It’s no secret that Disney World changes a LOT. And it’s DEFINITELY not a secret that sometimes people are unhappy about it!
Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom
We’ve seen longtime Disney fans rant online about the loss of many things in the past — from rides to FastPasses to favorite snacks and more. But which changes are truly the worst? We reached out to our followers and asked “Which Disney World change do you think is unforgivable?” and WOW their responses were interesting.
Getting Rid of Magical Express
Let’s start this list out with a freebie that was taken away at the beginning of 2022 — Disney’s Magical Express. The complimentary transportation service was done away with last year, and now, guest staying at Disney World resorts will need to figure out their own transportation to and from the airport.
Inside Magical Express Bus
One of our readers said “Getting rid of Magical Express. It wasn’t a money maker but it was a huge customer “win”. Bailing out on that and turning the additional transportation cost and responsibility over to guests was a big mistake from a PR and image perspective.” Many seemed to agree with that sentiment.
Old signage at the airport for Magical Express
Of course, we’re not really surprised by this answer. It’s not usually a popular decision when Disney decides to get rid of a free perk.
Introducing Genie+
And speaking of free perks that Disney did away with — let’s talk about Disney Genie+. The former FastPass+ system wasn’t always popular (some people preferred the paper FastPasses that you would pick up at kiosks around the park), but since Disney Genie+ was introduced, many fans have begged Disney to bring the old system back.
Genie+
FastPasses were free for all guests and available to be booked through the My Disney Experience app in advance of your vacation. But now, guests are required to pay (per person) for Genie+ and must get up at 7AM if they want the best choice of attraction availability. Many were upset about both the price and the early rising while on vacation.
Disney Genie
One of our readers even said “I don’t mind Genie but having to wake up early every morning on vacation to fight for your schedule to work with your dining plans you make months before is stressful.” Many others shared their disdain for the cost — it might add hundreds of dollars to the Disney vacation that you already saved up for.
Requiring Theme Parking Reservations
While we’re on the subject of tech changes, several of our readers mentioned Disney Park Pass reservations. Ever since the pandemic, you’ve been required to make a park pass reservation if you wish to visit a Disney theme park. It can be annoying when the park you want to visit is already booked up, and it makes the Park Hopping situation a bit more complicated.
Scanning into a Disney World park
As one reader bluntly put it — “If I’m paying you $630 for a week, I should be able to go to a park on what day I want.” Someone else mentioned that it was particularly hard to schedule visits as a local. It’s definitely a lot more challenging to plan spontaneous trips!
Having the Dining Plan Unavailable
One question we probably get asked EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. is — “when will the dining plan come back?” Disney hasn’t brought back the offering since the pandemic, although they said a while ago that it would come back in the future. (We just don’t have a date or timeline yet.)
Be Our Guest Restaurant
So why are people upset about it being gone? Many want the luxury of having to think about as little things as possible while on vacation. One reader shared the following: “Getting rid of dining plan. It was very convenient and I really hope they bring it back.”
Casey’s Corner
If you’re all about convenience, it might’ve been a popular option for your family…even if it wasn’t always cost-effective!
Changes in Hollywood Studios & EPCOT
And last but not least, let’s talk about changes in Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. Arguably, these two parks have seen the most change since Disney World opened, with entire lands being demolished and attractions getting replaced constantly.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
There were several long-lost attractions and offerings that were mentioned, including The Great Movie Ride, Horizons, The Living Seas, The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, and many others. All these things have been replaced with other new lands and attractions, and some of our readers are still grieving the loss.
©Disney || Old EPCOT
Those are the top 5 “unforgivable” changes in Disney World according to our readers. But here’s the thing — most of them aren’t technically unforgivable since these same fans keep coming back to the parks over and over again. In time, even more changes will come, and we’ll end up missing the “good ol’ days” of 2023. That’s just the theme park business!
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We’ll make sure to keep you updated on any more changes or announcements that Disney World makes for this year, so stay tuned to DFB.
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Hmm… can’t take a list like this seriously if it doesn’t mention the destruction of The Adventure’s Club 🙂
…and the entire concept of Disney’s Pleasure Island.
Love this list all true. Resulting in costing families hundreds of dollars more. I hate the resevation system. We always have a plan of where we are going but it add pressure amd fear that if you dont do your resevations early enough you wont be able to go to the park you want to on the day you want to and if you change your mine when you are there. There might not be a reservation available to do that. It is getting to the point that disney CRAZY expensive now it is sad. We are going in May and it will be our last trip for many years.
We have avoided Genie+ as it seems like ride availability may not match your schedule.
However, we have used the Individual Lighting Lanes for specific rides. If it’s a ride that I really want to be on, (e.g. Guardians of the Galaxy) then I have issue with paying extra for it.
This list is spot on and sadly the reason I won’t be returning to WDW any time soon. EPCOT has always been my favorite theme park but hardly seems recognizable now. I still have fond memories of the old days of Wonders of Life at EPCOT and streetsmophere at Hollywood Studios.
