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Post by mcd on Jun 24, 2023 20:28:27 GMT -5
I'm just about done with the parks. This just makes it more so. DW wants to work G+ for the next trip (we've tried it twice, and both times we started after 7 am and only got 2 rides) just to see how that goes. I'm not excited about being tied to a 2 hour alarm to check for the next LL, but we'll probably try it. However, if they charged us some fee - $15 or $20 - for making 3 LL reservations at 60 days, I'd probably be happy to pay every time. I just don't like having to work it all day while I'm on vacation. I understand that many people don't like advance planning, but do you prefer working your phone all day while on vacation?? When you say "just about done with the parks," does that mean you still go to Disney and just enjoy the resort and Disney Springs? Or do you not even want to go anymore? I am just curious. We have been going heavily for about 10 years now. I wonder with our heavy investment into DVC if we will get tired of going over the next decade or so. By then the investment will have been worth it, but I wonder about our longevity. At this point we still have the same excitement as when we started going. |
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Post by bakerworld on Jun 25, 2023 6:38:10 GMT -5
G+ or no G+ doesn't really matter to us. We've never been commando park people, even with the kids - or more especially because of the kids. Now our younger kids do feel we were commando, even though we were out of the parks by 2p, because we returned in the evening - LOL. Consequently, when they do go to Florida they hardly ever visit the parks. The youngest one goes for the resorts and Raglan Road. She just started revisiting the parks for a day when she started bringing her SO along but she only gives him one day.
For me, I liked the preplanning. I enjoyed sitting at my computer at home selecting places to eat and rides. G+ has eliminated that fun. I do find our vacations more streamlined and less expensive as we spend less time in the parks and restaurants. I find the parks detailed enough to enjoy walking around them. It's like my morning exercise before I move to the indulgent portion of our day.
I don't think we'll ever be done with the parks but we will enjoy them differently.
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Post by pooh bears mom on Jun 25, 2023 7:00:21 GMT -5
I hate genie plus. Wish disney offered free genie plus to onisght guests like universal does. Oh well. Just more confusion.
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Post by dlwdwdvc on Jun 25, 2023 7:54:46 GMT -5
I don’t like Genie, the character and Genie Magic and Genie +
It upsets me to see all those families paying to enter and then paying to utilize the Genie on their apparatus and also the lightning lanes .
That is crazy expensive for the attractions that have not been maintained properly.
And then expecting us to decide to stand in another long line to request a refund or just give up and let them keep my $$$
I expect the price will continue to increase after the initial introduction.
Including the new option to choose to pay for the New Park specifics .
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Post by brp on Jun 25, 2023 8:51:02 GMT -5
Absolutely. I'm hard-pressed to believe that the pre-planners are anywhere close to the norm. More like a small subset. I still didn't follow all the details of the new plan (because I don't care) but, if it involves planning out the day at 7AM, I can't imagine that this is popular beyond a subset of people who belong to, and chat in, groups about Disney. And, as I'm sure we would agree, this is a minuscule subset of Disney visitors. But it will work for a small subset. And it will work for Disney. And the latter is what matters  Cheers. I'm basing my comments on what I read in huge groups. Even the AP group there are far more pre-planners than I ever thought. So many want the 180 days back for dining! Hard to understand for me, but the non-planners are in the minority. I'm actually one of them and enjoyed changing dining plans on the fly this last trip. Very possibly huge groups for the "goes on the internet to chat about Disney" crowd. But this is still a minuscule subset of actual Disney visitors and I'm hard-pressed to believe that thsi vast majority who are not talking about this in chat rooms are the planner types. No data, of course. Just an impression based on seeing how people are, in general, at venues and events over many years and events.
Cheers.
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Post by cpnkirk on Jun 25, 2023 9:54:22 GMT -5
I'm just about done with the parks. This just makes it more so. DW wants to work G+ for the next trip (we've tried it twice, and both times we started after 7 am and only got 2 rides) just to see how that goes. I'm not excited about being tied to a 2 hour alarm to check for the next LL, but we'll probably try it. However, if they charged us some fee - $15 or $20 - for making 3 LL reservations at 60 days, I'd probably be happy to pay every time. I just don't like having to work it all day while I'm on vacation. I understand that many people don't like advance planning, but do you prefer working your phone all day while on vacation?? When you say "just about done with the parks," does that mean you still go to Disney and just enjoy the resort and Disney Springs? Or do you not even want to go anymore? I am just curious. We have been going heavily for about 10 years now. I wonder with our heavy investment into DVC if we will get tired of going over the next decade or so. By then the investment will have been worth it, but I wonder about our longevity. At this point we still have the same excitement as when we started going. I enjoy resort only visits, but DW doesn't. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to sell at this point and use that money elsewhere. The trips have gotten a LOT more expensive in the last couple of years. We used to go for 1/3 what it costs now (not every trip, but some). |
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Post by johnb on Jun 25, 2023 10:36:31 GMT -5
We're planners, and I've become conditioned to not want to wait in any line more than 15-20 minutes, so I have a love/hate relationship with G+. Hate paying for it, love bypassing the 60+ minute standby waits.
