We are losing the Magic

[corpcomp]

Skipping Florida completely. Heading to Aulani.

Since my wife works in an intensive care unit in a NY hospital, we have never been able to get more than one week of vacation at a time so Aulani has never been an option. She is now considering working only part time so that might allow us to get away longer. Meaning we can stand in lines for a longer period now and not pay the $15 for LL.

 

[Lumpy1106]

My family joined DVC in 2006 at BCV. We were thrilled. No more staying at hotel style rooms. We can walk to the parks (EPCOT and HS) and relax in really nice rooms with balconies and a great pool area SAB.

So much has changed. Especially in the last year. For example:

1. Free Magic Bands are gone (I have not been down there in almost two years because of COVID so I have not used the mobile device access. I just liked the bands better and don't want to pull out a phone in the parks all the time. And they were great for buying food and gifts.

2. Free Magical Express - Now Mears Connect is $96 RT for DW, DS and I. And that is the "Introductory" price. I know many of you get a limo or rental car but DS loved the Mickey programs on ME.

3. Free Fast Pass - Now $45 a day ($225 for the trip) for DW, DS and I (God help larger families) and it will be interesting to see if we can actually get on the rides we want without the time slots already being taken up by others faster than me. After the three Fast Passes were used (usually by 2pm), all other rides for Fast Pass were booked and we could not get any more. But I was fine with that, after all, it was free.

4. BCV eliminated the Jacuzzis and fans - OK that is my gripe. DW and DS never used it. I used it every night and I loved having a fan on slow at night over the bed. We don't have fans at our home in CT. 7 foot ceilings are too low for that with a 4 poster bed which is about 3 inches from the ceiling.

So what else has changed that you wish had not?

Not trying to be a Disney apologist but;
1) you can still buy the Magic Bands, they just are not free anymore. Also, any old Magic Bands you have still work. We used them on our trip a few weeks ago.
2) Magical Express was never "free", it was always included in the price of your room, or in the case of DVC your MFs - as was parking, and few if anyone ever used both on the same trip. TECHNICALLY we should see reduced MFs - we'll see.
3) I did not miss FP when we went 8/2020 as the lines were all short and almost no one was in the FP line. Now there are LOTS of people in the FP lines and lines are long. I will avoid the discussion about who is in those FP lines, but suffice to say there are a lot of people taking advantage - I'll leave it at that. That being the case, maybe some form of FP with a lot more enforcement of who should be in those lines is long overdue. Beyond that, agree with what OP said - the cost is a money grab and I don't appreciate that. "Pay for cuts" only really costs the people being cut, not Disney (or 6-Flags, or Cedarfair, or Universal). Sorry Disney, thought you were better than that.
4) I've never stayed in BCV so can only take your word for it. Maybe try BWV? I seem to recall it still has both.

 

[corpcomp]

Not trying to be a Disney apologist but;
1) you can still buy the Magic Bands, they just are not free anymore. Also, any old Magic Bands you have still work. We used them on our trip a few weeks ago.
2) Magical Express was never "free", it was always included in the price of your room, or in the case of DVC your MFs - as was parking, and few if anyone ever used both on the same trip. TECHNICALLY we should see reduced MFs - we'll see.
3) I did not miss FP when we went 8/2020 as the lines were all short and almost no one was in the FP line. Now there are LOTS of people in the FP lines and lines are long. I will avoid the discussion about who is in those FP lines, but suffice to say there are a lot of people taking advantage - I'll leave it at that. That being the case, maybe some form of FP with a lot more enforcement of who should be in those lines is long overdue. Beyond that, agree with what OP said - the cost is a money grab and I don't appreciate that. "Pay for cuts" only really costs the people being cut, not Disney (or 6-Flags, or Cedarfair, or Universal). Sorry Disney, thought you were better than that.
4) I've never stayed in BCV so can only take your word for it. Maybe try BWV? I seem to recall it still has both.

