New (Made-Up) Position -- WDW VP of Guest Comfort --- WWYD?

[erincon23]

So Disney approaches you and offers you the brand-new job of VP of Guest Comfort. Your mandate is to look at the entire operation and suggest things that will make the guest experience better. Realistically, what would you suggest? (and what would be, unrealistically, super fantastic?) I know I'd suggest:

- refrigerators in all guest rooms
- moving walkways from the bus drop (especially where you have to pick up the bus to POP from the parks) to near the front gate, for those late-night treks back to the bus when your feet are screaming at you
- revamp of food services, to make the food better (for the prices they charge...)

How about you? I've been to WDW several times, but I know there are some "warriors" out there who could suggest much more!

Erin

 

[pepe of ohio]

Do Disney approaches you and offers you the brand-new job of VP of Guest Comfort. Your mandate is to look at the entire operation and suggest things that will make the guest experience better. Realistically, what would you suggest? (and what would be, unrealistically, super fantastic?) I know I'd suggest:

- refrigerators in all guest rooms
- moving walkways from the bus drop (especially where you have to pick up the bus to POP from the parks) to near the front gate, for those late-night treks back to the bus when your feet are screaming at you
- revamp of food services, to make the food better (for the prices they charge...)

How about you? I've been to WDW several times, but I know there are some "warriors" out there who could suggest much more!

Erin

I must say after 43 trips and if my job was VP of guest comfort, I'd say I did a great job. Don't agree with the fridges is all resorts, values are just that, value, you want, you rent or move up to moderate or deluxe. No sense raising the price of a value to include a fridge if a guest doesn't want or need one.

Moving walk ways,,, come on......America is too lax now, people need to get out more and walk and exercise. I know Disney is huge and an awful lot of walking, but I know that going in. It's nice to stroll around by foot.

As for food, meals are okay for us, we're not gourmands or foodies and the CS and food courts in my opinion do a great job, you have choices for you to make. The Table Service restaurants just aren't to our liking, over priced and over hyped, we don't waste time on them.

All in all, I have nothing to change or add, we like Disney just the way it is, sorry.

 

[jenniferyawn]

free Wi-Fi in all resorts!

 

[daybreaker]

free Wi-Fi in all resorts!

or at least in the moderate and deluxe ones in keeping with the theme of the value ones being bare-bones.

No need in this day and age to charge $10 for 24 hours of internet except because you know people will pay it. "Bandwidth" does not cost as much money as ISPs and phone co's want you to believe.

 

[JDUCKY]

More fans in the queues or enclosed queues with A/C for the warm months (9-10 months of the year )

Longer park hours year-round (esp. for Animal Kingdom...come on...riding EE in the dark would be awesome.) Just because the animals go to sleep doesn't mean the park needs to. And many times I've wanted to do a park other than the MK during the middle of the week but with 7-8pm closing times, it does a local no good (esp. since I have to head north to pick up my DD and then back down)

Widen walkways or somehow put arrows on the ground for directional patterns. Over time, people start following those patterns, in general. Esp. for infamously crowded areas like that in front of TSM (why have a character photo-op spot right in front of the entrance?) or the area near Splash and Pecos Bill or over by HM/CHH.

More buses dedicated to each resort. It's quite frustrating staying at, say, POFQ and having to go through the multiple stops at POR before going on to a park.

 

[Virtucomp]

1) Limit or eliminate strollers! If the kid can walk they should walk like the rest of us. It all part of the experience. Besides the quicker they get tired the sooner they will be back at the resort taking a nap or going in the pool. Keep strollers for children that real needs.

2) Cover all Queing areas so we don't have to bake while waiting to get in.

3) Improve the water quality at the water fountains. If they can grow tomatoes on a tree and grow plants without dirt I'm sure they can filter the water and cool it in the park.

I'm sure there are others.

