ILoveMyDVC
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2000
Well, after 15 years of absolutely loving my DVC membership, I have had it.
Let's recap:
1. 4 days of waiting for someone to trim the palm trees that are hanging over the balcony ( I have a real fear and was promised everyday that it would be taken care of) Don't need a truck - just someone with Fiskars. I realize they can't cater to everyone's whims but they shouldn't have said they'd fix it if they didn't intend to get to it.
2. Dinner at Cape May Cafe (always on our arrival night). ADRs were 45 minutes behind. Food sucked. Servers working the buffet were miserable and snipping at each other. At one point, there was only one women back there and she was doing all of the carving. There were no steamers (looked like the oven was going to blow any minute), mac & cheese, corn on the cob, terriyaki salmon or potatoes. They got rid of the lemonade (now, it's lite crystal garbage) Cost was 76 dollars for two without alcohol. We ate at Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah the night before for 66 dollars with wine and beer and the servers were super nice and the food was very good. At Cape May, AP and DVC discounts gone and 'premium' charge added.
3. Quality of things I look forward to has dropped considerably. No more cupcakes with real frosting. It's fake pumped non dairy lard. Cupcake is thawed dry flavorless frozen cake. Candy apple was 6 dollars and awful - had to be thrown away. Oddly, we were approached to take a survey about our food experiences in HS. Peanut butter cups were 6 dollars and when opened (immediately in store) were one massive melted and re-melted ball. Popcorn in MK and HS was cold and soggy.
4. In HS, refused the one and only water we have ever requested - told they could no longer give water to their guests for health reasons. But they could sell us Powerade for 3 dollars a piece.
5. BUGS in Caesar salad at the Land - several bugs and nobody cared. manager and cashier just looked at them, shrugged, threw it in the garbage and refunded my money.
6. Witnessed a cast member give a guest grief because she wanted a small size t-shirt. The store was empty and he wasn't doing anything but he sure gave her attitude.
7. Three phone calls and a visit to concierge to get an answer as to where to purchase TIW card. Had to go to one of the 4 parks to get it. What a PIA.
1st cast member (desk at OKW via phone) didn't know what it was - had to explain twice. 2nd. member said DTD only. 3rd. said parks only. 4th. said EPCOT only.
8. Last night, late in HS - we were at the board that lists the wait times. THREE Disney MANAGERS were standing there. We asked about the accuracy of the time for Toy Story Mania. We were told that it is 'the hottest thing in Orlando right now' followed by one of the MANAGERS saying until "(blah blah) opens in Universal. He then asked if we'd been to that park. I said, no, we always just go to Disney. His response...."oh you should go to blah blah, it's much better than here" A DISNEY MANAGER WITH TWO OTHER DISNEY MANAGERS. When I looked at him oddly, he said, "my partner works there so my mortgage gets paid either way". Good for him. Maybe Disney should open an institute and run business seminars on arrogant customer service. Reminds me of the airlines.
9. 285 dollar check for 6 people with 3 drinks at O'Hana. Price was outrageous but 22 minute wait for waiter to stop at table to bring skewers (or refills on the appetizers) was even crazier Finally, a server came over and apologized - he said he worked on the other side of the dining room but came over to help out because they were so far behind. (the tables next to us were in the same boat) The mandatory 41 dollar tip was OUTRAGEOUS. Really, how many people do you think make 41/hr plus their salary and benefits in the real world? And that's just one table and he sucked!
10. Knob broken off cabinet (screw is stripped so it can't be fixed); three shelves in cabinets broken, stains on couch, rug worn out in some areas; balcony loaded with wasp nests. Knives are dime store quality. Blender completely worthless couldn't move air.
11. First ever bus ride at WDW- AK to OKW or so I thought. Had to go to Blizzard Beach in between (???). No air conditioning on the bus and I am always cold. My DH and friends left at the same time from the AK lot, they had to go to the tram, go the car (end of row in Dinosaur 31) and go to Publix. We went to the bus top and boarded the waiting bus. We got back barely two minutes before they did.
12. Nobody checked IDs at EMH at HS. Only TOT looked. RRC, Move Ride, and Muppet Vision did not and the lines were enormous. At 11:30, RRC was 85 minutes.
13. Arrogant, miserable cast members in every park. (exception was Louis at check-in, he was very nice) It's as if they are doing you a favor just by being there. Lots of sighing and shrugging and eye rolling and it seems to be consistent with all guests. There's a chip on the shoulder and a make-fun-of-the-guests attitude that is pervasive. Even the roof guy working at OKW outside of our room was snotty and arrogant. Disney has made some very poor decisions in its hiring choices for a few years and it is really showing now at the management level.
14. Last few years, I haven't felt valued as a DVC member. It was more a feeling of being trapped but I loved OKW and WDW. Now I don't feel valued as a guest at OKW or WDW. I can get better treatment and more knowledgeable staff that like and want their jobs at my local mall. And this includes my guide, who I have spoken to 4 times in 15 years (the first 3 before I signed the contract). He is never available and he never returns calls.
Gosh, that was really long but thanks for letting me say it all. We have another 8 days here. Hopefully, it gets better but I don't think it will.
Let's recap:
1. 4 days of waiting for someone to trim the palm trees that are hanging over the balcony ( I have a real fear and was promised everyday that it would be taken care of) Don't need a truck - just someone with Fiskars. I realize they can't cater to everyone's whims but they shouldn't have said they'd fix it if they didn't intend to get to it.
