Do You think DISNEY has gone down hlll the last few years?

[Mickey Gator]

Maybe it is because of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

 

[kmsimone]

Very depressing thread. Somehow we always find the magic though.

 

[Sassagoula Billy]

Maybe it is because of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Yeah, that 1976 Leonard Bernstein musical can leave one a bit cold.

 

[jsesp]

Every time we've been to the world in the last couple of years (just went in March and gong again at Christmas) Disney and CMs seem fine. Service is as good as ever, food is as good as ever. The ride vehicles all work, etc.

Where we see the problem is the other guests. People in general are stressed out. I see it at work and at the grocery store as well as when we are in WDW. One of the coworkers of my wife just had a bomb dropped on her. Her husband called her in the middle of the day and said he had been laid off. No warning, just we're sorry....

With those type of stories running around people are going to be on edge and expect WDW to solve all their problems. When something isn't exactly perfect you'll hear, "Disney is just going downhill."

 

[Tiger926]

For every thing that has declined in recent years, there are things that have improved. And for as long as Disney World has been in business, there have been people saying that things were better in the past.

I grew up going to Disney, and literally since 1983 onward my father has said that Disney is going downhill. Yet, for some strange reason, a year after each trip he declares that Disney was fantastic and nearly perfect --- which sets him up for his next disappointment during the next trip. Yup, you guessed it -- Disney is going downhill compared to the perfection of the previous year. The cycle repeats and repeats and repeats.

Trash on the ground has always been there - and it has always been cleaned quickly thereafter. There has never been a time when garbage was picked up the minute it left someone's hands, but Disney comes pretty darn close.

I often read for people pining away for the Disney of the 70's. As for me, while that time period was great, I'd much rather have:
1) Animal Kingdom (though it needs to expand)
2) Hollywood Studios
3) Epcot
4) Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon
5) Downtown Disney (could be better, but it is something)
6) DVC (happy DVC owner here)
7) all of the rides that have been introduced over the past 30 years

If there is one area that I think has declined, it is Disney's eagerness to innovate. As of right now, it looks like Universal is taking the lead in that regard. I want Disney to define the standard, not follow in another company's footsteps.

Agree with all of the additions you quote above, although DHS needs to be updated, and it seems that is happening, slowly - new Playhouse Disney show and parade/musical for next year. We would also love it if AK expanded as well - bring in more animals, and more educational aspects to nature in the form of shows or interactive areas.

One area of "decline" that is often mentioned on the Rumors/News board is items offered at the stores. There are a couple people over there who claim that every store in Disney World offers the same exact items. I don't know where they are shopping, but I don't find that to be the case at all. There is a lot of diversity within the stores, and I always find new items that I wouldn't mind picking up.

I will totally disagree - not only is the merchandise pretty much the same, it is of the lowest quality. We don't buy much at all, as each trip, I am emailing Merchandise Dept., as a shirt or toy didn't even make the drive home, as it fell apart. Horrible quality! The only thing that we buy are towels, ornaments (depends, as these have gone down as well) and hats. They definitely need to offer more DVC merchandise as well.

I don't normally quote pictures, but people should see how beautiful these lights are. I can't believe they don't have them up anymore. It cannot cost that much to light; they already have them, why not use them?

Well, the story is that the lights needed to be replaced with more energy efficient lights, and this would have cost a bundle. Not sure if Disney didn't want to spend the money, or, had trouble in retrofitting the old designs? At any rate, they are no longer up, as the old design is not usueable, and I agree that this is a sadly missed part of the holidays at Epcot. These lights were stunning!

I haven't read this thread in awhile but I remember there being complaints about the food so....

I really enjoyed the food on this trip (just got back this week.) It had some of the best eating memories I've had in WDW. I can't say that I had anything that was memorably bad, but there were foods that were memorably good. The pan seared sea bass (catch of the day) and mushroom risotto and the Coral Reef was outstanding as well as the mushroom filet and risotto and cream cheese mashed potatoes at Le Cellier (and the cheese soup.) Of course, this was my first time eating at many of these restaurants so I can't say they were just as good as last time BUT I do love food and know what's good.

Biergarten was awesome! My wife is a very picky eater (meat and potatoes type) and she loved the selection. I loaded up on Bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard and I was in heaven. At Crystal Palace there was an amazingly good prime rib and marinated chicken that I could eat all night.

Of course there were many other choices but I don't want to write a novel.

Anyway, food was excellent! And don't get me started on the F&W festval! I want to go back so bad with a million snack coupons!

Oh... I do remember something that wasn't so good now... at Chef Mickey's breakfast the french toast was too dry, but everthing else was great!

