Interesting email from DVC

[saratogajan]

For us it was genie+. We tried it at the start but as it was so busy we ended up getting very few and late in the day (we were morning fast pass people) and in mk it was impossible to even get enough WiFi to make other passes. The queues for everything were huge even during the first week of December.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by saratogajan

For us it was genie+. We tried it at the start but as it was so busy we ended up getting very few and late in the day (we were morning fast pass people) and in mk it was impossible to even get enough WiFi to make other passes. The queues for everything were huge even during the first week of December.

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Yes Jan we are not returning to the parks. We are maybe atypical, go at Xmas, and rope drop. For us, it’s a basket case, aside from Animal Kingdom for some reason which was still great. The rest a write off to be honest. Kids have lost all interest. So WDW will not be getting our business unless it changes.

I intend retiring in around 7 years touch wood. Then we will use DVC as a condo type arrangement. SSR was a real highlight for us this year, and I’ll happily go there, with a trip to Vero and maybe Hilton Head every year for a month in winter. Cheaper than running a villa and a lot less hassle.

In the meantime this next year we are using points at Grand Cali and Vero. Year after I will probably do Hilton Head again as I really want to go back there. Hawaii is on the cards. I can rent the points if not using. But this was the year I unfortunately fell out of love with WDW, just not the resorts. The price gouging and lack of thought about the customer (for example, the mobile order was overwhelmed on Sleepy Hollow, it was an hour wait for a snack, staff don’t seem to care, no management trying to speed anything up, we had someone barking at us to get in lines lasting 45 mins+ to get a Starbucks) the fact Chapek and co think it’s remotely acceptable to leave a huge chunk of Epcot as a building site (Blog Mickey shows virtually no work being done) and is happy to take customer’s money, the rides constantly going down, no apparent desire to open much needed new attractions, seemed almost obscene to me.
Anyway, first world problems.

[Gelatoni]

Sounds like Chapek is riding on the back of Covid to push some ugly changes through then.

I do love the resorts, so it's good to hear the value in DVC is still there.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Gelatoni

Sounds like Chapek is riding on the back of Covid to push some ugly changes through then.

I do love the resorts, so it's good to hear the value in DVC is still there.

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Both Boardwalk and SSR were fantastic. I’d be perfectly happy just staying in the resorts going forward, especially for our post retirement planned month away in winter, and ignoring the parks altogether.

I do have to stress though if you go out of season, and don’t rope drop, then it may not be nearly as bad. I also anticipate that once pent up post covid demand is over, WDW will start Haemorrhaging loyal customers like us, as I met a LOT of disgruntled people saying they won’t be back.

Hopefully Chapek and whoever else who is supporting his practises will be kicked out then.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Yes Jan we are not returning to the parks. We are maybe atypical, go at Xmas, and rope drop. For us, it’s a basket case, aside from Animal Kingdom for some reason which was still great. The rest a write off to be honest. Kids have lost all interest. So WDW will not be getting our business unless it changes.

I intend retiring in around 7 years touch wood. Then we will use DVC as a condo type arrangement. SSR was a real highlight for us this year, and I’ll happily go there, with a trip to Vero and maybe Hilton Head every year for a month in winter. Cheaper than running a villa and a lot less hassle.

In the meantime this next year we are using points at Grand Cali and Vero. Year after I will probably do Hilton Head again as I really want to go back there. Hawaii is on the cards. I can rent the points if not using. But this was the year I unfortunately fell out of love with WDW, just not the resorts. The price gouging and lack of thought about the customer (for example, the mobile order was overwhelmed on Sleepy Hollow, it was an hour wait for a snack, staff don’t seem to care, no management trying to speed anything up, we had someone barking at us to get in lines lasting 45 mins+ to get a Starbucks) the fact Chapek and co think it’s remotely acceptable to leave a huge chunk of Epcot as a building site (Blog Mickey shows virtually no work being done) and is happy to take customer’s money, the rides constantly going down, no apparent desire to open much needed new attractions, seemed almost obscene to me.
Anyway, first world problems.

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2022 will be make or break for us as we check out how the Parks are doing. My Wife thinks everything will be ok, I don't.

If it becomes untenable we are holding all the aces and will decide what to do regarding lengths of stay, number of visits per annum and type of rooms.

We may end up dropping to 2 Vacations but in a 1 Bed as opposed to Studios. Time will tell.

However I have dug my heels in and will not be paying for any type of Genie thingy.

[akhurstf1]

It was interesting for us as we had been out there in November. It was a little bit busier than usual. As it was a trip we didn't think was going ahead we were just happy to be back in the magic. We stayed in Poly, Kidani, and Copper Creek.

We decided to try Genie and Genie+ and found the included one useful for predicting lower wait times. It was surprisingly accurate.

One day we decided to pay and it was ok and felt like a limited version of Fastpass. We have decided that we'd rather pay for ROTR once a trip than constantly paying for Genie+ every day.

We had an amazing time and can't wait to go back in July.

[saratogajan]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Yes Jan we are not returning to the parks. We are maybe atypical, go at Xmas, and rope drop. For us, it’s a basket case, aside from Animal Kingdom for some reason which was still great. The rest a write off to be honest. Kids have lost all interest. So WDW will not be getting our business unless it changes.

I intend retiring in around 7 years touch wood. Then we will use DVC as a condo type arrangement. SSR was a real highlight for us this year, and I’ll happily go there, with a trip to Vero and maybe Hilton Head every year for a month in winter. Cheaper than running a villa and a lot less hassle.

In the meantime this next year we are using points at Grand Cali and Vero. Year after I will probably do Hilton Head again as I really want to go back there. Hawaii is on the cards. I can rent the points if not using. But this was the year I unfortunately fell out of love with WDW, just not the resorts. The price gouging and lack of thought about the customer (for example, the mobile order was overwhelmed on Sleepy Hollow, it was an hour wait for a snack, staff don’t seem to care, no management trying to speed anything up, we had someone barking at us to get in lines lasting 45 mins+ to get a Starbucks) the fact Chapek and co think it’s remotely acceptable to leave a huge chunk of Epcot as a building site (Blog Mickey shows virtually no work being done) and is happy to take customer’s money, the rides constantly going down, no apparent desire to open much needed new attractions, seemed almost obscene to me.
Anyway, first world problems.

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Totally agree. We also enjoyed animal kingdom. It’s the first time we’ve ever returned and not booked our next trip! We’re at a similar point in our lives. Living in hope of grandchildren but no sign! Another few years for my husband to work then we will just enjoy the golf and resorts I think.

[KarenG]

I had been feeling this way before Chapek’s changes, so it’s very interesting to read your experiences. We haven’t been in a rush to go to the parks for a few years but are very happy to use or rent our points in other ways.

[robbrdbry]

Very interesting to read that there is mostly negative feedback coming from everywhere post covid and even though we've not been back since late 2019 (yet) i'm very skeptical as to whether i'm going to enjoy it as i'm really not wanting to have to rely on my phone for everything. I just hope all this negative feedback is making it's way back to them and the footfall drops. But personally, I can see no positive changes happening.

The fact that EPCOT has been a building site for so long is beyond a joke at this point.

[unixgirl]

With our trip in November it was very different. I'll be honest and say my sister was keen to get as much done in the parks as she could as they probably won't be able to go back and I ended up staying longer than I would have done solo. The queues for Starbucks were insane at times but Genie + really worked for me with stacking and the LL. YT - will you need to add on more points to do your 1 month condo plan in winter? I've looked at HH and VB and thought it may be nice to stay in those locations as well so interested in your take on those when you stay there.