Rant from a Disney Optimist

[crostorfer]

To the OP: we just got back from the same week, and my experience was very similar to yours.

I found we were constantly on the app on my phone, and it's really buggy (freezing up all the time). We always park hopped in the past, but found that it was really not useful with the new (stupid) FP+. Only good thing was my DD went to MK twice until midnight with her friend's family and they found no lines late at night.

The Flower & Garden Festival is beautiful.

FP+ stinks, and I won't be back until it's fixed.

We were also there last week and had similar positives and negatives. The only rude-ish CM's we encountered were in the MK and on various modes of transportation for the most part. I didn't find the bathrooms to be in bad shape though, I guess we had good luck.

Right now, my best advice to anyone on an MK day is to arrive around 8pm, (If the MSEP is running at 9), head back towards Frontierland and sit it out until after the first parade is over. After the parade cut back through the breezeway with the bathrooms to Adventureland, start there and work counter clockwise through the park, and hop on everything. There was absolutely no wait.

 

[iheartpeterpan]

We just returned from a five day trip (17-22) and I thought I'd add my two cents. Let me preface my comments by saying DH and I have been to WDW 10 times. We are sympathetic to people who work with the public and do not have a sense of entitlement. We knew that FP+ had some issues and were willing to take a "wait and see" attitude. If lines were long, our plans were to just soak up the atmosphere and make the best of it.

Even with the right frame of mind, it was still a frustrating experience. Before I complain, though, this is what was great:

1) Magic Bands. They are so convenient! We loved them. It's fun to watch the Mickey light turn green. And it really does feel like magic when you make a FP+ reservation and you can use your magic band to get through.

2) Flower and Garden Festival kiosks. The food was great and it was a great use of dining snack credits.

3) Mousekeeping at AKL was great. Lots of nice towel animals and room was really clean.

4) Boma and Jiko. Fantastic.

5) Other guests. Despite what other people have been saying, everyone we came in contact with seemed to be very nice and considerate.

6) Dumbo. We used to have to run to avoid a long wait, now it's a leisurely walk-on.

7) New Fantasyland. Ariel's castle is beautiful.


Now for the Not So Great:

1) Cast members. A friendly cast member was more the exception than the rule. We had spent two days at Universal before WDW and their cast members blew WDW's out of the water.

2) The crowds. We have never seen the parks so crowded.

3) FP+ and MDE. On a good day, we were able to do many attractions, but no re-rides of our favorites. On a bad day, we hardly got to ride anything. Twice, we only used 2 FP+ because our kids decided they didn't want to go on two rides that we had passes for. We tried to use MDE to switch to another pass and it just didn't work. We went to a kiosk to ask for help and they couldn't help us, either. We had to spend WAY too much time glued to the app. One morning, my husband spend our first two hours at Epcot trying to work out a dining reservation and FP+ problem we had. It was not fun. It's very difficult to be locked in with dining reservations and FP+ when you have children. And making changes is frustrating.

4) Park Hopper Tickets. They are virtually useless now with the FP+ system. By the time you make it to another park, standby lines are long and FP+s are gone.

5) Condition of the parks. Disney used to take so much pride in cleanliness and never having a burnt out lightbulb. Now, so many things are in disrepair. I can't understand why there are so many unused buildings in Epcot. So many things need updating. Even the long, dark stretch of the PeopleMover seems ridiculous. Can't they add some lighting effects, or paint? Something? The decline is really starting to show.

6) EMH. Only one monorail train was running, which meant we didn't get into the park until 8:15am. I think many people in the line behind us didn't get to the park before 9:00am. By the time we got to the park, Peter Pan was already up to a 30 minute wait and once Frontierland opened BTMRR was immediately 45 minutes. Getting our kids up early was not worth it.

7) Can I just say how ridiculous the Beast's castle looks? It looks like someone left a toy castle on top of a rock. The scale just doesn't work. It really looks chintzy.

8) BOG FP+ was lost. I don't know what happened, but we weren't in the system. And they weren't too sympathetic about it.

