DEBATE: What happened to the old Disney?

[pdscott3]

I just had to do a little venting, so forgive me. I have been a long-time Disney-goer (over 30 years since my first visit!). My husband and I took his brother to MGM Studios on New Year's Eve since he was from England and had never had a Disney experience. What happened throughout the day was embarrassing and downright depressing. The state of the park was a bit dismal - we saw trash everywhere and the bathrooms were unclean. We had never seen that at any of the parks before. We met rude employee after rude employee! During a downpour at 8pm, all of us ran with my 9 month old infant to the Indiana Jones trading shop to buy some parkas. When we reached the door, an employee yelled at us that we were using an exit for an entrance and slammed the door shut in our faces, leaving us in the pouring rain with our son. We had to make our way through the crown to another entrance. We were absolutely soaked, shocked and deflated by the employee's attitude. We left within the next hour and witnessed a tram host yelling at people to stay away from the tram - and I do mean YELLING!

The next morning, we made our way down to the Marketplace for breakfast - we were staying at the All-Star Resort. We went to the omelette line where we witnessed another example of shocking behavior. A French woman was in front of us asking for an egg (she spoke very well, I thought). The omelette chef, an older gentleman, rolled his eyes and told another employee to show the woman what she could and could not order from the menu. He then proceeded to talk to another customer in line and said "It's always the same with these foreigners. They only know how to order and egg or an omelette." My jaw dropped open and the other customers were obviously uncomfortable at being spoken to in that manner.

Has Disney become a wasteland of disgruntled employees or have Disney standards dropped considerably to attract new employees? I know they have drastically cut the full-time positions, so I guess that leaves part-time jobs with little or no benefits that attract some pretty miserable people.

I don't want to leave on a sour note, so I will say that my 9-month old absolutely LOVED the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The audience around us watched him more than the show because he was jumping up and down in my husband's lap and singing. We heard a lot of giggling around us! We all loved the show. We also enjoyed the character parade with all the neat cars. None of the bad episodes will stop us from going to Disney World again, but it will probably affect us from going as much (we only live 2 hours away). We were truly sad when we left, but for all the wrong reasons...

 

[wdwguide]

What you are describing is absolutely unacceptable, but I have unfortunately witnessed such behavior myself. I wouldn't say that it is common, but it also isn't as rare as it should be.

A big problem on New Year's Eve is that many guests are somewhat intoxicated, and there are a LOT of people in the parks, making it hard for the CMs to do their job right. And when it comes to crowd control, most CMs just appear to have never been trained with how to handle large groups of people.

Another factor is that there are 7 major theme parks in Orlando, which means that Disney can no longer pick the best, but they have to take pretty much whatever they can get to fill the positions. Thankfully, rude people do not tend to last longer than a few months...

I certainly recommend you voice your concerns by writing them a letter or e-mail about it. You most likely won't receive more than a form letter or a phone call from a skilled employee whose job it is to apologize to you and then convince you that it really wasn't their fault, but that they are always looking at improving their services, but occasionally these things do get through to the right people.

 

[Bob O]

I agree with wdwguide and that i would write letters to let them know what i experienced, escpecially if you were able to get the names of the emplyee's. What you reported it unacceptable.
I guess ive been lucky because ive only had good experiences with any CM i have dealt with and while at DL/DCA this december i had no negative interactions at all with any CM!!!

 

[grinningghost]

This is exactly what Walt Disney didn't want in his parks. Someone on the top of the corporate Disney heap needs to get back to Walt's original plan. I'd write a letter (via US Mail, not e-mail, I think the penned ones grab their attention better - maybe in a colored envelope), and explain, in a non-combative manner what you experienced. At the very least, you are owed an apology, and hopefully a reassurance that they are working on the problems. Good luck.

 

[pdscott3]

Thanks for the feedback. I feel better knowing I wasn't alone on this. I truly do love what Disney has to offer, but agree that things have changed so much in the last few years. The majority of the employees there are great. We especially had a really nice girl check us in to the All-Star Resort.

I only say that they have somehow lowered their standards because I remember my sister telling me about the background checks and interview questions they did when she applied several years ago. She loved her years at Disney while she went to the University in Orlando. We also still have a friend who works there at EPCOT in Alfredo's - he's probably been there 10 years now and enjoying it still.

I hope my experience was rare because I want my son to walk away with the same memories I have of all my previous visits. To this day, I still remember vividly my visit to Disney Land when I was 5!

 

[ohanafamily]

I would write a letter to guest communications at the parks. They will route it to the correct person.

Here is an e-mail address for them:


wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com.

