Not Gonna Lie......not the best week

[kaytieeldr]

When I asked the CM at the lobby desk about this a couple days ahead of our departure she told me WL doesn’t participate in this service. Wrong. They do and our boarding passes and luggage tags were hanging on our door on departure day

This is what I was trying to explain earlier. The Front Desk doesn't do this, so it's kind of understandable that the CM isn't familiar with it. The question is better addressed with the RAC staffers.

 

[jerseygal]

Restrooms were dirty all over the parks. CM,s spent more time visiting with each other than interacting with and helping guests. It is a busy week but I’m not sure that is a legitimate excuse.

Lines at attractions to be expected during busy times like Thanksgiving; Dirty restrooms and CM's not doing their job, NO EXCUSES!

 

[SarahC97]

Restrooms were dirty all over the parks. CM,s spent more time visiting with each other than interacting with and helping guests. It is a busy week but I’m not sure that is a legitimate excuse.

Yeah, I do agree. I couldn't believe how disgusting the bathrooms were. I'm pretty sure I saw feces smeared on the back of the door of a restroom stall I was in and the sanitary napkin bin was overflowing in a couple of the stalls I went into. It was gross. All the times I've been to WDW, I've never seen anything like it. Though, this was by far the busiest I've ever experienced. I saw one castmember who I think was part of the sanitation crew (all in white with a dustpan) on the path between the Big Top Circus area and Space Mountain trying to surreptitiously talk on his phone while "working." Never witnessed that before either.

 

[SarahC97]

We just got back too. We had a wonderful time, but WL was the worst part. We were at Poly the whole trip but had such a great time that we wanted to add a night. Poly was booked so we booked the one night at WL. It was awful! The lobby was beautiful, but that’s it. I completely agree about the room & ours was also filthy including poop left on the toilet seat that wasn’t ours! I had always wanted to stay there & it was one we had never done. But, it’s off the list now. I’m just just glad we figured that out before we booked a long stay there. Might have been a fluke, but it’s a chance we won’t take now. Transportation there was also absurd & our nature view just resulted in hearing boats all hours of the night & early morning. We will most likely go back that same time next yr b/c despite the crowds are trip was wonderful, but it won’t be at WL for sure.

ETA: We were there with friends, but only had a few FPs & ADRs with them. They were part of a large group of 10 or more. That’s when we had issues when we were part of that large group. The Plaza took over an hour to seat us with ADRs AND then another 1.5 hours to eat. Wasted almost 3 hours eating! We had a similar experience with our large family group in Feb. I think that is part of the issue now. The changes have made a lot of experiences not condusive to large groups, but then they advertise themselves as the family experience so more & more large groups are going together. It was much easier & more pleasant for DH, DS & I to do everything we wanted.

We ate at the Plaza as a party of 4. It took them an hour to seat us too and the service was probably the worst we've ever had anywhere on property. It took out server 10 minutes to come over and greet us after being seated and then she'd run away right after bringing something to table so we couldn't ask for refills or even simple things like crayons for the kids or straws for our drinks. It was a pretty awful experience all around.

 

[LSUmiss]

We ate at the Plaza as a party of 4. It took them an hour to seat us too and the service was probably the worst we've ever had anywhere on property. It took out server 10 minutes to come over and greet us after being seated and then she'd run away right after bringing something to table so we couldn't ask for refills or even simple things like crayons for the kids or straws for our drinks. It was a pretty awful experience all around.

Oh good to know. We did have problems with pretty much every table service in Feb though with our large group. We were always rushing & missed a few FPs b/c the restaurant took entirely too long. I have had much less trouble in recent trips getting ADRs even for hard to get ones. I suspect they have increased the number allowed & that’s why most table service is running behind during busy times.

 

[snappy]

Oh good to know. We did have problems with pretty much every table service in Feb though with our large group. We were always rushing & missed a few FPs b/c the restaurant took entirely too long. I have had much less trouble in recent trips getting ADRs even for hard to get ones. I suspect they have increased the number allowed & that’s why most table service is running behind during busy times.

