Are Negative Posts Changing Your Mind

When I first joined here, this site was a celebration of shared Disney World love. So many happy posts. So many happy park-goers. So many great experiences.

Lately, the happy, good posts are lesser and few in between. More than average negative posts. Some about exorbitant prices. Some about lost “Magical” customer service. Some political. (I’m guilty myself. I hated my last trip.)

I’m wondering if the negativity is affecting your travel plans? Are you looking elsewhere? Are you going, but arriving expecting lesser conditions then having a self-fulfilling profecy? Or, are you arriving and finding it’s still “Magical?”

I have a Dado-and-daughter trip planned and I can’t wait to spoil her in her favorite place. She just started college and this is a getaway for her and I don’t want her disappointed.

What are your thoughts?

We're heading back in August, for our first post-covid trip. I think there are challenges that are impacting all destinations and all customer-facing organizations, so I'm expecting it might not be "like the before times". Staffing is an issue in so many places, and Disney isn't immune to that.

But, I also feel like we've been here before, FastPass was supposed to "ruin the magic", allowing alcohol in the Magic Kingdom was supposed to "ruin the magic", etc. So, I'm heading down with all of the hope for a great trip, but being realistic as well.

The negativity is not making me rethink visiting, it is only disappointing me that so many are expecting so much more.

Granted, the prices (on just about everything - AND not just in the parks) are higher and there is a lot of construction going on that takes a little away from the 'feel' of the parks, but the 'magic' remains...IF you want it!

I spent 7+ days in 'the bubble' in mid January and found that my only real disappointment was in leaving EPCOT one night. I was tired and had a rough day and the 'extra' walk to get from World Showcase to the front exit had me frustrated. I had not realized that the construction had rerouted people so far around. I swear it was at least an extra mile to get to the exit from around the Canada pavilion!!! That said, the Cast Members were great and the experience lived up to expectations. I did not use Genie+ and still got all the attractions in that I wanted.

One other thing to point out...Crowds are much higher right now than one would expect. I 'blame' this on the number of people who have been 'shut in' for so long finally having the chance to get out and travel again. Since Disney Parks are some of the most visited venues in the world, people are trying to take advantage of regained freedom and coming to the parks expecting everything to be as is was, or better. I fully believe it will be, but it is going to take some time. Patience and understanding are key.

We have decided not to go to the parks for the foreseeable future. For us right now, we are using our DVC to do a beach stay at Vero Beach and are thinking about Aulani next year. We have to get our Disney fix somehow. BTW, if we could we would always stay at Aulani, it is truly amazing. It's just the cost of getting there from Canada that holds us back.

We are doing a two night stay at the BWV this Christmas before our cruise and we are planning on only doing a resort stay. Only if the "madness" calms down some will we do an Epcot/Studios visit.

Even before the Covid times we were already changing our visits to shorter WDW resort stays and more DCL cruises.

I hope you all have great trips and that all your expectations be met!

I hope you all will make an exception and be a part of our 25th anniversary celebration in October - would certainly be good to see all of our long time members and staff there!

John

Count us in as another family that will be skipping our annual visit this year. To be honest, the extremely high crowd levels combined with the lack of spontaneous freedom, excessive work (getting up early to secure passes) to get on certain rides with a somewhat reasonable wait time, the continued push to extract every last cent from visitors, and the excessive costs for what seems like a diminished product are things we just don't feel fit into our idea of a vacation this year. It is somewhat sad, as our annual visits have been an integral part of our family's culture (for lack of a better word), but no one is excited to go this year.

We went last summer and it was okay - there was no fast pass system of any type, so everything was standby. We still had fun, but not on the level that we have in the past and we were more or less mentally worn out (we are used to being physically worn out after a trip) with all the trying to secure boarding passes and park reservation limitations. The new systems will make this even worse.

I think we would still get enjoyment out of a trip, but I think this year we can get far more enjoyment out of other destinations with far less hassle and money. We are hoping that the crowds and restrictions ease up. Actually, I am hoping that attendance and profits from the park plummet and Disney realizes that the experience and cost are issues. However, if they are going to continue to be packed, I don't think they care much.

