Has Disney dropped the magic ball?

[maxiesmom]

...and they got rid of it. Sometimes the attention to detail means abandoning a failed attraction. Now, attention to detail means, "Leave it alone. Maybe no one will notice."

I thought they got rid of it because it was such a low capacity ride.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

I thought they got rid of it because it was such a low capacity ride.

I think that was part of it but it definitely broke down

 

[LOL!]

Yes. I've been on these boards for 'almost' 15 years and looking back on the yesteryear site, I realize how good it was and how downhill it's gone. Sorry. It has this is the first-time in such many years we will not be at Disney at all.

I've read every single post on this thread and yours came thru the loudest and clearest for me. I hope Disney hears it as well.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

I think that was part of it but it definitely broke down

I believe part of it also was the fact that the rehab needed to keep it operational would also have required it to meet ADA requirements making it extremely cost prohibitive.

 

[DISNEY1975]

If anything is missing magic, its the Winnie the Pooh ride. Snooze....

Although I havent seen it live yet, but the videos I saw of 7DMT seemed pretty unimaginative. Imaginears are not what they used to be. But CMs, are always super friendly and helpful.

 

[DISNEY1975]

For all us old timers, I think the disappointment comes with age. I know when I first saw a Mickey balloon, it was the size of a hot air balloon. 40 years later, its the size of a regular balloon. Just like the hill in my parents yard. It was a mountain when I was young, but now I see its just a small grade in the yard to prevent water from getting to the basement

 

[Eeyore's-tail-tack]

I just returned after a weeklong stay. We had towel animals every single day. I wasn't expecting them after reading on the boards about their absence. The kids loved them. So they are not gone "across Disney property." Maybe just being done sporadically.

I am happy to hear the towel animals haven't totally disappeared. We went last September and in our 8 nights had at least 3 towel decorations.. I was even happy with the scalloped shell in the bathroom. Didn't expect but was quite tickled when we did receive them.
On another note we travelled with a group of I think of 17. So needless to say with 2 Memory Maker accounts we took quite a few pictures. I had trouble with getting them to download. So I called Disney and they not only took at least 30 minutes to help me but apologized for the hassle. I also got the two disks totally free. So Disney magic has not disappeared but It all depends on expectations. We all can only imagine how many visitors are at Disney World in one day. I think they did a wonderful job.

 

[k5thbeatle]

We are halfway through our 10 day trip and I'm disappointed in the Little details that are missing in the parks and the cast members, I.e., no towel animals in our room (at a deluxe resort), we've encountered more than one rude castmember in the parks, the bathrooms are filthy.... It just seems the little things are missing.... I realize it's hot and crowded here so I expect other guests to be rude but so far in this trip the Disney "magic" is missing. Has anyone else noticed this or am i expecting too much based on previous vacations here?

Off the parks shortly, maybe today will have a little bit of magic....

We started seeing a noticeable decline in overall quality starting about, ohh...7-10 years ago. Food, service, cleanliness, friendliness of staff, quality of products, etc. have been at issue. Used to be that it was rare to encounter anything "bad" at WDW but now it's a matter of where and how many we will encounter not if. We still have fun and certainly aren't "looking" for bad stuff (as some suggest), hardly, but one just can't help but notice the decline.

PS...We even got towel animals our last two trips!

 

[dokey]

If anything is missing magic, its the Winnie the Pooh ride. Snooze....

Although I havent seen it live yet, but the videos I saw of 7DMT seemed pretty unimaginative. Imaginears are not what they used to be. But CMs, are always super friendly and helpful.

I don' t think the imagineers are to blame. It's the bean counters who control the purse strings.

 

[bcrook]

If anything is missing magic, its the Winnie the Pooh ride. Snooze....

Although I havent seen it live yet, but the videos I saw of 7DMT seemed pretty unimaginative. Imaginears are not what they used to be.

But CMs, are always super friendly and helpful.

About 7DMT ... and besides the wonderful Queue, little mermaid is not much either.

 

[bcrook]

I thought they got rid of it because it was such a low capacity ride.

The DL version with Nemo is still around, still breaking down, and still leaks.

 

[dokey]

The DL version with Nemo is still around, still breaking down, and still leaks.

And it's really popular. People were really concerned that when it closed for an extended refurb, it would never re-open. But I think the public outcry convinced them to re-open the attraction. Locals have a lot of power at DLR, thank goodness!

