We live here in Florida and we let our annual passes go for a couple of reasons. First Disney cut many things that our children enjoy like the lion king show was cut in half. Second the parade is gone. And third it’s way too crowded. We have been back once since we let our passes go and we were able to do a couple of attractions and that was it. We wound up getting annual passes to another couple of parks that is much more manageable with our children.
We let our Florida passes go. It used to be fun anytime. It’s no longer the same place. The ugly political vibe also makes Disney not so magical. It has gone from being a magical place to a continuation and amplification of the worlds troubles. I hope they figure things out one day.
Crowds were miserable and costs were sky high. I have been going to WDW for many years, first with children and then with grandchildren. No one wants to go back and we won’t.
Desantis is trying to please far right wingers in anticipation of the 2024 presidential election with laws that only serve to inflame hatred for anyone unlike white, Christians.
Falling for his bait only proves the gullible minds of republicans.
I applaud Disney for the courage to stand up for what is morally correct.
get used to it Lois – don’t like it ? Move to a Blue State , you’ll be taxed way more , but at least , your politics will line up with your state … enjoy the “New World Order”, according to Biden & his “Woke” progressives !!
You are the problem Lois, people like you drive these woke crowds, morally correct, really, morally correct. So, turning from God is morally correct, the wisest of man kind is foolishness to God.
So, you’re telling me that everyone but White, Christian Americans are perfectly okay with talking about sex change operations and the like with Kindergarteners through 3rd graders? Because, you know, that’s what is in the bill, not anything about not talking with children older than that. It’s about letting children be children for awhile before hitting them with this kind of material. If a parent wants to talk about such things with their child, they’re perfectly okay to obviously do so. Maybe you’re just a Democrat liberal shill. And Disney taking a “moral stance” for children would see them supporting Governor DeSantis.
We are at Disney now, it will be our last. Some rides were 1.5 to 2 hour wait. For the money, you should be able to do more than 8 or 10 rides. Trying to find places to eat is crazy!
What political vibe, Norman??? We just went and there was NO “political vibe”. Crowed? Yes. Expensive? Yes. But you guys create more freakin drama in your own heads for the sake of drama. Unbelievable
Coming out with new movies that have young children as gay and supporting the LGBTQ community. They have turned the page from pure and innocent to trash and social garbage. What makes Disney think they need to cave to the immoral life styles of these minority groups
You know what’s immoral?? Disgusting bigoted and hateful people like you who think YOU won’t be judged when your day comes for having more hate and bigotry in your heart than any of these people. Good luck with that.
Kevin,
Try Russia as your new country/society o residence …. the
Communist authories , will welcome you as an anti American stooge & a potential Russin CM apartchick who caoul ask for more for someone like yourself ??
Dan, I pray your kids don’t come out as gay to you or you’ll probably disown them and they’ll turn into street people. Talk about garbage. Start with your parenting.
LOLOLOL because the rapey stalker vibe from Gaston was all great and the young teenage princesses marrying grown ass man was fine for you guys too but WHOA not same sex love! Keep your stupid vapors at home. Disney doesn’t need you.
Really, Kara G :
Why not (if you haven’t already) visited Shanghai, China Disney ?? Get ‘out of-line there , and find out what your Chinese ‘dream’ might be … why do you think so many are desperate to get here (US) today ??
And YOURE the “good” example with your hateful and disgusting behavior? Way to lead by example, real mature. I wouldn’t want YOU anywhere near my kids.
I have no sympathy for anyone willing to spend their money to stand in long lines for extended periods of time to view what are mediocre attractions at best. Walt’s plan was never to have such sky high prices to see the attractions at his parks. But apparently this business model does work.
Agreed. Isn’t it interesting that all of this negative press comes as Disney is becoming targeted by Florida politicians over the “Don’t say gay” bill? This is a smear campaign by the FL governor.
No, Disney was getting this way WAY before this Bill…..even before Covid..Covid just gave Disney to door to implement all these things like paid fast passes..park ressies etc..do not blame it on that freaking Bill or the FL governor. We were passholders for 17 yrs and we did not renew when covid hit and looks like we won’t be going again. We have wonderful memories of what Disney used to be like..magical
No, as a parent I don’t think it is appropriate to discuss gender issues with a 5 year old. Read the bill. And why would anyone want to go on vacation and see a huge poster about a character getting her menstrual cycle? Some people are ridiculous.
I agree there are always crowds in disney and they are manageable. When been going the last 20 years we love it….as far as prices we’ll that we can’t do nothing about it that’s happening everywhere…..
It has changed and not for the better. On top of ridiculously high ticket pricing, disney wants more $$$ to get on your favorite rides. We have so far resisted paying for any lightening passes but we also haven’t ridden many rides. And that’s after visiting the parks multiple times since late 2021. We were going to bring 3 year old grandson this fall and have reconsidered. Not coming until disney gets this improved.
My name is Jayson Derrick and we just got back from Walt Disney World. We went to celebrate my 50th birthday and my daughter’s 1st Disney run. We have been going to Disney since 1996 and we have never seen it like this before. These crowds are just absolutely nuts. Even though the Cast members are trying to keep the magic alive, there is just no way to do so with the way Disney and Bob Chapek are running things.. The magic is just gone.
Pure hell, Disney packs their guests in the parks like sardines in a can. The magic is gone. Corporate greed is everywhere. Gone are the days of the bus transporting guests from the airport to the resorts, disney character paper products, fast passes, free parking at the resort, Cape Mays crab leg buffet the list goes on and on. An American icon ruined for $$$$$. Greed, greed, greed.
Agreed ! the Disney (‘true legacy) and his closest relative (Roy Disney) would be mortified, and ashamed at the Corp. Greed now ascendent at Disney… so goes a prior dream from some great founders !!
I always thought they could improve it by giving everyone a ” fastpass” that guarantees you five rides automatically for your expensive ticket. I already paid to ride, why do I have to pay extra to ride because you don’t limit attendance?
To be fair (and I was at Disney World all week), Universal also has huge crowds, long wait times, and a pay to ride system. It seems to be the theme park “norm” these days.
It’s sad. We’ve been to Disney at least once a year since 2012. We’ve been 12 times during the pandemic because it was extremely cheap to fly. Disney has lost itself. The CEO/ management team have forgotten what the magic formula is: taking care of guests, providing unique experiences and keeping costs to a slight premium, not half your 401k.
Record revenues now will soon be a thing of the past. From the politics to the cancelation of the features and shows that made Disney special, this place is going to suffer until new management that has a clue is installed.
We were there last summer and it was a disaster. I think we were able to get on four rides at Magic Kingdom. One of the rides youbhad to try to register for, i think it was the new star wars ride. You had to be ready at 1pm and have a super fast internet connection to try to get a spot. Needless to say, that didn’t work. Didn’t purchase hopper since we were told that there was no guarantee that we would be able to get into another park because of capacity restrictions.The food situation was a whole other nightmare, at the parks and hotel. Transportation was awful. I sat waiting for a bus from our hotel almost 2 hours one day. Was about to give up and then it finally showed. I talked to a few bus drivers to see if they could find out what happened. One driver was very nice and went out of his way to help and two other drivers could care less. Very disappointed in the “New” Disney.
I went a few month ago. I won’t be back. It’s to crowed and couldn’t enjoy anything. Wait times to ride anything was 60+. First time I took my grandkids. They didn’t enjoy it. We won’t be back!
We were just there and honestly, it is the worse trip we have had to Disney. The crowds were atrocious. We did pay the extra for genie+ and lightning lane, but we only could ride 2 or 3 premium rides a day with it because those rides are always taken even though we got up at 7 o’clock each morning to get a pass for what we wanted to ride most. And obtaining dining reservations was even worse. My daughter and I spent the few weeks before our trip trying to get the dining reservations we wanted. It was insane what we had to go through to get them. We ended canceling most of them because our days did not go anything like they needed to because of the genie + system. Our family loves Disney but we have decided that we won’t be back anytime soon, maybe never if something doesn’t start to give for the future.
Disney Vacation Club member here, who has been to Disney World yearly… sometimes twice a year before Covid. Been twice since – the last being the 2nd week in March 2022. This trip was by far the worst experience we have had (25+ trips in our history). Bought into Genie+ and Lightning Lanes and were only able utilize twice per day. And Lightning Lane ended up being cancelled twice due to ride down issues. Struggled with getting park reservations for a 75 year old Florida resident annual pass. Lines for food, drink, rides were horribly long. Never seen before long. Went to Universal for the 1st time during this trip and had a fabulous time without having to spend money on any “extras”. The Disney magic was absent this trip. And when adding up the cost of the trip, even without having to pay for a room…. it it no longer worth it. The $250 for the used to be complimentary Disney Express bus service to and from the airport was the nail in the coffin. Don’t know what we are going to do with our DVC membership as Disney is no longer at the top of our list for vacation. Very very sad at how much things have changed.
We went to both WDW and Universal this week and both parks were CROWDED!! Honestly Wizarding World of Harry Potter was so crowded I was slightly frightened for my children!!! WDW was also packed. Both had crazy long lines for the popular rides. An example for each park – we waited 170 minutes for Hagrids Motorbike Adventure but only waited 15 minutes for Cat in the Hat. At WDW we waited 60 minutes for Remy, but walked onto Nemo twice in a row.
Seriously? This article is ridiculous. Disney still has reservations which means crowds will never be as bad as they were before this. I’ve been to Disney when they closed MK for capacity and that was in the 80s!!!
The park reservation system is “ploy” …there is no way Disney jas ANY intentions of keeping crowds down, especially when we were there in February and the crowds were stupid ridiculous…if they were trying they would put a “true limit” on people being in the park and NOT that specific park would not have 50000 people in it. But they have become so involved in making money over peoples experiences, thats the way it is now. DISNEY WILL NEVER go down the tubes because of the foreign visitor but they will experience less visitors, less purchases and ultimately less money…something has to “give”
What has happened to Disney except being money hungry! The price is too expensive for regular families to be able to enjoy. There are other parks to enjoy in the US. Dollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags and Schlitterbahn! We don’t need Disney!
Live in Florida took my two oldest grandchildren it was horrible two hour wait for a ride, the Genie does not work has you running from end of the park to the other end can’t pick time so pay extra for nothing, the crowd unreal can’t move on top of everyone. Forget the fireworks in the evening kids will get crushed from the crowd let alone when time to leave. I have young grandchildren let the parents know I will not be able to do it again that they should also not take them not worth the money not the Disney I remember just horrible.
If you are comparing crowds to 2021 then yes it is crowded. If you are looking at them from 2019 I would say they are the same. In 2019 I remember crowds for the fireworks down to the flagpole on Main Street. I will say over the last 9-10 years there doesn’t appear to be an “off” season any more in the early Spring like there use to be. Even on the most crowded day I planned ahead with lunch and dinner reservations and still managed to get 6 rides in using Genie+. I think the total amount of time we waited in lines was like 1.5hrs, in total. We also knew one of the days was going to be PACKED so we went to Seaworld which was really fun to bounce outside the park for a change.
Do you want your kids to remember the fun or mom/dad complaining about the crowds all day? Guess you just need to remember what you booked the day for.
I agree with jason If you been there before covid 19 than you should know that it crowds and did the park close after the fireworks show and now we have Karen that are trying to destroy disney
Our family of 12 was just there this last weekend. We had an age range of 2 years old to 51 years old with 2 strollers. I didn’t think the crowds were that bad at all. We did Animal Kingdom in Friday, and Magic Kingdom on Sunday. Our longest wait was 15 minutes because we planned ahead and utilized lightning lane for scheduling. The fireworks show was amazing, we got situated at 8:30, shared some snacks, exchanged photos from the day, then watched the beautiful show. I saw no “trampling to the exit”, politically charged marketing, fights, or anything. Proper planning and some organization make for a smooth visit.
Sorry, the magic is gone for us. Recent visit unpleasant, stressful with my face buried in my phone for everything. My kid doesn’t feel the connection and nostalgia like I once did, and is really not excited about returning to parks. Unbearable long lines, caste systems, high prices, perceived greed, changes to guest experiences due to COVID, all contributed to their decline. Just not worth it anymore. Looking for other things to do now. Don’t know how or if they will ever be able to fix it. So Sad.
Because it used to be a dream job. There was no politics, left or right. It’s ok to be whoever you are at Disney. Biggest thing was people behaved, they were immersed. Now staff have to deal with white trash, Karen’s & Ken’s & general over entitlement. No one wants to work there anymore because people are jerks. That’s it, that’s the change. It’s all ugliness now.
Raven Rose, spot on! the only people bringing in the “political vibe” are bigoted guests who are trying to create drama. Otherwise, there’s no “political vibe” in the parks. Pretty funny actually. People create their own imagined drama.
Only people I see bringing the political vibe are you guys always talking about the political vibe… Because Disney doesn’t discriminate, they are political… just keep it real… you want everyone in your world to look, act, and think like you… that is until you find out one of your kids is gay
I have been brought on Disney magic. From magical world of Disney to Mickey mouse club. When I married and had my children I wanted them to find the magic experienced for generations before. I have been traveling to Florida for almost 40 years with my children and now grandchildren. I am sad to say my recent trip was the opposite of magical. Disney has become political. The magic and safe feeling always associated with Disney is gone. I left the parks feeling frustrated. Overcrowded. Broken down systems. Cleanliness gone. Now reading and watching the news of the direction in which Disney is going makes me feel very sad. Then angry. They have taken pure happiness and wonderment and have made the future political and woke. We went to Disney to become enfolded in a time untouched from the realities of the news and strife. We escaped to magical. Not anymore. I never thought I would say I won’t go back. But there it is. Disney is becoming a place I know longer recognize nor want to be a part of.
I experienced the hall of presidents show while Trump was newly in office. They made his animatronic figure purposely not pay attention to the other presidents and even look down at his nails. It was obviously on purpose due to their political opinions and it disgusted me to watch that with my children. Shame on them.
We took our 2 grand daughters in March, and I have to say making the reservation after you buy the tickets was very confusing. So we ended up separate for most of the day. Our girls were with the one grandma and myself and their mom were in another park. I think the whole reservation thing is flawed. It certainly did not help keep the crowds down. We could move at times. As for the fireworks we headed for the exit and watched them from the ferry, was very pretty, and we beat the crowd.
Walt would not be happy! I’ve been to Disney 30+ times in my life as I work in travel and the last experience in November 2021 was the worst ever. Lightning Lane and Genie are terrible! The concept was not thought through at all especially from planning purposes. How do you make dining reservations ahead and not be allowed to cancel them within 24 hours ahead or pay a fee but you can’t get your lightning lane until the day of your visit then you have to choose between the dining reservation you made or potentially going on a ride that you’ve never been on before! In addition, Disney has now out priced the average person with these insane prices! You can’t even get into make a lightning lane at 7am unless you are staying at a Disney Resort which many ppl don’t choose to do. So for popular attractions forget it! If you are park hopping, again forget it! They will be all booked for the day before you can ever get in! Hotel services are also lacking…I am a Disney lover but was do incredibly disappointed, not sure when I will go back! Word of advice, if you have never been and are looking to experience it all, wait a few years until they hopefully get it together!
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have to pay extra with that Genie+ thing to go on the rides I want to when I’ve already dropped $100+ per day to get in! Disney gets you coming and going these days. You need a second mortgage to visit nowadays. I’ve been going with my family annually since 1986 and anymore I can’t justify putting out all that money for a lackluster experience. I guess it’s just a rich people’s park now, and that’s a shame bc I looked forward to our vacations every year.
Disney executives, PLEASE go back to 2019 operations with the Free Fastpass+, everything went smooth, lines weren’t extremely long, food was better and the “magic” was still there. Covid restrictions are over, so what’s the excuse for not returning to the plan that actually worked?
The paid ride experience shouldn’t be mentioned along Genie+ as it is not required to have. Additionally, I wouldn’t mention Rise, Remy, Flight of Passage, Seven Dwarves at all without the disclaimer that you will not be able to purchase these rides if you are not a premium WDW hotel guest (not the bulk of hotels offered by WDW). That’s the perk of paying more than $500 a night, you get to pay more money to ride rides a la carte. We were able to purchase rides for the rest of our group that were not staying in a Premium hotel. Just open those up to all at 7am, you get it you get it.
So many articles just glossing over the fact that the Mouse House theme parks are really in a bad state. No way you could convince me to return and I have taken my 10 year old 5 times in her life. It’s not fun or magical. You are glued to your reservation system or sweating in line for 70% of your vacation. And that’s if you are an expert and know the “tricks” Hard pass for the foreseeable future. Could get the same experience standing in line at the DMV streaming a Disney+ movie on your phone.
The idea that a Disney day is a child’s dream has been a long time myth. Put aside that you can spend untold anxiety ridden time sorting out how you can be where when such as using reservation machines and even planning the locations, while kids are standing around figuring out when the fun begins, it’s the worst “fun” place on earth. If you just show up and have not developed the skill sets for a successful day, like at least five tries, by the time you get in the park after parking and then either taking a insanely crowded boat or monorail, mind you waiting on a third or fourth one because of lines, it’s already 10:30. Then reservations and all that technological gyrations and disappointments, the kids are exhausted and hungry. You are lucky to get on a first major attraction ride by 1:30. And bringing young children is insane. There are only a few “kiddie park” rides anyway. Unless you stay at at WDW hotel five nights, spend hours planning, preparing, knowing all the ins and outs of reservations, genie + etc, have the ability to not need to leave home at 6:30 am to conquer the day, like sleep in, hotel breakfast and/or afternoon rest and return for night events and spend $3000, avoid punishing yourself, wife and kids. Going to WDW for a day with kids is child and parent abuse
Yes we just returned from Disney World, and we stayed at an off property resort and it was wonderful. DW itself was not so fun at all. My wife and i were serious about becoming DW club members but absolutely NOT. Our trip last year was not very enjoyable and this year confirmed that we are done with Disney. Its for the kids and its become political. The lines were horrible and the excitement and genuine niceness of the staff was almost not there. Its not Magical at all anymore. We have been to DW 18 times throughout the years and this year was the last time we will be spending our money at any of the parks. Its just not worth it to stand in line all day to ride a handful of rides and eat less than desirable food. Just one example is we got to MK early to ride the Seven Dwarfs ride and the wait time was 120 min. We expected that but when it was all said and done we waited for over 3 1/2 hrs. for a 30 second ride. With the rudeness of employees, other guests and the parks not clean like they have been in the past as well with the disgusting prices for tickets, food, merch we will not be returning. Florida has so many great things to offer and do for reasonable prices, and not wasting my time. I could keep going on about our DW experience but they have waisted enough of my time.
Sounds like you didn’t get there early enough. Did you rope drop Mine Train? We rope dropped Rise of the Resistance on our Hollywood Studios day and got on in 5 minutes. It is still possible to have a great time there, with just a little planning. First week of December last year, Christmas decorations were magical, low crowds and wait times (longest was an hour for Slinky Dog Dash), had a great time. We can’t wait to go back! As for the politics, you don’t see that in the parks.
Reviewer said, “Stayed off property”, there is your biggest issue with trying to hit rides at rope drop. The resort guests get in early so lines will be long if you are general admission. You HAVE to stay at a resort, preferably one close to the Skyliner.
We stayed of property, but at preferred resort ,so we did utilize the perks as much as we could. And every day we were at the parks at rope drop. As well as payed preferred parking We have been to Disney 18 times, as well as a Disney cruise. The cruise was top notch. But the parks and resorts are not Magical like the past and prices continue to skyrocket. Don’t know much about the skyliner thx for all the input
Yes we’re there at rope drop , because we stayed at a preferred Disney resort not on property, so yes we got the same perks. Problem was an 120 min wait and turned into 3 hrs. And yes politics are at the parks.
We have been to Disney world 5 times and i will admit it was magical for the first 3 times but then it got worse from there and the last experience ended our Christmas experiences at Disney. Chris i understand you love everything Disney and want only positive responses but people have the right to post how THEY viewed and experienced DW. Believe me it breaks my heart the way our last three DW trips have gone. I just choose, like others to express our opinions and vacation elsewhere.
Bottom line is, I’ve been to the parks recently. Yes, there are higher crowds and higher prices but there were NONE of these dramatic “political vibes” some of these “grown adults” keep mentioning. Some people just love to create more drama in their head for the sake of it.
