One Last Rant on the State of WDW

[mattburmeister]

WOW! Cue the apologists (although interesting that no one defended G+). Folks, if you're willing to continue to be treated like any other customer at any theme/amusement park in the country and still pay Disney prices for it... Well, good on you I guess. As I said in my original post, more than anything else I'm just sad that what used to be a magical vacation is no longer. I'm really not angry because I just don't get angry about things over which I have no control. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed that imagineering is being replaced by merchandising. I'm disillusioned that storytelling is being replaced by monetization. I'm sad that innovation is giving way to screens and lighting effects. Everything now seems to be done on the cheap - the fewest possible CMs, the cheapest quality food, cheap merch that falls apart in a few days, maintenance neglected. The parks are seeing a bump in attendance right now because folks have been cooped up for two years, but people will not continue to pay these kinds of prices for an experience that they can get at their local amusement park or boardwalk without having to fly to Florida. Thank you all for your well-wishes. If you'd like to find me, I'll be vacationing in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the foreseeable future.

Disney has always been this way, you probably just haven't seen it.

Here is the quintessential Disney attraction brought to you by a bank.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Disney has always been this way, you probably just haven't seen it.

Here is the quintessential Disney attraction brought to you by a bank.

Not to mention Test Track (sponsored by GM and now Chevy) and PeopleMover (presently Enterprise, previously Alamo) and Space Mountain previously had sponsors (RCA, FedEx) and these are things that were just in the last few years. Sponsorship (along with the company's name usually listed on the attraction's marquee and sometimes featured heavily within the attraction) has been part of Disney for many many years.

 

[starlite_]

I adore this type of reports. The prideful ranting and complaining about things that 90% of the time are avoidable with planning always make me laugh.
I'm sure WDW is super sad to see you go, specially with that attitude towards cast members.

 

[Her Dotness]

The reality is that Disney never has been a middle-class family's vacation destination for more than a once-in-a-lifetime trip, maybe a second one 5-10 years later if lucky. It's always been far too expensive for most people.

When my own family went to Disneyland in the late 60s, we had relatives living an hour away from the park. They'd been only twice in my cousins' lifetimes. My aunt explained that Disneyland was too expensive and crowded compared with Knott's Berry Farm and other nearby amusement parks where they spent far less and had more fun. They took us to Knott's and did not join us at DLR. (Disneyland was waaaay better except for my father's complaining for years afterward about how much everything cost. And the cost of food and tickets was outrageous.)

Those of us here who go yearly or every other year are a rare breed. Certainly, those going multiple times a year are.

So, we really haven't much grounds to complain about the cost of what we're getting when so many of us keep going back. We are frankly pretty freakin' fortunate we have the means to do it.

 

[revdon64]

Oddly though I didn't find any apologists on this thread, sometimes it is in full force though.

People were confused with some of your complaints and figures you gave is all. I myself didn't add up the costs but I recently read a blog about someone from the UK saying Disney charged them almost $2,500 (that was the headline) except in the article itself it was actually just over $2,200. IDK about you but I'm sure $2,500 sounds catchier and larger amount than $2,200.

My point I brought up with my personal comment was the food because I couldn't see the difference objectively between SciFi and 50s Prime Time when you said you preferred SciFi but couldn't get an ADR for it so you settled for 50s Prime Time and was complaining about the food it was (that's where the comments about the menu came into play by me and other posters) and the cost (trying to figure out what you purchased). Honestly when I read your comments it made me think of the "there's nothing but burgers and chicken nuggets here" complaint I've heard time and time again and I somehow have managed to eat almost exclusive QS and not gotten that lol. I also later on was confused on the no alcohol comment didn't know if you were saying there wasn't alcohol to purchase at 50s Prime Time (which there should have been) or if you were saying the bill was so high and it didn't even include alcohol.

I can understand how you feel about the parks changing, I think a lot of people have been feeling that way but it does seem to be more strong with the introduction of Genie+ and ILL.