The negative posts haven't affected my choice any. My last trip did. Previously, I had felt like the service at Disney had been declining. It hadn't been enough to stop me from going though. My last trip brought it all to a screeching halt. I won't be going back unless there are major changes. I cancelled my Disneyland trip. I can't bring myself to go to Intercot's anniversary. Some of the girls from work and I are planning a trip to Hawaii next year. At first I suggested staying at Aulani, but after thinking it over, I don't want to stay there.
I have been visiting other places and having a marvelous time. The problem isn't Covid. It's Disney.

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Originally Posted by Cinderelley

The negative posts haven't affected my choice any. My last trip did. Previously, I had felt like the service at Disney had been declining. It hadn't been enough to stop me from going though. My last trip brought it all to a screeching halt. I won't be going back unless there are major changes. I cancelled my Disneyland trip. I can't bring myself to go to Intercot's anniversary. Some of the girls from work and I are planning a trip to Hawaii next year. At first I suggested staying at Aulani, but after thinking it over, I don't want to stay there.
I have been visiting other places and having a marvelous time. The problem isn't Covid. It's Disney.

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Cinderelley, this breaks my heart. When I first found this web site, you were such a lover of Disney. They are forgetting WHY they have such Brand loyalty. It’s because they cater to their guests. Now, they seem to cater to the bottom line at the expense of the guest.

I hope they turn it around soon.

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Originally Posted by MrPeetrie

Cinderelley, this breaks my heart. When I first found this web site, you were such a lover of Disney. They are forgetting WHY they have such Brand loyalty. It’s because they cater to their guests. Now, they seem to cater to the bottom line at the expense of the guest.

I hope they turn it around soon.

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I hope so too, but I think it's a long road to that point.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cinderelley

The negative posts haven't affected my choice any. My last trip did. Previously, I had felt like the service at Disney had been declining. It hadn't been enough to stop me from going though. My last trip brought it all to a screeching halt. I won't be going back unless there are major changes. I cancelled my Disneyland trip. I can't bring myself to go to Intercot's anniversary. Some of the girls from work and I are planning a trip to Hawaii next year. At first I suggested staying at Aulani, but after thinking it over, I don't want to stay there.
I have been visiting other places and having a marvelous time. The problem isn't Covid. It's Disney.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by MrPeetrie

Cinderelley, this breaks my heart. When I first found this web site, you were such a lover of Disney. They are forgetting WHY they have such Brand loyalty. It’s because they cater to their guests. Now, they seem to cater to the bottom line at the expense of the guest.

I hope they turn it around soon.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cinderelley

I hope so too, but I think it's a long road to that point.

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I feel for you. They have done the exact same thing to me. I thought I would be excited to go at least once a year. I almost bought into DVC back in 2008. At that time I could not imagine a time where I would NOT want to go to Disney World. A little at a time starting around 2010 they started pecking away at it and I was bothered by the changes then and it has done nothing but go down hill since. My last visit did it for me too. It was irritating, frustrating, and stressful and on top of that the cost was so high I did not get anywhere near any value out of it. I can't remember much of anything good about that trip. All we took away from it was the aggravation. Throw in some of their agenda pushing and political agenda posturing and I am about as anti-Disney as I could get right now. I have absolutely no plans to return until they run it into the ground and are forced to make major changes.

Over the last 8 years or so, we have been travelling and visiting sites and national parks rather than going to WDW. It is insane that we can go to Europe for a what it costs to drive 10 hours and go to WDW for a week or 10 days. We did a 2 week road trip last summer doing sort of a Route 66 trip out west and saw most all the famous sites and it cost far less than a normal WDW trip. There are just so many places to go and see out there that you can do for the same or less money, it just does not make sense to go anymore. Don't get me wrong, I would love to go ride Pirates of The Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion but I'm not willing to deal with all the nonsense and aggravation to do it anymore.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cinderelley

The negative posts haven't affected my choice any. My last trip did. Previously, I had felt like the service at Disney had been declining. It hadn't been enough to stop me from going though. My last trip brought it all to a screeching halt. I won't be going back unless there are major changes. I cancelled my Disneyland trip. I can't bring myself to go to Intercot's anniversary. Some of the girls from work and I are planning a trip to Hawaii next year. At first I suggested staying at Aulani, but after thinking it over, I don't want to stay there.
I have been visiting other places and having a marvelous time. The problem isn't Covid. It's Disney.