We cancelled all except our ADR at Sanaa in October. I am not a fan of rushing around due to slow service when I have planned ahead as Disney requires.

 

[Inlovew/disney]

Gotta be honest here I'm still not grasping the automatic airline check in.
Never heard of it and cannot find any info on it at all.
I know what RAC resort airline check in is and a few times that I was taking a late flight and had already checked myself in on SWA I did receive my boarding passes and luggage tags the morning of check out when they still gave room charges out on check out day.
I assumed it was due to my flight being much later than RAC closed and they were not sure if I was going to bring my luggage down to them but I always did.
Otherwise I've always received my boarding pass and luggage tag when I've gone down to RAC to check my luggage.

Also the complaints of OP keep racking up every time a new poster mentions their experience. I'm being honest.

Funny how a post by the OP a couple months ago says how easy ADR's and FP+ were and they got what they wanted when they wanted and it only took 20 minutes and only now they are complaining about all the "work up front". If you're not enjoying reading my posts, then don't. I'm being honest. It does take a lot of pre-planning and being able to adapt to plan changes on the fly. Disney changed one of my FP times two weeks before arrival, which interfered with an ADR. Kind of a domino thing. Much of the "work up front" is done researching prior to making FP's and ADR's. Just the way it is.

A PP mentioned going in the 70's and now and not agreeing with my statement about CM's being surprised with how much interaction someone wants because its their job.
To that I say the CM's roles have changed a lot between the 70's and today.
My parents have been going since the 70's as well and they have easily adapted to the new age of Disney.
So clearly some people can and some people cannot.

 

[Inlovew/disney]

OP I am sorry you did not enjoy your week. As stated it was a very crowded week to go. You did not enjoy it and none of us can argue with that.
That said I do not agree with your planning issues. Things are not so different than 3 years ago. We have been visiting Disney since the early 80's and other than Club Level, CM's have NEVER booked meals are gotten FP's for guests.
I enjoy the planning. I love researching and booking ADR's FP+ makes our days easier than before. It is a big part of the fun.
Since you found it so burdensome, I agree that Disney is not the vacation for you.

I didn't mean to imply that CM's ever booked meals or got FP's for us in the past. But, they did take time to answer questions (or find the answers) for guests.

I'm glad you enjoy the planning. I do, too, but it seems as if it takes more planning now than ever before, and I've been going to WDW since the late 1980's. It's nice to be able to secure FP's ahead of time, for sure. Remember the days when you went to the attraction, picked up a paper FP and had to return to the attraction at the designated time?

We have always visited when the parks are crowded - usually in the hot summer heat of August, so I'm not sure the huge Thanksgiving crowd was the issue for us. We'll just take a break from Disney for awhile.

 

[HolRae]

I was at Disney in October for a week. I felt the trip was less magical than usual. I do not have any big complaints just lots of small things that added up to make it less then normal. I am returning in February so I hope it was just an off experience and February will be great.

 

[LSUmiss]

We cancelled all except our ADR at Sanaa in October. I am not a fan of rushing around due to slow service when I have planned ahead as Disney requires.

We did that too this time. Last trip we were with someone who had never been so she wanted to keep ADRs.

 

[RCID]

I echo the other sentiments here that there’s no excuse for filthy restrooms.

To the CMs credit, I’ve witnessed them make the room sparkling clean, then they walkout and the very next guess makes it filthy again.

 

[galaxygirl76]

Gotcha.

So what type of planning did you do back then if you don't mind me asking? To my understanding both FP booked at 60 days was that way back then and ADRs booked starting at 180 days was that way back then.

We didn't do TS in previous trips so I wanted to try it for my 2017 trip so I booked a total of 3 ADRs for 5 park days. We didn't have prebooking of FPs prior to my 2017 trip as my last trip before that was in 2011. Both of those things were quite new to me because I had had a good length in time in between trips.

I distinctly remember making ADR's and FP reservations on our first trip four years ago.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I do, too, but it seems as if it takes more planning now than ever before,

How though?

