What is going on with Disney parks?

[dlavender]

We have been going for years multiple times a year so we are pretty up on all the tricks. The issues for us were the ridiculous security lines, transportation, character meals that ran 1-2 hours behind, and long fp lines. Young children can’t tolerate all that. So it’s even more frustrating when you do all the things you’re supposed to do to mitigate crowds & they still don’t work. Those were annoying inconveniences before going with little kids, but with them, it makes it much less enjoyable & often doesn’t seem worth the hassle. Like the pp said traveling with young kids is a chore no matter where you go, but it should be less of a chore when you go to place that’s supposedly for kids.

Or heaven forbid one of them doesn't feel well. Can't exactly shift around plans that have been set in stone 60+2 days ago......

FP+ has taken away all flexibility inside of 2 months.

 

[rteetz]

ETA: The end of this new land strategy of 1 great ride and 1 "we had to save some money" ride.

This wasn’t the case with SWGE. Disney considers both E-Tickets.

 

[SaintsManiac]

And as many of us AP Holders as there are, in terms of Revenue, we are no where near their bread and butter. That comes from the one and two week visitors who stay the entire trip in the GF and have the top DDP and buy the extras and all the merch they see.

I've been an OOS (Georgia) AP holder for a few years now and I have to say I've probably spent way less on Disney, even with the recent increases, than I ever did when we would go twice a yesr for 1 week trips and I go much more often, probably every other month.

However, I never ever stay on property unless it's a crazy good deal for a DS Hotel. I only eat one TS meal per day. Also I do all these things not because I'm trying to save money really, it's just because I do the things that have value to me. The wife and I spend most our our days and nights in the parks...Staying at a deluxe does us no good, we just need to shower, sleep, and repeat. We always drive so staying off property isn't a big deal.

The crowds don't bother me one bit...I'll change my plans in a minute and even go to a entirely different park if needed. I'm in Disney either way!!

And I am the AP holder that went 6 times in 2 years, booked dessert parties every trip, After Hours events, Early Morning Magic, character meals every single trip. I justified those extras because the APs had been purchased way in advance. No ticket costs = me booking every extra event I wanted. We always stayed onsite, either Deluxe or Pop. We buy merch. I feel like people like me are the bread and butter, too. They lost out on my going that much ever again with the recent hikes.

Yep my little family of 3 isn't big and someone else will take our place. But please know that out of state APs spend plenty of money at Disney.

 

[dlavender]

This wasn’t the case with SWGE. Disney considers both E-Tickets.

From their perspective, they did give the newest land 2 E's. Very true.

 

[LSUmiss]

Or heaven forbid one of them doesn't feel well. Can't exactly shift around plans that have been set in stone 60+2 days ago......

FP+ has taken away all flexibility inside of 2 months.

Exactly. Our big strategy this time is that we are not going with anyone else. It’ll just be DH, DS & I. So we plan to just miss things if necessary. We go often enough that it’s not a big deal for us & we are hoping that should make the trip more enjoyable. But, for ppl who don’t go often, they shouldn’t be what they have to do. It’s also ashamed that we don’t feel like we can go with other friends & family b/c the larger group makes it even harder to be flexible.

 

[BrianL]

From their perspective, they did give the newest land 2 E's. Very true.

From their perspective, though as far as I have heard Rise of the Resistance blows Smuggler's Run away! I wasn't that impressed with MFSR personally.

 

[nickg420]

And I am the AP holder that went 6 times in 2 years, booked dessert parties every trip, After Hours events, Early Morning Magic, character meals every single trip. I justified those extras because the APs had been purchased way in advance. No ticket costs = me booking every extra event I wanted. We always stayed onsite, either Deluxe or Pop. We buy merch. I feel like people like me are the bread and butter, too. They lost out on my going that much ever again with the recent hikes.

Yep my little family of 3 isn't big and someone else will take our place. But please know that out of state APs spend plenty of money at Disney.

I never said all AP holders didn't spend plenty of money at Disney. I'm simply saying you are the minority. Most AP holders do not spend money in that way, in fact most are in state and spend even less. No matter how you shake it AP holders as a whole are a drop in the bucket in terms of Revenue and do not drive any of Disney's decisions.

 

[rteetz]

From their perspective, though as far as I have heard Rise of the Resistance blows Smuggler's Run away! I wasn't that impressed with MFSR personally.

Oh it does on every level but MFSR does its job too. You can’t have everything be the next Rise. You need supplemental attractions. Much like Carsland has RSR and then two supplemental attractions.

 

[dlavender]

From their perspective, though as far as I have heard Rise of the Resistance blows Smuggler's Run away! I wasn't that impressed with MFSR personally.

Exactly, its why I put that qualifier in there.

I've ridden it twice now, and really have no desire to go for #3. Yet, I've ridden SM 287 times and am still excited for 288.....

RoTR looks to be the premier ride. I am excited for that one. MFSR was not what I was expecting.....

 

[SaintsManiac]

I never said all AP holders didn't spend plenty of money at Disney. I'm simply saying you are the minority. Most AP holders do not spend money in that way, in fact most are in state and spend even less. No matter how you shake it AP holders as a whole are a drop in the bucket in terms of Revenue and do not drive any of Disney's decisions.

I absolutely disagree with you, but that's ok.

