Disney but not

[mjr0483]

We are taking a short trip prior to dropping our daughter off at UCF.

It is marathon week, so it’s super crowded. So I am sure this will play into these issues.

Disney is still Disney, but it is so sad to see what it has become, because I know how it used to be. It started with the day at EPCOT and waking from the parking lot and seeing a garbage can overflowing with trash on the ground.

Then tonight at the Magic Kingdom and grabbing a great spot 75 minutes early for Enchantment, right on the tape along a walkway so I should have an unobstructed view of the castle. Fast forward 15 minutes before show time when the walkway starts to fill up and a lone cast member is trying to get the crowd to move out, but they won’t, so he gives up and he loses control. Now we have throngs of people in front of us. Fine, except for one 6 ft plus guy puts a 12 year old girl on his shoulders and blocks our entire view of the castle and she turns around looks at us and laughs. Some people are clueless and rude.

Next up is a bathroom break before Space Mountain. The bathroom is as disgusting. It’s a sad state of affairs when Buc-ees is the Gold Standard for parking lot and bathroom cleanliness.

Then we went to LL at Buzz and the line was fully backed up and way into the turnstiles. Again a lone cast member lost control of the line and people were rushing past without even tapping LL.

After that was Auntie Gravities for some ice cream. We got a hot fudge sundae and an Orville sundae. But they run out of hot fudge and you can see the frustration on the cast members face having to deal with upset customers when they tell the cashier and she keeps selling hot fudge.

I really don’t blame any cast members. I know they are working hard and are being put in difficult situations.

I just don’t get why they aren’t firing on all cylinders. Is it management penny pinching? Is it they still can’t find help? The crowds are still here and revenue is flowing in, despite the state of the economy. How can things still be this bad?

I know all these problems seem small in the big picture, but Disney is supposed to be world class, and they seem to be relying upon reputation and not living up to expectations.

 

[ttintagel]

Is it management penny pinching?

Yes. All these problems and more would be solved if management would open up the purse strings to hire enough staff members and pay them enough to retain them. They think they can save money on payroll by loading more and more of the guest experience onto a phone app, but that’s just voodoo economics and it doesn’t work. It will be the start of a huge downward spiral if they don’t take steps to correct it pretty soon. You can’t build your company’s reputation on customer service and then keep asking fewer workers to do more work for less money.

 

[DeeBee3]

Agree - it's money.

Was just there at Christmas and we had a wonderful time, but I did see many messy bathrooms (comparing to previous trips) and messy queue lines.

I know many people say we are crazy for talking about trash and bathrooms. Somehow they don't see it. I just think it's luck. Maybe you just walked in when they emptied the bins. All the bathrooms I was in had full trash cans, messy floors, and messy sinks. The queue lines I can understand because that would be hard to keep clean in crowds.

It didn't ruin my time at all, but I did notice the difference.

I will say the bathrooms over by Fantasmic were pristine!

 

[loves to dive]

I think it's a combination of things. Let me say up front, I've read and seen pictures of overflowing trashcans and dirty bathrooms but I haven't encountered them myself. I've been 4 times in the last year. I have noticed more trash on the ground, usually if I see it I try to stop and pick it up myself. No it's not my job, yes I'm on vacation but it doesn't hurt me to pick up a piece of trash.

I think it's a combination of being short on CM's, CM's not caring as much as they used to and people are pigs. More the last one then the first two. Seriously, should I have to pick something up off the ground? Not if that person in front of me didn't throw it on the ground. It's not a matter of the trash cans being full sometimes, it's just a matter of someone being to lazy to walk the few steps to the trash can. People are also rude. CM's have to walk a very thin line as far as what they can say or do with the guests. I can't tell you how many times I've waited in just the perfect spot for the FWs show and have a grown man come and shoulder his way in front of me or have a father put his kid on his shoulders. I can almost excuse the dad since chances are someone came and got in front of him, but I've had a number of occasions that not only did Dad put the kid on his shoulders he then danced around with said kid so there was no way I could even find a spot to peek around them. I miss the days when the FWs shows were just that, FW's and not projections. You can see FWs from anywhere since they are up in the sky.

 

[DeeBee3]

I agree with the above about people in general. Saw a few men spitting on the ground. That's one thing I never excuse. It wasn't like they had something in their mouth and had to get it out for safety. They just spit out on the side of Little Mermaid in MK and right in front of his son. The other time it was on the sidewalk.

So, yes, people are pigs.