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself! You are lucky that you had good meals at Le Cellier and Coral Reef, sadly after eating at both many times, we no longer visit them as they have gone downhill in so many areas, food being the most obvious. We've eaten at Crystal Palace a million times, and it's usually ok - fresh food and great characters, but they do need to update the food, as it's been the same for years. Chef Mickey's is...well...not very good. Although, this past year in both March and July, we found it to be much improved for dinner over past trips. Refuse to eat there for breakfast as it's highly overpriced for dry toast and runny eggs.

Glad you had a yummy food trip!

Every time we've been to the world in the last couple of years (just went in March and gong again at Christmas) Disney and CMs seem fine. Service is as good as ever, food is as good as ever. The ride vehicles all work, etc.

Where we see the problem is the other guests. People in general are stressed out. I see it at work and at the grocery store as well as when we are in WDW. One of the coworkers of my wife just had a bomb dropped on her. Her husband called her in the middle of the day and said he had been laid off. No warning, just we're sorry....

With those type of stories running around people are going to be on edge and expect WDW to solve all their problems. When something isn't exactly perfect you'll hear, "Disney is just going downhill."

I will agree that it seems people are more stressed on a general level, but I will not agree that is why people say Disney is going downhill. Many people have way high expectations in all areas of life, and have a sense of entitlement that just befuddles me. This does not fit us at all though - not much stresses us out over here, especially when it comes to vacations, we also have pretty low expectations of Disney, and don't expect them to solve our problems at all, and we are happy DVC owners. But, because we've been many times over many years, we can see and have been able to track patterns of areas that have gone downhill. I have contacted Disney many times over the years for both praise and concern, and they are very happy to take my comments, and I've seen improvements in areas that were troublesome at some point.

Disney is a vast resort, that serves millions of guests, and employs thousands to handle those guests. In the middle though, have been some bad management decisions, and cutbacks in areas that see us dealing with multiple ride malfunctions, monorail closures and overstressed restaurants. We still continue to go, but we have areas that we keep on alert now, and monitor them each trip. We have eaten pretty much everywhere multiple times, including Signatures, so we have restaurants that are off our list due to repeated bad service and food visits, we have resort supervisors that we will not deal with due to negative attitudes, and we have areas of the parks that we stay away from in respect to washrooms, due to the fact that they are highly used, and Disney can't keep up with slobbish guests. We also have many areas that we love, and so we continue to re-adjust with each vacation!

So, for our small family of 4, we don't expect Disney to solve any of our problems, except the ones they create.

Tiger

 

[johnGorski]

Hey All!
Brunette here. Okay, I'm a Disney freak, nut, etc. I'm obsessed with Walt Disney World. I love it there, so much that we go about 6 - 8 times a year. We are annual pass holders. But I'm getting alot of bad vibes as to what is really going on in the world and it's really starting to get me to wonder. Is Disney turning into a money machine, that is only interested in making a buck and forgetting about all it's fine customers/guests? Here is my reasoning, if you will:

Disney dining - They have increased all buffets services and lowered the quality of food, i.e. took off prime rib at Boma and a few other restaurants.

Disney CL Service - I've been reading that the food isn't what it used to be. Yet people pay a large premium for this. Food runs out and is not replenished etc.


Christmas attractions - Took away the lights at Epcot. It was just beautiful. It totally ruined the whole effect last Christmas season.

Nickel and Diming the guest - Holiday surcharges for buffets. Okay, I can understand Thanksgiving and Christmas. But Memorial Day through 4th of July too! It's just plain wrong.

Doubling the price of a stroller- Double stroller 1 1/2 years ago was $18.00 now it is over $30.00. If you multiply that by 7 days it's the price of a rent a car!

Ticket increases - Every August there is a ticket increase!

Brazilian groups- Extremely disruptive, rude, crass, and down right hazardous (blocking pathways), making loud noises outside of value hotel rooms in the early morning hours. There are 2-3 threads about this outrageous behavior, with hundreds of complaints from our DIS friends. Yet, Disney refuses to do anything about this.

With the economy in the tank, people out of jobs, it would seem that Disney shouldn't be this greedy, for a lack of a better word. I'm just starting to notice some of these ill effects taking place. This is just my observation.

Any thoughts?

Thanks all!
Brunette

DD-Personally I have not noticed the difference however my wife, friends and MIL all have pointed out the Prime Rib issue! It was Boma and I believe CP that had Prime Rib and this trip that was gone, still I had a good dinner at both.

CL Service I have to agree with you on this! they must of increased the prices over the last two year by 25% and the food has gone down hill. Pecos Bills has always been a must do but over the last two trips food was not good.