I doubt Disney will reduce any DVC cost for the loss of Magical Express. Management is looking at huge losses from COVID, as any large company would, and making financial decisions, which override customer service decisions right now.

Actually I book BCV at the 11th month but switch to BWV at the 7th month. In really warm weather I stay at BCV because of SAB (love the pool but also enjoy the line dancing the life guards do), but will stay at BWV in the Winter (or what Florida calls Winter). Have not seen the new pool at BWV now that they got rid of the "child vomiting clown slide" as I think Master Gracey used to call it. Sorry Master Gracey if that was not you.
.

 

[Sandisw]

I doubt Disney will reduce any DVC cost for the loss of Magical Express. Management is looking at huge losses from COVID, as any large company would, and making financial decisions, which override customer service decisions right now.

Actually I book BCV at the 11th month but switch to BWV at the 7th month. In really warm weather I stay at BCV because of SAB (love the pool but also enjoy the line dancing the life guards do), but will stay at BWV in the Winter (or what Florida calls Winter). Have not seen the new pool at BWV now that they got rid of the "child vomiting clown slide" as I think Master Gracey used to call it. Sorry Master Gracey if that was not you.
.

They have to take out the charge for DME that we were paying in our dues. No way around that,

However, because dues increase every year, we won’t see the reduction because it will be offset by an increase in the transportation budget that naturally occurs.

 

[corpcomp]

They have to take out the charge for DME that we were paying in our dues. No way around that,

However, because dues increase every year, we won’t see the reduction because it will be offset by an increase in the transportation budget that naturally occurs.

Good to know. Thank you Sandisw.

And sorry Masitre Gracey for spelling your name wrong. Thought I corrected it in the edit.

 

[tgropp]

The magic started going away the Day Iger took control. Looking at him reminds me of a man thinking of stealing the gold in your teeth. Looking at Chapek makes me think that he will steal the gold in your teeth. Magic left soon after Eisner left……..but at least the shareholders are happy.

 

[Lumpy1106]

They have to take out the charge for DME that we were paying in our dues. No way around that,

However, because dues increase every year, we won’t see the reduction because it will be offset by an increase in the transportation budget that naturally occurs.

I will say that the internal buses were VASTLY improved 2021 vs 2020. That won't be free, but worth it IMHO. 2020 buses were atrocious.

 

[Memojo]

This feels like Santa Claus 3, when Jack Frost took over the North Pole … playing out to me. If anyone knows what the Escape Clause is to bring back the magic … please, please advise!

 

[CBMom01]

The magic started going away the Day Iger took control. Looking at him reminds me of a man thinking of stealing the gold in your teeth. Looking at Chapek makes me think that he will steal the gold in your teeth. Magic left soon after Eisner left……..but at least the shareholders are happy.

Awww. I love Bob Iger.

 

[CBMom01]

I will say that the internal buses were VASTLY improved 2021 vs 2020. That won't be free, but worth it IMHO. 2020 buses were atrocious.

Thats good to hear. Staying at FW Cabins, transportation is my biggest concern for our upcoming trip. I ended up paying for Lyft too much last time just to avoid chewing up so much of the days waiting for busses. Feels weird to have that become such a stressor.

 

[DisneyOutsider]

Awww. I love Bob Iger.

Bob Iger puts on a good face in public and says the right things to make it seem like he cares, but his term was an unmitigated disaster for all of the diehard parks fans. He did his job to deliver value to the shareholders, but it came at the expense of the parks experience overall.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Thats good to hear. Staying at FW Cabins, transportation is my biggest concern for our upcoming trip. I ended up paying for Lyft too much last time just to avoid chewing up so much of the days waiting for busses. Feels weird to have that become such a stressor.

To give you an idea; in 2020 we REGULARLY waited an hour for buses and were left at the curb more than once with the next bus another 45 minutes away. FF to 2021, we exited MK on a really busy day at park close. The crowd headed to the parking lot was pretty crazy with long lines for the ferry and monorail. Once we fought our way through that throng, we walked on to the BWV bus and were back in under 20 minutes. The same thing happened on our DAK day. We ordered a Lyft almost every day in 2020 (staying at BLT) and never once thought about ordering one in 2021.

