...this one's a hard one for me to weigh in on, but I guess I'll jump in and put my 2 cents in...
:At the time, I didn't realize it, but I had THE BEST SUPERVISORS ***EVER*** while working at WDW. In the mid-90s, "empowerment" was the buzz word and at the groundlevel, it was instilled in us that we were empowered to make decisions since we were the "face" of Disney that the guests saw up close & personal. Loved that. In exchange for that responsibility, we were to make sure that everything in our work place was in tip-top shape--no litter on the floor, it's raining, the floor's slick--safety issue--quick! Go get a mop & a sign so no one slips. Call maintenance that a lightbulb's out [and the bulb was--indeed--replaced the very next morning
]. We'd even see cobwebs--knock them down--if we could. If they were too high, then we'd call for them to take care of that overnight [and it was
]. If we saw a palmetto bug or two
--our 'supe' made sure that was addressed too. What I did not know at the time and found as I continued to work there, I had hard-nosed "old school" supervisors who had it drilled in them and, in turn, they drilled it into me/us--people are here from all over the world, they take vacation time to get away, they spend $$$, our business is 'magic'--let's do all and everything we can to make it as magical as possible for them.
Were our supervisors on us? ABSOLUTELY. Every single day, they'd check in with us and make sure we were on our toes--had a bad day? Leave it backstage. Have a tough encounter with a guest? Go backstage, take a break, collect yourself and them come back out--I'll take over for you 'til you can come back out. Hey, you're looking sweaty, go change and wipe down. Tuck your shirt in. Your nails--don't use that color. Your eye makeup is on too heavy. Did you put highlights in your hair or are you just getting too much sun? You got too much sun--you're skin's peeling--that's not very Disney. We even had breathmints in the office so that we wouldn't have coffee breath--or worse--while talking to a guest. There was a lightning strike and my neighbor got her entire face burned by the corded telephone she was using during the storm and had to work backstage because of how she looked until she got better. Your uniform is too tight--you need the next size up. [I'm not the skinny kid I used to be and the weight I am now, I probably wouldn't be able to work onstage--I know I'd probably be backstage.] We were inspected from head to toe. When we were hired, we knew we were hired for a role and the park was our stage--we knew the rules upfront and we could take them or take them. There was no "leave them." It was expected of us. Many times, guests safety was in our hands--and at least our team--we didn't take that lightly! We didn't want to let our supes down.
They'd even have undercover CMs in disguise that were testing/checking us out, how we'd act under pressure, if we fit the "disney look," if we were courteous, if we used the 'two finger' point, etc. And we'd get the 'report cards' later and 'coached' if necessary.
So, fast forward to now--I'm a guest, we've been going every year for 4 years, and every year I really try to go as a GUEST and enjoy myself, but it's hard--especially when I see safety issues and I see older guests with canes headed that way [like at the Figment ride at EPCOT just this past year]. I saw 2 guests in a row slip and fall on their @sses--serious hard falls because they were both wearing
crocs and it had just rained and people were running inside to get to the ride because of the rain. I was sitting there for just a few minutes as I got dd out of the stroller, and boom! Someone fell and then boom! another fell. Sorry--I can't just let that happen, esp. when I see someone elderly getting ready to walk in. What are the CMs doing??? Chatting with each other--they saw what happened, but they continued on making their plans for later that night. That was
for me. I told one of them to get a mop or call someone to get a caution sign out, get a rug so people wouldn't slip as they walked in. Their reaction? Oh--that's not necessary.
You just saw 2 guests slip and fall and you think that's not necessary? That was it--I then asked to speak to their supe.
The flagrant safety things that are obvious to me (either because they are really obvious or because of the training I received at WDW) makes me wonder about training now or maybe they don't care? I was on a thread about CMs wearing their costumes offsite. We would've never dreamed of ever doing that. It was part of the magic and we didn't want to do anything that would detract from anything less than an incredible magical stay at WDW.
I bought the magic bit--hook, line and sinker. It's hard for me to see the changes--the declines, if you will--even in just the past four years. While checking into All Star Music last year, there were 2 CMs actually ARGUING with each other in front of the guests
while there was a mile-long wait for guests waiting and watching the whole thing. "I'm off the clock, you take the next guest" "no, I'm on a break, you take him"--it was awful. Called the supe over again since these two CMs couldn't seem to work it out after several back-and-forths of this. My point is, you've got guests, like us, who were just checking in and you have two CMs in a very loud, verbal altercation near the front door?
Yeah, no. That was my first impression when we walked in after flying all day, anticipating our visit for a year, planning, getting a rental in high heat and humidity and you walk in with such great anticipation to find that--sorry. That's a 'no go' for me and a chip in the 'magic.'
I've noticed over the past few years that Disney has taken on a large contingent of CMs from other countries [namely China] and haven't seen so many American CMs--I'm curious as to why from a management perspective. That probably wouldn't even enter the minds of a regular guest.
Now, would these sorts of things bother/enter the minds of the regular guest? I don't know. Probably they wouldn't notice these things or it wouldn't bother them. But it's not the Disney that was drilled into me.
But, that's how I see some decline in my beloved Disney...This next trip will be our last for a few years as dd will start school fulltime. Maybe with knowing it's the last trip 'til I don't know when, it'll be my farewell trip filled with
once again...
This is something I don't buy. Disney has had monorails since their inception in 1971, never, EVER had they had to shut down service earlier than expected. And you're right, if it were one or two things they were cutting back on, okay I could accept that, but it's a whole laundry list of cutbacks and raising prices.
and not see things through the eyes of a CM 
