Reviews of My Disney Experience
Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 05/10/2024
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
Disney world used to be a 10/10 vacation spot. You would not be let down and they would exceed your expectations. Not anymore. This last trip will probably be my last time going. It is sad to see the place go down hill so quickly. Transportation/rides and restrooms are in a disgusting state, very dirty and unsanitary. Not sure if it's just disgusting guests or inability to meet cleaning needs or both. The majority of the rides broke down during the visit causing wait times to soar. It is definitely not the place it once was, and DEFINITELY NOT worth the money anymore. I'm just glad I got to experience it back before it started to go downhill. The quality it once had is gone, it is now all about getting as much money from you as they can. It is sad seeing it being run into the ground.
Pros:
Not really any pros anymoreCons:
Costly and disappointing now days.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 05/07/2024
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
I’ve been in 2 minds of rating lower but I feel like I’d be basing it on alot of staff encounters we had and not other things. A lot of staff are unhappy and fed up here, I know we are only human and cant be happy everyday and every hour on the job and in the florida heat.. I get it but when I compare it to my staff interactions at universal studios, disney doesn’t come close to universal’s standards, not to mention tourist spend alot of money to visit and to have the attitudes of staff negatively impact your experience isn’t ideal. Personally i felt universal had more of a magical feel. The photographers were excellent and all in great spirits for people who had to stand out in the heat all day. I would definitely recommend the photo pass/magic maker, we had ours included with our tickets. The photos they take are nicer than the ones you try to take yourselves. The parks are far away from each other which is annoying compared to disneyland paris where park hopping is easy as the parks are next to each other. We enjoyed genie plus as some wait times are crazy long as all parks are very busy, we even bought individual lighting lanes due to this. The toilet facilities were very clean and well stocked throughout the park which is always a bonus. Disney provides plenty of dining options especially in Epcot. We expected to enjoy Disneyworld florida more than we did Disneyland paris but surprisingly we enjoyed disneyland paris alot more even though its smaller with alot less food options. Disneyworld in Florida hasn’t got that many thrilling rides and even the space mountain was a let down compared to the space mountain in Paris. There is alot more shows and short films in florida though which were nice to get out of the heat and get off our feet for abit. I wouldn’t visit again but I’m glad its ticked off my list as it was a life long dream since a child so maybe thats why it just didn’t meet my expectations but I’m pretty sure the things adults feel and notice a child wouldn’t and their experience would feel magical.
Pros:
In reviewCons:
In reviewReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 03/15/2024
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Hi. Sorry to tell you Walt Disney World fl is NOT the happiest place on earth. I have been going to WDW for 40 years on & off. The cast members as they call employees use to always be smiling & helpful, Now the cast members are obviously miserable, down right nasty; and your lucky if they speak English. The whole park is overpriced. I'd say money grabbing. A coke is like $6. The food everywhere is the same no matter how much you pay its all school cafeteria like, even the character dinning & fancy restaurants. Be prepared for walking & walking & walking. Its 2024 one might think disneyworld could come up with a new way or plan to " people move" by now - More rides to get people from one area to another. WDW says the rides are far apart for people control - what are we cattle?
We bought the lighting pass & couldn’t figure how to use it or we didn't get to our scheduled ride on time. We only get to use it on one ride all day. They call the other line STAND BY for a reason. Stand by lane means stand for hours while all the lighting lane litter cut you or go ahead of you. Its the worse. 3 days at WDW & we were unable to go any of the top rated rides. For example Star Wars Rising and Avatar were more than 3 hours wait. So sorry to say, WDW is not worth it. NYC is less crowded & real, not so called magical. I won't be going again.😪
Pros:
The shows are amazing if you can get in. The rides are fun but too short for the wait.Cons:
Everything! Don't go. Plan a real vacation to an Island or Europe or something instead. Don't feel like your missing something as the commercials suggests.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 03/07/2024
Rating: (10) Recommended
My wife,stepdaughter and myself had an amazing time.. everything was well organized from the parking to the train and to the park .. the staff was friendly was very knowledgeable about the areas we was trying to get to… we got there when they first open so the wait time wasn’t long at all for the rides we rode. The characters was amazing also it was mind blowing how they looked just like the character seen on tv..
Pros:
Characters and customer service was amazingCons:
None to giveReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 01/06/2024
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
Employees were absolutely amazing and kind, however so busy. My Disneygeniusplus was horrible!!! You paid $150 a day to go on average one ride. Most of the good rides did not have Disney genie available. We spent all day and night at the park and still did not ride everything. The lines were awful, they had people standing line and than would have large families it the line, the price was insane, the amount of organizing now for shuttles, strollers, and the food… extremely expensive. I took my daughter to the hair salon, you sit forever!!! My daughter loved it, however not worth it… I am excited to see what Universal has to offer. We will not be going back to Disney for many many years.
