disney magic? exactly how much do we expect?

[honugirl]

Truthfully, I expect nothing more than a smile from a CM. My Disney magic comes from the Chef at Pop Century that remembered my name and allergies from 7 months earlier and greeted me on my last trip like I'd been there just the previous day. Or my other favorite chef who made me the most extraordinary fruit plate ever because he wanted to! My Disney magic was making friends with CM's that I still talk to. I don't need a towel animal or a Happy Birthday or a cake or a special prize. It's the people that keep me coming back to WDW not the trinkets, they're the ones that truly make the magic.

 

[Respect]

What do I expect? Quite frankly, I expect the Disney employees to go way out of their way to make my trip magical, my family's trip magical, and all other guests trips magical as well.

If I encounter a rude CM or mousekeeper, I'm rude to them back. If I encounter a grumpy janitor, I'm grumpy back. It doesn't happen often but I don't appreciate it the few times it does happen.

As far as the mouse towels, I've always gotten them. I believe the housekeepers are instructed to leave them in the deluxes. So for the earlier post where the keeper refused to do them anymore, if I was management and found out, I'd can her. Wouldn't want that kind of attitude in the disney resorts.

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

When I was working last week, I had a guest come up to me and ask.."what does Disney do for Birthdays"? I am not sure exactly what she wanted me to say, but I told her to have her son get his birthday button, and that the CM's wish you a happy birthday everywhere you go!! I did let her know if she is at a restaurant, they MAY give him a birthday cupcake, but not to except that.

she looked bewildered.I just said if there is something special you want, you need to plan to purchase what it is she wants...cake, balloons etc. to guarantee that this is a party like atmosphere.

I am not sure what she thought would happen. and I did let her know that there are now birthday buttons everywhere and to really not except anything.

not sure what people are looking for, but the best way to get what you want there, plan to pay!!

 

[Respect]

. double post

 

[sjaakie]

What do I expect? Quite frankly, I expect the Disney employees to go way out of their way to make my trip magical, my family's trip magical, and all other guests trips magical as well.

If I encounter a rude CM or mousekeeper, I'm rude to them back. If I encounter a grumpy janitor, I'm grumpy back. It doesn't happen often but I don't appreciate it the few times it does happen.

As far as the mouse towels, I've always gotten them. I believe the housekeepers are instructed to leave them in the deluxes. So for the earlier post where the keeper refused to do them anymore, if I was management and found out, I'd can her. Wouldn't want that kind of attitude in the disney resorts.

Towel animals are in every resort,not only the deluxes.
The highlighted part is exactly were it goes wrong. You're expections are way to high.

 

[Respect]

The highlighted part is exactly were it goes wrong. You're expections are way to high.

Not really. The job of the Disney employees is to make the guests enjoy their stay, otherwise their is no Disney World. So they should be doing whatever possible to make sure everyone has a good stay.

 

[Schmeck]

Not really. The job of the Disney employees is to make the guests enjoy their stay, otherwise their is no Disney World. So they should be doing whatever possible to make sure everyone has a good stay.

There is a big difference between 'good' and 'magical' - good is having your basic needs met, such as a clean room, decent service, access to amenities. Magical is much more - something special that makes your heart just glow, your eyes well up, puts that huge grin on your face that stays long after the event occurred. Unless WDW is willing to hire twice as many CMs, (and have some valium present in each room for the uber-grumps, maybe three pills in a hidden Mickey design?) everyone is not going to experience a 'magical' trip if they only depend on the CMs for that magic. Everyone should have a good trip though, if they are in the right frame of mind to start with.

 

[Mkrop]

What do I expect? Quite frankly, I expect the Disney employees to go way out of their way to make my trip magical, my family's trip magical, and all other guests trips magical as well.

If I encounter a rude CM or mousekeeper, I'm rude to them back. If I encounter a grumpy janitor, I'm grumpy back. It doesn't happen often but I don't appreciate it the few times it does happen.

As far as the mouse towels, I've always gotten them. I believe the housekeepers are instructed to leave them in the deluxes. So for the earlier post where the keeper refused to do them anymore, if I was management and found out, I'd can her. Wouldn't want that kind of attitude in the disney resorts.

We have stayed Deluxe quite often before we bought DVC, and there we did not get towel animals every trip, there is no need for them. And really they dont make my trip, a clean room does.

Did you ever think that if just maybe you were nice to that grumpy person who might be having a bad day (and we all do in our jobs I dont care what you do) it may help their day get better.

Not really. The job of the Disney employees is to make the guests enjoy their stay, otherwise their is no Disney World. So they should be doing whatever possible to make sure everyone has a good stay.

Sounds like that episode of Spongebob where Mr Krabbs opens a hotel and he caters to all the guests needs no matter what. If you saw the episode, then you would realize that pleasing all the guests all the time is near impossible.


But hey interesting first post.....

 

[Tinker74]

You've got a good point.

One of the questions we get here all the time that make me cringe "It's my birthday, anniversary, graduation, fill in the blank, what will disney do for me"?

or even worse..."its my birthday, anniversary, graduation in 6 months, what will disney do for me?"...

 

[java]

I have never gone "expecting magic". Well that's not entirely true. There was the Year of a Million Dreams. I figured with a Million we had to win at least one. I was trying to spot the dream team all over the place.
On our 5th day we were inside Test Track and in walks the dream team. We won those Fast Pass things - good for all the rides in a park(we were in Epcot) and I am ashamed to admit I asked for one for my husband who was outside due to baby swap!(they gave it to me!)

I have never been more stressed on a vacation.
Now we just go and enjoy. When things happen they are a bonus! I never understood the big deal with Towel animals?

 

[sjaakie]

Not really. The job of the Disney employees is to make the guests enjoy their stay, otherwise their is no Disney World. So they should be doing whatever possible to make sure everyone has a good stay.

