Bad Trip

[Sammie]

To the bolded part above, if the cast member is going to work that location, they should be trained on the policies of that location. That is the biggest issue I have lately is the lack of consistency depending on where you go and who you talk to. That and how they have to adhere strictly to policy, yet no one knows what the actual policies are. I took my husband on a DCL cruise for his birthday. We checked in the day after his actual birthday. I was told by one person that they would be fired if they give him a birthday button and it is not his actual birthday, yet another lady handed it to me. If Disney is going to fire a person over a birthday button, there is a serious issue.

I agree that they should know their area. Most do, I however would not ask a Front Desk CM a very specific question about tickets because I don't feel that is their area of expertise. That is the ticket office.

Sadly many CMs are trained in one area and moved to another area before getting fully trained or many there for just a day or two filling in.

It just is not a deal breaker for me. I treat a trip to Disney World as I would a trip to a foreign country and research, research before I go.

 

[Sammie]

Amazingly, most of the misinformation we received was not even solicited. I did not ask the front desk girl about the tickets. I already knew we had to activate them at guest services. I also knew the stroller policy. The CMs just seemed to feel the need to push their expertise on us. I should have ignored them. My son told me today that as they entered the Magic Kingdom the man that stands there and watches your magic band and fingerprints click told him, "kids aren't supposed to have magic bands". What?? This is really starting to be a joke
Yes, talking about this and reading these posts I do feel better about it.

That definitely would have made it easier on you, just ignore the ones you felt did not know. With over 65,000 employees and many temps and seasonal it is very hard to get all of them on the same page.

What made the Front Desk CM even offer incorrect info about your magic bands and annual passes, if it was not mentioned.

The stroller situation I understand as they saw the stroller. On that one I would have said, Thank you and walked away and parked the stroller.

 

[marron5]

Regarding your missing photos... I have had great success contacting Photopass online and using their service to recover missing photos. You need to provide them some specific info. about the missing photos, and they are usually very good about tracking them down. Don't wait too long, though. Good luck! Sorry about your problems.

 

[paults]

Sorry can't read this anymore OP it might be time to sell. I've had trips with 16 people and I sent them this site and others and told them to get familiar. Since you did all the planning for your group I think you knew things could go wrong and if you didn't you were expecting way too much. CM's like us ( guests) can't and won't ever know everything. The MAGIC is what you put into it not what you expect (JMO). You needed to tell your group of adults to read up on Disney and you'll do the best you can with planning.
Sorry you had such a bad trip.

 

[tink'smom2B]

Regarding your missing photos... I have had great success contacting Photopass online and using their service to recover missing photos. You need to provide them some specific info. about the missing photos, and they are usually very good about tracking them down. Don't wait too long, though. Good luck! Sorry about your problems.

Thank you, yes, they did find my missing photos. Sometimes you just need to know who to ask!

 

[AmyB2006]

If Disney is going to fire a person over a birthday button, there is a serious issue.

Funniest sentence on a thread ever!!!


Seriously, OP, I'm sorry for your frustrations. Nothing any of us say, and no matter how anyone rationalizes your problems out to you will make you feel better.

The only thing I have to say is that I hope you learned from your experiences and will know better how to solve problems you encounter in the future at Disney, and maybe get what you want out of a situation, no matter what that may be.

Also, even though it's Disney... don't set your expectations too high. High expectations lead to greater disappointment.

Edited... Oh, and also, when you "know" you're getting bad information from a CM, just smile and nod. Don't argue with them. LOL, it's just going to frustrate you and make them angry, because CMs honestly do believe they are giving you the correct information.

 

[tink'smom2B]

That definitely would have made it easier on you, just ignore the ones you felt did not know. With over 65,000 employees and many temps and seasonal it is very hard to get all of them on the same page.

What made the Front Desk CM even offer incorrect info about your magic bands and annual passes, if it was not mentioned.

The stroller situation I understand as they saw the stroller. On that one I would have said, Thank you and walked away and parked the stroller.

