Disney's Packed Parks Leave Guests Struggling, "There's Nothing We Can Do" - Inside the Magic

Comments for Disney’s Packed Parks Leave Guests Struggling, “There’s Nothing We Can Do”

Disney world 50th anniversary crowds magic kingdom

Credit: ITM Kelly C.

69 Comments

  1. Gene

    We live close enough to the Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks nightly from our front door. We have been annual passholders for many years, and that is not cheap. Although we pay to have no blackout dates, we have to make reservations several weeks in advance to have a specific restaurant in mind for lunch. No fast passes anymore, so we don’t waste time on long lines or fighting online to go on rides we have been on many times. Disney has taken away a lot of other things from locals (and employees) Many locals are quitting Disney. Universal is supposedly opening special lines for annual passholders. SeaWorld is enjoyable and much less expensive.
    Walt and Roy must be rolling over in their graves. This was never solely about the money to them, and that made Disney magical. The magic is indeed gone.

    1. MRK

      I have to agree. They jam the park full of way too many people, because profits. They sell everything at very high prices, because profits. They try to make it so going on rides costs extra to not wait hours in line, because profits. The magic is gone, and yet I see articles like this with this park JAMMED full of people. Folks – at this point – enjoy any other attraction in Orlando because flat out, as a diehard lifelong Disney nut, Disney isn’t in anyway worth the money now!! Spend your money elsewhere! Seriously. These parks deserve a massive downturn until Disney stops with the masochistic attitude towards their guests with these insane line schemes and reservations.

      Know how to make the lines shorter? Stop letting a billion people in the park. Easy.

  2. Tony

    I’m glad I no longer go to theme parks anymore. I’ve gone so many times since the early 80’s when it was affordable for anyone to go. I remember paying around $20.00 to get in. Those days are gone. It’s sad and pathetic how expensive it is now for families to go. Greed is a plague in the world.

  3. Trevor

    I’m not trying to be insensitive here but I read this entire article to find out that someone didn’t follow directions and reserve their park reservations. I’ve booked three trips now over the past two years since that’s been in place and it’s outlined on the Disney site numerous times.

  4. tony G

    i wont go back until the reservation system is gone. i live right next door and used to go same day last minute. now we cant do that, so we’re going to universal more instead.

    1. MRK

      Sadly, this is the way. People need to stop encouraging the current state of the Disney Parks, it’s not magical in anyway now, it’s an atrocious process of potential failure points at the cost of thousands.

  5. Marisa

    Went for the first time in January. Park Hopper 2 days we got to do a lot and was definitely manageable. 2 big issues were rise of the resistance broke down on us twice and we had waited in line for almost 2 hours😖. 2nd issue, the Magic Kingdom fireworks. We had never been (we knew that they did fireworks but that was it) we were corralled all the way back to the pack entrance no one would help us and we were so confused ended up standing right behind a light post and didn’t see any of the fireworks. Context the 2 of us are short and easily could have fit in anywhere but everyone was so focused on themselves they didn’t look around. It was probably one of the worst experiences I have ever had on a vacation, I’d rather see the epcot show. If I ever go back I will definitely be going on rides during the fireworks. Ps after the show watched a guest assault a worker because they were making her walk in a path with everyone and she was trying to go the other way… lovely attitude.

  6. Crissy

    I’ve been going to the parks for 30 years and April 10th-14th was the most challenging planning and execution I’ve ever done. We paid for all the Genie plus and ILL fancy rides. My family said they had an amazing time but 5 times we tried to get in line to get in a ride line, the ride was down (like issuing return tickets down). I know about rope dropping and selecting the most challenging to get on rides first and planning meals and shows in the afternoon during peak periods. And I think in a group of two adults I could easily do the system. But with the inflexibility of how you need to do things, to get on all the things nowadays if all 8 of your large party arn’t doing the research with you (or if you have strong willed 7 year olds that you want to say yes to a quick tea cups moment or Aladdin in the scorching afternoon max wait time heat) or the adults don’t totally understand how inflexible these optimized ride priorities are it makes the parks so taxing and challenging. Which is not really how I want to feel on my vacation. I feel like I got the hang of hacking genie by day 3 even though I studied all the blogs ahead of time. I would recommend to people to choose an easy or your least favourite parks first when you go so you can mess up Genie without as dire of repercussions. Also they now need blue guest experience kiosks about as frequently as you see ice cream sandwich kiosks because so many people having guest experience issues. You see them everywhere now taking away from theming as they are almost a visible representation of how regular cast members either arn’t taught to solve problems in the old magic way or they’re stretched too far so that when they’re approached with a small problem you’re directed to the blue umbrellas. Also genie plus needs to allow you to modify your reservation even when the fastpass window has opened. Multiple times in the first days I would just book as many fast passes as humanly possible as soon as available and then realize after that my party wanted to go somewhere else when the fastpass window was open and couldn’t be changed. Or I would have one fastpass that I was scared of loosing but see something else pop up abs not be able to cancel and rebook in time.

