Losing My Pixie Dust Desire

[Chuckus95]

We were married in 2001 (exactly 13 years ago today)

Happy anniversary, Chuckus!

thanks.

[horizons1]

So the next logical question is what's an alternative vacation that still feels magical?

[Sharonofwindham]

Many of you are going to be very about this thought because it's hard to comprehend such a travesty.

My first trip to WDW in what I call the "modern era" with 4 parks and all we see now was in 2001. The girls were 3 and 7, we stayed at All-start Movies, and had a truly magical time. That trip was something like 7 nights and cost us around $3k, including the dining plan and park hopper tickets.

My trip in 2008 was just me and the girls, and we had a wonderful time. I'd have to say that trip was just as awesome as the previous one.

2010 was our first family vacation with my mom and stepdad, my sister, and her family. Jeff and I felt less magic on that trip. We just felt there wasn't the attention to detail that we had enjoyed in years past. It was subtle. We wouldn't have been able to tell you such-and-such is worse this time because x, y, and z. But we could tell, something was off.

In 2012 we returned with my extended family, and at this point, we definitely noticed less magic and more crowd herding. Things weren't being repaired like they should (missing dolls on Small World, critters on Splash, etc.) and every available square inch that could be was being used to sell us something.

We haven't been back yet. We've talked about it, but with less and less enthusiasm each time. There has been a continuous whittling away at the visitor experience. Fast pass changes, price increases, restrictions on resort strolling, key attractions being down for extended periods of time, food not being as amazingly delicious as it once was while getting more and more expensive... Etc.

If the four of us wanted to spend a week at WDW, it would be about $5k. That's an entire semester of tuition for Meghan. We are finding it more and more difficult to justify that expense, especially considering how Disney keeps whittling away at things. This latest news about Off Kilter, Mo Rockin, and the fife and drum corps is just the most recent in a string of things that show the consideration and value of the customer at WDW that have always historically been there are waning.

I'm thinking yeah, maybe we'll go back sometime, maybe when we have grand kids, but I don't get all excited nor do I have that yearning to escape to WDW like I once did. I don't want to feel exploited and all these subtle changes are bringing about that feeling of being exploited.

Anyone feeling the same way?

Wow...this makes me very sad mainly because I believe what you are saying is more than likely true...certainly not just something you are feeling. I haven't been since 2004, but even then I had been noticing things, on previous visits too. The last TRULY and completely magical visit was 1989. This was the first time my sister & I went together.
You just don't want to see Disney cave to become like every other business these days, caring only about profit, but aside from the imagineers, Disney seems to be doing just that. Customer service is lacking everywhere, but I just didn't want to see it take over our beloved Disney. I find myself longing for the old days, and not even the ones that I necessarily existed in, but in the days when Walt was here, like in Saving Mr. Banks. I know it was still about business back then, but there certainly was a sense of pride in making sure your customers walked away with that magical Disney feeling. I will definitely still go back. That is if I can ever afford it! I think there is still SO MUCH magic at the Parks, you just have to look harder for it sometimes
With all that said, what is a, "restriction on resort strolling" ?

[Sharonofwindham]

The orderly queue is great, and it ensures fairness for everyone that would like to take the time to meet a character, but I miss the days when a little one would see Mickey or Minnie, or whoever, and have their eyes light up and then be able to run up to them and give them a big hug.

I think that's more of a reflection on society than Disney. My parents have home videos from our trips when we were kids in the 80s and the difference between now and then is like night and day. Back then, a character would come out and people would gather around it. Then, everyone would each take a turn walking up and taking pictures, getting autographs, etc. It was very orderly without the need for lines or a people herder. There's no way that would work today. I can only imagine how much pushing, shoving, and arguing there would be.

So sad isn't it? I can only picture it being mayhem!! And I'm talking with the same size crowd. What has happened to people???