I have to say that DH and I have decided not to return to WDW until the FP+ problems are sorted out. This was the most stressful trip to WDW we've ever had.
We spent way too much time trying to get the buggy app to work. We rode many fewer rides than usual. And I'd love to say that just soaking up the atmosphere was enough, but it was really too crowded to do that. I hate to pull the "I paid $$$ for this vacation and deserve better" but it's true. We pay a premium to go to Disney because we've had great experiences in the past and now the value isn't there for us. Still, I'm confident Disney will work this out. We just won't be visiting until that happens.

We were there the exact same week as you, and had very similar experiences. We are regular Disney visitors and Annual Passholders, and always go in with a smile on our faces because it is Disney, so no one can say to us it was our fault we encountered rude CMs, which we did.

1) Cast members - We did encounter some great cast members, but we also encountered some absolutely awful cast members. We have never seen so many absolutely awful (both rude and untrained) as we did this trip. The CM at the ticket kiosk at the international gateway had no clue how to exchange an annual pass certificate for the actual pass - not kidding, she sent us to Guest Relations - and had no idea what a Tables in Wonderland card was. My DD14 said she thought she knew more about Disney ticketing than the CM. We had a 9:40 seating at Ohana, and our waitress forgot our drinks, 3 times we had to ask to get them. Then she shouted across the restaurant in full earshot of numerous kids that another server was "a pain in her ***". Then she told us after she took our check (no lei offered to us at all) that she was off to have herself a jack and coke. Really? At Ohana's buffet price? In front of my kid? Finally I was walking between IASW and PPF and was run full on into by a young CM, in uniform - name badge and all - texting on her phone and not looking up. She then gave me an "Excuuuuuuuuuuse me". (She ran into me). Are CMs even supposed to be walking around texting in the park?

2) It was crowded, but not as crowded as Easter Week last year. We found the parks very manageable from RD to about 11:30, then they were insane.

3) FP+ and MDE are not working IMHO. I was able to preplan but when I went to change plans, nothing was ever available, and that was the night before. I felt soooo sorry for all those people standing in long FP+ lines to avoid standing in lines at a ride. It was just insane, and Disney needs to change their thinking on this. The idea that Maelstrom is a Tier 1 ride is crazy. None of the Tier 2 rides at Epcot are worth getting a fast pass for. You should be able to ride both Test Track and Soarin' at Epcot on FP+. Tiering is a fail. We were able to do what we wanted to do, one time, by going to RD and then setting our fast passes for later in the day. At Epcot that meant coming back into the park and riding Soarin' then leaving. We were usually able to ride 5-6 rides on FP-, and do our favorites more than once if we wanted. this time the only way we could ride TT was to split up single rider, which would not be an option for families with young kids. Our Magic Bands worked flawlessly, but we saw lots of other people having trouble, so there's still work to be done there.

4) I agree on PH - they should allow you to make your FP+ anywhere.

5) Condition of the parks - this was the most noticeable thing to our entire family. There was trash everywhere. The restrooms at Soarin' were absolutely FILTHY. The monorails were down almost our entire visit - both express and resort. Big name rides were down. BTMR was down at our fastpass time, and splash was down for refurb, so we burned our big FP+ on Pirates. It seems they are not taking care of stuff and it is impacting the guests. Also I swear the last 2-3 trips I have gone it seems that the whole world is under construction. Almost the entire MK is behind giant walls to drain the moats etc. AND there were huge cranes on Cinderella's Castle our MK day. Last year there were tarps up and down Main Street and walls all over the Fantasyland expansion. It just seems I haven't been to Disney in several years where I'm not looking at walls or tarps.

6) We usually avoid EMH parks but did the EMH at DHS on Saturday and it was very successful. 20 mins on TSM, 2 walk-on rides at Tower of Terror - we did everything we wanted and left after our 11:30 ADRs to use FP+ at another park that afternoon.

7) Our BOG FP+ were there, but I wouldn't do the lunch here again. We had dinner there last year and loved it. The line getting in there was HUGE - I couldn't believe people waited that long to eat lunch.

One other thing we noticed was at our hotel - we stayed at yacht Club and mousekeeping kept their carts parked in our corridor all day, every day we were there, right outside our door. One cart on either side of the hallway so that you almost had to turn sideways to get through. I understand that you need carts but they should go with mousekeeping and then be out of sight. It really detracted from things.