 

[bumbershoot]

1) Limit or eliminate strollers! If the kid can walk they should walk like the rest of us. It all part of the experience. Besides the quicker they get tired the sooner they will be back at the resort taking a nap or going in the pool. Keep strollers for children that real needs.

So the VP of *comfort* is going to make it LESS comfortable for a significant portion of their guests? And the guests most likely to make it less comfortable for their parents and people around them? Not sure you'll keep that position for long!


Moving walkways sounds nice, but I know for me, the foot pain is from the *standing*, not the walking. So something to stand in place on isn't going to help me out.

 

[njsmama]

Cooler ques, either by covering, fans, misters, trees etc. Free WiFi. Option to buy refillable mugs at the land parks....like they offer at the water parks.

 

[benolathe]

Just something that bothered me during our NYE trip was that it was difficult to find something quick to eat. We saw very few places that you could grab a quick hot dog, corn dog, churro, popcorn or something like that. I was just really surprised not to see numerous 'cart' vendors around the park.

 

[sters]

My number one mandate would be to ditch the Nescafe contract and get some real, delicious coffee...maybe even open a real coffee house in the Boardwalk area.

 

[KellyNY]

1. More busses in the evening.
2. Return smoking rooms/buildings and charge more for them.
3. Adults only pools/hottubs in hotels, sometimes you do not want to be splashed.
4. Implement ticket system instead of standing in line, for example 50 people get ticket # 10 and can still wonder around the area till number will light. When they enter they will still have to wait for group #9 and #8 to load but they do not have to wait in line while group #3 is riding. Not exactly a FP but lets you get a food, go to bathroom, use some interactive games and so and not to stand in line for 2 hours.

 

[Hockey Ninja]

Shaded areas for the bus queues at the Values.

 

[ccigliano]

Oh dear - the first thing I'd do believe it or not is changeout the cardboard bed sheets. The last three surveys I did when I returned home, I mentioned this. When you stay at Marriotts, the beds are very comfortable and part of that is because they increased the thread count of the sheets. Most of us have luxury bed sheets at home and now when I travel to DW its the first thing I notice when I jump into the bed after a long day. I took my sister's family last month and as we all turned in that first night - she came out for a glass of water and said - what's the heck is up with those sheets. While its obvious to me that I spend at least 7 hours a day in bed on vacation and at home, Disney has to start realizing it too and also realizing that the rest of the hotel industry has upgraded their bedding - when will they finally get the memo.

 

[amzking]

Longer park hours year-round (esp. for Animal Kingdom...come on...riding EE in the dark would be awesome.) Just because the animals go to sleep doesn't mean the park needs to. And many times I've wanted to do a park other than the MK during the middle of the week but with 7-8pm closing times, it does a local no good (esp. since I have to head north to pick up my DD and then back down)

Yes, yes, yes. Animal Kingdom is awesome at night. You can only ride Everest at night during PM EMH (no good if you are just coming in for the day) or extended hours season at Christmastime. Riding Everest at night was one of our must-dos during our Christmas trip, I knew we wouldn't have another oppurtunity for several months at least. It is WONDERFUL at night!

I for one think the CS meals are very good, esp if you compare them to typical fast food. I would like to see the TS meals improved and the outrageous pricing scaled back a bit.

WiFi in all resorts should be absolutely implemented, it comes in a $60/night Howard Johnson, for heaven's sake.

Revamp the dining plan to offer even more flexibility. Maybe 3 "credits" and one snack per day, with a CS being one credit and a TS being two. Eliminate desserts and charge less. Or include continental breakfast at the mods and deluxes, again many "cheap" hotels include this.

Covered bus stops at the values seems like an obvious need.

Refillable mugs good for everywhere, though I must admit I would not want to carry them throughout the parks unless they were leak-proof and I could stuff them in a backpack.

Somehow come up with a way to get purchases back to your room even if you are leaving the next day. We often have only a two-night stay and if we don't buy anything till day 2 of a 2 night stay we cannot have it sent to the room. We have no choice whatsoever with a one-night stay.

