Normally my experiences with the Disney Company have been warm and friendly. I have fond memories of visiting my grandma in Southern California as a child, and she taking me to Disneyland for the day. Now with my own family, we wanted to share the experience and lifetime memories. We booked a family trip for 6 days last November to the Disney World Resort in Florida.
The first part of the trip was nice. We enjoyed Downtown Disney and the Magic Kingdom. But visiting Epcot on the third day was a mistake. It was an absolute tragedy!
First we walked around the park, visited the Kodak center and rode the Test Track ride. But then we decided to have dinner at the Norwegian Restaurant Akershus. Big mistake. We all had dinner from the Smorgasbord but within the hour three of us were violently ill. Not everyone in the group got sick, but we narrowed the bad food down to, everyone that ate the pickled herring or the rutabaga soup got ill. We started the trek back through the park out to the parking lot so we could get back to the hotel ASAP.
It took us almost an hour to get through the park with the crowds and the frequent bathroom stops. What disheartened me was how uncaring and uneducated the staff was. Several times wed walk a little ways, and then someone would need the restroom. Panicked wed ask the first Disney employee we could find where the nearest restroom was. Of the four employees we stopped, two of them were able to direct us to the nearest restroom.
To make matters worse, the last restroom we were able to stop at was near the gift shop at the front of the lake (the side nearest spaceship earth.) Every restroom we went to after, save for the one next to the gate at the front of the park was closed. It was near closing time, I understand, but people were still watching the fireworks show, and we had members of our family that were ill from the food with Diarrhea, stomach cramps and vomiting. I actually had to vomit a little in the bush near a rest room (by the ice cave/ gift shop,) because one of your employees stood in the door way and refused me to enter as it was being cleaned. We even had a disabled adult with us, and the employees were still unhelpful. They kept directing us to guest services up near the gate.
By the time we reached the gate, members of my family had vomited in a bush or messed their pants. It was absolutely humiliating.
We spent the last two days of our vacation laid up in the hotel recuperating. It was an expensive trip to have to waste half of it sick in a hotel room. One that we made many sacrifices financially to make. I am surprised that this is how Disney has evolved. Yes its, been many years since I visited a Disney Park, and I was only a child. But I never dreamed treatment of park guests would be so gruff and rude.
My sister-in-law has suggested taking all the kids down there for a family reunion in the next year. I am strongly opposed to this just for the sake of the guest treatment. The employees were not knowledgeable of where we could even find the restrooms in their own park! They offered no assistance and only aided in us feeling more miserable and humiliated as we walked through the park literally soiled. We are considering Universal Studios Instead.
Lastly, it is horribly difficult to find any customer services information, let alone an email address or a phone number. Even the front desk at the hotel could not give me clear information on who to send this complaint to. I am not confident this letter is even sent to the correct address, but it is my hope that it will be routed to the proper people, and maybe some other family wont have to go through what we have. Perhaps, Disney World doesnt want to receive complaints, but it is a poor way to run a business by not listening to the concerns of your customers.
I am disgusted in Disney World Epcots lack of knowledgeable staff, and lack of caring. Even if the bathrooms were being cleaned, we obviously were in an emergency situation. Even after vomiting in a bush outside the restroom, the staff was uncaring. I am so sad that this is the memory of Disney that weve created in our family. It is definitely not the one I grew up with, nor expected. My co-workers have come back from vacations with marvelous stories and memories. I only wish I could have had the same experience with my own family.
Now I'd like call a customer complaint line but: there isn't one! even the hotel staff would only transfer me to their own hotel manager. I had no quarrell with him. The hotel was great! It was the EPCOT staff that were rude, and the Norwegian Restaurant in Epcot we got sick at.
Found a guest services dining hotline. But they just transfer you to a voicemail dump. Nothing.
No wonder Disney has such a happy image, they have no way of collecting customer complaints!
The first part of the trip was nice. We enjoyed Downtown Disney and the Magic Kingdom. But visiting Epcot on the third day was a mistake. It was an absolute tragedy!
First we walked around the park, visited the Kodak center and rode the Test Track ride. But then we decided to have dinner at the Norwegian Restaurant Akershus. Big mistake. We all had dinner from the Smorgasbord but within the hour three of us were violently ill. Not everyone in the group got sick, but we narrowed the bad food down to, everyone that ate the pickled herring or the rutabaga soup got ill. We started the trek back through the park out to the parking lot so we could get back to the hotel ASAP.
It took us almost an hour to get through the park with the crowds and the frequent bathroom stops. What disheartened me was how uncaring and uneducated the staff was. Several times wed walk a little ways, and then someone would need the restroom. Panicked wed ask the first Disney employee we could find where the nearest restroom was. Of the four employees we stopped, two of them were able to direct us to the nearest restroom.
To make matters worse, the last restroom we were able to stop at was near the gift shop at the front of the lake (the side nearest spaceship earth.) Every restroom we went to after, save for the one next to the gate at the front of the park was closed. It was near closing time, I understand, but people were still watching the fireworks show, and we had members of our family that were ill from the food with Diarrhea, stomach cramps and vomiting. I actually had to vomit a little in the bush near a rest room (by the ice cave/ gift shop,) because one of your employees stood in the door way and refused me to enter as it was being cleaned. We even had a disabled adult with us, and the employees were still unhelpful. They kept directing us to guest services up near the gate.
By the time we reached the gate, members of my family had vomited in a bush or messed their pants. It was absolutely humiliating.
We spent the last two days of our vacation laid up in the hotel recuperating. It was an expensive trip to have to waste half of it sick in a hotel room. One that we made many sacrifices financially to make. I am surprised that this is how Disney has evolved. Yes its, been many years since I visited a Disney Park, and I was only a child. But I never dreamed treatment of park guests would be so gruff and rude.
My sister-in-law has suggested taking all the kids down there for a family reunion in the next year. I am strongly opposed to this just for the sake of the guest treatment. The employees were not knowledgeable of where we could even find the restrooms in their own park! They offered no assistance and only aided in us feeling more miserable and humiliated as we walked through the park literally soiled. We are considering Universal Studios Instead.
Lastly, it is horribly difficult to find any customer services information, let alone an email address or a phone number. Even the front desk at the hotel could not give me clear information on who to send this complaint to. I am not confident this letter is even sent to the correct address, but it is my hope that it will be routed to the proper people, and maybe some other family wont have to go through what we have. Perhaps, Disney World doesnt want to receive complaints, but it is a poor way to run a business by not listening to the concerns of your customers.
I am disgusted in Disney World Epcots lack of knowledgeable staff, and lack of caring. Even if the bathrooms were being cleaned, we obviously were in an emergency situation. Even after vomiting in a bush outside the restroom, the staff was uncaring. I am so sad that this is the memory of Disney that weve created in our family. It is definitely not the one I grew up with, nor expected. My co-workers have come back from vacations with marvelous stories and memories. I only wish I could have had the same experience with my own family.
Now I'd like call a customer complaint line but: there isn't one! even the hotel staff would only transfer me to their own hotel manager. I had no quarrell with him. The hotel was great! It was the EPCOT staff that were rude, and the Norwegian Restaurant in Epcot we got sick at.
Found a guest services dining hotline. But they just transfer you to a voicemail dump. Nothing.
No wonder Disney has such a happy image, they have no way of collecting customer complaints!
Whether you had food poisioning or a stomch bug , which is easy to catch touching everything at Disney, kids picking their nose, sucking their thumb, you can pick up anything. 