SciFi is an experience - eating at an old drive-in theater that my kids have never done. We've done 50s primetime before. Primetime used to be fun when the CM were allowed to interact with guests more (feeding them their vegetables, etc) but they're not allowed to do that any longer. They also used to have things like braised lamb shank, now it's meatloaf/fried chicken/pot roast. And I was saying that we didn't order alcohol but bill was still that high.

 

[revdon64]

Disney has always been this way, you probably just haven't seen it.

Here is the quintessential Disney attraction brought to you by a bank.

Where did I say anything about corporate sponsorships? I mean, if sponsorships brought better experiences I'd be all for them.

 

[revdon64]

I adore this type of reports. The prideful ranting and complaining about things that 90% of the time are avoidable with planning always make me laugh.
I'm sure WDW is super sad to see you go, specially with that attitude towards cast members.

I'm pretty sure I said that I'm the planner in my family. I tried to plan for this trip but the reality is that Disney has effectively taken planning ability away. But I guess if someone else's misfortune is humorous to you...

 

[Kestryl]

I'm sorry you had a bad trip and it does sound like it's time for you and your family to sadly move on. Nothing wrong with that and I hope you find an alternative.

I will say, I have been going to WDW nigh onto 38 years. At first every other year because I was a single mom and it took me two years to save enough, yes it was expensive even back then. Has it changed? Yep, I'll be the first to admit that. I used to tell my son that pixie's came out at night and cleaned the park, that was why you never saw trash laying around. Now you will see some trash, but you will also see the lazy person who threw it on the ground and every other person around them who just walked around it. Could that person have walked two steps and put it in a trash can? Could the person behind them bent over and taken the two seconds to pick it up? It might be because I'm a scuba diver and see what people do to the ocean and am constantly coming up from a dive with pockets full of trash I've picked up, but I'm not above bending down and picking up a piece of trash and putting it in the can right over there.

Fast forward and the world shut down. Has the world totally re-opened? Nope, even my small Georgia town has labor issues and don't even get me started on rude employees locally. This is the south, we aren't rude, we can nice you to death, except now we don't. Prices are almost as high here, Hubby and I went out for fast food last week and it was about $25, for fast food for two in a small Georgia town.

I've been 3 times in 2021 and am going back this coming April so I, obviously, still feel the magic. WDW has the problem of having to deal with us older folks who have been going for years and have good memories of days gone by and new folks coming in who want the newest and brightest and are in a hurry. Hard to balance between those of us who walked to school up hill both ways barefoot in the snow and those who have cell phones and cars that start themselves and internet.

You know, I wonder if that’s part of the trash issue. Pre-Covid, I was fine picking up napkins or whatever as I found them (in general, not just Disney). Now, unless I have gloves and doing a full litter pick up along a road, I’m not touching it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

SciFi is an experience - eating at an old drive-in theater that my kids have never done. We've done 50s primetime before. Primetime used to be fun when the CM were allowed to interact with guests more (feeding them their vegetables, etc) but they're not allowed to do that any longer. They also used to have things like braised lamb shank, now it's meatloaf/fried chicken/pot roast. And I was saying that we didn't order alcohol but bill was still that high.

So it wasn't about the food then? Respectfully your post seemed all about the food (what it was and the cost). FWIW the menu at 50s prime Time I think has been roughly the same for a while. We went there in September 2017 and I don't remember seeing braised lamb shank. Meatloaf and fried chicken and pot roast are quintessential to mama's home cookin'..which is what 50s Prime Time is about. I can understand about the shtick part being downplayed a lot more but I understand with the pandemic and all. Frankly I don't want someone feeding me corn with covid.

I do know people like SciFi with the ambience (and it's one of my friend's fav places to go just for that) but it's always been a hard place to get reservations and with 6 people whew that's a tough one. Back when ADRs were 180 days I used to always hear about SciFi being gone.

I'm looking at my receipt for September 2017 for 50s Prime Time:
Fried Chicken-$21
Drink-$3.5
Pot Roast-$21
Drink-$3.5
Subtotal-$49
Tax of $3.19
Total pre-tip $52.19

Now food pricing is nutty, but Disney has loved to raise their food pricing several times a year for a while now but it stinks.

