My Slow Divorce from Walt Disney World

[DOPEY44]

It used to be I would get excited when my wife said let’s take the kids to Walt Disney World this year. I would frantically start my research using websites and spreadsheets to estimate the costs.
Today it’s impossible. It is too varying and complicated to get an actuate cost. And why? Too much has disappeared. Gone is the transportation from MCO, tickets that don’t expire,
and now based on the time of year, free parking, room rates with only four ‘seasons’, now seven, and not charging extra for weekends, free fast passes where you can do a least something.

But I don’t blame Disney executives for this, I blame business schools for teaching the American Greed Technology where establishing as many revenue streams as possible is the thing to do.

I do understand that some guests prefer to stay at higher end resorts as compared to the All Stars, great, but the parks should be equal for all.
Having better resources gives one the ability to do more just by paying for it. And those that can’t, don’t.

In the coming months I will be reevaluating the meaning of ‘Magic’.

 

[cvjw]

How are the parks not equal for all? Everyone has been hit by the price increases. Genie + and LL is available for all guests to purchase.

I don’t disagree with your overall post though. We feel the same. We have sold most of our DVC points and just cruise on DCL now.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

How are the parks not equal for all? Everyone has been hit by the price increases. Genie + and LL is available for all guests to purchase.

I don’t disagree with your overall post though. We feel the same. We have sold most of our DVC points and just cruise on DCL now.

I think what the OP is saying if you can’t or don’t want to pay of Genie and LL, you are demoted to a second class Disney guess.

But to the OP post this will be his cheapest divorce ever, and will c9me out of it better off financially.

Also if in 5 or 10 years you want to try the ex out again, no one will look at you like, really.

 

[kymom99]

How are the parks not equal for all? Everyone has been hit by the price increases. Genie + and LL is available for all guests to purchase.

I don’t disagree with your overall post though. We feel the same. We have sold most of our DVC points and just cruise on DCL now.

The costs to visit the parks have gone through the roof and they have added in even more upgrades. It’s ridiculous.

 

[disneychrista]

How are the parks not equal for all? Everyone has been hit by the price increases. Genie + and LL is available for all guests to purchase.

And here in lies the problem, IMO. For a family of 4 going on a 5 day trip that is an extra $400. That is a lot of money for something that used to be free.

 

[Disneyliscious]

It used to be I would get excited when my wife said let’s take the kids to Walt Disney World this year. I would frantically start my research using websites and spreadsheets to estimate the costs.
Today it’s impossible. It is too varying and complicated to get an actuate cost. And why? Too much has disappeared. Gone is the transportation from MCO, tickets that don’t expire,
and now based on the time of year, free parking, room rates with only four ‘seasons’, now seven, and not charging extra for weekends, free fast passes where you can do a least something.

But I don’t blame Disney executives for this, I blame business schools for teaching the American Greed Technology where establishing as many revenue streams as possible is the thing to do.

I do understand that some guests prefer to stay at higher end resorts as compared to the All Stars, great, but the parks should be equal for all.
Having better resources gives one the ability to do more just by paying for it. And those that can’t, don’t.

In the coming months I will be reevaluating the meaning of ‘Magic’.

A social media platform banned a (then) current and active President of the United Ststes of America. That’s how much power that social media platform had.

Elon Musk just bought that social media platform. Let that sink in.

Money IS power and all the big dogs want to be the top dog, including Disney. They will suck every last cent out of anyone willing to pay it.

I recently divorced them too. My money goes so much further at other places now.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

I've been back and forth on WDW over the past few years. One trip it's the best ever and the next it's a crap show. The last 3 trips have been amazing! Reading many post here actually helped me look at our trips with a different point of view. IF you go into your WDW vacation with a positive outlook, it will be a positive experience. We do not purchase LL or Genie+. We make ADR and park reservations and that's it. Not being able to ride all the rides has faded and what replaced that is just being there. It's still magical to me and my family even if the price is a little bit more.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

They need a better CEO

 

[MillauFr]

They need a better CEO

You would rather they have smiley Josh to serve up the slop? It doesn't matter who is CEO. There are only a few CEOs out there like Musk who can do whatever they want. The rest of them have to toe the line to whatever Wall St. wants.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

You would rather they have smiley Josh to serve up the slop? It doesn't matter who is CEO. There are only a few CEOs out there like Musk who can do whatever they want. The rest of them have to toe the line to whatever Wall St. wants.

I understand, and have argued for disney profits, but Chapek, has squeezed the piggy bank to tightly! There is A fine line between charging to make a profit, and charging so much you price yourself out of the market. Disney stock has plummeted 90 dollars per share under Chapek’s watch. Wall st. Does not want that. Losing 50 percent of your stocks value is right up there with hospital killing patient that just came in for a well visit.

Disney’s board need to put someone in place that understands that Disney fans, if taken care of will come back again and again and again…..don’t try and take all their money at once….and you’ll get a lot more. Don’t nickel and dime the guess and they will drop 100s.

Wall st doesn‘t care what the CEO does when the bottom line is a black number.
Right now Wall st is saying change something.

And As awesome of a person Elon must be. He may actually be Tony Stark! Even Tony Stark was smart enough to stick to what he knew best, and let someone else run the company! Elon will most like put humanity on mars in my life time. But I don’t know that he would be the best person to run Disney… Plus he is kinda busy protecting free speech, and will putting humanity on mars.

who do I want to run Disney
Someone that knows they need to balance customer satisfaction, with profitability.
Someone that knows that there product is guess experience and satifaction.
Someone that knows how To focus on his or her core business and stay i. The proper lanes.

i don’t know who that person is, my guess is that person is in Disney‘s upper management now and is about to quit because of how things are going.

