Do people leave Disney World disappointed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have learned from 14 pages of this thread is that Disney people will defend Disney like there's no tomorrow and just can't understand that some people aren't as into it as they are.

What brings you here?

Again, please just stop. I wanted to know the answer to OP's question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can see how if you are unfamiliar with the system and don't do some research, you will be disappointed when you get there.
I have never been, but we are going soon, and I am very much Type A so I familiarized myself with the parks, the hotels, the reservations system for dining and LLs, etc before I even booked the hotel. And I hired a Disney travel agent to talk through options, what she thought was best for our family, and to eventually book our stay.

Figuring out which parks to visit on which day, where we wanted to eat, if the dining plan is worth it, etc, etc was fun for me. (WDW Prep School is a great site!!) It took me a few hours to figure out while watching TV once the kids were down for the night - exactly the same amount of time it takes me to plan a week long trip overseas.

To me, this is not a trip where you just "wing it". If you do, I think you're setting yourself up for failure.

I'm a very type A person that had done absolutely all the advanced planning and still had a terrible experience. You can't plan around hotel rooms that are poorly maintained (including at their nicest level of on site hotels), buses and other transit that break down or aren't running, hoards of rolling ride closures, poor crowd control and insane lines for everything, or a Disney app that continually stops working so you have to keep going back to customer service to get it working again.

I totally would have had the patience to deal with hiccups here and there. But it really felt like every single thing we did was a giant hassle. From the beginning to the end of the trip. Our hotel room was a problem. Getting to the parks was a problem. Getting on a ride was a problem. Getting food was a problem. Getting out of the parks was a problem. Then we would get back to our hotel room and that would still be a problem and maintenance wouldn't have fixed things. So we decided to go to the pool to get out of the room while they came to do repairs and the pools would be closed because those had also been shut down.

I know this can sound like it's a me problem, but we don't have this on other vacations. We've traveled all over the world and have done vacations in all sorts of places and never had these sorts of problem before.

I have super fun memories of Disney as a kid, but was super disappointed about my experience more recently. It just wasn't fun. My sense was that Disney knows that people will come and pay anything so they've stopped investing in maintenance, quality or customer service.

It sounds like you got really, really unlucky your trip. I would message Disney. Any one of these things would be annoying, but the sheer amount in one go is just unacceptable. They probably won’t give you anything but this sort of info is good for them to know.

I think you just need to let it go, PP. Not everyone is going to like Disney as much as you do. Not everyone is going to have the same experiences as you. And it's okay for people to answer the OP's question and share their negative experiences. Just because someone had a bad experience doesn't make them a Disney hater, it just means they are sharing their bad experience. Nobody is asking you to come on and critique their every move and tell them how they're wrong and they should have done x, y, z instead. LET. IT. GO.

[Anonymous]

For me, this post felt like an invitation to get our my disappointment in my Disney experience, which was amplified by the amount of money I spent. It totally sucked, and I will never return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have learned from 14 pages of this thread is that Disney people will defend Disney like there's no tomorrow and just can't understand that some people aren't as into it as they are.

If you’re not into it why would you go?

Please just stop. Obviously people come back from a vacation and can think "Oh that wasn't as fun as I hoped it would be". But you don't know that until after the vacation.

Please just stop what? Nobody has stopped anyone from complaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have learned from 14 pages of this thread is that Disney people will defend Disney like there's no tomorrow and just can't understand that some people aren't as into it as they are.

If you’re not into it why would you go?

Please just stop. Obviously people come back from a vacation and can think "Oh that wasn't as fun as I hoped it would be". But you don't know that until after the vacation.

Please just stop what? Nobody has stopped anyone from complaining.

But you keep criticizing everyone who is saying they were disappointed in their trips. You need to let it go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have learned from 14 pages of this thread is that Disney people will defend Disney like there's no tomorrow and just can't understand that some people aren't as into it as they are.

If you’re not into it why would you go?

