My first trip...

Wow! A backstage tour and a private viewing of Illuminations?

You are having a great time! :thumbsup2

Hell all Rosie got to see today was the ghetto 1971 Water Pagent! :rotfl2:
 
Wow! A backstage tour and a private viewing of Illuminations?

You are having a great time! :thumbsup2

Hell all Rosie got to see today was the ghetto 1971 Water Pagent! :rotfl2:

It's kinda mean to be calling Rob names like that.
 

I know where the bodys are buried . . . :rolleyes1
;)

Yes but on the plus side - his dahlias look fabulous! :thumbsup2
flower.jpg
 
Back at the hotel now. Went to the MK this morning and then had lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe, then went into Artist Point to listen to a guest speaker. Then we came back to the hotel. I went out on my own after classes and took some pics of the booths/menus at the food and wine festival. I now have 2.25 hrs to kill before reservations at the Yachtsman Steakhouse... trying to decide what to do with them.
 
I have now come to the conclusion that outside the Disney Institute program, there must be something about me personally that Disney doesn't like.

I have had nothing but quality of service issues anywhere that I've gone.

Disneyland was crappy, but even here at Disney World, there have been about 5 cast members, total, that have initiated contact with me before I initiated it with them. I say hi to almost every cast member I walk past, and get a "hi" back about 50% of the time.

I already posted about my issues with MNSSHP.

Tonight at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, I went up to the podium at 8:20... our reservations were for 8:25. She handed me a pager and said "10 minutes." I finally handed back the pager and we walked over to Beaches and Cream to eat at 8:50 (well, I set the pager on the podium and we walked away... I don't even think the hostess noticed.)

To say I'm disappointed with the quality of service is an understatement, to say the least. Especially since I'm here for service classes.
 
I have now come to the conclusion that outside the Disney Institute program, there must be something about me personally that Disney doesn't like.

I have had nothing but quality of service issues anywhere that I've gone.

Disneyland was crappy, but even here at Disney World, there have been about 5 cast members, total, that have initiated contact with me before I initiated it with them. I say hi to almost every cast member I walk past, and get a "hi" back about 50% of the time.

I already posted about my issues with MNSSHP.

Tonight at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, I went up to the podium at 8:20... our reservations were for 8:25. She handed me a pager and said "10 minutes." I finally handed back the pager and we walked over to Beaches and Cream to eat at 8:50 (well, I set the pager on the podium and we walked away... I don't even think the hostess noticed.)

To say I'm disappointed with the quality of service is an understatement, to say the least. Especially since I'm here for service classes.
I've been catching up on your thread here sounds like some of the things we did at the AEP in March, anyways I completely agree with the rude cast members thing. it seems they are on the ride, heaven help somone at DL if they piss me off on my birthday/very first day at DL!!!
 
Wow. :eek: Shocking
I really have not hit bad service At WDW at all yet.

Except for a bar keep at SSR :headache:
Heard they got rid of him though.

:rotfl:

Just luck I guess.

Sorry to hear - hope it gets better for U :)
 
Ricardo is fabulous. ::yes::

Ummm...is this where I tiptoe in and 'fess up that our DCL experience was less than stellar? So much so we'll not do DCL again? :confused3:guilty:
 
:guilty: Well, several things, but the main problem was that our cabin smelled like a sewer. :( So did my wife's mother's cabin. Since it was a birthday cruise for her, we focused on her needs. She was seriously unhappy with the smell and the construction going on in the room across from her. She naps in the afternoon and couldn't rest with all the construction noise. They also shampooed her carpet and it was "soaking wet" as she put it and that upset her. She was really dissatisfied with the response from the guest services staff, but they did move her on the second day (of a four day cruise).

We did let them know about our cabin (we were on the exact opposite side of the "wall" from her) but they said there wasn't any thing they could do. The person to whom my wife spoke was pretty brusque and she felt rude, so that didn't help. She felt that the person thought she was trying to get something for nothing which wasn't the case. She simply wanted them to make the stink go away. So we ended up staying out of our cabin as much as possible, including showering in the spa. We slept there of course, but both ended up with three day headaches...

Friends of ours had champagne, cheese and fruit, pastries and flowers sent to our cabin. They also gave us shipboard credit and credits for the spa, along with purchasing Mickey and Minnie plushes.

We did finally receive everything but the spa credits... not too sure whatever really happened to those. We did receive a call from the spa saying we had credits (on the second day) so we went there, but once there they said they had no idea what we were talking about, and that they didn't do "credits." :confused: Since we had no idea that our friends had done this we didn't pursue it.

There was more confusion surrounding all the gifts and generosity of our friends, but it's too tedious and complex to write out, eh? Needless to say, we didn't fully understand what was supposed to have happened until we came home and were asked about things by our friends. :guilty:

We ordered a birthday gift package for my wife's mother, with a cake. We took the cake to the dining room, and gave it to the server to bring to the table after dinner. Instead of bringing the cake we paid for they brought a complimentary cake, which is essentially a section of a larger cake, and not the decorated one that my wife ordered. She was not amused. :confused3 Her Mother didn't mind the complimentary cake at all, but my wife felt as though she had paid for something (which she had) and didn't receive it (which she didn't).

Those were the "highlights." :guilty: I didn't much care for the food, I'm afraid. Not sure if this was just a one off cruise, or what but the food wasn't very tasty. We did go to the Palo brunch, but again, were not too thrilled. The food there was nicer, but nothing too spectacular. Unfortunately, I think we've been ruined by dining with Chef Josiah at Melisse. :guilty:

We found the adult sections of the ship and beach to be quiet and although not always child free, mostly. We also found them boring. :(

Cruising with children? Definitely, absolutely cruise with DCL. ::yes:: As for us? We'll stick with Olivia. ;) Or at least, NCL.
 
