Huge turnaround for Disney World!

[Pats Dragon]

Just returned from a really great trip and one reason it was so great is that Disney has brought back the old magic cm attitude that us oldsters remember from the old days. It was amazing.
Everywhere we went cm's went out of their way, (sometimes waaaay out of their way) to be kind and helpful. Can't be that many nice people in the world. Must be policy. It really made a difference for us.

 

[Jennasis]

Nothing but awesome CMs this whole week for us too!

 

[WEDWDW]

I'm here now and couldn't agree more!

Am meeting a ton of awesome International CMs also-Brazil especially.

 

[lugnut33]

Wonderful to hear

 

[J and R's mom]

Oh, I hope you're right! That would AWESOME!!

 

[csmith041177]

Great to hear that you had such a great experience. With few exceptions, the cast members have always been fantastic on all of our trips, and continually go out of their way to make our experience magical. Always thankful for that part of the experience. I think it is the cast members that really makes WDW magical, as opposed to the bricks and mortar.

 

[jo-jo]

We just returned from a birthday trip and I can't agree with you concerning resort CM. We had lots of contact with front desk CM, checking to see if room was ready, being locked out of resort, locked out of room, no charging on band,etc. Some of this happened at BOTH resorts. Not one said Happy birthday. After several days of no comments, I asked if it was noted on my reservation, yes it was. I spoke with CM at BCV and she said she was sorry it happened and gave me a Sully stuffed toy. At BLT, the manager gave us two days of extra FPs. So in the end I did feel special, but it would have been so nice to have been greeted by the first CM as we got off the ME bus with a HB and a pin or at least a HB and getting the pin from the desk area.

We ate at 4 TS. Only one mentioned my birthday and bought a card and little cupcake. At Trails End one person had a birthday and the server said everyone give a yeee haaa (or something like that). I wasn't looking for a free 10 dollar dessert, just a little notice.


Now I did have lots of happy birthday from walking the parks and even a few when I wasn't wearing a pin, but they noticed it on the FP screen.


We did have one amazing CM. After going to our room at BLT, our bands didn't work. A housekeeping said she would run down and take care of it. I tried to tip her and she turned it down.

 

[DisneyOma]

We just returned from a birthday trip and I can't agree with you concerning resort CM. We had lots of contact with front desk CM, checking to see if room was ready, being locked out of resort, locked out of room, no charging on band,etc. Some of this happened at BOTH resorts. Not one said Happy birthday. After several days of no comments, I asked if it was noted on my reservation, yes it was. I spoke with CM at BCV and she said she was sorry it happened and gave me a Sully stuffed toy. At BLT, the manager gave us two days of extra FPs. So in the end I did feel special, but it would have been so nice to have been greeted by the first CM as we got off the ME bus with a HB and a pin or at least a HB and getting the pin from the desk area.

We ate at 4 TS. Only one mentioned my birthday and bought a card and little cupcake. At Trails End one person had a birthday and the server said everyone give a yeee haaa (or something like that). I wasn't looking for a free 10 dollar dessert, just a little notice.


Now I did have lots of happy birthday from walking the parks and even a few when I wasn't wearing a pin, but they noticed it on the FP screen.


We did have one amazing CM. After going to our room at BLT, our bands didn't work. A housekeeping said she would run down and take care of it. I tried to tip her and she turned it down.

Seriously?

 

[Jennasis]

We just returned from a birthday trip and I can't agree with you concerning resort CM. We had lots of contact with front desk CM, checking to see if room was ready, being locked out of resort, locked out of room, no charging on band,etc. Some of this happened at BOTH resorts. Not one said Happy birthday. After several days of no comments, I asked if it was noted on my reservation, yes it was. I spoke with CM at BCV and she said she was sorry it happened and gave me a Sully stuffed toy. At BLT, the manager gave us two days of extra FPs. So in the end I did feel special, but it would have been so nice to have been greeted by the first CM as we got off the ME bus with a HB and a pin or at least a HB and getting the pin from the desk area.

We ate at 4 TS. Only one mentioned my birthday and bought a card and little cupcake. At Trails End one person had a birthday and the server said everyone give a yeee haaa (or something like that). I wasn't looking for a free 10 dollar dessert, just a little notice.


