What they've taken away

[crazymomof4]

You have "tours" listed already but I'd like to add, "Resort Hotel Tours"
(haven't read through the entire thread, so maybe someone else already has)

For our upcoming stay, we're doing a lot of non-park days, including visiting many WDW resort hotels. I've been wanting to do a non-park trip for many year and one thing I had always planned on doing is the resort hotel tours like "Legend of Conch Flats" in OKW. We've only ever done the ones at AKL. There used to be one at BWI and one at WL. I've been waiting for them to come back since reopening but it doesn't seem likely now, at least not in time for our Oct trip.

 

[crazymomof4]

To me, they’ve essentially taken away everything that made Disney special and magical.
Seeing my magic bands in the mailbox a few weeks before my trip and the excitement starting then was magical.
Dropping my bag off at my home airport and not seeing it again until it was in my room was magical.
Sleeping in on vacation but knowing I had 3 fast passes ready to go once I got to the park was magical.
Stumbling upon the Citizens of Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard and laughing until my face hurt was magical.
I’m not upset over one particular thing. It’s everything together. I also travel elsewhere but I love Disney World because it’s the only place I can forget about the real world and feel like a kid again. And they’re taking all that magic away.

I agree wholeheartedly!
It's been said that "Disney is a business and they're in it to make money"
This is true
I know this..... but.....
Disney is a very unique "business"
It's a business built strongly on guests experiencing this element we like to call "magic".
For me, "The magic"......

is felt when I feel like I'm free of *most* of my responsibilities at home and having as little to worry about as possible while ON the trip. (that's the pay-off of planning for me)
Like you said, dropping off our luggage at curbside check-in at our airport and then they magically show up in our resort room did this for me.
Not worrying about picking up a rental car at MCO did that for me.
Waking up early ONE morning, at 60 days out, and getting each of us 3 FP+ for each park day (for our "top tier" faves) did that.... Because it was done at home, NOT while on my vaca!
Getting on that DME bus was magical. It never got old for me. I would get a giddy feeling even as we just approached the DME sign at MCO! I'd take family pix on the bus and didn't care how many stops we made before we got to our resort because being on the bus, seeing the other resorts, was already part of the vaca for me!

It's when I can pull out the child within and "pretend" again and get excited about little things.
Getting magic bands in the mail was like that for me.

It's coming upon something spontaneous and special that feels like you found a hidden gem.
Walking up to an in-park entertainment performance like Citizens of Hollywood and the wonderful ones in WS in Epcot was like that for me.

This "magic" (different definition from person to person) is a very intangible thing and I think it's something that the Bean-Counters don't fathom so they aren't taking it into consideration as having value. But to people like us it IS part of the value of a WDW vacation!

 

[1lilspark]

POG juice

That was due to the distributor discontinuing it…. Supposedly it’s back supplied by a new company

If
Stores on Main St USA (not sure which ones, but noticed a bunch of lights out the other night. The Chapeau and Main St Confectionary were 2.
The monorail for Polynesian Resort guests

chapeau & confectionery are being remodeled for the 50th & Poly monorail is down due to resort construction and should be back if not by the 50th but probably by end of year

 

[malonefamily]

Living here, I can tell you a lot of cast members are still out of work, in part because of this list. If you were running the Friendship boats between Old Key West and Disney Springs two years ago, you're unemployed now. This sort of thing applies to so many of our neighbors. The pandemic hit Disney financials extremely hard (imagine being a movie studio when nobody could or would go to a theater), but they are recovering, and they will be judged on what they do over the next phase of this process.

We do what we can to support out of work cast members, buying their baked goods, hiring them to cut our kids' hair through Facebook groups, etc. but I know it's nothing compared to the life they had before. We're optimistic that better days are ahead for guest and cast alike.

Part of what comes next depends on how people react to what's missing, surely. The last two weeks have been freakishly quiet at WDW and all of Central FL. Today we visited the Magic Kingdom and we were shocked that the holiday weekend seemed to bring in quite a respectable crowd. If the cuts are too severe and linger too long, it's possible that guests will start to choose other options. I hope it doesn't come to that, and I don't think it will.