Anywho for 2 people back in 2017 it was $50 then $60 with tip (which is calculated pre-tax for us). So I guess to me it doesn't seem that all bad what you paid when I consider that Disney has raised their food pricing at least several times per year since 2017 and how many people you had. Looks like the menu items we got are $4 more each, IDK what they are charging for drinks. I bet if we look though SciFi has had the same types of increases over time. Thanks for clarifying about the alcohol.

I get your overall point about the costs being high unfortunately that's been a complaint I've read for many years now.

 

[revdon64]

Maybe Josh Humphrey from EasyWDW said it best: "And that is probably what draws so many of us back to Walt Disney World time and time again. It’s not about the concrete castle or a 30-cent price increase on soda or pork glop platters. It’s about returning to a place that makes us happy where we’ve shared so many memories with the people that we love and cherish. And you never know where exactly you’re going to make those memories. It could be biting into your first Jalapeno Cheese Pretzel at Epcot just before the 4th of July Fireworks erupt overhead or hearing Mickey Mouse greet your kids for the first time inside Town Square Theater. But whatever and wherever it is, it’s something so special and so rare that there is no substitute. And so we return."

Except that it's all changed too much too fast and many of us will not return.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You know, I wonder if that’s part of the trash issue. Pre-Covid, I was fine picking up napkins or whatever as I found them (in general, not just Disney). Now, unless I have gloves and doing a full litter pick up along a road, I’m not touching it.

I think that's a really good point. There's sorta an avoidance of touching dirty things like trash and stuff. Honestly hadn't thought about it but depending on what the item was I would have picked it up (like say a cup or something) pre-covid..but I'm not sure how much I would do that now. Not about not trying to help out but this pandemic has changed a lot about how our minds work. Even holding doors for people you saw a lot of people sorta hold back on that, I would think picking up trash off the ground (as in just being a passerby) would be the same.

 

[Princesca]

You also could tell the decor of the resort before booking. Their own site site describes it as anything but over the top decor. “Celebrate the unique blend of Spanish, Mexican and Southwest American cultures at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. This beautiful lakeside oasis offers classic influences, Disney touches and modern comforts to energize and inspire.” Again, your choice.

This complaint surprised me. It's well known that CSR is a 'convention' resort. There is not going to be over-the-top Disney theming at a convention resort that caters primarily to businesspeople.

 

[Princesca]

I disagree with you in regards to the whole world having staffing issues. I stayed at Universal’s Portofino and had full daily housekeeping. No excuse for Disney to charge the prices they do if they cannot even provide housekeeping.

I agree with this. I've stayed in a few hotels since COVID, and while all of them offer you the option to decline housekeeping, it's there every day if you want it. And these are places like Hampton Inns, which are half the price of even a value resort at Disney. If they can manage it, why can't Disney? I'm on board with giving people the option to decline if they want, but it should be available daily at those prices.

 

[Princesca]

As of today, Mar 20th 2022, full daily/pre-pandemic housekeeping has returned to:
- Disney’s Polynesian Resort
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort
- Disney’s Boardwalk Resort
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort
- Disney’s Riviera Resort

With more resorts being added in the coming weeks and months. So please try again

I'm glad to hear this! I hope it's a benefit that rolls down to the value resorts as well.

 

[revdon64]

This complaint surprised me. It's well known that CSR is a 'convention' resort. There is not going to be over-the-top Disney theming at a convention resort that caters primarily to businesspeople.

Tell me how any bed linen is different from resort to resort. They're all plain white in every resort now. No theming on the beds whatsoever. Is that, or is that not a cost cutting measure?

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Tell me how any bed linen is different from resort to resort. They're all plain white in every resort now. No theming on the beds whatsoever. Is that, or is that not a cost cutting measure?

