I don’t think that Disney parks can survive with just Liners, or natural Liners who don’t know it. I also don’t think they can survive with just pass holders. They need a lot of people that do the one big trip and are willing to spend on it. Those people (like me) are postponing until things are completely back to normal, i.e. Jan 2022, and I’ll postpone again if that is to early.
The attendance at Universal might be a lot of passholders since theirs is 1/4 the cost of a Disney pass. Also there are the locals that have a pass-ish until the end of this year. I know that the pass has allowed us to add two extra Universal trips. While we were there we ate in the parks and stayed in a hotel.
I don’t remember the specific conversation but as someone who is on the “even some magic is better than none” side, I don’t think anyone intended for you to feel this way. Yours is a legitimate point of view. We can just get a little carried away when talking about our love for Disney.
It’s a whole new world at WDW. Get ready for changes. Over the years Disney added new features and extras to the parks like Extra Magic Hours, Fast Pass Plus, Advanced Dinner Reservations, etc that in reality now only benefit a small portion of their overall number of guests.
Disney is using the situation to test the price elasticity and the true demand for its product. Are enough people truly incentivized by the additional perks of being an on-site guest or will they come on its own,
It would not surprise me to see things like this changed to a paid add-on or limitations to so that it can be used by more guests rather than the die-hard few who jump on the website at 7 AM 60,90 or 180 days out to grab everything for themselves.
this reminds me of all the TP hoarding at the beginning of the pandemic… I’m here in the forum but rarely do I get up at crazy hours to get anything done for a reservation and then I am SO annoyed that I can’t get what I want cuz it’s been snatched up already. … like FPs… I hate that system, I was never benefited by it cuz as military we always waited until the last to buy our tickets. We never knew if we were actually going to be able to keep a reservation until 2-4 weeks out.
I remember you saying that, but I don’t remember any backlash from it (sorry that there was).
I’m one of those people that even some Disney is enough, but I respect that not everyone agrees.
Yep, that’s my situation. Some Disney is still better than no Disney. And honestly, after taking this second trip since the reopening, it doesn’t feel like that much is missing anymore. I LOVE the calvacades, and hope they continue. You can still see characters, but don’t have to wait in line to see them, and I also loved them at Topolino’s. You can get a great photo of each of them, but don’t have to interrupt your meal by standing up over and over to get the photos with them. The thing I really miss the most, are night hours and fireworks. But honestly, with how early you need to be up every day to get to the parks earlier than they open, it was nice to be done by 8pm everyday. I usually burn the candle at both ends, and get very little sleep between the late hours and early mornings. I love the spaced out lines and not having to sit with random people. Some live entertainment would be nice, but it is there if you look for it- the Cadaver Dans perform in MK, the Jammitors and Mariachi Cobre are in Epcot, and there is the Discovery Island band floating by in AK. It was good to see so many people returning to the parks. The lines could be a pain, but it made it feel much more like normal Disney…families of all ages enjoying a much needed break from reality. My only regret is I cannot buy an AP and have paid for tickets for 2 trips already. I am thinking about taking DD18 in January and maybe DS16 in April if he wants to go…which means more tickets. Disney is my happy place though, and still is even with reduced offerings.
It is encouraging to hear this. I mean, we’ve gone, and are going again…but sometimes when I keep reading of things that aren’t there, I find myself going down a path of frustration. When I see the pictures of the excessive lines, it seems discouraging, even though I know, logically, those are moments in time captures. (People aren’t posting the, “Oh, look…reasonably long lines!” They are posting the, “Oh, look, no lines!” or the, “This line in INSANE!” pics instead.)
So, thanks for the reminder that the reduced offerings are fine and we will have a grand time no matter what!
