Has Disney dropped the magic ball?

[50sPrimeTime]

I recently sent a very long, very detailed email about all the declines in service and magic I've noticed over the years. (Ex: on my last 2 trips not one Haunted Mansion CM played the part or dropped a "dead center of the room" pun on us)

I got in touch with a lovely CM who assured me that my email was being forwarded around to various park management. And she also gave me her direct line and asked me to call her if I notice anything on my upcoming trip...specifically name CMs and locations would be a huge help she said. But she was very apologetic and very aware of the decline in magic.

I'm hoping that actually taking the time to write an email will be more effective than speaking to someone in the parks who may never pass it along to the higher ups. It takes a bit more effort...but it shows I'm serious.

 

[Davey Jones II]

In reference to the post above...I would strongly agree that one should take note (I mean actually write down the name on their name tag, when and where the incident occurred, etc.) of CMs who are doing a lousy job or simply being rude. Then you can tell Disney management exactly who is ruining the magic for you. If you rely on your memory, you will likely draw a blank when it comes to remembering specifics.

 

[JimmyV]

But that isn't specific to Disney. We are planning a Royal Caribbean Cruise and you should read cruise critic. If I were to listen to all the experienced cruisers, I would cancel the cruise! the food is terrible now. Service is lacking. Too crowded, too expensive, loss of details. They are even complaining about towel animals!

Ahhh. But there is one major difference. The cost of cruising has declined precipitously over time. Cruising used to be a "luxury" endeavor. Now it is mass market. Heck. Sometimes I see cruise specials that are so low that it is cheaper to actually take the cruise than it is to stay home!! (Of course, none of this applies to DCL. ) So when $500 buys you a full week on a cruise ship with all lodging and meals paid for, and much of the entertainment included as well, it becomes forgivable when there is no foie gras or duck l'Orange in the main dining rooms. The discussion here is generated more by the point that we continue to pay more and more at WDW and the conditions of the facilities seem to go in the wrong direction.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

Ahhh. But there is one major difference. The cost of cruising has declined precipitously over time. Cruising used to be a "luxury" endeavor. Now it is mass market. Heck. Sometimes I see cruise specials that are so low that it is cheaper to actually take the cruise than it is to stay home!! (Of course, none of this applies to DCL. ) So when $500 buys you a full week on a cruise ship with all lodging and meals paid for, and much of the entertainment included as well, it becomes forgivable when there is no foie gras or duck l'Orange in the main dining rooms. The discussion here is generated more by the point that we continue to pay more and more at WDW and the conditions of the facilities seem to go in the wrong direction.

Depends on the type of cruise though. While some are budget, others are nothing of the sort. I have the privilege of taking a cruise down the Nile River in October and I can assure you it is anything but $500 for a fraction of the time as well.

 

[JimmyV]

Oh. And one more thing. In response to the comments that Disney is not going to change its policies due to some complaining on an internet chat board...I earlier mentioned the firestorm that occurred on Cruise Critic when a certain cruise line substantially changed its wine allowance policy, and how the decision was reversed before it could even be implemented. Well...DCL just announced a major change to its alcohol allowance policy and a 54+ page thread on the Board has blossomed in a week. And most of the posts are critical of the money grab. And guess what? Disney has already changed the policy in response. Instead of implementing the new rule effective on all cruises on or after 9/30, DCL is now allowing people who are past their final payment date to be "grandfathered" and can cruise under the old rules. And I suspect that this is just the first "tweak" to the new rules. People who sail in DCL already pay the highest prices in the mass market and family cruise sector. But one of the justifications for the higher prices was the lenient carry-on alcohol policy. Change that policy and still charge the highest prices and what do you get? A 54 page thread in a week, and an almost immediate reaction from Corporate HQ.

 

[JimmyV]

Depends on the type of cruise though. While some are budget, others are nothing of the sort. I have the privilege of taking a cruise down the Nile River in October and I can assure you it is anything but $500 for a fraction of the time as well.

Sure. But I was quoting a reference to RCCL. There is no limit to the number of cruises on RCCL, PCL, NCL, CCL, X and HAL where you can get an inside cabin for a week for $500 per person, or thereabouts.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

. The discussion here is generated more by the point that we continue to pay more and more at WDW and the conditions of the facilities seem to go in the wrong direction.

