2. FastPass

Of all the sweeping changes at Walt Disney World, arguably nothing did more to kill the old-style immersive experience than legacy FastPass. Introduced in 1999, the original FastPass system allowed visitors to join a virtual queue via automated FastPass machines. You simply inserted your park ticket into a machine and received a paper pass with a window during which you could return.

Overnight, the tried and true system of touring each park in a circle was out the window. Families regularly split up, sending a FastPass runner ahead to collect FastPasses for everyone. Upon returning to a FastPass attraction, visitors skipped the highly-themed regular queue in favor of a shorter line with less theming.

FastPass changed the focus of the average Walt Disney World vacation from an experience to a list of rides. Park fans gathered on Internet forums to share their strategies for maximizing the use of FastPass, and people began planning weeks or months in advance to fine-tune their strategies.

Now, of course, advance planning is absolutely essential. Guests staying in on-site hotels can book FastPass Plus up to 60 days before their vacations, and reservations for extremely popular experiences are often booked solid. The fight for FastPass Plus times often leads to weird daily schedules that force families to constantly criss-cross the parks.

1. Disney Dining Plan

Walt Disney World has long offered add-on plans that include dining and recreation experiences, creating a more all-inclusive feel. However, the plans of the 1980s and 1990s were relatively expensive and not well-advertised. In 2005, the Disney Dining Plan changed Walt Disney World vacations forever.

Heavily promoted and embraced by many, the Disney Dining Plan allows visitors to prepay for dining. Free Dining promotions increase hotel bookings during traditionally slow seasons. The net result is that the table service restaurants are busier than ever before.

For several years after the introduction of the Disney Dining Plan, the ingredients were standardized and the menus homogenized across all Disney restaurants. This greatly detracted from the immersive, highly- themed experience. Today, the restaurant chefs have been given greater freedom in ingredient choices and menu design, and food quality is again on the rise. Nonetheless, the sheer inability to get a table on a whim continues to take away from the overall immersion in each area of the parks.

In some ways, Disney has worked hard to increase the “Disney Bubble.” Disney’s Magical Express picks guests up at the airport and whisks them to their onsite resorts, ensuring that they never need to set foot off Disney property. Special events and promotions ensure that the traditionally slow seasons are now busy. Merchandise and food quality are slowly improving.

Still, I'd like to see the above areas addressed to put the focus back on escapism and immersion, rather than on regimented planning.