Just back - and won’t be returning to Disney…

[levtweeney]

Hey if I want to winge about my holiday or about a part of my holiday I bloomin well will. I don’t care if people don’t want to see my moans or groans. Keep off the thread then

This thread is all about not returning back to Disney. What on Earth did people expect?

I have not used Genie+ yet but it does not mean I don’t have an opinion on it. I don’t live in the US but by gum I have an opinion on their gun laws. I don’t know Jonny Depp but I sure do have an opinion about his case.

Genie+ is a income increasing scheme. It’s not their to solve or organise crowd control. It also means you have to use your mobile phone more than you used to and I don’t like that idea.

My wife and I have had numerous conversations over recent weeks and months about everything happening at Disney and now what is happening in the wider US. I feel very uncomfortable with spending large amounts of money in a country that promotes gun ownership, controlling woman's bodies, poverty on a huge scale, medical care for those that can afford it etc etc.

Some may say, “so don’t go” and you know what? Maybe I bloomin well won’t. But if I want to say that on a thread designed for just those sort of comments then I bloomin well will.

[Stitch & Smudge]

Our first trip to Disney was 15 years ago.
I was blown away. It was friendly and spotless. The cast members couldn’t do enough to make your experience fantastic. Truly the most magical place on earth. Universal in comparison was a bit unkempt and far less professional. The rides were good but theming was haphazard and somewhat foreign to them. It was obvious that the staff saw it as a job, nothing more, nothing less. By the time Harry Potter world came along universal seemed to have gotten a handle on this and this is where I started to notice that Disney were starting to cut corners, bin’s not always emptied, rubbish not being cleared away, strange smells in Epcot and outside of the toilets at the ticketing and transportation centre. If it was because the parks were struggling financially I could understand but it appeared more a case of making more profit for less effort. Now universal was stealing a lead on how a park was run. Then overnight parking charges became the norm, no more magical express for onsite visitors and more perks lost that others will be able to mention. I know that other hotels charge parking so don’t shoot me down, but you knew that it was already factored in because you were paying more for your accommodation in the first place, so for extra to be slapped on seemed a slap in the face. I’m glad we got to experience it before the changes began as it doesn’t feel the same anymore. We’re doing one day at HS this year because we want to see Star Wars land but other than that I think my journey with Disney is at an end. Besides there’s far more to Florida than that. If grandkids eventually come along? Who knows. There may always be that tug. What should concern Disney more isn’t me. I did it when it was enjoyable and because of that I’ll probably always have fond memories, but a young work colleague has just returned from his first trip to Florida. Absolutely loved it and already planning their return, but not to Disney and that’s what should set alarm bells ringing. If they can’t capture the 20 somethings of today then the dollars of tomorrow will become harder to come by.

[CuteLioness]

Originally Posted by Disneydads

I haven't tried it yet but will do in August. I haven't pre-purchased it as I don't see the point when Im there for 16 days. Im sure over that time, I'll get to try everything. I don't plan to purchase it for every park day either.

It may end up being a naff service in reality but I am going to wait until I have tried it and see if it works for my family. Fastpass+ I found to be a disaster, as the wait for that line was often the same as standby so Genie+ FOR ME can't be worse, if they are letting through a lot less people

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I thought not.

Could you please at least accept that you are also making judgements without having experienced something, too? Maybe not so much in this post, but in your previous ones.

I very much hope that your experience of it is better than mine was ☺️

[CuteLioness]

Originally Posted by Bozza

Agreed.

To make the most of Genie+ you certainly need to have a bit of hustle about you, but I'd argue to make the absolute best of FastPass+ the same was also true.

We would always be checking options the very second we tapped into a ride to use a FP up, to see if we could adjust our next one (or book the next one if we were on our 4th+ of the day).

Disney's stated 2-3 will cover a wide range of use cases, incliding many folk who simply were not prepared to hustle a bit, or had no interst in doing so.

I've even seen vlogs from some of the many well-known local parks vloggers who turned up after lunchtime with Genie+ and had not bothered to stack up some reservations in the morning. They walked into the park mid-afternoon with nothing arranged.

We'd simply not make that mistake. Even if we had, say, a day with a waterpark in the morning before visiting a main park later in the day, I'd be reserving attractions at 7am, 11am, 1pm etc to get us set up for when we arrived.

