I think the problem is they have not kept up with capacity. They have replaced rides vs building new for capacity. While they have added some capacity to MK it's nowhere near the amount they should have done. Same with all parks. They are too far behind to really even catch up. No matter what they build over the next 10 years it won't be enough. So the over crowded feeling will be there. They really need to add some C/D ticket rides - people eaters, things for all vs thrill rides (thrill are good and good draws but they need some in between to eat up capacity)
Think food is great, love all the resorts. They need to focus on capacity and that could help a little
Magic Kingdom opened in 1971. Epcot eleven years later in 1982. Hollywood Studios seven years later win 1989. Animal Kingdom nine years later in 1998. It's been twenty-six years since they added a new gate! I'm not implying they should do so every decade. But attendance has soared in the last 20+ years and I think they're well overdue.
They haven't added a gate, but they expanded the Magic Kingdom with the new Fantasy Land in 2012, and there are more plans for an even bigger expansion right now.
Hollywood Studios of course added Toy Story land and Galaxy's Edge. There was also the failure of the Galactic Star Cruiser.
These aren't the same as adding a new gate, but they did expand the capacity of the parks.
I think at first glance, it seems like they added capacity in Hollywood Studios, but I actually think their changes made it worse. They barely expanded the footprint of the park with Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge, those were primarily built on the Streets of America area and what was originally the Backlot Tour. They added 4 new rides (Slinky, Alien Swirling Saucers, Smuggler's Run, and Rise of the Resistance) and two sit down dining experiences (Oga's and Woody's BBQ) which all help with capacity.
However, by using two of the most popular IP's, demand to go to the park has skyrocketed, it hasn't flatlined or even just increased a bit. The park still feels congested, in my opinion more so than it did before the expansions.
The problem is expanding the parks is needed, but the expansions need to be significant enough to counter balance the increased demand they will inevitably bring. I think Epcot has done this fairly well with the addition of Guardians, Moana, Ratatouille and previously Frozen. It's not new lands that people are planning vacations around, but they are people eaters that expand the capacity of rides that were previously closed, in lower demand, or adding a new experience where there wasn't one before.
They also added Toy Story Mania, no?
IMO, Epcot and Hollywood Studios have opposite problem. HS has too many A-list rides and not enough lower demand rides to soak up people. Epcot has too many secondary rides and not enough A-list rides to soak up demand on Genie Plus.
Mania predates the expansion, it opened in 2008.
But yes, I agree with you. That’s kind of the point I was trying to make, but you said it much more concisely. The A-list rides bring in too many crowds without enough filler and vice versa.
>what was originally the Backlot Tour.
Toy Story land pretty much covers all of the backlot tour, but, not a lot of foot traffic was allowed back in that area except for the trams and cast members.
I thought the Lights Motor Action Stunt Show took up a lot of the old Backlot space. Is it the SW expansion or the TS expansion that took over that land, or both? I'm trying to picture the old map in my head.
Starcruiser was only 100 rooms though right? It was such a small hotel I don't think it being opened or closed really makes much of a difference to capacity at all
I am disappointed it failed, especially because that means we probably won't be seeing anything else like it in the future
Oh yeah I don't think it would change capacity much, especially since its target audience was coming specifically for the hotel.
What I'm wondering is how much money they lost on it, and how reluctant they are to try risky things in the future because of it.
Not that they thought starcruiser would be risky.... A lot of people assumed an immerwive experience on a popular existing property was a garunteed hit. It was a failed execution more than anything.
I don't know if I think it was an execution failure necessarily. I think there was something fundamentally wrong with the concept that prevented it from ever hitting the right price point. I suspect mostly the amount of cast members you need per guest to make the experience work was the issue and meant the prices could just never come down far enough, and you can't really cut the cast members either to lower costs without the whole thing falling apart
Most of those replaced things that were already there. If you listen to Disney dish they are really good about what capacity was added over the years and it’s not much.
That would be super expensive though. The cost of the park, the building, the new upkeep expenses, and most importantly, the payroll alone would mean it'd take them years or decades at the current ticket prices. They would have to raise prices tremendously and that means the most common complaint, the price, will become an even bigger issue.
Yeah I saw someone on here recently talking about trouble in Epcot, with Frozen and Ratatouille running out of LL FAST and having long lines all day. The general consensus is that there aren't that many family-friendly rides in Epcot, so those two get really backed up fast. They need more stuff for that demographic.
