Rant from a Disney Optimist

[ttintagel]

My observation is that WDW has put itself in the same position as many large companies: their staffing levels are simply way too low to deliver good service to the number of guests they have. They don’t want to spend the money on staffing, and it could come back to bite them in the butt. CM’s, especially younger ones, seem overwhelmed, and I rarely see managers out “in the field” supporting them. I’ve never asked to speak to a supervisor at WDW because I expect it would be like when you ask to see a supervisor at any other crowded, insanely busy, understaffed establishment – they’re probably swamped, too, and you’ll end up waiting half an hour at the minimum just to talk to them. I’m not saying that makes it OK for them to snap at the guests; I’m just saying that it’s bound to happen if the top-level management doesn’t get their budget-allocation priorities straight.

 

[*disgal*]

Sometimes they do, and some guests go in with their own bad attitude or agenda. But to assume this must be the case without any reason or provocation and accuse a poster of being the problem is wrong.

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.

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

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.

OP, most of us realize from your post that you went into your trip with a good attitude. Don't worry about it.

And I gotta say, I know anyone can post anything to a thread and it's a free country. I usually am all for that. But when a post say, is a little negative and someone comes on here and totally disses what an op says, that's just snotty in my book. And vice versa also. I know I can't keep them from posting but I wish they would just post their own thread of how great or horrible their trip was instead of rubbing the OP's face in it. And to tell them that they just probably gave off a vibe of discontentment or something.....it's like above, it's insulting. I don't like it. Very strongly dislike. There. I feel better.

Put your "great" trip report out there or put your "not so great" trip report there....I'm intelligent enough to read it and discern for myself what I am going to take away from it. Capish?

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.

I tend to agree with the owner of this site, Pete Werner, and what he said in one of the latest podcasts, that more and more college kids are getting hired by Disney. And I think he said it's for 6months (? ) term. Can't remember exactly how he said it but he basically was saying Disney is reaping what they have sown for a while now. When you have CM's that only get trained so far and then leave and/or don't develope a loyalty to Disney's brand, this is what you get. He's got a valid point.

And I don't think you can say what they are paid has much to do with it either. I agree they should be paid more but a CM has never gotten much, right? It's always been an hourly basic kind of job, correct? So why did Disney used to be known for it's service and now they aren't? If you haven't listened to the podcast, I encourage you to. His points made a lot of sense and he certainly knows a whole lot more about Disney, it's past, present and future, than most of us on this board.

 

[ellie05]

OP I agree with you 100%. We came back from a trip in Feb and there was a huge change in CM attitudes. Not in all our Disney trips have we ever experience such bad service everywhere win Disney. The CM looked so miserable I seriously wanted to take pictures how unhappy they looked.

 

[*disgal*]

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.

Wow. I hardly know what to say. That is awesome. I've never stayed at one of their hotels.

I think you typed an extra letter!!

Just a thought… but Disney used to hire people full time as CMs. I think a lot of CMs now are either just part time employees, or college kids on the College Program. COULD make a difference in attitude of the CMs.

yeah, this is like what Pete was saying.

OP I agree with you 100%. We came back from a trip in Feb and there was a huge change in CM attitudes. Not in all our Disney trips have we ever experience such bad service everywhere win Disney. The CM looked so miserable I seriously wanted to take pictures how unhappy they looked.

Pete also was saying in the podcast that Disney used to advertise their great service. Notice, they don't do that anymore.

 

[josiegracesmom]

I have to agree. We went twice last year. Once in September, once in November. In September, we had a giant dead bug (longer than my finger) in our bathtub. I live in FL, so I know about bugs, but this sucker had been there for a while. I got no response when I complained. Which, if it had just been me and my husband, fine. But now that we have a child, it is a whole 'nother ballgame. The cast members were rude, the poor waiters were so stressed out in the sit down restaurants. The restaurants were dirty, saw lots of things that needed fixed in the parks. We have never experienced this in the 10 or so other times we have been.

