Well if that doesn’t scream magic, I don’t know what does 
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She may have no clue officially but I’m sure I’m not the first person she talked to.
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I sent my email. I at least feel better.
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I wasn’t going to email but I think I’m going to.
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When all of this is implemented, there should be a college course at all universities titled “Booking a Disney World Vacation”. Pre-Reqs: Calculus, Statistics, Financial Planning and a Patient Spouse
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And a Touring Plans subscription!
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You know reading this potential packages situation with FP, some are free and some are not, got me thinking about first timers. Alot of them have no idea what FP is or think you have to pay for it. If this system gets that complicated, along with the cost of tickets according to the dates you want to go to the park, and I were a first timer and this was the first time I realized there was a FP system, I would take one look and say forget it. Many people are mentioning first timers, and their inability to get headliner FPs, as a reason for doing this. No, I’m sorry, it’s not. My best friend is coming with us to Disney for the first time next year. If I tried to explain this to her she would look at me like I had horns coming out of my head.
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We all complain, but yet Disney attendance keeps going up, and up, and up…
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And at some point it will go down, whether it is by prices or recession. And if Disney is supposedly doing this for people complaining about not getting on headliners, then obviously they do respond to complaints.
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Oh, complain away. I’d prefer things stay the same.
We are super lucky like that. Last summer we paid our own way, and I assumed it would be 3-4 years before we could afford to go again. We are moving (again, ugh) this summer and my wife recently went on disability leave, so money is tight for our little family. But we all loved it so much, and the grandparents have lots of money. So we planned a joint trip for this summer before GE opens and the anniversary, and while my parents are still in decent health. I assumed we would share costs and it would still be expensive for us, but more manageable than doing it on our own, and bit the bullet. Found out only after committing to it that my parents assumed they were paying! My parents and I had a long talk, and in the end we worked out a shared cost structure.
So I am incredibly grateful that my parents have decided to pay for almost the whole trip for us (I think we are still covering our own flights from Philadelphia, any souvenirs, and non-shared meals–but they are covering both our room and theirs at Pop, 4 day base tickets for all 4 adults and 2 kids, and whatever meals we share with them).
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It’s not necessarily a first timer issue as either not have a travel planner to advise them, put in the research, or grab a book. Even my first visit in 2017 without friends that had gone or a planner I knew the FP and res system was like because I bought the Unofficial guide and looked online. But I’m not one to spend THOUSANDS of dollars on vacation and not know what the heck it going on.
That’s fine. I am so excited about Nintendo Land/Super Mario Land that is supposed to be coming that it’s motivating enough for me to pay. Disney will be appealing again when they finish Epcot updates.
I agree with this. Right now, attendance (and prices) are soaring because the economy has been soaring for so long, having come off a long recession. But as we fall back into another recession (which is inevitable), Disney will likely have to start offering discounts to keep bodies in the park. Until that happens, however, we will see prices keep rising to keep too many bodies from being in the parks! 
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Disney’s paid upgrades and upcoming FP changes remind me so much of the airlines. I’ve been paying for my own airfare for nearly forty years, and I remember when one got free checked luggage, great leg room, real food, etc. It was fun to fly.
In the late 90s the cost-cutting and crowding started and has progressed until the basic experience has eroded to the point where what was once free has turned into multiple paid upgrades- checked bags, better seating, picking seats, food, boarding, literally anything that can improve the experience has been monetized. Flying is now not fun at all.
This is exactly what Disney is doing. They’ve learned from the airlines. First, the paid upgrades like DAH, EMM, CLFP, tours, etc. Now it sounds like the standard ticket will be buying less. It’s exactly the same process. Oh sure, you can still get from Point A to Point B, or attend WDW, but it isn’t what it used to be- unless you buy up.
And, like the airlines, they’ll keep doing it because people keep coming- every year sets a new record for number of people flying, it’s probably similar for WDW.
But in defense of the airlines- they’ve made flying much safer; and over the long haul, price increases have been lower than inflation (though a lot of that is an accident of cheap fuel). It used to be a luxury to fly, now it’s a basic commodity. They’ve done better than Disney at keeping a basic ticket price low.
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Oh. Air travel gets me going.
“Fly the Friendly Skies” is no more
It now makes cattle herding look luxurious.
We haven’t flown as a family since 2007. In 2017 my son flew to Costa Rica for a missions trip. He was 15. He was appalled. He had a vision of it being special or something.
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My defining airline moment was a trip back from Copenhagen where we were visiting my daughter when she did a semester over there. When we landed in Denver I couldn’t get my shoes on, and DH had been forced to “man spread” the whole flight due to the tiny seat pitch. I wore hotel slippers on to our connecting flight and vowed never to fly basic economy ever again.
And if you don’t know about the changes, you can really get stuck. Families who don’t know you can no longer pick seats, or bring carryons with basic fare. It’s just like showing up to WDW and finding you can’t get a FP like you used to.
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What’s this flying thing you are talking about? Some kind of magic? 
Last time I flew was for our honeymoon. Not sure we’ll ever fly again.
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Given where I live, I look at flying as a scenery tax 
Just play devil’s advocate, the counter to your point is that all those items on the airlines were never “free”, they were built into the cost of the standard ticket. The difference now is that instead of paying say $500 for a standard ticket that includes all the “free” items from before, you have the option of eliminating some of these items and paying less. Instead of using your words of having the option to “Buy Up”, it can be viewed as allowing people who don’t care about the extras to “Get a Discount”.
If the cost today for an airplane ticket with all those “free” items included would be $500, isn’t is better for everyone if they have the option to get less of the “free” items and pay less? This way, people who couldn’t afford the ticket with the “free” items included are now able to afford a ticket with less frills.
Again, I’m not fully disagreeing with your point, I’m just looking at it from the other side. In addition, I think there is a distinction between the airline industry and WDW. For most people, the airplane ride is a means of transportation and isn’t supposed to be fun whereas WDW is pure entertainment. It’s one thing for the planning/experience to be not so fun when it’s main purpose is transportation like an airplane … it’s another for the planning/experience to be not so fun when the main purpose in entertainment like WDW.
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