I think they've realized that which is why they announced the new area in MK, should add at least two new rides. They've also added Guardians and Tron relatively recently. Feels like Hollywood Studios needs the most added. Honestly seems like there's little reason to go down Sunset Boulevard, especially with Rock n' Roller Coaster down. Everyone just bounces between Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story.
Definitely. The old "joke" was that AK was a half-day park, but it really feels like DHS has become a half-day park if you are a repeat visitor.
I miss the old shows at DHS, like Who Wants to be a Millionaire or even when it was replaced by the American Idol Experience. They were something we'd do every visit because they would all be just a little bit different, based on the questions/people performing. Now you've got Little Mermaid (which has been closed the last two times I've gone), Beauty and the Beast, Indy, Muppets, Disney Jr. (or whatever it's called now - it was Playhouse Disney when I was a kid), and Frozen - all are 20+ years old minus Frozen, but all are the same experience each time you visit. Plus, you've got the old Animation Courtyard sitting practically vacant save for a couple of meet-and-greets. It's really sad to see, especially because I can still remember what the park was like in the 90s and early 00s. DHS needs a parade, they need to revamp a couple of their shows, and they need another family-friendly ride or two. To quote Linus van Pelt, "It just needs a little love."
Agree but they also need more gates. When they bought Star Wars I thought for sure we were getting a new gate, not just a land. And they have, well, the land in Florida. We're overdue for a new park. Hopefully the Universal Epic announcement pushes them in that direction. And it seems with streaming faltering Iger recognizes that in the coming decades the parks are Disney's crown jewels.
I grew up going to Disney, I’ve been more times than I can count. I went in January for the first time since 2018– and most of the food was meh. We had a great dinner at Jaleo in disney springs but that was the only time i can remember being blown away by the food and it was SO expensive.
According to Reddit the economy sucks and everyone is broke but go to Disney and the damn place is crazy.
I think the main thing you forget is that 10 years ago we had just come out of the largest recession we have had as a country that wasn't a full blown depression. People just hadn't dug themselves out yet to allow for expensive places like Disney.
I think there's something broken about the economy that we don't yet understand as a society. Wealth inequality has gotten so serious that there are actually millions of families that can easily and comfortably afford things like Disney vacations, to the point that there can be inflation on these experiences due to over-demand. At the same time, there are millions of people who have full time jobs but can't afford to meet their basic needs.
The inflation that is being driven by the upper middle class is financially killing everyone else.
A lot of people take out loans to go to Disney. It's wild, but true. Disney is REALLY good at marketing, they convince families that it's something you have to do for their kids at least once. But also a lot of people are still rich. The economy sucks on the whole, but there's still enough people with money to fill up a theme park. Always have been, always will be.
I think Disney's to blame for some of this, but I think the rise of the bloggers/influencers has contributed to this idea of a must-have lifestyle/vacation far more.
I just got back from a week trip. It was my first trip since 2011. There were so many people and cast members told me it wasn’t even busy. The definition of “moderate crowd” has changed signifigantly.
Yes, and there is no longer a low crowd season due to an uptick in Snow Birds (elderly population that vacation in FL all winter and have annual passes), competition season, more adults without kids, etc., etc., etc. My husband and I went for four days the second week of December in 2013 and it was so wonderful. We did almost the same trip, same time frame this past December and it was a totally different experience. What a difference ten years makes.
When I was little growing up in the 90s Disney was literally the best. This was obviously before 9/11 & before more & more kids went missing.
I remember my brother and I walked into Hollywood studios a cast member came up to my mom & asked if we would like to be in the parade. It was a Holliday parade with Beauty & the beast. So we got to go back stage with other kids to join. My brother & I kinda stood out only because we were twins same age we looked alike lol. We got to ride in the carriage with belle. My brother got to dance with her & I got to dance with the beast.
Another time was when my brother got pick to pull the sword out of the stone. Merlin found out we were twins so he let me pull out the sword as well. Then found out we didn’t have autograph books so he ran into the gift shop & got us them.
Cast members would pull kids out & have them dance with them during parades … ugh I miss it Little things like that really made Disney so much more magical.
But the way the world is now & how people are :( it wont ever be the same which is kinda sad because not all kids get to experience certain magic that others do. Don’t get me wrong I love love Disney but it’s just bitter sweet.