2. Dinner at Cape May Cafe (always on our arrival night). ADRs were 45 minutes behind. Food sucked. Servers working the buffet were miserable and snipping at each other. At one point, there was only one women back there and she was doing all of the carving. There were no steamers (looked like the oven was going to blow any minute), mac & cheese, corn on the cob, terriyaki salmon or potatoes. They got rid of the lemonade (now, it's lite crystal garbage) Cost was 76 dollars for two without alcohol. We ate at Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah the night before for 66 dollars with wine and beer and the servers were super nice and the food was very good. At Cape May, AP and DVC discounts gone and 'premium' charge added.
3. Quality of things I look forward to has dropped considerably. No more cupcakes with real frosting. It's fake pumped non dairy lard. Cupcake is thawed dry flavorless frozen cake. Candy apple was 6 dollars and awful - had to be thrown away. Oddly, we were approached to take a survey about our food experiences in HS. Peanut butter cups were 6 dollars and when opened (immediately in store) were one massive melted and re-melted ball. Popcorn in MK and HS was cold and soggy.
4. In HS, refused the one and only water we have ever requested - told they could no longer give water to their guests for health reasons. But they could sell us Powerade for 3 dollars a piece.
5. BUGS in Caesar salad at the Land - several bugs and nobody cared. manager and cashier just looked at them, shrugged, threw it in the garbage and refunded my money.
6. Witnessed a cast member give a guest grief because she wanted a small size t-shirt. The store was empty and he wasn't doing anything but he sure gave her attitude.
7. Three phone calls and a visit to concierge to get an answer as to where to purchase TIW card. Had to go to one of the 4 parks to get it. What a PIA.
1st cast member (desk at OKW via phone) didn't know what it was - had to explain twice. 2nd. member said DTD only. 3rd. said parks only. 4th. said EPCOT only.
8. Last night, late in HS - we were at the board that lists the wait times. THREE Disney MANAGERS were standing there. We asked about the accuracy of the time for Toy Story Mania. We were told that it is 'the hottest thing in Orlando right now' followed by one of the MANAGERS saying until "(blah blah) opens in Universal. He then asked if we'd been to that park. I said, no, we always just go to Disney. His response...."oh you should go to blah blah, it's much better than here" A DISNEY MANAGER WITH TWO OTHER DISNEY MANAGERS. When I looked at him oddly, he said, "my partner works there so my mortgage gets paid either way". Good for him. Maybe Disney should open an institute and run business seminars on arrogant customer service. Reminds me of the airlines.
9. 285 dollar check for 6 people with 3 drinks at O'Hana. Price was outrageous but 22 minute wait for waiter to stop at table to bring skewers (or refills on the appetizers) was even crazier Finally, a server came over and apologized - he said he worked on the other side of the dining room but came over to help out because they were so far behind. (the tables next to us were in the same boat) The mandatory 41 dollar tip was OUTRAGEOUS. Really, how many people do you think make 41/hr plus their salary and benefits in the real world? And that's just one table and he sucked!
10. Knob broken off cabinet (screw is stripped so it can't be fixed); three shelves in cabinets broken, stains on couch, rug worn out in some areas; balcony loaded with wasp nests. Knives are dime store quality. Blender completely worthless couldn't move air.
11. First ever bus ride at WDW- AK to OKW or so I thought. Had to go to Blizzard Beach in between (???). No air conditioning on the bus and I am always cold. My DH and friends left at the same time from the AK lot, they had to go to the tram, go the car (end of row in Dinosaur 31) and go to Publix. We went to the bus top and boarded the waiting bus. We got back barely two minutes before they did.
12. Nobody checked IDs at EMH at HS. Only TOT looked. RRC, Move Ride, and Muppet Vision did not and the lines were enormous. At 11:30, RRC was 85 minutes.
13. Arrogant, miserable cast members in every park. (exception was Louis at check-in, he was very nice) It's as if they are doing you a favor just by being there. Lots of sighing and shrugging and eye rolling and it seems to be consistent with all guests. There's a chip on the shoulder and a make-fun-of-the-guests attitude that is pervasive. Even the roof guy working at OKW outside of our room was snotty and arrogant. Disney has made some very poor decisions in its hiring choices for a few years and it is really showing now at the management level.
14. Last few years, I haven't felt valued as a DVC member. It was more a feeling of being trapped but I loved OKW and WDW. Now I don't feel valued as a guest at OKW or WDW. I can get better treatment and more knowledgeable staff that like and want their jobs at my local mall. And this includes my guide, who I have spoken to 4 times in 15 years (the first 3 before I signed the contract). He is never available and he never returns calls.
Gosh, that was really long but thanks for letting me say it all. We have another 8 days here. Hopefully, it gets better but I don't think it will.
. MY BEDROOM - don't care who else comes or what their arrangements are. It's MY bedroom. Mattress is comfortable for us but we sleep on 95% sleep select at home. Pillows are cotton balls - I brought my own foam one.
Vent away. I hope things begin to look up.
I think I need to take a break from the DIS for a while. We haven't even closed on our first DVC purchase and this bums me out too much. I want to look forward to my October trip . I am so sorry things have not worked out for you and do hope that your trip improves.
to all the dirty room bad service comments. We also just purchased.
