things I wish Disney World hotels have

[mickeyluv'r]

Often when people are turned away at a restaurant with lots of empty tables its because they do not have the staff to cater to more tables. Staff levels are set based on ADR's and predictions. They're often wrong!

If so, that isn't a great way to run a business, no?

How much does WDW pay their servers/hour?

(The Florida min. rate of wage + tips is $8.25/hour. At WDW table service menu prices, one table of four per hour would more than meet the minimum. The min. cash wage= what the business has to pay servers/hour if the tip min is met = $5.23/hour.)

Universal staffs pretty well, and WDW used to do it. It is a pretty modest request to have adequate staffing at restaurants, no?

 

[dansdad]

What I have found really funny, and this has happened at least a dozen times, walk up to a somewhat empty TS restaurant and ask if we can be seated with the reply of "sorry, we can't take walk ups". I say ok, jump on MDE, book an ADR for that restaurant for like 5-10 minutes later, once I get the confirmation turn to the CM and say "I'd like to check in for our reservation" and proceed to be seated.

 

[cleopenn]

I'm sure you are aware, but people do call off of their jobs for various reasons. Or even just fail to show up. Sometimes replacements can't be found, or can't get there in a timely manner.

As far as being able to handle one additional table of 3, maybe. But that assumes the restaurant is fully staffed. And that the requested table for 3 was the very first ask for that time slot, that they didn't already have "extra" tables they were taking care of.

Yes I am. I have a service business with 40 employees and deal with call offs all the time. It’s mine/managements problem to deal with if we want to to provide service at a level customers have come to expect. Supervisors pitch in to dodge absentees job, the boss makes the deliveries, etc.

A company the size of Disney has a plenty of employees, it’s not a mom and pop hotel.

If so, that isn't a great way to run a business, no?

How much does WDW pay their servers/hour?

(The Florida min. rate of wage + tips is $8.25/hour. At WDW table service menu prices, one table of four per hour would more than meet the minimum. The min. cash wage= what the business has to pay servers/hour if the tip min is met = $5.23/hour.)

Universal staffs pretty well, and WDW used to do it. It is a pretty modest request to have adequate staffing at restaurants, no?

My husband made the observation after a Universal stay - Universal wants you to spend money in their restaurants, Disney makes it difficult to do so.

What I have found really funny, and this has happened at least a dozen times, walk up to a somewhat empty TS restaurant and ask if we can be seated with the reply of "sorry, we can't take walk ups". I say ok, jump on MDE, book an ADR for that restaurant for like 5-10 minutes later, once I get the confirmation turn to the CM and say "I'd like to check in for our reservation" and proceed to be seated.

Thank you! A perfect example of their lack of common sense customer service.

 

[maxiesmom]

Disney may have many employees. Not every employee can do every job. You can't take a housekeeper and throw them into a restaurant to wait tables if they are not cross trained. Empty tables at restaurants that refuse to seat guests is not a Disney thing. It is an industry thing.

But yes, what happens at the restaurant and what happens with the MDE as far as ADRs go should be identical.

 

[Huff]

If so, that isn't a great way to run a business, no?

Having more staff than demand needs would not be a good way to run a business. All restaurants Disney or not set their staff for any given day based on past history and reservations. They would never be at full staff with employees standing around doing nothing. Sometimes crowds are higher than predicted and sometimes they are lower.

 

[Jen1995]

But demand has not and shows no sign of falling off.

Disney has had plenty of slumps before, most recently in 2016. They are not impervious to market forces.

 

[Jen1995]

I'm sure you are aware, but people do call off of their jobs for various reasons. Or even just fail to show up. Sometimes replacements can't be found, or can't get there in a timely manner.

As far as being able to handle one additional table of 3, maybe. But that assumes the restaurant is fully staffed. And that the requested table for 3 was the very first ask for that time slot, that they didn't already have "extra" tables they were taking care of.

It's no secret that Disney Theme Parks have cut their staff and shift hours. This isn't simply a matter of misjudging crowds or a few people calling off at the same time.

 

[maxiesmom]

It's no secret that Disney Theme Parks have cut their staff and shift hours. This isn't simply a matter of misjudging crowds or a few people calling off at the same time.

It isn't? Or is it a lack of staff because of the pay? Which yes is under Disney's control, but they already pay about $2 an hour above the Florida minimum.

I have a hard time believing they would deliberately cut off a revenue source for no good reason.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It isn't? Or is it a lack of staff because of the pay? Which yes is under Disney's control, but they already pay about $2 an hour above the Florida minimum.

I have a hard time believing they would deliberately cut off a revenue source for no good reason.

It's been pretty well talked about here, Len Testa I believe spoke during a Podcast about it. Disney is on purpose not staffing at levels they probably should. This bleeds into wait times, lines for various things, etc.

While I'm sure normal things such as attrition occurs as well as PTO, seasonal or college program, call ins due to sickness occur at WDW, there are other factors at play too.

 

[kaitlyn4389]

I would love to see the expected bus arrival time available either on the channel in the resort rooms or on the app. They have the data as it is on the screens at the bus stop so seems like it wouldn't be too hard to post elsewhere. It would be fabulous to gauge whether we had time for a few more sips of coffee or if it was go time.

ETA: It's happening... on the app at least!
https://wdwnt.com/2018/04/confirmed...ence-app-for-walt-disney-world-resort-guests/

I love that this is happening on the app, but it would be awesome to have this as a channel as well. Knowing me I would be waiting to the last possible second to get to that bus.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Having more staff than demand needs would not be a good way to run a business.

