Please help me to not hate Disney!

[disneysteve]

They have concluded that Disney scale workers down during non-peak seasons which keeps the wait time the same. Another way for the corporate overload to appease to their stock holders.

Len Testa's interview was pretty interesting. It doesn't surprise me at all that Disney regulates ride capacity. It's actually pretty smart on their part because it cuts down on maintenance and down time. Those attractions run non-stop from opening to closing, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Reducing capacity when crowds are lighter lets them preserve the equipment and stretch out the time between shut downs for maintenance. It saves them money in a few different ways, including staffing.

[Like2Plan]

The Universal resorts have charged for parking for years, whether you are staying there or not.

The Gaylord Palms has charged for parking since they opened I believe, again, if you are staying there or not.

I believe the Four Seasons Orlando charges for parking.

There may be other area hotels that already do this as well. I'm not sure.

Disney has really been the outlier in not charging for parking. Honestly, I'm surprised it's taken them this long. As I said earlier, resort hotels charging for parking is a pretty standard practice.

Yup. DH and I travel quite frequently—usually there are parking fees in high density areas. And, we stay at both WDW and DL on DVC points, so no parking fees for us.

I was thinking about some of the less expensive options like courtyard or Fairfield (or no-name) hotels charging parking, too.
Though, I think some (if not all) the good neighbor hotels close to downtown Disney charge parking, but I assume one of the reasons for this is so their parking lots aren’t filled with folks that are not overnight guests (and then ride Disney Transportation).

[Singuy]

Len Testa's interview was pretty interesting. It doesn't surprise me at all that Disney regulates ride capacity. It's actually pretty smart on their part because it cuts down on maintenance and down time. Those attractions run non-stop from opening to closing, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Reducing capacity when crowds are lighter lets them preserve the equipment and stretch out the time between shut downs for maintenance. It saves them money in a few different ways, including staffing.

Yes, what can you say about a company who deals with the same amount of attendance but operates at a much lower cost. A+ behavior for stock holders. When it come to guest experience, Disney is becoming more and more like a generic amusement park. Walt's initial vision was to have a park that can bring families together and have a good time at an affordable price. But with parking now cost 22 dollars, a ticket being over 100 dollars, and you are getting less value for your money due to stupid long lines..it is getting farther and farther away from Walt's initial intent.

Just came home from Animal Kingdom today. They have shut down 50% of the entrance scanners, making the lines to enter the park stupidly long at 1pm!.

[disneysteve]

When it come to guest experience, Disney is becoming more and more like a generic amusement park.

As much I agree with all of the criticism, I have to disagree with this. Even with all of their issues, Disney still blows away the competition.

I went to our local Six Flags park a couple of years ago because my daughter was meeting friends and didn't want to drive there herself. So I spent the day in the park - and I love amusement parks - but I had a miserable time there. The lines were insane. The food was outrageously priced and lousy. And the employees didn't do any more than they absolutely had to do to get by. And it's not like going there is much cheaper. Tickets are $77 and $24 for parking. (You can save some if you buy them in advance online.) But I'd put Disney's $100 experience up against their $77 experience any day, warts and all.

Just came home from Animal Kingdom today. They have shut down 50% of the entrance scanners, making the lines to enter the park stupidly long at 1pm!.

And this is the stuff that gets us fans really pissed off. This is Disney just plain not caring anymore about the guest experience. I expect it at my local Walmart. I expect better from Disney.

[Singuy]

As much I agree with all of the criticism, I have to disagree with this. Even with all of their issues, Disney still blows away the competition.

Oh I'm not saying Disney is one of those, just becoming one. 10-20 years ago, crowds were no where near as crazy and generally felt like we got more than our money's worth.

Also was it me or did they shorten Illuminations? My last visit a week ago did not have the globe open up and fireworks coming out of it. The weather was perfect that day so it may have been another sneaky way to save money. Nickel and diming you is now the Disney way. Also I swear there used to be multiple parade shows per day, now they condensed it into just one parade and then some move it groove it number.

[rennigade]

I guess im just spoiled when it comes to amusement parks. I live close to one that is free to get in and free to park. https://www.knoebels.com/

You can buy tickets and just ride whatever rides you want...or buy an all day pass for $37 (unlimited rides.) I guess on weekends it may get busy but on weekdays you never have to wait long. 10 minutes max minus "the phoenix." That wait may get up to 15 min. Its a wooden roller coaster that people go ape over. I guess there are people that travel around just to ride wooden coasters...this place has 2 wooden ones. It is actually cool...much rougher experience...not smooth like the new coasters.

I rarely ever ride rides but we will go there and walk the dog around...eat food and play skee ball at the arcade. But in terms of disney...this place doesnt even exist.

