I’m afraid the Magic is gone!

I’m sitting here in the Poly getting ready to eat Ohana on my last night reflecting on this past week. Unfortunately things just feel different.

I was last here in January of 2020. The very first thing I notice and it’s quite jarring is a lot of cast members are just here for a job. Like you can feel the vibe. It’s so different. I’ve been 7 times from 2015-2020 and I can’t recall a less than great interaction with a cast member. All the way from janitors to waitresses to ride operators. Just a couple of examples. When loading on the Barnstormer weather moved in. We had used a LL. When exiting the ride we asked the ride operator about the LL. She just shrugged and said “go see guest relations.” This was abnormal as in the past they would just scan your band and get your fastpass back. So I asked the CM at the actual LL station. Same response. Tonight in the Polynesian we asked about getting our large group together. (We we’re broken into 3 reservations) We called early in the day to inform of the situation and they just didn’t really care. Said “we’ll just see what we can do. But you’ll probably be separate.” Again, very abnormal. LL is another just total train wreck. You set your alarm and you select your LL but when you go to lock it in, it will just 2-5 hours into the future. So you still go to the park early but everything has a long wait. Even like Tea Cups and It’s a small world. It’s crazy.

You can tell everything is very understaffed. I don’t know if this is by purpose or they can’t get enough employees. So many people eaters are closed. In MK there are hardly any characters to meet, no Tales with Belle, a few restaurants are still closed. You can tell there are fewer people in the parks with the reservation system but the lines are absurd because a lot of people eaters are still closed.

No need to just pile on. I don’t mean to be negative. But if you go expecting the golden Disney from the mid to late 2010’s it’s gone. I’m guessing forever. Fire away with questions though.
Agree. Disneyworld is a soul less place right now.
 
It's funny. I've got friends in the parks right now, and they are saying that, not only is the magic NOT gone, but it's one of the best trips they've had in a long time, going back even before the pandemic. I guess it's there if you know where to look.
 
When will the international workers be allowed back? I'm assuming this could be a great help with staffing and attitudes.
 
When will the international workers be allowed back? I'm assuming this could be a great help with staffing and attitudes.
Hopefully sooner than later. It adds real flavor not only in the EPCOT pavilions, but in other parts as well.
 


Our last trip to Disney was in January 2021. We felt it then. We are Vacation Club owners and have been to Disney over 50 times, and the magic has gone away, little by little. We are afraid to go back, since our last trip wasn't all that great.
I agree
 
We have had other issues too. Our room at the Boardwalk wasn’t really until 5PM which was a minor inconvenience, then when we got the room the carpet was wet and had a wet dog smell. They had a sign in front of the TV apologizing for the wet carpet as they had just shampooed. I didn’t complain. I was just happy to get a room finally. Not having Magical Express was just a pain. We hired one of the Orlando companies and they were of course half an hour late. It’s just a bummer. I can’t justify paying 2k more per trip for a lesser experience. And it stinks because I absolutely loved Disney.
Did you try Mears connect? They were the people who provided the old service.
 
Currently staying on property now, previous trip was in March 22.
We have noticed some improvements from our last trip..more things opening up, some restaurant menus now with increased options and even Genie + seems to be working better.
Very noticeable…. No large group visits… very few overseas tourists.
Disney as the rest of the world still dealing with the after effects of Covid. Staffing numbers remain a problem and is impacting everything.

The big Mouse isn’t dead… been of life support…but is slowly recovering…outlook looks bright!
 


Also just returned from Disneyworld and here is my 2 cents....

We are DVC members so we stayed at the Boardwalk. Everything was pretty good, however, if we were not DVC members (since 2001) we would have been extremely disappointed had we paid over $500 per night for a resort that definitely needs A LOT more attention to detail if they want to remain as an upscale resort. Not bad, but not GREAT.

