As a former DVC member for over 20 years, I can say with some authority - Disney sucks now. It is a shell of its former self. Stop wasting your money and time on a company that clearly hates its formerly loyal customers. The Disney experience is no longer affordable or a value.
With the raise in tickets prices, hotels prices, food prices, long lines, and now rude employees, why would anyone want to go to Disney anymore? They are sucking the fun and joy out of the experience.
Sadly, I think it’s nothing new and it’s not just Disney. It’s that social media and our social conscience makes it so we know everything and are no longer willing to accept thing on good faith. Sorry to say there had never been a “good” company. Just a company we didn’t know the truth about.
#1: Definitely. We did Genie+ at Magic Kingdom back in March 2022. Through efficient planning (booking the most critical attraction early, then booking again as soon as we checked in, plus using the geographical closeness of attractions) we were able to skip the line on 6 attractions that day.
It's sad but it's Disney's fault and I'm glad dfb isn't shying away from the truth. It took them awhile to stop making positive videos and they did their best not to be negative, but the way Disney has been lately it's hard to sugar coat things. And I think it's great that aj is doing this. If her videos make people not want to go and attendance starts to slip then eventually Disney will have to bring back some of the old perks they used to include that made our vacations better.
Am I the only one who thinks the price of entering the park should equal to a decent wait time for rides??? $150 to wait in 4+ hr lines is insane to me.... 😢I haven't been able to go to Disney just cuz of this thought process I have. I haven't been great financially, but I wish I could visit Disneyland as a So Cal resident more often.
@@grif0716 That's not entirely what they are doing. They actually use the reservations to have less staff scheduled to work, less food kiosks, and less cars running on the rides. That makes it continue to look crowded and forces guests to add on the genie+. It doesn't help Disney make $$$ if anyone can walk in and wait in a shorter line. After all why would they buy genie+ and lightening lane? When Disney first opened after covid, it felt packed at 25% capacity and we were shocked. One of the blogs pointed out that this was because of spacing in lines and shops. We don't realize how much of the crowd is absorbed by the lines, shops, rides and restaurants. Tweak any variable, especially ride capacity per hour, and you can make the park seem so crowded people will pay anything to bypass standby lines. And by running rides at lower capacity/less cars, etc. You can schedule less staff and your maintenance costs go down. It's all pretty clever, but it has less to do with "lowering crowds to a comfortable level" than you think.
@@rsent4026 yep... Disney's current policy is optimized by having minimal services and maximum lines. You want both the standby and the Lightning Lane lines FULL, with rides running at the least capacity possible.
An important note about MagicBands that I really valued knowing on my trip is that you can upload your park ticket to your apple wallet and scan it the same way you do with Apple Pay. I have an Apple Watch that I wear all the time anyway so I just used that to scan into lightning lane or whatever else. functioned just like a MagicBand with a couple button clicks added!
Last Spring, we stayed at Art of Animation. It was fun. We went to Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot. At Epcot, I used genie at 7:00. We went immediately to Ratatouille. We rode it twice in a row. We went around the world. My daughter collected all the postcards. We rode rides, made Genie requests, ate lunch and in the afternoon returned to our room for a few hours. My wife napped while my daughter and I went to Disney Springs. I continued to make Genie requests while away from Epcot. We returned in the early evening rode all of our Genie rides, watched the fireworks and took the skyliner back to the room. It was a great day. Even with the place beyond packed, we hit every ride, and seen everything that Epcot has to offer. Staying at a resort serviced by the Skyliner is huge.
There are lies of commission, saying something not true, and lies of omission, leaving out certain important things in order to mislead. So, yes Disney lies.
Remember when you could just go on vacation instead of needing a super computer, seventeen books, a few dozen UA-cam videos, and different overlapping strategies planned over months to spend thousands and thousands to get a dwindling experience
With genie +, ILL’s, and going from open til close, I rode 29 rides in one day between DCA and Disneyland with my sister and brother-in-law. I could barely walk the next day but we did it
we rode tons as well and I don't think we ever dipped below 4-5 Genie Plus rides. One caveat: at least twice, I had LL rides schedule, only to have them missing when we got to the ride. Frustrating for a paid service
I'm gonna be honest. I haven't been to Disney world in Over a decade. I am having a family now and was thinking of planning a vacation but between the death of the meal plan and the 4+hour ride wait times that I need to make reservations for and the Expense. It might be better to just visit Florida.
From the UK, went to Disney in October, it’s slowly dying, to many people, can’t move, can’t do the rides. Just the over quantity and experience has declined rapidly, It peak in 2019. Dave your money & time don’t go
We’re thinking about doing a split stay of 6 days or so at Disney and 3 or so at another hotel. The lack of benefits for value resorts and lack of dining plan are factoring into our decision big time.
I gotta say my latest trip to Florida, I looked forward to going to Universal Studios more than Disney, Universal puts so much more effort and care into their parks, their rides and expierences for cheeper.
I have been watching DFB for a while now. I have not been to disney world in many years but was thinking I will hit it in a few years when my granddaughter is about 6ish. The thing is though, after watching, it really doesn't look very fun at all. The reservation game for the parks and restaurants, the genie plus thing and the costs makes me want to choose UNiversal
We rode8-10 rides a day with genie+, you just need to be aggressive and be on top of it. (We also had one sit down meal each day + snacks) and stayed in the park for 7-8 hours each day.