[Sharonofwindham]

In today's culture of immediate gratification, lack of patience, and lawsuit mentality, there isn't any way that people could have interaction with characters without a queue and schedule. I was EXTREMELY disappointed when I had tried to see Sulley at DHS, was told he'd be available at a certain time, then upon returning at that time was turned away. However, I wouldn't want the person inside the suit to be physically uncomfortable, stressed, dealing with low blood sugar, or a host of other things that would come about from missing a break or being overheated.

It's almost like all the up-charging is a backlashed reaction to guests being more rude and less "deserving" of a generous experience. I'm not sure I'm phrasing that right. If you want to be treated extra-special, you're going to have to pay for it, because the "minimum price-ers" aren't worthy of it. That kind of thinking.

I didn't know Cedar Point had bought Kings Island... the one in Cincinnati, right? Cedar Point is the quintessential thrill ride park, and its central location makes it accessible by most everybody. I'd hoped to take the family there this summer but it just didn't work out.

Very good way to look at it. The CM's having to deal with the majority of customers they have today as opposed to yesteryear, is a whole new ballgame.

[Chuckus95]

I hate to, but I want to continue my earlier rant. Our 60 day Fastpass+ window opened at midnight today. So, I dutifully stayed up last night, and at midnight, I was ready to make my selections. My first order of business was the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train on Nov. 7, but, much to my chagrin, there were no Fastpasses available (zero, zilch, the big goose egg). I don't like Fastpass+ the way it is (I don't mind planning, but having to do it so far in advance is ridiculous), but, after plunking down over $1,000 for 2 adults and a two-year old to spend four nights at AoA with 3-day park hoppers, I'm more than irritated that I cannot get Fastpass+ for 2 people. Before anyone jumps down my throat, yes, I know that we can do stand-by (or not ride at all), but, as I mentioned, we have a 2-year old so we have to do rider switch. So, we will each have to spend a substantial amount of time away from each other, which is not how we like to spend our vacations.

[gullyf]

Many of you are going to be very about this thought because it's hard to comprehend such a travesty.

My first trip to WDW in what I call the "modern era" with 4 parks and all we see now was in 2001. The girls were 3 and 7, we stayed at All-start Movies, and had a truly magical time. That trip was something like 7 nights and cost us around $3k, including the dining plan and park hopper tickets.

My trip in 2008 was just me and the girls, and we had a wonderful time. I'd have to say that trip was just as awesome as the previous one.

2010 was our first family vacation with my mom and stepdad, my sister, and her family. Jeff and I felt less magic on that trip. We just felt there wasn't the attention to detail that we had enjoyed in years past. It was subtle. We wouldn't have been able to tell you such-and-such is worse this time because x, y, and z. But we could tell, something was off.

In 2012 we returned with my extended family, and at this point, we definitely noticed less magic and more crowd herding. Things weren't being repaired like they should (missing dolls on Small World, critters on Splash, etc.) and every available square inch that could be was being used to sell us something.

We haven't been back yet. We've talked about it, but with less and less enthusiasm each time. There has been a continuous whittling away at the visitor experience. Fast pass changes, price increases, restrictions on resort strolling, key attractions being down for extended periods of time, food not being as amazingly delicious as it once was while getting more and more expensive... Etc.

If the four of us wanted to spend a week at WDW, it would be about $5k. That's an entire semester of tuition for Meghan. We are finding it more and more difficult to justify that expense, especially considering how Disney keeps whittling away at things. This latest news about Off Kilter, Mo Rockin, and the fife and drum corps is just the most recent in a string of things that show the consideration and value of the customer at WDW that have always historically been there are waning.

I'm thinking yeah, maybe we'll go back sometime, maybe when we have grand kids, but I don't get all excited nor do I have that yearning to escape to WDW like I once did. I don't want to feel exploited and all these subtle changes are bringing about that feeling of being exploited.

Anyone feeling the same way?

No shock at all. Your experience pretty much mirrors ours, as do your impressions. Price has almost doubled, experience has not even held its own. We haven't been back in three years now, after going at least once and sometimes twice a year (usually for a week but 2 weeks on occasion, lodging at various locations: Pop, the Ft Wilderness cabins, AKL, Wilderness Lodge, Port Orleans Riverside) since 2003, with kids, grand kids, and extended family. That's not even looking at years prior to that, of which I have no real record or immediate recollection.

