Not Thrilled with Universal Orlando
- Thread starter bicker
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Yes, I get upset when people put words in my mouth. I also felt the need to defend bickers who is trying to give a detailed perspective on things people might be disappointed in. I like detail, so I enjoyed it. Just because someone is unhappy when they right, I dont absorb their attitude, and it seems that because Bickers was unhappy, some readers got angry with him and felt the need to 'retaliate'. of course, he wasnt attacking anyone else on the board, so people attacking him, and his view, upset me.
Like I said, I dont share his opinion of USF, but I feel all his points are valid. I could ignore most of them myself, or note them but enjoy the good stuff anyway. For example, who would see that trash, at 8am, and say "Funny, i'd expect it to be clean at 8am" I would, and then I'd go in and forget about it. Bickers sees that stuff, and his back, and other disappointments all added up. For people who disagree, they should say "Hey, if that's all thats bad, I will have a good time! I just gotta remember to check the schedule!" It was good stuff.
By the way, I am extremely detail oriented myself. I can tear anything apart, to the minutes detail, inflection, or see it at any angle. I'm also a night owl - WIDE AWAKE right now! (and I wouldve left this post in jon306's email instead, but he doesnt have one!) Feel I'm way off topic! sorry...
Like I said, I dont share his opinion of USF, but I feel all his points are valid. I could ignore most of them myself, or note them but enjoy the good stuff anyway. For example, who would see that trash, at 8am, and say "Funny, i'd expect it to be clean at 8am" I would, and then I'd go in and forget about it. Bickers sees that stuff, and his back, and other disappointments all added up. For people who disagree, they should say "Hey, if that's all thats bad, I will have a good time! I just gotta remember to check the schedule!" It was good stuff.
By the way, I am extremely detail oriented myself. I can tear anything apart, to the minutes detail, inflection, or see it at any angle. I'm also a night owl - WIDE AWAKE right now! (and I wouldve left this post in jon306's email instead, but he doesnt have one!) Feel I'm way off topic! sorry...
Bicker still only found 2 pieces of trash, i'm convinced he/she would of taken mroe pics if more was found.
I must say this again.. How can you sit on your soap box and insist anything? It's not your job, people aren't paying yu to do it, you know nothing about it, and yet you claim to be an expert. Go look at www.wdwblues.com and look at how the so called "best" theme parks are doing it. Sorry, some things aren't possible to keep pristine in a place where high traffic is an understatement.
As for the weather.. it's been in the 50's, highs in the 60's and it rained all day yesterday.. Once again, do you want more trash pickers hired or would you rather they watered the plants on the days it doesn't rain? How about they hired more trashpickers instead of ever building the park in the first place. The park is still in debt people, so don't pretend they're jsut taking your money and running off like bandits. It cost an extreme amount to build and run and they're still paying it off.
One last thing.. No one in the world owes you anything. You're born with nothing, you die with nothing. To assume money and material items will bring you happiness is absurd. To claim a burnt bagel (Which you didn't send back, just felt like using as ammo towards IOA) and a piece of trash (in a crack in the ground next to a bench no less, someone would literally have to been looking hard for it, and would of had to have gotten on their hand and knees to get it out, what if the trashpickers have bad backs too? Wait, it didn't stop you from bending over and taking the picture!) can prevent you from having a good time you're just blaming someone else for your shortcommings. Enjoyment is something that comes solely from you, no one else, no amount of money.
-Rob
I must say this again.. How can you sit on your soap box and insist anything? It's not your job, people aren't paying yu to do it, you know nothing about it, and yet you claim to be an expert. Go look at www.wdwblues.com and look at how the so called "best" theme parks are doing it. Sorry, some things aren't possible to keep pristine in a place where high traffic is an understatement.
As for the weather.. it's been in the 50's, highs in the 60's and it rained all day yesterday.. Once again, do you want more trash pickers hired or would you rather they watered the plants on the days it doesn't rain? How about they hired more trashpickers instead of ever building the park in the first place. The park is still in debt people, so don't pretend they're jsut taking your money and running off like bandits. It cost an extreme amount to build and run and they're still paying it off.
One last thing.. No one in the world owes you anything. You're born with nothing, you die with nothing. To assume money and material items will bring you happiness is absurd. To claim a burnt bagel (Which you didn't send back, just felt like using as ammo towards IOA) and a piece of trash (in a crack in the ground next to a bench no less, someone would literally have to been looking hard for it, and would of had to have gotten on their hand and knees to get it out, what if the trashpickers have bad backs too? Wait, it didn't stop you from bending over and taking the picture!) can prevent you from having a good time you're just blaming someone else for your shortcommings. Enjoyment is something that comes solely from you, no one else, no amount of money.
