Just back from my 10th trip since 2009, and I never thought I'd say this, but the cons outweigh the pros. I didn't even consider the 25% bounceback email today before hitting delete. It's still fun, but it's not as fun as it used to be, and I'm not consumed today by trying to figure out how to get back.
I was a WDW fanatic, and don't be fooled by my low post count. I had an account long ago and was an active board user before I made some screen time lifestyle adjustments and returned recently for tips on changes since my last (2019) trip.
- Rides stop/break/temporarily close consistently. Old rides, new rides, it doesn't matter. Expect to leave a line daily, and if you waited 40 minutes (because LL is sold out, or it's only ILL, or you couldn't afford G+. Then, when a ride comes back, LL is backed up so if you're stand by, expect to do a lot of standing if you don't have G+.
- Cast members are amazing, but there are too many entitled guests. I never saw so many people barging past us in line to catch up to their party, or being rude to cast members asking them to follow rules.
- This likely relates to the above point. WDW is not affordable to the regular family. I'd be willing to wager that it's not a very economically diverse guest group. The sense of entitlement is palpable, and if Disney is actually interested in true diversity, family means is just as important as all other aspects of diversity. Disney should look at some income based pricing models that promote economic diversity.
- Inconsistent policies are frustrating. Go to E at 7:20 and the parking attendent will make you loop through and exit and wait to enter the parking lot until 7:30. Then show up at HS at 7:30 expecting the same policy and you'll find out that you are VERY late. E and MK have an actual rope drop where you're corralled, but at HS you can go right to the queue to RoR, and even ride and exit before 8:30. In E, where there are 2 entrances and the (arguably) better rides are at the back of the park (until they discontinue virtual queue at GoG) it's particularly frustrating to get held in a pen way back by the Sea's pavilion.
- Inconsistent food quality is frustrating when you don't have a park hopper. This was my first trip without a park hopper (expense), and the very low quality food at MK is difficult to strategize around. Star Wars has thankfully greatly stepped up the food quality at HS, otherwise, I'd strongly consider the park hopper when I go back.
- G+ has some advantages and disadvantages to all of the old systems, and there is plenty to read on here about those. Concensus is that it's beneficial at MK and HS, not so much at E and AK. I did one MK day with it, one without it. If you're rope dropping and staying until 10p, you can go without it and still ride almost everything, but expect to spend a lot of the day in queues and not enjoying the park. The frustration for me is that you go ahead and spend the extra money on G+, but oh, by the way you still need to wait in line for 60 to 90 minutes or spend even more money on ILL FoP, RoR, or 7DMT. Comeon Disney.
- Measure how much time you spend on your phone while you're on vacation. Especially if you're the group planner. It's too much like work.
- I really miss the later park hours for planning purposes. Closing at 9p in the busy summer months is too early.
- WOW is it expensive
Disney as a company is missing the mark in too many places, and when this happens businesses lose loyal customers. I'm not an every other year customer any more - I'll go back, but once every 5 years is my guess. Too much has changed in the value proposition for me.
