Disney should be ashamed!

[LBIJim]

Disney has nothing to be "ashamed of". Would you rather they hastily stuffed a bunch of untrained girls into shoddy, ill-fitting dresses, slapped some wigs on them, and had them standing around everywhere, meeting the kiddies? What happens when the kiddies then say, "But I just saw a different Anna, 20 feet away! You're not the real Anna! Waaaaah!"

Thanks for a good chuckle. I can see it now. Disney can find a giant room, fill it with 50 Times Square caliber A&E pairs all within sight of each other, then have a CM direct each group "Next...A&E #34...that way."


Since some of the deluxe hotels supposedly only have 50% occupancy rates, how about dedicating one floor of a wing to A&E meets? Set appointment times so there is little waiting around. Charge $100 for a 10 minute meet and greet, some photos, and a cheap souvenir.

Worst thread ever?

Nah....these A&E anguish threads are almost as entertaining as some of WDW's top attractions. Better than Stitch and Country Bears by far!!

Jim

 

[PlutoMars]

What Disney should do to be providing a good service

and

What a guest should do to be a good parent

are

TWO

DIFFERENT

THINGS​

Why do people here want to turn everything into a parenting issue?

Because setting expectations for children when they go to a public place is a parenting issue. The two go hand in hand on this issue. If proper expectations were set then I contend that you would not see 4 hour waits for any Disney characters.

 

[luisov]

People are there because they want to. I'm sorry, but sometimes you just have to say no to childrens' requests. Isn't it enough to simply be at WDW?

 

[surferdave]

Yes, at a single location.

I was referring to having multiple locations across the park or the same character at different parks. If you wanted to maintain the illusion of there only being one of each character while having multiple locations.

That's not the problem some people make it out to be. You could throw a rock from one Mickey Mouse M&G to the next across the whole park, not even including parades and shows, and it's never been a problem.

 

[morethananyonex]

What Disney should do to be providing a good service

and

What a guest should do to be a good parent

are

TWO

DIFFERENT

THINGS​

Why do people here want to turn everything into a parenting issue?

Moving to MK was an attempt to provide better service. More capacity, more comfortable queue and the addition of FP+ is certainly a step in the right direction in terms of service. Instead of the lines decreasing, more people are getting in them keeping them the same. What more can they do, short of constructing them a new space to keep up with the current demand (which surely is not permanent) or kicking out even more princesses from their meeting spots?

When people start with the "how do I disappoint my sweet child who only wants to meet Anna and Elsa?" well yeah, it's a parenting issue, not a Disney issue. That's like saying it's bad customer service for Splash to go down every year because little Jimmy who goes to WDW in January has his trip ruined because he can't ride it. If you as the parent does not want to wait in a long line, don't do it.

 

[surferdave]

Because setting expectations for children when they go to a public place is a parenting issue. The two go hand in hand on this issue. If proper expectations were set then I contend that you would not see 4 hour waits for any Disney characters.

That's no excuse to dismiss having reasonable expectations for WDW. I don't care if every paying customer in line is an adult.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I agree with the OP. If a child has their heart set on seeing certain characters, why is it acceptable to disappoint them?

In a perfect world every child that wants to meet Anna and Elsa will be escorted directly in to meet them and there would be NO disappointment. and everybody will be able to get right on the rides, and pick up their very favorite food without waiting and at a low price.

It's not a perfect world. You take what you can get. The problem here is that SO MANY kids want to meet A&E, that there is no way to arrange it so all of them can (and have it continue to be a quality experience). There is a way to arrange it so many of them can...but it involves waiting, because so many want to see them. And it may be a quick fix to add multiple Annas/Elsas wherever you can stick them in, but there will come a time when they're no longer needed. So why should WDW turn the parks over to them now, when it won't last.

 

[Reddog1134]

I believe they have done this before with other characters in the past. Don't understand why they wouldn't do this now

I believe they DO do this now.

