Just Back. Service went from Magical to Meh

[lemonpan]

EDIT (again) Added my post back. Again, I am NOT trying to be a downer. I did write to Disney. And I really did not want to upset anyone. Here's my original post with no edits.

Hello! I just returned from a week long trip with my mom. It’s our tradition to go every other year. Being at Disney and in the “Disney Bubble” is always fun. This year was no exception. But it had more to do with the joy of being with my mom for a week than anything Disney did.

I’m so sad to say that unlike other years, there was nothing truly stand out for us. As someone who always looks for the upside of things, I hate reporting that but there you go. Other than the fun of being at Disney nothing was remarkable this time.


I can’t even believe I’m typing that. I have such a heart for people that work in service industries. In the past, Disney went above and beyond. After most—if not all—trips, I wrote a general praise report to Disney and then specific ones about cast members. Working with the public is tough and Disney cast members usually handed it with grace. Not this time.

A few moments: Leaving Hollywood Studios to take the boat to the Boardwalk. We were on the ramp, about three feet from walking on the boat, when the cast member closed the chain. The boat was nearly empty. We asked if we could get on and he laughed at us and walked away. If he said that they were on a schedule and had to leave, I would have been fine with that. But snickering and then turning his back? Not okay.

A cast member loading Rock N Roller Coaster. The FP scanner was down. Another cast member came to relieve the first. The cast member who’d been working the attraction used colorful four letter words, including the eff word. A dad in line said something, very nicely, and she just rolled her eyes at him.

Another night, we decided to try a walk up at Captain’s Grill. When I asked if they had a table, the woman at the podium said very rudely, “No!” That was it. I actually stood there for a moment waiting for her to say something else and she didn’t.

Most of the other cast members offered service that’s about on par with Starbucks or Chipotle. Good, kind service but nothing memorable. For me, the magic always was in the Cast Members. I feel bad that they are clearly under new stress or management because they no longer seem happy.

One last thing: FP+ My band was wonky. Sometimes it didn’t open my room. Sometimes it didn’t open the gate. (we rented a car).. My mother’s band was also weird. She ALWAYS had to scan twice to get into any park. The first scan, without fail, always read blue. The second scan showed green. Each time it did this, the cast wasn’t very kind about it. The cast is clearly under some pressure to get people through the gate instead of offering the nice welcome they used to.

I feel torn about posting this. However, if someone from Disney reads it and gives the cast members the support they clearly need, then that would be great.

 

[minnie mum]

I feel torn about posting this. However, if someone from Disney reads it and gives the cast members the support they clearly need, then that would be great.

Sorry your trip wasn't as magical as you had hoped. Perhaps, instead of hoping someone in Disney management happens to be a Dis lurker, you could try emailing this directly to Disney.
Their email address is wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[lemonpan]

Sorry your trip wasn't as magical as you had hoped. Perhaps, instead of hoping someone in Disney management happens to be a Dis lurker, you could try emailing this directly to Disney.
Their email address is wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Thanks! I've emailed them. However, in my experience, companies also listen when folks post publicly and on Social Media.

 

[vicki_c]

Thanks! I've emailed them. However, in my experience, companies also listen when folks post publicly and on Social Media.

This doesn't count as social media though. Posting on a Disney Twitter account, maybe. Here, no Disney employee that can respond to you here participates in this board. Nor have I ever heard of anyone being contacted by Disney over a post they wrote here. Any reading any Disney employees do here is strictly incognito.

 

[lemonpan]

Okay. I'll delete my post.

 

[lemonpan]

This doesn't count as social media though. Posting on a Disney Twitter account, maybe. Here, no Disney employee that can respond to you here participates in this board. Nor have I ever heard of anyone being contacted by Disney over a post they wrote here. Any reading any Disney employees do here is strictly incognito.

I've removed the post. Thanks!

 

[Robo]

Hello! I just returned from a week long trip with my mom. It’s our tradition to go every other year. Being at Disney and in the “Disney Bubble” is always fun. This year was no exception. But it had more to do with the joy of being with my mom for a week than anything Disney did.

I’m so sad to say that unlike other years, there was nothing truly stand out for us. As someone who always looks for the upside of things, I hate reporting that but there you go. Other than the fun of being at Disney nothing was remarkable this time.


I can’t even believe I’m typing that. I have such a heart for people that work in service industries. In the past, Disney went above and beyond. After most—if not all—trips, I wrote a general praise report to Disney and then specific ones about cast members. Working with the public is tough and Disney cast members usually handed it with grace. Not this time.