I just hate feeling like I have to be on my phone so much while trying to enjoy the parks. I wish they had done what they had before and let you book 3 rides like the old system. I have no problem that they're charging for it but why can't we do 3 ride reservations at a time instead of just one ? :(
I agree, while waiting in line is when I booked most of the rides. With that said, I was connected to my phone a lot more than I wanted and married to the clock as well. That was the part I disliked the most.
I am planning a trip to Disney and am already anticipating the anxiety :( Not only with my phone, but the fact that so many things have to be reserved in advance and leave little room for spontaneity or unforseen circumstances..
But like… I don’t know exactly how people didn’t expect HEA to come back after the 50th though. I remember reading specifically that enchantment was going to be a limited time show for the celebration so technically leaving the door open for HEA or another new show to appear post anniversary.
I have been going to Disney for 50 years. The guest experience is now terrible. There isn’t a Disney Family Member who will keep management in check. Too many MBA’ers scheming to maximize profits by cheapening out the experience by increasing prices everywhere. I bet they are trying to figure out how to charge for air! Chapek’s comments justifying Annual Passholders no longer selling new AP’s because they don’t spend enough money. Then saying that they would sell them if things got bad economically. Yeah, when times are good we don’t care about our favorite fans when times are bad we want you back. Many won’t come back and they will find better experiences elsewhere like Universal. Universal will have a new park in 2025. What will Disney have ? Nothing!
The price range is very sneaky. We could only find the "low" prices during the times of the year that is impossible for us to visit. But the prices for when we can go are noticeably higher. We've decided to wait on vacations until Epic Universe opens because Disney just isn't as magical as it used to be.
I’m a Florida native and even I’m holding off on going back to Disney because I’d rather save my money for Epic Universe. Universal seems like they actually care about innovation and new tech, Disney just cares about money lately. I used to love Disney, but it’s just way too much money for less and less lately. 😢
@@justins9886 Because Disney was originally affordable for quite a few people. They have now been seen catering to those with more money by taking away all of the perks that came free with the hotels or tickets. Fast pass used to come with your tickets if you got in the parks early enough to get them. Extra magic hours were included with your disney hotel even if it was one of the lower tier ones. It's a luxury that has become a nickle-and-dime experience that require you to pay for things that used to be included. That's why people are upset.
I am just so sick of Disney 's Nickle and diming and taking experiences away. I'm just wishing (insert well echo here) that Bob Chapek would move on, anywhere.
We did Genie+ in MK and HS and it helped us get every single ride we wanted (like 6 a day). On our final day at the parks we were also able to get lightning lanes across 3 parks to finish up everything we wanted to do. The other thing that pleasantly surprised me at Disney was the fact that I had no need for a magicband. I thought I would be missing something, but no! I was able to do everything (get into the parks, photo pass pics, lightning lane entry, Apple Pay for purchases) with my Apple Watch and never had an issue. I know a lot of people talk about having to be stuck on your phone with Genie+, but I personally didn’t feel that way. I booked the LLs I wanted and we still had lots of extra time to eat/meet characters/ride rides with low waits and even just sit and chill in some AC.
Growing up I loved Disney it was so magical and a wow experience. That was 20 years ago. It seems know it's too complicated and really not worth the cost of your hard earned money to just wait in lines and maybe ride 2-3 rides. Is this new or has it always been this way and I was too young to notice.
Also don’t fall for all the merchandise lies. Like you “need” all the limited edition popcorn buckets and limited this and exclusive that. It’s all a marketing ploy. I intend to enjoy our trip in 20 days and not come home with a bunch of junk I absolutely do not need. Disney gets enough of my money from the tickets, hotel and food!
Disney gave a lot of the Osborne lights to Give Kids the World, which is a free (and wonderful) local area resort for Make a Wish kids that Disney has worked with for a long time. GKTW is raising money by using those lights now. You can see them at H20 water park at Margaritaville just a few miles from the parks. I don't think they have the spinning angels and globe, but they do have a million lights and they raise money for a great cause.
Same after going on Everest we found out wait there’s no food stops near here so we had to run all the way down just to find a little market place for food!
The height restriction in Florida was 200 ft The reason the Castle is 189 ft is Disney didn't know if the state would count the Utility Corridor system under the park as the ground floor or not. So the hedged their bet and built it under 190 ft
I cannot believe how far Disney has descended to the gutter. I am older and had the true JOY of going to Disneyland WITHOUT RESERVATIONS! Go to Disneyland whenever you wanted, and once in, YOU COULD DO WHATEVER YOU WANTED, WHENEVER YOU WANTED! NO CELL PHONES OR INTERNET AT ALL! Go onto ANY RIDE over and over again...no special lanes, only one line, and if you got there, no matter if it was a "Big Ticket Ride" ( They were called "E" tickets). TOTAL SELF CONTROL AND TOTAL SPONTINAITY. It truely was Magical in those days. They have RUINED a trip to Disneyland or Disney World....No single teenager, Very Few families can afford it! You Don't even know what you are all missing.
For the AirBnB reviews, know that a lot of times, the "negative" ones have been removed. We paid for one that advertises 6 minutes from Magic Kingdom and our review was removed!! I informed the host that I had a service dog for my respiratory condition and asked for only WATER to be used to wipe down the condo due to my medical condition. Well, the host knew that she couldn't deny my service dog so instead she used straight up bleach to the point that it smelled like an indoor public pool in the condo. I went into respiratory distress before I could even walk through the doorway. The host said that it was impossible to be allergic to bleach and she'd never had anyone complain about her place being "too clean" before. I had to find somewhere else to stay for the week (using my limited spending cash I had on me since this was an expense I hadn't planned on). The three women who stayed behind had headaches every day due to the lingering bleach due to its strength that she used. AND killed THREE roaches. Our review was removed from the site. So be careful with AirBnB.