Pros:
The people were nice, and the rides were amazingCons:
Lines, people cutting lines, expensive, additional cost for everything, I love Disney it is magical, but not for the extreme cost, stress and pain in the butt it was. We didn’t even get on half the rides. We will not be going back for many many many years if even.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 10/16/2023
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
Wow!! Disney has lost the magic!! My first visit to Disney was in 1975 as a child. Enjoyed the parks countless times. Raised my own family on Disney vacations, even getting an open ended time share for up to 3 vacations per year. I realize Covid messed things up and it is harder to keep employers, but beyond that, some of the latest changes just don’t make any sense. We would always get our kids up early to get to the park on time. We would park up close for being early. Now, they park you in the back lot first unless you pay the extra $25, making parking $45. If you are late to the park, they then let you park up front. All parks do it. Also, at every show they block off the centers front sections just in case people who paid for guided tour come. Always allowing those few in, then opening it to all the late comers trying to seat while the show is going on. Fantasmic show this time we were 90 minutes early and made to sit on the far sides. The center 2000 seats were roped off. 5 minutes before the show they let all the late people in. Over 500 seats were left open during the show. Epcot, we got the lighting pass for Ratatouille ride to find out it was breaking down all day. We had to come back twice, stood in line just have it break again. Never made it on. Frozen ride, broke. Fast track broke while we were in line. 95 minutes later we got on and it stopped. [Redacted] Food service has taken a nose dive. There are very few happy smiling staff. Now paying $145 a day and many things roped off. Still no access to most characters. At 58 years of ages, I don’t like being yelled at when I have a hard time understanding staff. They took 90% of the live street performers and bands away. You get fake prerecorded music. I’m tired of complaining. Hopefully the old CEO can get this turned around.
Pros:
They did make bag check faster.Cons:
Very few happy staff and memory making opportunities these days.Reviewed by lardbucket Review Date: 05/07/2023
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
My family booked a trip on March 18th to stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort In September. I saw that some resorts are giving 20% discount. I called and asked if this resort was one and they said yes. I think gave my reservation number and asked for the discount. In the past this has always been no problem .. Well... 3 people later and I am told the King room we booked has no openings left. I said what ... I already have a room booked I am asking the discount be applied. No way.. will not happen ... can not do it.. I guess Disney is really hurting for money ?????
Pros:
I can not see a pro to someone calling after I did getting a discount for the same kine of room that I already booked but can not receiveCons:
I do not know what to sayReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 04/28/2023
Rating: (5) Recommended
Sorry, this is so long but there is a lot of good info in here for first timers. Sort of a cautionary tale…
I’m not the demographic that Disney cares about given that I just joined the ranks of Senior Citizen. But I had been a loyal Disney World Attendee for many years. There were times in my 20s, 30s, 40s, and early 50s that I went to Disney World almost annually. For the last 10 years or so I have not been traveling so it’s been a while. I was going to Florida for a family event and thought it was the perfect time to catch up on all the changes I had read about with awe. I was very excited for the trip.
I made all my plans online and discovered the Disney App. That was not as widely used the last time I was there. It was interesting to me that you have to have a pass (in my case a park Hopper) and then you need to reserve access to a park you would be starting at – given that you would hop somewhere else after 2pm. I thought that was a bit constraining, but little did I know that once we got there there would be many other constraints.
There were many disappointments once we arrived. In general, it was a time of year that we don’t usually go (March and Spring Break!) so it was more crowded (2-hour wait for a 4-minute ride) than we were used to. It was also much hotter than when we typically used to go in November. So, we took all of that into account.
We started noticing differences in the Disney-way as soon as we arrived at our resort. We arrived after dark and saw a long line at the gate. We waited on what we thought was the proper line since we did not see any directional signs. Apparently, we were wrong, and we ended up in the line for guest already checked in. The attendant came over to us and, without a greeting of any kind, informed us (sternly) that we were in the wrong lane, and he let us in. That was a bit shocking to our little Disney hearts!
Checking in and later asking for services was no better. When we checked in we had to ask for directions to the Rental Car Return because we were not going to need the car while on the property. The clerk did not know and made no attempt to find out. Later in the week I asked if they could make dinner reservations for us from the hotel and they informed me that they do not do that. This was another shock for us especially because you have to be locked into the App for all your needs now! – More on that later…
There were other minor resort issues, but we chalked it up to the fact that we stayed in the budget hotel this time out – All Star Movies – but were still struck by the lack of Disney care we got. There was no water in the room and empty vending machines and when we went to the café to see if we could get some, they were closing but were not willing to let us purchase it. This was all before we even got to the parks.
