is it just me?

[The Philarmagicians]

have just got back after 3 wonderful weeks in orlando and can't help thinking that cuts are beginning to show at WDW only little things that shouldn't really bother me, like there seems to be far fewer photopass opportunities around the parks especially the water parks. the standard of cleaning of the room(POR) wasn't as good as previously, also and I do realise this is petty no logos on the napkins. please don't get me wrong we had a brilliant time but perhaps a little of the shine is being tarnished.

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

We just got back two weeks ago and the differences you noticed I can't say I did. We got over 200 pics throughout the parks, the usual photo ops at the water parks were still there, and we thought our room was better serviced than two years ago! Though I never noticed the logo thing before. I hope your were just unlucky and that their not cutting back on the little things that do set them apart.
We did one night a HRH and we couldn't wait to get back to Disney

 

[Elise79]

The WP photographers are only there peak season - I can't remember when they leave but I know they aren't there in September.

Housekeeping was just as good at OKW.

I think the logo on the CS napkins were removed a couple of years ago...

 

[Kath2003]

Haven't "done" a Disney Park in around 8 years now, but we do usually head down to one of the hotels for a character meal. These used to be a bit of a "splurge" given how little food costs off-site in comparison, but I always felt that it was worth the extra. We combined them with a trip to DTD each time. The last couple of times we have been, the food has been of a lower quality and I feel that the cleanliness around the hotels has fallen (e.g. The Contemporary is a beautiful resort, but Chef Mickey's felt like it needed a good clean down) - and ditto DTD. We won't bother heading that way for our next trip, I think - it's £60 better spent somewhere else.

I feel it's now so heavily juxtaposed against Universal, and, given the amount of investment Universal has had over the last decade (and in particular the last 5 years), you can really see that Universal is making real strides ahead of Disney in a number of areas. Sadly, this now means Universal is much busier!!

 

[iris1910]

Sadly I have to agree. I have always been a huge fan of Disney World but bit by bit they removing lots of small things that were provided before.

The housekeeping has reduced, the quality of food has severely decreased since they introduced dining plan, general cleanliness is reducing. The major thing we noticed this summer was a reduction in the level of Air Con. In SSR the heat in the carriage house is unbearable... and you know it must be bad when the cast members are complaining about it. I realise their costs must be massive but they are starting to take their cost savings that bit too far.

It would be a bit more bearable if they were making some investment in the parks. Everything now is an add on with an extortionate price tag.

 

[wifey]

The bigwigs in Disney are currently concentrating (as least it seems this way to me ) on building more DVC properties and changing DTD to something like Radiator Springs and launching more films. I agree they need to invest more in the attractions in the parks and I guess they are waiting for the go ahead for more Star Wars theming at the moment since the new film is in production they might have to wait for approval for that. They certainly jumped on the Frozen film to place it everywhere , which is ok if you loved it, for me it was just another film with a few songs in and I do not feel the need to obsess over the characters from that film but I get kids will want to see and talk to them. Come on Disney why take so long to change things you own the land already you probably do not need lengthy planning applications get improving your territory and build new rides and attraction you have plenty of space to do it.

We noticed last year less logos on plates and napkins etcetera but TBH it is going to be cheaper and probably quicker for them to order commodities that way. I doubt they even order things like light bulbs until a certain percentage need replacing across the whole of WDW and it may take a while before they are delivered to replace the broken ones . Just look at the events when the fault with the refrigerators was found and how they had to source and replace them all.

Housekeeping is only going to be as good as possible when the staff have the allowed time to do their jobs which probably isn't always possible when staff numbers are low due to illness or holidays or family circumstances and being paid a fair wage probably impacts there too at some point they are all on minimum wage let's just remember that fact. Remember to tip when you can for good service it lets the staff know they are appreciated and helps their weekly wage too, folks in the UK wouldn't want their hourly rate it is much less than our minimum wage.

Dining has changed and I feel the potions they serve at some locations can vary particularly depending whether or not you are in any sort of DDP. Maybe they just need to standardise the portions better and make them the same regardless of if you have a dining plan or not. Having seen so much food waste in the parks over our last two stays they could change the snack food sizes too or make them healthier at least.

 

[scoobydooby]

I think housekeeping is entirely dependent upon the housekeeper you get. I've had outstanding, good, average and downright poor over about 10 onsite stays. My most recent trip at AKL was outstanding.

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

The bigwigs in Disney are currently concentrating (as least it seems this way to me ) on building more DVC properties and changing DTD to something like Radiator Springs and launching more films. I agree they need to invest more in the attractions in the parks and I guess they are waiting for the go ahead for more Star Wars theming at the moment since the new film is in production they might have to wait for approval for that. They certainly jumped on the Frozen film to place it everywhere , which is ok if you loved it, for me it was just another film with a few songs in and I do not feel the need to obsess over the characters from that film but I get kids will want to see and talk to them. Come on Disney why take so long to change things you own the land already you probably do not need lengthy applications get improving your territory and build new rides and attraction you have plenty of space to do it.

I think a lot of stuff has been and is going on,we've got AK opening into the night soon with work currently taking place for Rivers of Light Show, a night time version ofKilimanjaro Safari will also be available,MK are working on making more room for guests in front of Cinderella's Castle,a new Festival of Fantasy Parade,A huge expansion of AK for Pandora opening 2017,which is as good as going to be a park in itself,and also Fantasyland has just opened at MK which was no small investment,and as you say Star Wars is definitely going to be one big add on!

 

[wilma-bride]

The logos on the napkins were removed, like Tracy says, a good couple of years ago in an effort to discourage people from taking them in vast quantities. Personally, if this helps keep costs down, then I'm all for it

 

[peajay18]

I'm on the fence about the state of WDW - yes there are great, new things on the horizon and I still visit as often as possible, but what we have at the moment seems to have been chipped away at.

• The parades at DHS and AK were removed with no word of replacements.
• DTD and it's parking situation at the moment mean it's a nightmare to visit.
• Innoventions at Epcot is unbelievably stale, as are most of the non-world showcase parts of that park.
• Soarin' and Expedition Everest have been allowed to run in far from optimum conditions for so long that fixing them would now take a lot longer than if they had been maintained/replaced as the problems arose.
• The monorail reliability is questionable and there seems to be no planning for when it is down (even with scheduled maintenance!)
• Half of DHS is wasted space - I know Star Wars is coming but I still have to pay full price now!

These are just a few of the many small issues I have with WDW and if anyone asked me I would recommend that they wait for their 1st time trip until all the new stuff is in place.
I guess it's also made worse by the price rises, as the offerings go down yet the company is reporting record profits!

As I said, I love WDW and just want to see it back to it's best!

 

[BudgieMama]

The housekeeping has reduced, the quality of food has severely decreased since they introduced dining plan, general cleanliness is reducing. The major thing we noticed this summer was a reduction in the level of Air Con. In SSR the heat in the carriage house is unbearable... and you know it must be bad when the cast members are complaining about it. I realise their costs must be massive but they are starting to take their cost savings that bit too far.

We didn't have any problems with housekeeping standards at SSR last month, and the Carriage House was fine and cool (we were there one of the hottest weeks they'd had... A few of the CMs told me they were "ready for fall" because the heat was unbearable) I wonder if they were having problems with the air conditioning when you were there?