AirBnB is a really awful company and they have no control over the properties they host on their site. I’ve had far too many negative experiences to stay in them ever again.
@@mr.quacko3884 How so? Because I asked for something that I'm DEADLY allergic to, to not be used? That I stopped breathing upon the door being opened? That I have to live with the aide of a service dog and the host made sure that my dog didn't stay in her rental despite it being illegal to deny? Karens feel entitled to what they really aren't? I paid for a place to stay just like any able-bodied individual. Which meant that I really was entitled to have a safe place for me to sleep while on vacation.
Thank you for your advise AJ and DFB, because of your video, my trip to walt disney world last week was a success, everything went so smooth and EZ, I looked like an Expert all week :)
Love you your team and all your tips even if I am not going to Disney anytime soon maybe I am just a Disney nerd and just want to know everything any anything about Disney every video you post I am there you have all my like comments and subs I turned on the bell so every time you post a video I am one of the first people there thanks for all you and your teams hard work love you dfb team 💙
Now you are telling your audience to lower your expectations when one visits Disney so one won’t be disappointed . It used to be that Disney would go above or beyond one’s expectations at one point few years ago. One would gladly go and spend money because you were able to see and do everything . Now going to Disney is super complicated even tho you are paying for a Vacation.
OF course there is a reason to leave the Disney "BUBBLE"- the airport is not on Disney Property and you do have to get back home when your vacation is over.
I thought it didn't matter whether you were staying on or off property to book your first genie+ at 7am? The only one it matters for is for the ones you have to purchase.
No. If you're staying off site you cannot purchase Genie plus until 9:00 a.m. same with buying individual lightning Lanes. The only thing that is the same is the virtual queue opens at 7:00 a.m. for everyone.
I'm both happy and sad you're now covering the truth about Disney little by little. I would see other Disney world channels discuss what's wrong with the parks and you guys would try and justify it (not necessarily a bad thing) so I'm happy that you're talking about it but also sad because if even you guys are calling Disney out for their bs then things must be really bad. Love your channel BTW. Studied it religiously when we went last year. We ended up liking islands of adventure more than any other park tbh.
The Disney Vault was created bc Michael Eisner (the Disney CEO at the time) thought that making home releases of the classic disney movies would tarnish the Disney brand. So. They came up with that as a solution.
Just got back from Disney. Don’t do it. Was absolutely horrible. Food prices absurd. Wait lines were hrs long. Genie plus didn’t help. You have to book first ride at 7 am can’t book next ride until you’ve rode your 7 am booked ride. You get about 4 rides a day with genie plus. Now they are pricing genie plus based on park ticket sales. I will never waste my time our money at Disney. Everyone in our group regretted the trip.
Why do you think those nice people randomly ask you when you come in what your household makes a year?? They have decided that the high spenders are those households over 150K. That is their target. You can forget Disney catering to a family of 4 making 70K. They just do not want the parks crowded so they went for the high earners to the detriment of the regular folk. Sad buy true.
The 120 minute rule may actually be a lie. My family was at Disney World last week and we were booking lightning lanes within 30 minutes of each other. The trick is to check once you pass the second checkpoint. You may actually have your next lightning lane before leaving your ride!
The 120 minute rule is if you book a lightning lane at say 9 AM and it's not for 3 pm and your next lightning lane isn't until we will say for example noon at 11 AM you can book another LL. So you would have a Noon, a 3 PM and the one you made at 11.
@@Sleep1wr And example of what happened to me is this. I would arrive at 8:30 and get a lightning lane for 9:55, jungle Cruise. I would get on the jungle cruise and when I get off I can get a lightning Lane for a Haunted Mansion for 10:45. Almost immediately after I get off that ride I snag a lightning lane for pirates at noon. I was in the parks for five days and this was every day.
@@aerofool66 yes, once you’ve USED your lightning lane, you can book another. It’s only if your LL is so far in the future, that 120 minutes have passed and you haven’t ridden the ride you booked. Then you are able to book another one. I hope this is clear. It sounds like you were able to get a lot of use from your Genie+ regardless. 😃
I am going to wait a while until things calm down and when I said calm down, I mean not having deal with Covid for one or Chapek's greed for two. Besides I'd prefer to wait until the park has some improvements all things aside.
In the past it was called fast pass and you had machines where you put the entry tickets in to get your next pass. And it was for free. Not affordable anymore too much waiting, to many bad news (pedophiles etc). I rather go somewhere else at this point...
Used to love Disney World, went the first year it opened when I was only 8 years old and many many times over the years BUT in the last 10 years or so it has become one big overcrowded money making ripoff. I will not go anymore...too crowded, too expensive, too woke...
Then you will not be able to go on the newest ride Guardians of the Galaxy. If that's okay with you then go ahead and Skip Epcot. But if you are a Thrill Ride or roller coaster fans then you're going to be kicking yourself.
