Does Disney clean up gum any more?

[Bork]

Just got back from a weekend at WDW. One disturbing thing that I noticed this time was how much gum was on the walkways in the MK. I never remember it being this bad on previous trips.

Doesn't Disney bother to clean gum off the walkways anymore?

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Yes, Disney employees do clean up chewing gum. The problem is that more and more people are rude and just spit out their gum, rather than putting it into the trash can. Hence, it is harder to keep up with the gum on the sidewalks.

 

[mitros]

Yes, and there are just enough slobs out there to make things gross looking before they can be cleaned up!

 

[Dznefreek]

This is exactly why gum and chewing tobacco are not sold on WDW property.

 

[Bork]

I agree that people should do a better job of using garbage cans. But at the same time, I saw quite a few areas with quite a bit of gum that appeared to be there for quite some time. And it wasn't just in a few places, it was a pretty wide-spread problem. In the past, it would be rare to find even a few spots with gum.

If people see gum on the walkways, they'll be more likely to throw their gum down. Just seemed like the famed Disney cleanliness has been slipping.

 

[grinningghost]

When I was there in August, I found the TTC area to be really littered with old looking gum. It was very sad.

 

[lenshanem]

It is heart breaking to me. Each trip I go on the parks get dirtier...

 

[jcodespoti]

I have heard a CM that has been there for along time remark that the decorum among Disney "guests" has really gone down hill, she said it was really among Americans only, that had this problem. Most foreigners are more well mannered (how sad for Americans). That in combination with cutbacks are starting to take their toll.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Originally posted by jcodespoti
I have heard a CM that has been there for along time remark that the decorum among Disney "guests" has really gone down hill, she said it was really among Americans only, that had this problem. Most foreigners are more well mannered (how sad for Americans). That in combination with cutbacks are starting to take their toll.

I agree. The parks are not getting dirtier though, in my opinion.
Can you imagine the effort it takes to keep up with gum on the sidewalks? After a short time on them, it is impossible to distinguish if gum has been on a sidewalk for twenty minutes or two days. There are so many people walking over the sidewalks, that what may appear to be old may not be.

However, the fault lies with the visitors who don't use the trash cans.

 

[lenshanem]

We can blaim guests all we wnat, but the truth is WDw is not keeping up with the parks the way they used to.
Aside from gum or trash laying around how is it the guests fault that attractiosn are closed and the land left unused, maintenance lacking, paint peeling, lack of customer service... need I go on? To say it is the guests' fault is a poor excuse.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Originally posted by lenshanem
We can blaim guests all we wnat, but the truth is WDw is not keeping up with the parks the way they used to.
Aside from gum or trash laying around how is it the guests fault that attractiosn are closed and the land left unused, maintenance lacking, paint peeling, lack of customer service... need I go on? To say it is the guests' fault is a poor excuse.

I disagree with the contention that the parks are not being maintained.
I am not sure that I understand the contention that land is left unused. What maintenance is lacking? Where is paint peeling?

Gum is very hard to clean. It isn't asking too much to expect guests to show common courtesy to fellow guests in properly disposing of their gum.

 

[grinningghost]

Originally posted by WDWisTheBest
I disagree with the contention that the parks are not being maintained.
I am not sure that I understand the contention that land is left unused. What maintenance is lacking? Where is paint peeling?

I can't list everything I saw, but there's a serious lack of maintenance on Splash Mountain. Just take a good look inside the logs - no, on second thought, you better not, it's pretty bad - just enjoy the ride and ignore the log.

Peeling paint is everywhere. Just pay attention as you're walking through. I noticed alot of peeling paint in Epcot. Not so much in World Showcase, but Future World was a wreck in places.

Not to mention cracked concrete, garbage just strewn around, graffitti (yeah graffitti - inside Splash Mountain for one) - stuff that you simply didn't see years ago.

And I will agree, the clientele contributes to the problem. Back in the day, we knew WDW was a place you just DIDN'T mess up - because if you did, some guy would be right behind you with a broom - and then your dad would smack you.

 

[mitros]

I would like to make two observations. First, every single person {who cares, that is,} that sees peeling paint, gum accumulating, and a lot of trash in spots should notify guest relations either immediatley, at the nearest office or, make a note of what you see and notify them when you get home either by letter, e-mail or telephone, with specific information as to what you saw and where you saw it, with your feelings about how you feel about the situation. Possibly with 20 to 30 thousand people a week complaining about the same problems, something would be done. Unfortunatley, because of apathy, not many folks want to spend the time to make a point about something. {kind of like the situation in this country regarding the amount of registered voters and how many actually vote}

Secondly, I have the feeling that the excessive mess people speak of at Epcot, may soon be taken care of as they start to work on project Gemini. The closing of Wonders of Life could be moving towards a rumored complete re-do of the pavilion, the building of Soarin", Mission Space, the changing over of the "steel and plastic" look of future world to a more "earthy" look, along with a number of new additions. I'm going to take a lot of flack on this board regarding my thoughts on project Gemini, but, Que sera sera. Anywho, those are my thoughts on the matter.

 

[floridaminnie]

I've noticed simple things like light bulbs being out on rides. Now I'm fortune enough where there have been months I've been at Disney every weekend (live close by with AP) and the bulbs are still out!?!?

 

[grinningghost]

I've e-mailed Disney several times on stuff like this, and they always call me eventually. Unfortunately, they are VERY good at dancing around the subject. I'm telling them that there's some seriously gross mold inside the Splash Mountain logs, and the customer service rep is telling me how great it is that Disney is offering wonderful discounts on vacation packages. Honest, just call and you'll see what I mean.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I don't think the number of inconsiderate people has increased.
2) The number of CM's top clean-up has drastically decreased
3) I can remember seeing clean-up CM's every few feet.
4) As an example, on Main Street there used to be 8 of them.
5) Now, you have to look hard an long to see a clean-up CM.

6) Maybe ComCast will put more manpower back into WDW.

 

[bigs1923t]

There is a difference in the way WDW is cleaned up now days. They have "streamlined" the cleanup people and now have other people doing it. For example as we are taking care of loading a ferryboat with 600 people we have to manually enter the number of people going on with strollers and wheelchairs. Also many times a turnstyle counter does not work and may take days from the repair request to actually get repaired. Along with these chores the watercraft people working the dock have to sweep up the area to get rid of trash. I have seen navigation lights on the lake (which are few in number) burned out and not replaced for weeks. The crew on the water light show barges are supposed to be checking for burned out lights and report them but they often dont get reported and when they do they dont get replaced promptly. If you stand on the ferry & look at the slip lights coming into the Magic Kingdom dock area you will see the lights which should be Port red & starboard green do not follow in proper sequence. on one they are correct, the next one is backwards and so on. The watercraft captians have requested they be corrected for years but....no change. People that defend Eisner should see the number of things that dont work properly around WDW and know that requests to have them repaired are ignored because budget cutbacks have them them short of staff to repair things. I still have very high regard for WDW as being the greatest place on earth but have a very different view of the place after seeing things only cast members see. Eisners idea of profits before anything have left area managers with very little money to work with. In closing think about this. Many places including Sea World, Discover Cove, Swan/Dolphin (on WDW property but not owned or run by WDW) all do premployment drug testing. WDW does not, when asked why reply was "they dont want to pay for it"

So you do see differences in cleanliness but it is all cash related.

 

[mitros]

At this point,we have to hope for two things. If the Comcast deal goes through,that they get ride of Ei$ner, and secondly, that Comcast does a better job at running and keeping the parks clean then they do giving their cable customers any kind of decent customer service.