Not Gonna Lie......not the best week

[Nancyg56]

I think a business does need to have balance for sure.



I understand the desire to squeeze out more profit in a variety of ways. On the other hand some of those ways (ahem parking fees at the resorts among other things) do not help people's impression of the company.

And so on and so on lol
.

Oh I am in total agreement, increasing fees, reducing staffing, and adding more events that are now for purchase makes it much harder to leave with a favorable impression of WDW, especially if one is subjected to a cluster of issues that seem to just keep snowballing. I also am in no way accepting of sub par service in Disney, not in the parks, restaurants, resorts or shops. I am simply saying that given all of the stresses that customer service entails, those CM's are getting hit with a lot lately.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Oh I am in total agreement, increasing fees, reducing staffing, and adding more events that are now for purchase makes it much harder to leave with a favorable impression of WDW, especially if one is subjected to a cluster of issues that seem to just keep snowballing. I also am in no way accepting of sub par service in Disney, not in the parks, restaurants, resorts or shops. I am simply saying that given all of the stresses that customer service entails, those CM's are getting hit with a lot lately.

Oh I wasn't even referring to your comments don't worry

I was more or less just bouncing off a PP's comment.

Believe me over 7 years of retail experience and another 4 1/2 years of call center experience (albeit at an insurance company) I totally get the pressures the CMs have - some is within their control but a large amount are not.

 

[LSUmiss]

Hmm not sure I agree with that. What one spends is sooooooooooooo different than the next person. But that person who spent 10K on their trip and the person who spent $300 on their AP are equally entitled to an experience that they are satisfied with.

When you frame it as the person who spent less should have less expectations of the trip it becomes a slippery slope. It can also set up the frame of mind of what so many people complain about..you know the people who say "Well I spent X on this trip so I want this and this and this and who cares if you want that I spend this much on this trip, etc"

See I didn't buy tickets through Disney. I went through Undercover Tourist. I didn't take DME, I rented a car. I initially paid rack rate on my on-site stay but added a discount to it. I used Disney gift cards for all my souvenirs some of which was converted Target and Walmart gift cards from my wedding years prior and some were from my birthday and christmas and excuse me for staying at a Value, we ate only 3 meals at TS, the rest being QS and we ate breakfast on the way to the parks using food we brought due to Irma, oh and we used SWA RR Pts for my husband's ticket and a Companion Pass for me. Does that mean because I didn't spend 10K on my trip that I don't have higher expectations? Does that mean because I didn't spent 10K on my trip that I shouldn't be allowed to be disappointed in this or that related to my trip?

But for a person of moderate income, “wasting” $300 is easier to swallow than “wasting” $10,000. I have experienced both myself at WDW. Had a terrible trip a couple years ago, but the overall cost was easier to swallow. Had a very expensive terrible trip this past Feb & it was hard to get over.

 

[LSUmiss]

Have you thought about trying a trip without scheduling anything in advance? I used to be a die hard pre-planner and had every second of our trips planned out, but once our son got older and/or it was just my husband and myself going I decided to ditch the necessity of pre-planning. We MUCH prefer taking WDW at a leisurely pace. I do still make some FPs but often just the day before or day of going to a park and it is pretty common for us to cancel them because we decided on a different park or just don't feel like racing across a park to make a FP time. The good thing about taking a relaxed pace is that we find we aren't bothered as much by larger crowds. If the stand by lines are too long (typically anything over 30 minutes for us) we just choose not to ride

We found that we started noticing more interesting/fun details all over WDW when we slowed down and relaxed. We enjoy spending time at the resorts or just walking around. We enjoyed our new leisurely pace so much that we decided to move right by WDW.

We did this too this last trip. It was our first with DS who was 6.5 mos. We had some ADRs & FPs, but we mostly just enjoyed being there with him. It was the best trip we ever took.

 

[Ninja Mom]

I am not at all sure that Disney is aware of all the issues. I know that when I shared my experiences with the General manager she had no idea that the "boots on the ground" were so overwhelmed that guest experiences were impacted. She knew that things were hectic, however if no one tells her their own personal experiences, objectively and with clear examples, how can a correction be made. It is not easy to dismiss complaints if you are reasonable and you give details, but how many people will do that. We see countless posts about problems that people complain here about, but did not address in real time to the people who could make a difference.

I believe that it is not in the best interests of Disney Management that they let on that they know there are problems, especially when speaking with guests. I think you were being gas lighted by this manager. Of course she knows exactly what is going on at her resort, what the problems are and what guests are experiencing. It's not in management's best interest to admit to the problems especially when Disney's focus is on maximizing profits at the guest's expense in every way possible.

