Has Disney dropped the magic ball?

[Drusilla]

We are halfway through our 10 day trip and I'm disappointed in the Little details that are missing in the parks and the cast members, I.e., no towel animals in our room (at a deluxe resort), we've encountered more than one rude castmember in the parks, the bathrooms are filthy.... It just seems the little things are missing.... I realize it's hot and crowded here so I expect other guests to be rude but so far in this trip the Disney "magic" is missing. Has anyone else noticed this or am i expecting too much based on previous vacations here?

Off the parks shortly, maybe today will have a little bit of magic....

 

[Missyrose]

We are halfway through our 10 day trip and I'm disappointed in the Little details that are missing in the parks and the cast members, I.e., no towel animals in our room (at a deluxe resort), we've encountered more than one rude castmember in the parks, the bathrooms are filthy.... It just seems the little things are missing.... I realize it's hot and crowded here so I expect other guests to be rude but so far in this trip the Disney "magic" is missing. Has anyone else noticed this or am i expecting too much based on previous vacations here?

Off the parks shortly, maybe today will have a little bit of magic....

The towel animals are gone across Disney property.

 

[cakebaker]

We did not notice any of the things you're complaining about...other than hot and crowded.

Sorry, but people demanding they get everything they read someone else got killed the towel animals. They had lost much meaning to me anyway once they were expected.

Have you stopped by guest services and made them aware of the multiple rude CM's or that the bathrooms you visit are filthy?

 

[GreatLakes]

The internet has ruined some of the magic, like towel animals, but I haven't really noticed a lot of the other things you mentioned.

Things like towel animals and other little special things that CMs did from time to time used to be special treats that were done on occasion for guests to add a little something extra. Same goes for an added dessert when it is your birthday or a room upgrade for a special occasion. Unfortunately sites like this, and many others, allowed for people who had those special things to tell everyone about it and over time what was supposed to be special and happen only to a few people a day or week became something that everyone expected. Once that happens it goes from being something extra and special to being expected and starts to eat into the time CMs need to do their tasks. I went to Disney a dozen times without getting a towel animal and then all of a sudden got them every trip. I think they decided for a while that they needed to do them for everyone to quell the complaints until they looked more closely at the time it took and had to eliminate them completely so they didn't hear it from people who weren't chosen that day. What was special became something expected.

As for the CMs being mean or rude and dirty bathrooms I didn't encounter any of that on my June trip. It was hot and crowded but no CM at all over my 8 days there struck me as either rude or mean. I also didn't notice a single dirty bathroom. I don't really inspect them or anything, as long as they are as clean as the bathroom at my local mall I probably wouldn't notice, but I didn't see anything I would consider out of place. The closest I would say to an unpleasant experience in a bathroom was one where a diaper had obviously been placed in a trashcan and was a little ripe but that is normal for a bathroom. I'd assume it got emptied in a timely manner.

Maybe I'm less observant, maybe I have lower expectation, maybe I was lucky and you were not, and maybe all the talk about CMs and dirty bathrooms makes small anomalies seem normal. I have no idea why my experience is different than some of the threads here but I have not seen a lot of the negativity posted on the web about WDW myself.

 

[skipfierce]

Went last year and the year before and had no issues at all.

 

[Rgonzalez79]

The towel animals are gone across Disney property.

I didn't know that, I don't stay on property but I remember seeing pictures of the animals whenever someone went for the first time. When did they get rid of them?

We are halfway through our 10 day trip and I'm disappointed in the Little details that are missing in the parks and the cast members, I.e., no towel animals in our room (at a deluxe resort), we've encountered more than one rude castmember in the parks, the bathrooms are filthy.... It just seems the little things are missing.... I realize it's hot and crowded here so I expect other guests to be rude but so far in this trip the Disney "magic" is missing. Has anyone else noticed this or am i expecting too much based on previous vacations here?

Off the parks shortly, maybe today will have a little bit of magic....

I think you you have to find ways to create your own magic, look a little deeper to find the little things that feel special to you and your family. The bathroom situation is a little unavoidable, nothing we can really do there, but when walking through the parks take a few moments to people watch or notice some of the architectural details in the buildings and it'll start to feel special again (I hope)...and look, there goes Belle walking over to her meet and greet

 

[rajak73]

We were there last December, didn't have any rude castmembers, actually all that we encountered couldn't have been better, we maybe except for the one photopass, she seemed like she wasn't having a good day but just brushed it off and laughed about it. Talked to one on the monorail, he was off duty and asked us if we were having fun and having a good time. Boat drivers were singing xmas carols from MK to FW. Bathrooms must have been alright because I didn't notice! The thing I wonder about is the people that throw their trash on the ground and floor, just what does you house or apartment look like?

 

[PantherPete]

While I don't have any evidence of this myself, I have no reason to doubt you. It makes sense that the quality of service has dropped a bit because of simple supply and demand of quality workers. As Universal continues to grow, along with all of the other entertainment and park options in the Orlando area, the need for workers also increases. So unless you are growing the pool of workers to choose from, you are stuck hiring some less than ideal folks. This will be a major challenge for Disney & Universal (and all of the other places) over the next several years.

 

[MischaOz]

Hm, weird. Could it be a summer thing? We experienced none of that in our last two trips (Dec 2014 and Feb 2015). The only time I remember the restrooms not being the best was at EP right before Illumunations when everyone was trying to crowd in there before the show. MK restrooms were impeccable. The CMs were awesome, I can think of multiple occasions where CMs went out of their way to talk to us and spread the pixie dust. I'm hoping for the same experience when we go back this Dec!

