Is WDW losing its edge?

[jetdoctor]

Just watched the dis unplugged for this week. They all seemed to notice a lot of negative changes at the parks. Things like unclean bathrooms and cig butts not getting cleaned up at smokers stations. I have read a lot of negative reviews of the the new CG. They also made comments that CM's just not being up to Disney's standard. Is this some current blip or is it more widespread? I am sure the many of you out there can truly admire what Disney has done for decades. Things we Disney nuts take for granted like super clean environment. This is what separates Disney from everyone else. I have been a complete Disney nerd for most of my life on the point of obsession. But I have notice a small decline in years. Things like customer service just small things because in my experience it's still top notch. It's like anything people do have bad days. We should have grace for them. But the food. Disney food is hit or miss. They are so inconsistent. One visit something could be great and the next really bad. I hope as Pete said on dis unplugged that Disney is listening.

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[FlightlessDuck]

Interestingly, both unclean bathrooms and cigarette butts on the ground are caused by guests. So, how much of it is Disney saving money by laying off employees and how much of it is Neanderthals not cleaning up after themselves?

 

[TDC Nala]

I've seen some negative reviews of the new California Grill (mostly service issues) but a lot of positive ones too.

 

[AmyB2006]

Interestingly, both unclean bathrooms and cigarette butts on the ground are caused by guests. So, how much of it is Disney saving money by laying off employees and how much of it is Neanderthals not cleaning up after themselves?

But these (Neanderthals LOL) have always existed. Disney just used to do a better job at keeping it cleaner.

ITA with the OP. I have been coming to Disney since I was a child, and it's definitely not like it used to be. But then again, what really is these days?

I do wish Disney would keep up with the standards they set so long ago, and continuously strive to exceed them, in all areas.

 

[TreeSapp]

I notice more now than I used to, but now I'm 30 and go 5x a year. I can't imagine taking the time to look around hard (or care) when I was 2-22 and only going once a year.

I wonder if its changed so much, or if our lives just slow til we notice? When my sister was there with her 2yr old I can't imagine she looked at anything but her family & photo ops

 

[ArwenMarie]

I didn't notice any uncleanliness on our last trip.

The food OTOH...Maybe it was just a string of bad luck, but we thought the food was pretty awful (with the exception of Yachtsman).

It was mainly the meat that was the problem, and it was across the parks and resorts at various eateries (I guess they source it from the same place, I dunno)...but it all tasted so processed and over salted and sometimes like shoe leather.

 

[apress]

We just returned from our 8th disney trip and I feel like Disney maybe losing their edge a bit. The CM's didn't seem as friendly. Some of our waiters, seemed like we were bothering them when we would ask for simply things, like refills. I know people say about the food being hit or miss, but this is the first trip where I really felt like the food had gone downhill. This trip just didn't seem as magically as the previous ones.

 

[TinkerKell-ey]

I guess I disagree....we were there in August (everybody was hot-and you could smell it!) and I was only half joking when I said Disney is the only place I know of that you go INTO THE BATHROOM for fresh air : ). Sure there are imperfections here and there, but I thought WDW looked really good overall...

I also commented several times on how fabulous the customer service was compared to previous trips. I really thought things had changed for the better in comparison with past visits.

 

[PEC]

I hope we are not falling into the category of being constant critics. What I mean is are we looking for what is wrong vs what is right. When I went in June I remember 2 events. One was a child of mine left a stuffed animal on TSM. We went to a CM and a couple minutes later they came out with the stuffed animal. Most parks I know would not have wasted the time to look for it until park closing much less get it back to us. Then after eating at Askerhus my granddaughter had left her glove from her Rapunzel outfit. Once again we went back and they returned the glove. Most places would have thrown that right into the trash can as they were busting the table.
I'm sure if I wanted to look for a frown on the face of the boat driver at the end of a long rainy day I am sure I could have found it. Instead I looked and was impressed in how they all seemed to go the extra mile.

 

[TreeSapp]

When I said I notice more than I used to: we still notice very little wrong. One time at 1am there was trash in the Ariel Grotto line (maybe because a group just before us was slobs? Who knows!) but I would never expect a janitor to constantly parade each line on the lookout for instant trash. We did point it out to a cast member on our way out tho - sometimes they're genuinely unaware of an issue til you let them know

 

[Magpie]

My first thought was, "Since when did WDW ever have an edge?"

That said, I wouldn't pay too much heed to the critics.

Have you ever been on a cleaning spree in your home? You know, you get started and think, "Oh, this is pretty tidy. I'll be done really quickly!" Then you start looking around, and you notice there's dust on the TV. There's fingerprints on the switch plate. The baseboards are grubby. The books are out of order. The magazines are piling up... The more you clean, the more you notice how many other things are out of place!

I think the folks on the podcasts are having the same problem we have when a ten minute tidying job turns into a three hour cleaning marathon. Disney is their home. They know it inside out and backwards. And when they go looking for problems, problems are all they see.

I made up a bunch of buttons to give out to CMs as a thank you on our spring trip this year. I had absolutely no problem finding delightful CMs to give them away to!