I also really agree with the other stuff you have posted about supporting the CM's. It's relatively easy to do, especially with a simple thing like a Tweet and it means a lot for that CM. The managers are also made aware of the CM's outstanding efforts so that helps them in their jobs.

I agree, and I sent emails this year about my issues and received call backs. I asked for specific ways to address issues. I absolutely agree that it’s best to smile and address CM’s with friendliness. Not great with always remembering names, but I there was a wonderful post from ninjamom on another thread RE: when you receive good service, take a photo of CM’s who are involved and share with management. If ninjamom sees this, maybe she will post a link to her post as it included the email addresses to send a note with the CM’s names so they can be recognized and hopefully rewarded.

I also recognized Cast Members multiple times during my last trip. Running around during a Disney vacation makes for a busy time but I really enjoy sending in tweets and emailing letters about outstanding CM's.

PRO TIP: An easy way to keep names straight during your trip is to take a photo of the CM with your phone and make sure you can read the name tag that they are wearing.

I also send myself an email right after meeting the CM with a brief description of the encounter (Time, Place and info about the experience) as a reminder when I compose their letter.

Tweets are fast and easy to do on the fly and you can attach the photo that you took to the tweet to help confirm the CM's identity.

tweet to @WDWToday, and use #castcompliment
email to wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com
snail mail Walt Disney World Guest Relations P.O. Box 10000 Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

I also recognized Cast Members multiple times during my last trip. Running around during a Disney vacation makes for a busy time but I really enjoy sending in tweets and emailing letters about outstanding CM's.

PRO TIP: An easy way to keep names straight during your trip is to take a photo of the CM with your phone and make sure you can read the name tag that they are wearing.

I also send myself an email right after meeting the CM with a brief description of the encounter (Time, Place and info about the experience) as a reminder when I compose their letter.

Tweets are fast and easy to do on the fly and you can attach the photo that you took to the tweet to help confirm the CM's identity.

tweet to @WDWToday, and use #castcompliment
email to wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com
snail mail Walt Disney World Guest Relations P.O. Box 10000 Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

~NM

~NM

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But for a person of moderate income, “wasting” $300 is easier to swallow than “wasting” $10,000. I have experienced both myself at WDW. Had a terrible trip a couple years ago, but the overall cost was easier to swallow. Had a very expensive terrible trip this past Feb & it was hard to get over.

Yeah see that's just now how we approach things nor how we feel. So YMMV

 

[Farro]

But for a person of moderate income, “wasting” $300 is easier to swallow than “wasting” $10,000. I have experienced both myself at WDW. Had a terrible trip a couple years ago, but the overall cost was easier to swallow. Had a very expensive terrible trip this past Feb & it was hard to get over.

Yeah, we had a very expensive trip (for us) last October that pretty much was just awful. Not Disney's fault, but rather other issues, but I understand the sting of spending a lot and being disappointed.

 

[QueenElinor]

I see that Disney is Choosing NOT to provide that level of service but they ARE choosing to charge that level of pricing. I disagree that "service has to go or the cost would be astronomical". Disney is currently conditioning guests to pay astronomical prices for poor service. In the past it was not like this at all. From many observations the Disney company has lost its focus on the guest experience.

This is the new Disney: The entire focus of the company is to prop up the stock price. This focus is coming at the expense of everything. For example: the guest experience. The rooms are dirty upon check in because the appropriate amount of time and staff was not allocated to cleaning and maintaining the rooms. Park hours have been reduced and in some instances replaced with up-charge access events. It's obvious to long time observers that the deferred maintenance is taking its toll on the parks. I could go on, but if you are actually paying attention to what you are experiencing now versus how things were handled in the past, you could easily see that the guest experience has taken a back seat to profits.

But you didn't quote the first half of that sentence, the entirety of which is this: "Disney is giving us other perks that those hotels don't have, and so service has to go or the cost would be astronomical."

The Hotel Del doesn't give me a monorail to ride around on, or have a dedicated IT staff to do the programming for a website that sells and coordinates my tickets to Sea World, Legoland or the San Diego Zoo, or my dinner reservations. Or keeps my daily schedule while I'm there. They sure as heck don't pick me up in a bus and take me to those other places. I can't charge things at SeaWorld and have them taken back to my room at the Hotel Del, using my Hotel Del account. There are dozens of things that Disney does for us that other luxury hotels do not do, and all that has to be paid for. So, they chose to cut service. I absolutely agree that they have done that.

But there is no doubt that transportation alone jacks up the price of a Disney room- nevermind the multiple other things they do to try to make a trip to Disney a seamless, 21st century experience. The Breakers spend their money on service, not all these things. If Disney wanted service like the Breakers, then these Disney-specific amenities would have to go....