Chad, you’re just another Karen who’s “done with the parks”, but has like 10 different paragraphs because you really just want attention. Go somewhere else then, simple as that!
As for the politics that you say are “at the parks”, I guess you’re referring to tha hall of presidents, the flag raising ceremony, and providing discounts for military guests because the only other politics your type of people are complaining about are all IN YOUR HEAD. So many people that like to create more drama for the sake of it.
GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!
This is why Disney just needs to focus on what they are suppose to do best…..entertainment and maintaining their parks instead of trying to get in the Florida politics. Mind your own business and entertain.
My wife and I are both in our 70’s and are Florida residents
.My granddaughter who’s from the Pittsburgh area was marching in the parade at DW on Feb 26,this year..The cost just to park $25, and two tickets to admit to park were $317..We were there just for the parade, approx 2 hrs on a hot day, rode no rides, couldn’t get a drink of water from any fountain as they were all covered in plastic, I assume because of Covid, bottled water was $9 if you could find any, crowds were unbelievable huge, and the parade turned out to be just two bands,and Mickey Mouse on float waving..Greed has taken over and this is the biggest rip off in Florida..That will my last visit.. Horrible, expensive experience!
Sorry your experience was bad. Agree with you about the greed! It takes forever to get food or drinks not just the long lines for the rides.
It only makes sense if you have passes to go anymore. It’s way too expensive for a single day!
It’s worth noting that it’s a long-standing Disney Parks policy that you can go up to any counter service eatery in the park and request a complimentary cup of ice cold water. So don’t vilify Disney for adhering to a worldwide health cruise by temporarily closing down germ-infested water fountains.
After my visit in January I believe I will never go back it was absolutely horrible worst that before covid. Rude cast member horrible dining, Lines were super long. I still have two tickets that I will probably not use is not worth it anymore.
Stayed 4 day$$$$$ at A of A 5 PEOPLE. 5 Park hoppers…5 Genie+ (it does work) 5 sit down meals. I am mobility handicapped…not obese or lazy. My handicap is not visual to anyone. I do use a scooter. When we arrived at MK as I always do I went to town hall to get a disability access pass as done in the past. It’s really only a one at a time access sometimes 2 or 3 hours from request. When I arrived I was approached by a 20 something young lady..I asked for handicap access for me and my party…she said “are you able to walk? I said yes for short distances or time” She then says “well if you are able to walk you can take the scooter through the lines” Never have I even been asked never mind the fact that with the lines so long it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to navigate through the mazes! I had been there in September and had handicapped access which I used fir return times but since it was less crowded I DUD go through the que maze a few times as well. Even with less crowds and less turns I still managed to hit a few poles and my daughters foot a few times. So. .are they refusing access to handicapped people with non visible or limited mobility to force you to purchase GENIE? I too think we are done Fter over 30 years of visits.
Sorry, but Kat is correct. DAS no longer intended for mobility challenged guests. Most rides are now easy accessed by the mobility challenged. Prior abuse of DAS (and to an extent – now as well) people using DAS as a replacement for the old Fastpass system. Yea, it sure would be nice to get a scheduled return time for each an every ride. Abuse still continues. DAS now intended for those families that may have, for example, a severely autistic child – that absolutely can’t wait in queue – and must return at a scheduled time. Their scheduled return time is equal to the current wait time for the regular guests. An equitable solution for those that really need it – not for those trying to maximize their Park experience.
It says under the Disability Access System instructions that the use of a mobility aid (walker, wheelchair, scooter) serves to self-identify you to the cast member at the ride entrance, so no further identification is needed. That has been the policy since at least 2019. I went from a cane to a scooter to a power wheelchair, so trust me I understand your frustration. And I can also walk a few steps (very few and very slowly) so there are few rides I can ride at the parks any longer. I also noticed when they put up the plexiglass barriers in the ride queues they made it MUCH too narrow for a scooter to pass. Several rides have wheelchairs to use temporarily to get through the line (Pirates comes to mind) so you do not have to stand. Unfortunately pirates is now on my “do not ride” list because I can no longer climb out of the boat. Sorry you were frustrated but it wasn’t a recent change.
We had purchased park passes several months ago for around $2500. A week prior to our scheduled trip, our daughter became very I’ll and was hospitalized. Needless to say, we were unable to go on our trip. We have been trying to find out if we can use these passes at a later date. Disney has been unresponsive. Not very family friendly.
Hey, more negative BS from this crappy site. Surprise. Is this site owned by DeathSantis? Please stay home. Don’t come, to the parks. We won’t miss you here. Writers included.
Are you talking about the governor that will probably be the next president? He is great and he understands the constitution unlike a lot of people in power.
Desantis is the best. Better then the crap, death, killer in office right now. Florida is the best. Do not like it, go to NY or CA. NY being the death trap in early COVID. 😒
Hey justin, with clowns like you disney will go down the tubes because obviously libtards lime yourself wont be able to “foot” the bill to keep disney afloat– people are allowed to voice their opinions, so dont try to shout down people as the typical lib losers do!
I have only been home 2 days from Disneyworld and had a great time even being 74 and a bum knee. Any trip is what you make it. We were on a 3 generation girls trip and everyone got to do what they wanted and not always together. The Magic Kingdom fireworks were amazing. We got in front of castle about 30 minutes early and had no problems. We waited in place for crowds to clear some since we did have someone in a wheelchair. But made it on Ferry without issues.
Cast members were all awesome. Go with good attitude .
Yep. It’s all what you make it. If you are on this site you know what Disney is and has always been. Crowded, hot, long lines are part of the experience but you plan accordingly and hopefully actually like the people you are with!
Now, if you are fixated on politics and “see them” at a theme park, then that’s your problem and all you will see everywhere. You are also likely an angry person – left or right – and spread misery wherever you go.
The last time I went to Disneyland they were chasing all of the guests out. We hadn’t been there for several years years and nothing has changed except you need to have a fat wallet. I’ve had my fill of Disney. It used to be fun. George.
For a “woke” company that is supposed to treat all people equally, Bob Chapek certainly doesn’t mind drawing a clear line separating the middle class from the elite. Only allowing Deluxe guests to take advantage of evening extra magic hours is a prime example of that.
With regards to these overcrowding problems, this is what you can expect from any future Disney trips until people stop coming. But as long as people will allow Disney to take advantage of them, nothing will change.
We visited first week of December 2021 and it was the worst experience I’ve ever had at Disney. Everything depends on the mobile app and reservations. You can’t just strategically walk around the park, experience the major attractions and a few other minor attractions and be done in less than 8-10 hours. It’s an all day grind of hurrying to the next reservation to the other side of the park and then zigzag back to the other side only to wait again. Besides the “cast members” being rude and hardly helpful, the wait times were the worst I’ve seen. The new genie+ system or whatever it is now is trash. The woke culture has taken over the disney staff and management. The participation trophy generation are now making decisions from the underground offices probably hardly if ever seeing what it takes as a guest to truly have an enjoyable time. Don’t get me wrong we always expect to wait and yes some rides will be temporarily closed for repair but it was absolutely excessive. It’s only going to get more expensive and miserable unless something drastic happens from the top down.
One solution might be to build a few more parks here in the US? As for now our solution is to not visit until we hear things improve.
Sorry to hear you had a bad trip. We also went the first week of December, and had low crowds and wait times the whole week. Got on Rise of the Resistance in 5 minutes, and our longest wait time was an hour for Slinky Dog Dash. Christmas decorations were magical. Didn’t notice any “wokeness” from the staff, but I know everyone’s experience is different. I’m just trying to inject some positivity into these mostly negative comment sections. It IS still possible to have a great time there.
“Woke culture and participation trophy generations” are making the decisions on what rides go down for regular maintenance? Really? This is your take on things as a rational adult??
The parks ARE busier and more expensive. But your dramatics with the whole “woke” thing are probably the reason you’re so miserable in general. I’ve been to the parks recently and the only “woke and political vibes” are ALL in your head. Some people love to create more drama for the sake of it. Unbelievable
Can anyone tell me how the parks are NOT at capacity?? Done 20 trips and the last two, nothing but 40 minute waits, 2 hour. Nowhere to sit, waiting for a tables. Getting to “anything” is like running the gauntlet.
Refuse to waste another dime on Disney. It has lost the magic and the appeal. It is no longer the Happiest Place on Earth. They should rename it to the most expensive place on Earth. Employees are rude. Food is expensive and no linger delicious. So sad.
Took my daughter husband and grandkids to Disney world a couple days ago the lines were horrendous. Now they want money for everything you think once you pay the big bucks to get in there things would be included but that’s not the way it is and there will agenda is just so unnecessary. Don’t think I’ll be back again!
Just did Disney World with a party of 12 for spring break and everyone had a fabulous time. Some of us stayed on Disney properties overnight, some didn’t but took city bus transportation to the parks with no issues. We ended up purchasing Genie+ each day because we found it to be worthwhile to skip some long lines. I think our longest wait was for the Avatar ride one time (2.5 hours–turned out TOTALLY worth it…rode it again as the park was about to close–way less wait time), but when you’re with a big group of people talking, or getting to know others in line, the time went by quickly. All 12 of us from TX–7 adults & 5 high school seniors) really had a fun time.
Just visited Disneyland in Southern California and our first experience using Geni+ app and it was horrible the crowds were insane and the standby lines were 90min wait especially for the main attractions. The reservations system was confusing and would not reserve all members at one time for a ride it kept doing only one member to were that member couldn’t ride the ride at the same time with others in your group or it would time you out for 2hrs when you never used the redemption.
I went to Disney world for two days. The Magical Kingdom wasn’t magical. Everything revolved around the online app. Even food service. The next day at Epcot was better.
I think Disney is getting greedy. It’s terrible that you have to pay extra for certain rides and genie. We pay enough just to get into the park. Food and souvenirs are overpriced. I will be going with family 8 of this year, probably last time. Will be looking for something more reasonable.
If you want to spend most of your day looking down at your phone on vacation than the Disney vacation experience is for you!
It’s been fun however I won’t be back until there are significant changes that don’t favor those with more money and time at the parks. If you can only go for a day and aren’t at a high end resort you can pretty much forget about any reservations or lighting lane passes to the best attractions. #geniplusfail
We attended EPCOT on March 25th. We have had a close-by time share since the early 80s and have spent over 300 days in-park over the past 40 years. The new Genie plus and lightening lane and standby dining required at least one of the party to be face down on their phone for too many hours of the day. You can’t enjoy the park if you have to fuss over your phone so much. We drained the batteries on 3 phones that day. We had one greeter at a restaurant refuse to help us until we scanned their QR code.
The individual lightening lane for Ratatouille was a complete failure. The lightening lane tix were sold out before they became available to people who stayed off Disney property. We spent 90 minutes (a 75 min wait was posted) waiting to see the 3.5 minute Ratatouille ride. It was fun, but I have never waited that long for a Disney ride in the past 40 years. Disney provided options in the past where we could avoid such waits. I still have 5 unexpiring park hopper tickets and I don’t think I will ever us them up. Maybe I will go again to watch my grandchildren experience the magic. For me, the magic is gone.
Totally agree. I’m over this Disney stuff makes u not want to go. I loved share memories with my kids and their friend. Kick out the ceo put one of waltsdreamer in there and pay the price
at the gate and let the magical began and move on. Stop the greed and let people enjoy something that was therewhen Mr. Ceo was not Borned or not around at the time obviously his parent most not have taken him to Disney ever because he would know how it is ran full of dreams.
You don’t try to watch MK fireworks from the front 20 minutes before the show. That’s amateurish. If you’re gonna arrive late or are not willing to stay put in the crowd, then get your behind back to Fantasy Land. You won’t see the projections but you’ll have a fantastic view of fireworks over 2 castles and NOT be crushed by the crowd.
My husband and I went this Monday, April 4th to Disney World, and on Tuesday, April 5th to Hollywood Studios. It was our Anniversary.
Our first time there, and YESSS, it was BEAUTIFUL. I had NEVER seen Mickey and it was my DREAM to see him!
But the lines for Disney, were REALLY bad…and I’m disabled, and it was still bad. Getting from the parking to the entrance where you get the monorail was horrendous bc the wheelchair that was avl, the wheel was broken. UNACCEPTAPLE. I rec’d one when I got almost to the entrance.
Yr staff was excellent and it wasn’t them. They tried, but I guess they were doing their job but something has to be done so ppl can go back!
At Disney, lines are really bad as well, even if you register for Lightning at 7am, which I did!
Now, Hollywood Studios was different. There, it was the ppl. They would run into you.
Not enough information ppl or centers, and bathrooms for us handicapped individuals.
I LOVED Disney, and don’t get me wrong, I will return, but things need to change.
And i know I’m one of many.
Thank you.
We are currently here, it’s a nightmare…literally. Genie+ is an expensive joke, foods a joke, I’d say at least half the cast members aren’t as friendly anymore, crowds are a joke, all the perks are gone. I told my husband we could have spent 2 weeks in Europe in fancy hotels and good food for what we are spending on this. We used to come every year until the pandemic and decided to come back this year. I could go on and on about how awful this has been. Usually your bummed to leave, we are here for almost another week and it seems like so far away. The most recent thing that annoyed me today is they are encouraging you to scan stuff in the store on your phone and pay on the app… then they check your sku on your phone and go through everything…ummm why didn’t I just get in line??? Took forever, oh and the lady told ME to take everything off the hangers. She was annoyed you could tell. Not the what used to be the normal happy pleasant cast member. My 4 kids aren’t even having fun. I feel like we just wasted $20,000. Yes!!! $20,000!!!!! We aren’t even staying in a deluxe resort, we are at French Quarter and for 8 days of tickets with water park and the hotel plus food and genie + and lighting lane, a couple of sweatshirts and the typical souvenirs we are almost at $20,000. A complete joke. Now hearing about all this political stuff we are done. If one more cast member calls me “friend” because they can’t say ma’am or sir anymore I might jump in front of a mears bus I paid $36 a person for lol not a Disney one because those are gone too.
If the whole reason you’re being so dramatic and feel like you “wasted $20,000 is because a cast member called you “friend”… there was no hope for you to begin with. Unbelievable that people can be so miserable out of nothing.
We were there in February with the grands and while we had an enjoyable experience, it wasn’t as organized as two years ago. The lightning line was helpful but still crowded and the bathrooms were messy…. not like Disney at all! We tried to see the fireworks but were (literally) funneled through the maintenance area and back to the entrance. It was disappointing and a sad conclusion to the day.
They are using the reservation system to manage how much staff they have available and how many ride cars they put in service. It’s not necessarily about managing the crowds from the guest perspective, it’s about running just enough ride cars to reduce long term maintenance costs and having just enough staff called in. It’s lean operations tactics. That’s why it still seems very crowded with supposed lower crowd numbers. The lines and rides used to absorb massive amounts of crowds, as did transports for park hopping. This gave the appearance of less people in the park. They have been having staffing issues (i.e. hiring/retaining/recalling) as well. I live a few miles away from MK. Staffing issues are in part because during the massive Covid layoffs, many people found balance and happiness in other roles (Disney is not flexible on scheduling for staff. Full time is hard scheduled by bid per the union and part time must basically always be available so part timers really cant have a second job or it’s at least challenging to do so). So a lot of former cast members didn’t return when recalled. Second is the pay. The execs may be raking it in hand over fist, but most of the cleaners, store , hotel and on site management staff can make more money with less crowds and stress and a better schedule at the Walmart or Target a few minutes away. That manager people scream at is usually making under $20hr. So just like with employees post covid everywhere, a lot of people decided it wasn’t worth it. Those left are dealing with the tremendous stress of managing these new systems and guest issues and so can get snappy or indifferent. I think they are overwhelmed. Universal and Sea World don’t seem to have the same problems. Their experiences have actually improved compared to pre Covid. I suspect some firmer Disney staff have decanted to Universal because I have found them delightful. And Maria, before you jump down my throat too for not being completely in love with hownDisney is today, note that I like others here have been a big Disney fan for decades. If people didn’t care, they wouldn’t bother criticizing. The reality is that if you are very comfortable using your phone and technology and are a big planner, then your Disney trip will be more enjoyable. If you are the kind of traveller who likes to do things on a whim and go with the flow and enjoy the experience, Disney is realistically no longer for you. Neither type of traveller is better than the other. You may get a thrill from the “chase” of rope dropping at 7am and staying on site and that’s great. But for some people, vacations.are for unwinding and taking it as it comes. Disney no longer allows that. I think it’s important to knownwhat kind of traveller you are before deciding to visit Disney. I hate being wedded to tech on my vacation. When I look at my phone, my work email shows up. So, though I got.married there and have many friends and family working there, it’s not as fun for me as it used to. I have a good friend who is an obsessive planner, and thencurrent Disneynwithnrequired planning.makes her squeal with delight.
We have been staking claim to fireworks real estate for over 25 years?!?!!!!! I recall grabbing spots 2+ hours early in ‘96 and ‘98 and ‘03, ‘04. I have a pix of us along the curb in ‘07.
We paid for the dessert party for a seat on 3/12/20! We were sitting there when the closure hit social media.
BYE MORON!!!
Too bad you’re too weak minded to let an invisible “non gender movement” WRECK YOUR EXPERIENCE riding freakin SPACE MOUNTAIN!! Unbelievable. Can you tie your own shoes even, bud?
Just came back from a week in Disney the end of March. Worst experience with lines, how does a park open and 10 minutes later there is a 150 minute wait for a ride. There is no way that the is not a 100% capacity.
It’s sad because I wouldnlove to take my grandsons when they are a little older but I will pass as it’s not worth the money or effort. 120 minute wait for a toy story ride with a 3 year old is just wrong. The crowd and lines along with the cost make for a bad vacation.
Well, other than the three or 4 people who had a decent time and the one who tried to produce positivity that didn’t work, I will lean on the side of those that will not go back to either Disney location. What a bummer for all the little boys and girls, moms and dads, but not the “friends”
Saying they’re lowering admissions is just prepping for another price hike. They’ll use this instead of greed as their excuse.
Charging a fortune for children is not very family friendly.
JILLIAN!!!
Back on KAREN WATCH again?? You gonna go through the comments and tell off anyone who doesn’t agree with YOUR hate for Disney again?? Wow. Unbelievable
Ugh the name is Julian not Jillian, I do not hate Disney well not what it used to be.
You clearly are looking for me – how nice of you, but you are just not my type ever.
I think you and your verbal nonsense and one track mind it is you that is the KAREN. If you think my comment on Megan is wrong then you can also join the MICKEY Club – Lucky you not…
Everything woke turns to crap!!
Mickey is BOY, Minnie is GIRL!!
We used to go every yr. We won’t be returning until we hear things are magical again.
We went over the winter and we share all the same complaints as above.
You’re a simpleton. If you’re SO BOTHERED that you have to “reinforce” FREAKIN FAKE MASCOTS genders to yourself in a land of make believe, you have no business trying to be an independent adult. NOBODY’S “forcing” ANYTHING in the parks, and all of you who are shrieking about “woke agendas” getting “forced” on you when you go to Disneyland are purposefully creating unnecessary drama in YOUR OWN HEADS.
GROW UP.
Here to remind the conservative snowflakes that Disney doesn’t want the old fans who want the freebies of the past. You all can stay gone. There’s a new market full of progressives and center left like myself who support Disney’s right in capitalism to set its own policy and right under Citizens United to be involved in politics. We make more money than you, and have more education. This article was ridiculous. Who goes 20min before for a spot? Of course her time was ruined. Have a gay day Florida! I love capitalism! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🤷🏻♂️🧑🤝🧑🥰
I’m not conservative or progressive. But you’re not helping the conversation by bringing politics into it. Don’t give in to the people who are. All it REALLY takes to enjoy the parks is a little more patience than normal. Yes, there more crowded than normal, but I’ve NEVER encountered any type of “political agendas” being “forced” upon me while I’m there. And I go often. Don’t add fuel to the fire. Let’s all be mature adults CAN WE??
I was once in the crowd waiting for the show (probably like 7 years ago but still) when a guy twice my size stormed through and shoved me over so hard that I fell on top of an elderly woman in a wheelchair. Several people saw it, and there’s security everywhere but they did nothing. They need to find a better way for people to view the fireworks so that people don’t get hurt.