 

[mefordis]

We were just there mid July and WDW seems like it's becoming a depressing shell of what it used to be. I cancelled our Nov trip. Just couldn't lay out all that money at this time.

 

[DISNEY1975]

That was due to the distributor discontinuing it…. Supposedly it’s back supplied by a new company


chapeau & confectionery are being remodeled for the 50th & Poly monorail is down due to resort construction and should be back if not by the 50th but probably by end of year

Whether they come back in the future or not, so much not running/open/operating etc... but I still paid full price for my trip Only advisory I received was about the monorail, so I jumped ship and rebooked at the Contemporary, with a working monorail, only to find out when I got there that the entire Tower was under construction. No wonder garden wing was only available! We had breakfast a Ohana. I knew (assumed)characters would not be coming to the table, but didnt realize they werent there at all...but the price remained the same, or a bit more than the last time we went in 2019. So many things like this....

 

[Jcruise86]

Predictions from Captain Obvious:

MOST families visiting Disney's American parks from 500+ miles a way might splurge on the $15 to $20 per CUSTOMER (no longer "guests" if we're being honest) per day for Lightning Lane
to be able to ride SOME most of the most popular attractions with a shorter wait,
SO
the so-called Lightning Lane be a mess on the many crowded days, and in order to then really make L.L. substantially faster, Disney "will have no choice but to raise the price of Lightning Lane."

And if the Rise of the Resistance,
Avatar Flight of Passage
& Tron
fastpass options (they won't be Lightning Lane options & will have the longest lines) are raised to $30,
there will be a damaging backlash.
("One hundred and twenty bucks so my family of 4 could ride a two-minute coaster once!")
This will be on top of the $400 extra a family of 4 a family would pay for Lightning Lane for 5 days in the parks if L.L. will increase to $20 a day, as it reportedly will cost from the start at Disneyland.

Sorry to say, but sadly it's true: Robert Paycheck is a short-term thinking antiWalt.

 

[snickerdodo]

We will going to wdw the end of October and will be staying about a week. We have been dvc members since 2004, now we can only use half of the points when booking our stays. We stayed in May and decided to extend our our stay for a couple of more days, they had the available rooms but they said that we had used our available points (50%) and we couldn't stay because we were 2 points short and couldn't borrow any points until our use year (September). I think this is our last trip. Our last trip in May half the things in mk were closed, and having to reserve a place to go to a park is a hassle. We don't live in Florida and live 1000 miles from Orlando, we are annual pass holders, but the new prices for dvc members annual passes are $900, and that has blackout dates. If you want the next step up it's $1,300. We are seniors on a fixed income we cannot afford those prices. Dvc perks also have gone by the wayside. We don't have to pay to park at the resorts yet, but I can see the handwriting on the wall. The magic is gone!

 

[Kmilos1024]

I agree that it has become all about the money and less about perks just to be accomodating. Unfortunately every amusement park seems to be going this way. I would be more apt to go more often if they at least tried to act like they aren't money hungry, but now they don't even try to hide it. That being said I will pay alot of money if it means I am guaranteed to ride rotr because we may not come back for another 10 years. They know there are many like me, so they exploit anywhere they can to make money because, it is our "trip of a lifetime" and we will pay it. Don't interpret this as I am happy about it, but it's almost like, well if I'm not returning for another 10 years or so might as well get all that I can out of the trip for my family.

 

[igrsod]

It will be interesting to see where things go from here. Disney needs to restore the magic, and stop with the money grabbing if they want to keep their loyal customer base. I feel for cast members, please bring them back... start up the shows, open the restaurants and resorts. Offer perks for onsite guests. These are things that will go a long way. People are paying more for a vacation right now, but receiving far less. It was excusable after the first while after pandemic reopening, people can forgive and understand that. BUT, there is a tipping point. People will not accept that forever.