Or the cost would be astronomical.

 

[snappy]

Most though know you can’t have your cake and eat it too though. Disney has raised costs at both parks and resorts and added fees AND has cut back on many things.

 

[Ninja Mom]

But you didn't quote the first half of that sentence, the entirety of which is this: "Disney is giving us other perks that those hotels don't have, and so service has to go or the cost would be astronomical."

The Hotel Del doesn't give me a monorail to ride around on, or have a dedicated IT staff to do the programming for a website that sells and coordinates my tickets to Sea World, Legoland or the San Diego Zoo, or my dinner reservations. Or keeps my daily schedule while I'm there. They sure as heck don't pick me up in a bus and take me to those other places. I can't charge things at SeaWorld and have them taken back to my room at the Hotel Del, using my Hotel Del account. There are dozens of things that Disney does for us that other luxury hotels do not do, and all that has to be paid for. So, they chose to cut service. I absolutely agree that they have done that.

But there is no doubt that transportation alone jacks up the price of a Disney room- nevermind the multiple other things they do to try to make a trip to Disney a seamless, 21st century experience. The Breakers spend their money on service, not all these things. If Disney wanted service like the Breakers, then these Disney-specific amenities would have to go....

Or the cost would be astronomical.

I'm sorry that I inadvertently cut out the first part of your post. The thing that has changed is the attitude, access, and the level of service that you get for the money. How hard is it to make sure that the resort room is clean upon check in and maintained through out your stay? It's hard because the money that Disney has charged into the room rates for housekeeping is being funneled away and is being used to pump up the profit statements. Charge the guest MORE but spend less delivering the service. This is the new Disney mantra under the current management.

Certainly all the costs are considered in the rates. What has changed is that you are not getting what you paid for. You're paying for bus transportation to the resorts but now fewer buses are doing the transporting and, at times, bus driver are literally screaming at people and refusing to leave until more people are crowded onto a fully packed bus. That was my experience in Dec 2017. That happened multiple times during that trip.

What happened to late night park hours, especially in the summer? Your ticket prices went way up and park hours have been cut and replaced in some instances with the up-sell events. I know you really want to believe that Disney can't offer all that they do without increasing the rates and cutting service but they managed to do just that for years.

What changed is that the profits now come first before every other consideration, to the point that the entire focus is on charging more and giving less. Disney never used to be like that and they are depending on people to fall for the false narrative that they can't "afford" to give you the experience that you paid for and have come to expect from a Disney parks experience... But they sure are marketing that they still do that and they are hoping that you can't tell the difference... only people can, and not just the fan base. Ask your friends and neighbors that have been to Disney whether they felt like they were getting ripped off with the prices and what they got for the money. Chances are I would bet they felt ripped off.

Remember, for years, Disney delivered a stellar vacation experience for the money that you paid. Now they are failing to deliver and depending on people to be gaslighted as to the reasons why. The reason is very clear. The demand for ever increasing stock profits are sucking the life out of a Disney parks vacation experience. Please also see that in order to prop up these stock prices the guests are being charged more and more. There are profits and then there are exorbitant profits on the backs of your customers. This is what Disney is doing.

~NM

 

[k5xs]

I strongly encourage you to voice your discontent with Walt Disney World.

We visit probably eight times a year, stay at all levels of resorts, and have never had the sad experience you describe. Sorry it happened to you.

Here is the Guest Services web form:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/help/email/

 

[Ninja Mom]

I strongly encourage you to voice your discontent with Walt Disney World.

We visit probably eight times a year, stay at all levels of resorts, and have never had the sad experience you describe. Sorry it happened to you.

Here is the Guest Services web form:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/help/email/

Thank you for your concern.

Been there done that.

They aren't listening to the point where they are willing to address the real problems. When you talk to Guest Relations (Via email, in
person or on the phone as I have done) you get the standard "I hear what you are saying" but very few things are changing to deal with the problems. I'm not talking about pie in the sky problems. I'm talking about things like the floors in my room at Pop Century were dirty upon check in and not cleaned the entire time I was there. I asked for help from housekeeping but I did not speak the same language as the Cast Member so that went no where. I spoke with a roving manager and that went nowhere. Finally I just got towels from the pool and damp mopped my floor myself. The towels were filthy when I was finished. I made sure I put them back in the bin at the pool. If Disney was making it my problem that the floors were not being cleaned properly I had no trouble sending the towels back to them in that condition.

Check into Pop and try it for yourself.

~NM

 

[snappy]

Thank you for your concern.

