Happily, we always manage to have a great time.....even at the Walt Whitman on the Jersey Turnpike. It's all about who you share your life with. Not to worry about a miserable time....it's always magic with my DH. I was writing about decline.
Another example......
Our first night we found our way to the Poly for some Boutiki shopping and Kona Cafe. After, we strolled around enjoying the might and lights of the lake. We looked over at the Grand Floridian, the flagship of disney resorts, and the lights were mostly dark. You know, the lights on the roof tops which twikle at night. There were some here and there on the out buildings....a strand here and there....but it looked awful from the water. The "A" on the boardwalk sign was dark the entire 8 days we were at the Beach Club......lights surounding the rooftops at EPCOT ALL had burned out bulbs....Poor Eiffle tower. Yes, there were lights but change the burned out bulbs! It was a chronic problem property wide.
Years ago I managed a resort in the tropics. If your property is run well, your maintenance manages problems like this. It's the little things that turn a good property into a truly exceptional one. Sorry, if I was staying at the Grand Floridian (at those prices) I would expect it to be as perfect as possible. Certainly not an entire side of lights out with other sections having a strand on here and there. tacky!.....and to answer some questions.
Originally Posted by Donut23
I'm happy you can spend your travel dollar and not care.
Spending the time with my family is way more important than caring about trash on the ground or price of food.
You miss the point.....this is disney's responsibility and a standard DISNEY created. For me, it IS important the parks are clean for my friends and family. They just take the cheep way out with outsources and reduced staff. If you are happy with trash lying around....so be it. I KNOW Disney can do - and has done better.
Caring is precisely our problem with this last trip. We remember what disney used to be before it was all about money.
We care - that's why these changes were so tough to swallow. After all....at the prices they charge one should expect that level of service and maintenance of say....one of the Universal hotels!
True, the guests' behavior is at times shocking.....profanity shouted during family meltdowns....but that has nothing to do with the parks being not truly clean. It has everything to do with continuing staff and budget cuts.
We care that we get the best value for our hard earned vacation dollar. We skipped WDW last year for DL with our Disney friends during this same week and had a GREAT time. DL was sparkling, castmembers were wonderful.....cheep food was still disappointing....but overal we felt we received great value.
This year at WDW.....with all our castmember discounts, we still feel Disney fell way short.....especially in EPCOT. I said each night.....I'm sure glad we didn't pay anything for these tickets........or........the food was ok as long as we didn't have to pay full price and finally.........the gift shopping with castmember discounts brought the prices down to where they SHOULD be priced for retail guests (50% this year).
So you did not pay for most of what we do and still want to complain. Really? Did Disney take some of your Castmember Perks away so you feel you need to vent about other stuff?
Nope - just telling the truth.
Trust me, there are few castmembers who do not appreciate their perks....they are offered because until you have been with the company for a while, the salary compensation is lousy. After 33 years, DH, has earned all of his valuable perks......trust me.Once again, I am not complaining - rather discussing areas of obvious decline.
We know how very lucky we are traveling to a Disney park/resort.
There is NEVER a trip to WDW that we do not discuss how people can continue to afford a Disney trip.....there are so many things to do which are far less exensive in the hospitality business. Disney's prices continue to go up for everything and the quality of the product declines......but they are now leaving behind people who are being priced out of the market.......how can they NOT be?
I am now in sales of consumer products and in gift shops often. After all the years I have a good eye for quality an pricing. I repeat.....the cost of Disney's merchandice is way out out of line and better (more fairly) priced at the castmember discount price. Trust me, even at that discount they are making a buttfull of $$$$.
DL is so far superior to WDW this time of year....next year is a no-brainer for us. The great news.....Grand Californian is one of Disney's BEST - even with all the staff cutbacks and $$$ cuts.
DL doesn't give my family the same Magical feeling as WDW does. We are going back in 2012 mainly to see Carsland and It's a Small World (closed when we were there)
With CA I admit Disney is spending a bunch of $$$$$$ to finally build it into the park it should be. WOC - WOW what a show. It IS a small footprint compared to WDW, but for us, that is some of it's charm. Besides, it's the original an therefore has a special magic none of the others can capture. When we stop caring about our travel experiences is when we stop traveling.
I'm confused! Our vacation money comes right out of our tax return. It's not that I don't care about what I get for my money it's I don't care the little (too me) issues that you talk about. Bathroom = do you expect someone to be in there from open to close to pick up after the slobs that can't seem to put the paper towel in the trash can? As long as there is no #1 or #2 all over the place then it works for me.
Regarding bathrooms......I expect staff to maintain bathrooms period. If the bathroom is a high-traffic bathroom and becomes dirty quickly, than yes, they need to have staff in there frequently to keep it clean. This is not rocket science. You hire staff based on need. If a bathroom is dirty, you need to increase the frequency it is cleaned.
Luckily, as I said in my original post......it looks like Disney is doing a little better with bathrooms. There were a few which were truly clean and sparkling, many were smelly but usable.....but I found none of the sewers we saw earlier in the year. I still believe "smelly but usable" is not a disney standard....call me silly.