But I was giving an example of how to "keep the magic" for multiple M&G locations. Not just multiple rooms at a single location.

 

[KilroyWasHere]

Sounds like I may see some of these people at the grocery store when I'm stuck going at Noon on a Sunday: "This is ridiculous! They need more registers! I can't believe how long these lines are! 30 minutes of food shopping and 60 minutes to pay!" - wah, wah, wah.

I'm in the same line saying to myself - "This is what I get for going to the grocery store at Noon on a Sunday".

 

[HopperFan]

Moving them allowed them to have more than one set of Anna & Elsa at once. It also allowed them to add FP+ as well. The fact that the lines are similar to Epcot when the capacity has doubled just shows us that they have double the amount of guests seeing Anna and Elsa (a fix), some guests being able to skip the wait (a fix), a line that doesn't monopolize an area of the park (a fix), and an indoor line (a fix). That's 4 improvements over the situation in Epcot.

Adding MK instead of moving to MK keeps Norway congested which was a big problem that the meet and greet caused. Adding them to one of the already popular character meals saves a few people some time, but ultimately those meals are full anyways so Disney has no incentive to add Anna and Elsa to them, not to mention you then have people upset because "Disney is charging for Anna and Elsa".

Completely agree with this. Disney did address the problem of capacity AND cleared up Norway which really had become a disaster.

Magic Kingdom doubles the capacity because they do have two M&G rooms, FastPass already built in place - this was the fastest way for them to greatly increase the capacity of guests meeting them. The catch-22 now is that there are lots of families with young guests who love Anna & Elsa but their families were not going to spend the time/money to go to EPCOT, now they are MK. My dear friend avoided the lines by not going to EPCOT. Now MK provides a higher demand with only double the capacity.

Norway was a disaster. Lines wrapped around the "castle" feeding into the line by the M&G, the gift shop jam-packed with shoppers for Frozen stuff and those going in for a sneak peak of A&E (I did, not impressed), the construction on the building and the sudden long lines for Maelstrom (hoping it was an error but I got a picture of the 130 minute wait). You literally could not move, poor Norway was lost in the mess, a sea of bodies. They should have built a line and small M&G next to Norway in the overgrown area that was once a playground.

Last but not least they added them to the parade so that everyone had a chance to see them, wave to them, take pictures of them without being in a line. Whatever options guests choose is their option. Disney has done nothing but made them "visible" for all to see via multiple ways.

Personally I would be more upset with Disney not making sure their vendors keep up with the production of merchandise such as the dresses and Elsa dolls. In Norway we got one of the last 8 Elsa dolls while there were hundreds of Anna spread throughout the rooms. We got lucky and at moment had no idea they were sold out through most the kingdom.

 

[PrncessA]

I didn't read through the entire thread, but I have to say, as much as Disney tries to limit seeing the same character close together it does happen. We had lunch in Norway, where we met Aurora, walked a bit and SURPRISE we got to visit with Aurora in France. Neither one of my kids were old enough or cared enough to notice though.

It is not Disney who are making the lines so long, it is the insane amount of people who are willing to wait that long. We got a FP so no 4 hour wait for us, but we didn't get a FP we would not wait 4 hours.

I do wish that Disney had the more of the characters, but there are only so many "friends" of the Elsa and Anna, and if they start casting "friends" that aren't compatible with the character then we will get ten more threads criticizing that. The frenzy will die down eventually.

 

[Anc96]

But there is no tiering at MK. This is kind of an apples and oranges comparison, IMO.

Um, if kids don't learn disappointment and failure and struggle, then they'll never be prepared for anything except a desired outcome as they got everything that they wanted. They will get yelled at by a boss for not doing their work correctly. They will fail a test because they didn't study. Not making them do chores makes for a lazy, slob. Since when did telling a child "no" or making them suffer the consequences for poor choices start making someone a bad parent?