 

[crazymomof4]

We were just there mid July and WDW seems like it's becoming a depressing shell of what it used to be. I cancelled our Nov trip. Just couldn't lay out all that money at this time.

Our Oct trip will be the Litmus Test for us. To quote my DD21, who has been a lifelong, card-carrying Disney fiend, "for this trip, if things are significantly different from what WE know to be our WDW vacation, then I don't see any reason to go back anytime soon.". I thought I'd be the one saying those words and she'd be the one fighting me tooth and nail. Her saying this really hit home for me the extent of the *damage* done by the recent (past 4-5 yrs really) decisions.

 

[snappy]

The Covid excuse has to end. If they can pack in the crowds; have ppl. shoulder to shoulder waiting for fireworks or when cramming them into a holding area; then there's not a safety reason for anything else. Covid was in many ways an unexpected miracle for some of the execs at Disney...gave them an excuse/reason to cut back, get rid of, dumb down, not offer, and totally change whatever they've been wanting to do for over a year now. While this was a horrible disease for most; Disney pounced on it and took make lemonade out of lemons to an insanely extreme level.

Disney has appropriated “never let a good crisis go to waste.”

 

[Miffy]

I just looked at our room bills from December 2019 and the trip we had scheduled for May 2020, which, of course, was canceled.

My sister and I usually stay at AKL in a savanna-view room. Sitting on the balcony and watching the animals is one of our favorite parts of the trip. In December 2019 we paid an average of $478/night for this room. Pretty expensive, but we always felt it was worth the price for such a special experience.

We have the selfsame room category booked for this coming December. The cost? $815/night--about 60% more than we paid the last time we stayed at AKL. We're waiting for discounts to arrive--we assumed they would, however, now I'm not so sure. And even with maybe a 30% discount (hey, I can dream, right?) the room would still be nearly $100 more per night than it was previously. That is a HUGE markup . . . and no housekeeping?

 

[DISNEY1975]

I agree that it has become all about the money and less about perks just to be accommodating. Unfortunately every amusement park seems to be going this way.

Thats the problem. Disney never used to be "every amusement park". It was a very special place with incredible hospitality, making it the #1 vacation destination in the US. Now they are "every amusement park" so why not venture out and see other things in the world! I no longer get a Disney vibe at the resorts and barely at the parks. At the resorts, there is no "welcome!!!" They want you to go directly to your boring white room and use your phone to unlock the door! The Imaginears are anything but imaginative. The new rides are just TV screens. The new rooms are so generic, the new shows, well, I guess there arent new shows...or old ones. They are just gone. Id gladly pay more and more to have the old Disney, previous to around 2015, back. Paying for 2021 Disney is not worth it. Sadly for me, I did, but until I start seeing reports of incredible things happening, I will not be going back for any large amount of time. Maybe a few days, offsite, but will spend the remainder of my usual 11 - 13 days visiting other Orlando theme parks...or take a cruise out of Cape Canaveral!

Yacht Club before


Yacht Club after




All Star Movies before




All Star Movies after

 

[crazymomof4]

Thats the problem. Disney never used to be "every amusement park". It was a very special place with incredible hospitality, making it the #1 vacation destination in the US. Now they are "every amusement park" so why not venture out and see other things in the world! I no longer get a Disney vibe at the resorts and barely at the parks. The Imaginears are anything but imaginative. The new rides are just TV screens. The new rooms are so generic, the new shows, well, I guess there are new shows...or old ones. They are just gone. Id gladly pay more and more to have the old Disney, previous to around 2015, back. Paying for 2021 Disney is not worth it. Sadly for me, I did, but until I start seeing reports of incredible things happening, I will not be going back for any large amount of time. Maybe a few days, offsite, but will spend the remainder of my usual 11 - 13 days visiting other Orlando theme parks...or take a cruise out of Cape Canaveral!