This I totally agree with and it is not new. Since one of my children is handicapped we have had to often forego MK fireworks because the crowds were simply too imposing. And yes, they have a handicapped viewing area but the crowds are simply too large.
I wish they would bring back the nightly fireworks over Disney Springs. You could actually just pull your car over and see them.
We went in March. The lines were So long we had to wait on average of 2 1/2 – 3 HOURS per ride and I paid the extra for Genie +. The lightening lane was flooded with people. We stood and watched hundreds of people be admitted to ride splash mountain while we stood and watched. It was obvious that they sold an over abundance of lightening passes for the extra $ which had preference over those of us with Genie +. Disney has become pay for play. During the entire day we were able to ride a total of 3 rides! Pathetic. Huge disappointment.
My husband still has 3 days on his pass that he didn’t use. He will not go back to redeem them .in spite of the fact that he has a business trip in Orlando In a few weeks and could easily do so. Money down the drain because the lines are out of control and have ruined the whole experience.
You just blatantly showed everyone who’s the hostile one with your derogatory language and disgusting behavior. And YOU’RE the “adult” that’s supposedly leading by example?
I go to the parks at least one a month. And have NEVER encountered anything that made me feel threatened or uncomfortable with my kids. It’s VERY clear what type of person is the REAL threat here. What a horrible human being you must be.
Hey Jessie, you’d be doing the world a favor if you just “eliminated” yourself from this earth. Miserable hateful people like you don’t need to be wasting precious oxygen.
I’m tired of all these super sensational negative stories. Every one of these stories could be told 2 years ago, 4 years ago, 14 years ago, etc.
Whenever people gather in crowds, human nature takes over, regardless of where you are or the training of the staff.
Cast members will always be overpowered by a fireworks mob. It was like this in 1999, it was like this in 2019.
Stop making it out like it’s new
Had the WORST experience EVER. And not sure if my family (including grandkids) want to ever go back. They’ve taken the fun out of it. There is NO magic at all. Between having to constantly be on your phone with the app and not “with” your family, the LONG lines, and the impossible to plan genie plus. It’s just more frustrating than anything. They nickel & dime the hell out of you. And on top of that most of the rides kept breaking down. We went on 3 rides at Hollywood Studios from opening until 4 pm! Three rides!!!! And two of them broke down. And trying to find food with the new reservation (needed months ahead) is a joke! Over priced, over crowded and just not the same anymore. I’ve given my last $10k to them.
We were regular Disney visitors starting in 2004. The old FP system was wonderful and we were able to get on many rides each day with minimal waits. Then they started limiting FPs and things went downhillfast. Our last visit was Sprng, 2019 and I saw a marked decline in the guest experience. Long waits for buses, huge crowds everywhere even tho it was b4 spring break, outrageous food prices, only able to ride our favorites once or twice each day. And all of this was b4 Genie+ and Lightening Lane! I refuse to go back because of the recent changes. Paying exorbitant rates to enter the park and then paying per ride to ride the best ones??? What a colossal rip off. Yes, you can wait 2 hours or so for free in standby lines, but you’ll be lucky to get on 2 or 3 rides all day, that way. Disney has totally deteriorated IMO. I’m so glad I got to experience it when it was still enjoyable. It no longer is and I doubt we’ll ever return. Up thru 2019 we had visited 12 times. Since then– 0. It saddens me, but I refuse to pay exorbitant rates for a less than magical experience. Disney Corp has made HUGE profits in recent years, yet continues to rip off its customers
I find it incredible how so many people are done with Disney because it’s lost it’s magic, but spend their time on Disney sites for the sole purpose of letting people know they are done. Go ahead, be done, actually leave, we aren’t making you stay.
We went on March 28 2022. It was the night the monorail broke after the fireworks. It was awful. It was each man for himself. Thousands of people trapped on that island. Disney did not care at all about anyone. Babies were screaming everywhere and older people with canes and wheelchairs were also left to fend for themselves. Being afraid of getting trampled is an understatement. I would not let my family in that crowd. Sadly I had to make my 75 year old parents and my 10 year old daughter with a foot and leg disability walk the 2.5 miles on the walking path back to the tram. After walking all day it was really strenuous for them. But the other choice was to wait with the thousands packed together waiting for a ferry. We tried leaving the park at 9:15 and didn’t get to our car until 11:30 pm. It was total chaos and no one at Disney cared. I can’t believe they would not have some protocols in place for this type of situation. Even before all that the crowds were unbearable at the fireworks. I dread to wonder what would happen if a balloon popped or something. There is no doubt in my mind there would be a stampede. It really is quite amazing for liability purposes that they would pack so many people together in a huge space. All in all it was a one and done for me. I can’t see how they think reservations cut back on the crowds. There is no way. I wasn’t impressed with Disney or their response to the monorail breaking down.
“However, even so, crowds have been noticed by many Guests and attraction lines more so. And it is not just at the Parks where issues have been raised as seen by this incident at a popular Disney Resort.“
WHAT? This looks like it was written by a kindergartner.
I will never go back. Way overpriced,terrible food. I’m not much into Disney anyway but wanted to give my daughter the experience. It was all so repetitive and disgustingly overpriced. I don’t get how people go back year after year. Never again!
I used to visit Epcot each year, but last year 2021 was an absolute disappointment. My favorite part used to be going through all the countries and visiting each of them, experiencing their culture with their drinks or food, interacting with the native staff members. However, since covid hit, this has not been the same. In case anyone didn’t know, what made those countries at Epcot so unique and special is, the people working there are literally from those countries, working at Epcot as one year exchange program and then replaced by a new crew from each country. So if you go to France, every single person is literally from France and truly representing France and their culture….now Imagine I went to Germany to enjoy their great hospitality and their amazing buffet dinner, but the people working there, like at all the other countries, where “Americans” it was so odd so disappointing and some of them were rude and didn’t know know anything about Germany or how to represent them. This is definitely not the way Germany or France should be represented….What disney could have done, is at least have people working there who have some experience some knowledge about the countries. SlSo I personally cannot wait, till they bring back the real natives from each country to work at Disney to represent their country. Imagine you go to Italy and have someone from Kentucky working there. The atmosphere was so disappointing
We visited the last week of Jan. The lines were extremely long taking 1.5 hours for 1 ride!! The pass system worked well, half hr wait. The crowd waiting for the fireworks were spread out UNTIL Disney personal came thru and pushed everybody tightly together and created the scary situation. Afterwards the lightning didn’t help, too dark. We would avoid viewing the night show from the front of the castle unless you were close.
We also had annual passes this place has lost its magic for about 6 plus years .too expensive not worth it better to go to Universal atleast your not being hoarded like cattle.
We are “over” the projections. So not worth the hassle of crowds/camping out!! You can get great views of the fireworks from many other places in the park. If WDW ever gets their act together and recognizes the value of “guest experience”, I’ll be back. But I have a feeling my Feb 22 trip will be the last one in a LONG time! Too much disappointment brought on by the changes. I’m not spending thousands of $$$ to be disappointed!!!!!!
I was at Magic Kingdom recently and this is very accurate. The crowd for the fireworks was worst than I’ve ever seen. It was scary to be in such a tight crowd with nowhere to move .
I will never go back!! The crowds are suffocating. You crowd surf from one ride to the next, waiting in line a minimum of 2 hours for a 5 minute ride. I don’t get it. The worse experience of my life!
We went to Disney World mid March 2022. Albeit, it was Spring Break, but the parks were so crowded and the Genie+ and Individual Lightening Lane experience was very stressful. Once we got the ‘reservation’ for the rides we wanted it was great, but trying to get them was a constant battle of getting up each morning at 7am to try to get an individual lightening lane and then all day in the park trying to get a regular lightening lane for the other rides so you didn’t need to spend an hour or two waiting in lines. It was very frustrating, not to mention all the ADDITIONAL costs on top of the huge expense it is just to go to Disney to begin with. There were only 3 of us and we spent another $300-$400 on individual lightening lanes (over 5 days). I’m done with Disney. The costs have gone up so much and the service has gone down. Very disappointed in our Disney experience. It was FAR from magical.
I was there February 26-March3 and it was horrible. I picked that time to go because I thought it would be less crowded but I was wrong. I don’t know if it was because they had just lifted the mask mandate or what but it was crazy busy. People not being very friendly, out for themselves pushing through etc. Definitely no magic. That along with it being so hard to try to get through to Disney by phone for anything makes is easy for me to say we won’t go back.
I visited Disney for 4 overnight visits this past January and early February. Generally, we go at that time to avoid the huge crowds. This year was NOT the case. The crowds were terrible each and every day. It did not matter if it was a Saturday, Sunday or even Tuesday – they were terrible. It really took the magic away and I found that I was not that interested in going back to the parks. I preferred to stay at the hotel and enjoy the hotel amenities as it was that crowded. Not sure how it will be going forward. If this will be the new “norm” I may have to reconsider my favorite place. It truly was not worth it – people crowd, push, rude, etc. Beach vacations are starting to look better and better 🙂
Awful! I can’t figure out why people would pay excessive amounts of money to be thrown in a sardine can. I can only imagine how much overcrowded it can become without the current required park reservations.
Lightning pass is a joke. Sure you don’t have to physically stand in a line because you pay extra to be in a digital line. However, if there are x amount of digital reservations ahead of you, you’re looking at 3-5 hour window per ride (and this was on a Thursday). In our situation, it would be 5 hours before getting on one ride vs standing in line for an average of one hour per ride. We were able to get on more rides this way.
Long waits to sit a restaurant. So we opted for a fast food style store…awful. Tried a second place and, once again, bad food.
However, they did refund the lightning pass fees without any problems. Everyone was super nice. Prices at the shops were fair (not overpriced).
This was our first and last time at Magical Kingdom. My two teens were miserable, we opted to skip Epcot even when we had tickets already.
God made this covenant, with the rainbow as the token, after the waters of the flood receded and Noah and his family exited the ark. God said, “I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. . . . This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth” (Genesis 9:11–15).
I was last at Disney in 1995. From all I’ve seen since then it’s gotten caught up in politics, and in corporate greed. I wanted my children to experience the innocence and magic that I had, but it’s gone. For as much as you spend on the experience it’s too costly. And having to pay for passes and make a reservation to visit a park….plus crowds and long lines for only a couple attractions? Nope you can have it. We will find our magic somewhere else.
30 years since you’ve been to Disney and you’re still “threatening” that you’re “Done” and will “find your magic elsewhere”??
You truly deserve the golden egg award for most unnecessarily dramatic Karen ever.
Agree with you. I use to love Disneyland, and everything Disney. One thing I have noticed in the past few years at Disneyland (I’m from San Diego, have been to Disneyland many times) is that a few people who work there have been quite rude. I understand some may have had a bad day, but in the past, I was impressed with the workers always being helpful and polite, even when I may have been just another annoying customer asking something stupid.
Actually Disney fireworks have always been massively crowded but that has never really spoiled the sheer excitement of watching the spectacle both at the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT. Anyone should know that you don’t show up 15 minutes before and expect to get a space. Perhaps the most. Crowded we saw it was New Year’s Eve on the Millennium at EPCOT where I attempted to go from France to Germany carrying 4 glasses of champagne. Still a magical experience. Relax and be a kid again and go with the flow.
We went to Disney 2 weeks ago and I AGREE with the crowds, rude hateful people! I’m disabled and had to use a scooter to get around the parks, after the fireworks I was completely run over and was pushed so hard I was knocked off and the scooter and it fell on me by people rushing out 2 guys were trying to yell at the crowd to stop so they could help me but no one else would stop! So we decided not to go back.
I’m guessing the quoted people haven’t been to WDW during spring break or at Christmas pre-COVID on a day when they would hit the old “capacity” at 11am! Trust me, it was far, far worse than what I’ve seen in pictures and videos from the last few weeks.
I was there Sunday-Yesterday. We had a wonderful time. Yes! It was crowded but if you plan right you can get it done. It was also spring break. You have to expect crowds.
I just returned yesterday from a seven day trip to Disney in FL. We stayed on resort at Coronado Springs. The crowds were smaller then in the past. We travel every spring break there for over 7 years, so I did notice it had less people. We had a great time, used the Genie+ and LL. I liked fast pass better because you had three instead of two and you could select it days out vs at 7:00 am. I had no problem finding an up close spot for the fireworks. It was great. The food could be better. We managed the crowd so it was not bad for us. The magic was there. I meant some great people from all over. And had some great conversations with them. We went with open hearts and had a blast. We will be going to Disney in Cal for Halloween.
I have to say the Park Reservation thing they doing doesn’t make a difference. We went in the beginning of February and the crowds were ridiculous. 3 hour wait times. They saying saying the parks aren’t at full capacity. I been going for many many years and have never seen it this crowded. Still and all, we had a blast and will continue to go. I just ask please get rid of Bob Chapek. He is ruining the magic at the parks. Oh Kathleen Kennedy needs to go to. She is ruining everything Star Wars
My last Disney trip was a nightmare. We took my twin girls for their 6th birthday. What was supposed to be a magical experience for them turned into long lines everywhere. They didn’t get to see the characters or ride the rides they wanted to. Spending a little over a thousand dollars for tickets for one day is a scam. There were so many people you couldn’t walk. We spent $200 dollars for hotdogs and fries. Which is absolutely ridiculous. My daughter asked to leave and go back to the hotel to swim. I will never go back to another Disney park. The CEO should be ashamed. All they care about is money and they are taking advantage of everyone who visits there. You spend waybto much money for an experience you can’t even enjoy.
Visited 10 days Early December 2021. Stayed Beach Club and Bay Lake. Parks for 7 days. Have been dozens of times over the last 40 years. Past stay park wise was the worse ever. Incredible crowd’s and lines. Waited 20 mins. Just for custard in MK. We have noticed Disney going down hill our last several visits. Between the Politics and costs, we won’t be back any time soon.
Bob, There are no politics in the parks, but if you’re that much of a simpleton, good… STAY AWAY! “Waited 20 minutes for custard!”
Seriously?? We can already tell what kind of a “guest” YOU are MEGA KAREN.
-Disney is too political. (Nope, No one talks about politics when you’re at the park, it’s in your head. Fox is in your head.)
-Too woke ( No one is cancelling anyone at Disney.. only trying to be more inclusive. )
-Needs “clean cut” employees (Because someone with Purple hair is somehow destroying the magic? Wrong)
Guess what… You might be a brainwashed bigoted Fox viewer. Deep down you know it’s true.
👍👍👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you.. I keep saying the people who are raging like this, are creating drama in their own heads for the sake of drama. They can stay away. Good riddance
But they always do. We all know one of more of these people. They can’t be happy for a singular moment in their lives and they turn everything into a political rage fest. Sad way to live.
My husband and I have been passholders for 15 years but we will not be renewing next year. Our trip in March was crowded (I don’t believe the limited capacity comments any more), lines for EVERY ride was 1 hour plus, food lines for quick service were long and pick up times were hours out. We rode Pirates and left Magic. It was so disappointing. I agree with a comment I read that there are no slow periods any more. Whatever has changed over the last few years has made it less of a magical place and more of a nickel and diming establishment and to me that was extremely disappointing. I believe our beloved Disney World is gone.
Disney is a show – Employees are the cast. In their attempt to be inclusive, they have indeed hired and miscast the wrong people for these roles. I’d rather be served my 15.00 hot dog by a wholesome looking (white or black) – overachiever type – than a fat assed mamba jamba with purple hair and tattoos with a bad attitude. Bad casting. Yea, this is definitely affecting the show.
Lol, take your pathetic ass “family values” and out them where the sun don’t shine, because there are WAY more kinds of human beings than “wholesome white or black” people. Just the fact that you had to “clarify” that tells us EXACTLY the type of person you are.. Racist, bigoted, holier than thou, and full of those fake-ass “values” that YOURE also going to pay the price for on your judgement day.
It has been my dream to go Disney I finally got the opportunity to go with my son and his family. I enjoyed some of the events. I truly understand it would be some wait time and I prepared myself for standing for long time, but there were times we waited 45 minutes that’s a long time with small children. When it came time for the fireworks OMG it was way way too crowded in our family group it was the adults and 2 toddler in a stroller 2 under 7 years and 11 year old we trying to keep an eye on the kids, the crowd, people around making sure they don’t pick your pockets people constantly bumping and pushing. I was so scared if something happened we wouldn’t be able to protect my grandbabies.
Last year, my husband and I took our 2 year old to experience the “magic” of Disney. We will not go back. Every single line was at least an hour wait, could barely find clean bathrooms, our stroller kept gettin moved even with it being in the designated stroller parking, restaurant reservation was so delayed that we ended up having dinner instead of lunch, and then firework time was a mess. We actually got yelled at by park employee for wanting to sit down on the floor next to a planter at least an hour prior to the madness starting. Left so dissapointed ;(
Yeah something is up at WDW. The Genie plus system is a huge disaster. Even when you log on at 7am the top tier rides are unavailable. We got ONE for the whole day. I checked diligently every two hours and all booked. On March 17 we went to HS. We were evacuated off the second floor of Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror broke and closed and then 30 minutes later Rockin Rollercoaster broke due to technical difficulties. Disney is broken right now sadly. Like literally.
No thanks. I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars to be in huge crowds with rude, nasty & violent tourists. Last time at WDW, as a senior, I had a difficult time walking to the exits after the fireworks display, pre-pandemic. The old excitement of a visit to any Disney park has disappeared. It used to be enjoyable. Not anymore. I can’t bring myself to go back, even though I live in FL and/or even if my grandkids visit & want to go there. That’s pretty sad.
I don’t see how they can say the crowds are less than pre pandemic. There were crowds before but with the exception of a few rides there were no super long rides and always some rides or shows that were walk on. I have never been when there were fights but now you hear about a fight or almost fight every week! I do still have my Florida pass but probably will not renew this year. I have only been able to get in once or twice since renewal. Since I have a legacy pass will shortly be blocked out for the summer. It is not worth the cost to only be able to get a reservation 3 times in a year. I don’t like not being able to just drop into the park to grab something to eat or having to plan a month in advance to be able to enter. I have health issues and want to be able to use the pass on days I am not feeling at my worst which happened on one of the days the days this year. We ended up just going in & going back out so that we didn’t get penalized for missing
We also let our passes go. Disney needs to keep out of parents business and politics and pay more attention to who they are hiring (pedophile employees being arrested). Disney has become a cesspool of immorality.
It’s easy to tell you like to make stuff up to make certain people in general look bad. Those “pedophile employees” you’re talking about, are part of a state wide sting operation to target human trafficking- aka, prostitutes. The 4 out of 108 that happened to work at the Disney company (including positions not even physically in park) were all straight, some married men soliciting prostitutes while not working. Soo there’s actually a higher chance that your own husband was probably part of the 108 found statewide, since you wanna try so hard to make this a COMPLETELY different thing. When you hateful bigots start LYING about stuff like this, it only makes YOU look so much worse, and for the hateful bigot you really are.
Its funny how the Republicans who complain the loudest about “cancel culture” are always the first to cancel people.
Also funny that they complain the loudest about people interfering with “parents business” when they literally are the only ones passing laws banning books and certain topics from being taught in schools… Regardless of whether or not local parents actually WANT to teach that slavery was bad
My wife and I went to Disney World in February supposed off season. We went in that time frame, kids in school, kids in college. We were wrong . Some rides weren’t running, some had broke down. We stood in line for a ride an hour and a half to find out the ride was down for repairs. The crowds were terrible half the rides we wanted had over two hour waits. I will never visit any Disney park ever again. I was so mad about the experience I cancelled my Disney plus subscription .
Great idea to reduce crowding and be more inclusive. Let create some new ‘lands’ – right off of Fantasyland. Homoland, Transgender land, Pedophileland, Man-Boy-Loveland. BTW, I identify as a canine, and am really upset as be addressed as a dog – and not allowing me to use the bathroom of my choice (fire hydrant). Stay away from my children.
And HERE we have the perfect example of the vile, hateful, fowl-mouthed rotten “adults” that pretend that THEY are the “perfect, wholesome” ideal for our younger generations. Is THIS truly what we want as the leading examples? This man is so miserable, i don’t know how he functions on a daily basis. Unbelievable
** and by the way, I feel REALLY BAD for “your children”.
My wife asked me if I wanted to go to disney this year. I flatly sad no. Don t get me wrong I love Disney my kids grew up on Disney we vacation at disney. With that said I disagree with the prices and I think that for the most part the food is over rated. Crowded man don’t get going on that. With as much money Disney make per year the prices could be lower. Because waiting in line for two or three if your lucky four rides isn’t worth the the money.
