Just back and Wow, what Happened to Disney World

I'm so sorry to hear that your trip wasn't as magical as you had expected and hoped for.

Lucky you! Two vacations a year! I know it may be difficult, but look on the upside--some folks save for years to go to WDW and won't be able to go on another vacation for many years--at least you aren't in that situation.

DL is much more compact than WDW, and much easier to navigate with a toddler. I agree with you there. Not to mention California doesn't come close to the heat/humidity of Florida.
Just to say; I would never, ever consider a WDW vacation in any kind of serious heat. To those that manage: KUDOS! but I'm from Texas, and unless I'm in the pool up to my neck in water, I run from AC building to AC car. Back to AC building. All summer. Most of fall. Half of spring. So, the idea of WDW in the HEAT with a TODDLER? There's no kinda magic anywhere that can save a trip with those two components.

Disney couldn't pay me enough to do it. There aren't enough fast passes and Disney dollars on the face of the earth. <shudders>

Get some rest, OP, and hydrate. You'll feel better soon!
 
My $0.02,

Overscheduling yourself and burning yourself out to meet a chock-full schedule is a self-inflicted bad experience. Some people seem to think that because you can schedule 180 day ADRs and 60 day FastPasses means you have to, that that's the only way you can have a good trip. It's not. I think if you went back and just winged it with nothing scheduled, or maybe a few FPs, you'd probably have a more enjoyable time.
 


well never in a million years did I ever think I would be saying this but lately I am also in the mindset that DW has become way overpriced while the quality has diminished. I have been going since 1985 and had always sung the praises of the Disney "magic". Not these days. It seems they are just building more and more hotels and cramming more and more people in every nook and cranny. Even the now Disney Springs. Which in turn for them means more profit. Shame. But as long as the population keeps paying I guess things will continue in that direction. Just my honest opinion. I myself have not been back for 5 years now.
 
just one example from another trip report...... I was a tad disappointed the GF doesn’t offer regular turn down service anymore:sad:, you have to call and request it. This was automatic in 2016, when we stayed here, and I loved it. We came home every night to the beds turned down, chocolate on the pillow, and the wonderful WDW info channel playing the familiar music, it was so nice! Unfortunately, this is another cut at the WDW resorts.
It was the little things that made the difference when paying all the money. All of that seems to have gone by the wayside.
 
MDE not being great-well you can't help that. I would have suggested even attempting to adjust your Peter Pan FP to a slightly later time when you started feeling the wait for the meet and greet was longer but that advice works best when the app/website works well :) That was still an option but I get it if the app wasn't working well.

The CM not letting you use your FP..well that part is well IDK the thing is system wise the system will still light up green should you be up to 15mins (on the dot as far as I understand) late to use your FP (and you can enter the line up to 5mins early) but if you're outside of those parameters it shouldn't let you through and instead light up blue. I'm guessing you were honestly past the 15mins. I know it's not your fault but that's my guess and why the CM said no and in those cases it becomes a case by case basis if the CM will let you go on ahead through the FP line. As another person suggested Guest Services likely would have been able to help out but I get it in this case not even knowing where to go for that.

As far as structured goes. There is not a requirement to do that as in you don't have to book ADRs you don't have to pre-book FPs if you don't want to. If you do want to pre-book FPs you don't have to pre-book all 3. You can book 1 or 2 if you want to. It sounds like you've had experience with DLR and despite there being FP pre-booking, ADRs at 180 days, etc I would assume you know what kind of vacation you like to have at DLR so I'd apply that to WDW.

As far as wait times sometimes what happens is the wait hadn't been calculated recently enough and so you entered the line and the wait was really more. Sometimes it's a mechanical failure causing a delay.

On the food front it's unclear to me at least where the main complaint was. Looking back at your previous posts it seems you bought the Dining Plan (and were planning on at least back in July going to Crystal Palace Dinner, Norway Princess Dinner, Chef Mickey's Dinner,Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Dinner,Tonys Parade package Lunch, CRT Dinner and Tusker House ROL Dining Dinner. Did you find that the price for the Dining Plan was too high? Was it the places you were eating at that you found the price too high?

