Are WDW parks really overflowing with trash?

[TinkerBelle_325]

The parks may be crowded, but they are still capped and the crowd levels are nowhere near what you'd find during Christmas or Spring Break. It may feel more crowded becasue there's nowhere for guests to go, but numbers wise- they aren't anything close to more than a normal busy day.

And the pics aren't from Epcot so what happens there during busy times doesn't matter. I'm talking about the MK and AK.

Again, not rocket science here. They either have staff sitting around not doing their jobs or they don't have enough staff. I think it's the latter and I know from their job offerings, they aren't willing to hire full time custodial staff. You have more faith than me that all it would take is someone in middle management asking to hire more. They have to know they don't have enough staff right now. They don't care. They are cutting corners and saving money. Period.

I wasn’t saying that the current crowds are comparable to Spring Break or Christmas. I was calling out your comment that this issue (overflowing trash, inconsistent cleanliness) has never been seen at WDW and that’s untrue.

And as I’ve said countless times, we see some pictures here and automatically believe that the pictured parks are overflowing with trash. But we’ve also had reports on this thread about the opposite - trash cans are emptied and guests didn’t encounter this. Which is why it’s a time and place situation. Some are experiencing it, others aren’t. That is what makes it clear that the issue isn’t solely staffing. But also scheduling, crowds, guest behaviour, pent up demand etc.. but we will continue to agree to disagree.

You’re right. I do have faith that the staffing issues will be resolved. I also believe that as WDW continues to return to normal operations, many other things will return to what we have experience pre-Covid. As it stands, WDW is only around 65-67% back to full operations (based on an amazingly detailed spreadsheet created by a user that I cannot recall the name of offhand).

But based on our interactions throughout these rumour threads it’s clear we have very different perspectives on Disney and different priorities as to what makes a great vacation. And that’s what makes the world go round.

 

[becauseimnew]

Let's hope that someone at Disney is reading this and that they have more fully trained staff, not just staff in training, before they increase capacity again.

Also, I can't believe that the starting salary is $14... why would anyone work there when they can go work in a temperature controlled environment for more money and benefits.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Ignoring Disney for the moment and just using logic.

Your car works reliably to get you from point A to point B. Your car breaks down.... Logic assumes there is a problem with your car.

Your car works reliably to get you from point A to point B. Your car breaks down and you notice that 80% of the cars in the world all happen to break down at the same time, Assuming there is a problem with your car and addressing it as a problem which only applies to you is poor strategy, shows a clear lack of understanding and is prone to failure.

Likewise, assuming that it's as easy as just hiring bodies and throwing them at the problem without understanding the source of the problem is poor management.

What a great post.

 

[finedice]

Here now. Seems just as clean as usual to me.

 

[jade1]

Yea I'm trending towards its here and there that gets neglected. Not that it's at all excusable, but if it was really pretty bad most everywhere I think the pics/proof would be extremely abundant.

 

[PanchoX1]

I was in the parks the 14th and 15th. saw no overflowing trash cans.

 

[Nabas]

And while you’d like to surmise it’s only due to a lack of full-time staff, there is no way that this issue is defined by just one element. It absolutely is a combination of staffing, pent up demand, guest behaviour, the world being different. It’s not an excuse, just an understanding that there is more complexity than just one thing.

My local Six Flags charges $55 for an annual pass.

Disney charges $109 or more per day for every single person in the park.

It's 100% Disney's problem.

 

[jade1]

Disney charges $109 or more per day for every single person in the park.

Definitely not true. But indeed enough to keep it clean.

 

[71 Truck]

One of the thing everyone has to remember Disney may not be able to just hire full time staff as compared to part time staff or offer more money to start.
Every thing is covered by a union negotiated contract. Things like starting pay, yearly pay increases, top out pay till a new contract is negotiated, benefits and a bunch of other things.
If they bump starting pay for one they have to do it for all who are covered by the contract at all levels of seniority. It might not be that easy. They may have to negotiate a new contract.

When the unions got Disney to agree to raise starting pay for their members in their last contract the union may have had to make concessions to Disney.
Some of those concessions may have aloud their to be so many full time to part time cast members and maybe they are at that point.

Part time cast were the last to get a call to come back I would think.
My guess, I would imagine most found other jobs and aren't coming back. So, now the have to find new people. The process takes time, could they move faster I do not know but it is evident they are short staffed.

Collage program has also been a big part of Disney staffing. They may be holding back some hiring because collage program may be coming back soon if not already.

Just some thoughts.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

One of the thing everyone has to remember Disney may not be able to just hire full time staff as compared to part time staff or offer more money to start.
Every thing is covered by a union negotiated contract. Things like starting pay, yearly pay increases, top out pay till a new contract is negotiated, benefits and a bunch of other things.
If they bump starting pay for one they have to do it for all who are covered by the contract at all levels of seniority. It might not be that easy. They may have to negotiate a new contract.

When the unions got Disney to agree to raise starting pay for their members in their last contract the union may have had to make concessions to Disney.
Some of those concessions may have aloud their to be so many full time to part time cast members and maybe they are at that point.

Part time cast were the last to get a call to come back I would think.
My guess, I would imagine most found other jobs and aren't coming back. So, now the have to find new people. The process takes time, could they move faster I do not know but it is evident they are short staffed.

Collage program has also been a big part of Disney staffing. They may be holding back some hiring because collage program may be coming back soon if not already.

Just some thoughts.

Couldn’t agree with you more!

