Never thought I'd do it- Cancelled.

[kathy884]

Hotel, food, travel in general has increased no matter the destination.

This. I am seeing prices up at all domestic destinations that I've looked at.

I just finished booking the rest of a Southwestern, Colorado trip for mid June (seven night stay) last night, and it's running me about 1K more than my Disney/Universal/SeaWorld offsite seven night stay trip in March for a prime spring break week (trip includes one time EP for our one park to park day at Universal (just two of the four of us are doing that) and LL and Genie+ for our Disney days too -- everyone is doing Disney - but just two park days). We are all doing one day at SeaWorld too. I was thinking SW Colorado would be a little less expensive overall than our Orlando trip, but I was wrong. Cute Colorado mountain towns all over the state have gotten to be really popular in the summer, and prices have gone up. Both trips are for the same length of time and are for four people. Do note though that for the Orlando trip we are staying in an offsite condo, not onsite Disney or Universal which helps keep costs down.

My Southwestern, CO offsite two bedroom/two bath condo is running about $80 a night more than my Orlando two bedroom/two bathroom condo (and the Orlando one is much nicer with way more amenities - great offsite condo deals in Orlando IMHO considering quality for cost). My full sized rental car in Southwestern Colorado is running me about $100 a day while I got a good deal with a name brand reputable car rental place for the same sized car in Orlando for $50 a day. Air was higher to Southwestern, CO by a little too. In SW Colorado we don't have the theme park ticket costs, though -- That's always a major Orlando expense, but to us theme parks sure are fun. (How much I had to pay for air was actually surprising to me to both places. I've gotten much better deals on air in previous years.) We have a pricey jeep trip one day in Colorado, but other admissions (parks, little museums, hot springs) are relatively inexpensive. I've budgeted the same amount of money for food and groceries in both places. In general offsite food in Orlando looks less expensive, but given that we will be doing a little more cooking in in Southwestern, CO than we will in Orlando things even out a bit. We are walking distance to a grocery store which is super convenient there.

I'm really looking forward to both trips (fun at theme parks in March in the glorious central Florida weather and being in the beautiful mountains late spring / early summer).

 

[bsmcneil]

Just back from a six-day visit with all of our six kids, their spouses, and our 21 grandkids. It was to celebrate our 50th anniversary.

Congrats!

Observations:
- I felt like when Covid is useful, Disney invokes it (very limited housekeeping--I like having someone make my bed when I am vacationing, but they aren't touching beds now). But when it is convenient to ignore it (e.g.--crowding people in pre-shows) they do. Maybe I'm being unfair, but it's annoying to me.

I feel this way, too and I feel like it made sense the first few months, and then well, "We just hired back CP CMs and they're training" ... but even that was a few months back. It would be fascinating to me to see who is studying labor trends during this time and what they'll learn (like - there's the immediate media coverage and personal stories - but big picture something is shifting and what is that and what will it mean?

- We included in our party a friend who, while elderly, is a techie genius (he writes code, knows software, etc.). He gave up on Genie after Day 1 because it diminished the spontaneity for him. Add to that near mandatory mobile food ordering and--as others here have observed--you end up living on your phone all day, and that to me takes out a lot of fun. I'm nose-down in my phone all day when I'm NOT on vacation, so I like being unshackled when I'm taking a break.

I was just thinking about this and pondering posting about it in the Genie thread or a parenting/family one. I've been to WDW 20+ times, including a solo trip in September (was my first time since Dec 2015). SW: GE and Pandora were new - but mostly, I know the place like the back of my hand. My kids have basically never been (oldest went for the 2015 trip - and they were 2 ¾ and they'll be basically 9 when we go and that's so different for them that it's like not going). Especially with covid, my youngest hasn't done anything like a theme/amusement park (I had taken my oldest to one not terribly long before covid and we have videos of it) - so, they have little awareness of what to expect and no interest in discussing the trip or what it'll be like (I think because there's no awareness). So ... I feel like there's no reason to try to plan things out too much as I'll just have to see how they handle it. And Genie+ seems terrible for that (plus I'm a single dad and so I don't want to spend a lot of time on my phone trying to arrange LL times). Hearing this was helpful. I'm planning on two MK days and I'm thinking the first one will be good for getting a general vibe and then maybe getting G+ for the second day, in case we need to make sure we hit things.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I understand the sentiment of the OP, when something isn't exciting you time to move on or revisit it at a later date.

