Reviews of My Disney Experience
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: 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 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!!
Pros:
WDW employees are the best!Cons:
No more trams to the parking lots at EPCOT.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 06/10/2022
Rating: (2) Recommended
My Disney Experience was overall nice but the new Geni+ skip the line app sucks. The app drains your battery power and you can only book 1 ride at a time and if you go before your time window they WILL NOT let you get on the ride or go see the characters you booked the timefram for if you go early and if you are late, you missed your window. I HATE the app and I am a technical person. It is like a game you are playing to skip the lines. And for the most popular rides you want to book them first or you will not have the change to not only ride them but it seems like after 1pm you can't book any of the popular rides through the skip the line app. Also, I had the issue with the app moving back my start time on several rides. I went to all 4 parks and had the skip the line for all 4 and they all did the same thing. Get there early, ride as many rides as you can. I recommend booking your rides and see the characters inbetween to maximize your riding times. I do not recommend buying the multi-park pass. I did and it was a waste of money because only 1 day I was able to do 3 parks but it sucked, the kids were tired, I was exhaused but I wanted to use the multiday because I paid for it and will never do it again. It is a waste if money. Do 1 park per day. This was my first time and I read a lot of reviews and it helped me dramatically. Also bring a phone charger and make sure it is charged everday. Log on to the Disney wi-fi to save batter power because the app and the signal isn't that great there.
Pros:
Loved all 4 parks. Magic Kingdom and Ecopt were my 2 favorites. The food was really good but expensive. Book reservations early.Cons:
It rains a lot in Florida so get there early if you want to ride rides. Reservations are higly recommended as sometimes it is hard to get food in a timely mannor. I hate the new Skip the line app for all the Disney parks. I hope they get rid of it and the app drains your phone, you can only book 1 ride at a time and you can't skip another line until your reservation is over for the previous ride. Food is expensive but it is Disney.Reviewed by DisneyNewbie41 Review Date: 02/06/2022
Rating: (5) Recommended
It drove me crazy it wouldn’t stay signed in for at least a few hours at a time. I would say 20% of the time it makes you log in even if you were just in the app. The unlock room feature worked great. I did not do genie plus, the morning I wanted to buy mine train, the app crashed right at 7:00 am (for everyone), using the free genie I was able to get to the link to buy mine train, was stressful.
Pros:
When it works does have lots of useful information.Cons:
Glitchy, doesn’t keep you signed in consistently.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 02/02/2022
Rating: (7) Recommended
Horrible app, confusing to use, staff didn't know how to help find things on the app, not worth paying xtra for genie+ because best rides were excluded. Disney needs to take some cues from Universal.
Pros:
Clean, beautiful park with great rides.Cons:
App made the experience frustrating & would not recommend paying extra for genie+.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 01/23/2022
Rating: (9) Recommended
The parks are all world class. They are also very clean. Very fun and safe
Pros:
Fabulous theme parks, safe and clean lots to do and plenty of souvenirs to purchase at all price levelsCons:
Food is terrible and expensive. Take your own food. Disney needs to let regular fast food companies come in that know what their doing. Disney needs to stick to what they know and it's not food.Reviewed by FishinGoofy Review Date: 09/20/2021
Rating: (8) Recommended
This app is mandatory for any Disney vacation. Familiarize yourself with it and make sure you know how everything works. It makes it easy to make/change dining reservations, fastpasses (soon to be lightning lanes), and makes it super easy to check into your room as well as unlock the door. I would give a higher rating IF the app didn't absolutely decimate my phone battery, and wasn't so glitchy. When you are in the park the app does have a tendency to crash when there are a lot of people.
Pros:
Has literally everything at your fingertipsCons:
can be glitchy, can be confusing for non-tech-savy people.Reviewed by dreamtripp Review Date: 04/14/2021
Rating: (8) Recommended
I love this app. It has everything you need to plan your trip and is a very intuitive and user-friendly app - easy to navigate and easy to store your info and plans for upcoming trips. Its a great way to organize and plan.
Pros:
User-friendly and organizedCons:
Sometimes laggs in parks when many people are accessing it.Reviewed by tga1828 Review Date: 11/30/2020
Rating: (8) Recommended
Used this app non-stop for planning and executing everything on our trip.
