2016 Walt Disney World Christmas Trip Recap — Part 3
We’ll start page 2 by addressing an issue that has really been bothering me lately: upcharges at Walt Disney World. It was on this particular afternoon that we saw the “cabanas” in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom for the first time. People have compared them to FEMA tents and joked that they are “Mickey’s Refugeeland,” and I wish I came up with both–totally apt–half-joke names. This ongoing stratification of Walt Disney World’s theme parks really bothers me.
I know what some of you might be thinking: Walt Disney World has always been stratified, and any vacation destination is likewise, by default. There have long been Deluxe Resorts that a minority of the population can afford, and the theme park experience itself is out of reach for a good portion of the world’s population. I don’t think that’s up for debate.
That doesn’t mean that stratification cannot go from being an acceptable element of the experience to something odious. Americans almost prize aspirational qualities, while we detest economic demarcation in what’s perceived as an egalitarian offering. In reality, there’s often a fine line between the two. Where that line is drawn will vary from person to person.
I can only offer my perspective, but personally, a Deluxe Resort that the monorail glides past or through is not objectionable. (I’m sure some lifelong fans share my aspirational feeling as a kid that, ‘someday, I’ll stay there!’ while passing through the Contemporary.) Moreover, it’s a hotel, which isn’t the core theme park product. By contrast, in years past there was no demarcation among guests in the parks, at least not an outwardly obvious one. The parks were the great equalizer.
I don’t think this is just my personal belief–it’s a perspective informed by history. You don’t need to look any further than the plain language of Walt Disney’s opening day dedication for Disneyland to get this same sense…
From a consumer perspective, I hear so many other fans write off these upcharges as nothing objectionable because you have to ‘opt-in’ for them to affect you. I disagree.
When you reallocate fireworks or parade viewing space from everyone to those who pay for a dessert party, that impacts every guest. When you take an attraction out of commission for an afternoon cupcake celebration, that impacts every guest. When you remove buses from an over-burdened transportation fleet to add a VIP (because every VIP uses buses!) bus route, that impacts every guest.
On this particular front, it may not be readily apparent how cabanas impact everyone. Well, they do. First, they are an off-theme eyesore. Second, they remove physical foot space from the parks, which thereby (should) decrease capacity.
If neither of those really bother you, the most significant thing the cabanas do is implicitly acknowledge there is a problem with crowding in the parks. While acknowledging said problem, they present a solution–but only for those willing to shell out extra money.
Rather than Disney solving a real problem–and one of its own creation thanks to MyMagic+ and cost-cutting initiatives–it is finding a way to further profit off of said problem. (If that doesn’t bother you, we’d love to invite you over to our place. I mean, we’re going to turn the AC down to 40°, but you’re welcome as a guest and we’ll only charge $350 for a sweater.)
You can look at almost every single other upcharge offering and see the same pattern. Rather than doing the hard work and investing in the core product to make the theme park experience better for all, a makeshift solution is fashioned for those willing to pony up extra. Meanwhile, the unwashed masses who are willing to pay “only” the basic $100 admission are free to fend for themselves.
From a business perspective, I also think Walt Disney World’s current trajectory with upcharges is ill-advised. Based upon everything we’ve seen this year, I’m led to believe that most of these upcharge offerings are impetuous, last-minute decisions trying to create a new revenue stream.
Based on timing, scope, and investment, it very much feels like Walt Disney World management’s approach is “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.” No idea is too bold or… unbaked. Since little out of pocket investment is being made by Walt Disney World in these upcharge offerings, there is no concern if the offerings fail. No harm, no foul.
But that’s not an accurate assessment. There is harm done to business goodwill, and brand tarnishment is often irreversible. For many longtime fans, myself included, the latest onslaught of upcharge offerings and endless line of cash grabs is not the Disney we grew up with. Not the Disney we fell in love with. It’s a new beast in the mold of other destinations that I, frankly, want nothing to do with.