Once we stopped by a stand in Animal Kingdom to inquire if they had Mickey bars. They did, but we decided we should go ride the Safari first and then come back. When we came back they were closing up. We were disappointed, but just as we were walking up the young man recognized us and said, "Oh! I saved a bar for you. Here, no charge! Have a magical day!"

I did not notice any garbage, either. If anything, people seemed to be everywhere, sweeping up, painting cartoons on the ground with water, and emptying cans.

So no, I don't think Disney's "lost its edge". I think it's simply that you will always find what you're looking for when you visit Disney. That, and things always seem more magical when you're young and less concerned about "cleaning up" all the time.

 

[Rusteze]

My wife is a former CM from MK and Epcot. She definitely feels that over the last 20 years or so that customer service has slowly gone downhill. It's not terrible by any means but not quite as magical as years past. She just thinks that most CM's nowadays don't bend over backwards for guests. I agree to an extent, but I think part of it is just society changing though.

 

[#1DopeyFan]

I have always been one to defend, defend, defend when it comes to Disney, and I still do. LOL...that being said, we just got back last Saturday and I can definitely say we encountered more dirty restrooms then probably all of our others trips combined. One in World Showcase was plain NASTY!!
We also had a handful of not-so-friendly CM's, totally surprising for me.

Did it ruin my trip? Nope. Did it even affect my trip? Nope! Was I still happier there then any other place on earth? Yep!

 

[MaleficentRN]

It's one of those things you don't notice until someone says something, I think. I saw that Dis podcast and on Tuesday I started noticing how surly some CM were to some guest and that there were empty soda bottles laying in the Doom Buggy loading area of HM. I may have not noticed the blatantly rude CMs, but there was no overlooking the trash.

 

[jetdoctor]

I hope we are not falling into the category of being constant critics. What I mean is are we looking for what is wrong vs what is right. When I went in June I remember 2 events. One was a child of mine left a stuffed animal on TSM. We went to a CM and a couple minutes later they came out with the stuffed animal. Most parks I know would not have wasted the time to look for it until park closing much less get it back to us. Then after eating at Askerhus my granddaughter had left her glove from her Rapunzel outfit. Once again we went back and they returned the glove. Most places would have thrown that right into the trash can as they were busting the table. I'm sure if I wanted to look for a frown on the face of the boat driver at the end of a long rainy day I am sure I could have found it. Instead I looked and was impressed in how they all seemed to go the extra mile.

Not trying to be over critical still a huge fan of Disney. But Disney is expensive. I could go spend my hard earned money anywhere. But as Clark Griswald said. I'm going to Wally World. I chose to go year after year. I feel if I see something I don't like that we should be able to voice our opinions. And like Pete said on dis unplugged. NBC Comcast is dumping " $ 500 billion" with a B into its parks to not only compete with Disney but to be the reason to go to Orlando.
We all pay a premium price to go to Disney just think they should still treat us that way. Just step it up just a little back to that Disney way.

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[jetdoctor]

I have always been one to defend, defend, defend when it comes to Disney, and I still do. LOL...that being said, we just got back last Saturday and I can definitely say we encountered more dirty restrooms then probably all of our others trips combined. One in World Showcase was plain NASTY!! We also had a handful of not-so-friendly CM's, totally surprising for me. Did it ruin my trip? Nope. Did it even affect my trip? Nope! Was I still happier there then any other place on earth? Yep!

And I agree with you. I defend Disney like they are one of my children. And I won't let small things ruin my trip. Disney is still my favorite place to go. I had a great opportunity to go to Kona HI this year and crazily I choose Disney because I love it. I'm just making a point that they have changed some of the way they do things. I didn't mean to sound over critical.

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[CuteAsMinnie]

We were at WDW in July for 9 glorious days.

Not one hiccup.

Not one negative experience.

Not one rude CM.

Not one incompetent CM anywhere.

Nothing but cheerful CMs.

Nothing but delightful CM/waiters.

All the food was outstanding.

All parks were clean as clean could be.

Our resort was beyond perfect.

Resort/park transportation was hiccup-free ( except for resort to Tyhpoon Lagoon but we expected that).

Nothing is perfect but...

WDW is pretty darn near.

Just my $.02.

 

[jetdoctor]

I'm going for 10 days in oct so I'll give my $0.02

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[mrsclark]

We just got back from a trip two weeks ago. To us, things were actually better than the last two two years in one very important way - transportation. In 2011 and 2012 we had major long waits for buses, but this year everything ran like clockwork, the Disney I remember!

As for clean restrooms, I saw CMs in almost every bathroom I used cleaning up and the bathrooms seemed in very good shape. The parks seemed very clean to us too with the exception of HM at MK. At the part where you go past the ghost trying to push out of his casket there was trash all over the floor (empty water bottles, paper etc.) right by the ride track. It looked like it had been there for awhile, but maybe it was just from earlier in the day and they had to wait until the park closed to clean it up? This was not the first time I saw trash on that ride so maybe people really like to throw there trash out at that spot???

 

[mrsclark]

Oh and I should say we only encountered one rude CM our entire time there - our waitress at Le Cellier