There was a time when it would have been considered a travesty to have a single light bulb out on Main Street; now whole sections of attractions are allowed to fail and remain that way indefinitely. Why should I spend $5-6k to go see ill maintained equipment when it only costs me $300 for four of us to see the same at Six Flags? We will probably go one more time in a year or so to burn up what we have in points on the rewards card, but I can't see us going for a long time after that, and that card has recently been retired for one that isn't as restrictive in redeeming.

I was there on opening day. I may not be around to see it close, but I am beginning to suspect that I'll see the day when it isn't worth my time or money to visit any longer.

Gully

[Amy]

I hate to, but I want to continue my earlier rant. Our 60 day Fastpass+ window opened at midnight today. So, I dutifully stayed up last night, and at midnight, I was ready to make my selections. My first order of business was the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train on Nov. 7, but, much to my chagrin, there were no Fastpasses available (zero, zilch, the big goose egg). I don't like Fastpass+ the way it is (I don't mind planning, but having to do it so far in advance is ridiculous), but, after plunking down over $1,000 for 2 adults and a two-year old to spend four nights at AoA with 3-day park hoppers, I'm more than irritated that I cannot get Fastpass+ for 2 people. Before anyone jumps down my throat, yes, I know that we can do stand-by (or not ride at all), but, as I mentioned, we have a 2-year old so we have to do rider switch. So, we will each have to spend a substantial amount of time away from each other, which is not how we like to spend our vacations.

That is too bad ~ I hope you will keep checking for availability for the day you want. I don't know if the FP+ are like the dining ressies where people scoop them up and then change them later, but it is worth a try. I dislike that you have to plan so far in advance now as well. Takes a lot of the fun out of vacation for me. I schedule, reschedule and then have to live by that schedule in my daily work world, when I'm on vacation I want to relax ~ well, go, go, go, but not on a schedule if you know what I mean

[horizons1]

We will probably go one more time in a year or so to burn up what we have in points on the rewards card, but I can't see us going for a long time after that, and that card has recently been retired for one that isn't as restrictive in redeeming.Gully

I debated getting the Disney rewards card but decided to stick with the one that pays me airline miles. I figure I can always use the miles toward a Disney vacation and net the same savings, granted there may be the occasional exclusive Disney Visa event or perk that I miss out on.

[Amy]

We will probably go one more time in a year or so to burn up what we have in points on the rewards card, but I can't see us going for a long time after that, and that card has recently been retired for one that isn't as restrictive in redeeming.Gully

I debated getting the Disney rewards card but decided to stick with the one that pays me airline miles. I figure I can always use the miles toward a Disney vacation and net the same savings, granted there may be the occasional exclusive Disney Visa event or perk that I miss out on.

You can always get the card but not use it. I rarely use my Disney Visa because pretty much everywhere accepts Discover and that gives me cash back that I can use towards anything. I do use my Disney Visa in the parks to get the discounts they offer and the picture (once we found out about that perk) but that's about it.

[theBIGyowski]

Yeah we pretty much only use our Disney Visa for purchases at the Disney Store (for the discount) and for merchandise purchases inside the parks (again for the discount). I believe we linked our Discover to our Magic Band so we could get cash back on everything else we spent.

I do use our Disney Visa for all of my work travel in order to keep our expenses separate...and that gave us around $100 in Disney Rewards that we used during our trip this past January. Other than that...it's not really all that useful for us.