I know people like me are not Disney’s most prized demographic. One first-time family with kids who want to spare no expense to ensure they have a great experience is probably worth what 5 of my visits are worth. I get that.
What I wonder if Disney “gets” is that fans like me are an important, stable part of its business. Even if we aren’t the most sought-after demographic, it would be best to not alienate us completely. I really wonder if Disney has considered the fans like me when making these decisions. Probably not, because that would require a longer-term view than just quarter-to-quarter.
Everyone has a breaking point, and that includes Disney fans. With each subsequent move that represents more of a departure from the old way of doing business, some fan out there is saying “enough is enough.” (It’s not even just that–I wonder how many new ‘lifelong’ fans are being forged out of this new way of doing business?)
I haven’t reached that point yet, but I do find almost every new announcement of an upcharge offering to be groan inducing. When the latest was announced, I didn’t feel a sense of outrage or anger. I just laughed and remembered the most recent airfare sale I saw to Japan. I thought, “why do I care? It doesn’t cost me any more to visit Tokyo Disneyland.”
Look, I’m excited for Pandora. I’m excited for Star Wars Land. I’m enthusiastic for other additions, as well. Creatively, it seems Imagineering’s output for the next few years is going to be mind-blowing. I also have a lot of nostalgia for Walt Disney World, a place I still view as my “home” resort thanks to my memories formed there as a child and adult.
I’m passionate about Walt Disney World, and sometimes that passion manifests itself as outrage on the internet over something that others might deem insignificant. I’d rather be passionate about something insignificant than ambivalent about everything.
At the same time, that fire doesn’t stay lit irrespective of the circumstances. All of the cool new themed areas and attractions in the world don’t mean anything to me if I feel like I’m mistreated as a customer.
I think I’ve exceeded my ‘rant’ quote for one trip report/recap installment, so I’ll move along…
For dinner, we met up with friends who were in town for the D23 Destination D event. Normally, I go to these types of events. However, I decided against this one for a few reasons. The last several panels I’ve been to like this have had significant overlap, and I feel like I’ve heard the same stories a few times.
I’m also becoming more hesitant to support anything Disney does that monetizes nostalgia. I know the people who work on these D23 events are passionate fans like us who just want to celebrate what’s gone, and they aren’t personal profiteering on attractions that they wouldn’t have removed in the first place, but it’s still all in the same company. Finally, the first thing I thought when looking at the cost of the event was “this is half the cost of airfare to Japan.”
None of those single factors alone would’ve been enough to dissuade me from doing Destination D, and in the end, I regret not attending. Everyone I know said it was mostly new material and a lot of fun. I also enjoy these events because it’s a lot of the same people every year, making it a reunion of sorts.
In any case, dinner was at Trail’s End, a popular spot among old school ‘Vacation Kingdom of the World’ fans. In addition to that glorious buffet, I was looking forward to wandering the grounds to see some of the ‘Fort Fiends‘ decked out for Christmas.
Dinner was delicious, as always. I’m not sure there is a better comfort foods meal at Walt Disney World, and seeing that hilarious cowboy restroom mural always gives me a good laugh.
Not many campsites had their decorations up yet. We partially expected this, given that it was still early in the season (I think many show up the first week of December.) I was still really fun to stroll through the campground after dinner.
Someday, I really want to bring our tent and camp at Fort Wilderness during the Christmas season. Sarah is averse to the idea, even after I explain that “it builds character.” Maybe next year, I’ll surprise her with a trip. (Something tells me that would be a fun surprise for neither of us.
After wandering a few of the campsite loops, we took a boat to Magic Kingdom, where we met up with our friends again. This was a truly exceptional evening in the park, including visits to Carousel of Progress (a packed house for our show!), the PeopleMover, Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
For as much as I lamented the current stratification, I think the core product/experience is great. Sure, Carousel of Progress needs serious help in the finale, but the exterior paint scheme is awesome.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad just returned from refurbishment, and is looking great, especially with a new lighting package at night. The others on that list remain as fun as ever.
