A_NY_Outlaw
The Tin Man Master
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2007
- Messages
- 4,927
Well we just returned from WDW/ SW/ UO. I must say that I was very disappointed in our return since October of 2005. For all the research we did suggesting this was a good time to go, there was wall to wall people, long wait times (even with fast pass).
For those who do care to read and can take something useful from this, that is the intent.
For starters, our hotel room at PO-FQ was ridiculous. While the grounds were beautifully landscaped, our room (bldg 6) had mold and mildew on the shower curtain, a few of the walls had some damage, and our tv did not work. It took the front desk 2 and a half days to fix the tv problem. Also the conceierge desk/ workers were extremely rude (on numerous occasions). After staying in AKL in 05, I would not go back to this hotel if there is a next time.
The shuttle bus pairing with Riverside is also a ridciouluos thing. The parks would almost wait until there were droves of people after closing to start sending buses. If you stay in FQ and were trying to get someplace quickly, forget it. You make 4 riverside stops. There were even a few instances in the later evening that we (FQ) were the last ones to be dropped off.
Next were the places we chose on the disney dining plan. We found that with most of the restuarants we chose, they would always stick us (my wife and I) in a table somewhere off in the corner where you couldn't see anything or where there was alot of activity of people walking by. I cannot enjoy a meal with constant activity standing near my table every 30 seconds. We chose Concourse steakhouse because it suggested you could see the monorail wisk by while you dined....nope not us- got stuck in the corner under a soffit. Couldn't see anything. The worst restaurant was Mama Melroses in MGM. This was by far the worst meal and worst service we had throughout the trip. They first seated us at a table closest to the lobby, so they would bring everyone by us to be seated. If that's not bad enough, the wait staff would use our "space" to stand there and discuss what tables they had open. Enough was enough and we requested to be moved. After we did (they obliged) we didn't see our waiter again until the end of the meal....no drink refills....no checking to see if we needed anything. He didn't deserve a 5% tip, less an 18% included with the meal plan.
Probably the best seating we had was at Coral Reef where they seated us next to the aquarium. The problem here was the parents- we had two different parents come down to our table, one kid elbowed my wife while we were trying to enjoy dinner. Not one parent offered an apology. This is just not acceptable behavior for adults.
My biggest gripe is the rudeness and lack of courtesy with the people in general. If someone was taking a picture, I would stop and allow them to shoot it. No one extended the same courtesy for me. Then you have the parents who tell there kids "it's ok" when they allow them to push and shove and impact someone even trying to take a picture. I don't blame the kids here- I blame the parents!!! Teach your kids courtesy- not reward rude behavior......that's the problem everywhere, not just disney.
The next thing that somewhat bothered me was all this talk about how they give away something for this year of million dreams. I actually stopped and asked a "cast member" how they go about doing this (thinking that they focus on parents/ families with kids and not couples). They actually confirmed that while the prize giveaways are random and random times, they do tend to look for families with kids. Goes to show couples are at a disadvantage.
Lastly, my biggest peeve and anger came about when we were waiting to see the spectromagic parade at MK. This was one of the must sees on my itinerary. As everyone was crowded behind the ropes, I somehow got muscled out by someone standing next to me and had to move out from behind the ropes.....well this happened near one of these security guards who was motioning people to keep moving. I explained to him that I was already in the ropes, he did not believe me and asked me to keep moving. So regardless (and I was fuming mad) I had to keep moving and missed the parade because there was no spot to move. I was so angry, we just ended up leaving the park.
UO, and SW were packed, but certainly more enjoyable than our long anticipated return to WDW.
After this trip, my wife and I will have to decide "if and when" we decide to return to WDW. I can assure that it will not certainly be in April. After having a magical time in 2005, this was by far the worst trip I could have hoped for.
If I wanted to experience rude people, I could have saved us thousands of dollars and planned a trip somewhere at a local theme park.
Oh yeah and a big shout out to the punk kid who felt the need to stick his hand in front of my camera while walking by as I was trying to take a picture- Come to NY and I will help you take care of that manners problem for you.