@@broganmckoko I’m okay with that. I’m going with a 6 and 2 year old so it’s not really “that” kind of trip for me. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom has some decent thrill rides and coasters. I’m excited for Flight of Passage! 🎉
Genie + works so well. I was in Disney last week and I was able to ride every ride on genie + at Hollywood, Animal and epcot. I went 2 times at Magic kingdom (nov 1st and nov 5th) and each time with the help of genie + we were able to ride all rides at magic both times. You can stack these up also
Waited years to schedule a trip to Florida but they closed at 6pm n saved rest of the evening and night till midnight for private Christmas celebration we had flight next day so we wanted to wait for fireworks but we were walked out of Disney saying it's closed for us felt really bad. We thought we ll pay extra amount to upgrade out ticket but they didn't consider that instead you have to buy a brand of new ticket to stay in park few more hours We are moving out of US so this was once in a lifetime for us and kids. Not everyone can splurge again. vacation .missed so many rides,stood in long queues. The train was not functioning so it made going around park even more difficult
I saddens me that you can't just go there & have fun anymore. Gotta have a whole battle strategy set up months in advance & wake up at the crack of dawn for every day of the trip while spending hudnreds or thousands of dollars per day. Even then, it'll feel more like work than a vacation, especially if something goes wrong :(
Are the buses free again? I thought they had started charging around $35 per person, which I thought was unreasonable. I a so glad that the transportation is free again!
Only to the theme parks/ Disney Springs. The Magical Express to and from the airport is gone and yes you will pay per person, usually 15-20ish per person each way.
Disney is the largest onsite employer in the country. They aren't making content people want to see. Theme parks are unaffordable for families given the high inflation. Lay offs seem inevitable
You know what I do Wonder people go to universal there's not a reservation system. when you stay in a higher level hotel you automatically get the fastpass and the lines there are not as crazy as what is going on within the Disney parks. You can get your food in a timely manner . I believe that we are creating a very bad system amongst the Disney parks there is no reason with everyone obtaining a reservation why people are waiting over an hour or close to it during a weekday to ride a particular ride. all of the genie plus and lightning Lanes people are buying into. that is creating more confusion and more craziness within the parks.
Like imagine the revenue disneh could get bringing back Osborne - chapek should be paying THEM to come back! Granted the whole amazing point of it was on the backlot houses and cities and everything that made HS amazing and …: Hollywood studios-y 😢
DISNEY DECISION MAKERS please hear this: the parks are NO LONGER THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH. FIX THIS. The Disney BRAND has been DAMAGED. Guests want to feel like WELCOMED GUESTS, not tolerated data points valued only for maximum $ spend. (!!!)
With 9 of us there’s no way we could afford a Disney or other theme park hotel, at least we have a place to stay 9 minutes from Animal kingdom. Also yes I have to rent a van for the vacation. 😂
Surprise. You won't find ANY $109 tickets. Since this video was posted (8 days ago) the cheapest one-day ticket price was increased to $124. The highest is $189. The last time I was at Disney World EPCOT wasn't much more than a collection of country-themed stores. Nice looking... but nothing much going on. Park tickets weren't expensive in those days so it wasn't painful... just a waste of time. With TODAY'S prices... YIKES!
As a former DVC member for over 20 years, I can say with some authority - Disney sucks now. It is a shell of its former self. Stop wasting your money and time on a company that clearly hates its formerly loyal customers. The Disney experience is no longer affordable or a value.
Just got back from Disney World... way too busy, way too many lines, and everything is breaking down. The magic is gone.
With the raise in tickets prices, hotels prices, food prices, long lines, and now rude employees, why would anyone want to go to Disney anymore? They are sucking the fun and joy out of the experience.
i enjoy how these videos are slowly becoming more dystopian as Disney gets more greedy
Sadly, I think it’s nothing new and it’s not just Disney. It’s that social media and our social conscience makes it so we know everything and are no longer willing to accept thing on good faith. Sorry to say there had never been a “good” company. Just a company we didn’t know the truth about.
@@robertkirkpatrick1826 But going with your "social media" comment, "truth" many times is subject to the OP's desires?
#1: Definitely. We did Genie+ at Magic Kingdom back in March 2022. Through efficient planning (booking the most critical attraction early, then booking again as soon as we checked in, plus using the geographical closeness of attractions) we were able to skip the line on 6 attractions that day.
I have to admit I do get sad that a lot of stuff on this channel is negative, but it’s all true. I’m glad you’re speaking the truth DFB!
It's sad but it's Disney's fault and I'm glad dfb isn't shying away from the truth. It took them awhile to stop making positive videos and they did their best not to be negative, but the way Disney has been lately it's hard to sugar coat things. And I think it's great that aj is doing this. If her videos make people not want to go and attendance starts to slip then eventually Disney will have to bring back some of the old perks they used to include that made our vacations better.
@@0dylan very well said
I agree. I feel that even though some things are negative, AJ is as objective and impartial as possible.
i wouldnt say a lot but its what we need to know
Am I the only one who thinks the price of entering the park should equal to a decent wait time for rides??? $150 to wait in 4+ hr lines is insane to me.... 😢I haven't been able to go to Disney just cuz of this thought process I have. I haven't been great financially, but I wish I could visit Disneyland as a So Cal resident more often.
If they want to bring the wait times down then less people need to be in the parks.
@@grif0716 That's not entirely what they are doing. They actually use the reservations to have less staff scheduled to work, less food kiosks, and less cars running on the rides. That makes it continue to look crowded and forces guests to add on the genie+. It doesn't help Disney make $$$ if anyone can walk in and wait in a shorter line. After all why would they buy genie+ and lightening lane?