When we went back in November, the Magicbands never worked right the whole time we were there. They wouldn't open the door to the room, the fast passes wouldn't work, we couldn't get in the park, and then they wouldn't work at the gate driving in. And again, not too sympathetic about it. The wifi never worked in the parks to change anything on MDE. When I turned off the wifi to just use my phone, the app wouldn't work. Plus, it didn't have all the info on about character times etc.

I am a TA and had some clients there in October that had a hellacious time. I was so ashamed for them. Bless his heart, he was calling me two and three times a day the entire 9 days they were there.

If it wasn't for my 3 year old, we would not be going back at all. There are a ton of nice vacations we would do and come out cheaper. But she is Disney obsessed (like her mama and daddy used to be), and while we can spoil her, we will. We will be paying more for 5 nights this year than we have ever paid for 7 in the past... but she is worth it

 

[cseca]

I have one word of advice for you since you've been giving large sums of money to WDW over the years and are now disappointed with your experience there……TOKYO DISNEY RESORT!….Disney's Ambassador Hotel and The MiraCosta hotel INSIDE DisneySea….You will be so totally blown away by what you experience there you won't believe its possible. Take an adventure out of America and experience an other culture based on dedication to service, quality and cleanliness….It will blow your mind. You will need to do a fair amount of research to plan your stay accordingly because the parks are crowded much of the time but if you go when the crowd calendar is good you'll see that Tokyo Disney is by far the best Disney Park in the world hands down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIFx6gvqfys

Absolutely the gems of the Disney parks and they're not even owned by Disney...

 

[jdrais]

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

Well that is unfortunate.

Guess Disney can't just tell the CMs that the beatings will continue until morale improves. I would hope that Disney is or will become concerned enough to be able to change this.

 

[xie]

Is anyone really shocked that since FP+ requires interaction with a Disney IT system that there are problems? I'm not going to say their website is one of the worst performing ones I've been on but... ok, maybe I will say that. The fact that the app is slow, unresponsive, non-intuitive, etc. really doesn't surprise me.

To be honest, when we tested this back in October the first comment I made was that the reason you can't use FP+ across multiple parks is because they probably couldn't figure out how to make it work in the app!

^^ This.

I can't believe that Disney's site is still as bad and as slow as it is. It's really really bad. I can't think of another company their size that has such a horrible web presence and user experience.

I get the feeling that their website has to interact with a bunch of legacy systems (hence the unbelievably long query times, the fact that entire sections of the system seem completely unaware of other parts, etc.). And that nobody internally has the strength of will and political power to do anything about it. MyMagic seems to have just been a veneer over the top of it, not a complete overhaul of the backend.

The web-based FastPass system for Be Our Guest lunch smacks of this: an internal department (restaurants) decided they really wanted to be able to fast pass their guests, and they got either completely blown off by the part of IT that owns the website, or else the IT department literally could not figure out how to integrate them. So they went off and built it themselves. Because in every company I've ever worked for, that's how a ton of different systems creep in: IT can't or won't serve the business, and suddenly the business is doing IT themselves.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think the problem is that whatever they are paying CMs, it's not enough to deal with the headaches that MyMagic is generating.

 

[AshleeH]

I can't believe that Disney's site is still as bad and as slow as it is. It's really really bad. I can't think of another company their size that has such a horrible web presence and user experience.

Right there with you. It's truly the worst website for planning anything. They go to such extremes to hide information and prices and experiences and even pictures (if I click on Grand Floridian - why would I want to see a close-up of two people with a blurry image of the lobby in the upper corner?). You'd think they would want to really showcase their brand.

I was just offered a survey yesterday when I was trying to research the Disney Cruise Line and that was my complaint when they asked. I wanted to find shore excursions and it's not even a clear option for them. I had to use the search feature and click on one of the excursions and then backtrack through the links to find all the excursion options. Ridiculous! I'm a planner and it is not a fun website for a planner. I can't imagine it's fun for anyone.