Please just stop. Obviously people come back from a vacation and can think "Oh that wasn't as fun as I hoped it would be". But you don't know that until after the vacation.

Please just stop what? Nobody has stopped anyone from complaining.

But you keep criticizing everyone who is saying they were disappointed in their trips. You need to let it go.

I don't keep doing anything. You can run along if you can't discuss something without getting bossy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have learned from 14 pages of this thread is that Disney people will defend Disney like there's no tomorrow and just can't understand that some people aren't as into it as they are.

What brings you here?

Again, please just stop. I wanted to know the answer to OP's question.

What if the answer is no? Are those people allowed to answer the question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disappointment is a function of expectations. I’m not a Disney fan, but I’ve been 4 times and had a great time each time. I knew what to expect, what my kids/traveling companions liked to do, and made plans keeping all that in mind. Plans doesn’t have to mean a minute-by-minute itinerary.

OP here. Totally agree disappointment is a function of expectations. I'm very good at applying that to other vacations. I'm just not sure I could at Disney, given what I'd feel (self-imposed) pressure to get for the relatively high cost.

Curious to hear more of how you approach Disney.

So if cost is an issue, then you should plan. The high cost feels even worse when you can’t get into the rides you want or eat where you want to go. Disney is way busier than 20 years ago and leverages online tools to plan, make dining and ride reservations, and even order food from the counter service restaurants. So for me, Disney is not stressful because I plan a lot ahead of time. We always have a dining reservation for lunch during the hottest part of the day. I never stand in line for food. I always order ahead from quick service. I always have a plan for rides my family wants to do including those that we have booked ahead by paying extra. After that, it is good. If you roll up all 2005-style and try to wing it in July or during spring break or winter break, you are going to hate it because all you will feel is resentment about lines that people like me don’t wait in. It’s not a Disney thing. It’s a traveling thing. I’ve had to book tickets ahead to Versailles, Notre Dame, The Louvre, Antelope canyon, the washington Monument, the National Zoo. I mean you can go freebird style—aka stand in line forever like a sucker— or you can plan ahead. Your choice but planning ahead is actually less stressful and much more cost effective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disappointment is a function of expectations. I’m not a Disney fan, but I’ve been 4 times and had a great time each time. I knew what to expect, what my kids/traveling companions liked to do, and made plans keeping all that in mind. Plans doesn’t have to mean a minute-by-minute itinerary.

OP here. Totally agree disappointment is a function of expectations. I'm very good at applying that to other vacations. I'm just not sure I could at Disney, given what I'd feel (self-imposed) pressure to get for the relatively high cost.

Curious to hear more of how you approach Disney.

So if cost is an issue, then you should plan. The high cost feels even worse when you can’t get into the rides you want or eat where you want to go. Disney is way busier than 20 years ago and leverages online tools to plan, make dining and ride reservations, and even order food from the counter service restaurants. So for me, Disney is not stressful because I plan a lot ahead of time. We always have a dining reservation for lunch during the hottest part of the day. I never stand in line for food. I always order ahead from quick service. I always have a plan for rides my family wants to do including those that we have booked ahead by paying extra. After that, it is good. If you roll up all 2005-style and try to wing it in July or during spring break or winter break, you are going to hate it because all you will feel is resentment about lines that people like me don’t wait in. It’s not a Disney thing. It’s a traveling thing. I’ve had to book tickets ahead to Versailles, Notre Dame, The Louvre, Antelope canyon, the washington Monument, the National Zoo. I mean you can go freebird style—aka stand in line forever like a sucker— or you can plan ahead. Your choice but planning ahead is actually less stressful and much more cost effective.

This is why i think talking about the negative experiences can be useful for people considering planning a trip. This wasn’t started as a vent thread someone was considering a trip so its good to hear the good with the bad and how to make the most of it and avoid common mistakes.

[Anonymous]

If you don't spend every last dime you have? Yes you will leave underwhelmed and disappointed. You pay to be happy. Nice hotel on the property that's quiet and has nice beds. Fast pass (or whatever they call it now) for every single thing. Anything that lets you skip a line...$$$$$

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have learned from 14 pages of this thread is that Disney people will defend Disney like there's no tomorrow and just can't understand that some people aren't as into it as they are.