Speaking of Carousel of Progress’ finale, I really like the style of their kitchen and living room. (Seriously.) My only requirement of any future house we might buy is that it look exactly like this. That should be easy to find…right?
On our way out of Magic Kingdom, I stopped to admire the LEGO Cinderella Castle in the window of the Emporium. I still haven’t removed mine from the box. I really want to, but with how hard to find this set has already become, I have a feeling it’s going to be worth a lot of money someday. Maybe I should just buy a second one and have fun with the first…
After a slow stroll down Main Street and out of the park, we headed back to BoardWalk. All things considered, it was an excellent day. It’s experiences like that evening at Fort Wilderness and Magic Kingdom that keep the fire burning for me…
On Page 3, we’ll finish up the report with our last day!
Tom,
Really enjoyed this trip report. I agree with you on all of the upcharges. It’s the main reason why we are planning on taking a trip out to Disneyland next year instead of WDW.
The upcharges and such are really not sitting well with me. It seems to be more about seeming exclusive, because if you add up the revenue from 2 cabanas a day, it just isn’t that much in the Disney coffers.
I think my next Disney trip will be to DLR, and I’m hoping FPP won’t be a thing over there yet. Hopefully it will be easy to enjoy the parks, but even then I think we will spend just 2-3 days in parks and then other time at Universal and probably elsewhere.
In the grand scheme of things, you’re right–the revenue is insignificant. I think these initiatives are more about some mid-level manager making a name for themselves, showing how much their idea contributed to revenue. The problem is, several of these ideas have flopped, so they aren’t contributing *anything* to the bottom line. Just negative press.
As for exclusivity, I don’t think those cabanas offer it…in the least. Just because someone has money doesn’t mean they “have more dollars than brains” (as my father would say). To the contrary, most well-off individuals don’t appreciate being fleeced. I can imagine some guest staying at the Four Seasons booking these cabanas sight-unseen via the hotel concierge, and going to Guest Relations for a refund as soon they arrive at the park.
The cabanas are pathetic by any reasonable assessment.
We were there just before you {our usual time to visit}, and decided to only attend mvmcp and no other parks this trip. We visited all the deluxe resorts to see decorations, was thrilled to stroll Disney Springs, enjoyed our resort at a slow pace {PO Riverside}. I think as grandparents we have decided the value in the parks are getting less and less {more money, more lines and crowds}…. but the ambience of the Resort as a whole is so pleasant. Going forward, we will probably do more Disney Cruises with the grands… and small trips to the World when crowds are lowest and weather is mild.
Thanks Tom and Sarah, for maintaining a wonderful site of great info and awesome photos. I’ve been going to Disneyland since the early 60s and my wife and I now live in FLA.
Speaking of up charges…..We went to WDW for a couple days before our annual pass Christmas blackout. We sprung for the MVMCP on Sunday 12/11. I would say…check that off the list. Don’t need to do it again. Overcrowded and I don’t like reinforcing the idea of paying extra for Christmas entertainment when it should be available to everyone who pays $100+ for a park ticket already.
We went to Epcot on Monday and almost…almost bought the Candlelight Processional lunch package. I was worried of being shutout of the show. We opted not to pay for the package. Good choice. Stood in the Stand-By line for about an hour, enjoyed my stand-by sandwich and beer, and ended up with great seats. Leaving the park, I saw the Dining Package Stand-By line for the 8:30 show. It was longer than the regular Stand-By line. Yeah, I guess they got to sit 50 feet closer. My advice to readers, do NOT pay for the Candlelight Processional dining package, especially if you’re not going on a weekend.
My last rant…Fastpasses. I hate them. They have ruined the spontaneous nature of enjoying the parks. Just like upcharges, they affect non-Fastpass holders immensely. I would not be surprised in the slightest if Disney started charging a premium for them. After all, Americans cannot wait for anything and will pay handsomely for the privilege.
Keep up the great work Tom and Sarah. See you at the parks.