When Disney first opened after covid, it felt packed at 25% capacity and we were shocked. One of the blogs pointed out that this was because of spacing in lines and shops. We don't realize how much of the crowd is absorbed by the lines, shops, rides and restaurants. Tweak any variable, especially ride capacity per hour, and you can make the park seem so crowded people will pay anything to bypass standby lines. And by running rides at lower capacity/less cars, etc. You can schedule less staff and your maintenance costs go down.
It's all pretty clever, but it has less to do with "lowering crowds to a comfortable level" than you think.
@@rsent4026 yep... Disney's current policy is optimized by having minimal services and maximum lines. You want both the standby and the Lightning Lane lines FULL, with rides running at the least capacity possible.
First, leave Commiefornia. That will save you money
Any parent of teens can tell you: it’s not just about what’s being said. It’s what is not being said that I’m concerned about.
An important note about MagicBands that I really valued knowing on my trip is that you can upload your park ticket to your apple wallet and scan it the same way you do with Apple Pay. I have an Apple Watch that I wear all the time anyway so I just used that to scan into lightning lane or whatever else. functioned just like a MagicBand with a couple button clicks added!
Talk about a confusing buncha insane convoluted bs to deal with, now I know exactly why I'll never go to Disney ever again.
Last Spring, we stayed at Art of Animation. It was fun. We went to Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot. At Epcot, I used genie at 7:00. We went immediately to Ratatouille. We rode it twice in a row. We went around the world. My daughter collected all the postcards. We rode rides, made Genie requests, ate lunch and in the afternoon returned to our room for a few hours. My wife napped while my daughter and I went to Disney Springs. I continued to make Genie requests while away from Epcot. We returned in the early evening rode all of our Genie rides, watched the fireworks and took the skyliner back to the room. It was a great day. Even with the place beyond packed, we hit every ride, and seen everything that Epcot has to offer. Staying at a resort serviced by the Skyliner is huge.
Disney doesnt lie as much as they omit the truth. P.s it's because of AJ that I know how to manage Disney these days.
There are lies of commission, saying something not true, and lies of omission, leaving out certain important things in order to mislead. So, yes Disney lies.
That is known as a lie of omission.
@@kmlammto oh I hear u ... Still gonna go to Disney lol
In the wise words of Fox Mulder : they never lie. Just willfully participate in acts of misinformation.
Remember when you could just go on vacation instead of needing a super computer, seventeen books, a few dozen UA-cam videos, and different overlapping strategies planned over months to spend thousands and thousands to get a dwindling experience
Speak the truth,Tell it like it is, DFB! 🙌🏻
With genie +, ILL’s, and going from open til close, I rode 29 rides in one day between DCA and Disneyland with my sister and brother-in-law. I could barely walk the next day but we did it
we rode tons as well and I don't think we ever dipped below 4-5 Genie Plus rides. One caveat: at least twice, I had LL rides schedule, only to have them missing when we got to the ride. Frustrating for a paid service
I'm gonna be honest. I haven't been to Disney world in Over a decade. I am having a family now and was thinking of planning a vacation but between the death of the meal plan and the 4+hour ride wait times that I need to make reservations for and the Expense. It might be better to just visit Florida.
From the UK, went to Disney in October, it’s slowly dying, to many people, can’t move, can’t do the rides. Just the over quantity and experience has declined rapidly, It peak in 2019. Dave your money & time don’t go
We’re thinking about doing a split stay of 6 days or so at Disney and 3 or so at another hotel. The lack of benefits for value resorts and lack of dining plan are factoring into our decision big time.
@wanda taylor sorry, what?
Bob chapel sounds like a dictator and killjoy
I gotta say my latest trip to Florida, I looked forward to going to Universal Studios more than Disney, Universal puts so much more effort and care into their parks, their rides and expierences for cheeper.
I really want them to bring back the dining plan. I will say that the one thing I refuse to do is Genie+.
I have been watching DFB for a while now. I have not been to disney world in many years but was thinking I will hit it in a few years when my granddaughter is about 6ish. The thing is though, after watching, it really doesn't look very fun at all. The reservation game for the parks and restaurants, the genie plus thing and the costs makes me want to choose UNiversal
I appreciate this video because it made me feel like you're not just paid to talk up the parks.
Of course they are.
Happy Wednesday y’all and here’s hoping Nicole calms down before she hits orlando tomorrow! 🎩🥂🖤
I find it more fascinating how they use perspective and psychology. And yes, I hope everyone is safe from Nicole!
We rode8-10 rides a day with genie+, you just need to be aggressive and be on top of it. (We also had one sit down meal each day + snacks) and stayed in the park for 7-8 hours each day.
I just hate feeling like I have to be on my phone so much while trying to enjoy the parks. I wish they had done what they had before and let you book 3 rides like the old system. I have no problem that they're charging for it but why can't we do 3 ride reservations at a time instead of just one ? :(
I agree, while waiting in line is when I booked most of the rides. With that said, I was connected to my phone a lot more than I wanted and married to the clock as well. That was the part I disliked the most.
I am planning a trip to Disney and am already anticipating the anxiety :( Not only with my phone, but the fact that so many things have to be reserved in advance and leave little room for spontaneity or unforseen circumstances..
@@portellajuliana that is one of the things I missed was the ability to be spontaneous.