All in all we had fun, but I do feel that things were not as magical this trip. I really do hope they sort this magicband thing out, because I think it has potential if they will listen to their guests and make the needed changes. And Disney really does need to emphasize customer service to all of their front line staff.

 

[akadada]

That's not really a fair assumption. Often times management has no idea how one (or even several) specific employee is behaving, and they won't know unless you let them know.

A valid point of course. My contention is that some level of management doesn't have a handle on it and subsequently allows lax behavior. I'm assuming a hiearchy structure of management, so perhaps the top in this case is a lead for, say, a dozen CM in one area. That person would be the top in this case.

Also, FYI - when we were running around trying to find help, I did report the girl to the person who did end up helping the elderly person...that said, it was not the priority at that moment, and we didn't push it given the circumstances.

One point I'll make that I think is reasonable: Given the size of Orlando DW compared to other Disney properties, coupled with the huge amount of competition in Orlando, I think finding good employees is very difficult.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

The thing that I learn from threads like this one is that different people can see the exact same things yet come to entirely different conclusions. A lot of people who were at WDW during this travel window have posted in this thread, and their experiences differed greatly.

My general observation - the percentage of people who had a great time seems to be slipping. Somewhere, somehow, the "magic" isn't reaching as many as it once did. That is a shame.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

In the past, the only less than cheery CM I've seen was clearly in a very stressful situation, having to explain that Fantasmic was standing room only. I'm wondering why there seem to be more negative CM interactions lately? Are they facing more stressful situations, with the tech issues and FP+ changes? Less training and less competent management? Lower hiring standards, possibly because of less competitive wages and benefits? High turnover for the same reason? Are young people just less considerate in general, texting at work, laughing at adults, and having attitude instead of appreciation for employment? (We have seen that lately with restaurant waitstaff and we're considerate customers and generous tippers.) A combination of all, I would assume.

The cleanliness also I would guess is a combination of janitorial issues and guests being less considerate about their own messes.

 

[minniemous]

1) Cast members. A friendly cast member was more the exception than the rule. We had spent two days at Universal before WDW and their cast members blew WDW's out of the water.

Just have to say sorry you encountered so many problems. We did not and had a good experience but it is not good if it is a hit or miss situation.

You seem like a fair minded person and not one that had their mind already made up. I have to say your post has me thinking about the new system because of the way you presented your experience.

As far as the CM's not being friendly, someone else said this but it could be because they are being complained to so much about the system and they are putting out fires all day. I imagine once they sort out one thing they have another to deal with.

That being said there has been a steady decrease in CM attitudes for years. But it was a markable difference this last trip.

Oh and I have also been around 10 times not quite as often as many and I think the bigger gaps between going it is more noticeable to us because when you have not gone for a couple years you really notice differences more.

 

[clsteve]

In the past, the only less than cheery CM I've seen was clearly in a very stressful situation, having to explain that Fantasmic was standing room only. I'm wondering why there seem to be more negative CM interactions lately? Are they facing more stressful situations, with the tech issues and FP+ changes? Less training and less competent management? Lower hiring standards, possibly because of less competitive wages and benefits? High turnover for the same reason? Are young people just less considerate in general, texting at work, laughing at adults, and having attitude instead of appreciation for employment? (We have seen that lately with restaurant waitstaff and we're considerate customers and generous tippers.) A combination of all, I would assume.

The cleanliness also I would guess is a combination of janitorial issues and guests being less considerate about their own messes.

A good assumption.

Plus, the significant impact MM+ is having on the Ops Budget, right now has to be a contributing factor. Upwards of 50% per the earnings call. That's a huge amount that is being pulled from every other budget (such as staffing, maintenance, etc.). And, it has to be a significant factor in the stress levels across the board.......

 

[daisy87]

I agree about universal, our first trip to disney August 2012 was the most magical week of my life!

We returned October 2013 for our honeymoon and it didn't start well with me in tears before even leaving our room after check in! Rude CMs,problems with magic bands,FP+ and our dining plan made for a less than magical honeymoon. Even wearing bride mouse ears and the happy ever after pin barely any CMs congratulated us! At universal tho it was a different story,we were fussed everywhere we went,had no problems and found the employees to be much more willing to go the extra mile, we went there 5 out of our 7 days in the end as we'd start at disney not have a good time and leave.