I also understand what the previous conversation was about regarding canceling a trip or non-renewing an AP. I've only been here since 2015 but there's been a lot of people who said they were going to cancel and non-renew their AP but they ended up biting the bullet and going or renewing their AP. Lots of reasons for it but it didn't stop the complaints. I don't say that to mean that people can't be true to their words here but that's at least how I read the prodding. Truthfully it doesn't take firing off an e-mail, mulling over just what to say in order to cancel your trip. If you haven't hit the cancel button you're hesitating for a reason, otherwise you would have already hit the cancel button. Plus when you send off that e-mail you'll have the finality of it all to Disney too, they'll see the reservation cancelled and know you did it before sending the e-mail. As far as non-renewing an AP well you just kinda got to let it lapse so that becomes a different situation.

As to these types of threads truly they become a dime a dozen over the years. Again only been here since 2015 but it's been pretty common to see these "done with Disney" or "I'm so upset with Disney" or "the magic is gone" posts. Does that make any one person's complaint any less valid? Of course not because everyone's thoughts on how they vacation are valid. But it would be disingenuous to make this out like it's a pandemic related or Genie+/LL related only rise in complaints because it's not. I vividly remember the lively discussions I engaged in about the parking added to resorts..ooh that got me so annoyed and there were pages and pages over the parking fees and how Deluxe were charged this much and how Value shouldn't be charged at all because they don't have the parking spot issues. I remember all the huge complaints about 60 day FP and 30 day FP, the 180 days ADR omg the amount of posts that would generate about the pre-planning Disney would require and how people were just done done done with Disney. And then there were the dessert party, MNSSHP season posts (meaning how each year it was early and earlier) and then the costs of MNSSHP and MVMCP. And so many more. Every one of these led to people discussing the merits of Disney as a vacation destination, the discussion of value and cost and the good 'ole days (which depends with each person) and so on.

So OP you're def. not alone in your feelings, it's okay to be sad, or to be done. Yes you can vacation elsewhere and you can also feel upset with the direction Disney is going. I hope your future adventures are exciting and fulfilling

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

This. I am seeing prices up at all domestic destinations that I've looked at.

I just finished booking the rest of a Southwestern, Colorado trip for mid June (seven night stay) last night, and it's running me about 1K more than my Disney/Universal/SeaWorld offsite seven night stay trip in March for a prime spring break week (trip includes one time EP for our one park to park day at Universal (just two of the four of us are doing that) and LL and Genie+ for most of our Disney days too -- everyone is doing Disney). I was thinking SW Colorado would be a little less expensive overall than our Orlando trip, but I was wrong. Cute Colorado mountain towns all over the state have gotten to be really popular in the summer, and prices have gone up. Both trips are for the same length of time and are for four people. Do note though that for the Orlando trip we are staying in an offsite condo, not onsite Disney or Universal which helps keep costs down.

My Southwestern, CO offsite condo is running about $80 a night more than my Orlando condo (and the Orlando one is much nicer with way more amenities - great offsite condo deals in Orlando IMHO considering quality for cost). My full sized rental car in Southwestern Colorado is running me about $100 a day while I got a good deal with a name brand reputable car rental place for the same sized car in Orlando for $50 a day. Air was higher to Southwestern, CO by a little too. In SW Colorado we don't have the theme park ticket costs, though -- That's always a major Orlando expense, but to us theme parks sure are fun. We have a pricey jeep trip one day in Colorado, but other admissions (parks, little museums, hot springs) are relatively inexpensive.