When I was checking in, I told my DIL (who was standing behind me) we needed to get over to Guest Services in the MK to activate our annual passes and their Salute tickets. That is when the front desk girl overheard me and told us they were already activated. The real problem occurred when the girl insisted she was right and I was wrong over and over again. Then, DIL would not believe me since an employee of Disney would know more than I did. Very frustrating! DIL and I got into it. Not a good way to start a vacation when we're staying together in the same room.

 

[Pooh2]

We talked to the manager at Be Our Guest about the stroller incident. He didn't care. Who do I talk to about the charges on my room? I didn't authorize them, so maybe the resort should remove them. Sometimes it's impossible to "handle" in "real time". Or, maybe you try to "handle" it and just get more frustrated when people argue with you. You seem to defend Disney no matter what. When you say it's all about he said/she said, that is what can make or break a vacation. Interaction with Disney cast members becomes My Disney Experience. All I'm saying is my experience was frustrating. I hope your experience is far better. Yes, it is time to "Let it Go" and I will find somewhere else to spend my hard earned money.

Our magic bands were also charged at BOG when we wanted to pay with a gift card. They called a manager over (took about 3 minutes for her to come out), she escorted us to our table to wait and then came back with the transaction corrected, an apology and smile. Not sure how to avoid this altogether next time, maybe ask for help at the ordering station? A minor issue in the overall scheme of things, glad it did not ruin our pleasant lunch!

 

[robinb]

Respectfully, I don't think we are saying things should have been known because we don't believe Disney has faults or can mess things up...we all know that they can.

But, guests have a responsibility to have reasonable expectations and know what is and is not within the scheme of things, even with someplace like Disney.

The OP admitted that she knew there was a no stroller policy...if that were me and I knew the CM was misinformed, I would have gone with what I knew...had that happened, the meal would have been better..and, if the CM was becoming defensive or insistent that they bring it in, then maybe that was the time to ask for a manager to clear up the confusion.

I guess the point is that no one dismisses it was a frustrating trip and that some of the things that occurred were not the best, but some would have been less frustrating with more knowledge on the part of the guest.

And, I even agree that sharing the frustrations about misinformed CM's is beneficial to Disney, but it doesn't change that going to Disney is a lot of work and requires a lot of planning and understanding and if one doesn't know or realize this ahead of time, then you have to be flexible enough while there to roll with it.

I don't think her expectations were unreasonable . It's not unreasonable to expect that an employee who works the front desk of a Disney resort to know if passes are properly activated and how charging back to the room is done. It's not unreasonable to expect your items to be delivered to your villa in a timely manner and that the villa be stocked appropriately with everything on the check-off list. It's not unreasonable to expect that an employee who works at a restaurant know that restaurant's current policy. Even if you, the guest, believe you know a previous policy. It's not unreasonable to expect the manager who enforces the correct policy be polite. It's not unreasonable to expect an employee who is working a special event know the times of that event. It is not unreasonable to expect that it take less than 90 minutes to go from Fort Wilderness to Wilderness Lodge or less than 75 minutes to go to the Grand Floridian. It's not unreasonable to expect to take the same transportation you have been taking all vacation to an early morning breakfast. NONE of those are unreasonable expectations.

I do agree with you that being able to "go with the flow" is an important attribute to have at WDW but there is a difference between dealing with a couple bumps in the road and a highway full of potholes.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

OP--I agree with pretty much everything everyone, including you, has said--even if it sounds contradictory. And I thank you for having the guts to post because I am bringing my parents this coming January and even though that is only 2 additional adults, I'm a bit terrified. I'm the planner of our crew, as is probably obvious based on my DISboard post rate, and my parents have been to WDW once, 20 years ago. We stayed at the Swan or Dolphin, or maybe both, in a comped suite related to my dad's conference planning work. They remember the whole thing as totally magical. My husband understands DVC and the risks and rewards but he definitely always has high expectations and is affronted when our expectations aren't met. I can and have been disappointed but I have been fairly thoroughly (thanks to the DISboards and our great posters) educated as to what to expect, and what are real possibilities for disappointment but are still within the realm of reasonable possibility (i.e. getting placed in an HA room when you did not request that). We'll be travelling with twin toddlers and a 6 mo old so that will also add to the potential issues. I appreciate basically all these posts because they essentially remind me that it will be CRITICAL to manage my family's rather high expectations, and plan extremely flexibly. My mother frequently compares things to "Disney World" as the gold standard of customer service, but I don't know if the current reality will hold up to her memories. Additionally, we may all have very different expectations for meals, touring, time spent together/apart, etc. And a DVC villa, while we prefer and love it, is very different than a hotel suite with daily housekeeping and fruit baskets from the management as we experienced 20 years ago.