Wow…people are. A bunch of whiners. My family is here now visit the Disney world parks. We came about 3 years ago at the same time in the year.
First off…yeah, things have been cut back because of COVID and inflation. Ok so? That’s all businesses!
Second…crowds are NOT bigger and lines are NOT longer. This a falsehood because of people having to spread out due to COVID. Of all the rides we waited for the Kingstown wait was 45 minutes and this was the standard line. 3 years ago many rides were more than an hour long wait.
Waiting for food service is soooo much better now because of the genie app and ability to have flexibility with food ordering options. You can dictate when you want your food for pickup at a specific location.
I think more people are just being fuggin Karen’s than ever before. They easily forget what it was like a couple years ago before COVID. COVID changed everything including your “magical” experience at Disney.
On another note…if you don’t have kids and are over 18 you really should be at Disneyland or Disney world. Re-evaluate your life if you feel the need to visit.
We waited 6 Hours in the line for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, with no communication as to why and no access to drinks, food or restrooms. I’ve been to Disney multiple times over the last 40 years and have never seen wait times like this. By comparison, we waited for 44 mina for the Velocicoaster ride at Universal. Disney needs to sort themselves out. There seems to be something fundamentally broken with the lightning lane system as all wait times were 1 hour plus and even the “kids” rides had 2 hour plus wait times.
No. No thanks. My first
Disneyland experience? A seven year old in ’55.
Many trips to the Magic Kingdom through the ’70’s.
I no longer ‘long’ for “the fix”. Too old for the crowds and their attitudes.
I went to Disney last weekend and was forced to go to animal kingdom first, as we couldn’t make reservation for magic Kingdom till 2pm. We got the genie passes, but they were useless more reservations and with being able to only do 1 at a time hours later we were stuck in lines all day, Disney may want to consult universal, they know how to keep the lines moving over there. Hands down WORST VACATION EVER. I’ve been to Universal 3 times this year everytime was wonderful. I’ll never return to any of the Disney parks was horrible.
We went last Saturday…we only got to ride 2 rides and the wait was awful. The parking was horrendous with no trams which meant we had to walk in the rain back to the car which was quite a distance. It definitely was not worth the price.
So happy that our family did Disney when life was more sane. We would travel every year from Ontario to Florida in the 1970’s and 80’s when the children were little. It was an amazing experience. No lines, no ridicules rules, reasonably priced. Just easy and fun. I can’t even imagine going now. Nothing is worth that kind of stress.
If you like lines you’ll love Disney – my rough calculations (including hotel) says Disney costs about fifty cents a minute – and it is easy to waste $20 standing on a line – and you would think those running the place would figure out “you can’t spend money while you are standing in line” the old “Fast Pass” plan was vastly better
I have worked in Disney Parks and I met Mickey Mouse. Thomas, when is Donald Duck coming out with his own movie? I suggest Bruce Willis and myself as it’s stars. And to be filmed in Orlando because Florida was billed as the second Hollywood when I moved here. Still hoping for my Disney Dreams come true!
We went just recently and on the day we were at Hollywood studios, all the rides we had lightening lanes for broke down with no options on where to go except toy story. Our kids were so upset and the employees didn’t care. It was the worst experience. So glad we paid thousands of dollars for this.
The author of this article needs to check their editing better. There were several instances of bad editing that was noticeable. That being said, there is allot of good points here that people should take note of concerning Disney Parks. I’ve never been to Disneyland or Disneyworld. Given this direction and recent poor behavior of representatives and actors of the company, I likely never will get to go either. Nor will my son. It is sad, this should serve as a firm warning to companies like Disney. Sometimes, bigger is not better. Sometimes, it is better to walk things back to their roots and go back to being smaller a focus more on quality rather than quantity.
Nice going Disney! Go ahead and post an article after your woke madness! Walt has turned in his grave! Let us now see how the speed pass and reservation business works now! Whomever is running this co. has disgraced, tarnished an made an embarrassment of the Walt Disney name!
Wow … Had my own horror story with the family. During the holidays, the crowd at the same event was beyond a mess. Disney, either turns its back and/or cannot control this problem. My family suffered as you can see others as well. Not to mention the fact that, however amount of time you spent there, half of it is waiting in line….Pretty ironic considering we go there to get away from it all .. Kinda reminds me of traffic a bit…
We went in January, 10 people 7of them children staff members directed my 15yo son and 3 of the younger children away from us they were behind us but close staff moved theo down a different path than us it took us 30minutes to get to them tracking them on our phones missed the whole show it was scary the crowd was massive my son has a good head on his shoulder and kept them together after doing wo they were told without us noticing they were right behind us 🤬
We drove up from our home in FL in February to spend one day at Magic Kingdom with our grandchildren(their family vacation).
I was actually assaulted while waiting in our spot to watch the display. We got there early, kept the kids entertained, then a couple of women with their kids stood right on top of us in the ‘clear’walk, completely blocking our view and stepping on us and bumping us. I politely asked them to move, they responded by raising their cameras up in front of our faces. I asked again for them to please be considerate. Once of them landed he elbow on my shoulder and I pushed it away and she punched me in the arm. Everyone around us saw what happened. I went and got security. Honestly, obnoxious. I didn’t press charges because I wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening with my kids and grandkids.
If you wait 20 minutes to go to a show like Disney that’s your own fault You already know it’s going to be crowded a lot of people have been staying home and able to get out now so don’t blame Disney for people that don’t know how to act in public things are probably settled down in a few more months hopefully but no it takes one person to act up they don’t blame the park itself blame the people that are going they don’t know how to act
There hasn’t been a slow season since 2015. In January, there are the Marathons, Feb,/March, Mardi Gras/Gardner (Cheer Teams)/Spring Break, April Easter, May Star Wars Weekends, June Gay Days, July/Aug Family Vacations, Sep/Oct (used to be Free Dining) Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, Nov filming of the Disney Christmas Parade/Thanksgiving/Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
Seriously, people pay handsomely for the privileged experience of just waiting? Waiting hours for a single ride? Claiming a spot for 3 hours just for fireworks?
When you have an 8 hour day and half of it is spent in line, that is really, really sad.
So gone are the days you could experience the entire Magic Kingdom in a day and a half. In the 70s you could just book a room at the Contemporary, pull out your fold-out map on the spot, and just wander. Every ride was a few minutes, all you needed was the right ticket letter. Isn’t “MAGIC” about discovering life in the moment?
Now you have to go online, pull out your app, pre-book your food and attractions. Not to mention all the hard effort put in trying plan and strategically maximize every minute of your day… you do it because you know you’re spending a fortune for a hyper-competitive experience. That’s what time at Disney has become.
Sadly, most visitors will not be able to experience what Disney used to be. What it has become makes me just not want to visit anymore.
If you live locally, have a season’s pass, and have the time, that’s a different story. But for the vast majority of visitors who spend thousands for a single family trip… it’s a comparative rip-off.
We just finished 5 days at Disney World. Every park was packed with more people than I have ever seen at a Disney park. Most rides had 2 hour long lines by mid morning. The Disney genie + was worthless. All the rides were booked up by 10-11 am. It looks to me like they’re allowing more people in the parks than limiting. I won’t be coming back to a Disney park anytime soon.
It’s pure greed to not set a daily capacity. Maybe keep the reservation system like done with Covid. Disney is supposed to be the most magical experience. It’s elegant and classy and memorable and every kids dream. It should be clean and roomy and pleasurable. This is so sad and not fair to your guest at all. Especially the ones who travel. Shame on you Disney.
I was literally there when this was written. Whoever wrote this apparently knows no live or happiness. This is a KAREN looking to vent because she didn’t get her way. KAREN don’t go to Disney #Disneyfanseverywhere
This is bringing back memories of our New Years trip. From what I’ve been reading it sounds like it’s holiday crowds all year round these days. We went for new years pre-pandemic and had a very similar experience with crowds and the drama that brings. I’m grateful geniie plus wasn’t a thing at that time but Disney’s lack of caring for the crowds became a stain on my perception of the company.
After midnight fireworks at Magic Kingdom they had open all of the side gates for the crowds to make it back to the main gates to exit the park. Cool beans, right? Traffic is flowing, cast members are waiving, and we get a peek behind the magic. That feeling stopped as soon as you realize that everyone is now corralled at the plaza. Think of your busiest commute and the road suddenly ends in a culdesac and you and the rest of the city need to figure out how to make it through one of two gates on either side of the circle.
At this point, Disney lost all credibility. Their exiting plan was and is terrible and to add to the nightmare they somehow decided that minimal lighting would be the best option for young and old to live through their worst Disney sponsored nightmare. Temporary construction spot lights were set up out front. So looking ahead meant being temporarily blinded then immediately losing perspective as you scanned the shadows for stroller wheels and smaller humans before taking the next step. It felt like a movie where the people had been arrested and sent to a holding camp for processing. Zero Disney theming included. ‘They’ll figure it out,’ must have been the thought process then and sadly it seems to be going forward.
We just returned from a short vacation to see a dear friend in the nearby area and thought we’d try our luck for an 8am-2pm day experience at Animal Kingdom before a 6pm flight home. We purchased tickets for 3-adults, made the obligatory reservations and arrived at the park. I had a recent spinal surgery and attempted to use the pre-registration process in advance but ended up on chart hold for TWELVE HOURS so I missed that opportunity before traveling. I needed to rent an electric wheelchair to survive the lengthy distance in the park. The offering of accessibility assist at the park was excellent for the most part but it was comical that toddlers could walk faster than the chairs were programmed to run. I still appreciated the option and was able to navigate the hold queue well with the superior zero turn radius. I did not, however, expect that we would have a painful 2hr wait at each attempted attraction (and I’d missed my opportunity to get pre-registered for disability assist because I wasn’t waiting on the chat line 12hrs later). We promptly tried to purchase fast pass reservations to a few attractions…most sold out before I could get my card out. We did get a $15ea reservation to the animal Safari which was by far the highlight of our trip…at 3pm. We took the risk and afterwards my husband sprinted me, in a loaner wheelchair, to the car parked 38 rows away (no shuttle service in lots that day). This was all around two torrential downpours flooding the park and sending guests into every converted nook and cranny (restroom halls, restaurant lobbies, gift shops, etc). It was by far the worst experience of my life but was a joyful time for my husbands first ever view of Disney (after lifelong envy being born and raised in India)…guess that’s what matters most!!
Our family of 8 visited the Magic Kingdom on 3/30/2022 and it was packed! I never thought I would be trampled but I felt like I had to be on alert bc kids & adults both would walk right in front of you!
We went in January. It was horrible at Disney world. Worst time I have ever had there. Have always been a Disney fan but after that fiasco I won’t ever go back. Our tickets alone was $1,400 not counting genie +. Genie + is a bust. We got there when parks opened and used genie + and our first ride we had to wait 4 hrs for our time slot. We was heading to the ride for our time slot and they canceled our slot. I went all the way back up front to receive money back. Why pay for something that you can’t use? Ridiculous. Then someone lady was shaking her butt inches from my granddaughters face during fireworks. I asked her to move out her face and she started cussing me out and being rude. Then ran for security to have me tossed out. The employees are not what they used to be. They act like you are wasting their time. Definitely not magic at Disney anymore.
Disney used to be my favorite vacation but after this year, it will be a long time until I return. Prices were up, lines were ridiculous and the staff was rude. Not the happiest place on Earth that I have enjoyed in years past. Genie+ is glitchy and caters allows you to spend even more money to buy lightning passes. It’s not enough to spend extra to just get the Genie+. I won’t be back anytime soon unless things drastically change
My family went to wdw in January and it was packed however thats part of the total experience . I dont mind lines that just makes it worth it when you finally get on the ride. GO DISNEY.
This article like so many others is pure lazy garbage. Searching social media for negative experiences and adding a few words of your own is not even elementary school standard.
When we lived in FL (up until a yr ago) we were annual pass holders. I can honestly say that I’ve had one bad experience with the night time show crowd.
It was New Years Eve. I thought it would be “magical” to ring in the new year at Disney.
Boy, was I ever wrong! The crowds were worse than I could ever have imagined, and everyone was cranky. Perhaps they too were disappointed like I was.
Anyway, I wanted to post here that we have gone through the worst part of the pandemic, and managed to still thoroughly enjoy the Disney magic, even through limited capacity.
I actually enjoyed limited capacity. It gave us a real chance to enjoy the most popular rides.
I won’t bash Disney for doing what the rest of the world has been doing for the past two years, making tough choices.
I was in Disneyland and DCA during President’s Day weekend. That is supposed to be one of the busiest weekends for the West Coast Parks all year. Yes, the lines were long and we had to strategically use the Genie+ system to get on the rides we wanted to, but navigating the crowds never seemed to be a huge issue. I’ve been going to the parks since I was about 2 years old and I’ve seen near fights and mini fights (shoving matches), but Disney seems to be putting more care and attention into keeping these situations at bay. We saw undercover Disney employees at the Disneyland Hotel keeping an eye out for anything unruly. The parks may be getting more crowded but Disney is responding accordingly in my opinion.
I literally just came home from Disney today. Magic Kingdom was terrible. It was my first time visiting – I planned my daughter’s 5th birthday for AN ENTIRE YEAR – and I don’t know if i will ever return. We traveled with a party of 7 (3 under 5), my husband had a lady nearly fight him off a carousel horse so SHE could sit on it. So neither of my kids got a horse and my two year old was in the background of all her selfies CRYING. Beyond that, we had lunch at Cindy’s – it took over TWO HOURS. Cinderella never made an appearance during lunch, we met with her briefly beforehand like a normal character meet and greet throughout the park, but with a ridiculous price tag. All the rides were swarmed and it was an all around miserable experience. The only highlight besides leaving was we managed to snag a couple front row seats to the parade and a couple cast members took pity on my 9 month old and pointed a fan in her direction while sharing their shade with me.
We went in January n it rained the one day and was pretty chilly the rest. The crowd level was very tolerable. Except the day it got up to 60 degrees and we were at MK. It was absolutely insane, I was so upset how busy it was!!! Enchantment was absolutely amazing but it was so scary with all my kids, we lost 2 at the end n I about lost it. The line cutting was absolutely out of control and no one did anything about it. That was my biggest irritation. I lived the Genie+ and lighting lane, hope they never take it away!! Made our trip so much better! Can’t imagine how crazy it will be next time we go with everyone saying how bad it is.
Disney used to pride itself on their ability to handle crowds and make sure every visitor has a wonderful experience. Although you paid top dollar for the experience, there was so much to do you never felt ripped off.
From the comments and friends who have returned, those days appear to be gone. No one wants to return to a park where you feel you have been taken advantage of. Right or wrong, Disney’s bizarre political views have alienated millions of parents – the ones who decide where to spend vacation dollars. The combination of high prices, poor value, and their disdain for traditional families has damaged their brand.
While there has been no apparent drop in attendance, today’s vacations were planned a long time ago. It will be interesting to see how parents decide to spend their vacation dollars in the coming years.
Comments for Disney World Guest Has “Never Seen Anything Like it” After Awful Magic Kingdom Experience
Bernie
We live here in Florida and we let our annual passes go for a couple of reasons. First Disney cut many things that our children enjoy like the lion king show was cut in half. Second the parade is gone. And third it’s way too crowded. We have been back once since we let our passes go and we were able to do a couple of attractions and that was it. We wound up getting annual passes to another couple of parks that is much more manageable with our children.
Norman
We let our Florida passes go. It used to be fun anytime. It’s no longer the same place. The ugly political vibe also makes Disney not so magical. It has gone from being a magical place to a continuation and amplification of the worlds troubles. I hope they figure things out one day.
Sue
You are spot on. Besides being horrible now, it’s political on top of it. I doubt this would be Walt’s plan. 😒
Deborah Hearon
Exactly
Ann
Crowds were miserable and costs were sky high. I have been going to WDW for many years, first with children and then with grandchildren. No one wants to go back and we won’t.
Linda
Agreed! Way to political
Lois
Desantis is trying to please far right wingers in anticipation of the 2024 presidential election with laws that only serve to inflame hatred for anyone unlike white, Christians.
Falling for his bait only proves the gullible minds of republicans.
I applaud Disney for the courage to stand up for what is morally correct.
SR
And make 50% of their customers mad. Why not stay out of politics and just make people happy..
Randy
Moral courage is in short supply these days. We need more of it.
john.reiter70@gmail.com
get used to it Lois – don’t like it ? Move to a Blue State , you’ll be taxed way more , but at least , your politics will line up with your state … enjoy the “New World Order”, according to Biden & his “Woke” progressives !!
Wes Mantooth
Yawn
Bob
Partisan hacks are so boring. Yawn. I agree
Bill Devlin
You are the problem Lois, people like you drive these woke crowds, morally correct, really, morally correct. So, turning from God is morally correct, the wisest of man kind is foolishness to God.
Jon Thompson
So, you’re telling me that everyone but White, Christian Americans are perfectly okay with talking about sex change operations and the like with Kindergarteners through 3rd graders? Because, you know, that’s what is in the bill, not anything about not talking with children older than that. It’s about letting children be children for awhile before hitting them with this kind of material. If a parent wants to talk about such things with their child, they’re perfectly okay to obviously do so. Maybe you’re just a Democrat liberal shill. And Disney taking a “moral stance” for children would see them supporting Governor DeSantis.
Jake Shields
Ok groomer
Karen
We are at Disney now, it will be our last. Some rides were 1.5 to 2 hour wait. For the money, you should be able to do more than 8 or 10 rides. Trying to find places to eat is crazy!
Kayla
What political vibe, Norman??? We just went and there was NO “political vibe”. Crowed? Yes. Expensive? Yes. But you guys create more freakin drama in your own heads for the sake of drama. Unbelievable
Dan
Coming out with new movies that have young children as gay and supporting the LGBTQ community. They have turned the page from pure and innocent to trash and social garbage. What makes Disney think they need to cave to the immoral life styles of these minority groups
Diane
Absolutely right
Kevin
You know what’s immoral?? Disgusting bigoted and hateful people like you who think YOU won’t be judged when your day comes for having more hate and bigotry in your heart than any of these people. Good luck with that.
Linda S
Amen, Kevin. Everyone deserves a voice to represent them. I’d like to see characters who are differently abled too.
Kat
How about some brains characters dead ,
Kat
***brain dead
Monkey
Could be voiced by you!
john.reiter70@gmail.com
Kevin,
Try Russia as your new country/society o residence …. the
Communist authories , will welcome you as an anti American stooge & a potential Russin CM apartchick who caoul ask for more for someone like yourself ??
conrad
Dan, I pray your kids don’t come out as gay to you or you’ll probably disown them and they’ll turn into street people. Talk about garbage. Start with your parenting.
Kara G
LOLOLOL because the rapey stalker vibe from Gaston was all great and the young teenage princesses marrying grown ass man was fine for you guys too but WHOA not same sex love! Keep your stupid vapors at home. Disney doesn’t need you.
Chris
Consider the source. Who is now running the place? It’s the gay crowd. Would you expect anything different than what they’ve been shoveling out?
john.reiter70@gmail.com
Really, Kara G :
Why not (if you haven’t already) visited Shanghai, China Disney ?? Get ‘out of-line there , and find out what your Chinese ‘dream’ might be … why do you think so many are desperate to get here (US) today ??
Maria
And YOURE the “good” example with your hateful and disgusting behavior? Way to lead by example, real mature. I wouldn’t want YOU anywhere near my kids.
001
000, please do everyone a favor and off yourself bud.
Linus
I have no sympathy for anyone willing to spend their money to stand in long lines for extended periods of time to view what are mediocre attractions at best. Walt’s plan was never to have such sky high prices to see the attractions at his parks. But apparently this business model does work.
Abby
Walt would be shocked and sad to see what has become of his beautiful dream
Sru86A
Agreed. Isn’t it interesting that all of this negative press comes as Disney is becoming targeted by Florida politicians over the “Don’t say gay” bill? This is a smear campaign by the FL governor.