If you’re not into it why would you go?

Please just stop. Obviously people come back from a vacation and can think "Oh that wasn't as fun as I hoped it would be". But you don't know that until after the vacation.

Please just stop what? Nobody has stopped anyone from complaining.

But you keep criticizing everyone who is saying they were disappointed in their trips. You need to let it go.

I don't keep doing anything. You can run along if you can't discuss something without getting bossy.

'

Says the lady who keeps telling everyone they did their trip wrong. If that's not you, I apologize for the mistaken identity, but if it is you, perhaps you're the boss one? Geez!

Like OP, I'm trying to decide if Disney World is worth it for my family or not. "It" being all the advanced planning and being attached to my phone 24/7 while on vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can see how if you are unfamiliar with the system and don't do some research, you will be disappointed when you get there.
I have never been, but we are going soon, and I am very much Type A so I familiarized myself with the parks, the hotels, the reservations system for dining and LLs, etc before I even booked the hotel. And I hired a Disney travel agent to talk through options, what she thought was best for our family, and to eventually book our stay.

Figuring out which parks to visit on which day, where we wanted to eat, if the dining plan is worth it, etc, etc was fun for me. (WDW Prep School is a great site!!) It took me a few hours to figure out while watching TV once the kids were down for the night - exactly the same amount of time it takes me to plan a week long trip overseas.

To me, this is not a trip where you just "wing it". If you do, I think you're setting yourself up for failure.

I'm a very type A person that had done absolutely all the advanced planning and still had a terrible experience. You can't plan around hotel rooms that are poorly maintained (including at their nicest level of on site hotels), buses and other transit that break down or aren't running, hoards of rolling ride closures, poor crowd control and insane lines for everything, or a Disney app that continually stops working so you have to keep going back to customer service to get it working again.

I totally would have had the patience to deal with hiccups here and there. But it really felt like every single thing we did was a giant hassle. From the beginning to the end of the trip. Our hotel room was a problem. Getting to the parks was a problem. Getting on a ride was a problem. Getting food was a problem. Getting out of the parks was a problem. Then we would get back to our hotel room and that would still be a problem and maintenance wouldn't have fixed things. So we decided to go to the pool to get out of the room while they came to do repairs and the pools would be closed because those had also been shut down.

I know this can sound like it's a me problem, but we don't have this on other vacations. We've traveled all over the world and have done vacations in all sorts of places and never had these sorts of problem before.

I have super fun memories of Disney as a kid, but was super disappointed about my experience more recently. It just wasn't fun. My sense was that Disney knows that people will come and pay anything so they've stopped investing in maintenance, quality or customer service.

Wow this is awful. We’ve been 10 times. Never had a problem with a room. Only had the pool closed once (my kid started drowning and then spit up some food with the water so they closed the pool for an hour). The newer rides that rely on Bluetooth (rise of resistance, ratatouille) do crash all the time so I’ve had that happen multiple times. Never had an issue with the app. I think only once was a bus delayed but I think I’ve had more issues with the train thing which I do not like. You had really really bad luck!

[Anonymous]

I think it is worth it. We have been to Disney world and Disneyland. We are doing universal this summer and universal is WAY more expensive across the board. So keep that in mind. But Disney is a very cool place. For some, it’s a one time box checker. For others, it is a yearly tradition and obviously for some it becomes and obsession. To each their own but if your baseline question is “is it worth it for my family” I say absolutely 100% yes. I don’t think the same can be said for a lot of places that are considered “musts.” But it will be better to plan than to try to wing it. But even if you wing it and don’t do every ride and bring in your own food (allowed at Disney), I still think it is worth it. There are many things to do that are shorter lines and don’t need reservations. Yes, it is worth it… don’t over think it. FWIW, it is good everywhere. Disneyland Paris constitutes 6% of tourism dollars in the entirety of France every year… for a reason. Disney offers a good product that most people like even in spite of themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have learned from 14 pages of this thread is that Disney people will defend Disney like there's no tomorrow and just can't understand that some people aren't as into it as they are.