There are many places to vacation and you may want to ease in with a smaller trip or two later. I know I was thinking about bringing my parents, my sister & her husband, my sister in law and her boyfriend, and my in laws and suddenly realized it was a total recipe for disaster to combine that many vacationers. Especially where everyone would be asking me 'what we do next'... and those that were not asking might be wandering away and missing reservations...

I think I am going to just plan a few key events and have optional event plans daily that people can choose between; some together and some apart.

A lot of your concerns center around misinformation/uninformed CMs. I think I would make a list of the 'misunderstandings' and send an organized email to the WDW inbox so they can correct these issues/educate the relevant areas.

 

[Dean]

When I was checking in, I told my DIL (who was standing behind me) we needed to get over to Guest Services in the MK to activate our annual passes and their Salute tickets. That is when the front desk girl overheard me and told us they were already activated. The real problem occurred when the girl insisted she was right and I was wrong over and over again. Then, DIL would not believe me since an employee of Disney would know more than I did. Very frustrating! DIL and I got into it. Not a good way to start a vacation when we're staying together in the same room.

This likely sheds light on the issues more than anything else. This makes me wonder if this is as much or more a family issue than a Disney issue.

 

[Sammie]

When I was checking in, I told my DIL (who was standing behind me) we needed to get over to Guest Services in the MK to activate our annual passes and their Salute tickets. That is when the front desk girl overheard me and told us they were already activated. The real problem occurred when the girl insisted she was right and I was wrong over and over again. Then, DIL would not believe me since an employee of Disney would know more than I did. Very frustrating! DIL and I got into it. Not a good way to start a vacation when we're staying together in the same room.

Yep that is not a good way to start a trip. I probably would have had to call an on duty manager to the desk and ask them had policy changed that you could activate an annual pass at the resorts now. That would have ended the conversation and be a learning lesson for the misinformed CM.

Some of it is confusing because existing Annual passes were recently allowed to be added to Magic Bands and that is probably what the CM was thinking of. Throw Salute tickets into the pot and I guess your Annual passes were DVC ones that you have a voucher for and yes it does get confusing.

 

[tink'smom2B]

Yes, one little thing here or there when it's just you and dh is much different than a grand gathering. But, I am amazed how everyone in our party had one little thing after another. If only 1 out of every 10 guests came in contact with a CM that knew everything yet knew nothing, that is an impressive amount of guests that question what's going on there. This was not a free vacation. We will never all go there together again. You can try to blame this on family dynamics, but we had a grand gathering last year (not at Disney) and never had this much stress. Yes, if I could use one word to describe this vacation it is Stress.

 

[tink'smom2B]

OP--I agree with pretty much everything everyone, including you, has said--even if it sounds contradictory. And I thank you for having the guts to post because I am bringing my parents this coming January and even though that is only 2 additional adults, I'm a bit terrified. I'm the planner of our crew, as is probably obvious based on my DISboard post rate, and my parents have been to WDW once, 20 years ago. We stayed at the Swan or Dolphin, or maybe both, in a comped suite related to my dad's conference planning work. They remember the whole thing as totally magical. My husband understands DVC and the risks and rewards but he definitely always has high expectations and is affronted when our expectations aren't met. I can and have been disappointed but I have been fairly thoroughly (thanks to the DISboards and our great posters) educated as to what to expect, and what are real possibilities for disappointment but are still within the realm of reasonable possibility (i.e. getting placed in an HA room when you did not request that). We'll be travelling with twin toddlers and a 6 mo old so that will also add to the potential issues. I appreciate basically all these posts because they essentially remind me that it will be CRITICAL to manage my family's rather high expectations, and plan extremely flexibly. My mother frequently compares things to "Disney World" as the gold standard of customer service, but I don't know if the current reality will hold up to her memories. Additionally, we may all have very different expectations for meals, touring, time spent together/apart, etc. And a DVC villa, while we prefer and love it, is very different than a hotel suite with daily housekeeping and fruit baskets from the management as we experienced 20 years ago.

