Article on WDW ............not being kept up

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Todays Orlando paper had this article.................

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/feat...704mar27,0,111760.story?coll=orl-home-entlife

 

[perdidobay]

I read it too and posted on the CB......
the photo gallery shows it all.
But we knew this was happening, it just points out the truth

 

[capegirl]

We spend alot of money at Disney parks and resorts, you'd better believe we have "high expectations", and those expectations will be even higher now that there will be an increase in ticket prices.

 

[WDSearcher]

Well ... it costs just as much to visit Universal and SeaWorld, but the expectations are lower there, don't you think? I don't really think it's a factor of money so much as it is a factor of the name. For the past several months, it's been less expensive to go to a WDW park than it has been to go to Universal. They raised their ticket prices above Disney's a while back. But I'll bet that most of us didn't raise our expectations for Universal's upkeep and cleanliness above those we have for Disney simply because it cost more.

 

[Bob O]

I guess the peole who wrote the article must be disney/eisner haters like the rest of us who have the audacity to question disney on the lack of cleaning/maintaining the parks and constant prices increases.

 

[WDSearcher]

Where did anyone say THAT?

 

[capegirl]

People do not have lower expectations when they go to Universal just because the tickets are a few dollars cheaper.
I would be very dissapointed if I went to any park where I spent my hard earned money and found dirty restrooms, etc. whether it be Disney or Universal.
We all remember Disney when the sight of trash, and peeling paint,etc were unheard of, and we want to preserve the Disney that we've all come to know and love. There's nothing wrong with that.

 

[mickeyfantroy]

I was just at MK Tuesday with out of town guests (their first time there believe it or not.) While we was having lunch at Pecos Bill's saw a guest drop their tray sending catchup covered french fries across the floor. There were two cast members with brooms and pans, yet it was after almost ten minutes and a child slipping on one of the fries before they broke from their conversation and started cleaning. My friend was disapointed after hearing for years about Disney cleanliness.

 

[tiggersmom2]

Whenever I visit WDW (at least 4x per year ) I am amazed at the cleanliness! I can remember when I was a child the bathrooms were just NASTY!! I can remember feces and urine being EVERYWHERE!!! This was back in the early 80's, and I am NOT fabricating this, I remember it distinctly!

 

[anne1125]

I hate to say this but when we went to Busch Gardens in January it was in better condition that WDW AND we got annual passes for dirt cheap. Still, we love WDW too.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Not to be considered a Disney slam.
We also bought US premium APs in February. With a AAA discount the total cost for two adults was $255.
WDW: 4 parks -- DTD -- water parks (which we don't use anyway)
US: 2 parks -- City Walk
And AP or AAA members get discounts about everywhere at US.
And US is cleaner from what I have seen so far.
There is always someone in a restroom cleaning.
They really do give Disney a run for their money.

I think for our WDW PAP's we paid around $750. Then to get a decent discount on meals, I paid another $70 for the Disney Dining Experience.
Disney -- much more expensive. Hands down.
People could probably buy APs at SeaWorld and US for less than WDW APs.

I think with all the bad PR Disney already is getting, raising prices is not the thing to do.

 

[capegirl]

Originally posted by tiggersmom2
Whenever I visit WDW (at least 4x per year ) I am amazed at the cleanliness! I can remember when I was a child the bathrooms were just NASTY!! I can remember feces and urine being EVERYWHERE!!! This was back in the early 80's, and I am NOT fabricating this, I remember it distinctly!

I was there in the 80's too. I must have been there on the clean days, because I never saw anything like that.

 

[Baloo]

I started going to WDW in 1991.I began noticing neglect in, I guess 1998... each trip since there are MORE and MORE things being let go. The smell in some of the water ride is just YUCKY these days! Trash in the parks,dirty restrooms.I know the article is right about the painting (I have a 15yr WDW employee friend who backs that up...painting was ONLY done at night)...you NEVER saw any sort of work being done,gardners,maintainance... notta...until I remember about 5 years ago walking down Main St and scaffolding up and a guy painting,I thought "how tacky! "

Ya know WALT wanted it to be an escape from reality,from all the crap that makes life go around...I KNOW the company has the money...it's just all the money grubbling execs, esp.M.E., that are riding the cash cow ,milking her dry until 'ole Bessie becomes hamburger! It's just wrong and so freakin sad!