Kathy
No, Disney was getting this way WAY before this Bill…..even before Covid..Covid just gave Disney to door to implement all these things like paid fast passes..park ressies etc..do not blame it on that freaking Bill or the FL governor. We were passholders for 17 yrs and we did not renew when covid hit and looks like we won’t be going again. We have wonderful memories of what Disney used to be like..magical
DEBDDEB
No, as a parent I don’t think it is appropriate to discuss gender issues with a 5 year old. Read the bill. And why would anyone want to go on vacation and see a huge poster about a character getting her menstrual cycle? Some people are ridiculous.
Joe
I agree there are always crowds in disney and they are manageable. When been going the last 20 years we love it….as far as prices we’ll that we can’t do nothing about it that’s happening everywhere…..
Peter
AGREE!!!
Linda
It has changed and not for the better. On top of ridiculously high ticket pricing, disney wants more $$$ to get on your favorite rides. We have so far resisted paying for any lightening passes but we also haven’t ridden many rides. And that’s after visiting the parks multiple times since late 2021. We were going to bring 3 year old grandson this fall and have reconsidered. Not coming until disney gets this improved.
Judy Milligan
Genie + is a joke. At 7,01 first available time was 4:45 pm. So not worth the money.
Jayson Derrick
My name is Jayson Derrick and we just got back from Walt Disney World. We went to celebrate my 50th birthday and my daughter’s 1st Disney run. We have been going to Disney since 1996 and we have never seen it like this before. These crowds are just absolutely nuts. Even though the Cast members are trying to keep the magic alive, there is just no way to do so with the way Disney and Bob Chapek are running things.. The magic is just gone.
Steve
Pure hell, Disney packs their guests in the parks like sardines in a can. The magic is gone. Corporate greed is everywhere. Gone are the days of the bus transporting guests from the airport to the resorts, disney character paper products, fast passes, free parking at the resort, Cape Mays crab leg buffet the list goes on and on. An American icon ruined for $$$$$. Greed, greed, greed.
john.reiter70@gmail.com
Agreed ! the Disney (‘true legacy) and his closest relative (Roy Disney) would be mortified, and ashamed at the Corp. Greed now ascendent at Disney… so goes a prior dream from some great founders !!
Desarie Schweitzer
I always thought they could improve it by giving everyone a ” fastpass” that guarantees you five rides automatically for your expensive ticket. I already paid to ride, why do I have to pay extra to ride because you don’t limit attendance?
Paula Montes
To be fair (and I was at Disney World all week), Universal also has huge crowds, long wait times, and a pay to ride system. It seems to be the theme park “norm” these days.
C. Alley
It’s sad. We’ve been to Disney at least once a year since 2012. We’ve been 12 times during the pandemic because it was extremely cheap to fly. Disney has lost itself. The CEO/ management team have forgotten what the magic formula is: taking care of guests, providing unique experiences and keeping costs to a slight premium, not half your 401k.
Record revenues now will soon be a thing of the past. From the politics to the cancelation of the features and shows that made Disney special, this place is going to suffer until new management that has a clue is installed.
Kevin
We were there last summer and it was a disaster. I think we were able to get on four rides at Magic Kingdom. One of the rides youbhad to try to register for, i think it was the new star wars ride. You had to be ready at 1pm and have a super fast internet connection to try to get a spot. Needless to say, that didn’t work. Didn’t purchase hopper since we were told that there was no guarantee that we would be able to get into another park because of capacity restrictions.The food situation was a whole other nightmare, at the parks and hotel. Transportation was awful. I sat waiting for a bus from our hotel almost 2 hours one day. Was about to give up and then it finally showed. I talked to a few bus drivers to see if they could find out what happened. One driver was very nice and went out of his way to help and two other drivers could care less. Very disappointed in the “New” Disney.
Denise D Allen
I went a few month ago. I won’t be back. It’s to crowed and couldn’t enjoy anything. Wait times to ride anything was 60+. First time I took my grandkids. They didn’t enjoy it. We won’t be back!
Kathy
We were just there and honestly, it is the worse trip we have had to Disney. The crowds were atrocious. We did pay the extra for genie+ and lightning lane, but we only could ride 2 or 3 premium rides a day with it because those rides are always taken even though we got up at 7 o’clock each morning to get a pass for what we wanted to ride most. And obtaining dining reservations was even worse. My daughter and I spent the few weeks before our trip trying to get the dining reservations we wanted. It was insane what we had to go through to get them. We ended canceling most of them because our days did not go anything like they needed to because of the genie + system. Our family loves Disney but we have decided that we won’t be back anytime soon, maybe never if something doesn’t start to give for the future.
Beth Torok
Disney Vacation Club member here, who has been to Disney World yearly… sometimes twice a year before Covid. Been twice since – the last being the 2nd week in March 2022. This trip was by far the worst experience we have had (25+ trips in our history). Bought into Genie+ and Lightning Lanes and were only able utilize twice per day. And Lightning Lane ended up being cancelled twice due to ride down issues. Struggled with getting park reservations for a 75 year old Florida resident annual pass. Lines for food, drink, rides were horribly long. Never seen before long. Went to Universal for the 1st time during this trip and had a fabulous time without having to spend money on any “extras”. The Disney magic was absent this trip. And when adding up the cost of the trip, even without having to pay for a room…. it it no longer worth it. The $250 for the used to be complimentary Disney Express bus service to and from the airport was the nail in the coffin. Don’t know what we are going to do with our DVC membership as Disney is no longer at the top of our list for vacation. Very very sad at how much things have changed.
Paula Montes
We went to both WDW and Universal this week and both parks were CROWDED!! Honestly Wizarding World of Harry Potter was so crowded I was slightly frightened for my children!!! WDW was also packed. Both had crazy long lines for the popular rides. An example for each park – we waited 170 minutes for Hagrids Motorbike Adventure but only waited 15 minutes for Cat in the Hat. At WDW we waited 60 minutes for Remy, but walked onto Nemo twice in a row.
tvnutt
Seriously? This article is ridiculous. Disney still has reservations which means crowds will never be as bad as they were before this. I’ve been to Disney when they closed MK for capacity and that was in the 80s!!!
Arod
The park reservation system is “ploy” …there is no way Disney jas ANY intentions of keeping crowds down, especially when we were there in February and the crowds were stupid ridiculous…if they were trying they would put a “true limit” on people being in the park and NOT that specific park would not have 50000 people in it. But they have become so involved in making money over peoples experiences, thats the way it is now. DISNEY WILL NEVER go down the tubes because of the foreign visitor but they will experience less visitors, less purchases and ultimately less money…something has to “give”
Mindav
What has happened to Disney except being money hungry! The price is too expensive for regular families to be able to enjoy. There are other parks to enjoy in the US. Dollywood, Knott’s Berry Farm, Six Flags and Schlitterbahn! We don’t need Disney!
Karen
Live in Florida took my two oldest grandchildren it was horrible two hour wait for a ride, the Genie does not work has you running from end of the park to the other end can’t pick time so pay extra for nothing, the crowd unreal can’t move on top of everyone. Forget the fireworks in the evening kids will get crushed from the crowd let alone when time to leave. I have young grandchildren let the parents know I will not be able to do it again that they should also not take them not worth the money not the Disney I remember just horrible.
Jason
If you are comparing crowds to 2021 then yes it is crowded. If you are looking at them from 2019 I would say they are the same. In 2019 I remember crowds for the fireworks down to the flagpole on Main Street. I will say over the last 9-10 years there doesn’t appear to be an “off” season any more in the early Spring like there use to be. Even on the most crowded day I planned ahead with lunch and dinner reservations and still managed to get 6 rides in using Genie+. I think the total amount of time we waited in lines was like 1.5hrs, in total. We also knew one of the days was going to be PACKED so we went to Seaworld which was really fun to bounce outside the park for a change.
Do you want your kids to remember the fun or mom/dad complaining about the crowds all day? Guess you just need to remember what you booked the day for.
Charles
I agree with jason If you been there before covid 19 than you should know that it crowds and did the park close after the fireworks show and now we have Karen that are trying to destroy disney
Tina
Our family of 12 was just there this last weekend. We had an age range of 2 years old to 51 years old with 2 strollers. I didn’t think the crowds were that bad at all. We did Animal Kingdom in Friday, and Magic Kingdom on Sunday. Our longest wait was 15 minutes because we planned ahead and utilized lightning lane for scheduling. The fireworks show was amazing, we got situated at 8:30, shared some snacks, exchanged photos from the day, then watched the beautiful show. I saw no “trampling to the exit”, politically charged marketing, fights, or anything. Proper planning and some organization make for a smooth visit.
Doug
Sorry, the magic is gone for us. Recent visit unpleasant, stressful with my face buried in my phone for everything. My kid doesn’t feel the connection and nostalgia like I once did, and is really not excited about returning to parks. Unbearable long lines, caste systems, high prices, perceived greed, changes to guest experiences due to COVID, all contributed to their decline. Just not worth it anymore. Looking for other things to do now. Don’t know how or if they will ever be able to fix it. So Sad.
Julie
I agree whole heartedly. Disney has list its Magic. Remember what Walt built it for.
Marcus
Who, white straight people?
Julian H
Marcus, I’ve noticed you always have to bring race into a discussion, why?
This discussion was about an awful Disney experience, but you feel you have to go a step further.
Can we all not just get a long.
Raven Rose
Because it used to be a dream job. There was no politics, left or right. It’s ok to be whoever you are at Disney. Biggest thing was people behaved, they were immersed. Now staff have to deal with white trash, Karen’s & Ken’s & general over entitlement. No one wants to work there anymore because people are jerks. That’s it, that’s the change. It’s all ugliness now.
Maria
Raven Rose, spot on! the only people bringing in the “political vibe” are bigoted guests who are trying to create drama. Otherwise, there’s no “political vibe” in the parks. Pretty funny actually. People create their own imagined drama.
Marcus
Only people I see bringing the political vibe are you guys always talking about the political vibe… Because Disney doesn’t discriminate, they are political… just keep it real… you want everyone in your world to look, act, and think like you… that is until you find out one of your kids is gay
Kat
***Disney is WOKED up
Molly
Amen. People are gross and abusive now. And they blame the cast members. Terrible examples of their children.
Karen
I have been brought on Disney magic. From magical world of Disney to Mickey mouse club. When I married and had my children I wanted them to find the magic experienced for generations before. I have been traveling to Florida for almost 40 years with my children and now grandchildren. I am sad to say my recent trip was the opposite of magical. Disney has become political. The magic and safe feeling always associated with Disney is gone. I left the parks feeling frustrated. Overcrowded. Broken down systems. Cleanliness gone. Now reading and watching the news of the direction in which Disney is going makes me feel very sad. Then angry. They have taken pure happiness and wonderment and have made the future political and woke. We went to Disney to become enfolded in a time untouched from the realities of the news and strife. We escaped to magical. Not anymore. I never thought I would say I won’t go back. But there it is. Disney is becoming a place I know longer recognize nor want to be a part of.
Babs
I experienced the hall of presidents show while Trump was newly in office. They made his animatronic figure purposely not pay attention to the other presidents and even look down at his nails. It was obviously on purpose due to their political opinions and it disgusted me to watch that with my children. Shame on them.
Conrad
Karen, indeed.
Molly
I’m hoping they all start “ never coming back” soon so some dining reservations open up next week.
Teri
We took our 2 grand daughters in March, and I have to say making the reservation after you buy the tickets was very confusing. So we ended up separate for most of the day. Our girls were with the one grandma and myself and their mom were in another park. I think the whole reservation thing is flawed. It certainly did not help keep the crowds down. We could move at times. As for the fireworks we headed for the exit and watched them from the ferry, was very pretty, and we beat the crowd.
Michael Park
Tourists please Stay home.
Julie Florida
LOL that will never happen
Kathy
Walt would not be happy! I’ve been to Disney 30+ times in my life as I work in travel and the last experience in November 2021 was the worst ever. Lightning Lane and Genie are terrible! The concept was not thought through at all especially from planning purposes. How do you make dining reservations ahead and not be allowed to cancel them within 24 hours ahead or pay a fee but you can’t get your lightning lane until the day of your visit then you have to choose between the dining reservation you made or potentially going on a ride that you’ve never been on before! In addition, Disney has now out priced the average person with these insane prices! You can’t even get into make a lightning lane at 7am unless you are staying at a Disney Resort which many ppl don’t choose to do. So for popular attractions forget it! If you are park hopping, again forget it! They will be all booked for the day before you can ever get in! Hotel services are also lacking…I am a Disney lover but was do incredibly disappointed, not sure when I will go back! Word of advice, if you have never been and are looking to experience it all, wait a few years until they hopefully get it together!
Neena
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have to pay extra with that Genie+ thing to go on the rides I want to when I’ve already dropped $100+ per day to get in! Disney gets you coming and going these days. You need a second mortgage to visit nowadays. I’ve been going with my family annually since 1986 and anymore I can’t justify putting out all that money for a lackluster experience. I guess it’s just a rich people’s park now, and that’s a shame bc I looked forward to our vacations every year.
Deborah Hearon
Exactly
Jay
Genie + is Optional. You don’t have to purchase it. You can go and just wait in Standby line.
Julie
As well as locals!
Peter
Disney executives, PLEASE go back to 2019 operations with the Free Fastpass+, everything went smooth, lines weren’t extremely long, food was better and the “magic” was still there. Covid restrictions are over, so what’s the excuse for not returning to the plan that actually worked?
Arod
And too many trashy locals at that!!
Wes Mantooth
Isn’t it a tourist destination? Isn’t that why Disney exists?
Patrick
The paid ride experience shouldn’t be mentioned along Genie+ as it is not required to have. Additionally, I wouldn’t mention Rise, Remy, Flight of Passage, Seven Dwarves at all without the disclaimer that you will not be able to purchase these rides if you are not a premium WDW hotel guest (not the bulk of hotels offered by WDW). That’s the perk of paying more than $500 a night, you get to pay more money to ride rides a la carte. We were able to purchase rides for the rest of our group that were not staying in a Premium hotel. Just open those up to all at 7am, you get it you get it.
Peter
Patrick, the so called Genie + was free to everyone up to 2019. If you enjoyed throwing money away, Be our guest!
JD
So many articles just glossing over the fact that the Mouse House theme parks are really in a bad state. No way you could convince me to return and I have taken my 10 year old 5 times in her life. It’s not fun or magical. You are glued to your reservation system or sweating in line for 70% of your vacation. And that’s if you are an expert and know the “tricks” Hard pass for the foreseeable future. Could get the same experience standing in line at the DMV streaming a Disney+ movie on your phone.
Jerry
LOL
Jerry
The idea that a Disney day is a child’s dream has been a long time myth. Put aside that you can spend untold anxiety ridden time sorting out how you can be where when such as using reservation machines and even planning the locations, while kids are standing around figuring out when the fun begins, it’s the worst “fun” place on earth. If you just show up and have not developed the skill sets for a successful day, like at least five tries, by the time you get in the park after parking and then either taking a insanely crowded boat or monorail, mind you waiting on a third or fourth one because of lines, it’s already 10:30. Then reservations and all that technological gyrations and disappointments, the kids are exhausted and hungry. You are lucky to get on a first major attraction ride by 1:30. And bringing young children is insane. There are only a few “kiddie park” rides anyway. Unless you stay at at WDW hotel five nights, spend hours planning, preparing, knowing all the ins and outs of reservations, genie + etc, have the ability to not need to leave home at 6:30 am to conquer the day, like sleep in, hotel breakfast and/or afternoon rest and return for night events and spend $3000, avoid punishing yourself, wife and kids. Going to WDW for a day with kids is child and parent abuse
Chad Page
Yes we just returned from Disney World, and we stayed at an off property resort and it was wonderful. DW itself was not so fun at all. My wife and i were serious about becoming DW club members but absolutely NOT. Our trip last year was not very enjoyable and this year confirmed that we are done with Disney. Its for the kids and its become political. The lines were horrible and the excitement and genuine niceness of the staff was almost not there. Its not Magical at all anymore. We have been to DW 18 times throughout the years and this year was the last time we will be spending our money at any of the parks. Its just not worth it to stand in line all day to ride a handful of rides and eat less than desirable food. Just one example is we got to MK early to ride the Seven Dwarfs ride and the wait time was 120 min. We expected that but when it was all said and done we waited for over 3 1/2 hrs. for a 30 second ride. With the rudeness of employees, other guests and the parks not clean like they have been in the past as well with the disgusting prices for tickets, food, merch we will not be returning. Florida has so many great things to offer and do for reasonable prices, and not wasting my time. I could keep going on about our DW experience but they have waisted enough of my time.
Chris Kinney
Sounds like you didn’t get there early enough. Did you rope drop Mine Train? We rope dropped Rise of the Resistance on our Hollywood Studios day and got on in 5 minutes. It is still possible to have a great time there, with just a little planning. First week of December last year, Christmas decorations were magical, low crowds and wait times (longest was an hour for Slinky Dog Dash), had a great time. We can’t wait to go back! As for the politics, you don’t see that in the parks.
Mike
Reviewer said, “Stayed off property”, there is your biggest issue with trying to hit rides at rope drop. The resort guests get in early so lines will be long if you are general admission. You HAVE to stay at a resort, preferably one close to the Skyliner.
Chad
We stayed of property, but at preferred resort ,so we did utilize the perks as much as we could. And every day we were at the parks at rope drop. As well as payed preferred parking We have been to Disney 18 times, as well as a Disney cruise. The cruise was top notch. But the parks and resorts are not Magical like the past and prices continue to skyrocket. Don’t know much about the skyliner thx for all the input
Chad
Yes we’re there at rope drop , because we stayed at a preferred Disney resort not on property, so yes we got the same perks. Problem was an 120 min wait and turned into 3 hrs. And yes politics are at the parks.
Chad Page
We have been to Disney world 5 times and i will admit it was magical for the first 3 times but then it got worse from there and the last experience ended our Christmas experiences at Disney. Chris i understand you love everything Disney and want only positive responses but people have the right to post how THEY viewed and experienced DW. Believe me it breaks my heart the way our last three DW trips have gone. I just choose, like others to express our opinions and vacation elsewhere.
Chad Page
Sorry i meant to say we have been to DW 5 times during Christmas. corrected
Christopher
I maybe wrong but it seems to me it’s not hard to realize who are Republicans and who are democrats by reading these posts…
Kayla
Bottom line is, I’ve been to the parks recently. Yes, there are higher crowds and higher prices but there were NONE of these dramatic “political vibes” some of these “grown adults” keep mentioning. Some people just love to create more drama in their head for the sake of it.
Julian H
Spot on Kayla a voice of reason.
Wes Mantooth
On here, yes. At the park? Everyone was apolitical in apperance and behavior for sure.
Deborah Hearon
Exactly agree 100%
Bud
Chad, you’re just another Karen who’s “done with the parks”, but has like 10 different paragraphs because you really just want attention. Go somewhere else then, simple as that!
As for the politics that you say are “at the parks”, I guess you’re referring to tha hall of presidents, the flag raising ceremony, and providing discounts for military guests because the only other politics your type of people are complaining about are all IN YOUR HEAD. So many people that like to create more drama for the sake of it.
GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!
JAFO65
This is why Disney just needs to focus on what they are suppose to do best…..entertainment and maintaining their parks instead of trying to get in the Florida politics. Mind your own business and entertain.
Julie Florida
SO TRUE 100%
Wes Mantooth
If you recall, they tried to stay out of it, but people in Florida for whatever reason look to Disney Corporation to be their moral compass.
George
My wife and I are both in our 70’s and are Florida residents
.My granddaughter who’s from the Pittsburgh area was marching in the parade at DW on Feb 26,this year..The cost just to park $25, and two tickets to admit to park were $317..We were there just for the parade, approx 2 hrs on a hot day, rode no rides, couldn’t get a drink of water from any fountain as they were all covered in plastic, I assume because of Covid, bottled water was $9 if you could find any, crowds were unbelievable huge, and the parade turned out to be just two bands,and Mickey Mouse on float waving..Greed has taken over and this is the biggest rip off in Florida..That will my last visit.. Horrible, expensive experience!
Julie Florida
Sorry your experience was bad. Agree with you about the greed! It takes forever to get food or drinks not just the long lines for the rides.