 

[Angel Ariel]

I thought they got rid of it because it was such a low capacity ride.

I believe part of it also was the fact that the rehab needed to keep it operational would also have required it to meet ADA requirements making it extremely cost prohibitive.

if these were the main reasons for getting ride of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you'd think they would have gotten rid of it at DLR as well but it's alive and well there (Nemo themed, but alive)

 

[bcrook]

I go out of my way, every day I'm at a Disney park, to collect names of CMs that do a great job. I turn in at least three a day. Everyone in my large groups help me find worthy contenders. I enjoy doing it.

But, it is very difficult for me to find candidates. Sorry it's true. One of the reasons I'm doing it, is in the hopes that management will see what the good ones do and use them as models.

Last trip (July), I had negative experiences with nearly every FP+ kiosk gestapo agent. One young lady by the muppets was not only friendly but competent.

I find the ferry drivers to be crabby. Some were crabbing about customers and dropped fbombs while we' were on the boat.

The servers at the restaurants were either overworked or uninterested. The lady at the GF cafe happily took care of us even though we just got coffee and shared a dessert. Sometimes that combo nets poor service. But n this case, she got a shout out. The hosts at restaurants generally are so focused on rules, they forget the customers are guests. At Portobello, the hostess was outstanding. The bartender at Jiko...top notch.

The people running the wine stations in Epcot...disinterested.

I find the people assigned to assist the character interactions to be either too timid or too bored. I find rhem to be crabby too. Worst were the ones with Baloo and King Louie in DAK. The CMs at Chef Mickeys allowed the characters to be mauled. The CM in charge of characters at Tusker House amazing.

The concierges at Kidani...Absolutely terrible. Avoid Eye contact. They love to pass the buck.
The manager was competent though while resetting my magicband to open my door for a second time. I gave her a positive note.

Ironically, even the people in customer service are ill equipped to accept positive notes about cast members.

My point would be...
I see lots of competent uninspired CMs.
I see a lot of poorly trained and often crabby CMs
And I have to look closely to find outstanding service. And even though I'm looking for it, it is difficult to find.

And at Disney, excellence used to be expected of all cast members.

I'm going back in October. I can't wait to hunt for my next round of positive referrals.

 

[bcrook]

For all us old timers, I think the disappointment comes with age. I know when I first saw a Mickey balloon, it was the size of a hot air balloon. 40 years later, its the size of a regular balloon. Just like the hill in my parents yard. It was a mountain when I was young, but now I see its just a small grade in the yard to prevent water from getting to the basement

I don't know, I think that would only be true if little new was added, attractions were shuttered without replacements, if the lack of imagineering declined, and general operations decreased. Maybe if it took 7 years to build a land or something. Then the old timers would be less than thrilled.

But repeat customers go because they like it. They hope it will be great, and then are more disappointed when real life situation doesn't meet the high standards they came to expect from Disney.

I visit fairly often, I am dying for something great to come along. It's been awhile since Disney has created something outstanding in WDW. Radiator Springs is a testament to what could be accomplished though. It was spectacular.

 

[enchantedny]

My family and I just returned from a week long stay at WDW. During our stay we had encounters with a few unpleasant CMs but for every disappointing encounter we also had a great one. Every ride on a Friendship Boat was excellent. We were trapped in a gift shop in Epcot during a terrible storm and the CMs were leading trivia games and rounds of Mickey Says to help pass the time. I will say the CMs on Tower of Terror did not seem to play their roles as well as ones in the past did. They just seemed to being doing the bare minimum. We rode at least 5 times so it wasn't just one CM.

We did not get any towel animals but our mousekeeper arranged our children's animals in playful ways and even cutely made up the baby's pack and play.

On our final night we went to the Magic Kingdom. We started to make our way from Fantasyland to the exit about a half an hour after Wishes. The mess we encountered in the hub shocked me. There was garbage everywhere. Everything from water bottles to full trays of garbage were left all over the ground. This is something you would have never seen 10 years ago. However, I don't think you can fully blame Disney for it. There were CMs working to clean it up but the amount was overwhelming. I blame the guests for thinking it is fine to just leave their garbage.

My family still enjoys WDW but I think not only has Disney tried to cut back on some things but I also feel there is a lack of respect for others among more of the guests than there used to be.