Parks were okay. But again, need much more attention to detail. Things we never saw 20 years ago are just normal these days. Lot's of full garbage bins, litter on the grounds (not much but noticeable), a lot of general wear and tear, food WAY BELOW the quality we should expect along with very mediocre service for some very expensive restaurants. Landscaping is good, but no where near as perfect as it all used to be.

All of the employees were extremely polite but they just didn't seem to have the work ethic required of a top quality vacation resort.

Crowds were not too bad, but it just seems like we waited longer for everything from rides to snacks to being seated for reservations. Disney Genie+ just does not make the experience any better. At least the old pre-booking fastpass system let us plan our day so we are not walking in circles all day. I simply could not imagine being there if the parks were actually crowded.

Unless you get up 60 days in advance, dining reservations are difficult.

Maybe I was looking for things to nitpick as I can probably keep on going, but we do love the place....but it seems like we have to overlook some things and work harder to "feel the magic".

The Covid blame can only be used for just so long. As someone mentioned in a earlier post, once the magic is gone it's going to be very hard to get it back.

To new visitors and those who have only been a time or two, it probably does seem special. But as a DVC member that has gone twice a year since the kids were little, and now go with once a year with the family, and once a year with friends to do higher end dinners and enjoy the EPCOT festivals we definitely notice the decline of many things.

At this point, for now, I'm going along with the pandemic and the difficulty hiring employees rationale. To be honest, I don't care what the reasons are. CEO and management get paid a whole lot of money to figure that out. When our conversations include, "what would Walt think of this place right now" it should be concerning to management.

Fingers crossed for the future!
 
Spotted first tour group today from Brazil…. Good sign of things getting back to normal.
Also thought it is good hear Disney are holding after hour events in the parks to say a thank you to cast members.
I even had a positive experience with Genie+….
 
I get the "It's a staffing problem" argument.

My fear is that in hiring new people, Disney either won't be able to be as selective in finding people who "sparkle," or--in the interest of expediency--will choose not to be.

A culture of "making magic" is hard to recover once it's lost.
What I don't understand is that I have been to Universal a few times in the last 6 months and they don't appear to be having a staffing problem. They have housekeeping at all of their resorts and we never waited more than a few minutes for a boat to and from the hotel. Plenty of TMs at the park entrance and loading rides, and they were all nice and cheery. The parks and bathrooms were clean. Why can't Disney hire people? I recall before the pandemic, the bathrooms in Hollywood studios were overrunning with trash and you could smell the stench from the guys bathroom while waiting for the women's. I witnessed this on multiple occasions. I was shocked that they weren't maintaining the bathrooms. Again, that was pre-covid. I just feel like they don't want to spend the money on staff.

Even their whole argument on requiring park reservations in order to staff properly is such a bunch of bull. All of their parks are crowded every day. They should staff for that. It's not rocket science.
 
Totally agree. Sitting in wilderness lodge club lounge eavesdropping on the CMs complaining about their schedules. That would never have happened in the past. I also had to go to the front desk to let the manager on duty know the area outside Roaring Forks was full of trash. She was nice enough and said she would report it but seemed flustered and bothered. Not that I needed one but there was no apology or sincerity in her response. Just rushing off to do the next thing. And don’t even get me started on the college program CMs staffing the Starcruiser. Ugh.
This reminds me of being in EPCOT and hearing two college-age CMs at the Heraldry shop in England talk about how they didn't have enough money to live off of, lol. While I know that's pretty well always been true, it's the first I've heard people openly say stuff like that in front of park guests.

It makes me wonder if discipline hasn't just disappeared since they're so hurting for staff, so people are just more free to speak their minds because they know "Jerk CM Manager #5" isn't gonna listen to every customer complaint and then give them a write-up or a strike and then fire them. Back in the day, most CMs I knew or read interviews for said they were living CONSTANTLY in fear of getting fired. Like every manager seemed to be this weird lifer jerk who loved writing up younger workers and treating them badly, and any complaint could get you axed, since everyone knew there were thousands of people chomping at the bit to work for Disney and anyone could be easily replaced.