Why even go sounds like a hellscape
But like… I don’t know exactly how people didn’t expect HEA to come back after the 50th though. I remember reading specifically that enchantment was going to be a limited time show for the celebration so technically leaving the door open for HEA or another new show to appear post anniversary.
I love the Main Street Electrical Parade!!!! I hope it comes back soon :)
Universal is catching up ever so slowly
I have been going to Disney for 50 years. The guest experience is now terrible. There isn’t a Disney Family Member who will keep management in check. Too many MBA’ers scheming to maximize profits by cheapening out the experience by increasing prices everywhere. I bet they are trying to figure out how to charge for air!
Chapek’s comments justifying Annual Passholders no longer selling new AP’s because they don’t spend enough money. Then saying that they would sell them if things got bad economically. Yeah, when times are good we don’t care about our favorite fans when times are bad we want you back. Many won’t come back and they will find better experiences elsewhere like Universal. Universal will have a new park in 2025. What will Disney have ? Nothing!
The price range is very sneaky. We could only find the "low" prices during the times of the year that is impossible for us to visit. But the prices for when we can go are noticeably higher. We've decided to wait on vacations until Epic Universe opens because Disney just isn't as magical as it used to be.
I’m a Florida native and even I’m holding off on going back to Disney because I’d rather save my money for Epic Universe. Universal seems like they actually care about innovation and new tech, Disney just cares about money lately. I used to love Disney, but it’s just way too much money for less and less lately. 😢
@@justins9886 Because Disney was originally affordable for quite a few people. They have now been seen catering to those with more money by taking away all of the perks that came free with the hotels or tickets. Fast pass used to come with your tickets if you got in the parks early enough to get them. Extra magic hours were included with your disney hotel even if it was one of the lower tier ones. It's a luxury that has become a nickle-and-dime experience that require you to pay for things that used to be included. That's why people are upset.
I am just so sick of Disney 's Nickle and diming and taking experiences away. I'm just wishing (insert well echo here) that Bob Chapek would move on, anywhere.
We did Genie+ in MK and HS and it helped us get every single ride we wanted (like 6 a day). On our final day at the parks we were also able to get lightning lanes across 3 parks to finish up everything we wanted to do.
The other thing that pleasantly surprised me at Disney was the fact that I had no need for a magicband. I thought I would be missing something, but no! I was able to do everything (get into the parks, photo pass pics, lightning lane entry, Apple Pay for purchases) with my Apple Watch and never had an issue.
I know a lot of people talk about having to be stuck on your phone with Genie+, but I personally didn’t feel that way. I booked the LLs I wanted and we still had lots of extra time to eat/meet characters/ride rides with low waits and even just sit and chill in some AC.
Growing up I loved Disney it was so magical and a wow experience. That was 20 years ago. It seems know it's too complicated and really not worth the cost of your hard earned money to just wait in lines and maybe ride 2-3 rides. Is this new or has it always been this way and I was too young to notice.
Charging hotel guest for parking, was the "last straw" for me..that and the park hopper restrictions that is.
Bob Paycheck’s evil genius status has been confirmed.
And the falling stock price reflects his status.
Also don’t fall for all the merchandise lies. Like you “need” all the limited edition popcorn buckets and limited this and exclusive that. It’s all a marketing ploy. I intend to enjoy our trip in 20 days and not come home with a bunch of junk I absolutely do not need. Disney gets enough of my money from the tickets, hotel and food!
As an investor. I would be happy to see Bob retire or be let go
Hey AJ- maybe we could convince them to put the Osborn Family Lights in Disney Springs instead!!! Shopping plus entertainment = happy vacation 😂❤
Disney gave a lot of the Osborne lights to Give Kids the World, which is a free (and wonderful) local area resort for Make a Wish kids that Disney has worked with for a long time. GKTW is raising money by using those lights now. You can see them at H20 water park at Margaritaville just a few miles from the parks. I don't think they have the spinning angels and globe, but they do have a million lights and they raise money for a great cause.
@@rsent4026 that’s amazing thank you so much for that news!!!
Same after going on Everest we found out wait there’s no food stops near here so we had to run all the way down just to find a little market place for food!
The height restriction in Florida was 200 ft
The reason the Castle is 189 ft is Disney didn't know if the state would count the Utility Corridor system under the park as the ground floor or not.
So the hedged their bet and built it under 190 ft
I cannot believe how far Disney has descended to the gutter. I am older and had the true JOY of going to Disneyland WITHOUT RESERVATIONS! Go to Disneyland whenever you wanted, and once in, YOU COULD DO WHATEVER YOU WANTED, WHENEVER YOU WANTED! NO CELL PHONES OR INTERNET AT ALL! Go onto ANY RIDE over and over again...no special lanes, only one line, and if you got there, no matter if it was a "Big Ticket Ride" ( They were called "E" tickets). TOTAL SELF CONTROL AND TOTAL SPONTINAITY. It truely was Magical in those days. They have RUINED a trip to Disneyland or Disney World....No single teenager, Very Few families can afford it! You Don't even know what you are all missing.
For the AirBnB reviews, know that a lot of times, the "negative" ones have been removed. We paid for one that advertises 6 minutes from Magic Kingdom and our review was removed!! I informed the host that I had a service dog for my respiratory condition and asked for only WATER to be used to wipe down the condo due to my medical condition. Well, the host knew that she couldn't deny my service dog so instead she used straight up bleach to the point that it smelled like an indoor public pool in the condo. I went into respiratory distress before I could even walk through the doorway.