Except that isn't what anybody said or ever suggested.

Another poster said the restaurant didn't have enough staff to handle any walk-ins.

You said they only bring in enough staff to cover ADR's and "predictions'. I agree.

But that's a far cray from having staff hanging around doing nothing. You make it sound like there is nothing between the two extremes.

Um, there is.

I worked in my fair share if dining establishments, mostly in places that didn't use reservations at all. We managed just fine. Managers know how to make adjustments.

I suspect WDW isn't happy with that model, instead they're goal is to trim every possible bit of labor fat down to the closest possible margin.

Forcing every customer to pre-book = cutting labor closer to the bare bone.

 

[BarbieGal457]

Sunscreen! Just even a small toiletry-sized bottle. I always bring a large bottle but a small one would be nice in case of an emergency backup. I always thought it was funny they offer so many toiletries at higher resort levels but not sunscreen.

I am also going to chime in and say better/bigger bath towels. At my height they are akin to a slice of paper towel and itchy! I would definitely not mind rate increases if it meant a larger, fluffy towel!

 

[Huff]

Forcing every customer to pre-book = cutting labor closer to the bare bone.

Disney is nothing like any other typical restaurant in your own city and cannot be compared as far as reservation models go. All restaurants try to limit costs and adjust staff levels based on predicted demand but trying to compare a typical restaurant in a city to one inside WDW where 10000's of people come and go daily is impossible. I prefer prebooking so I can plan my vacation. It would be a pain to find out on a given park day I could not get the desired restaurant at that park day of or even a few days prior. Prebooking allows my to adjust my schedule around availability. Competing with 10000's of others isn't easy! Some like to have flexibility but for them they take whats left.

 

[cbl1]

I really liked Art of Animation family suites - but I hated they had no sit down restaurant - only counter service. Was a let down for me and we haven't returned. If they added maybe a small little bistro may with even a small bar inside I would go back.

 

[Huff]

I really liked Art of Animation family suites - but I hated they had no sit down restaurant - only counter service. Was a let down for me and we haven't returned. If they added maybe a small little bistro may with even a small bar inside I would go back.

Some want a restaurant and many other amenities added to the values. If they did it would become a moderate and priced accordingly. AoA and POP do have a pool bar.

 

[cbl1]

Haha. Ok I guess I like Aoa so much I want it to be a moderate then

 

[vinotinto]

I'll list the things I wish Disney would offer in their hotels, that are realistic:

1. Rollaway beds! We always get rollaways at other hotels, so that our teen son and tween daughter don't have to share. It's usually around $20/night and it's a real bed, with a real mattress. Inflatable mattresses do not compare.

2. Allergy-friendly, pet-free hotel wings at all their hotels, but specially the hotels undergoing the dog-friendly test.

3. More nice, padded loungers and umbrellas at the pool areas. Given the size of the resorts, and the number of rooms, why are the areas around the pools so small? And why the chintzy loungers? Even after they re-worked some areas (I'm looking at you Poly), why couldn't they expand the area around the pools? Why not add some beach areas like BC or HRH or PB?

4. Reasonable room checks- I get it, Disney has to have checks. But, the guest experience has really eroded. You should be able to indicate periods of time that you do not want to be disturbed.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Be nice instead of having more we can just keep what we have. Generic rooms? That's not Disney.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Disney is nothing like any other typical restaurant in your own city and cannot be compared as far as reservation models go. All restaurants try to limit costs and adjust staff levels based on predicted demand but trying to compare a typical restaurant in a city to one inside WDW where 10000's of people come and go daily is impossible. I prefer prebooking so I can plan my vacation. It would be a pain to find out on a given park day I could not get the desired restaurant at that park day of or even a few days prior. Prebooking allows my to adjust my schedule around availability. Competing with 10000's of others isn't easy! Some like to have flexibility but for them they take whats left.

Um, not sure where you are trying to go. Simply, there's room between the two extremes of a restaurant being empty or being slammed.

Why on earth would every WDW customer suddenly decide at eat at only one WDW restaurant? That would never happen.

Liking ADR's (or not) isn't relevant.

But if we want to talk about all of WDW's potential daily dining customers, wouldn't we have to include the 200,000+ Orlando and 66,500+ Kissimmee residents? But even then, NYC has over a million commuters every day, and a population of over 3 million. So their restaurants draw from a far bigger population than the 56,000 average daily WDW park visitors, don't they?

Perhaps you are also forgetting that the on WDW property Boardwalk Brewpub ONLY takes walk ups.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'll list the things I wish Disney would offer in their hotels, that are realistic:

1. Rollaway beds! We always get rollaways at other hotels, so that our teen son and tween daughter don't have to share. It's usually around $20/night and it's a real bed, with a real mattress. Inflatable mattresses do not compare.

2. Allergy-friendly, pet-free hotel wings at all their hotels, but specially the hotels undergoing the dog-friendly test.

3. More nice, padded loungers and umbrellas at the pool areas. Given the size of the resorts, and the number of rooms, why are the areas around the pools so small? And why the chintzy loungers? Even after they re-worked some areas (I'm looking at you Poly), why couldn't they expand the area around the pools? Why not add some beach areas like BC or HRH or PB?

4. Reasonable room checks- I get it, Disney has to have checks. But, the guest experience has really eroded. You should be able to indicate periods of time that you do not want to be disturbed.

So your number 3, there are people who think Disney should do away with all beaches, because of alligators. I can't really see them adding more.

As for your number 1, Disney did used to offer more rollaways. When they switched from double beds at the moderates to queens, they backed off from offering them. They must feel there is not enough space now.