Is Disney World CAVING to Its Most Critical Fans?

Magical, schmagical. 🙄 Disney World might be home to amazing snacks, fantastic rides, and Cast Members that make your experience 100x better, but that doesn’t mean the theme park giant is without its STRONG critics.

Over the years, many Disney fans have expressed their frustration with various things at the parks, even saying they’re “done” with Disney. And over the years, we’ve also seen Disney make changes — some of which seem to correspond with fan criticisms. So, is Disney caving to its critical fanbase? Let’s take a look.

Maybe?

In some ways, it can seem like Disney is “caving” to its most critical theme park fans by making changes that those fans have BEGGED for or changing systems those fans have heavily criticized.

But we do have to put a quick disclaimer here first. Disney makes changes for MANY reasons. Some alterations might be made for financial reasons, operational reasons, creative reasons, or other things that don’t have anything at all to do with guest complaints. So, from a technical perspective, we can’t definitively say that any of these changes were specifically made because of guests’ complaints.

However, Disney CEO Bob Iger has indicated that they have made some changes (like price adjustments in the parks) that show the Company is “listening to guest feedback.” He also previously stated, “We are continuously working to improve the quality and value of [the guest] experience.” And for some of these, there have been indications made by the Company that they are (at least partially) the result of some guest feedback.

The point here is these changes could have been made for many reasons but since some of them do line up with things Disney fans have complained about, we feel like they’re worth talking about.

Also, the word “caving” can be loaded with implications, sometimes negative. But a company listening to its fanbase, including the critical fans, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, learning to adapt and be flexible to make changes fans have been begging for can be a VERY good thing.

We say all this just to note that these changes can be very good things and things that many people can agree Disney should do to make its fans (the people who are spending all that $$$ in the parks) happy. Ultimately, improving the park experience in ways that keeps guests happy is critical to Disney’s success.

Alright, enough chit-chat, let’s take a look at those changes!

Some fans have likely been critical of Disney’s Dining Reservation system, which currently only shows a limited number of reservations available within each time period. Basically, the system right now is a game. Search for breakfast reservations and some available times pop up.

Search again for reservations around 9AM and you might find a hidden reservation Disney didn’t show to you the first time. Some might feel that this makes the process needlessly complicated and stressful. And Disney seems to have understood that.

In August of 2023, they announced that they would be changing the Dining Reservations system to “simplify the dining planning experience” and make things more convenient (a.k.a. it seems they knew it wasn’t all that simple before!).

Once this new system rolls out for Disney World, you’ll be able to see ALL available reservation slots for a particular dining location and selected mealtime, rather than just some. That should hopefully make the process a LOT easier. (It has already rolled out for some on the Disneyland App but we’re still waiting for it to be implemented in Disney World.)

Disney World also used to require guests to cancel their dining reservations 24 hours in advance to avoid a cancelation fee. We have a feeling this likely caught some guests by surprise, resulting in lots of unwanted fees. And some guests may have felt like the rule made their dining plans more rigid, not allowing them to be flexible and change things more on the go throughout their day.

In late 2022, that all changed when Disney announced that guests would now be able to cancel most dining reservations just 2 hours in advance to avoid that cancelation fee. This can give guests much more flexibility!

Another HUGE complaint Disney received for a while was the lack of the Disney Dining Plan. Dining Plans were suspended due to the pandemic closures and they did not return after that. For MONTHS, fans were left wondering whether their beloved Dining Plans would come back to help them budget for their trips and give their vacations a more all-inclusive feel.

Disney later announced that the Dining Plan would come back, and then FINALLY shared all the details of its return. The Disney Dining Plan will be back in January of 2024, though only 2 plans will be back. Still, we have a feeling that many fans are thrilled to see this return (now if only the Magical Express would come back too 😉).

Perhaps one of the most heavily criticized things in all of Disney World is the Park Pass reservation system. Introduced after the COVID-19 closures, the system has helped Disney regulate crowds and control capacity in the parks. Disney executives have often praised the system and how beneficial it has been.

But many fans have absolutely detested it, arguing that it adds another step to the planning process, makes things feel less flexible, and is restrictive (particularly back when Park Passes were more frequently selling out for popular days — though that’s not as much a concern anymore).

Disney has made some smaller adjustments to the Park Pass system in the past, like allowing for easier modification of passes or allowing Annual Passholders to enter most parks without a Park Pass after 2PM. But some even bigger changes are coming in 2024.

Starting January 9th, 2024, Guests who purchase date-based Disney World park tickets will no longer need to make Park Pass reservations. Note, however, that Annual Passholders, Cast Members, and others who do not have date-based tickets will still have to make Park Pass reservations, so they aren’t totally going away. Still, we have a feeling this is a big change that a TON of fans are thrilled about.

Some Disney fans have complained about a loss of certain hotel perks, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic closures and reopenings. But, one particular hotel perk returned in 2023 that likely made a lot of fans happy. In early 2023, Disney announced that FREE overnight self-parking was BACK at Disney World’s hotels (for hotel guests).