As far as losing the "magic"...it's happened to DW and I as well. It's just so expensive now and we don't have that kind of money lying around. We know we want to take DS down there at some point and that will certainly bring back some of the magic...and it will again when we take DD (maybe on the same trip but she would only be 1-2 years old). My company used to offer a "free trip to anywhere" for your 10 year anniversary...and it was obvious we'd be going to WDW when I hit that date. Sadly...that "free trip" turned into a $2,000 expense that can be used on anything...but has to be done via an expense. Most people use it to buy a car, house, do renovations, etc. So while it's great that our company is proving a "bonus" that can help you do something more responsible than taking a vacation...it kind of takes the fun out of it...and what made it special in the first place. So our original plan of going to WDW in 2015 (10 year anniversary with my company...5 year wedding anniversary...DS' first trip to WDW) has kind of fizzled out and has been replaced with "we can pay down on our car loan" or "this can help us buy something we need". It also doesn't help that a trip to WDW in December of 2015 when we were hoping for would cost around $3,600...meaning $1,600 out of pocket for us...which is a lot of money.

[Amy]

It's nice that you will be able to do something responsible with your company bonus, but it does take the fun out of it for sure. I'm ever hopeful that the increases in ticket prices, along with everything else, will level out very soon and keep things a little more affordable for the future. Otherwise, if we aren't going to be able to enjoy time in the parks, we might as well stop looking for a house in Florida as we can experience the heat and humidity up here without up and moving. Although there is significantly less snow and ice in Florida

[cy1229]

Yeah we pretty much only use our Disney Visa for purchases at the Disney Store (for the discount) and for merchandise purchases inside the parks (again for the discount). I believe we linked our Discover to our Magic Band so we could get cash back on everything else we spent.

I do use our Disney Visa for all of my work travel in order to keep our expenses separate...and that gave us around $100 in Disney Rewards that we used during our trip this past January. Other than that...it's not really all that useful for us.

As far as losing the "magic"...it's happened to DW and I as well. It's just so expensive now and we don't have that kind of money lying around. We know we want to take DS down there at some point and that will certainly bring back some of the magic...and it will again when we take DD (maybe on the same trip but she would only be 1-2 years old). My company used to offer a "free trip to anywhere" for your 10 year anniversary...and it was obvious we'd be going to WDW when I hit that date. Sadly...that "free trip" turned into a $2,000 expense that can be used on anything...but has to be done via an expense. Most people use it to buy a car, house, do renovations, etc. So while it's great that our company is proving a "bonus" that can help you do something more responsible than taking a vacation...it kind of takes the fun out of it...and what made it special in the first place. So our original plan of going to WDW in 2015 (10 year anniversary with my company...5 year wedding anniversary...DS' first trip to WDW) has kind of fizzled out and has been replaced with "we can pay down on our car loan" or "this can help us buy something we need". It also doesn't help that a trip to WDW in December of 2015 when we were hoping for would cost around $3,600...meaning $1,600 out of pocket for us...which is a lot of money.

I'm so with you B. Hubby and I keep waffling back and forth about this DLR trip next year that may or may not happen depending on x, y, z, and a whole lot of other things we haven't even thought of. Plus, even with my airfare being taken care of, it's going to be expensive. And that's just for 3 nights!

I know we have to balance responsibility with treating ourselves lest we get burned out. When money's tight, though, we are finding that we really look at the value of the "treats" we allow. Are we getting the max enjoyment per dollar? We don't do any goofball statistical or arithmetic analysis, but we do think about that. For $2500 we can rent a condo, for a week, right on Lake Michigan on a private beach, and have enough room for the kids to bring a friend along. High rate of return in terms of enjoyment. And only another $500-750 for food and other stuff we want to do for the week. If the 5 of us, plus 3 other teens / young adults went to WDW for a week in the summer, we'd be looking at what... $7k? more than twice the cost?

[Sharonofwindham]

Many of you are going to be very about this thought because it's hard to comprehend such a travesty.

My first trip to WDW in what I call the "modern era" with 4 parks and all we see now was in 2001. The girls were 3 and 7, we stayed at All-start Movies, and had a truly magical time. That trip was something like 7 nights and cost us around $3k, including the dining plan and park hopper tickets.

My trip in 2008 was just me and the girls, and we had a wonderful time. I'd have to say that trip was just as awesome as the previous one.

2010 was our first family vacation with my mom and stepdad, my sister, and her family. Jeff and I felt less magic on that trip. We just felt there wasn't the attention to detail that we had enjoyed in years past. It was subtle. We wouldn't have been able to tell you such-and-such is worse this time because x, y, and z. But we could tell, something was off.