 

[CBMom01]

To give you an idea; in 2020 we REGULARLY waited an hour for buses and were left at the curb more than once with the next bus another 45 minutes away. FF to 2021, we exited MK on a really busy day at park close. The crowd headed to the parking lot was pretty crazy with long lines for the ferry and monorail. Once we fought our way through that throng, we walked on to the BWV bus and were back in under 20 minutes. The same thing happened on our DAK day. We ordered a Lyft almost every day in 2020 (staying at BLT) and never once thought about ordering one in 2021.

Great to hear. Thank you!

 

[nkosiek]

The replacing of carpets and other things in BWV. They took out the amusement park/rollercoaster with the hidden Mickey's and replaced it with a generic looking pseudo-boarwalky one.

 

[Bearval]

Funny!
If you want paper it will be FlushPlusPlus!

I bet there are already plans to have $1.00 bean burritos and use dynamic pricing for FlushPlus.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Yes, mine were from Oct 2019 and worked fine. I would not pay for magic bands if I had to. I would just use the card they give you. I don't like the tracking part of it, but I guess I have resigned to certain parts of that although we do avoid other pieces of that in non-Disney parts of our life.

I felt like I had to buy a MB for a guest arriving tomorrow - all OKW had in the $20 range was red, white and black. TWENTY DOLLARS for something that was free just a year ago.

 

[Sparky984]

I felt like I had to buy a MB for a guest arriving tomorrow - all OKW had in the $20 range was red, white and black. TWENTY DOLLARS for something that was free just a year ago.

That’s over a million percent markup!

Seriously a plain old solid grey one should be like 5 bucks. Didn’t they used to give those free if you booked last minute or forgot your magic band?

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

That’s over a million percent markup!

Seriously a plain old solid grey one should be like 5 bucks. Didn’t they used to give those free if you booked last minute or forgot your magic band?

YES, not anymore. The others were 29.99 and 34.99

 

[DeeBee3]

I felt like I had to buy a MB for a guest arriving tomorrow - all OKW had in the $20 range was red, white and black. TWENTY DOLLARS for something that was free just a year ago.

They should be able to give you the plain old "card" that we normally get at hotels other than disney. I saw people using them all the time at the parks. Perhaps Front Desk could rectify for you and get a refund if the new one has never been used???

MB are not necessary at all.

 

[Sandisw]

Not trying to be a Disney apologist but;
1) you can still buy the Magic Bands, they just are not free anymore. Also, any old Magic Bands you have still work. We used them on our trip a few weeks ago.
2) Magical Express was never "free", it was always included in the price of your room, or in the case of DVC your MFs - as was parking, and few if anyone ever used both on the same trip. TECHNICALLY we should see reduced MFs - we'll see.
3) I did not miss FP when we went 8/2020 as the lines were all short and almost no one was in the FP line. Now there are LOTS of people in the FP lines and lines are long. I will avoid the discussion about who is in those FP lines, but suffice to say there are a lot of people taking advantage - I'll leave it at that. That being the case, maybe some form of FP with a lot more enforcement of who should be in those lines is long overdue. Beyond that, agree with what OP said - the cost is a money grab and I don't appreciate that. "Pay for cuts" only really costs the people being cut, not Disney (or 6-Flags, or Cedarfair, or Universal). Sorry Disney, thought you were better than that.
4) I've never stayed in BCV so can only take your word for it. Maybe try BWV? I seem to recall it still has both.

I don’t think you need to defend your opinion about being able to go with the flow of changes at Disney.

We all get to decide and whether we are for or against without feeling like an apology is needed for being alright with what Disney has decided. .

For sure, things have and are changing so I get why people are frustrated, upset, and even mad.