Ya know, usually I don't rise to this bait.. but I am at this these ridiculous comments!!
Yep yep.. no better time to learn about disappointment and failure and struggle for a 5, 6 7 year old than on vacation to the Happiest Place on Earth! lmao!!
God knows by getting to see A&E in a reasonable amount of wait time will make them ill-prepared for life. It will stop them from studying for tests! It will make them get yelled at by future bosses (assuming they've never heard of hostile work environment)... they should be "suffering for their poor choices"... HUH?? I don't even get that one..

Seriously??? OMG.. At least some are simply saying guests CHOOSE to wait. They're not saying the parents have now condemned their children to failure for the rest of their lives!!
Those lazy slob children!!
Hehe... wow.
Calm down hun

 

[PlutoMars]

That's no excuse to dismiss having reasonable expectations for WDW. I don't care if every paying customer in line is an adult.

Reasonable by whose standards? There are people on this board that think it is unreasonable to wait more than 15-20 minutes for an attraction even during peak times.

People are WILLINGLY waiting in these lines so little Susie will not be disappointed.

 

[FlowerInAdversity]

Ya know, usually I don't rise to this bait.. but I am at this these ridiculous comments!!
Yep yep.. no better time to learn about disappointment and failure and struggle for a 5, 6 7 year old than on vacation to the Happiest Place on Earth! lmao!!
God knows by getting to see A&E in a reasonable amount of wait time will make them ill-prepared for life. It will stop them from studying for tests! It will make them get yelled at by future bosses (assuming they've never heard of hostile work environment)... they should be "suffering for their poor choices"... HUH?? I don't even get that one..

Seriously??? OMG.. At least some are simply saying guests CHOOSE to wait. They're not saying the parents have now condemned their children to failure for the rest of their lives!!
Those lazy slob children!!
Hehe... wow.
Calm down hun

That's Disneyland, by the way, not Walt Disney World. I believe the phrase you're looking for is either "The Place Where Dreams Come True" or "The Most Magical Place on Earth."

 

[Reddog1134]

That's not the problem some people make it out to be. You could throw a rock from one Mickey Mouse M&G to the next across the whole park, not even including parades and shows, and it's never been a problem.

I'm sure there are some kids that point it out and ask questions.

I just thought it was a fun way to "fix the problem".

 

[Texas Crude]

Hey, $100 for 5 minutes with two beautiful princesses? Sounds like a good deal to me!

Seriously though, sounds like OP got bossed by her DD and isn't too happy about having stood in line l all day.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

That's no excuse to dismiss having reasonable expectations for WDW. I don't care if every paying customer in line is an adult.

Sounds like I may see some of these people at the grocery store when I'm stuck going at Noon on a Sunday: "This is ridiculous! They need more registers! I can't believe how long these lines are! 30 minutes of food shopping and 60 minutes to pay!" - wah, wah, wah.

I'm in the same line saying to myself - "This is what I get for going to the grocery store at Noon on a Sunday".

It doesn't matter when you go. Unless you are one of the very first guests in the park, your going to have a long wait. This is the most popular thing going on right now.

 

[Anc96]

That's Disneyland, by the way, not Walt Disney World. I believe the phrase you're looking for is either "The Place Where Dreams Come True" or "The Most Magical Place on Earth."

Going there all these years and never knew that! Thanks
I see it is used interchangeably, but the true tagline belongs to Disneyland (where I've never been, but hope to someday)

Funny thing (to me), I googled the "happiest place on earth", and came up with Denmark! The US was 23rd... hmmmm.

 

[slickpoetry]

I think its reasonable and healthy to make your kids aware that they're not going to be able to do and see everything WDW has to offer in one trip


(Unless you're one of those families that can afford to stay there for three straight weeks)

 

[surferdave]

I'm sure there are some kids that point it out and ask questions.

I just thought it was a fun way to "fix the problem".

Yeah, I've been lucky, my daughter has always loved meeting the characters but is pretty much in on the bit; she met or saw Cinderella five times in one day once. Every Cindy was different but she was happy every time.

But it's not Disney's reason for only having one A&E M&G.