In 2012 we returned with my extended family, and at this point, we definitely noticed less magic and more crowd herding. Things weren't being repaired like they should (missing dolls on Small World, critters on Splash, etc.) and every available square inch that could be was being used to sell us something.

We haven't been back yet. We've talked about it, but with less and less enthusiasm each time. There has been a continuous whittling away at the visitor experience. Fast pass changes, price increases, restrictions on resort strolling, key attractions being down for extended periods of time, food not being as amazingly delicious as it once was while getting more and more expensive... Etc.

If the four of us wanted to spend a week at WDW, it would be about $5k. That's an entire semester of tuition for Meghan. We are finding it more and more difficult to justify that expense, especially considering how Disney keeps whittling away at things. This latest news about Off Kilter, Mo Rockin, and the fife and drum corps is just the most recent in a string of things that show the consideration and value of the customer at WDW that have always historically been there are waning.

I'm thinking yeah, maybe we'll go back sometime, maybe when we have grand kids, but I don't get all excited nor do I have that yearning to escape to WDW like I once did. I don't want to feel exploited and all these subtle changes are bringing about that feeling of being exploited.

Anyone feeling the same way?

This is hard for me to say but, yes, I am starting to feel the same way. My family went for the very first time in the 70s, and I was hooked. I ended up meeting (and later marrying) a young lady who shared my Disney fanaticism. We started going to WDW (and sometimes DLR) in 1999. We were married in 2001 (exactly 13 years ago today) at Sunset Point at the Poly, which, as I understand, will not come back as a result of the DVC expansion.

The removal of Sunset Point is a sore spot for me, but the rising costs and lessening of the magic is really bothering me as well. We have probably been to WDW/DLR 25 times in the last 15 years. Our 2-year old son has been to WDW 3 times (he spent his first two birthdays there) and has been on DCL 3 times. But, we are getting to our breaking point, so much so that after this year's Wine & Dine Half Marathon and a January 2014, we may take a Disney break for a while to see if the company comes to its senses.

I cannot express just how sad I am for those like you who have such fond memories of the Poly. I know life is all about change, but the Poly is such an iconic resort so why couldn't they have just left it the way it was?! I know it's all about greed, but are there seriously that many people out there that can afford the vacation club right now? Even so, they could have just added a new resort somewhere on property.

[Chuckus95]

This is hard for me to say but, yes, I am starting to feel the same way. My family went for the very first time in the 70s, and I was hooked. I ended up meeting (and later marrying) a young lady who shared my Disney fanaticism. We started going to WDW (and sometimes DLR) in 1999. We were married in 2001 (exactly 13 years ago today) at Sunset Point at the Poly, which, as I understand, will not come back as a result of the DVC expansion.

The removal of Sunset Point is a sore spot for me, but the rising costs and lessening of the magic is really bothering me as well. We have probably been to WDW/DLR 25 times in the last 15 years. Our 2-year old son has been to WDW 3 times (he spent his first two birthdays there) and has been on DCL 3 times. But, we are getting to our breaking point, so much so that after this year's Wine & Dine Half Marathon and a January 2014, we may take a Disney break for a while to see if the company comes to its senses.

I cannot express just how sad I am for those like you who have such fond memories of the Poly. I know life is all about change, but the Poly is such an iconic resort so why couldn't they have just left it the way it was?! I know it's all about greed, but are there seriously that many people out there that can afford the vacation club right now? Even so, they could have just added a new resort somewhere on property.

I'm with you Sharonofwindham. Change is necessary for us to move forward as a society. However, I there are some things that do not necessarily need to be changed. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is an adage that I truly believe in, and I don't think that the Poly was broke. This is especially the case with Sunset Point. Weddings were held there for years, and I can only imagine how many couples have been married there (including us). It just irritates me that Disney would throw that all out the window (destroying many memories in the process) just to make a few bucks. I'm not naive, and I know that the world works that way, but I expected more from Disney.