amount of money. This was beyond evident during our last trip a little of a month ago.Way overthinking it.
Simple math. Lots of people were at WDW. That is what the OP is reporting. We have to take that at face value. What drew them there? What kept them there? If they were returning guests, what brought them back? If a trip to WDW is no longer worth the effort, (which was the OP's premise), then people wouldn't go. And yet they do.
Conclusion? It is either "worth it" to the people who are going, or the people who go learn upon arrival that they miscalculated their fun factor and they are actually miserable.
. A stroller took me totally down, made both my knees bleed and they didn't even say "sorry." The butthold paused, and then just turned and kept going.
Apples and kumquats. You both are addressing what people do once they get there. How their movements are monitored. How Disney controls crowds. None of that is relevant to the OPs hypothesis that going to WDW is no longer worth the effort and cost. The Yogi Berra comment is more apt. If the place is really, really crowded, then lots of people must feel as if making the trip is worthwhile. The other possibility is that lots and lots of people are going to return home disillusioned in the same way the OP now is. Don't overthink this.No, I think the pp is correct. The start of magic bands and Disney tracking your every move enabled them to figure out exact numbers/times etc., and they're using that to figure out how close they can cut it, services etc., and how much a guest will put up with so they can spend the least amount of money. This was beyond evident during our last trip a little of a month ago.