I wonder about this. I personally have never seen a dirty bathroom but I don't doubt other's experiences.

But when I look at the parks...I'm not sure they have ever looked better. All those scrims and walls have been there to beautify the parks. Main St looks amazing. Bright and shiny. A few years back it was popular to trash Splash Mt. well in May it was pristine. Same for BTMRR...it got a wonderful paint job and facelift. All the new interactive queues, Rapunzel area, the entire new FL is themed wonderfully.

Same for the other parks. There is just too many things to list in this post (SM, tea Cups, JC, now Pirates, Tiki room etc etc) but I constantly see continuous improvement in the parks...and the hotels! New lobbies, new pools, new play areas. even the monorails were noticeably better on our last trip as they have poured tons of time and money into keeping that system humming.

I get the complaints. I don't dismiss them. But the improvements have clearly outpaced the level of broken escalators. It's really not debatable.

What is debatable is CM interaction and shortcomings and there I just don't know...I have, literally, NEVER had a bad CM experience in 8 trips since 2005. What I HAVE noticed for sure is an INCREASE in rude guest behavior...but that's the world now and not limited to WDW. People are just....pissed off it seems. Look at Trump...he's tapping into that collective feeling of pent up frustration.

And so all of these laments about "lost magic" to me come down to a jaded viewpoint and sometimes misplaced nostalgia and selective memory....

Not really even the OP...she seemed to be having a bad week and I hope it got better. And I said it before...we had towel animals in May 2015 at the Poly and the CMs also arranged my daughter's stuffed animals in fun ways almost every day.

 

[JimmyV]

I get the complaints. I don't dismiss them. But the improvements have clearly outpaced the level of broken escalators. It's really not debatable.

Depends on what you count as the "improvements". Seems to me that the money has been poured in to new things and that lots of older stuff has been neglected. The pirates need refreshing. Lots of stuff on Splash Mountain doesn't function. Cracked plaster. Chipped paint. It is all there. Someone should start a thread called:

"Pictures Of Things In A Condition That You Wouldn't Have Seen In The Past"

and you will see that it really is all there. Some notice and some don't. But I thing it is absolutely "debatable" that improvements clearly outpace slippage.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

Everything on Splash functions...not sure what you mean? At least it did in May. Pirates needs it yes...and is currently closed and getting refurbed.

I do agree some see it and some don't. But I'm pretty sure for every picture someone shows me of chipped paint somewhere on WDW property I could show several hundred of shiny, crisp paint jobs.

I suppose what you mean is there was never any chipped paint anywhere in "the past". I really don't know, but if that's true then sure, I can see why people complain. It also bears mentioning that people complain about walls and scrims and rides closed for refurbs also.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

Everything on Splash functions...

You must have taken a nap on the ride

 

[DISNEY1975]

Ive been on trips with my elderly mother, who is pretty much straight faced. I am super friendly. If Im walking down the hall at a resort and see housekeeping/CM, I will maintain eye contact and say "Good Morning" or "Hi". I use my please and thank you's all the time. I smile a lot. I appreciate everything. I feel I am treated the same way. I get "Good Morning" back (and after time, they see me and say it first), smiles back and if I need something, I dont feel they are annoyed by me asking (small things..extra shampoo or extra face cloth to take off makeup after MNSSHP. I make sure I wash the cloth after).

My mother doesnt get the same smiles, good mornings or treatment. I dont wonder why.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

What is debatable is CM interaction and shortcomings and there I just don't know...I have, literally, NEVER had a bad CM experience in 8 trips since 2005. What I HAVE noticed for sure is an INCREASE in rude guest behavior...but that's the world now and not limited to WDW. People are just....pissed off it seems. Look at Trump...he's tapping into that collective feeling of pent up frustration.