[disneysteve]

Oh I'm not saying Disney is one of those, just becoming one. 10-20 years ago, crowds were no where near as crazy and generally felt like we got more than our money's worth.

The crowds are the biggest problem IMO as they cause all of the other issues. And there's not much Disney can do about it.

Also was it me or did they shorten Illuminations?

I vaguely recall hearing something about them retooling the show so you might be right about that.

I swear there used to be multiple parade shows per day

Not to my knowledge. The daily parade has always been at 3pm except for a brief period last year when they moved it to 2pm for some unknown reason but it's back to 3pm.

There did used to be a nighttime parade, either Main Street Electrical or SpectroMagic, and they got rid of those.

[disneysteve]

I guess im just spoiled when it comes to amusement parks. I live close to one that is free to get in and free to park. https://www.knoebels.com/

You can buy tickets and just ride whatever rides you want...or buy an all day pass for $37 (unlimited rides.) I guess on weekends it may get busy but on weekdays you never have to wait long. 10 minutes max minus "the phoenix." That wait may get up to 15 min.

Places like Knoebels or Kennywood or other true "locals" parks are great, but a whole different experience than a true destination park like Disney World or Disneyland or Universal.

At our local Six Flags, 2 hour waits for rides aren't unusual at all. The day I went, I got in line for one ride and after 30 or so minutes, got out of line because I had barely moved even though the ride was operating the whole time. I realized I had at least another hour or more ahead of me and it wasn't that important to me. I ended up riding exactly two rides the entire day I was there - for about $80 in ticket and parking expense.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Pop quiz for any of the Disney fanatics here. I just saw on the news that Disney World just reopened the Pirates of the Caribbean ride due to character "empowerment" of one of the female pirate characters. Can someone knowledgeable about this change of empowerment pertains to?

[Thrif-t]

Pop quiz for any of the Disney fanatics here. I just saw on the news that Disney World just reopened the Pirates of the Caribbean ride due to character "empowerment" of one of the female pirate characters. Can someone knowledgeable about this change of empowerment pertains to?

It had to do with a scene where the pirates where auctioning off the women. People thought it resembled human trafficking so they removed it. I'm not sure what the new scene is I haven't read up on it.

edit to add a link about the deleted scene and new scene https://www.npr.org/2017/07/03/53540...caribbean-ride

[Singuy]

LoL, yeah the original version has a bunch of men chasing women around in a raping fashion since it's a scene of pirates plundering villages and burning it down.

I wish they shut the entire thing down and recondition it to be like the one from Shanghai Disneyland. What a crazy ride that one is.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Wow you folks are good!

[msomnipotent]

As much I agree with all of the criticism, I have to disagree with this. Even with all of their issues, Disney still blows away the competition.

I went to our local Six Flags park a couple of years ago because my daughter was meeting friends and didn't want to drive there herself. So I spent the day in the park - and I love amusement parks - but I had a miserable time there. The lines were insane. The food was outrageously priced and lousy. And the employees didn't do any more than they absolutely had to do to get by. And it's not like going there is much cheaper. Tickets are $77 and $24 for parking. (You can save some if you buy them in advance online.) But I'd put Disney's $100 experience up against their $77 experience any day, warts and all.


And this is the stuff that gets us fans really pissed off. This is Disney just plain not caring anymore about the guest experience. I expect it at my local Walmart. I expect better from Disney.

I prefer to avoid Great America due to their long waits and the sort of clientele our local GA attracts. They make the news with surprising frequency. But at least GA has Black Friday specials that are pretty good. I bought passes for our family on BF of 2016, and I got unlimited admission for the rest of 2016 and all of 2017, free parking, Fright Fest, water park, meal plans and unlimited fountain drinks for about $500 for the whole family. I felt like I got my money's worth with the amount we used it. We can't even get through the door at Disney for $500 and I haven't seen any deals because they don't need to offer any.

I prefer Holiday World in Santa Claus IN. Yes, a town named Santa Claus. It is spotlessly clean and the people are well behaved. The drive down there is mind-numbingly boring, though. Or there is Indiana Beach. I like the old-timey feel and the Black Friday deals are good. The prices seem to rise every year, though. The guests have been getting a little out of hand both in quantity and quality, though. And old rides means that at least a few are broken all of the time. Still, I prefer it over Disney or GA. Santa's Village in IL is making a comeback. It is more for younger kids but even my daughter had a good time last summer.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The local news in Los Angeles announced that downtown Disney Land will be demolished in June to make way for a new 700 room hotel. Downtown Disney Land includes the ESPN Zone and some other restaurants. Downtown Disney Land is located in between the both the California Adventure Park and Disney Land and was free to access.

[greenskeeper]

heading to Disney at the end of April, I hope this is our last trip. Would rather spend a week or two at spring training in Clearwater.