Makes me wonder if the current level of "Young Adults Being Young Adults" is just CMs finally being allowed to be honest, lol. They're probably just DONE after being A) overworked and B) yelled at over Genie+ all day long. I myself never really had any bad interactions with anyone over the past several years (heck, I think my only bad one was in 2014 getting hollered at to get out of Tomorrowland as the park was closing, haha), and usually had positive ones even with complaints like "Man the park wifi sucks" and they're like "TELL me about it" :).
 
This reminds me of being in EPCOT and hearing two college-age CMs at the Heraldry shop in England talk about how they didn't have enough money to live off of, lol. While I know that's pretty well always been true, it's the first I've heard people openly say stuff like that in front of park guests.

It makes me wonder if discipline hasn't just disappeared since they're so hurting for staff, so people are just more free to speak their minds because they know "Jerk CM Manager #5" isn't gonna listen to every customer complaint and then give them a write-up or a strike and then fire them. Back in the day, most CMs I knew or read interviews for said they were living CONSTANTLY in fear of getting fired. Like every manager seemed to be this weird lifer jerk who loved writing up younger workers and treating them badly, and any complaint could get you axed, since everyone knew there were thousands of people chomping at the bit to work for Disney and anyone could be easily replaced.

Makes me wonder if the current level of "Young Adults Being Young Adults" is just CMs finally being allowed to be honest, lol. They're probably just DONE after being A) overworked and B) yelled at over Genie+ all day long. I myself never really had any bad interactions with anyone over the past several years (heck, I think my only bad one was in 2014 getting hollered at to get out of Tomorrowland as the park was closing, haha), and usually had positive ones even with complaints like "Man the park wifi sucks" and they're like "TELL me about it" :).
In some ways I feel like that's a good thing. If there are less power tripping managers and less let you go for the tiniest thing the environment in that respects improves. No employee anywhere deserves to feel like their job is on the line everyday for what was being spoken about plus no one likes to be reminded every day they are expendable. Right now they aren't as expendable, that wouldn't me be advocating for poor CM interactions but rather just remembering the stories of the past.
 
This reminds me of being in EPCOT and hearing two college-age CMs at the Heraldry shop in England talk about how they didn't have enough money to live off of, lol. While I know that's pretty well always been true, it's the first I've heard people openly say stuff like that in front of park guests.

It makes me wonder if discipline hasn't just disappeared since they're so hurting for staff, so people are just more free to speak their minds because they know "Jerk CM Manager #5" isn't gonna listen to every customer complaint and then give them a write-up or a strike and then fire them. Back in the day, most CMs I knew or read interviews for said they were living CONSTANTLY in fear of getting fired. Like every manager seemed to be this weird lifer jerk who loved writing up younger workers and treating them badly, and any complaint could get you axed, since everyone knew there were thousands of people chomping at the bit to work for Disney and anyone could be easily replaced.

Makes me wonder if the current level of "Young Adults Being Young Adults" is just CMs finally being allowed to be honest, lol. They're probably just DONE after being A) overworked and B) yelled at over Genie+ all day long. I myself never really had any bad interactions with anyone over the past several years (heck, I think my only bad one was in 2014 getting hollered at to get out of Tomorrowland as the park was closing, haha), and usually had positive ones even with complaints like "Man the park wifi sucks" and they're like "TELL me about it" :).
I’m sure they don’t have enough money to live on. Could you live off what they make with todays inflation? I’m not saying Disney should pay them more. It’s not Disney’s fault. It doesn’t surprise me and I expect to see a lot more frustration among the middle class.
 
Agree with OP. We were there in August 2021 and had a marvelous time. It was our first time back since shutdowns. Maybe we were in a daze of magic, but we thought everything was great. Things were also not as crowded.