Once again tonight I was caught off-guard. Sorry for posting all these negative stories, but I'm really observant about what's going on around me. I was standing in line at Beaches and Cream. There were 2 people in front of me. The person at the front of the line apparently ordered a hot fudge sundae with no nuts. She got it, and it had nuts on it. She took it back, and they said they'd scrape off the whipped cream and give her new, so that's what they did. I. WAS. SURPRISED. What if she'd had allergies or something? I can only assume from the look on her face, that when she walked away, her thought was "whatever."

The gentleman in front of me is now up to the counter. He orders a diet coke, a chocolate shake, and a cookie. I wasn't paying attention when he ordered, but I was paying attention when they started giving him his items. They gave him his diet coke first, and then took 2 plastic bowls, put the cookie in one, and the other bowl on top so it was kinda a box, but not really because it didn't seal or anything, and looked ridiculous. He then asked for his chocolate shake, and was told it was being made. Not too big of a deal yet. Then he asked for a bag, because there was no way he was going to be able to carry all of that, and a bag would have made the perfect carrying vessel for the cookie. The CM said "I can't find any bags right now, that's why I gave you the bowls, you'll just need to deal with it." The guest struggled to pick everything up, and left with the "whatever" look on his face.

He then turned to me and said "How can I help you?" I. WAS. SHOCKED. I asked for my refill of rootbeer, no ice for my resort mug, and then asked for a 2-scoop caramel sundae. "We don't do caramel." So I responded with "OK, hot fudge is fine then," since hot fudge sundae's listed on the to-go menu board. He responded back with "2 scoops of vanilla," took my KTTW card, swiped it, gave it back, refilled my rootbeer and got me my 2 scoops of vanilla. I was surprised, but I didn't really need all that chocolate/whipped cream/etc. because we had desert 2x today during classes and I really didn't need all that. But, I walked out thinking "whatever."

I took my ice cream, and rootbeer, and walked back to my room, pondering what I'd just experienced. I finished off my ice cream and decided "If I left thinking "whatever" and other people left thinking "whatever", how many other people are going to have a poor experience after dealing with this location tonight? So, I went down to the front desk (no one was at the concierge desk) and approached a CM that wasn't in a front-line costume (assuming she was some form of leader) and introduced myself as Jay, here attending the Disney's Approach to Quality Service class. She responded with, "We're so glad you're here." So I said, "Thank you. I need to ask you a question, I know you share a GM with the Beach Club, do you share a F&B manager too?" So she responds with, "Well, I'm not sure what you're referring to, I'm new here, I've only been here for about 4 weeks, so are you asking about an area manager or?" "Well, I think they need some help over at Beaches and Cream, and just wanted to try to get that for them." She responded with, "Oh no! Can I ask what's wrong?" So I explained that the gentleman in front of me asked if they had any bags he could put his cookie in, and was told that they didn't have any so he'd just have to deal with what he was given. I didn't bother explaining my caramel sundae problem, because it wasn't all that huge of a deal for me, the fact that someone else had a problem comes before my lack of sugar-based food product that's really bad for you. She responded with shock and asked if I'd talked to the manager at B&C. I explained that I hadn't seen one there, and didn't want to bother the hostess there since she was swamped. She then asked if I had gotten the CM's name, so I pulled out my receipt and she wrote down his name, but pointed out the CP behind his name and said, "Oh, this means he's in the college program though, so..." and I didn't catch what she said after that. She then wrote down and circled the word "help" and said "We don't use the word help here, we use "assist". Then she wrote "bag" and said "I'll pass this on to someone." I reiterated that "Ya know, I think the most important thing right now is that someone needs to get some bags over there to them at B&C so that other people don't have to worry about not being able to carry their items." It just felt like there was a disconnect somewhere.
 
A disconnect somewhere. Yes. That's the perfect description.

There definitely was a disconnect somewhere on the cruise, and I do understand what you are saying about your experiences.

People tend to react pretty strongly (and negatively) to any criticism of WDW, but as an "old timer" I've seen many changes, and few are for the better.

I know some CMs who truly love WDW, and truly believe in Pixie Dust who are being worked to death. It's hard to smile and be the cast member you were trained to be (back when CM training was true several days training) when you are exhausted and you don't have the resources to do the job you are supposed to do.

WDW has created an atmosphere of great expectations and is having a very hard time delivering on those lately it SEEMs. I stress seems, as it truly is often a matter of perspective.

I've often said I could never work for WDW, but I do work for a major corporation and do understand the "it's all about money" mindset... and I promise, I do know about working until you are exhausted without the resources needed to do the job.

I don't know what the answers are, but I do think WDW is so large now that it's no longer able to easily and efficiently "fix" the simple problems, like needing bags at a shop...
 
I am done with classes. We graduated this afternoon w/ Mickey. We got graduation mouse ears, a certificate, and an exclusive disney institute collector's pin. I'll still be here until Wednesday, so if anyone is here/wants to meet up for a meal/afternoon/day, just PM me. My only planned thing is that I need to move from Yacht Club to Pop Century on Monday, and still need to figure out how I'm going to do so since my cast member ride is now otherwise occupied (read: working) that day.

And now I'm off to the beach club to refill my mug. Laterz.
 
Disney moves a guests luggage when the guest changes resorts. Is it different for you, given the program you are attending? :confused:
 
Really? HOW? I've been trying to figure out HOW to do this, but if Disney will take care of it, I'll be a lot less stressed.
 












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