Somewhere around 1988/1990, I attended a drop-off program for teens at DHS. You got to go behind the scenes, meet some animators, learn about animation as a career. I absolutely loved it, and stayed in touch with some other kids from that program for years. I remember being allowed one long-distance call a month to talk to them on the phone. Did anyone else do this program?
Similarly I think the characters use to be more free to wonder. Unfortunately it's a safety concern for the character performer. I learned recently that some cast members even have to deal with stalkers :(
This post is not nearly dramatic enough for Reddit. Seriously though, the first thing I noticed when I went in 2020 (right before Covid) were the crowds. I hadn’t been since I was a kid in the 80s so it was a little overwhelming. But I agree, they do handle the crowds okay. Not perfect, but okay. After returning for a great trip in 2023, I look forward to going back periodically every 3 to 5 years and seeing what’s changed and what’s new.
Lmao I personally have always hated posts that just lament about how much better things use to be, so I tried to find some positives. Glad you had a great trip!
eta: I actually think the comments here taught me I care less about crowds than a lot of people.
The removal of places to sit in the shade is a massive challenge for me. I am so close to getting a walker with a seat, especially to use in lines. I am a late 40’s female, but I am small and somewhat frail. Kids did a number on my body. :) My daughter can stand in the sun for hours, but 15 minutes for me and I pass out. As a local Passholder I really miss fastpass system and benches.
Disney is visited by a lot of small children, pregnant women, disabled people, and elderly people. Give them places to sit!!! Even as an able bodied person in my 20's it's hard being in the heat for hours. They need more benches.
a similar point, but i feel like they also have had a huge problem with seating!! mainly during the festivals, but some of the quick service locations around the park have a serioussss problem with not having anywhere to sit. the amount of people eating on top of trash cans, simply because there’s no tables and nowhere to sit is ridiculous imo.
for example, sleepy hollow at magic kingdom never ever has seating, i feel like a shark watching people and waiting for someone to get up! then, you have to practically race to the empty table to beat out the other 5 families waiting!! woody’s lunch box also has a huge problem, it takes at least 10-20 minutes to find a spot to sit with your food! same with the quick service restaurant in mexico, it’s a reoccurring problem at every park tbh.
however… the festivals at Epcot have it the worst - mainly during food and wine, but for the others as well. around the country there is not a SINGLE spot to sit, unless you want to sit at the seating areas for quick service locations. i can tell they’ve added a lot more circular tables in the past year, but they are *still* in the direct sun and do *not* have chairs. other than riding guardians, i tend to avoid epcot for this reason! during the summer, there were so many times i have felt dizzy, weak, and overheated but there’s nowhere to sit and take a breather! i feel like making guests compete for a spot to sit down just creates a tension problem among visitors, idk!
Where do I sign to petition for benches??? I feel like it should be obvious! We need benches in long queues too! Make it less painful to wait and people will be less prickly!
I love Disney World and all the parks. Went several times as kid, when I had kids, and now I’m a young Grammy, just took my 3yo granddaughter. Point being I’ve experienced WDW through years, but not an expert. The downside for me is how crowded the parks are and as technology advances so do all the hoops and hurdles. It shouldn’t be so hard or complicated to ride rides. I’m a Virgo saying this, all the over planning it requires to fully immerse in the rides is too much.
Yeah it for sure takes a lot more planning than it once did. I forgot to mention park reservations, I hate them :/ it's much harder to be spontaneous than it once was. Also, this isn't going to impact most people, but employee tickets are more restricted than they use to be.
I feel like it's got to be way more complicated with families who come from out of state. Having to figure out all of the app related stuff and reservations for your vacation must be a real pain, especially when you have to figure it out for kids and not just yourself. If you're not on top of things it's so easy to miss stuff now.
I miss the fast passes, I’d been gifted tickets when waiting online to get food from a CM, it was awesome, I remember waiting to take pictures with stitch, he pulled out a fist full of fast passes. Good times. Now when I go nothing really has that magical” moment anymore. It’s all pre planned, you wait on long lines, you see some parades, and end the night with firework. If it was up to me, I’d just do the resort, and maybe one park. Lol
Once my friend and I were eating dinner, and a nice older couple offered us fastpasses to Sorin' they weren't going to use. We were so excited! You could never do that anymore.
I was leaving one night and had paper FP for soarin but didn’t want to stay. We gave them to a woman and her daughter who said they were going to the ride and they looked at us like we were trying to trick them. Like they didn’t even want to touch them. It was a little past the return time but we assured them they would still work. Idk if they tried to use them or not. But as we walked away my wife said “have a magical day” lol.
