Things That Have Changed In Disney... For The Worse
10 Things You Won't Like

Disney Land and Walt Disney World were once considered “the Most Magical Places on Earth”. I first visited the 'all new' Disney World in Orlando, Florida just weeks after it opened in 1971. Since that first magical time I have visited Disney World countless times, at first as a teen with my parents, eventually I was taking my own kids and most recently with my grandchildren. I can say with no uncertainty that Disney has been a very big part of my life and my family's lives. However, over time I have watched the magic begin to fade away... almost completely. Many would say that it is due to the fact that the Chinese government now owns controlling interest in Disney. Some would say that it is due to the lackluster employee attitude and entitlement as our social times have changed dramatically. Some would say its new management that has a much stronger focus on profit than people. Undoubtedly many people believe it's a combination of all of these factors (as well as others). Regardless of the reason, Disney has changed... for the worse. This last November we performed a survey of Disney guests and here is the overwhelming consensus is not only is the magic fading, it's nearly nonexistent.

Here are the Top 10 Ways Disney Has Changed for the Worse!

PRICES ARE OUT OF CONTROL

Let's start with the obvious. A Disney Vacation is absolutely unaffordable for the average American. While Disney may no longer be the most magical place on earth... it is certainly giving a run to be one of the most expensive. The average family will have to save for months (or even years) to be able to go on any kind of Disney Vacation, let alone to enjoy the real Disney experience.

Let's start with the cost of rooms (don't forget to add taxes, parking and other miscellaneous charges including extra fees for rooms with any type of view, a king bed, preferred room locations or more than 2 people in your room). Now you can add tipping (valets, housekeeping and luggage handlers). Staying on property is cost prohibitive for most families.

PARKS ARE OVERCROWDED 
DISNEY OVERSELLS THEIR PARKS. THEY WIN. YOU LOSE.

Parks are so overly packed that many times you can’t find a place to sit. You will often feel like you have been shoved into a can along with the other sardines. Waiting to get into the parks is another matter, but the real issue is when their electronic entrance system boots out one or more of your party (which happens everyday, all day long at Disney). The sad part is, no one from Disney cares. They have become immune to customer complaints and concerns. Furthermore they have no regard for Disney Guest’s time. Be prepared to stand in line for walk up concessionaires (forget walking in to a sit down restaurant), restrooms… even Guest Services has lines that you can wait in for as much as an hour or more. This is almost humorous considering you are typically in line at guest services complaining about things like having to wait because Disney screwed something up/ You can only imagine the waiting in lines for rides and attractions. They are are outrageous to say the least. According to Disney, their average wait time is nearly an hour. That’s an hour of standing in the average line! And that’s Disney saying that. Our experience in the last couple of years is the the average is closer to 2 hours with some of the popular rides and attractions as long as 3+ hours. You can always pay for a Genie+ pass (more on that later).

In addition, we have stayed at Disney many times when they didn't allow us entrance into certain parks because they were “at capacity”. Did I mention that we already were staying on property, paid for rooms and our tickets? All in all, when you are on vacation, time is precious, and overcrowding takes huge chunks out of your time every single day you visit.

YOU MUST NOW MAKE PARK RESERVATIONS… IN ADVANCE OF ENTRY
DISNEY’S NEW PARK RESERVATION SYSTEM IS PERFECT… BUT ONLY FOR DISNEY.

Yes, you read that correctly. You now must have Park Reservations well before you can enter a park. Let us be more clear on that. You literally have to go online to Disney’s website to reserve which parks you want to enter, before beginning your vacation. Disney World will no longer let you enter any of their parks without booking prior. This does not mean buying your tickets. You, of course, have to purchase your admission but that does not promise your entry without these newly, ridiculously designed, park reservations. 

In addition, often your park reservations may very well not be accurate, even if you’ve taken your time to “reserve your park” online or over the phone with guest services (Disney Reservations). For whatever reason, they can’t seem to get it right (even reserving months in advance). This will leave you embarrassed, pissed off and reservation-less as you stand at the entry to your favorite park on a day you thought everything was perfectly planned. 

On top of that, parks are often sold out when you attempt to reserve them. Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are often completely booked meaning, even though you have paid for admission, you will not be able to get into the park of your choosing.

For those hardest-core Disney Fans (or Disney Social Media plants) we will dispel your argument right off of the bat. You will say, “first you complain about overcrowded parks and now you complain because Disney’s has a solution, Park Reservations”. I do not believe this to be a fair or reasonable solution for anyone except for Disney .

It is Disney’s responsibility not to oversell their capacity and keep guests happy with a reasonable limit on guests/day. Greed and greed alone prevents them for doing that. One obvious solution to maintaining a better guest experience and still maintaining revenue is simple. Open more parks. Don’t kid yourself, with the revenue that Disney generates each year they could easily build a couple more parks the size of Magic Kingdom and still make a generous profit while doing so.

PARK HOPPERS DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE
WHAT WAS ONCE GOOD IS NOW JUST STUPID.

The Park Hopper was introduced by Disney in 1982. It started out as a genius idea for both Disney and guests. For just over $11 a day, Disney guests could visit both the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. The ida was that guests could benefit by seeing other parks and Disney would make more money from guests who already payed to play for the day. No additional costs to Disney but certainly additional profits.

Today the Park Hopper Passes have evolved to more of a large money-making scheme than a benefit to anyone but Disney. First you must now “stay in your original park” until 2 pm before they are allowed to “park hop” or go to another park (even though they have paid additional fees for the privilege of moving freely from park to park throughout the day.