I'm hoping it was just a one off bad week and our upcoming trip this August will be better,I'm going in with a positive attitude that the magic will be back! Fingers crossed!

 

[Wef]

I'm the OP and to those of you who feel that I must have approached the CM with a bad attitude in order to receive poor service, I assure you I didn't. I'm actually a very charming person.

On TSM, my daughter decided at the last minute that she didn't want to go. I asked the CM in line about doing a child swap and she said (in a very snippy way) it was only for people with strollers, and that we'd have to get out of line and find a cast member outside of the attraction to help us arrange it and then reschedule our ride. We pressed on, and when we got to the loading area, we found a compassionate CM who said it was no problem.

I did not go to the parks looking for problems. They're there and they're obvious.

The CMs are stressed and who can really blame them? I kept thinking, as I walked around, that maybe WDW has just gotten too big. With so many employees, it would be impossible that every person would be a gem. Too many hotels, not enough attractions. Too many things to maintain.

Perhaps what bothers me the most is the air of corporate stinginess. The bottom line is now more important than guest experience. I was in line to get a funnel cake (which was, by the way, AMAZING) and an elderly woman ahead of me asked for a cup of hot water. AND THEY WOULDN'T GIVE IT TO HER. It was "against corporate policy". Come on.

 

[nancipants]

In the past, the only less than cheery CM I've seen was clearly in a very stressful situation, having to explain that Fantasmic was standing room only. I'm wondering why there seem to be more negative CM interactions lately? Are they facing more stressful situations, with the tech issues and FP+ changes? Less training and less competent management? Lower hiring standards, possibly because of less competitive wages and benefits? High turnover for the same reason? Are young people just less considerate in general, texting at work, laughing at adults, and having attitude instead of appreciation for employment? (We have seen that lately with restaurant waitstaff and we're considerate customers and generous tippers.) A combination of all, I would assume.

The cleanliness also I would guess is a combination of janitorial issues and guests being less considerate about their own messes.

My fiance and I were waiting for the Festival of Fantasy parade yesterday. We staked out a spot right near the exit so we could bolt as soon as the parade ended and beat the exodus of people leaving the park (the strategy worked, btw). There was a cast member stationed near us who had the job of telling everyone entering the park they had to use the sidewalks to enter the park, and if they wanted to watch the parade they had to stand on either side of the tape. She was also responsible for making sure people on the OTHER side of the street didn't try to cross while the pre-parade bands were coming around. I heard her mention several times that there was supposed to be another person out there with her. She was obviously very stressed, and I wouldn't have blamed her for eventually snapping at a guest. (She didn't; she was very professional and kept her cool despite having to repeat the same thing ad nauseum.)

The same thing happened when my fiance and I were watching the Main Street Electrical Parade. We were in the Sleepy Hollow area, right near the path that takes you behind the castle to Fantasyland. The path was blocked off in preparation for Wishes. A cast member had to stand there and tell guests over and over that they couldn't use the pathway. Most were fine about it and asked for another route to get where they wanted. But there were some guests that were downright mean to this girl, who couldn't have been out of high school. One guest was overly belligerent with her, and later on when he put his son on top of one of the tables, said to the CM, "Are you gonna yell at me now?" when she went over to him.

Most of the times when I encounter CMs who are less than magical, I chalk it up to them being completely stressed out and overworked, or having to deal with belligerent guests.

 

[sweet maxine]

Nevermind....

I'm thinking I'd better just say that it's not what it used to be, and that's about it.

 

[JimmyV]

You get back the vibe you give off. based on your negatives, maybe you were not coming off as someone the CM wanted to be special with. sorry, it happens.

You have never met the OP. For you to blame the victim and conclude that their experience was self-inflicted because of their inherent and overt negativism is beyond insulting. Not sure what your agenda is, but it won't fly here.

1. The crowds were unbelievable but I admit that my last few visits have been in January and September. They were much larger than the 6 or 7 levels that had been predicted, especially in the MK.
   
2. FP+ is not the wonderful thing that Disney would like us to believe. IMO, it leads to much longer standby lines at all of the attractions.