-Rob
Sorry I haven't checked back in sooner. Looks like a lively discussion.
First of all, I went to Universal Orlando intent on showing the folks on the Disney boards that there are smart people at Universal who deserve to have their parks considered in the same league with Disney's. Indeed, for most of the first couple of hours, I was working hard to turn my wife around from her perspective that Universal sucks. I was unsuccessful.
No, I didn't go looking to take pictures of garbage. If you look at the full set of my pictures, you'll see some wonderful shots of Seuss Landing and Lost Continent. I took over 300 photographs. What I uploaded were the ones that best told the story that was the summary of my trip from my wife and my perspective: the bad outweighed the good. I was disappointed with that.
Incidentally, I have a few pictures of garbage and a few pictures of broken concrete; I only posted one of each. Also, I was NOT looking for them, so I probably missed a lot of problems. The fact that I took those photos meant that those things caught my eye. You can ask some folks on the Disney boards: I don't normally see that sort of thing. It was just so prevalent and obvious, as compared to the kinds of maintenance problems that there are at WDW, that they came to my notice at Universal.
Also, I was very careful to make it clear that our dissatisfaction was very much due to my medical problems. Even the employees at IoA admitted, not even grudgingly, that IoA is NOT a park for people with back problems. I'm surely not saying it should be -- I'm saying it's not, just like they said it's not, just like Sandyincanada said it's not. It is really a park for thrill-ride enthusiasts. Folks should know that going in. I had heard some folks asserting that it was a great all-around theme park, like the Magic Kingdom. It's not. It's a great thrill-ride park.
Brian Charles Kohn
"in my own words"
Some Imagination, huh? - Mickey Mouse
First of all, I went to Universal Orlando intent on showing the folks on the Disney boards that there are smart people at Universal who deserve to have their parks considered in the same league with Disney's. Indeed, for most of the first couple of hours, I was working hard to turn my wife around from her perspective that Universal sucks. I was unsuccessful.
No, I didn't go looking to take pictures of garbage. If you look at the full set of my pictures, you'll see some wonderful shots of Seuss Landing and Lost Continent. I took over 300 photographs. What I uploaded were the ones that best told the story that was the summary of my trip from my wife and my perspective: the bad outweighed the good. I was disappointed with that.
Incidentally, I have a few pictures of garbage and a few pictures of broken concrete; I only posted one of each. Also, I was NOT looking for them, so I probably missed a lot of problems. The fact that I took those photos meant that those things caught my eye. You can ask some folks on the Disney boards: I don't normally see that sort of thing. It was just so prevalent and obvious, as compared to the kinds of maintenance problems that there are at WDW, that they came to my notice at Universal.
Also, I was very careful to make it clear that our dissatisfaction was very much due to my medical problems. Even the employees at IoA admitted, not even grudgingly, that IoA is NOT a park for people with back problems. I'm surely not saying it should be -- I'm saying it's not, just like they said it's not, just like Sandyincanada said it's not. It is really a park for thrill-ride enthusiasts. Folks should know that going in. I had heard some folks asserting that it was a great all-around theme park, like the Magic Kingdom. It's not. It's a great thrill-ride park.
Brian Charles Kohn
"in my own words"
Some Imagination, huh? - Mickey Mouse
This whole thread is just ridiculous. Granted the original poster had some valid points (ie. IOA may not be good for SOME people with back problems), the majority of complaints in this thread are simply lame.
1) Small amounts of trash ruining the experience - this is just absurd. I've seen people cleaning windows on doors in public places only to have someone (a customer) walk up and push the door open using the glass instead of the handle, even while the employee is still their cleaning. In order to keep the parks 100% clean, 100% of the time, Universal would have to hire 1 cleaner for every 1 guest which is simply impossible.
2) Bird crap on the ground, benches, etc. - hahaha.....hmmm trees = birds. Maybe instead of building a new ride or attraction, Universal should install a bird tracking radar so they could have maintanence people run around underneath each of the thousands of birds. Get real.