Hi,my wife and I went to the Magic Kingdom Dec.10th because there was no Mickey Christmas Party and it stayed open until midnight. We were extremely disappointed this year.Wishes Fireworks (awesome) at 10pm however (nothing) leading up to it like last year.There was No Frozen show at the Castle a few hours before and worst of all No Show that turns the Castle into Disney Paintings,sorry I cannot remember the name of it.So,Nothing,Nothing leading up to the 10pm Wishes Fireworks show.Horrible Planning,just Horrible Planning and then it took (exactly) 1 hour and 45 minutes to get out of park to our car…It seemed to us they want people to buy the Hard Ticket Event because Magic Kingdom was a Huge Disappointment to non hard ticket goers.
Thanks, Tom, for a great honest trip report. My husband and I feel the same way about the upcharges that seem to come weekly to WDW, and that we still feel the love of Disney. I sincerely hope that you have written to WDW with your comments. I feel that someone with your stature in and with WDW over the years would make some of the executives rethink some of their money grabbing ideas. Please email, write to them. If enough of us do this I would hope that they will finally at least listen to us. I hope they aren’t so complacent in their spot in the theme park world, that they think they can’t be harmed by bad publicity. I have seen a lot of bad publicity over the past couple of years, and it is getting more and more, especially about these upcharges. There are big companies that learned the hard way by going under, that they can’t live on their past reputation of survive. Thanks for airing that and please, please make known your feelings to WDW co.
While I strongly agree with the letter-writing strategy, I would also strongly encourage anyone who has the same concerns to share those online, via social media or what-have-you. Disney is very diligent in monitoring online feedback, and I suspect that gives them more pause as it’s visible to the public instead of just directed towards Disney, internally.
We too just got back from our annual post Thanksgiving trip. At this point we will only go the week after Thanksgiving. A Cast member confirmed what Tom said that the week after Thanksgiving is the best time to visit. The crowds are minimal, the weather is nice and the parks were wide open. Since the pools are all heated the weather really doesn’t matter.
We just pull our two kids out of school for that week. It’s so much more enjoyable not fighting a Christmas or Easter break crowds.
My parents live two hours south of WDW so we fly into Fort Myers on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, hit them up for Thanksgiving week then head to Disney from Saturday until Friday then fly out of Orlando (using the Magic Express so we don’t need a rental car). We always do the Very Mickey Christmas the Sunday after Thanksgiving (when everyone is LEAVING to go home) then squeeze in maybe one more park. For the Very Mickey Christmas, make sure you’re at the Magic Kingdom at exactly 3:55pm when they open the gates for those tickets (4pm to 12am) so you can maximize your time in the park. Eight hours is plenty of time at the MK to see everything and the crowds are non-existent by 7pm. If we do another park it’s usually later in the week. My wife and I hit every hot chocolate/cookie bar at least three times and loaded our backpacks with cookies (which last all week, LOL).
We have found over the years that hanging at our resort or taking a boat to Disney Springs is so much more relaxing than trying to jam four park visits into a week long visit.
We prefer to stay at the Port Orleans Riverside or another moderate hotel. It’s not entry level so you don’t have to deal with massive crowds that tend to flock to the All Star resorts, it’s quiet and great to stroll around. To us it doesn’t matter where you stay you get the same level of food and service. When you drop another $300+/night to stay at a “high” end resort what are you really gaining?
We just returned on Friday (12/9) from a five-night stay at the Polynesian on our first “just the two of us” trip for our 25th anniversary and were noting many of the same cash grabs as a sad state of affairs. It was quite warm on arrival day but steadily dropped (with the requisite rain) to the most lovely departure day morning at the MK. At 8 a.m. EMH we were pleasantly shivering in the cool morning breezes. It reminded us why we always spend our vacation $$ at WDW in December. We typically have to wait until mid-December to clear the semester’s end and the crowds on this earlier trip were noticeably thinner. I’m sure it helped that we didn’t stay over a weekend, too. We took our Tuesday rain day to circle most of the deluxe resorts for a Christmas tour (sorry, AK, next time…) and I’d agree, going prior to the first of December would be missing out.