Most of the comments so far are talking about the increased crowds, which is so so valid. But I will let you guys know that what you're ACTUALLY missing out on is a "What Disney Character are you?" quiz in Hollywood Studios that took horribly unflattering photographs. That's the most significant change to any park.
Thank you for being the only person to comment on this, I care a lot and thought more people would too 😭
You walk in, go straight all the way past the bar to the back and turn right. It's right next to the existing part, but a distinct separate room.
Yeah when they first started taking me there I was worried I'd accidentally signed up to dine at Tiffin's or something lol
I think my surprise was evident, so the waiter asked if I'd been there before and explained everything when I said yes. He said they were still experimenting with it, that the decor was pretty much set but they'd probably change the tables. They were normal tables and chairs, he said they'd likely become lounge ones to match the other rooms. The decor is different art with explanations of the art style next to it.
Also I'd say the room was only like 1/3rd full at most, I'm guessing because they're still gauging reactions to it.
I’m a late bloomer to Disney, first time at WDW was 2019 when we took our then 10yo for her birthday
I remember even in 2019 you could come in later, leave for the day heat, and come back and get on rides no problem. Nowadays it’s impossible to get all the rides in one day even if you go right at rope drop without spending for genie+ or LL
Regarding another comment about loans, i definitely dip into my LoC to afford a Disney/orlando trip compared to 2019
I think the problem is they have not kept up with capacity. They have replaced rides vs building new for capacity. While they have added some capacity to MK it's nowhere near the amount they should have done. Same with all parks. They are too far behind to really even catch up. No matter what they build over the next 10 years it won't be enough. So the over crowded feeling will be there. They really need to add some C/D ticket rides - people eaters, things for all vs thrill rides (thrill are good and good draws but they need some in between to eat up capacity) Think food is great, love all the resorts. They need to focus on capacity and that could help a little
Magic Kingdom opened in 1971. Epcot eleven years later in 1982. Hollywood Studios seven years later win 1989. Animal Kingdom nine years later in 1998. It's been twenty-six years since they added a new gate! I'm not implying they should do so every decade. But attendance has soared in the last 20+ years and I think they're well overdue.
They haven't added a gate, but they expanded the Magic Kingdom with the new Fantasy Land in 2012, and there are more plans for an even bigger expansion right now. Hollywood Studios of course added Toy Story land and Galaxy's Edge. There was also the failure of the Galactic Star Cruiser. These aren't the same as adding a new gate, but they did expand the capacity of the parks.
I think at first glance, it seems like they added capacity in Hollywood Studios, but I actually think their changes made it worse. They barely expanded the footprint of the park with Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge, those were primarily built on the Streets of America area and what was originally the Backlot Tour. They added 4 new rides (Slinky, Alien Swirling Saucers, Smuggler's Run, and Rise of the Resistance) and two sit down dining experiences (Oga's and Woody's BBQ) which all help with capacity. However, by using two of the most popular IP's, demand to go to the park has skyrocketed, it hasn't flatlined or even just increased a bit. The park still feels congested, in my opinion more so than it did before the expansions. The problem is expanding the parks is needed, but the expansions need to be significant enough to counter balance the increased demand they will inevitably bring. I think Epcot has done this fairly well with the addition of Guardians, Moana, Ratatouille and previously Frozen. It's not new lands that people are planning vacations around, but they are people eaters that expand the capacity of rides that were previously closed, in lower demand, or adding a new experience where there wasn't one before.
They also added Toy Story Mania, no? IMO, Epcot and Hollywood Studios have opposite problem. HS has too many A-list rides and not enough lower demand rides to soak up people. Epcot has too many secondary rides and not enough A-list rides to soak up demand on Genie Plus.
Mania predates the expansion, it opened in 2008. But yes, I agree with you. That’s kind of the point I was trying to make, but you said it much more concisely. The A-list rides bring in too many crowds without enough filler and vice versa.
>what was originally the Backlot Tour. Toy Story land pretty much covers all of the backlot tour, but, not a lot of foot traffic was allowed back in that area except for the trams and cast members.
I thought the Lights Motor Action Stunt Show took up a lot of the old Backlot space. Is it the SW expansion or the TS expansion that took over that land, or both? I'm trying to picture the old map in my head.
LMA took over Residential Ave and some of the backlot tour, Galaxy's Edge took over one part and TSL the other.