 

[JennyDrake]

When we went back in November, the Magicbands never worked right the whole time we were there. They wouldn't open the door to the room, the fast passes wouldn't work, we couldn't get in the park, and then they wouldn't work at the gate driving in. And again, not too sympathetic about it. The wifi never worked in the parks to change anything on MDE. When I turned off the wifi to just use my phone, the app wouldn't work. Plus, it didn't have all the info on about character times etc.

I am a TA and had some clients there in October that had a hellacious time. I was so ashamed for them. Bless his heart, he was calling me two and three times a day the entire 9 days they were there.

NOT to take anything away from your well written post or bad experience! When I went in December the MB were a quagmire, but my trip last month they were flawless. I was (pleasantly) surprised 'cause December was a real mess.

 

[lugnut33]

And they're pumped, right now.

Why? Two things came up over and over when I was there in Jan.: Daigon Alley and the long term plan beyond it. Things are happening, happening on time, and they can see it. You cannot discount how important that is to a staff and its morale, and it reflected in how they approached their work. This bodes well for UO for the near future, at least. I was also surprised about how much they knew about MM+ and were openly talking about it with me - not at all in a Disney-bashing way, but more in a “I really feel sorry for what my friend/spouse/neighbor is going through down there” kind of way. All I can say is, the overall satisfaction level of the TM’s seemed quite high.

Wait, so you're telling me if a worker is happy that translates into good customer service many times? I thought it was solely dependent on giving off good vibes and looking like you want good service. I don't know who to believe, you or Mr.happyhappyjoyjoy.

 

[lugnut33]

Just my 2 cents:

I've been an AP holder for 10 years with over 40 visits over 20 years. For the last 8 years I've gone 3-4 times per year.

1) CMs- I noticed a marked difference when WDW changed from a 2 day "Traditions" course for new CMs to one day. I think the whole FP+/MB thing has just worn down and worn out the nerves of most CMs. We noticed the MK CMs were by far the most frazzled and snippy.

2) Crowds- crowd levels should not be ranked as: crowded, very crowded, unbelievably crowded and miserably crowded. The slow times as we once knew them are gone for good.

5) Condition of the parks - I don't notice it as much in the parks as at the resorts. Our second visit in 1996, maintenance people were touching up the DOOR FRAMES at CBR with an artist paint brush where the door chain had chipped the paint. It was most impressive. Upon too many recent visits, I have noted the same price of trash in the landscaping (various) resorts for my entire stay. Until _I_ finally threw it away.

I tell you, the big problem is with all the College Program workers. Disney loves it because they are poorly paid employees that helps boost profits. My relative is working 60-75 hours a week because he/she is constantly covering other people's shifts and there is a constant shortage of help because of people leaving.

 

[seus-mouse]

A lot of good ideas here. We mostly have only the best of times with the CM's. We did get a real mean one and it did diminish our day. I think there is a lot to be said for the 'Less training being done / more people all the time' ratio.

We'll be there in just over 2 weeks and we will go with extra patience and bigger smiles as the plan.

Thanks everyone, it really helps to share the positive and the negative.


Holly

 

[MeanestMomEver]

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 also there while you were there. (March 11-21, 8-day tickets) and I agree with most of your opinions.

And about the cast members- it's not just you or a vibe you give off. I felt a difference too. Not with everyone but there were certainly more negative experiences than in all our other trips, together. The international CM at Epcot and the staff at the resort pool were super friendly. Magical Express staff and Photo pass photographers were awesome! It was a nice reminder of the way it used to be. But in quite a few other areas, we just ran into some real jerks. And I was NOT giving off a bad vibe. I was absolutely giddy to be back after 4 years! I felt like I had to keep TRYING to overlook things and rationalize away poor customer service. Not all the time. But too many times. The guy who checked us in at the contemporary acted like we were interrupting him and when he found out that my kids were only staying 7 of the 11 days and he wasn't sure how to bill us, it was like I'd asked him to re-shingle the roof of my house or something.

