9After a historically quiet week at the Walt Disney World Resort, more comments have come out about how stressful Disney World planning can be and how one controversial service is “highway robbery.”
Walt Disney World Resort (Orlando, Central Florida) has just had one of its quietest holiday periods in a long time. The Fourth of July proved to be a pleasant experience for those Guests that had tickets and theme park reservation passes for Disney World. Low crowds and low wait times meant a lot of the stress that has built up surrounding a Disney vacation dissipated, giving an unusual experience all around.
A lot of those stresses were acquired post-pandemic. After the theme parks closed, the Sunshine State’s Disney Resort reopened with numerous new systems. Most notable was the Park Pass reservation system that Guests must have, along with valid theme park admission, to enter Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Then once inside the selected Disney Park, Guests can use the Park Hopper function to head to another location but only after 2 p.m.
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The divisive addition to the Parks has caused stress for Guests as they are essentially locked into one Park for the entire morning before heading elsewhere. And this Guest found out the hard way just how difficult that can be.
But negative attention would swing elsewhere once Disney Parks unveiled their replacement for the free FastPass offering at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort (Anaheim, Southern California).
Disney Genie+ arrived in late 2021, eradicating the free service many Guests had grown accustomed to over the years. For a variable cost, Guests can pay to use Genie+ throughout their vacation. It is a one-off per Guest per day cost and can rack up quite the sum when at the Parks with a larger family. Of course, it is not required, but as wait times tend to be high, and the added contention of the virtual queue, some are often left with no choice but to pay if they want to ride attractions while on their also-rising-in-cost vacation.
And it seems even former Disney Cast Members are fed up with the stress.
Imagineer Issues Disney World Review
Ex-Disney Imagineer Ryan Harmon recently told Fox Business that his trip to Disney World was marred with issues relating to the difficult planning it takes to have a smooth trip.
“That’s why they’ve added many more experiences. They try to raise the price high enough,” Harmon said on navigating Disney World. “That maybe weeds out some people, but that doesn’t seem to work, and so they’ve come up with a system using your mobile phone…the problem is that unless you plan ahead — which a lot of people do not — you end up going there and having a pretty poor experience because people have reserved rides and shows and restaurants.”
Harmon goes on to note the frustration of spending a fortune on tickets to be then left “waiting and waiting and waiting” as other Guests utilize Genie+ and virtual queues and 60-day-in-advance restaurant bookings. On Disney Genie+, he said frankly:
“To be charging up to $170 a person to walk through the gate and then $30 a person for a ride. I mean, that’s just highway robbery.”
The former Imagineer, who now owns Zeitgeist Design & Production, ended by saying Disney needs to reassess its overall Guest experience, to make it “democratic and fun again” and not make it about being on a mobile phone all day.
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Harmon’s comments aren’t the only ones. Many other Guests have come out to say that Disney World’s magic has gone and that the Parks are just too stressful to book and navigate while aiming to have an enjoyable time. In fact, recently, Universal Orlando Resort has proven popular with ex-Disney Guests, with its Universal’s Islands of Adventure Theme Park besting the likes of EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom in terms of attendance in 2022.
What do you think of this Disney World review? Do you find the Parks stressful? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!