Sorry the trip wasn't all that great. If you've found that DLR is more your thing that's ok. You can always decide later on, even years from now, if you want to give WDW another shot and on the upside your child would be older then and it may not seem the same as it was when you were travelling there with your toddler.
 


I'm really starting to feel this way about WDW myself. We've been going every year recently (going again in Nov) and I am so looking forward to spending a week with my grandkids and letting them enjoy disney. But a part of me wonders if we wouldn't get more value for our money doing a different trip somewhere else. Disney is building so many resorts but no new parks to take the crowd pressure down. So parks are filled to capacity all the time and it's hard to enjoy them when they are that full.
 
I'm really starting to feel this way about WDW myself. We've been going every year recently (going again in Nov) and I am so looking forward to spending a week with my grandkids and letting them enjoy disney. But a part of me wonders if we wouldn't get more value for our money doing a different trip somewhere else. Disney is building so many resorts but no new parks to take the crowd pressure down. So parks are filled to capacity all the time and it's hard to enjoy them when they are that full.

I think many of us are a bit weary of the planning that needs to go into a WDW trip. I do love this magical place, but I have to say our Aruba trip was way easier in many ways. We have another planned for next year and with the exception of booking a few meals at the specialty restaurants, which we do not need to do for a good long while, and booking airfare, I am done. It is an all inclusive and is club level in a suite larger than my home, 2 ginormous jacuzzis, and 4 balconies, and still comes in under $200 per person per day. I could not touch that for a WDW trip.
 
I think many of us are a bit weary of the planning that needs to go into a WDW trip. I do love this magical place, but I have to say our Aruba trip was way easier in many ways. We have another planned for next year and with the exception of booking a few meals at the specialty restaurants, which we do not need to do for a good long while, and booking airfare, I am done. It is an all inclusive and is club level in a suite larger than my home, 2 ginormous jacuzzis, and 4 balconies, and still comes in under $200 per person per day. I could not touch that for a WDW trip.

The thing is, very little planning actually needs to go into a WDW trip. If you just talked to random guests while you're there, I think you'd find a lot of people put about as much planning (read: not much at all) into their WDW trip as you put into the Aruba AI (maybe booking 1-2 fancy dinners for the trip).

I know this board attracts people who like to plan every detail for their trip, but it's not actually necessary to have a good time. To the contrary, I think you'd find a lot of people hate overly scheduled trips and enjoy winging it, even down to what park they go to on what day. Planning is great for certain experiences, of course, but it is a personal choice.
 
The thing is, very little planning actually needs to go into a WDW trip. If you just talked to random guests while you're there, I think you'd find a lot of people put about as much planning (read: not much at all) into their WDW trip as you put into the Aruba AI (maybe booking 1-2 fancy dinners for the trip).

I know this board attracts people who like to plan every detail for their trip, but it's not actually necessary to have a good time. To the contrary, I think you'd find a lot of people hate overly scheduled trips and enjoy winging it, even down to what park they go to on what day. Planning is great for certain experiences, of course, but it is a personal choice.

Yea, during my trip I decided to go to AK around 2 pm on a planned non-park day. I managed to get Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest and Dinosaur FP on the fly. You can't get the popular ones like FoP, SDD or 7DMT on the day but you can still enjoy yourselves with little planning
 
My $0.02,

Overscheduling yourself and burning yourself out to meet a chock-full schedule is a self-inflicted bad experience. Some people seem to think that because you can schedule 180 day ADRs and 60 day FastPasses means you have to, that that's the only way you can have a good trip. It's not. I think if you went back and just winged it with nothing scheduled, or maybe a few FPs, you'd probably have a more enjoyable time.

I totally agree. We’ve tried the overly planned trips before and it became just really stressful. We were so focused on our schedule that it really took a lot of fun out of it. (Kind of like the old Full House episode with Danny Tanner and his clipboard of fun!).