It only makes sense if you have passes to go anymore. It’s way too expensive for a single day!
Chris Kinney
Cups of ice water are free at any restaurant.
Deborah Hearon
Keep praising them. Are you u corporate or a stock holder? Give me a break. They are terrible anymore and definitely not worth it. 😒
Laura
It’s worth noting that it’s a long-standing Disney Parks policy that you can go up to any counter service eatery in the park and request a complimentary cup of ice cold water. So don’t vilify Disney for adhering to a worldwide health cruise by temporarily closing down germ-infested water fountains.
Arleen
After my visit in January I believe I will never go back it was absolutely horrible worst that before covid. Rude cast member horrible dining, Lines were super long. I still have two tickets that I will probably not use is not worth it anymore.
Lol
Cool, can I get ‘em??
steve jenney
Stayed 4 day$$$$$ at A of A 5 PEOPLE. 5 Park hoppers…5 Genie+ (it does work) 5 sit down meals. I am mobility handicapped…not obese or lazy. My handicap is not visual to anyone. I do use a scooter. When we arrived at MK as I always do I went to town hall to get a disability access pass as done in the past. It’s really only a one at a time access sometimes 2 or 3 hours from request. When I arrived I was approached by a 20 something young lady..I asked for handicap access for me and my party…she said “are you able to walk? I said yes for short distances or time” She then says “well if you are able to walk you can take the scooter through the lines” Never have I even been asked never mind the fact that with the lines so long it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to navigate through the mazes! I had been there in September and had handicapped access which I used fir return times but since it was less crowded I DUD go through the que maze a few times as well. Even with less crowds and less turns I still managed to hit a few poles and my daughters foot a few times. So. .are they refusing access to handicapped people with non visible or limited mobility to force you to purchase GENIE? I too think we are done Fter over 30 years of visits.
Kat
DAS is not for mobility issues. It hasn’t been for a long time. If you have other reasons for needing it, you should have spoken up.
Deborah Hearon
Well sorry but it should be. Give me a break.
Mobility Challenged Guest
Sorry, but Kat is correct. DAS no longer intended for mobility challenged guests. Most rides are now easy accessed by the mobility challenged. Prior abuse of DAS (and to an extent – now as well) people using DAS as a replacement for the old Fastpass system. Yea, it sure would be nice to get a scheduled return time for each an every ride. Abuse still continues. DAS now intended for those families that may have, for example, a severely autistic child – that absolutely can’t wait in queue – and must return at a scheduled time. Their scheduled return time is equal to the current wait time for the regular guests. An equitable solution for those that really need it – not for those trying to maximize their Park experience.
MH
It says under the Disability Access System instructions that the use of a mobility aid (walker, wheelchair, scooter) serves to self-identify you to the cast member at the ride entrance, so no further identification is needed. That has been the policy since at least 2019. I went from a cane to a scooter to a power wheelchair, so trust me I understand your frustration. And I can also walk a few steps (very few and very slowly) so there are few rides I can ride at the parks any longer. I also noticed when they put up the plexiglass barriers in the ride queues they made it MUCH too narrow for a scooter to pass. Several rides have wheelchairs to use temporarily to get through the line (Pirates comes to mind) so you do not have to stand. Unfortunately pirates is now on my “do not ride” list because I can no longer climb out of the boat. Sorry you were frustrated but it wasn’t a recent change.
Dan Buckley
We had purchased park passes several months ago for around $2500. A week prior to our scheduled trip, our daughter became very I’ll and was hospitalized. Needless to say, we were unable to go on our trip. We have been trying to find out if we can use these passes at a later date. Disney has been unresponsive. Not very family friendly.
Justin
Hey, more negative BS from this crappy site. Surprise. Is this site owned by DeathSantis? Please stay home. Don’t come, to the parks. We won’t miss you here. Writers included.
Lauren Jen
Are you talking about the governor that will probably be the next president? He is great and he understands the constitution unlike a lot of people in power.
Deborah Hearon
Desantis is the best. Better then the crap, death, killer in office right now. Florida is the best. Do not like it, go to NY or CA. NY being the death trap in early COVID. 😒
Arod
Hey justin, with clowns like you disney will go down the tubes because obviously libtards lime yourself wont be able to “foot” the bill to keep disney afloat– people are allowed to voice their opinions, so dont try to shout down people as the typical lib losers do!
Ronny
You are literally trying to shout him down for voicing his opinion…
Terri
I have only been home 2 days from Disneyworld and had a great time even being 74 and a bum knee. Any trip is what you make it. We were on a 3 generation girls trip and everyone got to do what they wanted and not always together. The Magic Kingdom fireworks were amazing. We got in front of castle about 30 minutes early and had no problems. We waited in place for crowds to clear some since we did have someone in a wheelchair. But made it on Ferry without issues.
Cast members were all awesome. Go with good attitude .
Chris Kinney
Nice to hear something positive for a change! We also had a great trip last December. Christmas at Disney is fantastic!
Molly
Yep. It’s all what you make it. If you are on this site you know what Disney is and has always been. Crowded, hot, long lines are part of the experience but you plan accordingly and hopefully actually like the people you are with!
Now, if you are fixated on politics and “see them” at a theme park, then that’s your problem and all you will see everywhere. You are also likely an angry person – left or right – and spread misery wherever you go.
George
The last time I went to Disneyland they were chasing all of the guests out. We hadn’t been there for several years years and nothing has changed except you need to have a fat wallet. I’ve had my fill of Disney. It used to be fun. George.
Mike W.
For a “woke” company that is supposed to treat all people equally, Bob Chapek certainly doesn’t mind drawing a clear line separating the middle class from the elite. Only allowing Deluxe guests to take advantage of evening extra magic hours is a prime example of that.
With regards to these overcrowding problems, this is what you can expect from any future Disney trips until people stop coming. But as long as people will allow Disney to take advantage of them, nothing will change.
Jason
Too expensive, lines are too long. I gave up on Disneyland a long time ago.
Chuck
We visited first week of December 2021 and it was the worst experience I’ve ever had at Disney. Everything depends on the mobile app and reservations. You can’t just strategically walk around the park, experience the major attractions and a few other minor attractions and be done in less than 8-10 hours. It’s an all day grind of hurrying to the next reservation to the other side of the park and then zigzag back to the other side only to wait again. Besides the “cast members” being rude and hardly helpful, the wait times were the worst I’ve seen. The new genie+ system or whatever it is now is trash. The woke culture has taken over the disney staff and management. The participation trophy generation are now making decisions from the underground offices probably hardly if ever seeing what it takes as a guest to truly have an enjoyable time. Don’t get me wrong we always expect to wait and yes some rides will be temporarily closed for repair but it was absolutely excessive. It’s only going to get more expensive and miserable unless something drastic happens from the top down.
One solution might be to build a few more parks here in the US? As for now our solution is to not visit until we hear things improve.
Chris Kinney
Sorry to hear you had a bad trip. We also went the first week of December, and had low crowds and wait times the whole week. Got on Rise of the Resistance in 5 minutes, and our longest wait time was an hour for Slinky Dog Dash. Christmas decorations were magical. Didn’t notice any “wokeness” from the staff, but I know everyone’s experience is different. I’m just trying to inject some positivity into these mostly negative comment sections. It IS still possible to have a great time there.
Maria
“Woke culture and participation trophy generations” are making the decisions on what rides go down for regular maintenance? Really? This is your take on things as a rational adult??
The parks ARE busier and more expensive. But your dramatics with the whole “woke” thing are probably the reason you’re so miserable in general. I’ve been to the parks recently and the only “woke and political vibes” are ALL in your head. Some people love to create more drama for the sake of it. Unbelievable
Saralee
Can anyone tell me how the parks are NOT at capacity?? Done 20 trips and the last two, nothing but 40 minute waits, 2 hour. Nowhere to sit, waiting for a tables. Getting to “anything” is like running the gauntlet.
Pam
Refuse to waste another dime on Disney. It has lost the magic and the appeal. It is no longer the Happiest Place on Earth. They should rename it to the most expensive place on Earth. Employees are rude. Food is expensive and no linger delicious. So sad.
Daniel f F James
Took my daughter husband and grandkids to Disney world a couple days ago the lines were horrendous. Now they want money for everything you think once you pay the big bucks to get in there things would be included but that’s not the way it is and there will agenda is just so unnecessary. Don’t think I’ll be back again!
Carol
Just did Disney World with a party of 12 for spring break and everyone had a fabulous time. Some of us stayed on Disney properties overnight, some didn’t but took city bus transportation to the parks with no issues. We ended up purchasing Genie+ each day because we found it to be worthwhile to skip some long lines. I think our longest wait was for the Avatar ride one time (2.5 hours–turned out TOTALLY worth it…rode it again as the park was about to close–way less wait time), but when you’re with a big group of people talking, or getting to know others in line, the time went by quickly. All 12 of us from TX–7 adults & 5 high school seniors) really had a fun time.
MoRyn
Just visited Disneyland in Southern California and our first experience using Geni+ app and it was horrible the crowds were insane and the standby lines were 90min wait especially for the main attractions. The reservations system was confusing and would not reserve all members at one time for a ride it kept doing only one member to were that member couldn’t ride the ride at the same time with others in your group or it would time you out for 2hrs when you never used the redemption.
Dan
I went to Disney world for two days. The Magical Kingdom wasn’t magical. Everything revolved around the online app. Even food service. The next day at Epcot was better.
Linda robinson
I think Disney is getting greedy. It’s terrible that you have to pay extra for certain rides and genie. We pay enough just to get into the park. Food and souvenirs are overpriced. I will be going with family 8 of this year, probably last time. Will be looking for something more reasonable.
Chuck
If you want to spend most of your day looking down at your phone on vacation than the Disney vacation experience is for you!
It’s been fun however I won’t be back until there are significant changes that don’t favor those with more money and time at the parks. If you can only go for a day and aren’t at a high end resort you can pretty much forget about any reservations or lighting lane passes to the best attractions. #geniplusfail
Peter T.
We attended EPCOT on March 25th. We have had a close-by time share since the early 80s and have spent over 300 days in-park over the past 40 years. The new Genie plus and lightening lane and standby dining required at least one of the party to be face down on their phone for too many hours of the day. You can’t enjoy the park if you have to fuss over your phone so much. We drained the batteries on 3 phones that day. We had one greeter at a restaurant refuse to help us until we scanned their QR code.
The individual lightening lane for Ratatouille was a complete failure. The lightening lane tix were sold out before they became available to people who stayed off Disney property. We spent 90 minutes (a 75 min wait was posted) waiting to see the 3.5 minute Ratatouille ride. It was fun, but I have never waited that long for a Disney ride in the past 40 years. Disney provided options in the past where we could avoid such waits. I still have 5 unexpiring park hopper tickets and I don’t think I will ever us them up. Maybe I will go again to watch my grandchildren experience the magic. For me, the magic is gone.
Mom of the 6
Totally agree. I’m over this Disney stuff makes u not want to go. I loved share memories with my kids and their friend. Kick out the ceo put one of waltsdreamer in there and pay the price
at the gate and let the magical began and move on. Stop the greed and let people enjoy something that was therewhen Mr. Ceo was not Borned or not around at the time obviously his parent most not have taken him to Disney ever because he would know how it is ran full of dreams.
Brogan
You don’t try to watch MK fireworks from the front 20 minutes before the show. That’s amateurish. If you’re gonna arrive late or are not willing to stay put in the crowd, then get your behind back to Fantasy Land. You won’t see the projections but you’ll have a fantastic view of fireworks over 2 castles and NOT be crushed by the crowd.
Molly
And it was like that well before Covid. Disney has been getting more crowded for years. You need to plan.
But Karen’s are going to Karen.
Mildred Diaz Raino
My husband and I went this Monday, April 4th to Disney World, and on Tuesday, April 5th to Hollywood Studios. It was our Anniversary.
Our first time there, and YESSS, it was BEAUTIFUL. I had NEVER seen Mickey and it was my DREAM to see him!
But the lines for Disney, were REALLY bad…and I’m disabled, and it was still bad. Getting from the parking to the entrance where you get the monorail was horrendous bc the wheelchair that was avl, the wheel was broken. UNACCEPTAPLE. I rec’d one when I got almost to the entrance.
Yr staff was excellent and it wasn’t them. They tried, but I guess they were doing their job but something has to be done so ppl can go back!
At Disney, lines are really bad as well, even if you register for Lightning at 7am, which I did!
Now, Hollywood Studios was different. There, it was the ppl. They would run into you.
Not enough information ppl or centers, and bathrooms for us handicapped individuals.
I LOVED Disney, and don’t get me wrong, I will return, but things need to change.
And i know I’m one of many.
Thank you.
Mary
We are currently here, it’s a nightmare…literally. Genie+ is an expensive joke, foods a joke, I’d say at least half the cast members aren’t as friendly anymore, crowds are a joke, all the perks are gone. I told my husband we could have spent 2 weeks in Europe in fancy hotels and good food for what we are spending on this. We used to come every year until the pandemic and decided to come back this year. I could go on and on about how awful this has been. Usually your bummed to leave, we are here for almost another week and it seems like so far away. The most recent thing that annoyed me today is they are encouraging you to scan stuff in the store on your phone and pay on the app… then they check your sku on your phone and go through everything…ummm why didn’t I just get in line??? Took forever, oh and the lady told ME to take everything off the hangers. She was annoyed you could tell. Not the what used to be the normal happy pleasant cast member. My 4 kids aren’t even having fun. I feel like we just wasted $20,000. Yes!!! $20,000!!!!! We aren’t even staying in a deluxe resort, we are at French Quarter and for 8 days of tickets with water park and the hotel plus food and genie + and lighting lane, a couple of sweatshirts and the typical souvenirs we are almost at $20,000. A complete joke. Now hearing about all this political stuff we are done. If one more cast member calls me “friend” because they can’t say ma’am or sir anymore I might jump in front of a mears bus I paid $36 a person for lol not a Disney one because those are gone too.
Maria
If the whole reason you’re being so dramatic and feel like you “wasted $20,000 is because a cast member called you “friend”… there was no hope for you to begin with. Unbelievable that people can be so miserable out of nothing.
Molly
Got to love that person who is online complaining during their 20k vacation! Oh that’s right. I would not vacation with someone like that.
Poor family.
Deb Gahres
We were there in February with the grands and while we had an enjoyable experience, it wasn’t as organized as two years ago. The lightning line was helpful but still crowded and the bathrooms were messy…. not like Disney at all! We tried to see the fireworks but were (literally) funneled through the maintenance area and back to the entrance. It was disappointing and a sad conclusion to the day.
Doreen McNally
If Disney has the reservation system and it is being used properly. Why the massive crowds?
Javie
They are using the reservation system to manage how much staff they have available and how many ride cars they put in service. It’s not necessarily about managing the crowds from the guest perspective, it’s about running just enough ride cars to reduce long term maintenance costs and having just enough staff called in. It’s lean operations tactics. That’s why it still seems very crowded with supposed lower crowd numbers. The lines and rides used to absorb massive amounts of crowds, as did transports for park hopping. This gave the appearance of less people in the park. They have been having staffing issues (i.e. hiring/retaining/recalling) as well. I live a few miles away from MK. Staffing issues are in part because during the massive Covid layoffs, many people found balance and happiness in other roles (Disney is not flexible on scheduling for staff. Full time is hard scheduled by bid per the union and part time must basically always be available so part timers really cant have a second job or it’s at least challenging to do so). So a lot of former cast members didn’t return when recalled. Second is the pay. The execs may be raking it in hand over fist, but most of the cleaners, store , hotel and on site management staff can make more money with less crowds and stress and a better schedule at the Walmart or Target a few minutes away. That manager people scream at is usually making under $20hr. So just like with employees post covid everywhere, a lot of people decided it wasn’t worth it. Those left are dealing with the tremendous stress of managing these new systems and guest issues and so can get snappy or indifferent. I think they are overwhelmed. Universal and Sea World don’t seem to have the same problems. Their experiences have actually improved compared to pre Covid. I suspect some firmer Disney staff have decanted to Universal because I have found them delightful. And Maria, before you jump down my throat too for not being completely in love with hownDisney is today, note that I like others here have been a big Disney fan for decades. If people didn’t care, they wouldn’t bother criticizing. The reality is that if you are very comfortable using your phone and technology and are a big planner, then your Disney trip will be more enjoyable. If you are the kind of traveller who likes to do things on a whim and go with the flow and enjoy the experience, Disney is realistically no longer for you. Neither type of traveller is better than the other. You may get a thrill from the “chase” of rope dropping at 7am and staying on site and that’s great. But for some people, vacations.are for unwinding and taking it as it comes. Disney no longer allows that. I think it’s important to knownwhat kind of traveller you are before deciding to visit Disney. I hate being wedded to tech on my vacation. When I look at my phone, my work email shows up. So, though I got.married there and have many friends and family working there, it’s not as fun for me as it used to. I have a good friend who is an obsessive planner, and thencurrent Disneynwithnrequired planning.makes her squeal with delight.
MB
We have been staking claim to fireworks real estate for over 25 years?!?!!!!! I recall grabbing spots 2+ hours early in ‘96 and ‘98 and ‘03, ‘04. I have a pix of us along the curb in ‘07.
We paid for the dessert party for a seat on 3/12/20! We were sitting there when the closure hit social media.
Steve
With the price increase and the new none gender movement, my family and friends are done with Disney
Ken
BYE MORON!!!
Too bad you’re too weak minded to let an invisible “non gender movement” WRECK YOUR EXPERIENCE riding freakin SPACE MOUNTAIN!! Unbelievable. Can you tie your own shoes even, bud?
Megan
Yet the parks still seem to be full to the brim. Guess no one will miss you, your friends or your family. Buh-byeeee!
Molly
lol
Dominick
Just came back from a week in Disney the end of March. Worst experience with lines, how does a park open and 10 minutes later there is a 150 minute wait for a ride. There is no way that the is not a 100% capacity.
It’s sad because I wouldnlove to take my grandsons when they are a little older but I will pass as it’s not worth the money or effort. 120 minute wait for a toy story ride with a 3 year old is just wrong. The crowd and lines along with the cost make for a bad vacation.
Buck
Well, other than the three or 4 people who had a decent time and the one who tried to produce positivity that didn’t work, I will lean on the side of those that will not go back to either Disney location. What a bummer for all the little boys and girls, moms and dads, but not the “friends”
Babs
Saying they’re lowering admissions is just prepping for another price hike. They’ll use this instead of greed as their excuse.
Charging a fortune for children is not very family friendly.
Jo Momma
I think I’d rather dig ditches in chernobyl than go to a Disney park
Megan
I think we’d rather you do that, as well. Have fun and please take your whole family with you. Let us know how it works out for you.
Julian H
Megan – Most of your responses are not nice at all, not very “Disney of you” is it?
Perhaps some soap to wash out your nasty mouth wouldn’t go a miss.
Ugh
JILLIAN!!!
Back on KAREN WATCH again?? You gonna go through the comments and tell off anyone who doesn’t agree with YOUR hate for Disney again?? Wow. Unbelievable
Julian H
Ugh the name is Julian not Jillian, I do not hate Disney well not what it used to be.
You clearly are looking for me – how nice of you, but you are just not my type ever.
I think you and your verbal nonsense and one track mind it is you that is the KAREN. If you think my comment on Megan is wrong then you can also join the MICKEY Club – Lucky you not…
Molly
That would be a wonderful and charitable thing to do in light of the current struggles in the region.
Can we start you a Go Fund Me page for your airfare?
Maria
Yup, there you go. The “rational” and humble adults that are the ones leading our youth by example. Great man you must be, Mr Salazar. Unbelievable
Chris
Everything woke turns to crap!!
Mickey is BOY, Minnie is GIRL!!
We used to go every yr. We won’t be returning until we hear things are magical again.
We went over the winter and we share all the same complaints as above.
Mario
You’re a simpleton. If you’re SO BOTHERED that you have to “reinforce” FREAKIN FAKE MASCOTS genders to yourself in a land of make believe, you have no business trying to be an independent adult. NOBODY’S “forcing” ANYTHING in the parks, and all of you who are shrieking about “woke agendas” getting “forced” on you when you go to Disneyland are purposefully creating unnecessary drama in YOUR OWN HEADS.
GROW UP.