The host said that it was impossible to be allergic to bleach and she'd never had anyone complain about her place being "too clean" before. I had to find somewhere else to stay for the week (using my limited spending cash I had on me since this was an expense I hadn't planned on). The three women who stayed behind had headaches every day due to the lingering bleach due to its strength that she used. AND killed THREE roaches.
Our review was removed from the site. So be careful with AirBnB.
That’s a terrible experience I hope next time goes much better for you
@@Harrissarena I'm going to stay at POP when I go in January.
AirBnB is a really awful company and they have no control over the properties they host on their site. I’ve had far too many negative experiences to stay in them ever again.
You're clearly a Karen.
@@mr.quacko3884 How so? Because I asked for something that I'm DEADLY allergic to, to not be used? That I stopped breathing upon the door being opened? That I have to live with the aide of a service dog and the host made sure that my dog didn't stay in her rental despite it being illegal to deny?
Karens feel entitled to what they really aren't? I paid for a place to stay just like any able-bodied individual. Which meant that I really was entitled to have a safe place for me to sleep while on vacation.
Wouldn't be shocked to know Disney lies to its guest. They already show they have no respect for the ppl actually keeping the park open
Thank you for your advise AJ and DFB, because of your video, my trip to walt disney world last week was a success, everything went so smooth and EZ, I looked like an Expert all week :)
Love you your team and all your tips even if I am not going to Disney anytime soon maybe I am just a Disney nerd and just want to know everything any anything about Disney every video you post I am there you have all my like comments and subs I turned on the bell so every time you post a video I am one of the first people there thanks for all you and your teams hard work love you dfb team 💙
Now you are telling your audience to lower your expectations when one visits Disney so one won’t be disappointed . It used to be that Disney would go above or beyond one’s expectations at one point few years ago. One would gladly go and spend money because you were able to see and do everything . Now going to Disney is super complicated even tho you are paying for a Vacation.
OF course there is a reason to leave the Disney "BUBBLE"- the airport is not on Disney Property and you do have to get back home when your vacation is over.
I thought it didn't matter whether you were staying on or off property to book your first genie+ at 7am? The only one it matters for is for the ones you have to purchase.
No. If you're staying off site you cannot purchase Genie plus until 9:00 a.m. same with buying individual lightning Lanes. The only thing that is the same is the virtual queue opens at 7:00 a.m. for everyone.
I'm both happy and sad you're now covering the truth about Disney little by little. I would see other Disney world channels discuss what's wrong with the parks and you guys would try and justify it (not necessarily a bad thing) so I'm happy that you're talking about it but also sad because if even you guys are calling Disney out for their bs then things must be really bad. Love your channel BTW. Studied it religiously when we went last year. We ended up liking islands of adventure more than any other park tbh.
I just love AJ she does a amazing job! ❤
I’m definitely sick of the walls at Epcot. It’s been forever.
The Disney Vault was created bc Michael Eisner (the Disney CEO at the time) thought that making home releases of the classic disney movies would tarnish the Disney brand. So. They came up with that as a solution.
It is a royal pain in the neck to do all this. Done with Disney!
Sounds like you have to be glued to that genie app refreshing it every minute just to get on a ride. Where's the magic and joy in that?
I have yet to go to Disney with the lightning lane and I will be archiving this video as a reference
Just got back from Disney. Don’t do it. Was absolutely horrible.
Food prices absurd. Wait lines were hrs long. Genie plus didn’t help. You have to book first ride at 7 am can’t book next ride until you’ve rode your 7 am booked ride. You get about 4 rides a day with genie plus. Now they are pricing genie plus based on park ticket sales. I will never waste my time our money at Disney. Everyone in our group regretted the trip.
I don't think I'm ever going to be able to go. I guess I can just watch videos
Why do you think those nice people randomly ask you when you come in what your household makes a year?? They have decided that the high spenders are those households over 150K. That is their target. You can forget Disney catering to a family of 4 making 70K. They just do not want the parks crowded so they went for the high earners to the detriment of the regular folk. Sad buy true.
The 120 minute rule may actually be a lie. My family was at Disney World last week and we were booking lightning lanes within 30 minutes of each other. The trick is to check once you pass the second checkpoint. You may actually have your next lightning lane before leaving your ride!
The 120 minute rule is if you book a lightning lane at say 9 AM and it's not for 3 pm and your next lightning lane isn't until we will say for example noon at 11 AM you can book another LL. So you would have a Noon, a 3 PM and the one you made at 11.
@@Sleep1wr And example of what happened to me is this. I would arrive at 8:30 and get a lightning lane for 9:55, jungle Cruise. I would get on the jungle cruise and when I get off I can get a lightning Lane for a Haunted Mansion for 10:45. Almost immediately after I get off that ride I snag a lightning lane for pirates at noon. I was in the parks for five days and this was every day.
@@aerofool66 yes, once you’ve USED your lightning lane, you can book another. It’s only if your LL is so far in the future, that 120 minutes have passed and you haven’t ridden the ride you booked. Then you are able to book another one.
I hope this is clear. It sounds like you were able to get a lot of use from your Genie+ regardless. 😃
Bob Chapek is not my favorite person.
We just got $109 tickets for early February 2023.
Wait, I wanna know how REVERSE Forced Perspective works!! How did they make a 5 story building look so small????
I rode 3 ride before noon at Disneyland Nov 11. Then, I toured Walt's apt above the Firehouse. Highly recommend.