We decided that we didn’t pay this much money to vacation like that. So, we dropped a lot of our plans and just winged it. Did we miss out on a few attractions, yes, but we actually did a few others that were never in the plan. We also gained freedom and spent more time enjoying the moment with our child instead of worrying about where we had to be at every moment. Turned out to be a great trip.
 
Your comment is uncalled for and mean.

Sometimes, people have issues with their trips. Maybe not you, maybe not me but it happens.

A little empathy isn't hard to give.
I have empathy when I read things I empathize with, a missed flight, a hurricane, a sick child, a struggling family member, or a laundry list of other things I can think of. If you are going to WDW up to two times a year you should know it is hot, expensive and crowded, there was very little I read in that post that made me think, oh my how horrible, I can see why you would put a blanket post about how horrible WDW has become and you are never going back. So should we all beg her to stay, and tell her all the good things that could happen next time?? Nope, I will give my opinion which is what this site is, if you hate it and are not going back, that makes me happy because it lessens the crowds, if that makes me a hag then change my name to Ursula. :joker:
 
I agree with you. We went to DL last June and to wdw a few months later (2 weeks ago). tThey are night and day in terms of crowds and access and the ability to have spur of the moment fun. Wdw is much more stressful and rigid and if you do not enjoy planning things months in advance, it can be exhausting. The Cast members are more stressed out at wdw, the people less polite, and if anything goes wrong with their digital system, your entire vacation goes down the toilet. (This happened to us 2 years ago when all of our fastpasses just disappeared right before the trip. Disney helped me reinstate most of them over the phone, but then they vanished again the first day we were in wdw. The worst part about it was how long it took for disney to sort it out.) ANd then yes, everything has become incredibly expensive there and service has declined. It is the same with DCL, so I can understand you cancelling your cruise. The only way we have found to enjoy wdw is to expect less. Go in with very low expectations, which I guess is sad, actually.
 
I have empathy when I read things I empathize with, a missed flight, a hurricane, a sick child, a struggling family member, or a laundry list of other things I can think of. If you are going to WDW up to two times a year you should know it is hot, expensive and crowded, there was very little I read in that post that made me think, oh my how horrible, I can see why you would put a blanket post about how horrible WDW has become and you are never going back. So should we all beg her to stay, and tell her all the good things that could happen next time?? Nope, I will give my opinion which is what this site is, if you hate it and are not going back, that makes me happy because it lessens the crowds, if that makes me a hag then change my name to Ursula. :joker:

I am relatively new to disboards, how does one 'report' disrespectful posts to the moderators?
Thanks! :flower1:
 
I am relatively new to disboards, how does one 'report' disrespectful posts to the moderators?
Thanks! :flower1:

There is a button at the bottom of each post. Quite frankly these posts that you are complaining about are really not that disrespectful, there is no insulting, name calling, or abusive language. I realize that you are new and to be honest there is much worse on these boards. This poster is simply expressing their opinion and not insulting anyone.
 
Thank you! This is really all subjective.
I am only new to this blog but certainly not others.
Comparing bad behaviors does not really justify them, IMHO.
Where should the line be drawn?
This OP came here for other's opinions and input. To be dismissed on their opinion is disrespectful.
Why should we respect one person's opinions (like you are inferring) and not others?
Have a magical day....☺
 
Thank you! This is really all subjective.
I am only new to this blog but certainly not others.
Comparing bad behaviors does not really justify them, IMHO.
Where should the line be drawn?
This OP came here for other's opinions and input. To be dismissed on their opinion is disrespectful.
Why should we respect one person's opinions (like you are inferring) and not others?
Have a magical day....☺

People's opinions can contradict each other's. That's a difference of opinion; that's not disrespect.
 
People's opinions can contradict each other's. That's a difference of opinion; that's not disrespect.

When a person expresses an opinion and belittles someone directly, as was done directly to the post to the OP, that opinion, it is disrespectful.
No generalizations at all, it was direct.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top