Has service declined?

[yorkieteacher]

This may be the wrong spot for this post, so moderator feel free to move it. I remember feeling after leaving Disney World in many previous visits that every cast member I encountered went over and above what was needed to make your visit magical. With one exception on each of our last trips, most of the cast members were amazing, but we encountered one each visit who was rude and impatient, even though we were very polite. Do you feel these experiences with rude cast members is increasing overall, even when guests are not being rude? From some of the post on these forums, it would appear so. And no, I did not report them, hoping they were just having a bad day and not wanting to get them in trouble over encounters that were over quickly (one was rude at the MK exit when we asked directions to our particular bus stop and one was rude at the check in podium of Tusker House when we asked about how much longer our wait would be, and we had checked in 15 minutes early and had waited over 30 minutes.)

 

[Farro]

Nothing sticks out from our 2017 trip as bad service, everyone was nice.

I think sometimes people place too much importance on "pixie dust" from cast members. So much so that when a cast member is efficient, pleasant, and does their job well, but doesn't ooze pixie dust out of their pores, people say that service is declining.

They still waved at us with giant Mickey hands early in the morning at Epcot, they all said hello to us all over our hotel, made fun comments about our costumes at Halloween parties and were generally friendly. And when I wore my birthday pin, got a lot of birthday wishes!

 

[cruisin5]

No, but the good ones go unnoticed while the few who are rude or not helpful are the ones that get remembered.

Staying for a week, we probably encounter hundreds of CMs.

 

[rdaky]

Well first of all, Tusker House is the worst about timing. Every time we have eaten there, we have waited at a minimum 30-45 minutes after our ADR time to be seated. So imagine 200 plus people asking the same question over and over and over again. "How much longer?" I don't know if I could hold it together for 8 hours if I had to answer that question hundreds of times. LOL. So I can give them a pass on this one.

I don't feel that it has changed at all. I do think that many guests expect Disney magic and perfection, and in the end, they're just human. We all have bad days. You said that you encountered ONE per visit who was rude. That leaves you encountering HUNDREDS of cast members who were not rude. I'd put that into perspective and focus on the positive vs thinking that somehow service has declined because of a tiny number of people who were less than perfect.

 

[Klayfish]

No, not at all. In fact, I think it's getting better.** Sure, every once in a while you come across someone who isn't over the top, but that's OK. Maybe it's someone who normally is but is just having a really bad day. Not sure we've ever come across a CM who was flat out rude.

**We stay offsite and don't eat in the restaurants, so our experience is limited to in park CM and the trams/monorail/ferry.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

I think part of the problem isn't necessarily the CM, as the demanding guests. (Not saying at all this is the OP) But it could have been possibly a guest ahead of you that just pushed the CM a little too far and they didn't have time to reset. We all get a little cranky maybe when we shouldn't, but overall with the amount of CM's you encounter in a day, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I know several CM's and you would be shocked at what they encounter in a typical day.

 

[Ensusieasm]

This may be the wrong spot for this post, so moderator feel free to move it. I remember feeling after leaving Disney World in many previous visits that every cast member I encountered went over and above what was needed to make your visit magical. With one exception on each of our last trips, most of the cast members were amazing, but we encountered one each visit who was rude and impatient, even though we were very polite. Do you feel these experiences with rude cast members is increasing overall, even when guests are not being rude? From some of the post on these forums, it would appear so. And no, I did not report them, hoping they were just having a bad day and not wanting to get them in trouble over encounters that were over quickly (one was rude at the MK exit when we asked directions to our particular bus stop and one was rude at the check in podium of Tusker House when we asked about how much longer our wait would be, and we had checked in 15 minutes early and had waited over 30 minutes.)

We must have encountered that same cast member at the Tusker House podium in late January!

 

[Scar1199]

Just go stand in line at customer service at any local store and see the craziness these people have to put up with, and then think of how many people are now at Disney and what they have to listen to, day in and day out. Does it suck sometimes when CMs are a bit snarky? Sure. Do I understand? Yes. If it was only 1 issue on your whole vacation, I'd say things were pretty good.

 

[MomOTwins]

I have a lot of sympathy for the restaurant hosts. I'll never forget one time this awful man losing it at the Tony's Town Square hostess because they didn't have walk up availability and he "didn't pay thousands of dollars to be told he couldn't eat ANYWHERE" and flat out refusing to leave the line at the host stand until they gave him a table (he didn't get one, obviously).

 

[yorkieteacher]

I have a lot of sympathy for the restaurant hosts. I'll never forget one time this awful man losing it at the Tony's Town Square hostess because they didn't have walk up availability and he "didn't pay thousands of dollars to be told he couldn't eat ANYWHERE" and flat out refusing to leave the line at the host stand until they gave him a table (he didn't get one, obviously).