You gotta get a second Lego set so you can play with the first, or you’ll risk becoming the villain of Lego Movie 2 😛
Very well written article. You summed up a lot of my feelings. One point that you made that really hit the mark with me was that the FEMA tents were an admission of an overcrowding problem, but the only solution offered was a money grab to benefit the elite at the expense of the masses that keep the parks afloat. To me it is just one more example of what is wrong with Corporate America. They have the mentality that every quarter must out earn the previous quarter no matter what it takes to make it happen or whatever other circumstances surrounded the decline. It is a wooden and block headed way of looking at success, and a lot of us felt Disney was one of the last few organizations on earth that understood this. I am a believer that valuing others and having a vision to do things the right way with pride in excellence will be rewarded through years of loyalty from the public that appreciates humanity over the machine, and it pains me every time I see Disney departing from this philosophy.
very well said!
Great articles! Hey what/where is the diorama in photograph 2 on page two of the blog?
Thanks
Every WDW vacation is now a “slow” trip for us.
We spend far more awake time at our chosen resorts (at least 2 on every trip) than at the Parks. On our last 5 WDW vacations you can count on one hand the # of times we’ve entered a Park before 10am. Our park commando days are happily long, long gone.
As a frequent Boardwalk Villa guest, I’ve grown to love the burgers at Big River Grille, but that restaurant interior is one the worst atmospheres anywhere throughout Disney World.
If we can’t get a spot on the outside patio (which has wonderful energy), we head somewhere else.
Totally agree. We have found that one maybe two parks is plenty to visit in a week. We have two kids (9 and 3) and we prefer to hang at our resort (or Disney Springs) and sprinkle the two park visits out during the week. We always do the Very Mickey Christmas the Sunday after Thanksgiving (when everyone is LEAVING to go home) and make sure we’re at the Magic Kingdom at exactly 3:55pm when they open the gates for those tickets so we can maximize our time in the park. Eight hours is plenty of time at the MK to see everything and the crowds are non-existent by 7pm. If we do another park it’s usually later in the week.
We have found over the years that hanging at our resort or taking a boat to Disney Springs is so much more relaxing than trying to jam four park visits into a week long visit.
We prefer to stay at the Port Orleans Riverside or another moderate hotel. It’s not entry level so you don’t have to deal with massive crowds that tend to flock to the All Star resorts, it’s quiet and great to stroll around. To us it doesn’t matter where you stay you get the same level of food and service. When you drop another $300+/night to stay at a “high” end resort what are you really gaining?
My parents live within a two our drive of WDW so we visit them every Thanksgiving and then pull the kids out of school the following week for a WDW visit. Tom is correct the week after Thanksgiving is the BEST time of the year (and lest crowded) to visit. The weather is usually perfect as well. 70-80’s during the day and 60’s at night. The pools are all heated anyhow! We asked at cast member while waiting in line to see Minnie the best time of the year to come and he confirmed that our week was the best. He said NEVER come the week of New Year’s or anytime near Easter. Oh and he said unless you like to melt never come in the summer. LOL.
Upcharges…
Yes. Just, yes.
(Glad you had a great time!)
I really enjoy reading your perspective on things at the parks and this post is especially eloquent, really lovely. I trust your opinions because you are passionate but not, as you so aptly put it, trading on packaged nostalgia… I’ve found that many Disney fans refuse to address anything that might paint WDW in a poor light. Headed to Cape Canaveral with my husband and kids the week before Christmas to visit family, we decided to do a few nights at Disney while in the area (made this decision before I realized how nightmarishly packed the parks will be). Your blog has been a top resource for me in my frantic planning primarily for your honest and only-appropriately-sentimental coverage of the parks. Also, you have helped reignite my photography obsession. You park photos are beautiful and very interesting technically.