Grace
Technically, Mickey is a fictional cartoon character and Minnie is a fictional cartoon character….but okay, crazy pants.
Molly
Minnie is wearing pants. The dream is over. The magic is dead.
Zach, PHD
Here to remind the conservative snowflakes that Disney doesn’t want the old fans who want the freebies of the past. You all can stay gone. There’s a new market full of progressives and center left like myself who support Disney’s right in capitalism to set its own policy and right under Citizens United to be involved in politics. We make more money than you, and have more education. This article was ridiculous. Who goes 20min before for a spot? Of course her time was ruined. Have a gay day Florida! I love capitalism! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🤷🏻♂️🧑🤝🧑🥰
Kevin
I’m not conservative or progressive. But you’re not helping the conversation by bringing politics into it. Don’t give in to the people who are. All it REALLY takes to enjoy the parks is a little more patience than normal. Yes, there more crowded than normal, but I’ve NEVER encountered any type of “political agendas” being “forced” upon me while I’m there. And I go often. Don’t add fuel to the fire. Let’s all be mature adults CAN WE??
Ashley
I was once in the crowd waiting for the show (probably like 7 years ago but still) when a guy twice my size stormed through and shoved me over so hard that I fell on top of an elderly woman in a wheelchair. Several people saw it, and there’s security everywhere but they did nothing. They need to find a better way for people to view the fireworks so that people don’t get hurt.
Molly
This I totally agree with and it is not new. Since one of my children is handicapped we have had to often forego MK fireworks because the crowds were simply too imposing. And yes, they have a handicapped viewing area but the crowds are simply too large.
I wish they would bring back the nightly fireworks over Disney Springs. You could actually just pull your car over and see them.
Shirley Newman
We went in March. The lines were So long we had to wait on average of 2 1/2 – 3 HOURS per ride and I paid the extra for Genie +. The lightening lane was flooded with people. We stood and watched hundreds of people be admitted to ride splash mountain while we stood and watched. It was obvious that they sold an over abundance of lightening passes for the extra $ which had preference over those of us with Genie +. Disney has become pay for play. During the entire day we were able to ride a total of 3 rides! Pathetic. Huge disappointment.
My husband still has 3 days on his pass that he didn’t use. He will not go back to redeem them .in spite of the fact that he has a business trip in Orlando In a few weeks and could easily do so. Money down the drain because the lines are out of control and have ruined the whole experience.
Maria
You just blatantly showed everyone who’s the hostile one with your derogatory language and disgusting behavior. And YOU’RE the “adult” that’s supposedly leading by example?
I go to the parks at least one a month. And have NEVER encountered anything that made me feel threatened or uncomfortable with my kids. It’s VERY clear what type of person is the REAL threat here. What a horrible human being you must be.
001
Hey Jessie, you’d be doing the world a favor if you just “eliminated” yourself from this earth. Miserable hateful people like you don’t need to be wasting precious oxygen.
David
I’m tired of all these super sensational negative stories. Every one of these stories could be told 2 years ago, 4 years ago, 14 years ago, etc.
Whenever people gather in crowds, human nature takes over, regardless of where you are or the training of the staff.
Cast members will always be overpowered by a fireworks mob. It was like this in 1999, it was like this in 2019.
Stop making it out like it’s new
Ronda
Had the WORST experience EVER. And not sure if my family (including grandkids) want to ever go back. They’ve taken the fun out of it. There is NO magic at all. Between having to constantly be on your phone with the app and not “with” your family, the LONG lines, and the impossible to plan genie plus. It’s just more frustrating than anything. They nickel & dime the hell out of you. And on top of that most of the rides kept breaking down. We went on 3 rides at Hollywood Studios from opening until 4 pm! Three rides!!!! And two of them broke down. And trying to find food with the new reservation (needed months ahead) is a joke! Over priced, over crowded and just not the same anymore. I’ve given my last $10k to them.
Teresa
We were regular Disney visitors starting in 2004. The old FP system was wonderful and we were able to get on many rides each day with minimal waits. Then they started limiting FPs and things went downhillfast. Our last visit was Sprng, 2019 and I saw a marked decline in the guest experience. Long waits for buses, huge crowds everywhere even tho it was b4 spring break, outrageous food prices, only able to ride our favorites once or twice each day. And all of this was b4 Genie+ and Lightening Lane! I refuse to go back because of the recent changes. Paying exorbitant rates to enter the park and then paying per ride to ride the best ones??? What a colossal rip off. Yes, you can wait 2 hours or so for free in standby lines, but you’ll be lucky to get on 2 or 3 rides all day, that way. Disney has totally deteriorated IMO. I’m so glad I got to experience it when it was still enjoyable. It no longer is and I doubt we’ll ever return. Up thru 2019 we had visited 12 times. Since then– 0. It saddens me, but I refuse to pay exorbitant rates for a less than magical experience. Disney Corp has made HUGE profits in recent years, yet continues to rip off its customers
Jeremy
I find it incredible how so many people are done with Disney because it’s lost it’s magic, but spend their time on Disney sites for the sole purpose of letting people know they are done. Go ahead, be done, actually leave, we aren’t making you stay.
V
👏👏👏👏
Molly
As I always say to negative types, don’t go away mad, just go away!
J.P.
We went on March 28 2022. It was the night the monorail broke after the fireworks. It was awful. It was each man for himself. Thousands of people trapped on that island. Disney did not care at all about anyone. Babies were screaming everywhere and older people with canes and wheelchairs were also left to fend for themselves. Being afraid of getting trampled is an understatement. I would not let my family in that crowd. Sadly I had to make my 75 year old parents and my 10 year old daughter with a foot and leg disability walk the 2.5 miles on the walking path back to the tram. After walking all day it was really strenuous for them. But the other choice was to wait with the thousands packed together waiting for a ferry. We tried leaving the park at 9:15 and didn’t get to our car until 11:30 pm. It was total chaos and no one at Disney cared. I can’t believe they would not have some protocols in place for this type of situation. Even before all that the crowds were unbearable at the fireworks. I dread to wonder what would happen if a balloon popped or something. There is no doubt in my mind there would be a stampede. It really is quite amazing for liability purposes that they would pack so many people together in a huge space. All in all it was a one and done for me. I can’t see how they think reservations cut back on the crowds. There is no way. I wasn’t impressed with Disney or their response to the monorail breaking down.
Megan
Do they just allow anyone to be a journalist now? This article is terribly written. Sentences don’t begin with the word “and”.
Grace
“However, even so, crowds have been noticed by many Guests and attraction lines more so. And it is not just at the Parks where issues have been raised as seen by this incident at a popular Disney Resort.“
WHAT? This looks like it was written by a kindergartner.
Chrissy
I will never go back. Way overpriced,terrible food. I’m not much into Disney anyway but wanted to give my daughter the experience. It was all so repetitive and disgustingly overpriced. I don’t get how people go back year after year. Never again!
Je
Looks like covid to me no thanks also not wasting money to just stand for hours on end
Shawn
I used to visit Epcot each year, but last year 2021 was an absolute disappointment. My favorite part used to be going through all the countries and visiting each of them, experiencing their culture with their drinks or food, interacting with the native staff members. However, since covid hit, this has not been the same. In case anyone didn’t know, what made those countries at Epcot so unique and special is, the people working there are literally from those countries, working at Epcot as one year exchange program and then replaced by a new crew from each country. So if you go to France, every single person is literally from France and truly representing France and their culture….now Imagine I went to Germany to enjoy their great hospitality and their amazing buffet dinner, but the people working there, like at all the other countries, where “Americans” it was so odd so disappointing and some of them were rude and didn’t know know anything about Germany or how to represent them. This is definitely not the way Germany or France should be represented….What disney could have done, is at least have people working there who have some experience some knowledge about the countries. SlSo I personally cannot wait, till they bring back the real natives from each country to work at Disney to represent their country. Imagine you go to Italy and have someone from Kentucky working there. The atmosphere was so disappointing
Ken
Woke Disney is disgusting. Never again will my family spend another dollar in those Parks
lol
Awwwwwwwwwwww… awwwwwwwwwww…..awwwwwwwww……
…….
NOBODY CARES!!!
Dan
We visited the last week of Jan. The lines were extremely long taking 1.5 hours for 1 ride!! The pass system worked well, half hr wait. The crowd waiting for the fireworks were spread out UNTIL Disney personal came thru and pushed everybody tightly together and created the scary situation. Afterwards the lightning didn’t help, too dark. We would avoid viewing the night show from the front of the castle unless you were close.
Tracy Turker
We also had annual passes this place has lost its magic for about 6 plus years .too expensive not worth it better to go to Universal atleast your not being hoarded like cattle.
Monica Horn
We are “over” the projections. So not worth the hassle of crowds/camping out!! You can get great views of the fireworks from many other places in the park. If WDW ever gets their act together and recognizes the value of “guest experience”, I’ll be back. But I have a feeling my Feb 22 trip will be the last one in a LONG time! Too much disappointment brought on by the changes. I’m not spending thousands of $$$ to be disappointed!!!!!!
Cristy
I was at Magic Kingdom recently and this is very accurate. The crowd for the fireworks was worst than I’ve ever seen. It was scary to be in such a tight crowd with nowhere to move .
Kristy
I will never go back!! The crowds are suffocating. You crowd surf from one ride to the next, waiting in line a minimum of 2 hours for a 5 minute ride. I don’t get it. The worse experience of my life!
Carrie
We went to Disney World mid March 2022. Albeit, it was Spring Break, but the parks were so crowded and the Genie+ and Individual Lightening Lane experience was very stressful. Once we got the ‘reservation’ for the rides we wanted it was great, but trying to get them was a constant battle of getting up each morning at 7am to try to get an individual lightening lane and then all day in the park trying to get a regular lightening lane for the other rides so you didn’t need to spend an hour or two waiting in lines. It was very frustrating, not to mention all the ADDITIONAL costs on top of the huge expense it is just to go to Disney to begin with. There were only 3 of us and we spent another $300-$400 on individual lightening lanes (over 5 days). I’m done with Disney. The costs have gone up so much and the service has gone down. Very disappointed in our Disney experience. It was FAR from magical.
Kim
I was there February 26-March3 and it was horrible. I picked that time to go because I thought it would be less crowded but I was wrong. I don’t know if it was because they had just lifted the mask mandate or what but it was crazy busy. People not being very friendly, out for themselves pushing through etc. Definitely no magic. That along with it being so hard to try to get through to Disney by phone for anything makes is easy for me to say we won’t go back.
Molly
It’s everywhere and at every event in every city. Massive crowds and a loss of civility.
I work in aviation. I live this daily. The abuse heaped on our front line workers in unconscionable.
Patti Langerman
I visited Disney for 4 overnight visits this past January and early February. Generally, we go at that time to avoid the huge crowds. This year was NOT the case. The crowds were terrible each and every day. It did not matter if it was a Saturday, Sunday or even Tuesday – they were terrible. It really took the magic away and I found that I was not that interested in going back to the parks. I preferred to stay at the hotel and enjoy the hotel amenities as it was that crowded. Not sure how it will be going forward. If this will be the new “norm” I may have to reconsider my favorite place. It truly was not worth it – people crowd, push, rude, etc. Beach vacations are starting to look better and better 🙂
Yarlyn Gonzales
Awful! I can’t figure out why people would pay excessive amounts of money to be thrown in a sardine can. I can only imagine how much overcrowded it can become without the current required park reservations.
Lightning pass is a joke. Sure you don’t have to physically stand in a line because you pay extra to be in a digital line. However, if there are x amount of digital reservations ahead of you, you’re looking at 3-5 hour window per ride (and this was on a Thursday). In our situation, it would be 5 hours before getting on one ride vs standing in line for an average of one hour per ride. We were able to get on more rides this way.
Long waits to sit a restaurant. So we opted for a fast food style store…awful. Tried a second place and, once again, bad food.
However, they did refund the lightning pass fees without any problems. Everyone was super nice. Prices at the shops were fair (not overpriced).
This was our first and last time at Magical Kingdom. My two teens were miserable, we opted to skip Epcot even when we had tickets already.
AmericanbyGod
God made this covenant, with the rainbow as the token, after the waters of the flood receded and Noah and his family exited the ark. God said, “I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. . . . This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth” (Genesis 9:11–15).
Mike
We don’t talk about Bruno.
Molly
No, no, no
Ketan vinlawr
If you like, pink, orange, blue hair, tattoos and the occasional face piercing, also a masochist who enjoys being financially rape, Disney is waiting.
Ugh
You have issues no one can help you with.
Kathleen Brutsche
I was last at Disney in 1995. From all I’ve seen since then it’s gotten caught up in politics, and in corporate greed. I wanted my children to experience the innocence and magic that I had, but it’s gone. For as much as you spend on the experience it’s too costly. And having to pay for passes and make a reservation to visit a park….plus crowds and long lines for only a couple attractions? Nope you can have it. We will find our magic somewhere else.
Mack
BYE BYOOTTCH
Maria
30 years since you’ve been to Disney and you’re still “threatening” that you’re “Done” and will “find your magic elsewhere”??
You truly deserve the golden egg award for most unnecessarily dramatic Karen ever.
001
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Molly
30 years later and still complaining on a Disney comment board!
You must be a joy!
Sherry
Agree with you. I use to love Disneyland, and everything Disney. One thing I have noticed in the past few years at Disneyland (I’m from San Diego, have been to Disneyland many times) is that a few people who work there have been quite rude. I understand some may have had a bad day, but in the past, I was impressed with the workers always being helpful and polite, even when I may have been just another annoying customer asking something stupid.
Linda
Actually Disney fireworks have always been massively crowded but that has never really spoiled the sheer excitement of watching the spectacle both at the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT. Anyone should know that you don’t show up 15 minutes before and expect to get a space. Perhaps the most. Crowded we saw it was New Year’s Eve on the Millennium at EPCOT where I attempted to go from France to Germany carrying 4 glasses of champagne. Still a magical experience. Relax and be a kid again and go with the flow.
Candy Jackson
We went to Disney 2 weeks ago and I AGREE with the crowds, rude hateful people! I’m disabled and had to use a scooter to get around the parks, after the fireworks I was completely run over and was pushed so hard I was knocked off and the scooter and it fell on me by people rushing out 2 guys were trying to yell at the crowd to stop so they could help me but no one else would stop! So we decided not to go back.
Nikki
I’m guessing the quoted people haven’t been to WDW during spring break or at Christmas pre-COVID on a day when they would hit the old “capacity” at 11am! Trust me, it was far, far worse than what I’ve seen in pictures and videos from the last few weeks.
Joy cook
I was there Sunday-Yesterday. We had a wonderful time. Yes! It was crowded but if you plan right you can get it done. It was also spring break. You have to expect crowds.
Peter
Conservatives and right wingers acting all tough on Jan. 6 but are clearly scared of gay people. Poor babies.
Joy cook
I was there Sunday-Yesterday. We had a wonderful time. Yes! It was crowded but if you plan right you can get it done. It was also spring break.
Mom from Ga
I just returned yesterday from a seven day trip to Disney in FL. We stayed on resort at Coronado Springs. The crowds were smaller then in the past. We travel every spring break there for over 7 years, so I did notice it had less people. We had a great time, used the Genie+ and LL. I liked fast pass better because you had three instead of two and you could select it days out vs at 7:00 am. I had no problem finding an up close spot for the fireworks. It was great. The food could be better. We managed the crowd so it was not bad for us. The magic was there. I meant some great people from all over. And had some great conversations with them. We went with open hearts and had a blast. We will be going to Disney in Cal for Halloween.
Shane P Dalton
I have to say the Park Reservation thing they doing doesn’t make a difference. We went in the beginning of February and the crowds were ridiculous. 3 hour wait times. They saying saying the parks aren’t at full capacity. I been going for many many years and have never seen it this crowded. Still and all, we had a blast and will continue to go. I just ask please get rid of Bob Chapek. He is ruining the magic at the parks. Oh Kathleen Kennedy needs to go to. She is ruining everything Star Wars
Karla
My last Disney trip was a nightmare. We took my twin girls for their 6th birthday. What was supposed to be a magical experience for them turned into long lines everywhere. They didn’t get to see the characters or ride the rides they wanted to. Spending a little over a thousand dollars for tickets for one day is a scam. There were so many people you couldn’t walk. We spent $200 dollars for hotdogs and fries. Which is absolutely ridiculous. My daughter asked to leave and go back to the hotel to swim. I will never go back to another Disney park. The CEO should be ashamed. All they care about is money and they are taking advantage of everyone who visits there. You spend waybto much money for an experience you can’t even enjoy.
Bob Doan
Visited 10 days Early December 2021. Stayed Beach Club and Bay Lake. Parks for 7 days. Have been dozens of times over the last 40 years. Past stay park wise was the worse ever. Incredible crowd’s and lines. Waited 20 mins. Just for custard in MK. We have noticed Disney going down hill our last several visits. Between the Politics and costs, we won’t be back any time soon.
001
Bob, There are no politics in the parks, but if you’re that much of a simpleton, good… STAY AWAY! “Waited 20 minutes for custard!”
Seriously?? We can already tell what kind of a “guest” YOU are MEGA KAREN.
Czar
As Yogi once said, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
Elaine
Walt is probably turning over in his grave with the way Disney has become. Not a family place anymore.
Kyle
Stop trying to act like you know what “Walt would want”.
He sure as hell wouldn’t want raging Karens, THATS for sure!
Tom
If you comment with :
-Disney is too political. (Nope, No one talks about politics when you’re at the park, it’s in your head. Fox is in your head.)
-Too woke ( No one is cancelling anyone at Disney.. only trying to be more inclusive. )
-Needs “clean cut” employees (Because someone with Purple hair is somehow destroying the magic? Wrong)
Guess what… You might be a brainwashed bigoted Fox viewer. Deep down you know it’s true.
Maggie
100% correct. Disney is STILL an awesome place. If these Fox News folks don’t want to go… great! Stay away and be unhappy somewhere else.
001
👍👍👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you.. I keep saying the people who are raging like this, are creating drama in their own heads for the sake of drama. They can stay away. Good riddance
Molly
But they always do. We all know one of more of these people. They can’t be happy for a singular moment in their lives and they turn everything into a political rage fest. Sad way to live.
Joy
My husband and I have been passholders for 15 years but we will not be renewing next year. Our trip in March was crowded (I don’t believe the limited capacity comments any more), lines for EVERY ride was 1 hour plus, food lines for quick service were long and pick up times were hours out. We rode Pirates and left Magic. It was so disappointing. I agree with a comment I read that there are no slow periods any more. Whatever has changed over the last few years has made it less of a magical place and more of a nickel and diming establishment and to me that was extremely disappointing. I believe our beloved Disney World is gone.
Family Values
Disney is a show – Employees are the cast. In their attempt to be inclusive, they have indeed hired and miscast the wrong people for these roles. I’d rather be served my 15.00 hot dog by a wholesome looking (white or black) – overachiever type – than a fat assed mamba jamba with purple hair and tattoos with a bad attitude. Bad casting. Yea, this is definitely affecting the show.
Bob
Lol, take your pathetic ass “family values” and out them where the sun don’t shine, because there are WAY more kinds of human beings than “wholesome white or black” people. Just the fact that you had to “clarify” that tells us EXACTLY the type of person you are.. Racist, bigoted, holier than thou, and full of those fake-ass “values” that YOURE also going to pay the price for on your judgement day.
001
Yea, “family values”… with that nasty mouth and attitude of YOURS, I’m sure we already know what type of “guest YOU ARE at the parks, MEGA KAREN
Venessa
It has been my dream to go Disney I finally got the opportunity to go with my son and his family. I enjoyed some of the events. I truly understand it would be some wait time and I prepared myself for standing for long time, but there were times we waited 45 minutes that’s a long time with small children. When it came time for the fireworks OMG it was way way too crowded in our family group it was the adults and 2 toddler in a stroller 2 under 7 years and 11 year old we trying to keep an eye on the kids, the crowd, people around making sure they don’t pick your pockets people constantly bumping and pushing. I was so scared if something happened we wouldn’t be able to protect my grandbabies.