Fast forward April 2022 and I noticed a TON of CMs who just stood there expressionless. No smiles or hellos. Definitely different. Maybe it's a lack of training because they are so desperate for employees. Trash in queue lines and bathrooms not as clean. I was really surprised. Never experienced that before.
Was there two weeks ago in all parks and it was super clean and the bathrooms were literally perfect. MCO? That was a disaster of gross bathrooms and a reality check leaving.
 
What I don't understand is that I have been to Universal a few times in the last 6 months and they don't appear to be having a staffing problem. They have housekeeping at all of their resorts and we never waited more than a few minutes for a boat to and from the hotel. Plenty of TMs at the park entrance and loading rides, and they were all nice and cheery. The parks and bathrooms were clean. Why can't Disney hire people? I recall before the pandemic, the bathrooms in Hollywood studios were overrunning with trash and you could smell the stench from the guys bathroom while waiting for the women's. I witnessed this on multiple occasions. I was shocked that they weren't maintaining the bathrooms. Again, that was pre-covid. I just feel like they don't want to spend the money on staff.

Even their whole argument on requiring park reservations in order to staff properly is such a bunch of bull. All of their parks are crowded every day. They should staff for that. It's not rocket science.
Interesting point and I noticed the same thing. Does Universal pay more? Their resorts are owned by Loews and always seem to be well staffed. We rented points on are last trip so I wasn’t aware housekeeping hadn’t returned.
 
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I think Disney just need to go back to the basics the pandemic has made them struggle in certain parts of Disney
 
I’m sure they don’t have enough money to live on. Could you live off what they make with todays inflation? I’m not saying Disney should pay them more. It’s not Disney’s fault. It doesn’t surprise me and I expect to see a lot more frustration among the middle class.
Believe me, I wasn't disagreeing! I even pointed out it was always true, lol. It's just notable that it's only now we're hearing it while in the parks from disgruntled CMs.

My theory about management getting lax is apparently not on the mark, though- the same CM I talk to told me "yeah it’s basically that, leadership doesn’t treat us well and then wonders why everyone is leaving." and when I asked if they were as obsessed with discipline and write-ups as they've always been, she said "lmao yeah they’ve been getting the cops to run our plates to see if we’re parked in the wrong parking lot"
 
When you are getting over worked it's hard to keep the magic alive when you are dieing inside. They need to hire more cms and make there jobs enjoyable again (better than this mess with ILL and lack of workers).

Now should they put on that fake smile and bend over backwards for the guests.. to an extent. But from alot of reviews and even op I feel like Disney took alot of power away from most cast members. They can't alter g+ or give something to disgruntled guests. So they are just getting yelled at all day.
They are running the place from the “Wall Street CEO Guidebook- How to maximize Quarterly Profits at any expense”

Its a very popular book with company leaders these days…..
 
They are running the place from the “Wall Street CEO Guidebook- How to maximize Quarterly Profits at any expense”

Its a very popular book with company leaders these days…..
I have read alot of he college program reddits and they are kinda scary how over worked and under paid these kids are. 12-14 hour shifts for weeks at a time. The only rule is they need 8 hours between shifts.
 
Believe me, I wasn't disagreeing! I even pointed out it was always true, lol. It's just notable that it's only now we're hearing it while in the parks from disgruntled CMs.

My theory about management getting lax is apparently not on the mark, though- the same CM I talk to told me "yeah it’s basically that, leadership doesn’t treat us well and then wonders why everyone is leaving." and when I asked if they were as obsessed with discipline and write-ups as they've always been, she said "lmao yeah they’ve been getting the cops to run our plates to see if we’re parked in the wrong parking lot"
I work for a corporation where incomes range from low middle class to the 1%, and everyone is disgruntled. I think it's a sign of the times. There's nothing that will kill morale more than being micro-managed. I see why they're leaving. I've quit jobs for that reason it makes for a miserable working environment.
 

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