There are many places to vacation and you may want to ease in with a smaller trip or two later. I know I was thinking about bringing my parents, my sister & her husband, my sister in law and her boyfriend, and my in laws and suddenly realized it was a total recipe for disaster to combine that many vacationers. Especially where everyone would be asking me 'what we do next'... and those that were not asking might be wandering away and missing reservations...

I think I am going to just plan a few key events and have optional event plans daily that people can choose between; some together and some apart.

A lot of your concerns center around misinformation/uninformed CMs. I think I would make a list of the 'misunderstandings' and send an organized email to the WDW inbox so they can correct these issues/educate the relevant areas.

The only way I see this as possible is if you turn over control to a professional tour guide. Then, when everything falls apart, you will not feel responsible
You will NEVER be able to do this on your own if everyone has "Great Expectations". Visiting Disney is like visiting New York City at rush hour.

We did not tour the parks together. We only had one dinner all together at Mickey's Backyard BBQ. I did have a few meals here and there with one family or another, but some of the kids I only saw on the last day we were there. Mostly because the babies needed down time and my younger kids wanted to go, go, go! Make a note for your trip - toddlers and babies don't like sit down meals

I wanted to "relive" the old days with my kids. Some of them haven't been there since 1992. I tried to go at a non-crowded time, but the parks were busy. The hotel wasn't. The hotel seemed empty compared with Easter when we usually visit. But in the theme parks, people and CMs were stressed out. There was no 5* service at all. It reminded me of a Six Flags amusement park which I lived near for 20 years. Honestly, Disney has just grown too large. If your people want the "good old days" forget it. If you don't expect anything more than a overpriced amusement park, you won't be disappointed.

 

[tink'smom2B]

This likely sheds light on the issues more than anything else. This makes me wonder if this is as much or more a family issue than a Disney issue.

Dean, you're forgetting that it was Disney that caused the problem in the first place

 

[DVCM392]

We have been DVC members since 92 and have noticed the change in customer service all over Disney properties. We work in the service industry and one of the reasons we vacation at Disney was because of the great service. Over the years we have experienced problems but we have learned to expect that. In our personal business it's the quality of the people applying for jobs that has gone way down. Disney is experiencing the same, I don't try to make excuses but some workers don't care anymore. Yes I agree CM's are required to know a lot of information and are moved around frequently.

 

[bethp1968]

Maybe it is just me, but it seems like the OP is just angry about anything and everything (and of course starting the trip out tired doesn't help) but to get that upset over a some groceries not being delivered or a missing hair dryer is just a bit over dramatic. A simple pleasant phone call to bell services/housekeeping would fix those issues.

For someone who is a DVC owner and sounds like she has been many times before, the transportation issue should not have been a surprise. We all know that it can take a while to get from point A to point B, especially if trying to get from resort to resort or before park opening.

Also, I take personal offense to your constant complaining about the CM's, bus drivers, boat captains, etc... My daughter is a CM (on the Disney College Program) and takes her position very seriously. However, these CM's are moved around and asked to help out wherever is needed - they do that so other restaurants,stores, attractions are not short handed - which I am sure you would have complained about also. YES - CAST MEMBERS ARE PEOPLE TOO AND MAKE MISTAKES. The best way to handle this situation would have been to ask for a manager immediately, so that the CM could have been told the proper way.

Your best bet would have been to file your complaint as soon as the situation occurred to whoever was in charge at that location, so you would have had names of these CM's. Without names, specific dates/details/locations, it will be very difficult for management to follow through.

BTW, I was just there earlier in the month and had absolutely no problems. Our flight was delayed arriving by 2 hours and yes, we were exhausted, hungry and had no luggage but we survived and did not get into a fight with the front desk. Our AP's were already attached to a Magic Bands, which worked at all parks, kiosks and for payment (and we always had to put a PIN number in).