 

[WizardLarz]

1. 6 Days of Fantasmic, with 4 days having two shows, for a total of 10 shows a week!
2. A store at DTD and/or DHS that sells all the Disney and MGM Movies, even the ones that are "In the Disney Vault"!

 

[zhazhazsu]

1)A service which would allow you to rent Disney movies in the room, either a RedBox type machine in the resort lobbies, recyclable DVDs that erase after so many hours or a PPV type service on the resort TVs. Sometimes after a full day in the parks all I want to do is curl up and catch a Disney flick before bed.
2) A more flexible option on the dining plan. I love that some of the more popular TS restaurants are doing a " Chef's Favorite" type menu so people can try the apps, BUT I would love to be able to exchange my dessert for a side salad, or to order two sides, or an app ala carte, and not have to pay extra
( This is the main reason I am ditching the dining plan on my next trip) I realize this defeats the central purpose of the dining plan, but, a girl can dream
3)I would really love a little card (like at some of the national chains) that tells me the name of my Mousekeeper . I have even been to chain hotels that leave the name of the housekeeper on little tip envelopes. That way I can leave each person who services the room a fair tip. I don't always have singles each day to leave a few out.

 

[nicki.momof3]

Don't agree with the fridges is all resorts, values are just that, value, you want, you rent or move up to moderate or deluxe. No sense raising the price of a value to include a fridge if a guest doesn't want or need one.

Moving walk ways,,, come on......America is too lax now, people need to get out more and walk and exercise.

Totally agree - Exercise is needed. For many Disney is the most exercise they get all year. Also if your going to put "extras" in value resorts what makes the deluxes worth the estra $$$.

1) Limit or eliminate strollers!

Do you have children (possible more than 1)? I can not imagine you do. If you did you would understand why kids need strollers. We travel with 3 children under 6 years old and YES we need strollers.

1. More busses in the evening.

Sounds great!

Cooler ques, either by covering, fans, misters, trees etc.

Another great idea.


I need to add mine - Improved kids menues on the dining plan. Disney has horrible pizza and mac. and cheese and very few other options. I don't know about other kids but mine like more than chix. nuggets, hot dogs, mac. and cheese, and pizzza.

 

[Hockey Ninja]

1. 6 Days of Fantasmic, with 4 days having two shows, for a total of 10 shows a week!

Comfier seats for Fantasmic! Even if they're still benches, at least give us some back support!

 

[maxiesmom]

I think while shaded bus stops at the Value resorts would be nice, if you keep upgrading the Value resorts they will no longer be that. They would then be Moderate resorts. There has to be differences between the 2 to justify the difference in cost.

I would say Disney just needs to enforce the rules it already has in place. A CM catches you smoking outside of a DSA? You either put out the smoke or move, or you are gone. You take flash pictures on a dark ride? Your pictures are deleated when you get off, and you are not allowed back on the ride. And maybe put in the stocks where people flash their cameras right in your face. Kids cannoballing into the hot tub, the family is removed from the pool area.

 

[nicki.momof3]

I think while shaded bus stops at the Value resorts would be nice, if you keep upgrading the Value resorts they will no longer be that. They would then be Moderate resorts. There has to be differences between the 2 to justify the difference in cost.

I would say Disney just needs to enforce the rules it already has in place.

A CM catches you smoking outside of a DSA? You either put out the smoke or move, or you are gone.

100% agree - it is a rule enforce it.

You take flash pictures on a dark ride? Your pictures are deleated when you get off, and you are not allowed back on the ride. And maybe put in the stocks where people flash their cameras right in your face.

I agree flash photography is against the rules - but you can not enforce a rule with crazy outcomes. Really how could they justify deleting pictures or flashing back in their faces. Yes remove them but the others are not posted results of using a flash.


Kids cannoballing into the hot tub, the family is removed from the pool area.

Agree this is not allowed and should be enforced.

Disney does need to enforce rules that are posted but than they would not be makign everyone happy so they never will.