Entrashment failed because it is horrible after getting lazy. HEA wouldn't be coming back had DisEnchantment actually been good.
The rooms above Main Street are the third floor
I am going to wait a while until things calm down and when I said calm down, I mean not having deal with Covid for one or Chapek's greed for two. Besides I'd prefer to wait until the park has some improvements all things aside.
In the past it was called fast pass and you had machines where you put the entry tickets in to get your next pass. And it was for free. Not affordable anymore too much waiting, to many bad news (pedophiles etc). I rather go somewhere else at this point...
Used to love Disney World, went the first year it opened when I was only 8 years old and many many times over the years BUT in the last 10 years or so it has become one big overcrowded money making ripoff. I will not go anymore...too crowded, too expensive, too woke...
Good stuff AJ😀👍🏼
Disney, listening to us? Are they, really? Not in any meaningful way that I've noticed.
We’re only doing 3 Park Days this Spring. We’re passing on Epcot this go around. They almost got me with the “savings” though. 😂
Then you will not be able to go on the newest ride Guardians of the Galaxy. If that's okay with you then go ahead and Skip Epcot. But if you are a Thrill Ride or roller coaster fans then you're going to be kicking yourself.
@@broganmckoko I’m okay with that. I’m going with a 6 and 2 year old so it’s not really “that” kind of trip for me. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom has some decent thrill rides and coasters. I’m excited for Flight of Passage! 🎉
I wonder how much profit the park makes per day, after all the bills they have to pay
Genie + works so well. I was in Disney last week and I was able to ride every ride on genie + at Hollywood, Animal and epcot. I went 2 times at Magic kingdom (nov 1st and nov 5th) and each time with the help of genie + we were able to ride all rides at magic both times. You can stack these up also
Waited years to schedule a trip to Florida but they closed at 6pm n saved rest of the evening and night till midnight for private Christmas celebration we had flight next day so we wanted to wait for fireworks but we were walked out of Disney saying it's closed for us felt really bad. We thought we ll pay extra amount to upgrade out ticket but they didn't consider that instead you have to buy a brand of new ticket to stay in park few more hours We are moving out of US so this was once in a lifetime for us and kids. Not everyone can splurge again.
vacation .missed so many rides,stood in long queues. The train was not functioning so it made going around park even more difficult
I saddens me that you can't just go there & have fun anymore. Gotta have a whole battle strategy set up months in advance & wake up at the crack of dawn for every day of the trip while spending hudnreds or thousands of dollars per day. Even then, it'll feel more like work than a vacation, especially if something goes wrong :(
Are the buses free again? I thought they had started charging around $35 per person, which I thought was unreasonable. I a so glad that the transportation is free again!
Only to the theme parks/ Disney Springs. The Magical Express to and from the airport is gone and yes you will pay per person, usually 15-20ish per person each way.
Parkhoppers are a waste of money. Spend a whole day in each park and explore the lesser-known fun bits and atmosphere.
Too complicated and unreliable to be fun.
Disney is the largest onsite employer in the country.
They aren't making content people want to see.
Theme parks are unaffordable for families given the high inflation. Lay offs seem inevitable
You know what I do Wonder people go to universal there's not a reservation system. when you stay in a higher level hotel you automatically get the fastpass and the lines there are not as crazy as what is going on within the Disney parks. You can get your food in a timely manner . I believe that we are creating a very bad system amongst the Disney parks there is no reason with everyone obtaining a reservation why people are waiting over an hour or close to it during a weekday to ride a particular ride. all of the genie plus and lightning Lanes people are buying into. that is creating more confusion and more craziness within the parks.
I guess I found the glass half empty side of Disney 😅
I saved a magic band from back in 2018. Is there a way to reuse it?
we skipped the park hopper and just took our time in each park
Why don’t you do videos with rope drop strategies? Or am I just missing them?
Not worth the money. Attendance is down and prices are being increased.
Haven’t watched the video yet, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say yes.
Yes they are
Like imagine the revenue disneh could get bringing back Osborne - chapek should be paying THEM to come back! Granted the whole amazing point of it was on the backlot houses and cities and everything that made HS amazing and …: Hollywood studios-y 😢
DISNEY DECISION MAKERS please hear this: the parks are NO LONGER THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH. FIX THIS. The Disney BRAND has been DAMAGED. Guests want to feel like WELCOMED GUESTS, not tolerated data points valued only for maximum $ spend. (!!!)
With 9 of us there’s no way we could afford a Disney or other theme park hotel, at least we have a place to stay 9 minutes from Animal kingdom. Also yes I have to rent a van for the vacation. 😂
Surprise. You won't find ANY $109 tickets. Since this video was posted (8 days ago) the cheapest one-day ticket price was increased to $124. The highest is $189. The last time I was at Disney World EPCOT wasn't much more than a collection of country-themed stores. Nice looking... but nothing much going on. Park tickets weren't expensive in those days so it wasn't painful... just a waste of time. With TODAY'S prices... YIKES!
I want to Disney World 2 months ago. Never again! Go to Universal Studios
Yes. Yes they are.
Thank you
I love what you do
This Genie explanation sounds like a job description.
What restaurant is featured @30:30? Please and thanks
I was able to ride 7 rides in magic kingdom with lighting lane using a strategy that is LEGAL and it is awesome
The answer is yes.
Now to watch your video…
Do a video on why Horizons must make a comeback