A few moments: Leaving Hollywood Studios to take the boat to the Boardwalk. We were on the ramp, about two feet from walking on the boat, when the cast member closed the chain. The boat was nearly empty. We asked if we could get on and he laughed at us and walked away. If he said that they were on a schedule and had to leave, I would have been fine with that. But snickering and then turning his back? Not okay.

A cast member loading Rock N Roller Coaster. The FP scanner was down. Another cast member came to relieve the first. The cast member who’d been working the attraction used colorful four letter words, including the eff word. A dad in line said something, very nicely, and she just rolled her eyes at him.

Another night, we decided to try a walk up at Captain’s Grill. When I asked if they had a table, the woman at the podium said very rudely, “No!” That was it. I actually stood there for a moment waiting for her to say something else and she didn’t.

Most of the other cast members offered service that’s about on par with Starbucks or Chipotle. Good, kind service but nothing memorable. For me, the magic always was in the Cast Members. I feel bad that they are clearly under new stress or management because they no longer seem happy.

One last thing: FP+ My band was wonky. Sometimes it didn’t open my room. Sometimes it didn’t open the gate. (we rented a car).. My mother’s band was also weird. She ALWAYS had to scan twice to get into any park. The first scan, without fail, always read blue. The second scan showed green. Each time it did this, the cast wasn’t very kind about it. The cast is clearly under some pressure to get people through the gate instead of offering the nice welcome they used to.

I feel torn about posting this. However, if someone from Disney reads it and gives the cast members the support they clearly need, then that would be great.

Hope next trip is better.

 

[lemonpan]

Hope next trip is better.

Thank you so much. I hate to complain and clearly I should not have said anything. I felt bad before I posted and should have listened to that. I'm sorry I was such a downer.

 

[POOHsie]

Hello! ...

One last thing: FP+ My band was wonky. Sometimes it didn’t open my room. Sometimes it didn’t open the gate. (we rented a car).

Just commenting on your problem with the MagicBand opening the resort gate. We had this problem at Ft Wilderness entry gate, and also at the Laundry Room entry door. No angle of my arm worked. I even took the MagicBand off to get a better connection and ... nothing. I was frustrated, but noticed other people had gotten inside. One man came out and I explained my trouble. He showed me what worked for him. He pointed out that the gray-color outdoor scanner box had a big area above the Mickey Head. He instructed me to start near the top of the box, on a center line (between left & right), and slide the band down the box in a continuous stroke. Voila! It worked!

Next night at the front gate, I was really dreading it, but I tried the "MagicStroke" method on the scanner box. Voila! It worked! Still not sure where my MB was connecting with the scanner, but happy to get a green light.

Hope you have a better trip next time. We had cast member rudeness like yours two years ago. This Fall, it was much-improved (in our experience).

 

[Luvchefmic]

Thank you so much. I hate to complain and clearly I should not have said anything. I felt bad before I posted and should have listened to that. I'm sorry I was such a downer.

You weren't a downer you just expressed how you felt & what you experienced. I am glad you had the joy of being with your Mom, hang on to that.

 

[surferdave]

OP, I think you should put your post back, there's no reason to delete it. When people come around here to post how wonderful their encounters are with CMs nobody tells them they should just contact Disney about it.

 

[meg39]

Thank you for this post, mostly because it wasn't entirely about how you hate magic bands. This is actually useful information (to me at least) because it makes me want to go on my trip and make cast members happy. I can only imagine how nasty people have been to them recently (I mean, just look at these boards). They don't deserve the attitudes that people give them. I'm sorry that you had such rude cast members that really is a bummer! But again, this makes me want to go give them a hug, because let's be honest, their job actually kind of sucks.

 

[GAN]

Thank you so much. I hate to complain and clearly I should not have said anything. I felt bad before I posted and should have listened to that. I'm sorry I was such a downer.

