Changes are inevitable, but are they always good?
Are you ready for the changes?
Sure, Disney World has always had to change and grow over the years, and that’s true about any industry really. But we wanted to find out what your thoughts were about the changes that haven’t had the most positive impact on your Disney World vacations. We asked and boy, did you deliver!
We reached out to our followers on Facebook to ask: “What Disney World change has had the biggest NEGATIVE impact on your vacation?” The results were pretty varied. We had quite a few people leave their opinions in the comments!
What do you think?
Now, let’s dive into the results!
1. Discontinuing FastPasses
We have a clear winner here. The vast majority of you expressed a deep disappointment with Disney World for discontinuing FastPasses, and greatly prefer them to the new system. (Hundreds of you made this response. Basically, too many to count.)
It’s Tough to be a Bug
These two responses sum up those feelings best: “Much preferred when everyone had 3 fast passes for free” and “Loved the old Fast Pass system and getting to schedule those rides ahead of time!”
FastPass
FastPass made its debut at Disney World in 1999 as a free way to skip the lines in Disney World. Certain rides had FastPass machines out front. You would scan your Disney World ticket, and a piece of paper with a return time was printed. You could then return to a special, much shorter line for the ride during that return time. Eventually, FastPasses went digital, and you were able to book a few of them in advance of your trip to help plan your days.
FastPass Entrance at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
FastPass did not return when Disney World re-opened after the pandemic-related closure in 2020. Instead, Disney introduced Genie+ — a digital “skip the line” program that offers many of the same benefits of FastPass, but instead of the free service, Genie+ currently costs between $20 and $39 per day.
And speaking of Genie+ …
2. Genie+
In second place, and in the same vein as our first one, you say Genie+ has wrecked your vacations. (Hundreds of you responded this way.)
Genie+
These two responses sum up those feelings perfectly: “Getting up before 7 to schedule a first ride for Genie + or attempt to get virtual rides.” and “Genie ended our annual passes and park attendance. We use our DVC now as a resort-only stay.”
3. Removing Magical Express
In third place, and this one hurt, we found that you were affected by Disney’s decision to remove Magical Express (about 165 of you).
Remember Magical Express?
I think this comment sums it up: “The loss of the Magical Express!! That just started you right off with Disney vacation vibes!!” Also, this one is perfect: “Magical express and luggage delivery! It used to feel so magical when hopping on the plane. Hearing “Have a magical day”
Inside a Magical Express Bus
In case you never had this magical experience, Magical Express was a free service for Disney resort guests that provided transportation to and from Orlando International Airport, and luggage handling. You didn’t even have to go to baggage claim and wait for your suitcases. You tagged them before you left home, and when you landed, you hopped on a bus. Your luggage would show up in your hotel room later. That’s magic if we’ve ever heard it!
We miss you, Magical Express!
This service ended at the end of 2022, so now you have to arrange your own transportation and pay to get from the airport to Disney World. You have the options of taking private transportation — like a taxi, rideshare, or the Mears Connect Driven by Sunshine bus service, or renting a car.
4. Taking Away Extra Magic Hours for All Resort Guests
A fair number of you expressed a mix of emotions about the change Disney implemented to end Extra Magic Hours and restrict Extended Evening Hours to only those in Deluxe resorts (About 75 of you).
TWO sets of Extra Magic Hours for Magic Kingdom on some dates
One of you mentioned: “Extra magic evening hours for Fancy resorts only! 😏” Also, you mentioned this too: “I miss we had a choice of extra magic hours in the morning or evening.”
Magic Kingdom
Extra Magic Hours were available to guests of any Disney World hotel, and were offered before the park opened and after the park closed on different days for different parks. For example, on any given day you may have had the option of entering Magic Kingdom an hour before it officially opened for the day, or staying in EPCOT two hours after is closed. This perk allowed you to be in the parks with fewer guests, and therefore, shorter lines. Extra Magic Hours were put “on hold” by Disney during the pandemic-related closures in 2020. Eventually, a similar program of Early Theme Park Entry — hotel guests can enter any park 30 minutes early any (and every) day of their stay — and Extended Evening Hours — hotel guests get extra hours in certain parks on certain nights — was introduced.
