lightbikes

I read the same thing... She was truly what is missing from Disney today in terms of attitude and the overall guest experience!

Couldn't agree more.  We were there in January and it was so disappointing.   It was our first stay at the Fort in almost 5 years and I don't see us coming back again any time soon.  The whole Disney Genie, Genie + and Individual Lighting Lane arrangement is a disaster.  It is expensive beyond belief for a family of 4, and the Disney IT structure keeps stalling or failing completely.  Not to mention that it burns through your phone's battery like lightning.  
We resorted to taking turns getting in standby for the rides we really wanted to do while the others did bathroom breaks and the lesser rides they wanted to.   Took a sandwich and a water bottle and bumped along. 
Like you we are also DVC members and even the so-called "perks" we're supposed to have were non-existent.   
For a supposed 50th Anniversary celebration all Disney wants is the money for high priced, low quality merchandise.   
They have lost the "magic" they had.   

Couldn't agree more.  We were there in January and it was so disappointing.   It was our first stay at the Fort in almost 5 years and I don't see us coming back again any time soon.  The whole Disney Genie, Genie + and Individual Lighting Lane arrangement is a disaster.  It is expensive beyond belief for a family of 4, and the Disney IT structure keeps stalling or failing completely.  Not to mention that it burns through your phone's battery like lightning.  
We resorted to taking turns getting in standby for the rides we really wanted to do while the others did bathroom breaks and the lesser rides they wanted to.   Took a sandwich and a water bottle and bumped along. 
Like you we are also DVC members and even the so-called "perks" we're supposed to have were non-existent.   
For a supposed 50th Anniversary celebration all Disney wants is the money for high priced, low quality merchandise.   
They have lost the "magic" they had.   

Can I please get a job there?    - nobody has to pay me - I will take my salary in Cinnamon Rolls !!!!!!!

So happy that you got to see Gwen and David ❤️
Ahhh.... the Mouse has trained you well.   Paying more to get into the parks, riding fewer rides and then paying a lot for food.  Yep, the Mouse always wins.

The claims they are making about how this app will help guests are ridiculous. It’s bad enough that they are price gouging again, but what makes it worse is that the damn app will be just as glitchy as all of their other app iterations. The DCL app is a piece of crap. The MDE app crashed at the MK for most of the day on the big 50th anniversary day on October 1.  And they expect us to believe that this new app will somehow plan a perfect day for guests? No way. 
TCD
 

I guess they don't want those of us that don't like to micromanage their day or to be micromanaged when visiting the parks. 

Nothing to understand. Just another disgusting money grab. 
TCD

Not stupid at all and not illiterate.  
It's our memories that are the most important to us, they sustain us, and they become more so as we grow older.  The biggest disappointment we have about Disney now is how they have eroded that magic to the point you can't find it anymore.
Yes, the ugly price increases have priced us out of many of the things we used to do, like going to the Christmas Party and Halloween, and even staying on property, but I think the really really harsh part is the disappearance of the magic.  
The Disney emphasize on maximizing their profit at the expense of the guests/customer/client means that my grand-children will have no experience of the amazement and enchantment that was waiting around every corner for their parents when we took them.  That experience came from CMs who took it as their mission statement to make every GUESTS' experience special.  Because we were guests, and we were treated as quests, not as some kind of ATM.
Makes me sad more than mad I guess.
 
 
 

Good point. I would add, however, that hedge fund managers and insiders are also raking it in, while Joe Sixpack shareholders twist in the wind. 
TCD

Updated your post to modern business theory. While shareholders might get to ride along I think most modern corporations are designed to do nothing more than to enrich the executive corps. If you need proof look at the number of companies where shareholders lose value but executive pay increases. 

Don't worry.  Sure, we are just 3 weeks from the actual 50th anniversary, and not much new is ready for guests to enjoy.  But Disney has planned a celebration lasting at least 18 months, and they will slowly trickle out new rides, shows and attractions throughout that 18 months to keep the diehards repeatedly coming back.  People that want to be there in October for the anniversary will be there regardless of whether they can ride Tron, Guardians, or see the new nighttime shows.  And then when these things are introduced, one at a time, they'll return, over and over, to get their pockets picked by the greedy little rodent. 

The price and limitations on all tickets has gotten outrageous.  We live out of state and generally hold annual passes, but did not have active ones when the pandemic hit.  Consequently, for our 21 day stay in the campground in August we bought 10 day tickets which we could not even use at any time during our stay.  We prefer to spread our park days out.  To compound this we have a son on the severe end of the autism spectrum who literally did not leave the house for 18 months because he does not tolerate wearing a mask. Nor can he understand the question, "what do you want to do several months from now 900 miles away?"  We fully understand that his limitations are ours to bear, so we made the decision to buy his tickets on the daily basis as he requested a park.  We also knew that we would have to function without a guest assistance pass because waiting in line and getting that to happen exceeds his tolerance and we are done in the park for that day - I could not financially justify buying a ticket to have his needs accommodated and frankly, do not believe I should have to do so.  I was so proud of his patience and happy that he could keep his mask in place to at least experience some of the attractions.  Now with the newly announced annual pass prices which you must pay an upcharge for water parks and photo pass, Disney has probably priced us out of that market.  A very sad day for our family.....

