Have Disney parks lost their magic? Meet the furious superfans

When EJ Dickson first went to a Disney park, she realised it was the only place she and her sister didn’t fight. “We’ve been chasing that high ever since,” the writer from New York says. She has since visited dozens of times, including with her own “huge Disney fan” children. Now, though, she feels as if there is “no acknowledgement or recognition” of her brand loyalty.

Dickson is not alone. Facebook groups and Reddit forums are teeming with people complaining about rising ticket prices, a lack of new rides and complicated pass systems. While the company struggles with internal management issues and post-Covid difficulties, some Disney superfans feel as if their fidelity is being taken for granted.

A key element of this, for those who regularly visit the parks, is the opportunity to skip the queues at popular rides. From 1999 onwards, visitors to the Disney parks could access FastPasses – free tickets, dispensed by machines near rides, that allowed them to return at a later time and use a quicker-moving queue. It was a popular scheme, not least because it was included in the entry fee. In 2021, this was swapped for “Genie Plus”, a paid-for programme that gave visitors the opportunity to book their favourite rides on the morning of travel. This, in turn, was replaced by a two-tier “Lightning Lane” scheme, costing up to $35 (or £28) per day. It gives organised visitors the opportunity to book a selection of rides up to a few days in advance, depending on where visitors are travelling from.

“I know as an annual passholder myself, and as a local, I will not be purchasing this system because I don’t see a benefit versus just strategically planning out where to go at what times,” says Kirk LaVecchia, the owner of clothing company Walrus Carp. “I’m part of the faction that is frustrated by it.” The changes seem most infuriating for regular visitors; first-time Disney visitors, having not experienced the earlier iterations, may be less concerned.

Still, it contributes to the rising cost of visiting for everyone. Len Testa, president of logistics company Touring Plans, has shared data with The Telegraph that estimates 70 per cent of the incremental cost since 2019 has been from items that were once free.

“A family of four, using the paid ride reservation system, could now pay up to $140 (£110) per day,” he says. Testa also points to the demise of the Magical Express – which provided free transportation between Orlando International Airport and the Disney resort – as a similar cutback. “Now, that’s an extra $150 (£117) or so for Uber, or you have to hire a car.” This is in addition to entry fees. Holidaymakers from the UK are often privy to deals unavailable to US-visitors, but prices remain high. Currently, Disney is offering a seven-day ticket to its Florida parks from £495 per person. Accommodation, flights, transport, meals and activities are all additional.

These changes have evidently rattled regular visitors. But Testa is clear that he doesn’t think things will change. “Wall Street would kill Disney if they reduced prices again,” he says.

The dissatisfaction is not all about the pricing. The new queuing system has led to a controversial new iteration of the parks’ Disability Access Scheme, or DAS. Designed to provide an alternative option to those who might struggle to wait in a conventional queue, the previous iteration was based on trust. Now only guests with a developmental disability, like autism, can use the scheme. Travellers such as Charisma Mangahas, who has the neurological condition Guillain-Barré syndrome, feel this is unfair. She posted on TikTok after being denied disability access at Disney California Adventure Park, saying: “For those of you in the same position as me, I’m very sorry.”

Cases like Mangahas’s represent the more serious side of queue-jump confusion. But fans are upset about the lack of new rides, too. “The number one way that you attract people in the theme park industry every year is by building new rides,” says Testa. UK-based equivalents have had a smattering of new openings in recent years, like Hyperia at Thorpe Park and Gold Rush at Drayton Manor. While other US parks have had similar reasons for thrillseekers to visit, the Disney parks have few changes planned for the immediate future.

The exception, of sorts, is at Magic Kingdom, whose Splash Mountain ride – first installed in 1989 in Florida – was updated last year. Its original design was based on the now out-of-date Song of the South film; the revamp takes inspiration from 2009’s The Princess and the Frog. This change – long overdue, and relatively insubstantial in terms of the mechanics of the ride – was seen as polarising by a group of traditionalist Disney fans. And for many, it isn’t enough. “There’s nothing in the pipeline right now,” says Testa. “The earliest they could possibly open a new ride, given their current capabilities, is probably 2027 or 2028.”

Superfans point to Covid as a pivotal point. Disney laid off around 28,000 park employees during the pandemic, calling the move “heartbreaking”. For some, this has made visiting the parks a more difficult experience. Online, guests complain of rude “cast members” – Disney park staff – while others point to a creeping sense that areas are less clean, and the scene-setting less pristine.

Dickson points to this scene-setting as a primary reason to visit the parks. “When we first visited, my parents were really impressed by the level of care and attention to detail: how meticulously everything is planned, from the landscaping to the sound design.”

“It’s not like this anymore, but at the time, it felt like they took care of everything for you,” she says. It’s a sentiment many fans echo, slightly wistfully, although most are keen to stress that the “magic” is still there. LaVecchia points to social media, rather than significant changes, as the reason for dissatisfaction. “Guests see things happen on social media in the parks and expect it to happen to them, but these magic moments were always rare. It warps people’s expectations.”

Testa has similar feelings: “When you’re paying top dollar, you expect top-notch service. And sometimes it’s going to fall short, because 50 million people visit [Walt Disney World] every year,” he says. “Then there are complaints, and then social media amplifies those complaints. People start to notice things, right? It’s a snowball effect.”

Still, if the magic remains, so does the impact on the wallet. “It does seem that, over the past 10 years or so, Disney has gotten a lot more greedy,” says Dickson. “They clearly don’t care that much about their loyal fans, because they’re still going to have a tonne of families who have enough disposable income to go.”

Testa concurs. “If you look at Disney’s strategy for attracting visitors over the decade, it’s gone from implicitly targeting the top 20 per cent of households by income to explicitly saying this is for rich people,” he says.

For the super fans, it might not be enough to stop them from visiting, but it is certainly enough to give them pause.

“I’ve been priced out,” says Dickson, “but I still try to cobble together enough for little trips, and save money wherever I can. I just love it.”

Disney has been contacted for comment.