 

[DISNEY1975]

On our final night we went to the Magic Kingdom. We started to make our way from Fantasyland to the exit about a half an hour after Wishes. The mess we encountered in the hub shocked me. There was garbage everywhere. Everything from water bottles to full trays of garbage were left all over the ground. This is something you would have never seen 10 years ago. However, I don't think you can fully blame Disney for it. There were CMs working to clean it up but the amount was overwhelming. I blame the guests for thinking it is fine to just leave their garbage.

That is disgusting. Im not one to speak up, but if I saw someone dropping trash on the ground, I would say "Excuse me, you dropped something" or "You forgot something" and I would point to their trash.

 

[bcrook]

That is disgusting. Im not one to speak up, but if I saw someone dropping trash on the ground, I would say "Excuse me, you dropped something" or "You forgot something" and I would point to their trash.

Or maybe Disney could just leave some brooms and dust pans around for guests like you and me to do some cleaning.

The story goes, that Walt watched how many steps people took before they threw their trash on the ground, and that is how he determined how far apart to put trash cans. That is problem solving. He didn't wander around chastising guests; he simply hired enough people to keep the park clean.

Although I'm sure he did gripe in private that he had to have so many trash cans!

 

[mellvswdw1]

"Magic" to me happens in the most unexpected ways that cannot be scripted....when you expect it, it won't happen. If you think your "owed" towel animals from value to deluxe...are they really "pixie dust"? I've always said and thought magic happens when you least expect it.....just saying. I wish everyone here the opportunity and ability to see and feel the magic!! That doesn't mean that I've not seen a decline over the last 15 years I've been coming or the last 9 years I've been a dvc member. My hope and prayer is the bean counters will see and feel the errors of their ways sooner than later!

 

[bcrook]

"Magic" to me happens in the most unexpected ways that cannot be scripted....when you expect it, it won't happen. If you think your "owed" towel animals from value to deluxe...are they really "pixie dust"? I've always said and thought magic happens when you least expect it.....just saying. I wish everyone here the opportunity and ability to see and feel the magic!! That doesn't mean that I've not seen a decline over the last 15 years I've been coming or the last 9 years I've been a dvc member. My hope and prayer is the bean counters will see and feel the errors of their ways sooner than later!

This is the tricky part isn't it?
The first question people are going to ask is... "For example, what have the bean counters taken and not replaced with something equally good or better?"
Then if you give examples of a few things that you liked that no longer exist, like towel animals, people will say..."you can't expect that, then it won't be magical."

I think that is the position that OP is in.

So, if the bean counters are behind this (and I agree with you), the general cost cutting moves across the board are showing up in a lot of places. Service (and magic are declining) Prices continue to rise. More people are complaining.

Then there is the DVC piece. 8 years ago I committed about $75000 to Disney on a 50 year investment along with 10's of thousands of other people. In our minds we expected WDW to continue to be excellent, fresh, and expanding. We were just coming off the Disney decade. A fifth gate should have been on the way (after all, a new park had been opening about every 10 years or so), and the excitement of new well themed attractions would draw us back each year. When we purchased, we had just come off a great run of additions: TSMM, Soarin, and Everest all popped up in a few years. Since 2007 when we purchased, Epcot, DHS, and DAK have combined for a net loss in attractions. Harry Potter stole Disney's thunder. As a DVC member I saw more and more DVC units being built (and very quickly I might add), and then I saw anti-customer policies go into effect at the same time like exorbitant increases in buffet prices, Tables in Wonderland jumping to $100.00, the hated credit guarantee for all restaurants - even the empty ones.

Then Disney unfolded their next anti magic plans:

1. The seven year plan for building new lands. It took less time to build MK and the resorts than it did to complete New Fantasyland. It took less time to build all of DAK then it's taking to build Pandora. Disney is giving the illusion that they are still building and adding, while ultimately they are shaving and cost cutting.

2. The misnamed crowd management tool: My Magic Plus. This misguided effort to better use existing infrastructure rather than build new rides has caused nearly all the problems. Key monies were siphoned away from Imagineering and Customer Service to pay for this multibilllion mistake. While DCA was getting Radiator Springs, WDW crowds were getting quotas.

The bean counters have been extremely busy counting their Cash flow. Profits are up. DVC has been a boon! Ticket prices are Soarin' over Florida. Labor cuts are more strategic with the data from the forced dining and ride reservations. This last decade has been rough. I'm with you, I hope that the bean counters find the errors of their ways sooner rather than later. The fastest way that is going to happen is by having thread posts and letters like the OP popping up.