X-mas-Still looked great

N/D-Agree that stroller increase is ridicules

Ticket increases-don’t notice them too much as we always get a 10 day pass but for one day 80 plus bucks is too much

Brazilian groups-I agree with you on this one! We had the pleasure of being in the RnR /HM an ToT holding rooms all of them where loud, throwing things in the dark then when the doors opened they stampede to the ride.
The Lesson is when you see a tall flag go the other way. Its just not the Brazilian groups, we where there last December during Pop Warner, they are just as bad.
All these obnoxious tour groups all lack the quality/quantity of the adult chaperones

 

[k9muttlover]

I will totally diagree - not only is the merchandise pretty much the same, it is of the lowest quality. We don't buy much at all, as each trip, I am emailing Merchandise Dept., as a shirt or toy didn't even make the drive home, as it fell apart. Horrible quality! The only thing that we buy are towels, ornaments (depends, as these have gone down as well) and hats. They definitely need to offer more DVC merchandise as well.

Tiger

I have not yet posted to this thread, but this caught my eye while reading through it. I have to agree with Tiger.

I just returned from a trip last weekend and the one and only complaint that I have stated to my friends and family is the disappointing selection of quality merchandise. I always come home with a t-shirt (or three) and I could not find a single shirt that was up to par. Many of them were made with thin and flimsy material. I'm not talking about the now trendy thinner shirts either. Classic mickey ringer t's are different than even last year. Cheaper material and inconsistent sizing. I walked away empty handed for the first time in 5 years.

I will also say that Disney is missing a market in larger sizes. I did see more 3x sizes this time, but there could be more offered. I know my husband would love to be wearing more mickey, but it's hit or miss for him.

 

[brunette8706]

Hey All!

Just got back from the Happiest Place on Earth tonight.

Here's my rundown:

PRO's
Went to the Spirit of Luau - GREAT VALUE, food was very good, entertainment was great, this also included beer, wine tax and tip for approximately $58.00 for an adult.! WOW~!

Parks were not crowded on Thursday or Friday

Parks were clean

CM's were nice

Osbourne light show SPeCTAculAR

Castle Lights BEauTiful

Rode Expedition Everest quite a few times it was only a 5 minute wait on Thurs.

CONs

Ferry took about 30 minute WAIT TIME to MK

Old Lamp posts and construction JUNK (right before GF) could be seen via monorial going from MK to TTC. This really needs to be removed!

Whispering Canyon Cafe- Expensive for what you got. Meatloaf, mash potato's $19.00 and it wasn't a lot of meat loaf either. The Waitress was great though.

MK was packed on Saturday.

Unruly crowds, some rude people

Personally I don't think the MK was decorated as much as it was in the past. They only had a few red poinsetta's the garland.

All in all the trip was great.

Brunette

 

[Albytaps]

DD-Personally I have not noticed the difference however my wife, friends and MIL all have pointed out the Prime Rib issue! It was Boma and I believe CP that had Prime Rib and this trip that was gone, still I had a good dinner at both.

I had Prime Rib last week at the Crystal Palace and it was delicious!

 

[KCSherri]

I just returned yesterday from a 5-day trip to WDW.

I had only two complaints:

The restrooms were horribly dirty at every park I visited...dirty toilets, overflowing trash cans, no paper towels...

And - trash cans near the Counter Service restaurants were always full to almost overflowing....

Other than that, I had a wonderful time. My hotel (Yacht Club) was fantastic, with Mousekeeping being particularly outstanding. I bought several fleece jackets in the shops and was pleased with the selection. The food was fantastic.

And the rides? Magical.

 

[Magalex]

We just got back from Disney! Our trip was from 11/13-11/19 LOVED IT! No complaints here! We were not bothered by anything. To us everything was still clean & sparkling. All CMs encountered were cheerful & helpful. Nothing stood out to being rundown or dirty. Extremely happy with our tripEvery POP CM said helloWe will return in May 2012

 

[ntsammy5]

Things have changed, certainly. If things had gotten bad, why would most of us keep going back again over and over.

Some of the changes I don't like some I do. Overall it is still a magical place to spend time and have fun.

I'm going back in 14 days.

 

[Sunday]

We are not AP holders, or DVC, so please take my observations with a grain or handful of salt.

I have been to Disneyland Paris twice, and WDW four times since 2002. We are arriving for our fifth visit in January 2011.

The first time we went to WDW, we were blown away. BLOWN AWAY. Everything was just so darn perfect. We stayed off World, and it was still very very cool.

Last December was the first time we stayed at a Resort. Can I just say that it was incredible? Did I notice a decline? No. But I'm a relative noob who as no real basis of comparison.