 

[LSUmiss]

And I am the AP holder that went 6 times in 2 years, booked dessert parties every trip, After Hours events, Early Morning Magic, character meals every single trip. I justified those extras because the APs had been purchased way in advance. No ticket costs = me booking every extra event I wanted. We always stayed onsite, either Deluxe or Pop. We buy merch. I feel like people like me are the bread and butter, too. They lost out on my going that much ever again with the recent hikes.

Yep my little family of 3 isn't big and someone else will take our place. But please know that out of state APs spend plenty of money at Disney.

And here’s the thing...more & more of us are saying this. I remember not long ago being on the opposite side of this discussion. I want to say you may have been too. Irl, more & more ppl I know are saying the same things.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I never said all AP holders didn't spend plenty of money at Disney. I'm simply saying you are the minority. Most AP holders do not spend money in that way, in fact most are in state and spend even less. No matter how you shake it AP holders as a whole are a drop in the bucket in terms of Revenue and do not drive any of Disney's decisions.

Yeah AP holders have more clout and honestly it seems consideration over at DLR where they comprise of the bulk of visitors. With WDW there are a ton more types of visitors to the mix diluting the consideration. Regardless of how much one may or may not spend as part of being an AP holder.

 

[SaintsManiac]

And here’s the thing...more & more of us are saying this. I remember not long ago being on the opposite side of this discussion. I want to say you may have been too. Irl, more & more ppl I know are saying the same things.

I never thought I would get to the point where I didn't want to be in Disney multiple times a year. The crowds and nonsense over Thanksgiving pushed me to the point. I'm excited to go back NEXT year, but I have no desire to be a repeat visitor every 4 months.

 

[dlavender]

And here’s the thing...more & more of us are saying this. I remember not long ago being on the opposite side of this discussion. I want to say you may have been too. Irl, more & more ppl I know are saying the same things.

The reality is we all have a threshold. Some of us didn’t think they’d ever hit ours. I didn’t. There’s no way in the world I would have thought APs would shoot up 50% in three years.

 

[BrianL]

Oh it does on every level but MFSR does its job too. You can’t have everything be the next Rise. You need supplemental attractions. Much like Carsland has RSR and then two supplemental attractions.

Oh, sure, I get that, but MFSR is just not that exciting to me and I even appreciate Navi River journey for what it is!

 

[dlavender]

Oh, sure, I get that, but MFSR is just not that exciting to me and I even appreciate Navi River journey for what it is!

I’m still not over Navi river.....

If built out as originally planned, would have been pretty good and maybe even taken some weight off of FOP.

 

[LSUmiss]

I never thought I would get to the point where I didn't want to be in Disney multiple times a year. The crowds and nonsense over Thanksgiving pushed me to the point. I'm excited to go back NEXT year, but I have no desire to be a repeat visitor every 4 months.

This is us too. This is really the last straw for us. I expect it to be crowded but trying to see if our plan helps but still feels enjoyable.

 

[ChipnDale79]

Perfect. But your narrative is wrong you’re complaining about busy parks and that its too expensive. The parks are packed. They are doing something right. They will move forward, with or without you and I.
They are charging more because of the demand not to give you less perceived value.
A certain % of people not going as often or at all is built in to price increases.

Cool...i love it when im told im wrong.

by the way, there are over 60 pages in this thread, there's another forum out there that had a thread very similar to this one that was just as long.

my point is, there is a disconnect somewhere between disney, and a lot of long term park-goes.

you can go ahead and toss attendance numbers and pricing out at me all you want to, that doesn't mean there isnt a disconnect.

 

[Remy is Up]

Or heaven forbid one of them doesn't feel well. Can't exactly shift around plans that have been set in stone 60+2 days ago......

FP+ has taken away all flexibility inside of 2 months.

Ill completely disagree with the last statement. Everything else I understand but the last statement to me, just makes no sense. With a party of 4 Christmas Day we pulled BTMRR, 7DMT, Space, Pan, Jungle Cruise, POC, Haunted Mansion, Buzz then bounced to Ak and pulled FoP, Everest, Dinosaur, etc.

On any given weekend day we can go and with a party of 2-4 pull pretty much whatever we want. And the amount of FPs available is always easy to manage prior to about 6PM when they get difficult to maneuver around.

But we havent pulled FPs in advance in forever and we go every 2nd or 3rd weekend on a Saturday or Sunday. We wake up and on the drive over decide which park we want to go, pull 3 FPs, and then when we get tot he park refresh, refresh, refresh. As long as its a day we are in the mood to ride things. About a month ago on one day we did every eride at every park ( there was an after hours at MK but even without it had we skipped our dinner at Wave the results wouldve been the same) in a single day.

We are going next Saturday 22nd and havent pulled a FP yet and are planning to see how many FPs we will actually use ( Not burners and not just doing easy to get ones), we can pull in one day across 2 or 3 parks. Ive heard 21 is the highest anyone has heard, but, I think thats beatable as we can average in general 12-15 on any given day just at chill and enjoy speed.

So I disagree that FP+ Has taken away flexibility. Day of its quite easy.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Oh, sure, I get that, but MFSR is just not that exciting to me and I even appreciate Navi River journey for what it is!

We didn't even attempt to ride it on our last trip. Line was so long and we just didn't care.