I'm really looking forward to both trips (fun at theme parks in March in the glorious central Florida weather and being in the beautiful mountains late spring / early summer).

Thank you so much for comparing the two trips! I often wonder how much more I am really spending for a Disneyland vacation versus another type of vacation... this is useful info for me!

 

[fsjking]

Just returned from two weeks in FL. Spent 5 days at Hard Rock, 2 in Clearwater, and 7 at Beach Club Villas. We hadn't been to WDW in 10 years(did do DL 5 years ago and UOR 7 years ago), and, honestly, I don't know that we'll go back to WDW. We just didn't have a great time.

It seemed like we had to plan so much and/or get up at 6 am so we could try and beat lines. So everyone was tired and cranky most of the day. Then you get days like our HS day where Rise didn't start on time and we are pretty much stuck in the caves, and you lose all advantage of getting up early. We went to AK, got there at 7 and still was in an hour line for FoP and then lines everywhere else the rest of the day. We didn't touch genie or LL. The mixed reviews leading up to our trip, and the fact we had 7 days made it not worth the cost. We did the after party, which was pretty awesome for wait times, but the teens with us were bored to death with the MK rides. I realized how out of our tastes MK was. The fireworks were great and the parade was fine. But overall, MK just isn't what I remembered it as.

The hotel was nice, but we had a bad room location. The farthest one from everything, had a view of some trees and an emergency generator, and had a dumpster outside our room that pretty much got dumped at 7 am every morning. Outside the bubble, a (depending on how you look at it) a $900-$2,000 a night room(2 bedroom villa) would not have those issues. Then they insisted on doing room checks daily even though we had the do not disturb card out. That's unacceptable at a holiday inn on the highway, let alone a high end hotel room. They are treating guest like spring breakers with that policy.

Our meal reservations mostly seemed like they were not when we wanted to eat. It sounded good at 60 days out, but park days don't line up with RL days in that respect. We ended up canceling 3 reservations and just going off site to eat.

Our last night, my wife was wanting mexican, so I looked around and Antojitos at UOR had plenty of openings. We ended up driving over there to eat, and since we had upgraded to annual passes, we walked around the park for a little bit. It just seemed a better fit for us. Like the Disney week was stress the whole time and at UOR we could just unwind.

For what we spent on just the Disney week, we easily could have done 2+ weeks at Universal at an express pass hotel. Not that we would do that vacation, it just drives home what it costs to do Disney vs what you get.

So this doesn't get completely misunderstood, we, for the most part, had a good time. But, when you spend $10k on a week vacation, it needs to be more than just a mostly good time. You can stay on a beach or cruise for a month for that. I'm aware that we could have saved a ton on the hotel room, but we decided we wanted to stay at beach club and accepted the cost. But even if we had stayed at a value resort and saved $3,000, it wouldn't have changed the overall experience that much. I hate to use the "magic is gone" line, but, for us at least, it certainly wasn't what we hoped it would be.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Canceled our Jan week. I was on the fence and wavered but a today, after a 2 1/2 hour wait in disneys Chat mode, I just canceled it all. I did not rebook for later ‘22.
I did notice that they now ask Why one canceled. Perhaps when they hear more, they’ll react. ? We can Hope..
Stay Safe All!!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That's unacceptable at a holiday inn on the highway, let alone a high end hotel room. They are treating guest like spring breakers with that policy.

This has been in place since the Mandalay Bay shooting in Vegas in 2017 (I can't remember when it was officially started but Mandalay was in October 2017). While hotels have scaled back on doing this these days (unfortunately memories fade fast) not all have. It's not about treating you like a spring breaker although I certainly understand the frustration with it (as we are a couple who uses the Do Not Disturb frequently at hotels).