If you’re not into it why would you go?

Please just stop. Obviously people come back from a vacation and can think "Oh that wasn't as fun as I hoped it would be". But you don't know that until after the vacation.

Please just stop what? Nobody has stopped anyone from complaining.

But you keep criticizing everyone who is saying they were disappointed in their trips. You need to let it go.

I don't keep doing anything. You can run along if you can't discuss something without getting bossy.

'

Says the lady who keeps telling everyone they did their trip wrong. If that's not you, I apologize for the mistaken identity, but if it is you, perhaps you're the boss one? Geez!

Like OP, I'm trying to decide if Disney World is worth it for my family or not. "It" being all the advanced planning and being attached to my phone 24/7 while on vacation.

I think people (including me) are trying to be helpful and letting you know you really don’t need to be on your phone the whole trip, just a bit of advanced planning and booking new lightning lanes after you redeem one (this takes about one minute, in line after you scan in) For what it’s worth I did less advanced planning for Disney than other recent trips because everything is centralized and on a single platform.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can see how if you are unfamiliar with the system and don't do some research, you will be disappointed when you get there.
I have never been, but we are going soon, and I am very much Type A so I familiarized myself with the parks, the hotels, the reservations system for dining and LLs, etc before I even booked the hotel. And I hired a Disney travel agent to talk through options, what she thought was best for our family, and to eventually book our stay.

Figuring out which parks to visit on which day, where we wanted to eat, if the dining plan is worth it, etc, etc was fun for me. (WDW Prep School is a great site!!) It took me a few hours to figure out while watching TV once the kids were down for the night - exactly the same amount of time it takes me to plan a week long trip overseas.

To me, this is not a trip where you just "wing it". If you do, I think you're setting yourself up for failure.

I'm a very type A person that had done absolutely all the advanced planning and still had a terrible experience. You can't plan around hotel rooms that are poorly maintained (including at their nicest level of on site hotels), buses and other transit that break down or aren't running, hoards of rolling ride closures, poor crowd control and insane lines for everything, or a Disney app that continually stops working so you have to keep going back to customer service to get it working again.

I totally would have had the patience to deal with hiccups here and there. But it really felt like every single thing we did was a giant hassle. From the beginning to the end of the trip. Our hotel room was a problem. Getting to the parks was a problem. Getting on a ride was a problem. Getting food was a problem. Getting out of the parks was a problem. Then we would get back to our hotel room and that would still be a problem and maintenance wouldn't have fixed things. So we decided to go to the pool to get out of the room while they came to do repairs and the pools would be closed because those had also been shut down.

I know this can sound like it's a me problem, but we don't have this on other vacations. We've traveled all over the world and have done vacations in all sorts of places and never had these sorts of problem before.

I have super fun memories of Disney as a kid, but was super disappointed about my experience more recently. It just wasn't fun. My sense was that Disney knows that people will come and pay anything so they've stopped investing in maintenance, quality or customer service.

It sounds like you got really, really unlucky your trip. I would message Disney. Any one of these things would be annoying, but the sheer amount in one go is just unacceptable. They probably won’t give you anything but this sort of info is good for them to know.

I think you just need to let it go, PP. Not everyone is going to like Disney as much as you do. Not everyone is going to have the same experiences as you. And it's okay for people to answer the OP's question and share their negative experiences. Just because someone had a bad experience doesn't make them a Disney hater, it just means they are sharing their bad experience. Nobody is asking you to come on and critique their every move and tell them how they're wrong and they should have done x, y, z instead. LET. IT. GO.

Did you miss the part where I said what they experienced was unacceptable? Disney isn’t trolling DCUM looking for guest feedback. If you’re not satisfied (and honestly, what they described was bad), put on your big girl pants and send a note!