It is what Disney is all about….Making Memories. Each of us has a conception of what the good old days were, what attractions, perks, etc. I thank my lucky stars that I was allowed all that Disney/WDW had to offer during the Michael Eisner/Frank Wells era. By far the most exciting period in Disney History since Walt left us. While I do not condone the new movement toward the spin and puke dark ride thrill park direction, i still miss the Christmas Show and the Country Bears, or the Swiss Cable Cars from Fantasy Land to Tomorrow Land, 20,000 legumes under the sea, and on and on. Oh well, that is what Disney is all about. memories
Am I the only person who believes that the “free” Magical Express wasn’t free…….rather Disney buried the cost into the hotel rates?
These and many other changes that were made, and not for the better, are the reason Disney has lost it’s magic for me. I won’t be back unless Disney makes changes to these and remembers they have guests who are over 40 and don’t appreciate being left in the in the dust.
We have not renewed our annual passes & will not be going to Disney World
Again unless they get rid of all these ridiculous changes. You can’t plan your trip in advance like before and is too stressful & disappointing now. We have been going to Disney since the 1970’s & are so disappointed with how they are doing things now. We are Florida residents & will find other entertainment in this great State.Jea
All 5 you stated are true. For us locals, the park reservation system is the most intrusive to our “spur of the moment” desires to head into Epcot for lunch/dinner/a concert or just enjoy a particular park with friends on a nice day.
That said, the most disappointing change was firing The Grand Floridian Orchestra. They were the spirit and soul of the GF…and we enjoyed their magical music welcoming us “home” everytime we walked in. We would often make an evening of it…whether after an afternoon tea, a dinner or just spending a couple hours in the lobby with a beverage…taking in the antics and dance routines of the little ones all dressed up and waiting to have dinner with Cinderella.
And the general diminishing of maintenance is disheartening.
Does anyone else miss Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride? As a kid in the 80’s it was my younger sister’s favorite. We were so sad when it was re-vamped. I don’t know the reason (we guessed it was a popularity thing, but it still makes me sad…).
I too miss the paper fast passes. Since the introduction of online fast passes, the standby lines are as long as they were before the paper fast passes. We only like to plan a day or two in advance when on a Disney vacation so having to make ride and park reservations months in advance and then constantly watching for ride times when at the parks really detracts from the joy of a Disney vacation. I dislike the pricing by day and the additional cost of having to pay for fast passes. We don’t get up by 7 am when we are home so we certainly won’t be doing it while on vacation. The limited park hopping is also a big turn off. We would frequently go during the EPCOT food and wine festival. We would go to another park and then hop to EPCOT when we got hungry and ate our way thru the food kiosks; it usually took us about 4 days to try all the kiosks we wanted to try. Dumbing down EPCOT has also been a big turnoff. It used to be educational, but now there is almost nothing there that we want to do except eat and shop, and I didn’t like it when they obliterated every trace of Disney from Spaceship Earth. The Great Movie Ride and the original Magic of Animation were 2 of our favorite things to do at Hollywood Studios. I also don’t appreciate the distain Disney seems to have for annual passholders. They assume all passholders are locals who come for short stays and don’t spend any money. I was a frequent annual passholder who lives hundreds of miles away. We usually made 2 week long trips a year and stayed on Disney property and ate and shopped a lot. No plans to return. Glad we enjoyed the 21 years of trips we did have.
I too agree with the list- when I’m on vacation and spending that kind of money I want choices and not all the structure. Gone are the fun carefree vacation days where we decide some of our day that day depending on what WE want to do! I resent all of the changes! If not for our DVC we would not go often on principal. As of now we go to DWorld but only go to the parks one day each trip for all of the mentioned reasons. I hate these changes and I too miss Osbourne Lights at Christmas and Lights of Winter at EPCOT – nothing Disney World did to try to replace those things is acceptable in my opinion- and now they changed some of the Candlelight Processional too which now makes me not care if I even go to EPCOT over the holidays- there are less and less reasons for me to get excited about the parks and now only a few DVC resorts I’m excited to even use my points at.
Why should we have ride anxiety- dining reservations/ parks reservations anxiety or have to get up early to try to to get times for rides WE pay for?! Think about this people
Personally, I miss, and can’t forgive them for this, the changes to Extra Magic Hours. Used to be Disney resort guests got 1 hour extra in the morning, and up to 3 hours after close. Now, theyve hititled it down to 30 minutes in the morning, and the evening is reserved only for those at Deluxe resorts.
I miss Magical Express and The Great Movie Ride the most. Dining Plan wasn’t that great a deal anymore unless your plan is to have everything paid up front. The removal of free Fast Pass was inevitable. It was just a matter of time.
Still grieving over SpectroMagic. My favorite nighttime event ❤️ Loved that soundtrack.Would help if they at least had another night parade to replace it!