This marked a big shift from Disney’s previous policy, where overnight self-parking was an added cost, the amount of which depended on what level of hotel you were staying at. Free + hotel perk = some very pleased fans.

But wait…there’s MORE. Another heavily criticized Disney World system is Genie+, the paid Fastpass+ replacement. Aside from the fact that it costs money, many have complained about the fact that there is no ability to pre-plan with Genie+. With FastPass+, you could at least select 3 rides ahead of time that you wanted to ride and “secure” your spots in those FastPass lines, but no such thing exists with Genie+. Guest complaints about this have NOT fallen on deaf ears though.

Disney said, “We have heard from guests that they would like ways to plan with Disney Genie+ service and individual Lightning Lane selections before the day of their park visit, and we want you to know we are working on ways guests may do this for visits in 2024.” (A.k.a. yes, your feedback actually DOES matter.)

Disney continued, “Our goal is to give you the opportunity to spend less time planning in the park and more time enjoying your visit with friends and family.” Exactly what will change about Genie+ in 2024 has yet to be revealed, but we’re very interested to see how things could look different and whether it’ll finally please those critics who have been BEGGING for some element of pre-planning.

Next up we have a major change that has probably made many fans cry with happiness. At Magic Kingdom, the Happily Ever After fireworks show was removed and replaced with a 50th Anniversary show — Disney Enchantment — while Disney World celebrated its big anniversary. Disney Enchantment was met with some mixed reviews, while Happily Ever After was a seriously beloved show (though we know there are some hardcore Wishes fans out there that are still mad Wishes isn’t back).

Well, wouldn’t you know it…Enchantment went away close to the end of the 50th celebration and guess what came in its place? Not a new fireworks show, no. Instead, Happily Ever After has RETURNED (with a few new effects). Yeah, we know a few thousand people out there who received this news with happy tears and thunderous applause!

And finally, if there’s one thing EVERYONE seemed to love to hate in EPCOT over the past few months, it was the barges placed in the middle of World Showcase Lagoon for the 50th Anniversary Harmonious show. The barges (with the center one often being compared to some spaceship-type contraption) blocked the view across World Showcase Lagoon and never quite got the water fountain effect they were supposed to have during the day to make them less of an eyesore.

Disney later announced that the Harmonious show would be going away and would be replaced with a new show in honor of Disney’s 100th Anniversary. And with that news came a critical update — the barges would be REMOVED. 

The barges are now gone, but let’s just say it isn’t all good news on that front…

Maybe Not…

While Disney has made some changes that seem to cater to certain fan complaints, there are other things Disney has done or is doing that seem to point in the other direction. These are things that fans are likely NOT pleased about, yet Disney has done them anyway, indicating that while guest feedback might inform some decision-making at Disney, it doesn’t always win out.

For example, many fans have criticized Disney for their constant price increases, arguing that the parks, the food, the merchandise, the hotels, etc. have become far too expensive. And Iger himself was reportedly “alarmed” by some of the price increases at the parks made under former CEO Bob Chapek. But, we’re still seeing prices increase in some ways on food, tickets, and more. Ultimately, Disney is a business and those increases likely lead to some big revenue differences, so it’s something we do NOT expect to see going away anytime soon.

Some have also heavily criticized Disney for not announcing any new huge park attractions, compared to Universal Orlando which is actively working on a brand new theme park in Orlando. Yes, the Moana walk-through attraction will soon open in EPCOT and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is in the works at Magic Kingdom, but no new park or major land has been announced yet.

A potential expansion has been teased for Magic Kingdom and a land re-theme has been teased for Animal Kingdom, but neither of these are confirmed, concrete plans, which has many Disney fans left wanting more.

Disney is also still making moves that have proven to be controversial. For example, while many Haunted Mansion fans may be thrilled that the Hatbox Ghost will be appearing soon in Disney World, his placement in the Endless Hallway area has become a huge point of contention.

And we’ve seen quite a bit of work being done and poles being placed in World Showcase Lagoon, which could be for Disney’s future EPCOT fireworks show. Will this just be a repeat of the hated barges?

Disney is also still charging for Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes, so it’s not as though guest complaints about how Genie+ is a paid system while FastPass+ was free have resulted in any kind of change. (Though the introduction of the tiered pricing system has helped resolve some potential issues.)

Disney is also still limiting Park Hopping, another thing that has been a big complaint among some fans. With the Park Pass changes coming in 2024, it’s unclear if Park Hopping rules will change too, but thus far Disney hasn’t made any announcements so that remains to be seen.

In some ways, certain changes made in the parks could be seen as Disney “caving” to its critical fans, but keep in mind that those changes could have been made for a multitude of reasons (including or NOT including fan feedback). And in other ways, it seems fan criticism of certain things hasn’t resulted in the changes some may have hoped for. So…it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

What do you think about the changes Disney has been making lately? What other changes do you wish they’d make? Tell us in the comments! And be sure to stay tuned for more Disney news!

Comments (1)