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!