So, we got over the heat, the crowds, and the poor service at the resort and were ready for our magical trip. And then we hit the App hard! We started getting the hang of it on the last day. Again, you need a pass, a reservation to get into the park and then you need to make reservations for rides/attractions if you want to use what used to be Fast Pass. That’s not the half of it…
To use the Lightning Lanes, you need Genie + and you can’t get access to that until the day of your reservation. So, if you’re starting at the Magic Kingdom you have to buy (yes BUY!) Genie + that morning for $25. This is over the cost of the pass ($200+). So, we did that (When in Rome!)…
Then to book an attraction, you have to look through the list and pick one to get the time of your Lightning Lane reservation. The snag is that if you reserve something for noon, you can’t reserve anything else until you check in at noon. So you have to be aware to book something early in the day or you lock yourself out of doing something before your reservation. Oh, and if you want to do one of the more popular attractions you have to pay (again) for the Lightning Lane reservation… so to go on Space Mountain for example – you buy your park pass, pay $25 for Genie+, and then pay $12 for the ride. I suppose Disney thought that jacking up the admission to over the current outrageous price would be a nonstarter so they just nickel and dime you once you’re in.
Another kicker is that you have to buy the Genie + for each park everyday and the way it works with the Park Hopper is a bit counterintuitive. You can’t get Genie + before your day at the park and you have to have a reservation for the first park you’re going to even if you’ll be hopping later. So you also can’t make a dinner reservation until that day and the app works in such a way that you can’t access things you want to do in your second park before you check into it. Needless to say, we were unable to get reservation for something in EPCOT in the afternoon if we were starting the day at the Magic Kingdom.
So, we were also willing to just complain about it and get over everything to have a great Disney time… and then we noticed a lot of un-quality things that we didn’t expect from Disney.
• Seven dwarfs’ train had elements along the wait line that were not working - Water buckets didn't work – and there were not a lot of things during the wait to set the story
• Be our Guest Lunch was very good and the Beast even walked through but there was a glaring lack of other characters or small details like candles in the light fixtures not being set up to look like people or something like that
• Buzz ride shut down but there was no sign of information from the attendants who were just standing there
• Some of the new rides and attractions do not have much in the way of storytelling along the wait line. Ratatouille, for example, has a long hallway with nothing on the walls.
• The new areas of Star Wars and Avatar are great. Definitely worth the trip. Star Wars does a good job of having Storm Troopers walking around. But we saw little else in the way of characters just walking around in other places. They now corral them into one place at certain times. I’m sure that’s for safety, and I get it, but it used to be so fun to happen upon a princess here and there.
• The Studios were not as fun as they used to be in terms of the “studio” theme. And here’s where my age was showing… it seemed to me that they are moving to more rides less history. Which is also OK, but they left old Hollywood without the context for younger people to even know what that was. No street shows, old Hollywood characters, nothing to learn about what it was other than old looking buildings and the Hollywood Bowl.
• We noticed the same lack of customer attention that we saw earlier - Merchants talking to each other and we had to wait until they were done with their conversation to wait on us, etc. Nobody seemed to be in character to match the ride or shop they were attached to.
• Once exception to the attention was a young man who was cleaning up as the Magic Kingdom was closing. We decided to sit off to the side instead of running for the resort bus. Adrian came over as he was picking up trash and we talked to him for about 30 minutes. It was a lovely conversation, and he clearly loves working for the company. We had a very pleasant evening after that.
Bottom line is that we still love Disney and will go again but maybe not every year. We won’t stay in the budget resort if we want more services (although I don’t know if the high-end resorts are different). We will get back to our November visits. And we will have to accept that the experience is App based and just go with it!
And I am surprised that there was no place on the Disney site for feedback like this. Interesting that they seem to not care to solicit comments.
Pros:
It's still a magical place. The new attractions for Star Wars and Avatar are totally amazingCons:
Lost sight of their customer focus More than just expensive - it seems like they could charge a very high admission fee if they would not then charge for things like the Lightning Lane (old Fast Pass) and other items through the App Having everything go through the App makes everyone linked to their phones. Seems like on vacation there should be motivation to get off the phone not more focus on itReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 03/31/2023
Rating: (4) Not Recommended
It's not worth the price they charge and thru the years they only learned how to squeeze more money out of your pocket. Expensive parking fee, expensive entrance fee, expensive meals, expensive stores. And don't get me wrong I work hard and love to play hard and have great experiences and I know that you need to pay for anything in life, it's just that Disney is OVERATED and overpriced. Not returning ever!
Pros:
It's clean.Cons:
It is way overpriced.Reviewed by KathyCournoyer Review Date: 03/19/2023
Rating: (10) Recommended
After spending a wonderful day in EPCOT, we received such a gift when a parking attendant (John Nally of Massachusetts) offered to give us a ride on his golf cart back to our car in a distant parking lot. Since I have some difficulty walking, my husband was going to pick me up at the exit area, but John (after checking with his superior) took us directly to our car. That kind of service deserves recognition!!