For those who do care to read and can take something useful from this, that is the intent.
For starters, our hotel room at PO-FQ was ridiculous. While the grounds were beautifully landscaped, our room (bldg 6) had mold and mildew on the shower curtain, a few of the walls had some damage, and our tv did not work. It took the front desk 2 and a half days to fix the tv problem. Also the conceierge desk/ workers were extremely rude (on numerous occasions). After staying in AKL in 05, I would not go back to this hotel if there is a next time.
The shuttle bus pairing with Riverside is also a ridciouluos thing. The parks would almost wait until there were droves of people after closing to start sending buses. If you stay in FQ and were trying to get someplace quickly, forget it. You make 4 riverside stops. There were even a few instances in the later evening that we (FQ) were the last ones to be dropped off.
Next were the places we chose on the disney dining plan. We found that with most of the restuarants we chose, they would always stick us (my wife and I) in a table somewhere off in the corner where you couldn't see anything or where there was alot of activity of people walking by. I cannot enjoy a meal with constant activity standing near my table every 30 seconds. We chose Concourse steakhouse because it suggested you could see the monorail wisk by while you dined....nope not us- got stuck in the corner under a soffit. Couldn't see anything. The worst restaurant was Mama Melroses in MGM. This was by far the worst meal and worst service we had throughout the trip. They first seated us at a table closest to the lobby, so they would bring everyone by us to be seated. If that's not bad enough, the wait staff would use our "space" to stand there and discuss what tables they had open. Enough was enough and we requested to be moved. After we did (they obliged) we didn't see our waiter again until the end of the meal....no drink refills....no checking to see if we needed anything. He didn't deserve a 5% tip, less an 18% included with the meal plan.
Probably the best seating we had was at Coral Reef where they seated us next to the aquarium. The problem here was the parents- we had two different parents come down to our table, one kid elbowed my wife while we were trying to enjoy dinner. Not one parent offered an apology. This is just not acceptable behavior for adults.
My biggest gripe is the rudeness and lack of courtesy with the people in general. If someone was taking a picture, I would stop and allow them to shoot it. No one extended the same courtesy for me. Then you have the parents who tell there kids "it's ok" when they allow them to push and shove and impact someone even trying to take a picture. I don't blame the kids here- I blame the parents!!! Teach your kids courtesy- not reward rude behavior......that's the problem everywhere, not just disney.
The next thing that somewhat bothered me was all this talk about how they give away something for this year of million dreams. I actually stopped and asked a "cast member" how they go about doing this (thinking that they focus on parents/ families with kids and not couples). They actually confirmed that while the prize giveaways are random and random times, they do tend to look for families with kids. Goes to show couples are at a disadvantage.
Lastly, my biggest peeve and anger came about when we were waiting to see the spectromagic parade at MK. This was one of the must sees on my itinerary. As everyone was crowded behind the ropes, I somehow got muscled out by someone standing next to me and had to move out from behind the ropes.....well this happened near one of these security guards who was motioning people to keep moving. I explained to him that I was already in the ropes, he did not believe me and asked me to keep moving. So regardless (and I was fuming mad) I had to keep moving and missed the parade because there was no spot to move. I was so angry, we just ended up leaving the park.
UO, and SW were packed, but certainly more enjoyable than our long anticipated return to WDW.
After this trip, my wife and I will have to decide "if and when" we decide to return to WDW. I can assure that it will not certainly be in April. After having a magical time in 2005, this was by far the worst trip I could have hoped for.
If I wanted to experience rude people, I could have saved us thousands of dollars and planned a trip somewhere at a local theme park.
Oh yeah and a big shout out to the punk kid who felt the need to stick his hand in front of my camera while walking by as I was trying to take a picture- Come to NY and I will help you take care of that manners problem for you.
I'm short, too, so that may have something to do with my just not noticing a lot of things that he does; he has a bird's eye view and I don't!