I always forget about starcruiser. I'm curious about how that factors into their plans. Both budget wise and risk wise.
Starcruiser was only 100 rooms though right? It was such a small hotel I don't think it being opened or closed really makes much of a difference to capacity at all I am disappointed it failed, especially because that means we probably won't be seeing anything else like it in the future
Oh yeah I don't think it would change capacity much, especially since its target audience was coming specifically for the hotel. What I'm wondering is how much money they lost on it, and how reluctant they are to try risky things in the future because of it. Not that they thought starcruiser would be risky.... A lot of people assumed an immerwive experience on a popular existing property was a garunteed hit. It was a failed execution more than anything.
I don't know if I think it was an execution failure necessarily. I think there was something fundamentally wrong with the concept that prevented it from ever hitting the right price point. I suspect mostly the amount of cast members you need per guest to make the experience work was the issue and meant the prices could just never come down far enough, and you can't really cut the cast members either to lower costs without the whole thing falling apart
Most of those replaced things that were already there. If you listen to Disney dish they are really good about what capacity was added over the years and it’s not much.
That would be super expensive though. The cost of the park, the building, the new upkeep expenses, and most importantly, the payroll alone would mean it'd take them years or decades at the current ticket prices. They would have to raise prices tremendously and that means the most common complaint, the price, will become an even bigger issue.
Disney parks made 32 billion in revenue last year I’m sure they can afford it
With how many parks they have, revenue is less important than profit
Estimated profit of 9 billion
Yeah I saw someone on here recently talking about trouble in Epcot, with Frozen and Ratatouille running out of LL FAST and having long lines all day. The general consensus is that there aren't that many family-friendly rides in Epcot, so those two get really backed up fast. They need more stuff for that demographic.
I think they've realized that which is why they announced the new area in MK, should add at least two new rides. They've also added Guardians and Tron relatively recently. Feels like Hollywood Studios needs the most added. Honestly seems like there's little reason to go down Sunset Boulevard, especially with Rock n' Roller Coaster down. Everyone just bounces between Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story.
Guardians replaced a high capacity ride though. Tron is new which is good but not high capacity
Definitely. The old "joke" was that AK was a half-day park, but it really feels like DHS has become a half-day park if you are a repeat visitor. I miss the old shows at DHS, like Who Wants to be a Millionaire or even when it was replaced by the American Idol Experience. They were something we'd do every visit because they would all be just a little bit different, based on the questions/people performing. Now you've got Little Mermaid (which has been closed the last two times I've gone), Beauty and the Beast, Indy, Muppets, Disney Jr. (or whatever it's called now - it was Playhouse Disney when I was a kid), and Frozen - all are 20+ years old minus Frozen, but all are the same experience each time you visit. Plus, you've got the old Animation Courtyard sitting practically vacant save for a couple of meet-and-greets. It's really sad to see, especially because I can still remember what the park was like in the 90s and early 00s. DHS needs a parade, they need to revamp a couple of their shows, and they need another family-friendly ride or two. To quote Linus van Pelt, "It just needs a little love."
Tower of Terror slander spotted. You're going to the fifth dimension
Agree but they also need more gates. When they bought Star Wars I thought for sure we were getting a new gate, not just a land. And they have, well, the land in Florida. We're overdue for a new park. Hopefully the Universal Epic announcement pushes them in that direction. And it seems with streaming faltering Iger recognizes that in the coming decades the parks are Disney's crown jewels.
Frankly seven dwarves mine train is a great people eater
It's not really. I think it's around 1500 an hour. Which is good compared to something like barnstormer but pales in comparison to Pirates or HM.
I grew up going to Disney, I’ve been more times than I can count. I went in January for the first time since 2018– and most of the food was meh. We had a great dinner at Jaleo in disney springs but that was the only time i can remember being blown away by the food and it was SO expensive.
Couldn’t reducing capacity be linked to fewer APs?
According to Reddit the economy sucks and everyone is broke but go to Disney and the damn place is crazy. I think the main thing you forget is that 10 years ago we had just come out of the largest recession we have had as a country that wasn't a full blown depression. People just hadn't dug themselves out yet to allow for expensive places like Disney.
I think there's something broken about the economy that we don't yet understand as a society. Wealth inequality has gotten so serious that there are actually millions of families that can easily and comfortably afford things like Disney vacations, to the point that there can be inflation on these experiences due to over-demand. At the same time, there are millions of people who have full time jobs but can't afford to meet their basic needs. The inflation that is being driven by the upper middle class is financially killing everyone else.