 

[fsjking]

This has been in place since the Mandalay Bay shooting in Vegas in 2017 (I can't remember when it was officially started but Mandalay was in October 2017). While hotels have scaled back on doing this these days (unfortunately memories fade fast) not all have. It's not about treating you like a spring breaker although I certainly understand the frustration with it (as we are a couple who uses the Do Not Disturb frequently at hotels).

I've never had this happen at any hotel including the other 7 days on this trip. It lead us to having to lock up everything(electronics, meds, valuables, etc) every time we left the room as they apparently come in whether you are there or not. It also meant the strategy of going to the park early and getting a mid afternoon nap gets blown up as they came twice while there were people trying to sleep.

It's pretty pointless as well. If they are going to use the mandalay shooting as an excuse, the walkthrough they did would have been easy to hide many things from.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've never had this happen at any hotel including the other 7 days on this trip. It lead us to having to lock up everything(electronics, meds, valuables, etc) every time we left the room as they apparently come in whether you are there or not. It also meant the strategy of going to the park early and getting a mid afternoon nap gets blown up as they came twice while there were people trying to sleep.

It's pretty pointless as well. If they are going to use the mandalay shooting as an excuse, the walkthrough they did would have been easy to hide many things from.

I understand that you may not have had it happen elsewhere, my husband hasn't either despite his travels. That does not in any way mean there hasn't been a policy in place/wasn't a policy in place at a lot of hotels (Hilton-branded ones were for a long time, Marriott maybe too can't remember).

I'm just explaining, maybe you had forgotten all the media coverage around it since it's been a few years but it was very big back then. I really don't want to turn this into a debate on the merits of the policy, that was hashed so long ago if you're interested you can do a search here on the Boards. I just was trying to explain why a Do Not Disturb did not mean you wouldn't have a check. For a while they actually removed the Do Not Disturb cards (I didn't realize they were back TBH but I haven't been paying that close attention either).

 

[fsjking]

I understand that you may not have had it happen elsewhere, my husband hasn't either despite his travels. That does not in any way mean there hasn't been a policy in place/wasn't a policy in place at a lot of hotels (Hilton-branded ones were for a long time, Marriott maybe too can't remember).

I'm just explaining, maybe you had forgotten all the media coverage around it since it's been a few years but it was very big back then. I really don't want to turn this into a debate on the merits of the policy, that was hashed so long ago if you're interested you can do a search here on the Boards. I just was trying to explain why a Do Not Disturb did not mean you wouldn't have a check. For a while they actually removed the Do Not Disturb cards (I didn't realize they were back TBH but I haven't been paying that close attention either).

I don't need to look it up. I'm aware of the incident you are referring to, and I'm also not interesting in debating it. I'm explaining my experience at the hotel and one of the things I consider a negative part of my stay.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't need to look it up. I'm aware of the incident you are referring to, and I'm also not interesting in debating it. I'm explaining my experience at the hotel and one of the things I consider a negative part of my stay.

I'm not negating your negative experience nor was I even commenting on your negative experience. I was just explaining why Disney is doing what they are doing, your comment sounded like you didn't know what what up so I tried explaining. You may be aware of the incident but by your comments you did not seem aware of the safety protocols enacted as a result that's why I suggested you look up the past threads.

Then they insisted on doing room checks daily even though we had the do not disturb card out. That's unacceptable at a holiday inn on the highway, let alone a high end hotel room. They are treating guest like spring breakers with that policy.

It's been 4 years probably something easy to forget about even though it was a big deal for a while. Anyways again not debating just explaining

ETA: this is a thread from towards the end of January 2018 https://www.disboards.com/threads/guest-experiences-with-daily-room-checks.3660888/ That I believe was a master thread but there are others started by posters over the years since it was started. It contains outdated information but goes over what was going on at the time.

 

[leeniewdw]

My full sized rental car in Southwestern Colorado is running me about $100 a day while I got a good deal with a name brand reputable car rental place for the same sized car in Orlando for $50 a day.