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I think that you should really consider staying at Aulani, it is absolutely incredible there. We are planning another DVC trip there and can't wait to get back.

I am waiting to make a judgement until my next trip. I am optimistic. Like many, we have chosen to invest vacation money in other experiences and are spacing out visits every few years instead of every year.

No, the negative posts on here have only caused me to look elsewhere for interactions with Disney fans. They haven't driven me away from the parks, just Intercot. The only reason I'm on here right now is because I'm bored to tears at work.

That said, we probably won't be going to any Disney Parks too much in the next few years, partly because we're gifting our DVC points to our kids to use for trips, and partly because we are waiting for current construction projects to be completed, like the Epcot construction and the TRON coaster. We did actually just double our DVC points...we found a Vero Beach contract of only 50 points being sold for $72/point, which is dirt cheap. So, we will definitely be back.

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Originally Posted by azcavalier

No, the negative posts on here have only caused me to look elsewhere for interactions with Disney fans. They haven't driven me away from the parks, just Intercot.

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Ditto!! After reading all the angst here, and some misinformation (this was a first for me with Intercot!), along with the usual, "I'm never going to Disney again!!" posts, I sought out tips for this trip elsewhere. We had an absolute blast!

Honestly, I would love to see Intercot get back to what it was. This forum and the people on it always blew me away and was such a wonderful alternative to social media. I genuinely think the decision to leave the barrage of really ugly non-Disney related posts up drove many members away permanently.

There are just negative posts here, but also fewer positive ones. I don't think it is the posts that have turned me off, but the idea of paying for fast passes that used to be free, not being able to get to ride attractions at all if the passes are booked or spending more money than ever to stand in long lines, that turns me off. The price gouging turns my stomach and hurts my heart. We expected the StarWars hotel experience to be expensive, but the breathtakingly high price is so much higher than I could have imagined. That experience is simply inaccessible to most. I have never been willing to stand in line more than 45 minutes for a five minute attraction. That is just ridiculous. Now I have to look at my phone all day, and pray I am allowed to pay extra to get a ticket (for what I already paid for!) The arrival of dessert parties and extra special exclusives only for the $$$ were the beginning of the end for me, but it has gotten so much worse. I am fortunate to be able to save up and afford a trip, but now it seems that Disney doesn't care enough to assure I get a full experience.

I grew up watching Tinkerbell fly across the castle every Sunday Night. I never got to WDW as a child, but experienced the magic with my kids years ago. I loved the days of arriving at pre-opening, racing for fast passes throughout the day, and being certain that we could enjoy all the attractions we really wanted. I loved the brilliant story telling and artistically orchestrated fireworks of Wishes. I don't want to see a video projected onto the castle. The magic bands were purported to provide information to make our experiences better, but we all know now they are just used for data mining and making spending easier. Certainly the park flow sounds much worse. I know that Disney is a business and always has been, but I used to buy into the illusion of magic. Of Walt's folksy America. That Mickey was our pal and Tinkerbell was waiting in the wings to scatter pixie dust. Now I feel that I am there to purchase the latest merchandise, pay for what used to be included in the regular ticket price, and be mined for upgrades to exclusive (ie too expensive for most) experience. Paying extra for every ride and paying for the privilege to stand in line for hours before my exit through a gift shop makes me feel like a chump to a corporate empire.

I think a lot had to do with the pandemic, last year at The Contemporary, it was terrible. This year at Wilderness Lodge it’s much more normal and things are going wonderful again. Lots of smiling CM faces