This (bold) x 1000. Except for us insert our 2014 trip.
and the words above that I italicized, Ditto for us!
We booked our upcoming trip when vaccines were rolling out. Fairly certain that things would go back to near normal over the summer. Rented DVC points so not refundable (although trip ins was purchased, just in case of extreme need to cancel). I can honestly say we are REACHING to work up much excitement for this trip that is just 31 days away now! This is SOOO different from the norm. At this point we are usually all bubbling over with excitement, laying out clothes to make outfits, fine-tuning our daily itinerary (this is fun for us, not a chore). Things are different. Very different. The other night I was watching and reading about the Universal resort hotels. Only 3 of us have ever been to a Universal Park. One park. One day. Because my brother and SIL talked us into it. NEVER thought I'd be considering a STAY there with multiple park days, but our kids requested it the week Genie+ was announced. Another of our kids said, "I'd like to do more National Park centered vacations."
Sure we've had our disappointments/complaints about Disney Parks in the past, (like the generic hotel refurbs) but they were small compared to our overall satisfaction. So we kept going back. THIS...... THIS time, now....... IS DIFFERENT!!! And I'm getting the vibe from the words, the feelings expressed in comments and forums that it's different for many many people.
For now, I'm going to look at this as a glass is half full situation.... I'm actually excited to start planning vacations to other destinations. Excited to see how much the amount I've usually spent on a WDW vaca will buy me at other destinations! Will we miss it.? Ya... we'll miss the 2014 type trip. But as others have said, I'm not saying good-bye forever. Going to keep watch on the situation. Read DisBoards, etc and see how this all plays out. We'll probably be back eventually. May be years from now. If things stay as they are now, most likely off-site (which excites me too!... new resorts to try!).

 

[bianca]

Thats the problem. Disney never used to be "every amusement park". It was a very special place with incredible hospitality, making it the #1 vacation destination in the US. Now they are "every amusement park" so why not venture out and see other things in the world! I no longer get a Disney vibe at the resorts and barely at the parks. At the resorts, there is no "welcome!!!" They want you to go directly to your boring white room and use your phone to unlock the door! The Imaginears are anything but imaginative. The new rides are just TV screens. The new rooms are so generic, the new shows, well, I guess there are new shows...or old ones. They are just gone. Id gladly pay more and more to have the old Disney, previous to around 2015, back. Paying for 2021 Disney is not worth it. Sadly for me, I did, but until I start seeing reports of incredible things happening, I will not be going back for any large amount of time. Maybe a few days, offsite, but will spend the remainder of my usual 11 - 13 days visiting other Orlando theme parks...or take a cruise out of Cape Canaveral!

Yacht Club before
View attachment 602265

Yacht Club after

View attachment 602268


All Star Movies before

View attachment 602276


All Star Movies after

View attachment 602277

Thanks for posting those photos! The difference is quite remarkable. I prefer the “before” photos so much more.

 

[jimim]

Can we just talk about the biggest thing that Disney ever axed that still saddens me on every trip.

can we bow our heads for the adventurers club.

seriously though. I can’t get over all that is gone. I know all this stuff is gone but seeing it in one spot is more shocking. Good thread op.

I do really miss the adventurers club and it needs to be rebuilt before finishing the Star Wars hotel.

 

[mefordis]

In order to turn things back around they will need to get a different CEO who thinks outside the box, (like Mike Eisner did).

I'm ready for those laughing emojis now.

 

[jimim]

In order to turn things back around they will need to get a different CEO who thinks outside the box, (like Mike Eisner did).

I'm ready for those laughing emojis now.

My biggest issues with Eisner is he ruined the animation department. He pushed Pixar away. Pixar was a beast at that point. Some of thier best material. He pushed a ton of animators out of the studio. Wasn’t it during his time we have a bunch of sequel movies that were just junk?
He did a lot of good but when I hear his name I think of almost the end of traditional animation.

 

[Jcruise86]

. . .

Yacht Club before
View attachment 602265

Yacht Club after

View attachment 602268


All Star Movies before

View attachment 602276


All Star Movies after

View attachment 602277

Thanks for sharing those photos, Disney 1975!

I saw similar pics that showed that Disney made the Animal Kingdom Lodge rooms cheaper when they refurbished them.