Just home, my thoughts

[mom2rtk]

And the irony is that's probably one of the easiest issues to fix while providing an immediate payback in satisfaction levels. It doesn't take engineering, permitting, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction and years to complete.

Yet Disney allows the situation to continue. Surely they've noticed the lack of FP+ availability? The demand? Complaints to GS and on social media? Is it that difficult to find more CM's that can fit into the costumes?


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I also think Disney knew the phone lines would crash when they opened BOG up for lunch ADRs. After all, that's exactly what happened when they opened dinner ADRs for the first time in 2012. Why didn't they learn from that and maybe roll out availability one month every week until it was current? Why risk the crash? My theory is that Disney loves a good feeding frenzy. If they add adequate A/E staffing, the feeding frenzy would be over.

 

[Laketravis]

I also think Disney knew the phone lines would crash when they opened BOG up for lunch ADRs. After all, that's exactly what happened when they opened dinner ADRs for the first time in 2012. Why didn't they learn from that and maybe roll out availability one month every week until it was current? Why risk the crash? My theory is that Disney loves a good feeding frenzy. If they add adequate A/E staffing, the feeding frenzy would be over.

Manufactured popularity. Good point.


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[anniemae]

We also thought the food went downhill our last trip. It was just mediocre. In the past we always looked forward to dining, but now not so much.

It seems like Disney is going for quantity over quality. I have never seen the parks so busy. It seems the more they raise the prices, the more people go. Seriously people are flocking to Disney. I think its great from a business point, but from a guest? Not really. Longer lines, declining quality etc are to be expected with the sheer number of people. We still love Disney, but it has definitely changed.

 

[g8torphan]

I also think Disney knew the phone lines would crash when they opened BOG up for lunch ADRs. After all, that's exactly what happened when they opened dinner ADRs for the first time in 2012. Why didn't they learn from that and maybe roll out availability one month every week until it was current? Why risk the crash? My theory is that Disney loves a good feeding frenzy. If they add adequate A/E staffing, the feeding frenzy would be over.

Yep
They build in excitment this way. If everyone got to see A&E it wouldn't feel special. No one ever says it was so special meeting Mickey.
Supply and demand....the limit supply and daughters continue to demand to see A&E.
So, you return again in Nov. instead of waiting a year.

Disney wins!

 

[airhead]

Sorry you guys aren't feelin' the spirit of Disney. I know what you mean,though. It happened to me after my 2010 trip. I just wasn't feeling that excitement about being in a place I thought I loved. It wicked bummed me out. So, I haven't been back since. And let me tell ya,I'M READY TO GO BACK!!!!!!! There are 8 of us friends on our way in November! We are all soooo psyched!! Some have never been,some have only gone with kids and have never experience WDW as an adult. They have no idea how awesome it is there!
Maybe,take a break from Disney for a few years and go to other places,until Disney adds a few new attractions.
I am really looking forward to my trip! Hope you all find the magic again!

 

[chrissyb2411]

OP, I'm sorry the trip wasn't as magical as you had hoped.

Well, we still had a great vacation. Escaping cold New England weather for warm somewhat rainy florida weather was still a win lol.

It's more that disney wasn't worth the expense this time. My kids asked during our park days if we could go back to the hotel and swim. They loved the pool more than disney, and I think that's a telling sign.

 

[Laketravis]

Sorry you guys aren't feelin' the spirit of Disney. I know what you mean,though. It happened to me after my 2010 trip. I just wasn't feeling that excitement about being in a place I thought I loved. It wicked bummed me out. So, I haven't been back since. And let me tell ya,I'M READY TO GO BACK!!!!!!! There are 8 of us friends on our way in November! We are all soooo psyched!! Some have never been,some have only gone with kids and have never experience WDW as an adult. They have no idea how awesome it is there!
Maybe,take a break from Disney for a few years and go to other places,until Disney adds a few new attractions.
I am really looking forward to my trip! Hope you all find the magic again!

I hope you have a great time!


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[mom2rtk]

Yep
They build in excitment this way. If everyone got to see A&E it wouldn't feel special. No one ever says it was so special meeting Mickey.
Supply and demand....the limit supply and daughters continue to demand to see A&E.
So, you return again in Nov. instead of waiting a year.

Disney wins!

But the OP apparently didn't feel special after meeting A/E.

There is a point of diminishing returns.

 

[airhead]

I hope you have a great time!


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Thank you!!

 

[Josh Hendy]

There are multiple Mickey meet-and-greets in various parks are there not? At least I've seen them in the past at MK, AK (Camp Minnie Mickey) and at Epcot at rope drop when I shook Mickey's hand. When you have a really, really hot property like Anna and Elsa and obviously thousands of families are coming to WDW with expectation and hope of meeting them, why wouldn't you try to accommodate your customers by eliminating the bottlenecks? Just hire a few more performers!

 

[kaetra]

Thank you OP for sharing your honest thoughts about your recent trip. Much appreciated!

I'm lowering my family's expectations for our upcoming trip even further, after all the secret to satisfaction is Low Expectations.

(And I am SUPER happy that my kid isn't interested in character greets anymore.)