Been there done that.

They aren't listening to the point where they are willing to address the real problems. When you talk to Guest Relations (Via email, in
person or on the phone as I have done) you get the standard "I hear what you are saying" but very few things are changing to deal with the problems. I'm not talking about pie in the sky problems. I'm talking about things like the floors in my room at Pop Century were dirty upon check in and not cleaned the entire time I was there. I asked for help from housekeeping but I did not speak the same language as the Cast Member so that went no where. I spoke with a roving manager and that went nowhere. Finally I just got towels from the pool and damp mopped my floor myself. The towels were filthy when I was finished. I made sure I put them back in the bin at the pool. If Disney was making it my problem that the floors were not being cleaned properly I had no trouble sending the towels back to them in that condition.

Check into Pop and try it for yourself.

~NM

I think I will skip Pop, thanks. I imagine the $10/day gift cards are contributing to the filth.

 

[QueenElinor]

I'm sorry that I inadvertently cut out the first part of your post. The thing that has changed is the attitude, access, and the level of service that you get for the money. How hard is it to make sure that the resort room is clean upon check in and maintained through out your stay? It's hard because the money that Disney has charged into the room rates for housekeeping is being funneled away and is being used to pump up the profit statements. Charge the guest MORE but spend less delivering the service. This is the new Disney mantra under the current management.

Certainly all the costs are considered in the rates. What has changed is that you are not getting what you paid for. You're paying for bus transportation to the resorts but now fewer buses are doing the transporting and, at times, bus driver are literally screaming at people and refusing to leave until more people are crowded onto a fully packed bus. That was my experience in Dec 2017. That happened multiple times during that trip.

What happened to late night park hours, especially in the summer? Your ticket prices went way up and park hours have been cut and replaced in some instances with the up-sell events. I know you really want to believe that Disney can't offer all that they do without increasing the rates and cutting service but they managed to do just that for years.

What changed is that the profits now come first before every other consideration, to the point that the entire focus is on charging more and giving less. Disney never used to be like that and they are depending on people to fall for the false narrative that they can't "afford" to give you the experience that you paid for and have come to expect from a Disney parks experience... But they sure are marketing that they still do that and they are hoping that you can't tell the difference... only people can, and not just the fan base. Ask your friends and neighbors that have been to Disney whether they felt like they were getting ripped off with the prices and what they got for the money. Chances are I would bet they felt ripped off.

Remember, for years, Disney delivered a stellar vacation experience for the money that you paid. Now they are failing to deliver and depending on people to be gaslighted as to the reasons why. The reason is very clear. The demand for ever increasing stock profits are sucking the life out of a Disney parks vacation experience. Please also see that in order to prop up these stock prices the guests are being charged more and more. There are profits and then there are exorbitant profits on the backs of your customers. This is what Disney is doing.

~NM

Okay, that's something I can't really speak to, because we haven't been in a few years, so service may very well have declined since then. If one is comparing past Disney to current Disney as opposed to other resorts, then they might have a problem. My posts were just comparing them to other luxury resorts at any given point in time.

And yes, it's definitely about making money. I wonder how much of that has to do with WDW directly, though. I think that a lot of it springs directly or indirectly from the movie division. The thing that made them famous in the first place, and which they just don't seem to be able to do much with aside from buying up other companies that still can.

I don't think Disney has done stupendously well with its movie division lately (aside from Black Panther & Incredibles). They paid FOUR BILLION DOLLARS for SW. But- The Last Jedi faltered and Solo was a flop, so they're cutting out a lot of the SW spinoffs they had planned. This SWGE expansion has also got to be costing billions. I really think they mishandled that part of their business, but that's a story for another day. Right now they are in the process of pouring money into the franchise hoping it's going to pay off and that has taken longer than they thought it would, IMHO. I'm not saying they're losing money on SW, but are they making what they had planned? You pay billions, you had better make billions more than that. I don't think that they are, not yet.

And many of the smaller films have not done well recently- A Wrinkle In TIme did poorly, and the recent Nutcracker had one of the worst opening weekends ever for a Disney film. Really, really bad.

I have no idea how they do their books, but if one part of a company is underperforming, then it hits all parts of the company. I don't really keep up with my stocks (that's what mutual funds are for!) but I do know that when I look at my mix, Disney went from being in the top 10 or 15 of my holdings to way down the list. That means the money managers are dumping Disney stock. So the cost cutting is hitting all parts of their business, all the way down to the resorts where you and I are going to be feeling the pain.

 

[Nancyg56]

Thank you for your concern.

Been there done that.