EPCOT after dark
But there was one major change to the Extended Evening Hours — they are only available to people staying in Disney World’s DELUXE hotels. If you’re staying in a lower-priced moderate or value resort, the only “extra” time you get in the parks is in the morning — and that’s what people miss!
Those were just some of your thoughts on some of the Disney World changes that have negatively impacted your vacations, and we’d love to find out more from you! Until then, keep it right here for all the latest Disney news!
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Magical Express was and still is there. In the early 2000’s to was an extra charge. Later on Disney just increased the room cost so it seemed like you were getting the bus for “free”. Anyone that didn’t need to bus got a discount on their room. It’s still available but at a cost. With so many people using ride shares, there was no reason to include it in room price
The only thing that bothers us is Genie+ and having to wake up at 7am while on vacation.
It defeats the entire point of vacation when you have to wake up earlier than on a normal work day.
As the paying customers, this needs to change!! WE tell Disney what to do, not the other way around. The customer is always right. People really need to start letting Disney hear negativity. Put them on blast.
another very good feature that Disney World offered was when you bought packages throughout the day, you could have them shipped to your hotel. They no longer do that, I thought that was a great thing to have my husband and I miss that feature and actually don’t buy as much as we used to.
The old FAST PASS system in the Parks was the best! At least us tech idiots could figure out that system. I don’t own a smart phone. How is this not discriminatory? When I go to a Park now, I’m there for rope drop and I wing everything. I go there for a vacation and fun, NOT to stress out.
I was wondering how Disney knows who a deluxe resort guest is when it comes to extended evening hours. Obviously 90% of the guests are not and most of those leave when they should but how about the few who dont?
I do not have Facebook, so I did not know about the vote, but reading through these complaints, I 100% agree with EVERY SINGLE ONE….!!!!! And a couple more, but I digress…. AJ, you and the team always do a super great job, thank you….!!!!
Not only did the end of FastPast+ and the introduction of Genie+ end our days of visiting the theme parks, it ended our stays at WDW altogether. Now we use our DVC points occasionally at the Vero Beach Resort but mainly rent them out so we can sail on Virgin Voyages. Our DVC points have paid for three VV cruises already and will pay for a fourth and fifth in December ’24 and May ’25. We’ve found we now get much better value for our money on the cruises than at WDW. At some point, we plan to sell the DVC points entirely because the maintenance fees will cost more than the cruises. Our DVC purchase dates back to the mid 1990s, and WDW is a very different place today than it was when we bought. We’ll always have great memories of those first two decade or so of ownership, though.
I also miss FastPass+. I liked it so much better than Genie+. And while I wouldn’t say Genie + has ever ruined a vacation, I do feel as though I don’t always get my money’s worth out of it. I’ve read all the articles with tips and tricks, watched all the videos, and I still have trouble stacking Lightning Lanes. Maybe I’ll figure it out on my next trip.
So sad to read all these – I remember using all those wonderful perks and they did indeed make the Disney experience more magical. When you are nickeled and dimed (how do you adjust that phrase for Disney’s extra-inflated price hikes to go along with all the rest?) to “feel special” it just doesn’t work. It is disturbing when your Disney vacation becomes one groan after the next, recalling “how things used to be…” Maybe Casey’s Corner should be renamed “Commiseration Corner.”
I would say this list is pretty spot on.
Hi Joey! Cast members will scan your MagicBand or ask to see your deluxe hotel resort ID before allowing you on any rides.
Absolutely agree on this list, especially #1 & #2 — Genie+ is a nightmare! and another money-grab for Disney — the old FastPass system was far far superior and easier to use and plan with. I’m a long-time DVC owner as well, and recent changes have really ruined the experience of going to the parks. But clearly Disney really only cares about packing people into the parks as fast as possible and for long as possible — now you have to get to a park over an hour before it opens to queue up for rope-drop with any chance of getting to a ride without having to wait an ADDITIONAL hour in line after they finally let you in — totally crazy. And most people now don’t even watch where they’re walking as they’re too glued to their phone trying to work Genie+.