I think car rentals are way up everywhere. I'm not sure if Orlando is an exception (or when the $50/day was available), but we have a car booked out of Bozeman this summer and it is TWICE as much as the same period 3 years earlier and we're getting a sedan as compared to a SUV. Our car rental for a week out of Denver in the summer was super high as well. I went to visit my aging Mom (in Louisiana) in the summer and spent over $200 for a 48 hour period for a Jetta.

I'm sure you'll have a great time in CO and create additional family memories!

 

[jade1]

I hit refresh every 5 seconds for about 20 min

Fun.

 

[jknc]

Until they bring back cabanas in Tomorrowland is a future trip worth it?

 

[luv2cheer92]

Just returned from two weeks in FL. Spent 5 days at Hard Rock, 2 in Clearwater, and 7 at Beach Club Villas. We hadn't been to WDW in 10 years(did do DL 5 years ago and UOR 7 years ago), and, honestly, I don't know that we'll go back to WDW. We just didn't have a great time.

It seemed like we had to plan so much and/or get up at 6 am so we could try and beat lines. So everyone was tired and cranky most of the day. Then you get days like our HS day where Rise didn't start on time and we are pretty much stuck in the caves, and you lose all advantage of getting up early. We went to AK, got there at 7 and still was in an hour line for FoP and then lines everywhere else the rest of the day. We didn't touch genie or LL. The mixed reviews leading up to our trip, and the fact we had 7 days made it not worth the cost. We did the after party, which was pretty awesome for wait times, but the teens with us were bored to death with the MK rides. I realized how out of our tastes MK was. The fireworks were great and the parade was fine. But overall, MK just isn't what I remembered it as.

The hotel was nice, but we had a bad room location. The farthest one from everything, had a view of some trees and an emergency generator, and had a dumpster outside our room that pretty much got dumped at 7 am every morning. Outside the bubble, a (depending on how you look at it) a $900-$2,000 a night room(2 bedroom villa) would not have those issues. Then they insisted on doing room checks daily even though we had the do not disturb card out. That's unacceptable at a holiday inn on the highway, let alone a high end hotel room. They are treating guest like spring breakers with that policy.

Our meal reservations mostly seemed like they were not when we wanted to eat. It sounded good at 60 days out, but park days don't line up with RL days in that respect. We ended up canceling 3 reservations and just going off site to eat.

Our last night, my wife was wanting mexican, so I looked around and Antojitos at UOR had plenty of openings. We ended up driving over there to eat, and since we had upgraded to annual passes, we walked around the park for a little bit. It just seemed a better fit for us. Like the Disney week was stress the whole time and at UOR we could just unwind.

For what we spent on just the Disney week, we easily could have done 2+ weeks at Universal at an express pass hotel. Not that we would do that vacation, it just drives home what it costs to do Disney vs what you get.

So this doesn't get completely misunderstood, we, for the most part, had a good time. But, when you spend $10k on a week vacation, it needs to be more than just a mostly good time. You can stay on a beach or cruise for a month for that. I'm aware that we could have saved a ton on the hotel room, but we decided we wanted to stay at beach club and accepted the cost. But even if we had stayed at a value resort and saved $3,000, it wouldn't have changed the overall experience that much. I hate to use the "magic is gone" line, but, for us at least, it certainly wasn't what we hoped it would be.

They've been doing daily (or near daily) room checks for several years now. There is no "do not disturb" sign for that reason. The card just tells them that there is somebody in the room, not for them to not enter. Shouldn't really have been a surprise IMO.

 

[StageTek]

For me, it's not about the cost. Prices rise all the time. It's about the value for the cost. WDW has always been an expensive vacation. Disney is taking away what we here on the DIS call "the magic" - all the perks that make the expense worth it.

WDW raises their prices just like every company. It's when they cut perks that causes me to reconsider a WDW vacation.