Now I did have lots of happy birthday from walking the parks and even a few when I wasn't wearing a pin, but they noticed it on the FP screen.


We did have one amazing CM. After going to our room at BLT, our bands didn't work. A housekeeping said she would run down and take care of it. I tried to tip her and she turned it down.

I'm going to assume this whole post was tongue-in-cheek.

 

[larryz]

I'm going to assume this whole post was tongue-in-cheek.

I hope you're right. I was thinking body parts, but not those two.

I guess it's all about tempering expectations.

 

[Canuck16]

That's good to hear. The guys on the Free Form Friday show were saying the same thing.

 

[jo-jo]

I hope you're right. I was thinking body parts, but not those two.

I guess it's all about tempering expectations.

Well, yes, I didn't expect to be locked out of my room or the resort or the pool area or be unable to pay for my lunch. I didn't expect to have to make multiple trips to the lobby for these items to be resolved. So I should lower my expectations on these matters??

 

[disnut8]

Well, yes, I didn't expect to be locked out of my room or the resort or the pool area or be unable to pay for my lunch. I didn't expect to have to make multiple trips to the lobby for these items to be resolved. So I should lower my expectations on these matters??

I think the people were responding to the multiple times you expected your birthday to be acknowledged and how you took notice of others with birthdays and how they were treated compared to your experience. At first, your post made sense with what you described above but then it went off onto a birthday thing so I think others dwelt on that instead of the issues Disney can make better.

 

[jo-jo]

All I expected was with in the first time or two with front desk CMs, a "I see you are celebrating a birthday, let's get a pin for you", I'd be happy. But when it is noted on the reservation and I need to make multiple trips to the front desk for issues not in my control, one would have thought someone would have said something about my birthday.

 

[larryz]

All I expected was with in the first time or two with front desk CMs, a "I see you are celebrating a birthday, let's get a pin for you", I'd be happy. But when it is noted on the reservation and I need to make multiple trips to the front desk for issues not in my control, one would have thought someone would have said something about my birthday.

Sure, we all expect courtesy and things to work correctly. And given the issues you describe, you had a right to expect higher accommodation -- but to complain about people not wishing you a "happy birthday" just seemed kind of trivial to me in comparison to your MB issues.

For myself, I would have appreciated a "here's some any-time fastpasses for your efforts" much more than a "happy birthday."

 

[DebbieB]

I just got back and the cm's all seemed great to me. I was disappointed with them in my October 2014 trip, so there was a big improvement for me.

 

[jo-jo]

Sure, we all expect courtesy and things to work correctly. And given the issues you describe, you had a right to expect higher accommodation -- but to complain about people not wishing you a "happy birthday" just seemed kind of trivial to me in comparison to your MB issues.

For myself, I would have appreciated a "here's some any-time fastpasses for your efforts" much more than a "happy birthday."

As noted, after several days, I did get some FP but only after I complained. The fact that we had all the issues and the CMs had that many more times to look at our account and still no HB, it seemed only worse.

But also please note, I did say the CMs in the parks said HB a lot.

 

[Jennasis]

The BLT staff couldn't have been nicer to us this week. They welcomed us, gave us Anniversary and Bday buttons without us asking for them and wished us a happy every single time we passed through the lobby.

 

[wdw4rfam]

We just got back 2 weeks ago and I will agree. We had the best trip we have had in years for many reasons. But we also had all (except one) great CM's. We went in expecting it to be one of the most stressful trips because we went over a holiday, but it started with being upgraded to preferred at CBR, having great bus service all week, great weather and great CMs. We were expecting to book a different vacation next year after all the planning stress and all. But everyone agreed that we found out how to work the new system and recaptured the "magic" that we thought we lost. Now planning our next trip..... To WDW again

 

[buccikulju]

Just returned and I experienced the same thing. The Cast Members everywhere were great! Cheerful, funny, helpful. It was excellent. It really makes a difference when the CMs are on their game...it totally completes the Disney magic. The excellence in general made the few sour faces really stand out. But even those frowns turned upside down if you spoke to the person and asked how they were, or commented on their home town. I notice it makes so many of the CMs happy if you've actually visited their home town and speak favorably about it.