For me personnel I would only write such big words if I would be perfect in my profession and would only have happy costumers. As I'm far from perfect I can't expect from others to bow for me and read every wish from my eyes. Live and let live is our credo and for us it means never expect others to create a perfect world for us. In the long run this method gave us many "Magic Moments" and a big smile from those CM we treaded as humans and not as slaves.

 

[sjaakie]

or even worse..."its my birthday, anniversary, graduation in 6 months, what will disney do for me?"...

Yesterday we were talking to one of the servers at one of the WDW restaurant. There were many people wearing badges and we asked if the staff was obliged to sing for these guests. With a big smile the CM told us:"thank God no".

BTW it was amazing to learn how many CM,staff and management read this boards and even better to learn they are laughing about the many "complains" they read here.

One of the managers told us that they keep a big eye open over here and one of the big new things they are installing are already locked because many guests took advantage of a service for free which they weren't entitled to. He told us as soon as it was out on the boards they had to close it.

 

[kamik86]

I seem to fall in the middle of expectations here.

What do I expect from mousekeepers? My room to be clean when I get there. I then expect new towels to replace whatever ones I put in my dirty towel pile and trash to be taken out on trash and towel day. Really that is about it. Towel animals are cute but we are a couple in our 20's so we really don't need them. They just sit there till we leave.

When I wear a birthday button what do I expect? That a few CMs say "Happy Birthday" not all as some may just not notice but mostly the ones that check you in for meals and such do. I wouldn't notice if only a few didn't but if NO ONE did all day I might. Still wouldn't complain though I would just notice.

The one that gets me is maintenance issues both in the rooms (if I call and you saw you will check it that day at least let me know whats going on if you couldn't fix it... definitely don't neglect to show up) and in common places (like the day where the boardwalk sign, flying fish sign, and one other sign at the boardwalk all had lights out.

 

[princessmom29]

What do I expect? Quite frankly, I expect the Disney employees to go way out of their way to make my trip magical, my family's trip magical, and all other guests trips magical as well.

If I encounter a rude CM or mousekeeper, I'm rude to them back. If I encounter a grumpy janitor, I'm grumpy back. It doesn't happen often but I don't appreciate it the few times it does happen.

As far as the mouse towels, I've always gotten them. I believe the housekeepers are instructed to leave them in the deluxes. So for the earlier post where the keeper refused to do them anymore, if I was management and found out, I'd can her. Wouldn't want that kind of attitude in the disney resorts.

Ladies and gentlmen I give you entitlment at its finest. Just because you stay deluxe doesn't mean you get towel animals. Sorry, but totally not true. Expecting people to cosistently go over and above thier job requirments consistently leads to disappointment. Posts like this make me gald I no longer work in the service industry. You just cannot please some people.

 

[JENOS]

This will sound bad, but sites like Disboards have helped to destroy what used to be thought of as the Disney Magic. Expectations are higher and people demand things that others claim to receive. Towel animals, balloons, confetti, etc, if it happened, someone has posted bragging about what they received. From the posts wanting to know how much fuss over a haircut on main street to how many cookies were left in your room, people are constantly trying to outdo each other. WDW was much simpler pre-internet. Now there are searches for specific room numbers, why? We have always taken the room assigned to us and been happy. While we have had some special times at the Disney parks and resorts, it still amazes me how people need to commando the parks, meals, shows, etc. Instead of relaxing and enjoying everything at a nice leisurely pace, families are hellbent on "getting their money's worth." even if it means impacting the vacations of others.

Well said…
I will not be at rope drop
I will not spend weeks planning my every minute while at Disney
I will not hesitate to leave a park and go back to the hotel if my kids feel more like swimming than doing rides...

My vacation will consist of spending uninterrupted time with my family; between after school activities, working long hours and weekends and attending so many functions I feel like family time is rare. I don’t care if we spend all day in the pool as long as we are together. If I don’t use all the days on the tickets or don’t make it to all the restaurants we wanted to eat at, that’s ok.

People spend small fortunes for these vacations and expect Disney to reimburse them and then some in. People forget why they are there; it is vacation and it should be relaxing. I don’t want to come back to work MORE tired than when I left.

 

[scrapquitler]

Does we expect more because of places like the dis, where you read story after story of room upgrades, towel animals and other perks?

It's 'magical' because it is unexpected.

If you expect it, then if it doesn't happen, you'll be disappointed. You've got to have the right perspective.

 

[Talking Hands]

Best magic I had at WDW recently was seeing my year old grandson's reaction to Winnie the Pooh and the other characters. Absolutely priceless magic. Did I expect it. No way. I figured he would cry and cling to his parents. But he went right to them and had a blast.
Also enjoyed introducing him to castmembers I know at AK.

 

[LilyWDW]

The extra magic that Disney does will not longer be magic when you come to expect it.

And to me, that is sad. Inflated expectations have led to a situation where Disney is danged if they do and danged if they don't.

 

[Minnesota!]

We don't "expect" anything. IF we get a little magic, it's unexpected but appreciated!

Disney IS magic. We enjoy going there so much, and the things that stand out are the memories we make as a family.

People who expect stuff and then get disappointed when they don't get it deserve their disappointment.

Last trip we got a few towel animals. We tipped each day and at the end of the stay the mousekeeper left us an amazing note about how wonderful we were, and that she was so glad she got our room, etc. Apparently my children (and DH) aren't as messy as I thought

To GET respect you first have to GIVE respect..

 

[Respect]

I'll tell you what isn't magical is walking through the hallways of a deluxe in the afternoon to my room, passing 2 or 3 keepers that are speaking a foreign language, and not even getting a hello or smile from them. They're just having their own little conversation like nobody else is around. Not magical.