I believe rude guests should not be shocked when they are not treated with total consideration and kindness. I also feel sorry for CM's who are disrespected. But lately I have been surprised to hear on these forums of several times that polite guests were treated rudely (or I assume they were being polite!) I know we were shocked the two times we received rude responses on our last two trips. On our first 7 or 8 trips we encountered NO rudeness, even once when my then teenagers were obviously unhappy with the menu choices and complaining. I don't expect constant pixie dust, but it seems Disney may no longer be the place where everyone is happy to work there. Or maybe our world is just getting ruder in general and Disney is the same!We have only been on one Disney cruise, and I will say it was by far the best customer service of any of the three other cruise lines we have been on. Everyone seemed like they were constantly asking what we needed.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Overall, the majority of CMs are pleasant, some even excellent. They ar what differentiates Disney from a normal theme park. As much as I love Disney World, I have to admit that more and more CMs are just “doing their job” without exuding that extra “magic”. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s just not the same. And yes, more and more are downright rude. It’s normal to encounter a rude person here and there but it just seems to be happening more often now. I put this down to understaffing and budget cuts, but I don’t know. I just hope that Disney continues to tAke the time to properly train and support their CMs so the magical service that Disney is famous for doesn’t totally disappear.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Or maybe our world is just getting ruder in general and Disney is the same!

I would say this is probably the closest answer to the truth.

Service HAS to decline, with the attendance numbers the way they are. OF COURSE going to Disney in the 80-90's was superb and you were treated like royalty.

There weren't 30,000 people running you down to be First!In!Line! for a Welch's grape juice popsicle and a spin on the Astro-Orbiter...

 

[KenHutch]

Every where we have been in WDW we have found the staff to be friendly and do their best for us. However on our last trip this past June we ran into two waitresses whose service annoyed my girls so much the restaurants have been dropped from our rotation. The 1st Rose & Crown was always our go to Epcot place to eat. We had a waitress ignore us for 45 minutes because of a large drinking party next to us. The food came out in waves and was cold. Her manager and I had a nice talk. The 2nd was Mama Melrose. We had a party of 8 and for half the place was magical for the others cold food. She served us and disappeared until she brought our check. We did the Fastasmic package and she did not bring tickets. Since the girls had decided to go back to the hotel early I only stopped to ask the manager why (and he was a pleasure to talk to) but I understand that people have an off day but I cannot get the girls to give those places another try.

 

[yorkieteacher]

I would say this is probably the closest answer to the truth.

Service HAS to decline, with the attendance numbers the way they are. OF COURSE going to Disney in the 80-90's was superb and you were treated like royalty.

There weren't 30,000 people running you down to be First!In!Line! for a Welch's grape juice popsicle and a spin on the Astro-Orbiter...

I agree that good service declines when customer numbers increase, but what I don't understand is why, if Disney is making more due to increasing attendance, they don't increase service personnel as well. I have heard (and hope!) they have increased security, but cut many other positions. Many people in these forums have said what amounts to that Disney exists in a vacuum, and people will continue to come and spend more and more no matter what the situation. That's just sad.

 

[Tinkerbellmom43]

Rude CM's are far and few between. I agree as PP's have said, we expect "pixie dust" everywhere we go in Disney. I work with the public myself so I have an idea what they must hear on a daily basis. I give them credit for doing what they do and the amount of people they deal with on a single day. I always try to turn it around and go out of my way to be nice to the CM's. I think rude people forget that it's not all about them.

 

[FastPasser.]

I give them credit for doing what they do

Being a CM at WDW is no different than working in most other service industries. I've found that the perception is much worse than the reality. It's not that bad.

 

[Viking7641]

Being a CM at WDW is no different than working in most other service industries. I've found that the perception is much worse than the reality. It's not that bad.

Except in my my service position I won’t ruin Timmy’s life by not being able to give him WHAT HE WANTS RIGHT NOW

They deal with people who have never left a bubble of entitlement from birth. Of course they deal with absurd behavior every day. It’s draining and burns people out

And with more guests they are spread more thin. And Disney is not going to increase staffing, and when called to do so they’ll blame wages even if profits increase

 

[FastPasser.]

Except in my my service position I won’t ruin Timmy’s life by not being able to give him WHAT HE WANTS RIGHT NOW
They deal with people who have never left a bubble of entitlement from birth. Of course they deal with absurd behavior every day. It’s draining and burns people out
And with more guests they are spread more thin. And Disney is not going to increase staffing, and when called to do so they’ll blame wages even if profits increase

I just retired, but during the twenty-two plus years as a CM at WDW, I sure hope I haven't ruined Timmy's life. I seldom thought that I was dealing with absurd behavior on a regular basis. Sure, like any other service job, being a CM had it's challenges from time to time but after a while you learn how to diffuse them and deal with the tougher situations. I've said it many times, being a CM is not as bad as the perception.

My longest stint at any of the positions was as a bus driver, 6-1/2 years, and it was a breeze for me. Yet people often ask me how was I able to deal with the rude people for so long. My answer, I didn't because there were very few rude people. They board the bus and get off, that's it 99.9% of the time. Isn't that what you do?

Every position I held was a front line position with lots of one on one Guest interaction like at the WL, YC & GF in Bell Services. At the GF Front Desk & Concierge, Bus driver and a Park Events Guide doing a lot of audience control at all WDW Guest areas including MK during the fireworks show. I enjoyed it all.

The smooth and fun times far outweighed the not so good times. As for staffing, and I can't speak to attractions, but every single department I've been in has grown in size dramatically. There have not been any cutbacks in those departments. That's how I ended up in each one, they were expanding and needed more people.

Of course it's not 100%, but I'm not alone in my sentiments, there are thousands and thousands of CMs that feel the same way that have been CMs for decades.

Wow, that was long winded.