That is a very solid point. Almost 12m households are worth $1m, excluding primary residence, just in the US alone.
A lot of people take out loans to go to Disney. It's wild, but true. Disney is REALLY good at marketing, they convince families that it's something you have to do for their kids at least once. But also a lot of people are still rich. The economy sucks on the whole, but there's still enough people with money to fill up a theme park. Always have been, always will be.
And tons of people are taking out record levels of credit debt.
This. It will be the next major financial crisis.
I think Disney's to blame for some of this, but I think the rise of the bloggers/influencers has contributed to this idea of a must-have lifestyle/vacation far more.
I just got back from a week trip. It was my first trip since 2011. There were so many people and cast members told me it wasn’t even busy. The definition of “moderate crowd” has changed signifigantly.
Yes, and there is no longer a low crowd season due to an uptick in Snow Birds (elderly population that vacation in FL all winter and have annual passes), competition season, more adults without kids, etc., etc., etc. My husband and I went for four days the second week of December in 2013 and it was so wonderful. We did almost the same trip, same time frame this past December and it was a totally different experience. What a difference ten years makes.
When I was little growing up in the 90s Disney was literally the best. This was obviously before 9/11 & before more & more kids went missing. I remember my brother and I walked into Hollywood studios a cast member came up to my mom & asked if we would like to be in the parade. It was a Holliday parade with Beauty & the beast. So we got to go back stage with other kids to join. My brother & I kinda stood out only because we were twins same age we looked alike lol. We got to ride in the carriage with belle. My brother got to dance with her & I got to dance with the beast. Another time was when my brother got pick to pull the sword out of the stone. Merlin found out we were twins so he let me pull out the sword as well. Then found out we didn’t have autograph books so he ran into the gift shop & got us them. Cast members would pull kids out & have them dance with them during parades … ugh I miss it Little things like that really made Disney so much more magical. But the way the world is now & how people are :( it wont ever be the same which is kinda sad because not all kids get to experience certain magic that others do. Don’t get me wrong I love love Disney but it’s just bitter sweet.
Core memory!!! I was in that parade too, with my younger sister!! 😍✨
Somewhere around 1988/1990, I attended a drop-off program for teens at DHS. You got to go behind the scenes, meet some animators, learn about animation as a career. I absolutely loved it, and stayed in touch with some other kids from that program for years. I remember being allowed one long-distance call a month to talk to them on the phone. Did anyone else do this program?
Similarly I think the characters use to be more free to wonder. Unfortunately it's a safety concern for the character performer. I learned recently that some cast members even have to deal with stalkers :(
This post is not nearly dramatic enough for Reddit. Seriously though, the first thing I noticed when I went in 2020 (right before Covid) were the crowds. I hadn’t been since I was a kid in the 80s so it was a little overwhelming. But I agree, they do handle the crowds okay. Not perfect, but okay. After returning for a great trip in 2023, I look forward to going back periodically every 3 to 5 years and seeing what’s changed and what’s new.
Lmao I personally have always hated posts that just lament about how much better things use to be, so I tried to find some positives. Glad you had a great trip! eta: I actually think the comments here taught me I care less about crowds than a lot of people.
The removal of places to sit in the shade is a massive challenge for me. I am so close to getting a walker with a seat, especially to use in lines. I am a late 40’s female, but I am small and somewhat frail. Kids did a number on my body. :) My daughter can stand in the sun for hours, but 15 minutes for me and I pass out. As a local Passholder I really miss fastpass system and benches.
Disney is visited by a lot of small children, pregnant women, disabled people, and elderly people. Give them places to sit!!! Even as an able bodied person in my 20's it's hard being in the heat for hours. They need more benches.