3 years ago you prebooked FPs, 3 years ago you prebooked ADRs, 3 years ago MB were out and about, 3 years ago I'm fairly certain though not completely positive that online check in was available at WL though perhaps back then you stopped at the front desk 100% of the time IDK honestly. However, online check-in is not required. You can opt not to do that should you not want to.

If you're comparing with your trips as time went on sure I totally get that. But certaintly the things I'm referring to which were in your first post have been the same pretty much since your last trip thus my question earlier about when the last time you were there and my subsequent question, which went unanswered, about how you planned your trips previously. If you planned completely differently 3 years ago than this trip that may be interacting with at least some of your feelings towards the planning aspect. A PP did point out that you had mentioned on another thread the ease at which you were able to secure your FPs and ADRs so that's good.

 

[crazylady]

Yeah, I do agree. I couldn't believe how disgusting the bathrooms were. I'm pretty sure I saw feces smeared on the back of the door of a restroom stall I was in and the sanitary napkin bin was overflowing in a couple of the stalls I went into. It was gross. All the times I've been to WDW, I've never seen anything like it. Though, this was by far the busiest I've ever experienced. I saw one castmember who I think was part of the sanitation crew (all in white with a dustpan) on the path between the Big Top Circus area and Space Mountain trying to surreptitiously talk on his phone while "working." Never witnessed that before either.

We saw several employees on cell phones last week too. We also saw a couple empoyees holding hands too which was a new one for me.

 

[SarahC97]

I echo the other sentiments here that there’s no excuse for filthy restrooms.

To the CMs credit, I’ve witnessed them make the room sparkling clean, then they walkout and the very next guess makes it filthy again.

I never even saw a CM cleaning a restroom, though. Usually you see them working on stuff or just generally in the area, but I didn't see that last week. The restrooms looked like someone hadn't attended them in quite a while.

 

[crazylady]

M husband and I booked a six day trip to WDW for Thanksgiving week. We really looked forward to the trip and escape from our cold winter temps in our part of the country. We were booked at Wilderness Lodge; our second time to stay there. Overall impression - the lobby is drop dead gorgeous; especially his time of year. I’ve always loved the lobby here. Our room was fine. Second floor, nature view. But, the room was tired looking and dimly lit. But all in all, it was ok. As we were processing our trip tonight, we both agree we won’t be going back to WDW any time soon. It it is just too expensive for what you get.

We were there last week too. The crowds were actually less than I anticipated which was nice. But my husband and I had the same discussion as you and your spouse. We just don't see the value right now and I dislike all of the pre-planning.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

How though?

3 years ago you prebooked FPs, 3 years ago you prebooked ADRs, 3 years ago MB were out and about, 3 years ago I'm fairly certain though not completely positive that online check in was available at WL though perhaps back then you stopped at the front desk 100% of the time IDK honestly. However, online check-in is not required. You can opt not to do that should you not want to.

If you're comparing with your trips as time went on sure I totally get that. But certaintly the things I'm referring to which were in your first post have been the same pretty much since your last trip thus my question earlier about when the last time you were there and my subsequent question, which went unanswered, about how you planned your trips previously. If you planned completely differently 3 years ago than this trip that may be interacting with at least some of your feelings towards the planning aspect. A PP did point out that you had mentioned on another thread the ease at which you were able to secure your FPs and ADRs so that's good.

Yeah I think online check in has been available since at least 2014.
I'm 100% positive that direct to room started in early 2015 since I went in April 2015 and was so excited to get that text.

 

[Inlovew/disney]

Yeah I think online check in has been available since at least 2014.
I'm 100% positive that direct to room started in early 2015 since I went in April 2015 and was so excited to get that text.

 

[Inlovew/disney]

I distinctly remember making ADR's and FP reservations on our first trip four years ago.

It felt easier to get FP's and ADR's three years ago - at least it seemed to be so. We did book these online then as we did this year.

 

[CynBeth]

We were there from the 16th-25th and even though it was crowded we had a great experience. The bus system for POR was pretty good. No matter which park we were in it seemed the restrooms were constantly being cleaned. We encountered wonderful CMs the entire time.