I think that these two are inter-related. The parks may have indeed been at a "6" or "7" level, but they seem more crowded because standby lines are longer (in time, even if they are not longer in actual length), and people are roaming around the parks in the afternoon not doing as many attractions because their FPs have all been used up. When you are bumping into wandering guests, or standing in a 45 minute SB line that you expected should have been 10-15 minutes long, the park will seem more crowded than it really is.

 

[mom2rtk]

You have never met the OP. For you to blame the victim and conclude that their experience was self-inflicted because of their inherent and overt negativism is beyond insulting. Not sure what your agenda is, but it won't fly here.

That needed to be said. And you did it well.

 

[LoKiHB]

1) Cast members. A friendly cast member was more the exception than the rule. We had spent two days at Universal before WDW and their cast members blew WDW's out of the water.

3) FP+ and MDE. On a good day, we were able to do many attractions, but no re-rides of our favorites. On a bad day, we hardly got to ride anything. Twice, we only used 2 FP+ because our kids decided they didn't want to go on two rides that we had passes for. We tried to use MDE to switch to another pass and it just didn't work. We went to a kiosk to ask for help and they couldn't help us, either. We had to spend WAY too much time glued to the app. One morning, my husband spend our first two hours at Epcot trying to work out a dining reservation and FP+ problem we had. It was not fun. It's very difficult to be locked in with dining reservations and FP+ when you have children. And making changes is frustrating.

5) Condition of the parks. Disney used to take so much pride in cleanliness and never having a burnt out lightbulb. Now, so many things are in disrepair. I can't understand why there are so many unused buildings in Epcot. So many things need updating. Even the long, dark stretch of the PeopleMover seems ridiculous. Can't they add some lighting effects, or paint? Something? The decline is really starting to show.

We were there 3/7-3/13, and while we found MB's and FP+ to be great for our family, I can certainly see and sympathize with other's frustrations.

While we didn't run into any outwardly awful cast members, I will say that they certainly didn't seem as friendly or as "happy" to be there as in years past. I know it's not always genuine, but this time many didn't even seem to be faking it. I'm sure that probably has to do with all the changes and crowds, however, I have no doubt that there are cm's who are just not up to the same standards as they used to be.

My experience with the MDE app was below average at best. I have been working in IT for 15 years, and have rolled out my share of websites, apps, and reservation systems. I would have been fired if I rolled out MDE.

While I was able to change FP+ on the fly- it was as I said before slow and clunky. As the OP said, dining reservations- forget it. It took me 30 minutes to even FIND Beaches & Cream on the MDE app much less book it. When we had to cancel it, my wife had to call because I couldn't get it to work with any of the back door tricks I know.

I was a little disappointed in the cranes (yes multiple) there were 4 at one point during our stay. Everything seemed clean though, but overall to me, there was something missing there.

Like I've said, overall, we had a great time. Nothing beats a week of uninterrupted family time in the warm sun at Disney.

I hope that they do get things right to the point where folks like you will want to come back, and I hope to see you wandering the parks again sooner than later

 

[Planogirl]

I keep thinking that many of the Disney CM's may be stressed beyond belief right now. While I'm glad to read that the Universal TM's are impressing people, they don't have to deal with this massive shift going on at WDW right now.

 

[mfd25wife]

I wonder how much of the CM's not being as happy is due to the mass influx of people going down for spring breaks plus all the bands, choirs, cheerleaders who are down there. I'm not saying they should be less magical, but I can imagine how worn out they are. I also wonder how much is due to the all the changes happening at once. I know they are getting all the issues with MM, FP+, MB's, etc. plus they changed the GAC to DAS and all the policies with it. I know they are getting a lot of criticism and angry guests with that. I'm even in one group where they teach people what to say to make sure they can get the DAS and fast passes.