Fred
Prices for food is awful $10.00 for a corn dog. Shameful
Kat
Last year, my husband and I took our 2 year old to experience the “magic” of Disney. We will not go back. Every single line was at least an hour wait, could barely find clean bathrooms, our stroller kept gettin moved even with it being in the designated stroller parking, restaurant reservation was so delayed that we ended up having dinner instead of lunch, and then firework time was a mess. We actually got yelled at by park employee for wanting to sit down on the floor next to a planter at least an hour prior to the madness starting. Left so dissapointed ;(
S
Yeah something is up at WDW. The Genie plus system is a huge disaster. Even when you log on at 7am the top tier rides are unavailable. We got ONE for the whole day. I checked diligently every two hours and all booked. On March 17 we went to HS. We were evacuated off the second floor of Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror broke and closed and then 30 minutes later Rockin Rollercoaster broke due to technical difficulties. Disney is broken right now sadly. Like literally.
Elaine E Carey
No thanks. I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars to be in huge crowds with rude, nasty & violent tourists. Last time at WDW, as a senior, I had a difficult time walking to the exits after the fireworks display, pre-pandemic. The old excitement of a visit to any Disney park has disappeared. It used to be enjoyable. Not anymore. I can’t bring myself to go back, even though I live in FL and/or even if my grandkids visit & want to go there. That’s pretty sad.
Randy
Moral courage is in short supply these days. We need more of it.
Kathy Skipper
I don’t see how they can say the crowds are less than pre pandemic. There were crowds before but with the exception of a few rides there were no super long rides and always some rides or shows that were walk on. I have never been when there were fights but now you hear about a fight or almost fight every week! I do still have my Florida pass but probably will not renew this year. I have only been able to get in once or twice since renewal. Since I have a legacy pass will shortly be blocked out for the summer. It is not worth the cost to only be able to get a reservation 3 times in a year. I don’t like not being able to just drop into the park to grab something to eat or having to plan a month in advance to be able to enter. I have health issues and want to be able to use the pass on days I am not feeling at my worst which happened on one of the days the days this year. We ended up just going in & going back out so that we didn’t get penalized for missing
Doug
To quote Yogi Berra: “Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”
Denise
We also let our passes go. Disney needs to keep out of parents business and politics and pay more attention to who they are hiring (pedophile employees being arrested). Disney has become a cesspool of immorality.
Maria
It’s easy to tell you like to make stuff up to make certain people in general look bad. Those “pedophile employees” you’re talking about, are part of a state wide sting operation to target human trafficking- aka, prostitutes. The 4 out of 108 that happened to work at the Disney company (including positions not even physically in park) were all straight, some married men soliciting prostitutes while not working. Soo there’s actually a higher chance that your own husband was probably part of the 108 found statewide, since you wanna try so hard to make this a COMPLETELY different thing. When you hateful bigots start LYING about stuff like this, it only makes YOU look so much worse, and for the hateful bigot you really are.
HypocrisyHunter
Its funny how the Republicans who complain the loudest about “cancel culture” are always the first to cancel people.
Also funny that they complain the loudest about people interfering with “parents business” when they literally are the only ones passing laws banning books and certain topics from being taught in schools… Regardless of whether or not local parents actually WANT to teach that slavery was bad
Steve
My wife and I went to Disney World in February supposed off season. We went in that time frame, kids in school, kids in college. We were wrong . Some rides weren’t running, some had broke down. We stood in line for a ride an hour and a half to find out the ride was down for repairs. The crowds were terrible half the rides we wanted had over two hour waits. I will never visit any Disney park ever again. I was so mad about the experience I cancelled my Disney plus subscription .
MSNBC Enthusiast
Great idea to reduce crowding and be more inclusive. Let create some new ‘lands’ – right off of Fantasyland. Homoland, Transgender land, Pedophileland, Man-Boy-Loveland. BTW, I identify as a canine, and am really upset as be addressed as a dog – and not allowing me to use the bathroom of my choice (fire hydrant). Stay away from my children.
Maria
And HERE we have the perfect example of the vile, hateful, fowl-mouthed rotten “adults” that pretend that THEY are the “perfect, wholesome” ideal for our younger generations. Is THIS truly what we want as the leading examples? This man is so miserable, i don’t know how he functions on a daily basis. Unbelievable
** and by the way, I feel REALLY BAD for “your children”.
Linda
I can’t read the comments! What is going on?
Gmc
My wife asked me if I wanted to go to disney this year. I flatly sad no. Don t get me wrong I love Disney my kids grew up on Disney we vacation at disney. With that said I disagree with the prices and I think that for the most part the food is over rated. Crowded man don’t get going on that. With as much money Disney make per year the prices could be lower. Because waiting in line for two or three if your lucky four rides isn’t worth the the money.
JC
For MK fireworks, 3 words: Bridge to Tomorrowland
Joe
Wow…people are. A bunch of whiners. My family is here now visit the Disney world parks. We came about 3 years ago at the same time in the year.
First off…yeah, things have been cut back because of COVID and inflation. Ok so? That’s all businesses!
Second…crowds are NOT bigger and lines are NOT longer. This a falsehood because of people having to spread out due to COVID. Of all the rides we waited for the Kingstown wait was 45 minutes and this was the standard line. 3 years ago many rides were more than an hour long wait.
Waiting for food service is soooo much better now because of the genie app and ability to have flexibility with food ordering options. You can dictate when you want your food for pickup at a specific location.
I think more people are just being fuggin Karen’s than ever before. They easily forget what it was like a couple years ago before COVID. COVID changed everything including your “magical” experience at Disney.
On another note…if you don’t have kids and are over 18 you really should be at Disneyland or Disney world. Re-evaluate your life if you feel the need to visit.
Craig Forrest
We waited 6 Hours in the line for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, with no communication as to why and no access to drinks, food or restrooms. I’ve been to Disney multiple times over the last 40 years and have never seen wait times like this. By comparison, we waited for 44 mina for the Velocicoaster ride at Universal. Disney needs to sort themselves out. There seems to be something fundamentally broken with the lightning lane system as all wait times were 1 hour plus and even the “kids” rides had 2 hour plus wait times.
Robby
No. No thanks. My first
Disneyland experience? A seven year old in ’55.
Many trips to the Magic Kingdom through the ’70’s.
I no longer ‘long’ for “the fix”. Too old for the crowds and their attitudes.
Melly Sum
I went to Disney last weekend and was forced to go to animal kingdom first, as we couldn’t make reservation for magic Kingdom till 2pm. We got the genie passes, but they were useless more reservations and with being able to only do 1 at a time hours later we were stuck in lines all day, Disney may want to consult universal, they know how to keep the lines moving over there. Hands down WORST VACATION EVER. I’ve been to Universal 3 times this year everytime was wonderful. I’ll never return to any of the Disney parks was horrible.
Whitney
We went last Saturday…we only got to ride 2 rides and the wait was awful. The parking was horrendous with no trams which meant we had to walk in the rain back to the car which was quite a distance. It definitely was not worth the price.
Aashima
So happy that our family did Disney when life was more sane. We would travel every year from Ontario to Florida in the 1970’s and 80’s when the children were little. It was an amazing experience. No lines, no ridicules rules, reasonably priced. Just easy and fun. I can’t even imagine going now. Nothing is worth that kind of stress.
Stan Kerns
If you like lines you’ll love Disney – my rough calculations (including hotel) says Disney costs about fifty cents a minute – and it is easy to waste $20 standing on a line – and you would think those running the place would figure out “you can’t spend money while you are standing in line” the old “Fast Pass” plan was vastly better
Robin Fox
I have worked in Disney Parks and I met Mickey Mouse. Thomas, when is Donald Duck coming out with his own movie? I suggest Bruce Willis and myself as it’s stars. And to be filmed in Orlando because Florida was billed as the second Hollywood when I moved here. Still hoping for my Disney Dreams come true!
Tasha Mikesell
We went just recently and on the day we were at Hollywood studios, all the rides we had lightening lanes for broke down with no options on where to go except toy story. Our kids were so upset and the employees didn’t care. It was the worst experience. So glad we paid thousands of dollars for this.
LeGivorden
The author of this article needs to check their editing better. There were several instances of bad editing that was noticeable. That being said, there is allot of good points here that people should take note of concerning Disney Parks. I’ve never been to Disneyland or Disneyworld. Given this direction and recent poor behavior of representatives and actors of the company, I likely never will get to go either. Nor will my son. It is sad, this should serve as a firm warning to companies like Disney. Sometimes, bigger is not better. Sometimes, it is better to walk things back to their roots and go back to being smaller a focus more on quality rather than quantity.
Travis
Nice going Disney! Go ahead and post an article after your woke madness! Walt has turned in his grave! Let us now see how the speed pass and reservation business works now! Whomever is running this co. has disgraced, tarnished an made an embarrassment of the Walt Disney name!
Ugh
Are you done with your tantrum, princess??
Literally, nobody cares.
Paul
Wow … Had my own horror story with the family. During the holidays, the crowd at the same event was beyond a mess. Disney, either turns its back and/or cannot control this problem. My family suffered as you can see others as well. Not to mention the fact that, however amount of time you spent there, half of it is waiting in line….Pretty ironic considering we go there to get away from it all .. Kinda reminds me of traffic a bit…
Tina
We went in January, 10 people 7of them children staff members directed my 15yo son and 3 of the younger children away from us they were behind us but close staff moved theo down a different path than us it took us 30minutes to get to them tracking them on our phones missed the whole show it was scary the crowd was massive my son has a good head on his shoulder and kept them together after doing wo they were told without us noticing they were right behind us 🤬
Char
We drove up from our home in FL in February to spend one day at Magic Kingdom with our grandchildren(their family vacation).
I was actually assaulted while waiting in our spot to watch the display. We got there early, kept the kids entertained, then a couple of women with their kids stood right on top of us in the ‘clear’walk, completely blocking our view and stepping on us and bumping us. I politely asked them to move, they responded by raising their cameras up in front of our faces. I asked again for them to please be considerate. Once of them landed he elbow on my shoulder and I pushed it away and she punched me in the arm. Everyone around us saw what happened. I went and got security. Honestly, obnoxious. I didn’t press charges because I wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening with my kids and grandkids.
Kiersten
Put someone that knows teaching your kids to be what ever gender they want to be is disgusting. Put a person that worked with Walt Disney
Linda
If you wait 20 minutes to go to a show like Disney that’s your own fault You already know it’s going to be crowded a lot of people have been staying home and able to get out now so don’t blame Disney for people that don’t know how to act in public things are probably settled down in a few more months hopefully but no it takes one person to act up they don’t blame the park itself blame the people that are going they don’t know how to act
Romy
There hasn’t been a slow season since 2015. In January, there are the Marathons, Feb,/March, Mardi Gras/Gardner (Cheer Teams)/Spring Break, April Easter, May Star Wars Weekends, June Gay Days, July/Aug Family Vacations, Sep/Oct (used to be Free Dining) Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, Nov filming of the Disney Christmas Parade/Thanksgiving/Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
AtomicPunk
Seriously, people pay handsomely for the privileged experience of just waiting? Waiting hours for a single ride? Claiming a spot for 3 hours just for fireworks?
When you have an 8 hour day and half of it is spent in line, that is really, really sad.
So gone are the days you could experience the entire Magic Kingdom in a day and a half. In the 70s you could just book a room at the Contemporary, pull out your fold-out map on the spot, and just wander. Every ride was a few minutes, all you needed was the right ticket letter. Isn’t “MAGIC” about discovering life in the moment?
Now you have to go online, pull out your app, pre-book your food and attractions. Not to mention all the hard effort put in trying plan and strategically maximize every minute of your day… you do it because you know you’re spending a fortune for a hyper-competitive experience. That’s what time at Disney has become.
Sadly, most visitors will not be able to experience what Disney used to be. What it has become makes me just not want to visit anymore.
If you live locally, have a season’s pass, and have the time, that’s a different story. But for the vast majority of visitors who spend thousands for a single family trip… it’s a comparative rip-off.
Allen
Lines was long but not in unbearable. We had a great trip. March 2022
Josh
We just finished 5 days at Disney World. Every park was packed with more people than I have ever seen at a Disney park. Most rides had 2 hour long lines by mid morning. The Disney genie + was worthless. All the rides were booked up by 10-11 am. It looks to me like they’re allowing more people in the parks than limiting. I won’t be coming back to a Disney park anytime soon.
Linda
I would not go there if they paid me to visit
Leeann cannon
It’s pure greed to not set a daily capacity. Maybe keep the reservation system like done with Covid. Disney is supposed to be the most magical experience. It’s elegant and classy and memorable and every kids dream. It should be clean and roomy and pleasurable. This is so sad and not fair to your guest at all. Especially the ones who travel. Shame on you Disney.
Scott
Please don’t go to Disney #Disneyfans
Scott
I was literally there when this was written. Whoever wrote this apparently knows no live or happiness. This is a KAREN looking to vent because she didn’t get her way. KAREN don’t go to Disney #Disneyfanseverywhere
Ivan
This is bringing back memories of our New Years trip. From what I’ve been reading it sounds like it’s holiday crowds all year round these days. We went for new years pre-pandemic and had a very similar experience with crowds and the drama that brings. I’m grateful geniie plus wasn’t a thing at that time but Disney’s lack of caring for the crowds became a stain on my perception of the company.
After midnight fireworks at Magic Kingdom they had open all of the side gates for the crowds to make it back to the main gates to exit the park. Cool beans, right? Traffic is flowing, cast members are waiving, and we get a peek behind the magic. That feeling stopped as soon as you realize that everyone is now corralled at the plaza. Think of your busiest commute and the road suddenly ends in a culdesac and you and the rest of the city need to figure out how to make it through one of two gates on either side of the circle.
At this point, Disney lost all credibility. Their exiting plan was and is terrible and to add to the nightmare they somehow decided that minimal lighting would be the best option for young and old to live through their worst Disney sponsored nightmare. Temporary construction spot lights were set up out front. So looking ahead meant being temporarily blinded then immediately losing perspective as you scanned the shadows for stroller wheels and smaller humans before taking the next step. It felt like a movie where the people had been arrested and sent to a holding camp for processing. Zero Disney theming included. ‘They’ll figure it out,’ must have been the thought process then and sadly it seems to be going forward.
D
Time to build a park in Texas!!
Annie Prasad
We just returned from a short vacation to see a dear friend in the nearby area and thought we’d try our luck for an 8am-2pm day experience at Animal Kingdom before a 6pm flight home. We purchased tickets for 3-adults, made the obligatory reservations and arrived at the park. I had a recent spinal surgery and attempted to use the pre-registration process in advance but ended up on chart hold for TWELVE HOURS so I missed that opportunity before traveling. I needed to rent an electric wheelchair to survive the lengthy distance in the park. The offering of accessibility assist at the park was excellent for the most part but it was comical that toddlers could walk faster than the chairs were programmed to run. I still appreciated the option and was able to navigate the hold queue well with the superior zero turn radius. I did not, however, expect that we would have a painful 2hr wait at each attempted attraction (and I’d missed my opportunity to get pre-registered for disability assist because I wasn’t waiting on the chat line 12hrs later). We promptly tried to purchase fast pass reservations to a few attractions…most sold out before I could get my card out. We did get a $15ea reservation to the animal Safari which was by far the highlight of our trip…at 3pm. We took the risk and afterwards my husband sprinted me, in a loaner wheelchair, to the car parked 38 rows away (no shuttle service in lots that day). This was all around two torrential downpours flooding the park and sending guests into every converted nook and cranny (restroom halls, restaurant lobbies, gift shops, etc). It was by far the worst experience of my life but was a joyful time for my husbands first ever view of Disney (after lifelong envy being born and raised in India)…guess that’s what matters most!!
Nancy
Our family of 8 visited the Magic Kingdom on 3/30/2022 and it was packed! I never thought I would be trampled but I felt like I had to be on alert bc kids & adults both would walk right in front of you!
Tammy
We went in January. It was horrible at Disney world. Worst time I have ever had there. Have always been a Disney fan but after that fiasco I won’t ever go back. Our tickets alone was $1,400 not counting genie +. Genie + is a bust. We got there when parks opened and used genie + and our first ride we had to wait 4 hrs for our time slot. We was heading to the ride for our time slot and they canceled our slot. I went all the way back up front to receive money back. Why pay for something that you can’t use? Ridiculous. Then someone lady was shaking her butt inches from my granddaughters face during fireworks. I asked her to move out her face and she started cussing me out and being rude. Then ran for security to have me tossed out. The employees are not what they used to be. They act like you are wasting their time. Definitely not magic at Disney anymore.
M Himmelreich
Disney used to be my favorite vacation but after this year, it will be a long time until I return. Prices were up, lines were ridiculous and the staff was rude. Not the happiest place on Earth that I have enjoyed in years past. Genie+ is glitchy and caters allows you to spend even more money to buy lightning passes. It’s not enough to spend extra to just get the Genie+. I won’t be back anytime soon unless things drastically change
Ed Van Winkle
My family went to wdw in January and it was packed however thats part of the total experience . I dont mind lines that just makes it worth it when you finally get on the ride. GO DISNEY.
Mary
This article like so many others is pure lazy garbage. Searching social media for negative experiences and adding a few words of your own is not even elementary school standard.
LisaSW
When we lived in FL (up until a yr ago) we were annual pass holders. I can honestly say that I’ve had one bad experience with the night time show crowd.
It was New Years Eve. I thought it would be “magical” to ring in the new year at Disney.
Boy, was I ever wrong! The crowds were worse than I could ever have imagined, and everyone was cranky. Perhaps they too were disappointed like I was.
Anyway, I wanted to post here that we have gone through the worst part of the pandemic, and managed to still thoroughly enjoy the Disney magic, even through limited capacity.
I actually enjoyed limited capacity. It gave us a real chance to enjoy the most popular rides.
I won’t bash Disney for doing what the rest of the world has been doing for the past two years, making tough choices.
Steve B
I was in Disneyland and DCA during President’s Day weekend. That is supposed to be one of the busiest weekends for the West Coast Parks all year. Yes, the lines were long and we had to strategically use the Genie+ system to get on the rides we wanted to, but navigating the crowds never seemed to be a huge issue. I’ve been going to the parks since I was about 2 years old and I’ve seen near fights and mini fights (shoving matches), but Disney seems to be putting more care and attention into keeping these situations at bay. We saw undercover Disney employees at the Disneyland Hotel keeping an eye out for anything unruly. The parks may be getting more crowded but Disney is responding accordingly in my opinion.
Chelsea
I literally just came home from Disney today. Magic Kingdom was terrible. It was my first time visiting – I planned my daughter’s 5th birthday for AN ENTIRE YEAR – and I don’t know if i will ever return. We traveled with a party of 7 (3 under 5), my husband had a lady nearly fight him off a carousel horse so SHE could sit on it. So neither of my kids got a horse and my two year old was in the background of all her selfies CRYING. Beyond that, we had lunch at Cindy’s – it took over TWO HOURS. Cinderella never made an appearance during lunch, we met with her briefly beforehand like a normal character meet and greet throughout the park, but with a ridiculous price tag. All the rides were swarmed and it was an all around miserable experience. The only highlight besides leaving was we managed to snag a couple front row seats to the parade and a couple cast members took pity on my 9 month old and pointed a fan in her direction while sharing their shade with me.
Raechale
We went in January n it rained the one day and was pretty chilly the rest. The crowd level was very tolerable. Except the day it got up to 60 degrees and we were at MK. It was absolutely insane, I was so upset how busy it was!!! Enchantment was absolutely amazing but it was so scary with all my kids, we lost 2 at the end n I about lost it. The line cutting was absolutely out of control and no one did anything about it. That was my biggest irritation. I lived the Genie+ and lighting lane, hope they never take it away!! Made our trip so much better! Can’t imagine how crazy it will be next time we go with everyone saying how bad it is.
Brian
Disney used to pride itself on their ability to handle crowds and make sure every visitor has a wonderful experience. Although you paid top dollar for the experience, there was so much to do you never felt ripped off.
From the comments and friends who have returned, those days appear to be gone. No one wants to return to a park where you feel you have been taken advantage of. Right or wrong, Disney’s bizarre political views have alienated millions of parents – the ones who decide where to spend vacation dollars. The combination of high prices, poor value, and their disdain for traditional families has damaged their brand.
While there has been no apparent drop in attendance, today’s vacations were planned a long time ago. It will be interesting to see how parents decide to spend their vacation dollars in the coming years.
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