 

[MillauFr]

i don’t know who that person is, my guess is that person is in Disney‘s upper management now and is about to quit because of how things are going.

I just want someone who doesn't take the Disneyworld guests for granite and continues to devalue the product there. This incessant focus on making Disneyland better at the expense of their flagship park is bizarre. If I was in charge that Magic Kingdom Pirates ride would be rebuilt on day 1 to put in a ride equivalent to the Disneyland one.

 

[Minnesota!]

I want to support them since their recent stances have aligned with my views, but, damnit, they don't offer me the value for my money and I don't want to support them due to that.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I just want someone who doesn't take the Disneyworld guests for granite and continues to devalue the product there. This incessant focus on making Disneyland better at the expense of their flagship park is bizarre. If I was in charge that Magic Kingdom Pirates ride would be rebuilt on day 1 to put in a ride equivalent to the Disneyland one.

Agreed

 

[Darcy03231]

We divorced Disney several years ago after disappointing trips in 2015 and 2016. Last trip was to add a couple of days on to a cruise in 2017 so DH could see Pandora (he's a big Avatar fan). While Disney used to get the majority of our vacation dollars (at least one trip per year and some years two to three trips), they now get little to none. We branched out to different things and have found we've had just as much fun (if not more) for a fraction of the cost. I had a planned trip in 2020 with my neighbor and her two young children, but that was cancelled due to COVID and we haven't rescheduled yet. We're waiting until at least next year to see if things settle down a bit. I will say that we don't have grandchildren yet and our children are in their late 20's to mid-30's. I might feel differently if I had young children.

 

[JLTraveling]

Someone that knows that there product is guess experience and satifaction.

I think this single line captures the whole entire thing. Disney's core product has NEVER been rides or shows or streaming media or cruise ships. It has always been the guest experience, and everything they did was a natural outgrowth of that (OK, not everything, especially post-Wells. Still bitter about Eisner replacing 20K Leagues with a cheap playground). At one time, we could argue about whether the Pirates rehab was better or worse than the original, or if TSM was too screen-based, or if a particular restaurant menu was being too dumbed down, or whatever. But there was a basic feeling that the company was trying hard to create excellent guest experiences, and whatever one person didn't like, they could generally see how others might. That overall trust was lost a long time ago. Now it's all about the cold, hard profits without any regard to their core product. We divorced Disney several years ago, and nothing they've done recently has made us regret that decision at all.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

I totally understand how you feel. It’s not the same way it use to be. While I still want to go, I don’t feel the excitement like I use to. The value resorts aren’t even affordable anymore. So that means budgeting more money or not going as often if we want to stay at a moderate. The deluxe resorts are ridiculous. Ticket prices are outrageous especially since you end up standing in line forever or you spend $15 a person on Genie+ and even then you can get screwed. Day starts out ok but then ride times are so late that many people just don’t stay in the parks all day like that. We certainly don’t. It’s sad. I miss the old feelings.

 

[_19disnA]

Disney used to be just one of the places in our rotation of vacation choices. Now the prices at Disney have risen MUCH faster then inflation and it basically costs 2x as much to vacation at Disney as elsewhere. I think their original plan for the past several years was to raise prices as a way to control the crowds but that clearly hasn't worked. Parks are now way too crowded making rides lines excessively long. Neither FastPass nor Genie is a way to solve the over-crowding issue. We rather vacation elsewhere and have zero plans to return anytime soon.

I don't use social media and could care less who owns Twitter. Most of those platforms seem like a place for people who like to argue with each other. Musk is a loose cannon and likely he will let those whose opinions he agrees with say whatever they want. He is all for 'free speech' as long as it agrees with his point of view. First Amendment free speech is about the government restricting what private citizens have to say. It has nothing to do what private companies choose to allow and many people don't seem to understand the difference. Using any social media platform to incite violence is similar to yelling 'FIRE' in a crowded theatre and then claiming you have the right to do that in the name of 'free speech'.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I haven't been to Disney since 2010...but have watched as the push to monetize every inch of space, every hour of the day, and seemingly every experience... has made Disney an increasingly expensive vacation...even for some upper middle class households in the U.S. If you want to have anything resembling an enjoyable experience, you not only have to plan months ahead, pay lots extra, but also get up at the crack of dawn every day of your "vacation" in an attempt to snag a spot on an attraction that you just paid an extra $20 per person to do. On top of that, you may plunk down hundreds more for an after hours event where you experience lower wait times. Or need to pay more to eat at a signature restaurant to get a decent spot at a show (think Candlelight Processional), Or hundreds more for a decent viewing spot with mediocre snacks and bad wine...to see the fireworks. Or thousands more for a VIP tour to get real front of the line access. And with private events and weddings eating up more and more theme park geography for evening shows...it's just too much.

It just seems as though there's a secret department at Disney called "Monetize it!!"....where they just spitball all day to come up with ways to take away from average guests to give more to those who are willing to pay. Yes, a lot of that is obviously what any company does...attempts to come up with ways for more income. But it feels like Disney has reached a tipping point. It's like that line in Jurassic Park when the lawyer tells John Hammond that they can have a "coupon day" or something....so regular people can see the dinosaurs.

 

[mom2rtk]

How are the parks not equal for all? Everyone has been hit by the price increases. Genie + and LL is available for all guests to purchase.

I don’t disagree with your overall post though. We feel the same. We have sold most of our DVC points and just cruise on DCL now.

Evening extra hours used to be for all levels of onsite guests. Now it's just deluxe.

 

[mom2rtk]

They need a better CEO

The problem is that their definition of a "better CEO" would be one that did even more of the stuff we all dislike.