 

[LUVMICKEY]

Unfortunatly, I have to friends that had a couple of bad expieriences with a couple of CM's. They both e-mailed Disney and they both got personal phone calls in return. One of them received 12 tickets to the parks because of her bad experiance and they did something nice for the other one too but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. If I were you I would definatly write to them and let them know what happened. It dosen't hurt to try. It could turn out great. Glad to know that it won't stop you from going back.

Michele

 

[Kaitysmom]

I agree with everyone here too - you can really notice a difference in the level of service provided by many CMs. I also know that being a CM must be one of the most difficult jobs out there. On my last few trips, I have been dismayed by the arrogance and rudeness of the visitors to the parks. Every year it seems to get worse and worse, or maybe now I am just starting to notice.

Once on Castaway Cay, I saw a man arguing with a CM because they had run out of rental boats. He was horrible, but the CM kept his cool and was very polite. I walked away amazed because I would have been really upset had it been me.

I have been on trams when the CM says there will be no further boarding. People keep coming, they repeat the message, people don't listen, etc.

Once I get started... there are trash cans everywhere and I still see people throwing trash on the ground. Again, I think that it is a challenge for some people to see if they can make the parks look sloppy as it has long been said how clean the parks are. The way the bathrooms look is completely unacceptable on many levels, you wouldn't believe the way one looked on my last trip. It must have been a challenge for the person to paint the fixtures with you know what.

I am not excusing the behavior you listed at all, don't get me wrong!!! and you certainly didn't deserve to see the things that you did. I just wish that all of the guests would behave themselves and give the CMs and their fellow guests some consideration as well.

 

[Tick-Tock]

"What happened to the Old Disney?" is a valid question; but I am equally curious about "what happened to the old Disney guest?". As pdscott3 points out, guest rudeness has increased significantly. I have only been going to WDW since 1992, but the general behavior of the crowds has sharply declined in the last decade in my experience. I can remember when a crowded Saturday night Spectromagic at MK did not necessarily translate into near armed combat along Main Street to hold or acquire positions. I can remember when adult guests would volunteer to put children in front of them for a better view. And I can remember lengthy but completely civilized exits from the park despite incredible volumes of people. I can't explain the decline, only witness to it and try not to let my temper make me a thoughtless participant in the mayhem. At this point, but for the wishes of my wife and children, I would cheerfully forgo the MK daily parade, Spectromagic, the fireworks and Fantasmic, just to avoid involving myself in decidedly 'un-vacation-like' experiences. My gut instinct says that the guest attitude changes can't be laid solely at the feet of Disney or its CMs. People blame Disney (validly in most instances) for cutbacks in hours and services which impact the value of the vacation; but I also think guest rudeness and lack of consideration accounts for just as much of a decrease in the magic of one's time at WDW.

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says..............................You are so right tick tock. Thats why in 2001 we instituted the E awards, named after my daughter who drew them. We gave out ten on a ten day trip and each CM that got one earned it. Monorail driver, streetsweeper, waiter, maid etc. Common people, no characters. One said she was there for 7 years and nothing like this had ever happened to her.
November 2002 we only gave out five, but we stayed off-site for two thirds of the trip. The best one was a survey person, they are you where are you from,was it good etc... We love to answer those. We saw her at EPCOT she was very bubbly and happy that we were happy to talk to her. The next day we saw her as we were leaving AK. So I had to do this. I went up and demanded she let us answer her survey, she didn't recognize us at first. I said the answers are the same as yesterday! Then she got it! We talked like old friends for a few minutes and DD hands here an E award. It says stuff like you are great, Disney is lucky to have you etc...Tears start to well up and start to flow! She was so happy! I think it is time for us to spread the magic to the CM's, to make up for "the other" guests!

 

[ohanafamily]

Disnee Dad, Great Idea!

Would you post the text or a picture? DW would love that Idea...
We have our guest of honor badges, but that seems like a great thing to do.....

 

[nats]

The first time I went to Disneyworld was in 1974 with my wife and two teenage sons. When we stood on line in the hot sun, there were overhead pipes blowing down cool air. I was pleasant even though it was hot.
The park was spotless. If you should drop a piece of paper it would be scooped up before it hit the ground. At that time you purchased a book of tickets and had to be selective of how you used them. Because of this you had to be very selective of what you used them for. All the main attractions always had a long line.
We did not go back again until after Epcot opened. It was a wonderful experience. The place was spotless. CMs were great.
We have been going every two years until 2000. Towards the end we could see the decline in maintenance and service.
They have to turn the place into a family adventure instead of a thrill ride experience.
I have no desire to return.