So, if I didn't notice a decline per se, what were my observations?

1) We did not get approached or talked to by CM's. They would answer our questions if we had them, but we did not feel that special interaction that lot of Disers talk so fondly about. We did have one poor interaction with our Port Orleans Riverside consierge, but I figured he was just having a bad day. Best interaction was with the CM's at the ME. They were great!

2) Food. To be honest, I was just as pleasantly surprised with the quality and quantity as I was disappointed. For example, I was blown away by the quality at Crystal Palace, it was great for the price and for being at a theme park. But I was just as conversely disappointed with Jiko...I was told this meal was going to be amazing, and it just wasn't.

3) Cleanliness. I didn't notice anything that was unclean, but I was surprised by how "old fashioned" some things looked. Like Peter Pan and Small World...having seen more modern versions at Disneyland Paris, I was surprised that the original rides hadn't been updated accordingly.

Anyway, that's a newbie's observations. No perceived decline, but some feedback.

 

[pipervali]

I can't help but think that some of the luster has been lost to the crowds that visit Disney. We just got back from our 4th trip in the last ten years, and hands down, this visit was easily the most disappointing. I've never seen more strollers in any trip we've had, and we've gone during the end of summer, so it wasn't so much the crowd level, it was just jam packed with strollers being rolled over toes, being pushed into heels, cutting you off as you're trying to navigate around the parks. Unfortunately, we encountered more rude, pushy people than not. It made the whole experience lackluster, because I was getting so frustrated by how incredibly self involved most people were. I get it's your vacation, but you don't have to have a hand in making someone else's miserable.

CM's vary by park I think. My mother had a simple question for an Epcot CM, and received a rather snotty, disinterested reply. On the flip side, while waiting for the parade at AK, we spent a good 15 minutes chatting up an incredibly friendly CM.

I can't really comment on the food, because we mostly eat offsite because we don't like having to make ADRs or spending outrageous prices for sit down meals.

The prices are a definite concern. The economy certainly doesn't seem to be deterring the crowds, because our week was fuller than what the crowd calendar predicted. So they're not losing money from fewer guests. So why continue to jack up the prices and then add fees onto everything to boot. Things cost more nowadays, with the rate of inflation, but not to the extent that ticket prices hike up year after year. My big issue is the parking. $14 a day to park your car is absolutely insane. When you're paying over $300 for five days worth of park access, another $70 just to park is ridiculous. That's my big dig.

But ya know, there's always the 'if you don't like it, don't go' argument, which is valid. I think after this last trip and just not having that great of a time as we've had previous visits, that will be the route we chose to go for a while.

 

[dan-tot]

I have been to Disney more times than I can remember. The only thing that I noticed was the menu had changed at the castle dining room. The menu for lunch has changed so that you don't get a varity of choices for lunch but only 1 from column "A" and one from column "B".
You should go to Cosmic Rays for lunch. It is counter service but they have a wide varitiy of food. Pecos Bill resteraunt is counter as well but they don't have the selection. Now if you are looking at something like Emerils,which I hear the quality is not worth the money spent, then I can't help. If you want something non pedistrien(sp) then try resteraunts outside disney. I would reccomend Charley's Steakhouse. GOOOOOOOd steak.

Dan-tot

 

[Redwavess]

No! We just love DISNEY!!

 

[Laketravis]

We'll be there 11/27 thru 12/4. And although it's been 36 years since the last time I was there (1974), I still remember every aspect. I'll be looking with a critical eye this time and will report any differences in quality.

 

[Cat0727]

We just got back, were there 11/15 to 11/19. Everything was wonderful- my only complaint would be the prices. Food prices are INSANE now, seems like Disney is really pushing for everyone to get the dining plan. Well it worked on me because next time I'll definitely be on it!

 

[BuckeyeGuy28]

Has anybody seen a decrease in ride quality?

2005 brought us Everest, and that's the only new E-Ticket ride to be built as an original Disney attraction. Everything since then has been brought over from another park or has been lame. Rides like the Nemo thing at EPCOT are just throwaways--its a short, rehashed dark ride used as a marketing strategy. Also, things like Stitch! are evicting solid, original rides for the sake of milking the Disney characters for all they're worth. And don't get me started on Monsters Inc Laugh Floor--why is that in Tomorrowland???

The FE sounds like it'd be a good idea, but it seems like its just a bunch of meet and greets (again, milking their characters) with no real creativity. Just another aspect of it...

 

[okeydokey]

Just returned from a great trip. The bathrooms were not up to par and the photopass photographers we saw seemed very disinterested. We didn't let it dampen our trip one bit though.