Next time, do all the Disney CM's a favor and stay home.

 

[disneynutz]

We have been DVC members since 92 and have noticed the change in customer service all over Disney properties. We work in the service industry and one of the reasons we vacation at Disney was because of the great service. Over the years we have experienced problems but we have learned to expect that. In our personal business it's the quality of the people applying for jobs that has gone way down. Disney is experiencing the same, I don't try to make excuses but some workers don't care anymore. Yes I agree CM's are required to know a lot of information and are moved around frequently.

Disney charges 5 star prices but delivers 3 star service. Learning to expect problems is part of the problem, we shouldn't accept problems, if we do Disney doesn't have any reason to improve. They continue to make billions of dollars in profits but don't have a reason to improve customer service or get better employees.

Seems that they have adopted a quantity not quality business model where a certain level of problems are acceptable while they entertain millions of customers. They could spend more money on CM training, correcting software issues, maintaining the resorts and rooms and keeping them cleaner but it seems like they choose not to.

Bill

 

[JoeA]

Maybe it is just me, but it seems like the OP is just angry about anything and everything (and of course starting the trip out tired doesn't help) but to get that upset over a some groceries not being delivered or a missing hair dryer is just a bit over dramatic. A simple pleasant phone call to bell services/housekeeping would fix those issues. For someone who is a DVC owner and sounds like she has been many times before, the transportation issue should not have been a surprise. We all know that it can take a while to get from point A to point B, especially if trying to get from resort to resort or before park opening. Also, I take personal offense to your constant complaining about the CM's, bus drivers, boat captains, etc... My daughter is a CM (on the Disney College Program) and takes her position very seriously. However, these CM's are moved around and asked to help out wherever is needed - they do that so other restaurants,stores, attractions are not short handed - which I am sure you would have complained about also. YES - CAST MEMBERS ARE PEOPLE TOO AND MAKE MISTAKES. The best way to handle this situation would have been to ask for a manager immediately, so that the CM could have been told the proper way. Your best bet would have been to file your complaint as soon as the situation occurred to whoever was in charge at that location, so you would have had names of these CM's. Without names, specific dates/details/locations, it will be very difficult for management to follow through. BTW, I was just there earlier in the month and had absolutely no problems. Our flight was delayed arriving by 2 hours and yes, we were exhausted, hungry and had no luggage but we survived and did not get into a fight with the front desk. Our AP's were already attached to a Magic Bands, which worked at all parks, kiosks and for payment (and we always had to put a PIN number in). Next time, do all the Disney CM's a favor and stay home.

I am sure you're proud of your kid but please don't use this to stick up for all CM's. I was there a few weeks ago and ran into several who should have never been hired. They were simply no good. And I have no doubt that Disney throws them all over to "fill in" but I won't give them, or Disney, a free pass. Staffing and training is the issue but please don't make it MY issue. I am paying a lot of money and I have very high expectations (I bet Disney has close to $40k of my money right now) and frankly I've thought that over the last few trips the experience and value didn't match the money I am paying.

So if Disney continues to fail in meeting expectations I won't stay home but I will spend my money elsewhere. Disney themselves are responsible for sitting this expectation.

Have a magical day, right?

 

[BTSD]

Maybe it is just me, but it seems like the OP is just angry about anything and everything (and of course starting the trip out tired doesn't help) but to get that upset over a some groceries not being delivered or a missing hair dryer is just a bit over dramatic. A simple pleasant phone call to bell services/housekeeping would fix those issues. For someone who is a DVC owner and sounds like she has been many times before, the transportation issue should not have been a surprise. We all know that it can take a while to get from point A to point B, especially if trying to get from resort to resort or before park opening. Also, I take personal offense to your constant complaining about the CM's, bus drivers, boat captains, etc....

I couldn't agree more (and I don't know anyone that works there). There seems to be 3 classes of DVC members...those that expect 5*service, those that are realistic and take the time to plan, and those that are jaded. I fall into the middle group-I guess that's why I'm still happy with my DVC after all these years.