We can do Epcot with no G+ because we usually skip Ratatouille and Test Track. VQ for Guardians, rope drop Soarin, then do the less popular rides before WS opens.
For MK, DHS and AK, we buy G+. We could do AK with no G+, but we usually park hop on our AK day, so we'll stack for the afternoon park after we've used our AK LL's.
We've also bought G+ for arrival days, so we can stack during the day and have 3-4 LL's for the evening.
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Post by helenabear on Jun 25, 2023 10:41:10 GMT -5
My understanding is it isn't going to be more for all 4 parks. Just that it is less for ones like Epcot or AK We did Genie+ for DHS and AK and enjoyed it. I've paid for ILL 3 times total this year. Granted we're 3 so it was not that bad. We had fun at least! Sorry, I should have clarified. I am in the camp that expects this change to lead to higher prices. And the $27 price is higher than what we paid all this week (maybe it was an example or the price was set to be higher next week regardless). Nothing points to increases. Wording states may be less for some parks. $27 was an example. Considering it was $29 over spring break in March and most holidays I can believe it to be a holiday reflection. We paid $25 1st week of June. I'm basing my comments on what I read in huge groups. Even the AP group there are far more pre-planners than I ever thought. So many want the 180 days back for dining! Hard to understand for me, but the non-planners are in the minority. I'm actually one of them and enjoyed changing dining plans on the fly this last trip. Very possibly huge groups for the "goes on the internet to chat about Disney" crowd. But this is still a minuscule subset of actual Disney visitors and I'm hard-pressed to believe that thsi vast majority who are not talking about this in chat rooms are the planner types. No data, of course. Just an impression based on seeing how people are, in general, at venues and events over many years and events.
Cheers. I used to think as you do. I just have seen the non planners in the massive minority. Each group I am speaking of are regular goers too with memberships in one group almost 30k and another almost 60k for example. A decent percent to get an idea of - definitely enough to know it's probably a decent selection of ths population. Those who go more often than DVC and APers definitely plan more. I was shocked to see how small of a minority I was in, but I'm cool with not being the norm. Maybe pre-FP+ and DDP but for now I really believe us non planners are the outside fringe. YMMV of course |
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Post by zulaya on Jun 25, 2023 11:19:14 GMT -5
Just because the active talkers/posters in large groups are planners, doesn't mean the majority lurking are the same.
That goes for us here, too.
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Post by helenabear on Jun 25, 2023 13:14:22 GMT -5
Just because the active talkers/posters in large groups are planners, doesn't mean the majority lurking are the same. That goes for us here, too. That doesn't mean they aren't either - it's called getting a sample which is how many polls give an idea of what people like I used to think I was actually the majority who hated planning and really disliked the FP+ and dining at 180 days and all that jazz, but I also listened to others and friends who are TAs for Disney. I do think Disney hit a limit with the park reservations. I wouldn't be shocked if they added this because people asked for it and they thought they could sell more Genie+ if made it for the types who never want to do more than a park in a day with Genie+. I doubt they made it just to annoy people given so many are fed up with how complicated it is. Just like they are removing park reservations for most for a reason. Many adore planning which is what they were used to with dining plans and FP+ and all that but then realized they went too far. It just makes sense given what I see and hear on groups. I personally wish people would stop wanting to plan out so much really. I miss old days but realize after a bunch of scolding from others (especially a TA friend who hated me on FB saying opposite of what they do as a whole for their clients majority of the time) that I'm in the minority. I go with it though and wish for less planning eventually. |
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Post by BWV Dreamin on Jun 25, 2023 13:34:17 GMT -5
Sorry, I should have clarified. I am in the camp that expects this change to lead to higher prices. And the $27 price is higher than what we paid all this week (maybe it was an example or the price was set to be higher next week regardless). Nothing points to increases. Wording states may be less for some parks. $27 was an example. Considering it was $29 over spring break in March and most holidays I can believe it to be a holiday reflection. We paid $25 1st week of June. Very possibly huge groups for the "goes on the internet to chat about Disney" crowd. But this is still a minuscule subset of actual Disney visitors and I'm hard-pressed to believe that thsi vast majority who are not talking about this in chat rooms are the planner types. No data, of course. Just an impression based on seeing how people are, in general, at venues and events over many years and events.