 

[Tigger's ally]

One of the thing everyone has to remember Disney may not be able to just hire full time staff as compared to part time staff or offer more money to start.
Every thing is covered by a union negotiated contract. Things like starting pay, yearly pay increases, top out pay till a new contract is negotiated, benefits and a bunch of other things.
If they bump starting pay for one they have to do it for all who are covered by the contract at all levels of seniority. It might not be that easy. They may have to negotiate a new contract.

When the unions got Disney to agree to raise starting pay for their members in their last contract the union may have had to make concessions to Disney.
Some of those concessions may have aloud their to be so many full time to part time cast members and maybe they are at that point.

Part time cast were the last to get a call to come back I would think.
My guess, I would imagine most found other jobs and aren't coming back. So, now the have to find new people. The process takes time, could they move faster I do not know but it is evident they are short staffed.

Collage program has also been a big part of Disney staffing. They may be holding back some hiring because collage program may be coming back soon if not already.

Just some thoughts.

And, everybody keeps pointing out that people can't live on $14 an hour for part time workers and that they need to hire more full time. One thing you find out in that area is that there actually are a high number of people that are only wanting part time hours for reasons like on retirement, second jobs, etc.

 

[71 Truck]

And, everybody keeps pointing out that people can't live on $14 an hour for part time workers and that they need to hire more full time. One thing you find out in that area is that there actually are a high number of people that are only wanting part time hours for reasons like on retirement, second jobs, etc.

A lot of part time cast may have been snowbirds or retirees. They may have only wanted to work part time to make a little extra money and were interested in the park tickets and Disney discounts.
Most of Florida's snowbirds may have gone home and the retirees stayed retired is a guess.

 

[New Mouse]

And, everybody keeps pointing out that people can't live on $14 an hour for part time workers and that they need to hire more full time. One thing you find out in that area is that there actually are a high number of people that are only wanting part time hours for reasons like on retirement, second jobs, etc.

Then why were they struggling to hire these mystery candidates before the pandemic?

 

[71 Truck]

.

 

[71 Truck]

Then why were they struggling to hire these mystery candidates before the pandemic?

Were they?

My wife and I before the pandemic were regular visitors to Disney several times a year for well over 30 years.

This is the first time I have seen pictures like those posted. Have I seen messy bathrooms, yes. Have I seen trash dropped on the ground by guests, yes but nothing as bad as those pictures. It's definitely a problem.

I used to tell people "Disney's garbage cans are so clean you could almost eat off them". During Food and Wine people use them as tables.

Disney is a big place with over 60,000 cast members. Many retire every year and do have to be replaced.
Disney is always hiring.
They rely a lot on college program and retirees. Most of those past cast are no longer there would be my guess.
They also rely a lot on people who come to the United States for a better life and with the pandemic they may not be able to emigrate here right now.

It's a problem that needs to be resolved.

 

[LSUmiss]

One of the thing everyone has to remember Disney may not be able to just hire full time staff as compared to part time staff or offer more money to start.
Every thing is covered by a union negotiated contract. Things like starting pay, yearly pay increases, top out pay till a new contract is negotiated, benefits and a bunch of other things.
If they bump starting pay for one they have to do it for all who are covered by the contract at all levels of seniority. It might not be that easy. They may have to negotiate a new contract.

When the unions got Disney to agree to raise starting pay for their members in their last contract the union may have had to make concessions to Disney.
Some of those concessions may have aloud their to be so many full time to part time cast members and maybe they are at that point.

Part time cast were the last to get a call to come back I would think.
My guess, I would imagine most found other jobs and aren't coming back. So, now the have to find new people. The process takes time, could they move faster I do not know but it is evident they are short staffed.

Collage program has also been a big part of Disney staffing. They may be holding back some hiring because collage program may be coming back soon if not already.

Just some thoughts.

And that’s all fine, but then don’t increase capacity until you can adequately staff your parks.

 

[finedice]

Going to MK today. DHS was quite clean yesterday.

 

[amylevan]

I can’t claim first hand knowledge, but according to a family with first hand knowledge, Disney furloughed a bunch of workers, and then eventually laid them off fully. Supposedly, they are not re-hiring some of those they laid off so as to not pick them back up at the level they were. In other words, someone who has seniority and costs more money may not have been recalled in favor of trying to hire new, cheaper employees. If that is in fact true, that’s a load of BS.

 

[New Mouse]

Were they?

Yes, there is only so much cheap qualified labor in one region. Well before the pandemic, Disney/Universal/Seaworld tapped this out to the point where rates across the board needed to.be raised and all of them were still struggling. Again, well before pandemic, every single front line department.

The quality at Disney has also fallen over recent years because they are now scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the labor pool.

It is no longer challenging or competitive to get an entry level job that you want at one of these places. That never used to be the case.

 

[71 Truck]

I can’t claim first hand knowledge, but according to a family with first hand knowledge, Disney furloughed a bunch of workers, and then eventually laid them off fully. Supposedly, they are not re-hiring some of those they laid off so as to not pick them back up at the level they were. In other words, someone who has seniority and costs more money may not have been recalled in favor of trying to hire new, cheaper employees. If that is in fact true, that’s a load of BS.

As the parks were shutting down Disney paid their staff for several weeks after they were furloughed. Remember most people were under the impression and we were told "we needed two weeks to flatten the curve". When they kept pushing opening dates past that first few weeks Disney laid people off and sent college program home.

From what I read while this was going on the unions were negotiating with Disney for cast to keep their benefits,their seniority,who would come back first(full time vs part time) and I am sure a bunch of other things. I think if you were covered by the union contract they could not let you go.

With that said if you were not covered by a contract all bets were off. I have a friend who was an senior engineer who after over two decades with the company was let go. They did get a severance package but still lost their job.

I think a lot of the part time people who were laid off either found other jobs or decided to not go back if called.