I had trip that got cancelled in April 2020…I bought my tickets from Undercover Tourist. I just called them to ask about getting a refund on a ticket i couldn’t use any longer since one person in my party can no longer go for our rescheduled trip in April 2021…I asked them if i could apply value of that ticket towards additional days on my remaining tickets because i wanted to book Park Passes since they were released. Interesting thing is, they said “We do not anticipate Park Pass being used after January 1 so there’s no need to book them now”…That’s the first I heard anything about Park Pass not being used, especially since Disney jsut added it to website for all of 2021
Only problem with that is, alot of people do not get up early to go to the parks, including us…We love the parks at night the most…We dont like to get up early on vacation so we typically sleep in until 8am, eat in the room, hit the pool until early afternoon and then head into the parks around 3pm and stay until they close…
I have a really “special“ way of calculating the return on my investment. I have such limited vacation monies I need the whole bang for my buck.
I just selfishly hope there are not so many that people that are willing to pay the same for less that they don’t try harder to bring stuff back.
That plan definitely does not work right now. Like I said, I missed the night hours. But not enough that it would keep me at home. I am from the West coast and mornings are so rough when we are on the east coast…but worth it to drag ourselves out of bed. Right now it is the only way to tour the parks with them closing so early.
Agree 100%…Thats why we wont be going and the main point of the post…Universal is doing a better job vs Disney…While their hours aren’t much later (if later at all), they are doing other things that make the experience a lot better than what Disney is offering
We talked about this a lot this week. I do think they will never bring back some things, it is just easier and cheaper not to. I was pretty surprised how many first visit buttons I saw in the parks.
I totally understand your perspective, and it makes sense. I just wonder when and if the “whole bang for the buck” will ever return. I am used to going to the parks frequently, and many times it is more about the friends I am meeting, or just time with the family that doesn’t involve school/sports than it is about how many rides we can do. I guess I am easily satisfied when it comes to Disney!
I guess. We were there this summer (stayed at Hard Rock) and I was there again on Monday of this week. I like Universal…it just doesn’t give me the feels that Disney does. Like I told my friend, I can go to Orlando and skip Universal easily, but I could never go to Orlando and skip Disney. That was true before Covid, and after. But I am not necessarily in the majority with that thinking.
We went a few weeks ago to get away and test things out. It was different but not a bad way. It was weird but when the lines were too long for us to want to wait we just found something else to do. We have experienced rides we havent done in forever. People watched with a cocktail, tried new snacks, we actually relaxed. We shopped in the stores without the masses and not having the ability to eat and drink while walking forced us to sit. It was different then the scheduled fast pass days of our past but was still very enjoyable and still rode every ride we wanted more than once. Love the calvalcades. We sat in the rivers of light showing area in AK for like an hour watching the characters go by while we had coffee and a snack. I will admit its not for everyone and you have to change your expectations. But even with the “massive” lines and “crowds” we had a wonderful time and would do again in a second. Planning a full week for the spring already.
This is what it’s coming to. The new one time only people aren’t going to know what they’re missing unless they started planning before COVID. It doesn’t bode well for folks like me, though, that do know what they’re missing. Some Disney isn’t enough on Disney prices.
Also very sad to me. And my understanding is Jammitors and Mariachi Cobre are now gone, as well. Watching them “float by” in AK is the most depressing. I miss sitting in Harambe, eating an elephant ear, and watching the whole show.
I guess for all of us, the lines are drawn in where we felt the magic resided. Some prefer things from a distance but not me. And that’s OK. Just because someone does it different doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I’m in mourning, though.
That reminds me of a photo I saw shortly after re-opening. It was titled “See, there is still Disney Magic” It was of Minnie on one side of a big window and a little girl on the other. They both had their hands on the glass looking at each other. I thought it was sad, not magical.
I totally understand, and at one point in my life might not have been willing to move past it. But we have been to WDW and DL so many times, seen it all, done it all. I could mourn all those things and stay away until they come back (if they do), or can go and find new magic along the way. We are all different in how we are dealing with the loss of normal Disney…everyone must choose what is right or wrong for them. I just know it would be hard on me mentally to wait until things are normal to return. I need my fix every few months, so for me it is worth the less stuff even in the price is not less. The magic is still there, you just have to try a lot harder to find it. But I totally understand the point of view that everyone else has.
They were there Monday in Epcot. I haven’t heard that they have been cut. They had very few people watching though…of course it wasn’t the nicest day with rain and storms so that could have kept people away.
way of calculating the return on my investment. I have such limited vacation monies I need the whole bang for my buck.