Totally agree! I won’t buy genie and don’t have a smartphone so feel pretty left behind. Fairly impossible to get on any rides now. I go to wdw to de-stress, not get more stressed! Have no intention of walking to a different concourse to pay for mears which does not have the best prices or attitude. Everyone said it great in these comments! Magical Express started your vacay off right! Fast passes worked! Too bad Iger doesn’t listen or care…..I don’t go to parks anymore, after first going in year one. Grew up with Walt and his creations. Very much miss escaping reality and being a kid again. I may go to a resort but very difficult to make a reservation and guest services will not help. Wdw so disappointing these days….so sad….
We definitely also feel the disappointment of these, and resort package delivery as someone else mentioned, and on a personal note for us, the change of the Fort Wilderness cabins may be the next thing on this list. We discovered the joys of the cabins too late – we’ve only been able to enjoy a few trips that we’ve stayed there. Now we’re afraid that being DVC will mean we are priced or crowded out. The next most comparable accomodations have definite downsides that the cabins don’t.
I agree with all this but to play devils advocate here:
Guests were complaining about scheduling Fastpass 60 days in advance. They wanted less planning in advance. So Disney gave them same-day choices.
Many guests stopped using DME finding Uber much faster. DME took quite a while. I’d pay $60 to get to Disney in 20 min vs. 90+ on DME.
As to Disney Genie – no excuse there. Just a horrible system. Can we go back to paper Fastpasses? lol I loved that system. And don’t get me started on Individual Lightning Lanes. It’s a cash grab.
We went over Christmas and when I did the math, I realized that Genie+ and individual LL purchases for me and my husband were going to cost over $500 for 4 days. I convinced him to rope drop early entry since we were staying on property. Waking up at 7 to schedule Genie+ is bad enough but walking out the door of our room at 6 or 6:30 am every morning while “on vacation” became a forced march. I agree with everything in your article and hope that someone in Disney management is reading this and taking notes.
We visit WDW from the UK and often don’t have mobile data on our phones. Everything now is on the app, and the wifi can be really patchy in the parks. I go on holiday to get away from my phone but I feel that this next trip we’ll all be glued to them. I loved the old fastpass and extra magic hours systems. It meant I could plan my trip months in advance and really get excited about it. I’m really worried about the amount of time we’ll be queuing for rides, especially as now we have a toddler in tow. I can’t really afford the Genie+ prices when we’re already paying a lot for park passes. We don’t get a free magic band anymore either, and we can’t buy one in advance from the UK and have it shipped to the resort, which we used to be able to do – another perk lost. I’m not really sure of the benefits of staying on property anymore, other than the free transport! Our upcoming trip will be very different, in a bad way.
I did not know about the restrictions on extra hours for Felix guests only, the last couple visits have included Felix resort stays so I honestly didn’t notice. I brought Girl Scouts here years ago and we stayed at Pop Century, it would have definitely been a bummer if we had been excluded from that perk at the time, seems to be an unfair exclusion for sure!
Can Disney please make two changes one of which would cost Disney some money and one would cost Disney NO MONEY.
1. Please bring back THE MAGICAL EXPRESS
2. Please include extra park hours for all DISNEY HOTELS. Please DO NOT DISCRIMINATE against your guests who cannot afford the DELUXE HOTELS.
I hate Genie +. It makes the standby lines much longer than FP ever did. I’ve even observed Disney cast members holding the lines to make the standby lines longer, and they have clearly been trained to do that. I’m waiting for the class action lawsuit on this one.
I just stayed in a Deluxe resort and had extra evening hours in MK and EPCOT. It was great, we walked on a lot of rides but I thought it was ridiculous not to include ALL Disney resort guests in this. Lines would be longer but not exceptionally more.