  7. Crissy

    If you use Genie plus individual lightning lane and are trying to book the most difficult rides as quickly as possible you typically book your whole group in spite of having a grandmother in the group that is not going on rise of the resistance or flight of passage. That means that we had to pay for a product we would definitely not use and there was no way to refund her individual lightning lane in the app. We kept having to go to those blue umbrella guest experience kiosks to get it fixed. One day we were too tired with all the running around to do that. I can’t imagine how many other families this happens to that they’re getting extra money out of. Who’s going to risk missing out on a rise of the resistance ticket by editing the group before paying when they sell out in a flash?

  8. MRK

    I have been to WDW probably 20 times or more, I’ve lost count. I will not visit with my family while these ridiculous crowds and totally goofball reservations/Genie+/whatever are in place. Charge more, get the crowds down, Disney World was never a place where everyone should get to go – as some point people won’t take the debt and just book whatever, the crowds will go down, and the Disney World experience will be like it’s supposed to be.

    I am utterly disappointed with what Walt Disney World has become and I will not do anything to encourage the current horrible state that it’s in.

    1. Trevor

      I think you’ll be waiting for eternity then because it’s all here to stay!

  9. TotalDramaDisney

    On the plus side, it’s now becoming quite clear who’s winning in the Disney-Desantis war.

  10. JGFoss

    Some of these comments are smart and wise, some are downright silly.

    Here are some things to think about:
    When Disneyland first opened in 1955, the average cost per person for tickets was $2,50, and you only bought tickets for the attraction you were actually visiting. No ticket books. The news reports for the opening days: “Disneyland is too expensive.”
    Disney was the LAST to turn to a system like Genie+, not the first. Universal has been using it for several years.
    Disney has been hemorrhaging money in the last 2 1/2 years. During this period, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Hong Kong Disney, Shanghai Disney, Tokyo Disneyland, and Paris Disneyland were shut down, and nobody was going to the movies. Now things are opening up and people are returning. However, LODGING at Walt Disney World is still not at 100% open, nor are all the attractions at WDW open and back to normal. How about FANTASMIC? It soaks up 5,000 people per performance, and is not operating yet.
    Goodnews! Fantasmic, full parades are returning, but Disney is cautious and does not wish to be blamed for an outbreak of COVID. Can you blame them?
    And just for comparison, have any of you looked at air fares lately? Fewer pilots, fewer flight attendants, higher fuel costs all factor in. I just bought two tickets to Copenhagen & return thru Stockholm – $6300. Last year it would have been more like $4000.

  11. Jesse

    “Check for availability before you purchase tickets”. How about just not sell the tix if no capacity in the park?

  12. Jeff

    Its bad that they overbook, pack it so you cant move anywhere without running into a mass of bodies. It takes all day to go on a ride, and hoping it doesn’t break down. Over crowding spoiles anyones vacation and they have the ordasity to say nothing they can do. Get it together Disney. Feel sorry for the people who gets screwed with a service proven to be useless, and the ones who get packed in like sardeens and expect them to enjoy the day. Wow.

  13. Toby Jefferis

    Spent three days at the parks over Easter weekend. We had no problems at all: we took an Uber from the airport directly to our hotel at Old Key West. We went on all the rides we wanted to go on and I refused to use Genie+ or Lightning Lane. Using the Mobile Food orders were a huge time saver and we did not Table Service meals, we just did Quick Service. It was actually better because I didn’t feel like we were on that much of a schedule. The bus transportation was great-I will definitely be going back! Things are always going to change and be a little bit different-I have been going to Disney since 1980 and the Magic Kingdom is definitely not the same today as it was then-my advice is to Plan-Prepare-Adjust–then relax and have a good time!!

  14. Jeff Guertin

    If everyone would just cancel their vacation to Disney and go somewhere else they would have to change. As it is now people are still handing over the cash. We canceled our trip that was planned for July. We are now going to Jamaica in an all inclusive resort that includes deep sea fishing, UTV tours and swimming with Dolphins and Sharks. This trip was only a fraction of what we were going to spend at Disney and the fact that is has been stress free to plan is priceless. Boycott Disney.

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