Hey all, I usually do not post here anymore for a few reasons. Mostly because we are not campers any longer and as I am not anti Disney, we have been saddened by the changes (even pre Covid) the mouse has made.  Our daughter is now 15. We started camping at the fort when she was 2. Unfortunately, Disney priced us out of the fort around 2016/2017.  Our daughter is still a huge Disney fan and will stay up to date with all things Disney at the parks. She wants to go back so bad, and honestly, the wife and I wouldn’t mind a little bit of happy place after this past 15 months working in the medical field. Now here is where I get frustrated.  I know everyone has suffered somehow through this pandemic and every business that survived is trying to figure out how to recoup their losses.  My plan was to possibly purchase Epcot after 4 passes for Christmas. With the latest announcement of AP last week, I don’t see the after 4 pass. This irritated me but didn’t get me mad yet. As I looked at the new passes, it started to get me more mad. To get a decent pass that allows you access on weekends or when school is out will run you close to $1000 each and for the poor out of state people, your looking over $1200.  This is just plain crazy.  Don’t make me quote the famous Walt speech about creating a place EVERYONE can enjoy. So, this got me mad, but this last one got me pissed. So now I figure I would get tickets for this new Christmas party special event ticket. Mind you, it’s 9pm to 1am with letting you in at 7, not 4 like previous hours. To my holy surprise, a November ticket was $189 and a December ticket was close to $230 each…. Sorry but WTF.  THIS IS TOTALLY INSANE.  I’m not buying these. If it were not for the love of Disney from our kids, I would ban these morons for life.  They might as well do a credit check at security and only let certain income people in.  They are doing this hypothetically by charging what they do.  And don’t get me started on Disney cruise line prices. It’s something WE WILL NEVER AFFORD. Thanks Disney for absolutely nothing

I said all along that working for the Disney company is a love hate relationship. Loved the actual work but hated how day to day things were managed. For me it was an occasional and temporary escape from my actual profession for the first twelve years and then a retirement job for the last ten, I never had to climb the corporate ladder. And when they did offer me an interview for a full time position in the Ride & Show group, I declined because I knew I wouldn't last when it became real. 
Now after having received my Mickey gold watch from Disney and retaining all my benefits, I look back and feel good about my couple of decades as a CM, no regrets, I had a lot of fun. I'd still be a CM if I could.

bettcha my flip phone won't make the cut

I go into dumb old person on a regular basis and not just at WDW.   I am so with you on wanting to hold a damn menu, trying to order on line when I want to make a substitution or deletion of some ingredient, change my reservation time by 15 minutes, etc.  I am terrified of having to use the Genie+ thing to try and book SFA !!!!!   And the whole idea of a "virtual queue makes my head explode !

Wait, what?  All these years you thought I've been joking?  I don't joke.  These are prophesies. 
Sure, the massage parlor and casino hasn't been built yet.  But give it time.  If you have seen the stuff Disney is broadcasting these days, you know it's not all that far fetched anymore.   

I bet when you return to the cabin in the evening, there will be a QR code on your bed to scan and see pictures of towel animals. 

Hmmmm, stuff like this just makes me go into passive aggressive mode and play dumb old person. If and when I go back and have tickets, I'll just have to go to guest services and find out how to use this Genie+ thing without a smart phone. That's how we got RoR boarding passes.

I feel the same way, but the days of enjoying Disney without a smart phone are gone. The TCD gang is about to sail again on DCL very soon. Currently on the ships, everything is on the app. No paper Navigators, no paper menus, and you have to join a virtual queue to get a time to disembark on Castaway Cay.  And did they upgrade the ship wifi?  Of course not. Unfortunately, no amount of complaining to guest services is going to change any of this. The elimination of all the printed materials is a huge money saver.  And those savings are not passed on to the consumer- the executive bonuses will be obscene again this year. 
TCD

I can't get any answer anywhere, but my biggest concern is that it seems to be based on having to use a guest-provided smartphone to use the system. I REALLY hope that they revamp the FP kiosks to use the system with a card or Magic Band. I HATE using my phone in the parks, and have gone so far as to telling Guest Services and CMs that I don't have one. In the three or four times I've tried, I have NEVER even been able to get my phone to recognize the RoR queue. I've tried all the tricks. It merely goes from not time, not time, not time, not time..... full.
It really started rubbing me the wrong way, when we started dining out again and restaurants wanted us to use our phones to see the menu, and when we went to Disney, them trying to say we had to use mobile order, or using our phone to get a text for seating. I want a menu, I want a beeper to be called to my table, and I want to order in person.

It was never a solution to a problem that the Fast Pass system provided, it is just a new way to get money from the AP holders.

Blood suckers - this will be brutal for the average family for 4 - 
 

I fixed it. 
Imagine taking the kids to WDW in the 1970's under that system....
DAD:  "ok kids, want to ride the Carousel of Progess, If you Had Wings, or the train?"   
KIDS:  "no Dad!!  We want to ride Space Mountain!!!"
DAD:  "sorry kids, that's just for rich people.  But hey, how about we ride the Peoplemover with our eyes closed?  It'll be just like Space Mountain!"