 

[JimmyV]

Low expectations absolutely play a big part

Does anyone not find it crazy that we are talking about a potentially several thousand dollar vacation and going into with low expectations?

Frankly, I think it's insane.

New Disney ad campaign:

"Walt Disney World Resort--It won't suck nearly as much as you've been led to believe on the Dis!"

 

[perditax]

I'm not as savvy about Disney as a company as some of you are, but I'm not sure the A&E thing is manufactured scarcity--I get the sense they are cutting every corner to the bone and hate to change or to allocate resources to anything. I can't think of any other reason room service plates remain in hallways for most of a weekend, or why they never change the reservation flow at Boma even though ten years since my last visit, you still wait about 20 minutes after your reservation time.

 

[maxiesmom]

I don't know what the solution is, if a guest is upset that less than 5 minutes was spent at a meet and great with the character. I've never been in a character line where you were with the character for 5 minutes. As another poster pointed out, that would be less than 12 interactions an hour. What is better, to drastically cut back on the FPs for those meet and greets, or to shove people through line at a fast pace?

And if they did allow for 5 minutes a person, adding additional As & Es to the other parks wouldn't help at all. The meet and greets would just be spread out. I guess I don't know what the answer is for someone who wants a bit of quality time with a character, instead of a few moments of their time.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm not as savvy about Disney as a company as some of you are, but I'm not sure the A&E thing is manufactured scarcity--I get the sense they are cutting every corner to the bone and hate to change or to allocate resources to anything. I can't think of any other reason room service plates remain in hallways for most of a weekend, or why they never change the reservation flow at Boma even though ten years since my last visit, you still wait about 20 minutes after your reservation time.

I agree it's awful in a nice hotel like that to have room service plates sitting for that long. Heck, it's awful even in a not so nice hotel.

 

[Cormoran]

There are multiple Mickey meet-and-greets in various parks are there not? At least I've seen them in the past at MK, AK (Camp Minnie Mickey) and at Epcot at rope drop when I shook Mickey's hand. When you have a really, really hot property like Anna and Elsa and obviously thousands of families are coming to WDW with expectation and hope of meeting them, why wouldn't you try to accommodate your customers by eliminating the bottlenecks? Just hire a few more performers!

You might try to accommodate your customers if guest satisfaction remained a prority. IMO Disney is relying on their former reputation of great customer service, but it's no longer a reality. If guests were still number one: Why would they open the FP+ booking window at midnight? Why do they open the ADR booking window at 6 months and the FP+ window at 30-60 days out? Why have they removed park benches in the parks? Why is there only 1 Anna and Elsa meet greet for all 4 parks? Why are guests being charged more and experiencing less?

 

[chrissyb2411]

I am so sorry it didn't meet your expectations!!

I also agree that "herding cattle" mentality is more prevalent than it has been in the past, but think that a total of 5 minutes from beginning to the end for any character pic/meeting is a lengthy time. When you think about it, at that avg percentage that is only 12 kids an hour. They certainly cannot meet the demand of visitors if they keep at that. I am prepared to be flamed, but oh well. jmo

Let me clarify. We were in the meet and greet building a total of 5 minutes. So scan band, walk, scan band again, wait for the kid whose with elsa to move to Anna (again, the pushing along by elsa which rubbed me funny), abou 45 seconds tops with elsa, book signed, posed, "your dress is pretty, come meet Anna" as she gets herded along. The photo pass guy got 2 snaps, I got 1, barely. Anna was a little better, probably about a minute total. They didn't let anyone else in after us, so maybe it was break time. I dont know the reason for the rush, but I felt sad, and jipped, and DD though happy to meet them was not impressed either.

We stayed on property and weren't impressed by that experience this time around either. We actually only spent 3of our days in parks, so I don't think we were just over exposed so to speak.

DH is not a huge disney fan. He has gone along with the trips for me and the kids. He has no desire to go back ever after this trip. The herding and moving you along, and complete lack of decent food, as well as a bed with a bad mattress, have him saying no more disney. And I agree for now. The kids have said they don't want to go back either. Not that we didn't have fun. It just wasn't enough to draw us back like past trips.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't know what the solution is, if a guest is upset that less than 5 minutes was spent at a meet and great with the character. I've never been in a character line where you were with the character for 5 minutes. As another poster pointed out, that would be less than 12 interactions an hour. What is better, to drastically cut back on the FPs for those meet and greets, or to shove people through line at a fast pace?

And if they did allow for 5 minutes a person, adding additional As & Es to the other parks wouldn't help at all. The meet and greets would just be spread out. I guess I don't know what the answer is for someone who wants a bit of quality time with a character, instead of a few moments of their time.

I'm guessing the 5 minutes was just a rough estimate.

 

[sharona]

New Disney ad campaign:

"Walt Disney World Resort--It won't suck nearly as much as you've been led to believe on the Dis!"

ROFL!

 

[Laketravis]

I agree it's awful in a nice hotel like that to have room service plates sitting for that long. Heck, it's awful even in a not so nice hotel.

If you're hungry, that's a new benefit included at no additional cost. Go ahead, finish that burger you just walked past. You know you wanna.



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