They aren't listening to the point where they are willing to address the real problems. When you talk to Guest Relations (Via email, in
person or on the phone as I have done) you get the standard "I hear what you are saying" but very few things are changing to deal with the problems. I'm not talking about pie in the sky problems. I'm talking about things like the floors in my room at Pop Century were dirty upon check in and not cleaned the entire time I was there. I asked for help from housekeeping but I did not speak the same language as the Cast Member so that went no where. I spoke with a roving manager and that went nowhere. Finally I just got towels from the pool and damp mopped my floor myself. The towels were filthy when I was finished. I made sure I put them back in the bin at the pool. If Disney was making it my problem that the floors were not being cleaned properly I had no trouble sending the towels back to them in that condition.

Check into Pop and try it for yourself.

~NM

Perhaps they did not listen to YOU, however I was not only listened to, my concerns were validated. Upthread you suggested I was being gaslighted, but I can assure you, I was not. I did not get the standard anything, and given my background, I would have picked that right up. You see, over 5 years in QA in a call center, and more than that on the phones, had someone used that type of line on me, i would have escalated my call to the next in line.

Now if I had experienced dirty floors and no satisfaction, I would not have been satisfied with a roving manager, and no mattter what're I stayed, I would not be washing my own floors.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Perhaps they did not listen to YOU, however I was not only listened to, my concerns were validated. Upthread you suggested I was being gaslighted, but I can assure you, I was not. I did not get the standard anything, and given my background, I would have picked that right up. You see, over 5 years in QA in a call center, and more than that on the phones, had someone used that type of line on me, i would have escalated my call to the next in line.

Now if I had experienced dirty floors and no satisfaction, I would not have been satisfied with a roving manager, and no mattter what're I stayed, I would not be washing my own floors.

Which is fine but you’re missing the point that people on vacation spending thousands upon thousands should not have to fight with Disney for basic things like a clean room or well prepared food. Bad circumstances happen everywhere but there are a LOT of instances of it happening at WDW and despite complaints, still happen. If you’re going to do things like charge for parking because it’s “industry standard” then you had better match that across the board from housekeeping to what luxury rates actually mean.

Yet we all still go so there really is no incentive for them to improve.

 

[Ninja Mom]

Perhaps they did not listen to YOU, however I was not only listened to, my concerns were validated. Upthread you suggested I was being gaslighted, but I can assure you, I was not. I did not get the standard anything, and given my background, I would have picked that right up. You see, over 5 years in QA in a call center, and more than that on the phones, had someone used that type of line on me, i would have escalated my call to the next in line.

Now if I had experienced dirty floors and no satisfaction, I would not have been satisfied with a roving manager, and no mattter what're I stayed, I would not be washing my own floors.

At a certain point one realizes that it is not worth the VACATION time to herd Disney into providing basic services. After two escalations (housekeeper and manager) it was abundantly clear that the situation was not going to be resolved.

I find it impossible to believe that "the General manager she had no idea that the "boots on the ground" were so overwhelmed that guest experiences were impacted." It's her job to know exactly what is going on at the resort that she manages. That's why I believe you were being gaslighted.

~NM

 

[Nancyg56]

At a certain point one realizes that it is not worth the VACATION time to herd Disney into providing basic services. After two escalations (housekeeper and manager) it was abundantly clear that the situation was not going to be resolved.

I find it impossible to believe that "the General manager she had no idea that the "boots on the ground" were so overwhelmed that guest experiences were impacted." It's her job to know exactly what is going on at the resort that she manages. That's why I believe you were being gaslighted.

~NM/QUOTE]

If you believe it, it must be so.

 

[Nancyg56]

Which is fine but you’re missing the point that people on vacation spending thousands upon thousands should not have to fight with Disney for basic things like a clean room or well prepared food. Bad circumstances happen everywhere but there are a LOT of instances of it happening at WDW and despite complaints, still happen. If you’re going to do things like charge for parking because it’s “industry standard” then you had better match that across the board from housekeeping to what luxury rates actually mean.

Yet we all still go so there really is no incentive for them to improve.

I did not miss the point, I do nto feel one shoudl spend the vacation fighting with Disney. I did say that I would never tolerate a dirty room, and that would be true no matter where I stayed. I have only had one instance in over 14 years of visiting WDW and addressed that because while I value my vacation time, I also value the time it took to work for and to save for the trip, and felt strongly that we did not receive what DIsney advertised in regards to the resort service. DId I ruin my vacation doing so? No. I firmly believe that if people sit back and just accept poor conditions, they will get them. If they refuse to tolerate substandard service things change.

 

[SaintsManiac]

gaslighting? Dark ages? What is going on in this thread????