Now, not only must guests wait until half the day is over before they hop to another park but they must also make reservations for that next park before they go. If they don’t make the reservations, rest assured you will not get in without an argument with Guest Services (after waiting in line for that privilege).

THE FAST PASSES ARE VIRTUALLY WORTHLESS
GENIE+ TAKE UP AS MUCH TIME AS YOU SAVE

Many people wouldn’t even consider spending additionally money on a “Fast Pass”. Especially after spending a fortune of regular admission passes. However, for some people a fast pass is the only way to go. For years Disney had a free fast pass called FastPass+. Disney World permanently retired that fast pass and answered with answer a paid fast pass called Genie+. The majority of the guests that we spoke to that purchased these passes say that not only is it confusing but a waste of money (they cost over $15 additional per pass).

Here are a couple of issues guests have with this new Disney pass:
• You must purchase the Genie+ the same day you are in the park and then reserve the attractions or rides the same day you are going to use them. You cannot reserve them with your Park Reservations or Park Hoppers.

• You must wait at least one hour between scheduled attractions

• These passes only allow 1 reservation at a time and only let you book after your previous reservation time has passed

• Value- The Genie+ was over $15 each

• You cannot use it to reserve the most popular rides

• The KICKER- You can only use it for two attractions

If you think about it, you are literally fighting against thousands of other people also in the parks that day trying to get on your same intended ride because, of course, they cap these capacities out at a very low number to keep their sales high.

MY DISNEY EXPERIENCE APP
FOR THE WORST EXPERIENCE POSSIBLE

There’s no doubt about it that in today’s world, the fastest way, most efficient way to get things accomplished is through the wonderful world of web.The Disney Corporation may not have gotten that memo, however because their website nor apps seem to disappoint more often than not, at least to the folks we talked to.

You would think that a company that has vast knowledge in electronics, technology and entertainment (let alone vast financial resources) would have the very best when it comes to apps and websites. This is simply not the case. As one Tripadvisor reviewer stated… the My Disney Experience App Ruined Our Disney Experience.”

I can tell you from first hand experience, between attempting to book rooms, locking down restaurant reservations, purchasing tickets and reserving parks… ‘Our Disney Experience’ was nothing short of a disaster.

DINING RESERVATIONS TO EVERYWHERE YOU DON’T WANT TO DINE
ANOTHER DISNEY FAILURE

Just like anything else Disney, you need a reservation for your dining experiences. But, once again, it’s not as easy of a task as you would think. Disney recommends that your dining reservations be made as early as possible (especially for larger parties). We started trying to make reservations 60 days prior to the times we were to be in Disney and continued the day we arrived… for the most part to no avail. So if your party is more than 4 people and you want one of the nicer restaurants there is a good chance that it simply will not happen.

Let’s start with the fact that Disney ensures that you cannot contact their restaurants directly and speak with anyone that may actually be able to help you. Instead every dining reservation must be made online which we found to be nearly impossible (at least for any of the better restaurants).

Guest Services used to be able to assist by contacting someone at the restaurant themselves but today they are not allowed to do that so they are literally of no help even when the want to be. As one Guest Services attendant told us when booking, Disney has changed virtually everything. Our hands are tied and there’s really nothing we can do. I feel horrible for many people and what they are dealing with but we simply have no authority to assist customers when they need it most.

HOLD TIMES
WAITING FOR THE NEXT AVAILABLE REPRESENTATIVE... FOR HOURS

If you run into issues booking things on Disney's website or their My Disney Experience App, which is more than likely that you will, you’re natural instinct is probably to pick up the phone and just do it the old fashioned way by calling. Surprise, surprise! This is going to be just as frustrating if not more due to their lengthy hold times. (Probably because of the high volume of calls that they get due to website issues!) On average, you will wait about 3 hours per issue when calling Disney. And that’s if you’re lucky and actually get through to the right department and person!
TIP: Don’t be afraid to put on your “Karen Hat” and tell them how you feel so that you may get your issues solved a little bit faster.

MASKS MANDATORY
REQUIRED FACE COVERINGS NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE.

Whether you’re anti or pro-mask, it doesn’t matter. This one is just down right absurd and annoying. Being in a small gift shop and being asked to put on your mask is one thing, but to be rudely forced to wear a mask when you’re on a boat that is clearly outdoors and separated from anyone else is uncomfortable and feels a lot like an invasion of our American Freedoms. Pulling a mask up in-between bites at an outdoor restaurant is a hassle and decreases your likelihood of actually enjoying the hundreds to thousands of dollars of food you’re consuming while on your Disney Vacation. It seems as if a great percentage of Disney employees let their “power” of mask mandating go to their head and it’s not hard to recognize it.
This leads us to number one…

CUSTOMER SERVICE 
THE CUSTOMER NO LONGER COMES FIRST

One of the greatest things that the Disney Corporation has had to offer since day one is the way that their employees treat each and every customer in every situation. The kindness, compassion and loving connection that they create is really where that magic was born. Somehow, in the last few years, that magic has faded away into oblivion and Walt himself is certainly rolling over in his grave. The sense of entitlement is overruling the company as a whole and will be, undoubtably, the worst part of your entire Disney experience. A few words that come to mind are unpleasant, presumptuous, disrespectful and down right rude. These employees almost forget that you are spending thousands upon thousands of dollars to create family memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. Unfortunately, the everlasting memories may just be those of bad ones. Out of the almost 100,000 Disney World employees, finding a magical one today is like waking Sleeping Beauty without true loves kiss.
Customer service is meant for the customer, not the employees ego, something newly forgotten and undoubtedly lost in the World of Disney.