How are bed linens integral to theming? The Polynesian has had extensive re-theming in the rooms with Moana touches, along with the Contemporary with The Incredibles, and Wilderness Lodge with some playful Chip & Dale touches. In 2019 the Jambo House rooms at AKL were re-themed and have Lion King touches. Riviera has elements of Minnie, Mickey, The Aristocats. Pop Century had its rooms redone with some classic character elements. Yet all of these resorts have plain white bed linens. No sign of cost cutting in hotel room theming generally given the massive investment in redoing all those rooms listed above just in the past 2-3 years. If your judgement of a hotel room lives and dies on white hotel linens, I would argue you wouldn’t like most 5 star resorts in the world either. All crisp white linens without a single patterned or themed bedspread in sight.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Maybe Josh Humphrey from EasyWDW said it best: "And that is probably what draws so many of us back to Walt Disney World time and time again. It’s not about the concrete castle or a 30-cent price increase on soda or pork glop platters. It’s about returning to a place that makes us happy where we’ve shared so many memories with the people that we love and cherish. And you never know where exactly you’re going to make those memories. It could be biting into your first Jalapeno Cheese Pretzel at Epcot just before the 4th of July Fireworks erupt overhead or hearing Mickey Mouse greet your kids for the first time inside Town Square Theater. But whatever and wherever it is, it’s something so special and so rare that there is no substitute. And so we return."

Except that it's all changed too much too fast and many of us will not return.

For someone not planning to return, you’re certainly investing a lot of time in defending your rationale. As I said in my original post, perhaps WDW is no longer the destination for you. It appears you’ve come to that conclusion and that is your right.

But I doubt you’ll be convincing others of the same on a message board dedicated to that destination and frequented by some of its most loyal fans.

 

[Kennywood]

I'm sorry, but I'm siding with the OP. All they did was post THEIR opinion about THEIR trip. You know...."opinion".....like each of us has? Yet people feel the need to critique the post to such a degree that they're adding up dollars and cents!

Of course the OP is defending his rationale. (Why he should have to, is beyond me.) If someone attacks your opinion, aren't you likely to defend it?

This why I've never posted a trip report here. If I were to post a disappointment, an apologist would criticize it. If I were to post a positive experience, a critic would say that's not what happened to them.

Good and bad, why can't we simply allow people to post THEIR experiences? Sure, we may have had a different experience under the same circumstances, but it's supposed to be a post about what happened to them and how they perceived things.

"If you didn't like that, you should've done this." Well, perhaps the person wanted to do "that" for reasons that are none our business.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This why I've never posted a trip report here.

This isn't actually a trip report not in the conventional sense. This is a complaint against Disney, of which there are a myriad of posts on. It invites comments on a conversational level when it's posted about it that way. Just how it is.

One of the most annoying things about the DIS is that someone cannot post a contrary opinion without being called an apologist. Just because someone says "hey you can look at the menu" doesn't mean they are an apologist. Do you eat out at home? Response would be the same. An apologist would be someone who lacks any ability to see the bad in something, in this case Disney. That's not what the comments here have been about. I actually tend to be more on the critiquing side of Disney, truthfully I am not one who sees all the good in Disney.

Good and bad, why can't we simply allow people to post THEIR experiences?

Because this is a discussion board, you shouldn't stifle comments just because. What did you want this thread to be? The OP posting their experience and then the thread locked? Frankly if you want the thread to die out commenting (just like I am) is the last thing you'd want to do. Let the thread go off into oblivion..and comment no further.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I'm sorry, but I'm siding with the OP. All they did was post THEIR opinion about THEIR trip. You know...."opinion".....like each of us has? Yet people feel the need to critique the post to such a degree that they're adding up dollars and cents!

Of course the OP is defending his rationale. (Why he should have to, is beyond me.) If someone attacks your opinion, aren't you likely to defend it?

This why I've never posted a trip report here. If I were to post a disappointment, an apologist would criticize it. If I were to post a positive experience, a critic would say that's not what happened to them.

Good and bad, why can't we simply allow people to post THEIR experiences? Sure, we may have had a different experience under the same circumstances, but it's supposed to be a post about what happened to them and how they perceived things.

"If you didn't like that, you should've done this." Well, perhaps the person wanted to do "that" for reasons that are none our business.

Just to be clear on your position...

Someone can post their opinion, but people can't respond with opinions of their own?