Cheers. I used to think as you do. I just have seen the non planners in the massive minority. Each group I am speaking of are regular goers too with memberships in one group almost 30k and another almost 60k for example. A decent percent to get an idea of - definitely enough to know it's probably a decent selection of ths population. Those who go more often than DVC and APers definitely plan more. I was shocked to see how small of a minority I was in, but I'm cool with not being the norm. Maybe pre-FP+ and DDP but for now I really believe us non planners are the outside fringe. YMMV of course Non planner here!! Well The most I plan for is when we are going and where we will stay. After that, I don’t want to plan! When we go in December, I love that there are a few good pool days. That is my priority, the pool. |
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Post by BWV Dreamin on Jun 25, 2023 13:37:31 GMT -5
When you say "just about done with the parks," does that mean you still go to Disney and just enjoy the resort and Disney Springs? Or do you not even want to go anymore? I am just curious. We have been going heavily for about 10 years now. I wonder with our heavy investment into DVC if we will get tired of going over the next decade or so. By then the investment will have been worth it, but I wonder about our longevity. At this point we still have the same excitement as when we started going. I enjoy resort only visits, but DW doesn't. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to sell at this point and use that money elsewhere. The trips have gotten a LOT more expensive in the last couple of years. We used to go for 1/3 what it costs now (not every trip, but some). We have really downsized our DVC ( down to 118 pts but with full membership benefits). It actually has been very liberating. We are cruising, taking day trips, going back to the beach. Since my extended family dynamics have changed, I can see without our help, non of our kids would be able to afford to go to WDW. Didn’t make sense holding on the extra points. |
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Post by helenabear on Jun 25, 2023 13:52:27 GMT -5
Nothing points to increases. Wording states may be less for some parks. $27 was an example. Considering it was $29 over spring break in March and most holidays I can believe it to be a holiday reflection. We paid $25 1st week of June. I used to think as you do. I just have seen the non planners in the massive minority. Each group I am speaking of are regular goers too with memberships in one group almost 30k and another almost 60k for example. A decent percent to get an idea of - definitely enough to know it's probably a decent selection of ths population. Those who go more often than DVC and APers definitely plan more. I was shocked to see how small of a minority I was in, but I'm cool with not being the norm. Maybe pre-FP+ and DDP but for now I really believe us non planners are the outside fringe. YMMV of course Non planner here!! Well The most I plan for is when we are going and where we will stay. After that, I don’t want to plan! When we go in December, I love that there are a few good pool days. That is my priority, the pool. Pool used to be my kid's priority. Now it's just chilling and riding a few big rides. I actually am wondering where we should try next year. I'm thinking the teens would love to be closer to DS. Half of the group loves to go go and half hate it. A couple of us have physical limitations too we need to be mindful of. My kid likes some planning. I was much happier to get last minute planning in as well. I hope it becomes more balanced again. I blame the DDP on some of it. Though seeing how over planned a lot of families are IRL too make me wonder if it can balance better again. |
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Post by Adelard of Bath on Jun 25, 2023 19:29:49 GMT -5
Before the days of "park reservations" we would wake up in the morning and say, "Where do you want to go today?" and the answer usually was based on which eatery was in our heads that moment.
And when I say "wake up in the morning" I mean 9am or 10am, then sometimes it wouldn't be until 2pm or later, if we went to the pool.
Last time we went...same thing! With the slight alteration of at 11am, using the app to see which park had shortest wait times, then changing our park reservation to that park.
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Post by brp on Jun 25, 2023 20:11:51 GMT -5
Before the days of "park reservations" we would wake up in the morning and say, "Where do you want to go today?" and the answer usually was based on which eatery was in our heads that moment. And when I say "wake up in the morning" I mean 9am or 10am, then sometimes it wouldn't be until 2pm or later, if we went to the pool. Last time we went...same thing! With the slight alteration of at 11am, using the app to see which park had shortest wait times, then changing our park reservation to that park. Even before reservations, in the FP+ days, we'd book those at T-60, so we'd already know parks. Reservations are no different for us, so we don't even notice any difference. Hopping is a different story.
Cheers.
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