 

[lodgelady]

We were at WDW the very same day these photos were taken! It was the first day at the MK, we were walking down main street, glorying in the sight of the castle, smelling the chocolate chip cookies and then the spell was BROKEN when all we could smell was paint fumes!!
There were LOTS of little things like this that I noticed, not because I was looking for them (don't we want to suspend reality at WDW?) but because they just jumped out at me!
Lights burned out, moldy, musty smell on dark rides and in Epcot Pavillions, chipped paint, worn seat cushions and dirty restrooms.
By the second day of the trip I had begun to mutter "stupid eisner" to myself when I saw stuff like that. Yes my family puts up with me anyway!
While on Small World we wondered how much money could be raised to refurbish the ride if they dredged out the billions of coins at the bottom of the water there!

 

[SeaDog]

The local newspaper... the only dailey newspaper in town, in fact... has had a thing for Disney for as long as I can remember... I can say from experience... some of what you read on the pages of the paper may not be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth... but then, honest journalism doesn't sell newspapers... for what it's worth this is the company's reply...



The Magic of Disney has never been better
By Al Weiss
Special to the Sentinel

March 30, 2004

On Saturday, the Orlando Sentinel published a misleading story on maintenance at the Magic Kingdom. As a 30-year cast member and president of the Walt Disney World Resort, I find that the time has come for me to speak out on behalf of our talented and dedicated work force of 51,000 Central Florida citizens.

First, a couple of base-line facts.

In our history, we have never done a better job maintaining the Magic Kingdom than we do today. Despite the economic impacts of Sept. 11 and a recession, I can tell you, without hesitation, that we have more resources dedicated to this effort than at any time in the history of the park.

And more important, through research, our guests tell us each and every day that we are doing a great job maintaining all of our parks.

Three of our executives spent two hours detailing our commitment with four editors and the reporter who wrote this story. Still, the end result was focused on finding fault, with short shrift given to the superb conditions our guests experience throughout the Magic Kingdom each and every day.

Can you imagine what their "experts" would have told them if they asked them to detail what we are doing right in the Magic Kingdom as well? For example:


During our most recent guest survey, 90 percent of our guests said that the upkeep and cleanliness of the Magic Kingdom was either excellent or very good.


Currently, we are spending more than $100 million per year at the Magic Kingdom on maintenance. Last year, we spent $6 million on renovating the Crystal Palace alone. Is there any other outdoor-entertainment venue that makes this kind of investment?


More than 5,000 cast members are dedicated to maintenance and engineering, including 650 people who are focused on horticulture. We have more than 600 painters.

And beyond the numbers, our attention to detail is still a hallmark of our business:


We steam clean -- not pressure clean -- our streets every single night.


If you were driving a 2002 automobile, and it was a Disney attraction, it would have already gone through a restoration process, including a full chassis rebuild and sand blasting and repainting.


We have more than 100 intricate designs for our trashcans to ensure that they match the themes of our theme parks. There is a regular refurbishment cycle for each container.


We have cast members who are permanently assigned to painting the antique carousel horses. They use genuine gold leaf on these antique horses.


We raise our own trees at a tree farm and when a mature tree in a park needs to be replaced, we can do so with a full-grown tree that is 30 years old.

It is also worth noting that during a very challenging economic time following Sept. 11, Walt Disney World preserved cast members' jobs and managed to continue to invest in significant refurbishments, extensive marketing campaigns and important community initiatives.

The Walt Disney World Resort has also spent millions of dollars over the past three years on multimillion-dollar attractions at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. We have built and opened a new resort, and launched a new line of business.

Are we perfect? Of course not. Are we doing more than ever before to keep the Magic Kingdom and the rest of the Walt Disney World Resort show ready to welcome guests visiting today and in the future? Absolutely.

The Sentinel's premise-driven, "gotcha" approach to news gathering serves only to undermine our state's economic recovery. We tried to tell them our story, but they had already made up their minds.