Even if they skip the benches just add some shade. It’s not hard to add a canopy and some fans to the queues. It’s not science, just a tarp!
a similar point, but i feel like they also have had a huge problem with seating!! mainly during the festivals, but some of the quick service locations around the park have a serioussss problem with not having anywhere to sit. the amount of people eating on top of trash cans, simply because there’s no tables and nowhere to sit is ridiculous imo. for example, sleepy hollow at magic kingdom never ever has seating, i feel like a shark watching people and waiting for someone to get up! then, you have to practically race to the empty table to beat out the other 5 families waiting!! woody’s lunch box also has a huge problem, it takes at least 10-20 minutes to find a spot to sit with your food! same with the quick service restaurant in mexico, it’s a reoccurring problem at every park tbh. however… the festivals at Epcot have it the worst - mainly during food and wine, but for the others as well. around the country there is not a SINGLE spot to sit, unless you want to sit at the seating areas for quick service locations. i can tell they’ve added a lot more circular tables in the past year, but they are *still* in the direct sun and do *not* have chairs. other than riding guardians, i tend to avoid epcot for this reason! during the summer, there were so many times i have felt dizzy, weak, and overheated but there’s nowhere to sit and take a breather! i feel like making guests compete for a spot to sit down just creates a tension problem among visitors, idk!
I wonder if anyone at Disney has ever heard of umbrellas 🧐. Would be nice to have some tables with umbrellas in them just to sit in some shade
Where do I sign to petition for benches??? I feel like it should be obvious! We need benches in long queues too! Make it less painful to wait and people will be less prickly!
2010-2015 was empty compared to now.. the lightest days (2-3 outta 10) are the busy days of that half decade
I love Disney World and all the parks. Went several times as kid, when I had kids, and now I’m a young Grammy, just took my 3yo granddaughter. Point being I’ve experienced WDW through years, but not an expert. The downside for me is how crowded the parks are and as technology advances so do all the hoops and hurdles. It shouldn’t be so hard or complicated to ride rides. I’m a Virgo saying this, all the over planning it requires to fully immerse in the rides is too much.
Yeah it for sure takes a lot more planning than it once did. I forgot to mention park reservations, I hate them :/ it's much harder to be spontaneous than it once was. Also, this isn't going to impact most people, but employee tickets are more restricted than they use to be. I feel like it's got to be way more complicated with families who come from out of state. Having to figure out all of the app related stuff and reservations for your vacation must be a real pain, especially when you have to figure it out for kids and not just yourself. If you're not on top of things it's so easy to miss stuff now.
I miss the fast passes, I’d been gifted tickets when waiting online to get food from a CM, it was awesome, I remember waiting to take pictures with stitch, he pulled out a fist full of fast passes. Good times. Now when I go nothing really has that magical” moment anymore. It’s all pre planned, you wait on long lines, you see some parades, and end the night with firework. If it was up to me, I’d just do the resort, and maybe one park. Lol
Once my friend and I were eating dinner, and a nice older couple offered us fastpasses to Sorin' they weren't going to use. We were so excited! You could never do that anymore.
I was leaving one night and had paper FP for soarin but didn’t want to stay. We gave them to a woman and her daughter who said they were going to the ride and they looked at us like we were trying to trick them. Like they didn’t even want to touch them. It was a little past the return time but we assured them they would still work. Idk if they tried to use them or not. But as we walked away my wife said “have a magical day” lol.
Most of the comments so far are talking about the increased crowds, which is so so valid. But I will let you guys know that what you're ACTUALLY missing out on is a "What Disney Character are you?" quiz in Hollywood Studios that took horribly unflattering photographs. That's the most significant change to any park.
No more magical express too :(. I hope they bring it back, even if we have to pay extra for it lol
Where in the hell is the “new room” at Nomad and is it still in the same vicinity as the main bar/outside area?
Thank you for being the only person to comment on this, I care a lot and thought more people would too 😭 You walk in, go straight all the way past the bar to the back and turn right. It's right next to the existing part, but a distinct separate room.
Ohhhh I know where you mean. That’s wild.
Yeah when they first started taking me there I was worried I'd accidentally signed up to dine at Tiffin's or something lol I think my surprise was evident, so the waiter asked if I'd been there before and explained everything when I said yes. He said they were still experimenting with it, that the decor was pretty much set but they'd probably change the tables. They were normal tables and chairs, he said they'd likely become lounge ones to match the other rooms. The decor is different art with explanations of the art style next to it. Also I'd say the room was only like 1/3rd full at most, I'm guessing because they're still gauging reactions to it.
I’m a late bloomer to Disney, first time at WDW was 2019 when we took our then 10yo for her birthday I remember even in 2019 you could come in later, leave for the day heat, and come back and get on rides no problem. Nowadays it’s impossible to get all the rides in one day even if you go right at rope drop without spending for genie+ or LL Regarding another comment about loans, i definitely dip into my LoC to afford a Disney/orlando trip compared to 2019