I have on occasion come across CM's who were missing the magic, but it is more the exception than the rule. It typically happens maybe once per trip. I worry a little about the reports of cleanliness. In Sept. and early Oct. I thought it was still clean except for one restroom. That one shocked me. I do try to tell the CM's in the restroom that I appreciate them. That's one job I would not want down there. I do remember years ago when they had a decrease in CM's that the parks were not as clean as usual. I hope it isn't going that way again. I will say that I get very frustrated and angry seeing people throw things on the ground or leave them on the tables, sidewalks, benches, etc. when there are trashcans ~every 30 steps. I noticed in Sept. that there were more smokers lighting up outside the designated areas and a lot more cigarette butts lying on the ground. I made the comment to my friends that it seems the ones throwing trash down are the worst ones about complaining about the trash on the ground. I just don't know how anyone can litter anyway, but definitely not at WDW. They seem to try so hard to make it cleaner and neater so it makes me sad people don't even try to clean after themselves. Then again, I'm the one in the family everyone teases for picking up all trash and laundry in the room and getting it all to one area. I pick up so mousekeeping doesn't have to work around it or pick up trash we can put in cans ourselves.

It's hard to imagine US/IoA employees being better than CM's. I don't believe anyone is lying. I'm just shocked because that is one reason I prefer WDW over them. I like some of their rides and shows, but typically, I think their employees are good but nothing overly helpful. They are terrible with allergies, also but that is another issue. lol! I do say thank you to every CM who helps me. I also make a point to talk to them or be friendly if it isn't going to hold up anyone. A friend is a CM and told us that they really like it when guests show any interest in them because it is so rare for guests to initiate a conversation other than asking for help.

 

[Wef]

The service at Universal really was SO much better. We struck up many conversations with security guards, ride operators, wait staff. They all seemed so genuine and welcoming. The service at the Royal Pacific pool was unbelievable! They brought us chilled towels, complimentary smoothie samples and frozen grapes. There was free sunscreen, newspapers, magazines, ice water with lemon slices. When I picked up our towels, someone offered to put a special lounge chair towel on our chair for us. I didn't need to be waited on THAT much, but asked if there was a special trick to putting the towel on. She said, "No, but I thought I'd offer to help!" THAT'S the kind of service Disney used to be known for.

 

[Sco]

I am a local and am at the parks quite often. I find the FP+ to be a hindrance more than a help. Maybe the bugs will get worked out but I am not optimistic. I have not seen any better waits in standby lines, and FP lines are longer now. For my family at least, we have lost out by the change. I get three rides in in an evening and that is it, all other lines are too long most times. I agree that park hopping is not attractive now as is going for a whole day. If I were to plan a trip now, I would cut my time at Disney in half and go elsewhere.

 

[sonofanarchy]

I keep thinking that many of the Disney CM's may be stressed beyond belief right now. While I'm glad to read that the Universal TM's are impressing people, they don't have to deal with this massive shift going on at WDW right now.

It's been that way for years (in my experience). Universal CM's have been better for several years now.

 

[redrosesix]

Great question...and I don't know. Based on how that girl responded to us, it tells me there are higher ups that allow this to happen, because she was simply too lax and inconsiderate to even care. That's what we call organic incompetence ...and it is always nurtured (or allowed) at the top (whatever the top may be in terms of crowd control).

We had good experiences with most of the CMs at our resort -- but most of the ones we dealt with have been there for a few years. With one exception...one of the college girls (and I know because I looked at her name tag) with an iPod at the front desk line had the worst possible attitude -- she was ticking the guests off before they even checked in. Talk about rude. And after that experience, I noticed more and more it was the younger CMs that had the unmagical attitude -- also probably college kids. BTMRR was the worst -- arguing with each other, nearly yelling at people to get out of the cars faster, and basically making the guests feel like they were cattle being herded for branding.

And I don't blame the college kids at all. I've had to manage college co-op students, and they are the ones that need the most hand holding when things are going wrong -- the most breaks, the most chats, the most advice. And I just don't think Disney is capable of doing this while they're retraining their permanent staff with FP+ and MBs, especially since it's the Concierge desk that's getting the bulk of FP+ issues in the resort. And I'm sure Disney assumes they can't put as much effort into these kids as their permanent staff since they'll be gone in what? 4 months? But they need to. Only people who have a lot of experience dealing with frantic, frustrated and overwhelmed guests can take it in stride and know that if you can fix their problem your reward makes it worth it. And that the next guest they meet might just make their day. For younger, less experienced, CMs it's up to their managers to support them through the harder times.