The opinions we value the most are those of our guests and our neighbors, and we work hard to earn their praise. I invite you to visit soon to experience personally the commitment to excellence our cast members deliver each day.

My bet is that you will leave with lifelong magical memories.

 

[Beachangel]

I visit WDW 4-6 times per year and I don't recall ever being critical of anything I've seen. Dirty bathrooms, littered parade streets, trash along line queues, I never criticized Disney for not cleaning it all up fast enough. Its the slobs visting the parks that leave their trash behind that irritate me.

Do I notice chipped paint? Sure! But I personally don't expect the parks to be perfect 100% of the time. Its a shame some cannot walk the park and not find flaw. For all its history, MK is in great shape. The magic is alive and well.

 

[mickeyfantroy]

You're right Beachangel, it's more the slobs then the CM. Even in the incident I saw the worse part was the people who droped their tray, mainly kethup tubs, then ignored it as people kept wlaking through it spreading the kethup further.

On another occasion where it is the guest at fault I was with more visiting relatives (you get a lot of those when you live in Florida) My brother in law had stopped in a smoking area to have a cigarette. When he was finished he flicked the butt onto the sidewalk. I jumped all over him reminding him how he complains about smokers losing all their rights, and how it's his own fault and people like him. After all he was standing next to a ashtray yet chose not to use it.

So we can't blame the cast members when guests act this way!

 

[JeffH]

I found it ironic that in a story that begins by condemning the parking lots as a guests first impression of the park, showed a picture of one of the many (relatively) new welcome to WDW arches that now grace all the different entrances to WDW. I'm sorry, but things like THIS give guests their first impressions, not a 30 year old parking lot that looks old...who gives a rat's patoot about the parking lot!
The trams have always been loud and jerky, they are trams, not monorails!
The Magic Kingdom experience has never been more magical.
You are now greeted when it opens by a wonderful welcome ceremony and more characters than you've ever seen at one time who ride up on the train and meet and greet on Main Street all morning, then head out to their spots in the park for the rest of the day.
Several times in the morning the horse-trolley is boarded by singers who entertain the guests with song and dance.
There are more characters throughout the park then ever...it's almost insane.
They castle show is marvelous and includes live singing!
There are 3 character meals, including the royal Cindy breakfast, 3 wonderful buffet meals with Pooh, and dinner with Minnie and friends.
The snow globe parade is the best ever, especially when it stops to let the kids play (although they haven't done this since the accident).
Philharmagic and Pooh are great new additions to Fantasyland, and Wishes is 7 times better than any fireworks display they've ever had.
Then as you leave you will see Mickey waving and saying good night from the train station.

Hands down, today's Magic Kingdom is a fuller more magical experience than it ever has been.

 

[jarestel]

It's interesting that Mr. Weiss ( and several posters on this thread ) dismissed the notion that any of the concerns mentioned in the article could have any validity. There's nothing wrong with rattling off WDW's impressive maintenance stats, but if mgmt refuses to admit there might be a problem or two, it's hard to see how things are going to get any better in the future.

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by jarestel
It's interesting that Mr. Weiss ( and several posters on this thread ) dismissed the notion that any of the concerns mentioned in the article could have any validity. There's nothing wrong with rattling off WDW's impressive maintenance stats, but if mgmt refuses to admit there might be a problem or two, it's hard to see how things are going to get any better in the future.

The man is the Prez of WDW. Do you think he's going to state, in public, "yup ... you're right ... we've slipped." Of course not. The real indicator of whether or not it hit home will be what happens from here on out.

The thing the story in the paper doesn't mention is how long did it take the messy areas they found to get cleaned up? Did they, for example, wait around and see how long the bathroom stayed dirty, or did they just mark it down as messy and move on? And ... the maintenance problems they discovered -- are they in the maintenance queue already as things that are on the list to be done, or were they new discoveries that Disney's guys didn't know about. That's the info we don't have. And really ... that's the info that tells the true picture of how Disney is doing. I mean ... my bathroom is normally quite clean, but occasionally it's a mess. So if someone happened to see it on the one day of the week it's a mess, is it fair for them to assume it's always that way and to tell all my friends that I'm a slob?