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With the greatest of respect, you, too, are assuming based only on what you have seen/read/heard.

Myself and my partner are not newbies, not imbeciles, and certainly not frightened of “hustling a bit” (whatever that means!). We are experienced FP, FP+ and MaxPass users who really thought it would work for us, not against us.

To be fair, in MK we still did manage to find good use out of it, in spite of several things going very wrong with it in the day in question.

But every other day we wished we hadn’t wasted our money; it was frustrating, time-consuming, and stressful to try and make it work well.

The fact that you think you wouldn’t “make mistakes” just shows how little you know about the actual real-world niggles inherent in the current system, that work against it being used in the efficient way that you describe, particularly at peak periods in the smaller parks. We tried to do exactly as you describe, on multiple days, but so often were shafted by the app in one way or another.

I’m am more than open to the idea of Genie+ if it were to work better (some people on this forum have made some very neat points about what needs improvement which I won’t repeat here). Maybe the limits on purchase will go some way to start the improvement, I don’t know. I sure hope so, as I want things to work. I don’t want to feel this way about the WDW experience forever and, if it’s here to stay, then Genie+ being improved would definitely be a great step towards that.

[CuteLioness]

Originally Posted by Disneydads

Absolutely agree, its a hustle

I wonder how many of the people who used to book the 3 Fastpass' a day actually went on afterwards to try and get more on the day? Because if they didn't then Genie+ is comparable to what they were able to get before. The only negative then is that your now being charged for it

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We ALWAYS did this. And it always worked well for us.

Again, with the assumptions.

[ollie87]

Originally Posted by sha9

Yes but we’re all different. It’s just how some people are. I do think if you don’t want to read negativity it’s best to stay away from threads with titles like this one. It’s your choice to have read it.

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Back to the title being clickbait then.

[CuteLioness]

Originally Posted by SamH88

Just to clarify my point wasn’t aimed at this thread specifically or at you.

I’ve just gotten progressively saddened by some comments I’ve seen on here where people are clearly totally oblivious to how privileged they are. Like people paying thousands every year to go to Disney then complaining because something went up in price by a few dollars, when there could be people on here who have been seriously financially affected by the pandemic who might have had to cancel trips or can’t even afford their bills.

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I know it wasn’t, I’m sorry for being a bit sensitive ☺️

And I totally agree with you.

I just genuinely didn’t intend this thread to be in that vein, and I don’t think most that are posting are about that either. It’s true that I do feel more nickel-and-dimed by WDW than ever, but my complaint is not inherently about cost.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by CuteLioness

I thought not.

Could you please at least accept that you are also making judgements without having experienced something, too? Maybe not so much in this post, but in your previous ones.

I very much hope that your experience of it is better than mine was ☺️

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I don’t think I’m making judgments though? I’m waiting until I go and try it myself to see whether it was worth it. It probably will in some parks, some not

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by CuteLioness

With the greatest of respect...

The fact that you think you wouldn’t “make mistakes” just shows how little you know about the actual real-world niggles inherent in the current system...

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With the greatest of respect (my turn now ) I didn't say "mistakes", ie plural. I said "mistake" singular.

And my post was very explicit about the specific mistake we will NOT make...

I've even seen vlogs from some of the many well-known local parks vloggers who turned up after lunchtime with Genie+ and had not bothered to stack up some reservations in the morning. They walked into the park mid-afternoon with nothing arranged.

We'd simply not make that mistake.

[muffa2308]

My 1st visit was in 2005. For our money then
*free resort mugs
*free dining plan. 1 quick 1 table and 2 snacks
* preferred fireworks viewing @ Epcot and MK, remember that?
* $200 dollar gift card
*the ability for free fast pass later fast pass plus which worked incredibly well.
* housekeeping every day with impeccable standards with the cute animals made
*1 hour early access and late access
Now-
*zero housekeeping for 7 nights, had to chase everything
*half of the resort hotel restaurants closed
*massively reduced early access
*no free mugs
*paid for fast pass and ILL
I know all about comparisons and managing expectations but for this kind of money it should be better or cheaper. If I would never have visited before I would be disappointed in this trip without having the added expectation