It's too bad things didn't go well. I've been going pretty regularly for the better part of 30 years -although the last few years we have backed off a bit ...haven't been in 2-years and probably won't go for another year or two. We're DVC members and stockholders, and admit that service is not what it once was. The fact is, the Resort has grown in leaps and bounds which I'm sure puts a stress on the hiring of quality employees; the other issue is that I believe Disney's focus(or reliance) is on "new" guests -guests who don't have any measuring stick. Not saying that they consider my opinion less, just that the numbers don't lie ...they are getting huge crowds(from what I hear) and great profits. The only thing I would say, is that the time to raise your concerns are when the incident occurs not after you get home. We still hold them to the highest standards ...when they're in my face.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've been to WDW a bunch of times in the past year....Dec (7days), Jan (2), June (10), Sept(6), and Nov (7). I've had some really good service, but also less than stellar service on occasion. I think, and this is merely my thought, that WDW has grown quickly over the past 5 years or so. I think there are many more guests, with pretty much the same number of CMs, especially in the parks. I think that more people read boards like this one, and see that some people get 'magical' experiences, and when they don't get those same experiences, they take it out on CM's. I also think that there are many more really young CMs....and they really don't 'get it' when it comes to the service industry.

I would have taken down some CM names after some of your experiences. That RnRC CM? The name, and time, would have been noted. I would have stopped at GS on the way out and reported such abysmal behavior. Same with the restaurant CM. there is never any reason for such rudeness. On the other hand, I have had wonderful interactions with turnstile CMs. My dd had a huge issue with her MB in June. A CM quickly took us out of line and called a manager over...he in turn, took us to a kiosk area, and fixed the issue. And apologized profusely for the time it took.

I truly think most CMs want to give you the experience you look forward to. But, we need to remember that they are only human. We have no idea what they just had to deal with. In a perfect world, they would smile and give us perfect service, putting aside the nasty experience they just had with a previous guest. But, we all know, it's not a perfect world...life happens.

I hope that your next trip has fewer issues!

 

[Boo Bear]

I'm glad that I got to read your post through Robo's quote. I think that you worded things very nicely and I'm sad that you experienced nasty CMs. I noticed that the CMs weren't in character when we were there in Sept like they always used to be. The only place where they were somewhat in character was ToT.

I would definitely send an email comparing your visits from the past to this latest one. If that happened to me I absolutely would and if it happens to me next week you can be sure that I won't let it go without a word.

 

[kalc12345]

I think you should write Disney and tell them what happened. wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

I just got finished sending my letter. We recently returned from WDW and this was the worst trip ever!! Disney is NOT what it used to be and it makes me sad.

 

[lemonpan]

Thank you so much everyone. I just added it back. I did not want to internet flounce. Nor did I want to upset people or be a downer on Cast Members. I really do appreciate that they have a tough job.

 

[vicki_c]

OP, I wasn't suggesting you delete your post! Just explaining that posting here is more of a venting thing vs. getting anyone at Disney to read it or reply.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

I noticed the lack of good quality customer service on our last trip too!

Our first trip in 2013 the CM couldn't have been nicer and this goes for the telephone CM that helped pre plan our trip too.

In 2014 it faded some and one CM was such a rude bleep bleep that I was flat out shocked by his public behavior. I was so mad I could have slapped him!

Now we are planning our 2015 trip and I have ran into many rude CM phone support staff. Most ( not all ) fall into 3 categories...
(1) Rude
(2) Nice but not really. Very obvious that they are just going through the motions and reading script.
(3) Give inaccurate information ( this a lot)!!!!!

I am not expecting anything magical from the CM this trip. I'm going cause we love where we stay and WE make our own magic while visiting. I don't rely on CM to do this.

One thing that bothers me is the pacified posts like...

"oh they put up with so much"
" if you had to deal with what they go through on a given day"
"Blah blah blah"

You know what? I pay a ridiculously amount of money to vacation at Disney and like most people could go one two vacations for the cost of one Disney trip.

So suck it up buttercup (CM) and smile and charm and spread that D magic!!! That is your job!

I'm not buying the fact that the majority of guests are rude and thus the CM feed on that and in turn give back that same vibe.

Guests at Disney are the Happiest people I have ever seen in my life. The glow from ear to ear ( I do ). So you would think CM would too! Yes, there are some that are just rude no matter what but for the most part...

I get crap service day in and day out and I expect that from Walmart and pretty much everywhere else. The world seems to no longer understands what good service is. At one point Disney knew how to shine and spread that pixie dust but I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe the management/training? Maybe just the generation. I think it's both!

 

[DebbieB]

I agree you should write about your experiences. No excuse for profanity or rudeness, especially in front of children.

I was there last month and have to say I noticed a downturn also. CM's just seemed to be irritable. I don't know if they are overworked or what but seemed to be unhappy.