It took, no joke, NINE visits to the front desk before they finally split our bill up the way we needed it to be for business purposes: 6 Room only charges on one bill, paid with business credit card. Extra adult room fees, extra days and EVERYTHING else on the other, paid with personal card. Easy right? NINE attempts! I mean this IS their job, right?

The concierge was overly sarcastic with me both times I politely asked questions. I avoided him after that. Clearly, it's what he wanted.

And asking for a mug refill at the pool bar, we were looked upon like thieves- EVERY time. I could go on and on but you get the idea.

I did not run into any guests that were unkind in any way! Wonderful!

Loved Magic Bands. So easy and fast and great to not have to dig a card out of your purse or pocket.

I'll hold off on FP plus until they work through all the details. But yeah, timing is tricky.

Love the Beasts castle but I agree about the top. The rock. part looks great but the punt top looks like some little girls left their dollhouse behind. Can I just say the (dinner) food there is the BEST I've had on Disney property - ever! We ate there for dinner twice and lunch once. Love the theming.

Also agree about the condition. It's slipped a little. In the past I would have graded them a 99 percent in cleanliness and upkeep. Now I would give an 80%. Still good but not super impressive. And that's even not taking into consideration the gigantic cockroach that darted out of our sink on our last morning. I'll chalk that up to a fluke and blame it on...mulch. Yeah. I'll let that slide. Let's just say we all threw away our toothbrushes. Also...You never used to see dirty light fixtures and cobwebs in shops and restaurants or grease and coffee stains on top of the counter when you move the coffee maker. :-(

Broken dryers in the laundry room (2 of the 6) were still broken after 7 days. Even I can get a repairman quicker than that!

Again, I could go on. It's just slipping. I think they must have let some mid-level management go to cut costs. Certain staff are top notch. Other groups just seem to act like guests are disturbing them. Unacceptable.

A few positives to report:

Keys to the Kingdom tour: Excellent!
Food almost everywhere: Good to excellent
MDE- love it
Magic bands- love it
Memory maker - love it despite numerous malfunctioning ride cameras
Biergarten - love
BOG- love
Jungle Cruise skipper- best ever!
Toy Story Mania- so fun!
Gaston's - cute! Menu could be better
Gaston- love
Gaston's giant muscles- love
Gaston's antlers in all of his decorating- love

 

[Laz]

I couldn't agree more with this! Disney service still exists, just not in Orlando! Disneyland in California, Adventures by Disney, and Cruise Line are where it went!!!

I second DLR! We were there last summer during the 4th of July week and it was fantastic! Clean, organized and friendly! I must say you should avoid the night of the 4th at all costs!

 

[laceemouse]

Wait, you went during spring break and were surprised that is was crowded?

 

[*disgal*]

I tell you, the big problem is with all the College Program workers. Disney loves it because they are poorly paid employees that helps boost profits. My relative is working 60-75 hours a week because he/she is constantly covering other people's shifts and there is a constant shortage of help because of people leaving.

If that were me, I don't care how many Mr Happyhappyjoyjoy's I ran into...I would not be happy.

 

[Disneychick75]

I tell you, the big problem is with all the College Program workers. Disney loves it because they are poorly paid employees that helps boost profits. My relative is working 60-75 hours a week because he/she is constantly covering other people's shifts and there is a constant shortage of help because of people leaving.

I agree. Disney used to employ more older people and they were both more polite and more helpful.

If that were me, I don't care how many Mr Happyhappyjoyjoy's I ran into...I would not be happy.

The college CMs are there for college credit. In some places, they would be working for the experience and they would not be paid at all.

 

[Cais]

Not really. And they haven't really been hiring more CPs... They haven't built more housing in nearly a decade.

Meanwhile the program has become even more selective. Whereas years ago practically anyone that applied was accepted, now that rate is closer to 20%. The CPs tend to be the least jaded CMs since they're not there long enough.

This is of course based on the flawed assumption that service has gone down, all evidence to the contrary.

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