3) Cracks in the concrete. Take me to any public building and I am 100% sure I could find a crack somewhere on it. Whether it be your kitchen tile, the driveway, a shopping mall, or a themepark - everything with constant wear will aquire cracks. Granted these cracks do need to be fixed, but it is impossible to have a "completely crackless park".
4) Park employees lack initiative (in restaraunts in this example) - Yes I agree the cook and Server should check to make sure the food isn't burnt or whatever. And the park guest should also let the employees know when the food isn't served well. I will agree quality employees is Universal's and any companys biggest challenge. Universal has a lot of sub-par employees mixed in with the great ones. Remember Disney has had many more years to weed out the bad employees and perfect their training policies. Universal will catch up. It's hard enough to staff a fast food restaraunt, let alone an entire themepark. The unemployment rate is low, and employees simple won't work low paying jobs.
As Loric said, you are at the park on vacation, not an investigation. Universal is honestly one of the best maintained places I have ever seen (and the cleanest), along with the Disney parks. I wonder if people complain that their local state fair is held in a big muddy field, with power wires running all over the ground? The price for a day at the fair is the same (or more) than a day at Universal. I think Universal does a remarkable job in maintanence, especially considering they are open 365 days a year. CityWalk is open from 8am-2am most every day. This leaves six hours to do repairs, paint peeling paint, change lightbulbs, and clean. And, to me at least, it looks close to spotless every day. I remeber when IOA first opened and there WERE maintanence issues, such as peeling paint in the Ripsaw Falls line. Universal took the initiative to rehab the ride and replace the painted walls with plastic that has held up very well.
Jim
1) Small amounts of trash ruining the experience - this is just absurd. I've seen people cleaning windows on doors in public places only to have someone (a customer) walk up and push the door open using the glass instead of the handle, even while the employee is still their cleaning. In order to keep the parks 100% clean, 100% of the time, Universal would have to hire 1 cleaner for every 1 guest which is simply impossible.
2) Bird crap on the ground, benches, etc. - hahaha.....hmmm trees = birds. Maybe instead of building a new ride or attraction, Universal should install a bird tracking radar so they could have maintanence people run around underneath each of the thousands of birds. Get real.
3) Cracks in the concrete. Take me to any public building and I am 100% sure I could find a crack somewhere on it. Whether it be your kitchen tile, the driveway, a shopping mall, or a themepark - everything with constant wear will aquire cracks. Granted these cracks do need to be fixed, but it is impossible to have a "completely crackless park".
4) Park employees lack initiative (in restaraunts in this example) - Yes I agree the cook and Server should check to make sure the food isn't burnt or whatever. And the park guest should also let the employees know when the food isn't served well. I will agree quality employees is Universal's and any companys biggest challenge. Universal has a lot of sub-par employees mixed in with the great ones. Remember Disney has had many more years to weed out the bad employees and perfect their training policies. Universal will catch up. It's hard enough to staff a fast food restaraunt, let alone an entire themepark. The unemployment rate is low, and employees simple won't work low paying jobs.
As Loric said, you are at the park on vacation, not an investigation. Universal is honestly one of the best maintained places I have ever seen (and the cleanest), along with the Disney parks. I wonder if people complain that their local state fair is held in a big muddy field, with power wires running all over the ground? The price for a day at the fair is the same (or more) than a day at Universal. I think Universal does a remarkable job in maintanence, especially considering they are open 365 days a year. CityWalk is open from 8am-2am most every day. This leaves six hours to do repairs, paint peeling paint, change lightbulbs, and clean. And, to me at least, it looks close to spotless every day. I remeber when IOA first opened and there WERE maintanence issues, such as peeling paint in the Ripsaw Falls line. Universal took the initiative to rehab the ride and replace the painted walls with plastic that has held up very well.
Jim
I have to disagree Jim. The issue is a matter of comparisons. Given that I didn't go looking for trouble (just the opposite) the fact that I found trouble, as compared to what I experience typically at Walt Disney World, is significant. Sure, these things aren't big deals -- I agree completely. What is a big deal is the fact that Universal pales by comparision to Walt Disney World, in several respects.
Brian Charles Kohn
"in my own words"
Some Imagination, huh? - Mickey Mouse
Brian Charles Kohn
"in my own words"
Some Imagination, huh? - Mickey Mouse
One more time...
www.wdwblues.com
come on.. go look.. lots of pictures of problems at Disney beating out most anything at Universal..
-Rob
www.wdwblues.com
come on.. go look.. lots of pictures of problems at Disney beating out most anything at Universal..
-Rob
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