 

[katied]

Ok, I realize hitting refresh over and over does not seem like fun, but this was for like our 5th genie+ ride to go to our 3rd park and get test track without a line… did it while on bus hopping to AK, so it wasn’t like I was missing anything, and seemed small price to pay to skip line and Get yet another pass. fastpass system would not have let me do what I did… could not keep switching between parks for the LL like I did.

 

[fsjking]

They've been doing daily (or near daily) room checks for several years now. There is no "do not disturb" sign for that reason. The card just tells them that there is somebody in the room, not for them to not enter. Shouldn't really have been a surprise IMO.

As my original post said, I hadn't been to WDW in 10 years. No other hotel I've stayed at has ever done that. There isn't a big sign out front that says "we are going to inspect your room daily". Exactly where was this info supposed to come from? Was I supposed to somehow just know to search for "Will Disney search my room"? Just because you are a Disney veteran who has dealt with this issue before doesn't mean every guest automatically does.

As for the purpose of the cards, they know they mean the guests don't want to be disturbed. One of their staff told me that directly.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I let my AP expire and had a one year hiatus from Dec 2018 to Dec 2019.

I got a fresh AP and went to WDW on March 1st 2020......and then covid shut it all down 2 weeks later.

Got a refund........got a recovery AP......have gone recently......and the cuts......and the costs......and the Genie situation has diminished my enjoyment.

I will go a lot this year (Dec 2021 to Dec 2022) just to squeeze value from my AP, but I will most likely let it lapse and simply go each December on a military ticket.

I am not going to say that Disney has ruined everything, but they have certainly made it more complex and inconvenient to visit the parks and do what you want to do on your own casual schedule.

I stayed at DVC properties for many, many nights this past year because I was renting places for about 75 percent off. Most of those days did NOT involve going to the parks, but were focused on exploring the resorts and eating a few meals on property.

I will probably never be able to match the deals I got during covid.........We were able to experience a once in a lifetime experience in the first 9 months of 2021.

It makes me sad to have seen that my old friend has changed so much..........at least they appear to be healthy and will not be at risk of shutting down forever or going bankrupt.

We will spend our vacation dollars on other destinations in the future......with a much small portion going to Disney visits.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I've never had this happen at any hotel including the other 7 days on this trip. It lead us to having to lock up everything(electronics, meds, valuables, etc) every time we left the room as they apparently come in whether you are there or not. It also meant the strategy of going to the park early and getting a mid afternoon nap gets blown up as they came twice while there were people trying to sleep.

It's pretty pointless as well. If they are going to use the mandalay shooting as an excuse, the walkthrough they did would have been easy to hide many things from.

As my original post said, I hadn't been to WDW in 10 years. No other hotel I've stayed at has ever done that. There isn't a big sign out front that says "we are going to inspect your room daily". Exactly where was this info supposed to come from? Was I supposed to somehow just know to search for "Will Disney search my room"? Just because you are a Disney veteran who has dealt with this issue before doesn't mean every guest automatically does.

As for the purpose of the cards, they know they mean the guests don't want to be disturbed. One of their staff told me that directly.

While it may not be something some guests have experienced, Disney clearly states on their Disney Resorts page, the following:

Please note that:

• If you’re a Disney Vacation Club Member using your Membership to stay, you’ll receive service on the 4th and 8th days, unless you decline that service.
• If there is more than one room on your reservation and you choose to decline service, your selection will apply to all rooms on the reservation.
• We reserve the right to enter any room at a Disney Resort hotel for maintenance, safety, security or any other purpose, even if the Room Occupied sign is displayed on the room door. View Walt Disney World Resort Property Rules.

I understand not everyone may choose to read all the published information (myself included), Disney has made it very clear that they may enter a room at any time in spite of signs being displayed.

Sadly it is needed for safety reasons both after the Las Vegas situation and due to child trafficking.