I have had numerous bad CM experiences, even over petty stuff. On my last trip, I was told I would have a room with 2 beds and a sleeping sofa on my stay at the Yacht Club. Upon arrival and checking in, they kindly informed me I only had 2 beds. I said huh? And they shrugged their shoulders. And then I asked for a cot to be brought up to the room and they said "sure." They then tried to charge me for the cot and I said, "no I was promised a sleeping sofa so this cot is making up for Disney's mistake so their won't be any charge." They agreed and "told" me that they would note on my account that the cot would be free of charge. Fast forward to a week later, at check-out (my time was limited), the lady working the front desk told me I had to settle the outstanding charge for the cot. I was like "huh?" Anyways, I explained to her the situation, and she tried to argue with me telling me that since there was no note on the account there was nothing she could do. I had to ask for the manager who had to call housekeeping to get it squared away. All of that over a measly $80 bucks. Outstanding CM work Disney!

 

[Kalliope]

You must have taken a nap on the ride

Or didn't realize what was supposed to work but didn't.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Or didn't realize what was supposed to work but didn't.

I think this is the biggest problem. Things have been broken so long that many visitors never saw them work and have no clue these things used to move and interact. I know they're clueless and happy but it makes me sad that they are blissfully unaware of what they are missing.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

You must have taken a nap on the ride

Or didn't realize what was supposed to work but didn't.

I think this is the biggest problem. Things have been broken so long that many visitors never saw them work and have no clue these things used to move and interact. I know they're clueless and happy but it makes me sad that they are blissfully unaware of what they are missing.

Like what?

The bear snores, Brer Rabbit moves too and fro (hopping across the background), turtles spin and shoot water, the ending boat scene is fully animated, etc

Even Josh over at EasyWDW posted recently that the ride is working fine.

I know it had issues in the past...My point is that it has been fixed. Or maybe not lol depending on what I may be missing!

 

[Kalliope]

Like what?

The bear snores, Brer Rabbit moves too and fro (hopping across the background), turtles spin and shoot water, the ending boat scene is fully animated, etc

Even Josh over at EasyWDW posted recently that the ride is working fine.

I know it had issues in the past...My point is that it has been fixed. Or maybe not lol depending on what I may be missing!

I was there in July and rode Splash multiple times. No rabbit hopping in background, no fish jumping and no jumping water.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Like what?

The bear snores, Brer Rabbit moves too and fro (hopping across the background), turtles spin and shoot water, the ending boat scene is fully animated, etc

Even Josh over at EasyWDW posted recently that the ride is working fine.

I know it had issues in the past...My point is that it has been fixed. Or maybe not lol depending on what I may be missing!

I would love to see video of the fish jumping through the net and the water jumping across the boat paths again. I've said it's been 3 years since we saw those things but my wife swears it's been longer.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I was there in July and rode Splash multiple times. No rabbit hopping in background, no fish jumping and no jumping water.

ah ok. maybe that's the norm then and we just got lucky in May.

I gotta stop reading this board for a while LOL because so many things people complain about just don't happen to me and I don't want to start looking for them, even subconsciously!

Like the cot story above. We had something similar I guess whereby some of our luggage didn't make it to our Poly room the first day. The CMs could not have been nicer in handling the situation, following up multiple times, continuing to give us updates and so forth. Above and beyond.

Also last trip we checked into BC and the room (garden view) had a slight odor of wet carpet. they moved us to a water view without a single question, just "sorry about that here is your new room".

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I would love to see video of the fish jumping through the net and the water jumping across the boat paths again. I've said it's been 3 years since we saw those things but my wife swears it's been longer.

ah ok...didn't notice the lack of jumping fish.

I did notice on EE that we didn't have steam at the boarding area (but I didn't care all that much).

And I did notice dirty screen at Soarin' on our 2013 trip. the 2015 trip it looked cleaner but I'm glad we are getting a whole new high def thing anyway.

anyway - not meaning to argue...everyone has different things they notice/perceive.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

ah ok...didn't notice the lack of jumping fish.

I did notice on EE that we didn't have steam at the boarding area (but I didn't care all that much).

And I did notice dirty screen at Soarin' on our 2013 trip. the 2015 trip it looked cleaner but I'm glad we are getting a whole new high def thing anyway.

anyway - not meaning to argue...everyone has different things they notice/perceive.

I just asked my wife if she remembered seeing the steam last year when we were at AK and she said it wasn't running but I didn't notice it. She said she was looking for it and when it didn't happen after the second train pulled in she just chalked it up as not working or something else taken away.

To your point you never know what things are going to jump out at an individual.