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Guests of the happiest place on earth complain that it’s starting to feel like the ‘worst’.
Visitors to Disney World in Orlando, Florida say the 43-square-mile resort is quickly being ravaged by filthy facilities and broken attractions.
While everything may seem normal at first glance, eagle-eyed guests notice the tiniest things and say standards are slipping just as prices are rising under Disney CEO Bob Chapek.
Many of the complaints were cataloged in a Reddit chat room known as “Disney missing,” in which guests detailed their observations.
A Twitter user commented on how the Under The Sea ride broke several things, including Ariel’s mouth that just hung
Disney’s flagship Space Mountain ride seems to need a good scrub with dirt on the outside of the ride
A number of guests have said that the park is a shadow of its former self after the pandemic
“Some rides are just an outright mess,” wrote one Reddit user. ‘Rides are also a lot down. It’s been missing since they reopened and I don’t expect this to change anytime soon. They know that people will keep coming no matter what.’
Some attractions have been specifically mentioned as a sign that the place needs more than a sprinkling of Tinkerbell’s fairy dusty to spice things up.
In the Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid ride in Magic Kingdom, the experience seems to fall apart.
“Half of the hermit crab effects in the queue just don’t work. In almost every scene something is broken – the eyes of the moray eel, for example – one eye works, the other broken. You could do this for every ride, something is broken, unkempt or not functional,” one customer wrote.
This sign for the Epcot monorail seems to have seen better days, now covered in grime
The magic really seems to have vanished after the brand new Star Wars ride broke down and guests were forced to walk out
Guests riding inside the Star Wars attraction were forced to disembark and walk outside the attraction, where they were treated to a behind-the-scenes look no one asked for
At Epcot, another user wrote of their “shock at how many rides were all there at the exact same time.”
At Epcot, another user wrote of their “shock at how many rides were all there at the exact same time.”
Maintenance seems to be a major issue for the park with DailyMail.com sending several photos of a total lack of maintenance.
One photo of a sign for the Epcot monorail appeared to be in need of a good clean with streaks of grime, while one of the park’s flagship roller coasters, Space Mountain, which used to be a glossy white color, now appears to be caked with grime and grime. .
Others noted that the grass was not freshly cut, rubbish was on the ground and seems to feel paint from buildings.
“There is no doubt that the parks, restaurants and hotels we enjoyed were clearly in need of renovation, there was a clear lack of general maintenance. It was genuinely shocking. At the prices they charge there is no excuse, including COVID.”
The cost of a day pass at Disney World has increased more than 3,000 percent since it opened in 1971
A family of four reported spending $8,480 on the trip — and when counting airfare, that number rose to over $10,000.
The prices for a day pass are a whopping $159 per guest.
In recent years, theme park ticket prices have skyrocketed as executives continue to raise the price of food and start serving higher paying customers.
To make matters worse, Disney executives are cutting cost-saving features in the theme parks, such as a free shuttle from the airport and free parking for those staying on the property.
It has also done away with a free option to help people skip the ever-growing lines on certain rides — instead replacing it with a paid service.
In February, the entertainment conglomerate raised ticket prices with a four-day standard ticket of at least $447.70, according to Disney World blog Inside the magic. The cheapest four-day ticket was $434.83.
A four-day Park Hopper Ticket — which allows park visitors to travel from one part of the amusement park realm to another — costs a minimum of $540.89, up from $525.35.
And a four-day Park Hopper Plus ticket — which allows Disney enthusiasts to visit any park in a single day — jumped from a low of $546.65 to a low of $559.53.
On average, Inside the Magic reports, ticket prices are about $20 or 2-6% higher than the year before.
When Magic Kingdom first opened in 1971, the cost to enter was $3.50 for adults and $1 for children, according to Market overview.
If we factor in inflation, that would work out to just $24.98 for adults today and $7.14 for children — about $100 less than an adult ticket costs today, or an increase of more than 3,000 percent.
“It takes more than just Aladdin’s three wishes to clean this up!” joked one park-goer.
The issues don’t seem to affect just the theme park areas, with some of the expensive hotel accommodations missing the mark as well.
“Last year when I was here I was blown away by the cast members, especially at Galaxy’s Edge, keeping the illusion. This year, many of the CMs were out of character at all. The resorts have all had some minor issues, such as the main door not closing when we leave, or the air conditioning not working properly,” said one user.
A stay at the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel can cost as much as $3,000 per night. The price includes meals and entertainment.
Hotels at the lower end of the scale are also neglected.
“The lack of room cleaning bothered me the most, I stayed at Pop Century for 12 nights and the ‘light cleaning’ every other day is not good enough,” noted another park-goer.
Guests on the ‘It’s a Small World’ boat ride on the water at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, were stranded for more than an hour before Disney staff realized there was an outage, a TikTok video shows .
Last month, tourists were stuck for more than an hour on Disney World’s “It’s A Small World” boat ride on the water due to a technical malfunction, a video that went viral showed.
A TikTok video shared by a mom shows a line of theme park boats packed with guests at a point at the end of the ride in Fantasyland area in the Magic Kingdom.
The footage also shows a boat at full capacity and right in front of the mother sinking slowly into the river from the ride.
“This boat said it was NOT a small world… We were trapped for over an hour, the torture,” reads the caption of the video, followed by a laughing emoji.
Social media users reacted quickly to the video, some finding it funny, while others felt sorry for the stranded visitors as they described similar experiences during the ride.
“Please tell me they at least turned the number off,” commented one TikTok user. “Did anyone from the cast tell you what was going on? I would have panicked!’ she added.
The mom, who originally shared the video online, commented: ‘They didn’t realize everyone was on a boat for 45 minutes, so we were stuck there for about an hour with the song on repeat!!! TORUTRE lol’.
The ‘Its a Small World’ ride features over 300 audio animatronic puppets and is located in Fantasyland in the amusement park
A number of customers believe that Disney CEO Bob Chapek is responsible for the drop in standards.
Chapek took over just before the pandemic that forced the closure of Disney’s parks for more than four months.
It led to a drastic blow to business results. Once the park reopened, Chapek increased the entrance fee and merchandise, while also increasing the price of food and reducing portion sizes.
“This is what the new Disney is all about. Save costs and earn more for the board of directors. I can imagine that unless they hire someone who really cares about Disney and not the end result, it will stay that way.”
Others disagreed, refusing to blame Chapek for Disney’s decline.
“While it’s nice to blame Chapek for everything (I do this a lot), I think we’re also forgetting that this problem has always been there, but the increased costs we’re now paying for these vacations have made us maybe more aware of them,” one user noted. “While I think the magic is still there, I agree it’s a different feeling than my last trip…”
A number of customers believe it is Disney CEO Bob Chapek, pictured, who is responsible for the drop in standards