 

[Ariel8676]

Im sorry you aren't having a great time..
We were in WDW 8/6-14 and honestly besides being hot and crowded we thought this was one of our best trips yet (as a family we have been going for 13 years in a row, sometimes 2x a year, DVC members). I know they stopped towel animals..that never got me excited anyway..
We had great meals, met some REALLY wonderful CM's, like some going out of their way to help or spead pixie dust...didn't come across any that were rude. Didn't notice the bathrooms, but we just run in as fast as we can to get back to the park lol
I hope your trip gets better, i really think it is what you make it. <3

 

[River Country]

There was a time almost 18 years ago when I would have agreed with this. It was the late 90's and I thought Disney was slacking a little bit as well. But I have been going multiple times per year for the past 7 years straight and I have only com across 1 rude CM and never a dirty restroom. Restrooms aren't magical whether clean or dirty IMHO.

I think the YOMD in 2008 I think it was...was a great promotion and a lot of people where that was the first taste of Disney thought that things would magically happen like that all the time. When the truth is they do not. There are daily acts of magic but they are
different for everyone.

Not everyone gets to pull the sword from the stone...or find Nemo at the boardwalk...or wake up tinkerbell(I don't think this is done anymore) not everyone can be in a parade. I think its up to each guest to make there own magic and believe in the magic of Disney to make their vacation special.

 

[3Gsandme]

I would imagine that the heat+high crowds would equal grumpier cast mates (would you be grumpy after spending 10 hours on your feet in 90+ degrees?) and dirtier bathrooms and grounds. Ten people make less mess than 100 people and so on and so on. The parks are really crowded this week (I'm seeing crowd calendar predictions of 9). I think it's probably difficult to keep the parks in pristine condition when it's that busy.

 

[MrInfinity]

We are halfway through our 10 day trip and I'm disappointed in the Little details that are missing in the parks and the cast members, I.e., no towel animals in our room (at a deluxe resort), we've encountered more than one rude castmember in the parks, the bathrooms are filthy.... It just seems the little things are missing.... I realize it's hot and crowded here so I expect other guests to be rude but so far in this trip the Disney "magic" is missing. Has anyone else noticed this or am i expecting too much based on previous vacations here?

Off the parks shortly, maybe today will have a little bit of magic....

Wow. Going into a Disney park thinking maybe someone will be nice to me today... How to respond... Just reset? We have to do that sometimes. Remember you're on vacation. Consider where you are and how fast your trip will go. Stop tallying up what's wrong and just go w the day and have fun. Look at things thru your kids eyes... when you were young you had more magic because you believed in fairytales... now you're old so look at what they're enjoying and not what you aren't. Disney has amazing magic for us -- or we wouldn't keep going back. Our kids love it! We love it! I've never seen a dirty bathroom there. CMs we've met have made some of the best experiences ever. One Jungle Cruise crew remembered our son from an earlier ride and stopped to talk to him, take pics, etc. We've gotten a mix of towel animals, but also the CMs took our own kids' animals and set them up in goofy poses. One time one of their bears was doing her nails! Don't be grumpy and expect ppl to be special around you.

 

[Fizban]

You can blame the dirty bathrooms on the folks who dirty the bathrooms. The cast does a roaming pick up continuously throughout the day, but can you imagine what 1 group of cheerleaders/college kids/grumpy old folks (you get the picture) can do to a bathroom in the time it takes for the attendant to get back around to that location?

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Nothing missing in the parks for us. Things change, the occasional rude CM, the occasional messy bathroom, but nothing that comes close to dampening our enjoyment in any way.

We were in WDW last Oct for our annual 10-day trip, this past Jan for the WDW Marathon Wknd, and in May for a SWW. We're headed to DL in Jan for the SW Half, WDW in May for another SWW, our first DCL sail in Mar, and probably our next 10-day trip next Aug. Is every trip PERFECT? No -- but as close to it as we ever get on a vacation. That hasn't changed for us in... 10+ years of family trips.

 

[BrianL]

I got towel animals on my trip in May. They are definitely not gone. In fact, I got two! We moved the alligator on the runner whole to the floor and the next day he had a friend (dog)! It might be because we would tip the room attendant daily as opposed to at the end of the trip (good practice), but they are certainly not gone...maybe just less frequent.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I got towel animals on my trip in May.

We had several in our BWV room in May as well. Maybe that was the cutoff??

 

[bc7ate9]

I haven't noticed these things, but I'm sorry you have.

I've never cared about towel animals so whether they are there or not doesn't affect the Magic Scale for me. They occasionally arrange any stuffed animals we have in a cute way that makes us smile (like, putting our Duffy Bear and Olaf on a pile of pillows with the remote and leaving the TV on), but I wouldn't complain if they didn't do that. I'd begin to ignore it if they always did.

We visited DL last January and were shocked by some of the things we saw there - damaged signs, horse poo in the middle of Main Street for over a half hour, overflowing garbage cans...we were able to just look past that stuff and continue to have a magical time, though. I honestly believe it's all about attitude and perspective.

 

[socrateze]

You can blame the dirty bathrooms on the folks who dirty the bathrooms. The cast does a roaming pick up continuously throughout the day, but can you imagine what 1 group of cheerleaders/college kids/grumpy old folks (you get the picture) can do to a bathroom in the time it takes for the attendant to get back around to that location?

If the parks are crowded, shouldn't Disney have enough custodial staff to make sure the bathrooms are clean?

 

[2kidsForMe]

We are here right now too and I can confirm what the OP has said about bathrooms being less than tidy. We have also encountered some rude cast members, which makes me sad. We look for ways to make our own manic and are very low maitenence guests, but the attitude of some (not all) CM's has surprised me. Great example, we were in the FP line for mine train yesterday. A couple walks up to 3 CM who were manning the line and asks where the non FP line started. One CM pointed in the general direction. The couple left and the CM says sarcastically to the other one "I hate when they talk to me, just get I line OK". It wasn't very nice to say the least.