Taking things with a grain of salt...

[hllb]

I wanted to encourage people who have spent a lot of time reading negative things on these boards. Everyone’s perspective is different. People on the internet can be super negative. I read a lot of things that worried me about our trip. None of them have been proven true so far.

Here’s the list of things that I’ve found NOT to be true:

The monorails are terrible, dirty, and breakdown a lot. (No issues so far. We did see one stopped for about 10 minutes)

California Grill food is terrible and salty (braised pork was absolutely amazing!)

Bus waits are awful and buses are crowded (nope and nope)

The Polynesian is dirty, noisy, bad housekeeping, in need of repair (our room is super quiet, in good repair, and housekeeping has been good)

Rivers of Light is a snooze-fest and you should skip it (everyone in my family loved it)

The bathrooms are disgusting (they’re typical public bathrooms but I’ve seen constant cast members cleaning and stocking them)

Cast members are rude/crabby/bad (nope)

I’m sure there is more, and I’ll add as I remember. But really, we're having a great trip and all the things I worried about were dumb lol.

 

[puffkins]

I think people intentionally try to come up with reasons to complain on the Internet...about anything. If you can't enjoy yourself at Walt Disney World, you probably can't enjoy yourself anywhere. I'm glad you're having a great trip. How could you not? You're at Disney World!

 

[belledreamer]

You've got that right. When I got back home and saw how many people had said all the bathrooms were disgusting while we were there, I was legitimately confused as to which ones they went in because none of ours had been a problem until our final night. And even then, I've seen worse.

But it's absolutely true; it's all in perspective. While one person may call their trip an absolute disaster, the next one could say it was one of the best they've had. I had to quit reading the threads at one point because it was completely depressing me about our trip and that's never a good way to start a vacation. If you've has already decided in your mind it's going to be bad, it's going to be bad. By all means, be informed. But all the planning in the world doesn't fully prepare you for what you're going to get until you get there so it's better to take it as it comes.

And besides, being at Disney is better than being home!

 

[50surgeries2012]

Leaving tomorrow for the airport. Won't get into Orlando until late at night. But, my guy, and I will get to enjoy Disney World the next day. Both of us have visible physical disabilities. His is more mild. Mine is more in between of the moderate, and severe range. Thus requiring me to use a wheelchair for long distance. I've got a power chair rental reserved from Scootaround, and I am excited.

For him, and for me. Disney World is a place where we can not worry about being stared at. The cast members treat us like a prince/princess. Something we don't always expect. But, it's nice that the cast members treat people with disabilities just like everyone else.

 

[Gentry2004]

I agree with you on everything but the busses. We tried them three different trips at 3 different resorts in different months and had more bad than good on every trip. Much much prefer driving ourselves.

 

[Arielfan98]

1. Dining plan is overrated/too much food.
2. All Star Resort hotels stink.

Both have not been true for my family.

 

[puffkins]

You are just like everyone else. At Disney World, we are all there to have fun, escape the pressures of real life for a moment and become kids again. Disabilities don't mean a damn.

 

[Elle23]

I wanted to encourage people who have spent a lot of time reading negative things on these boards. Everyone’s perspective is different. People on the internet can be super negative. I read a lot of things that worried me about our trip. None of them have been proven true so far.

Here’s the list of things that I’ve found NOT to be true:

The monorails are terrible, dirty, and breakdown a lot. (No issues so far. We did see one stopped for about 10 minutes)

California Grill food is terrible and salty (braised pork was absolutely amazing!)

Bus waits are awful and buses are crowded (nope and nope)

The Polynesian is dirty, noisy, bad housekeeping, in need of repair (our room is super quiet, in good repair, and housekeeping has been good)

Rivers of Light is a snooze-fest and you should skip it (everyone in my family loved it)

The bathrooms are disgusting (they’re typical public bathrooms but I’ve seen constant cast members cleaning and stocking them)

Cast members are rude/crabby/bad (nope)

I’m sure there is more, and I’ll add as I remember. But really, we're having a great trip and all the things I worried about were dumb lol.

I’m honestly glad those things were not problems for you, but I think it’s unfair to assume because they weren’t a problem for you that people who did have problems are just being needlessly negative.

Trust me, I would have preferred to have had a perfect experience, but unfortunately it just wasn’t the case. And it was crushing to me to spend thousands of dollars and countless hours and tons of effort on a trip that fell so short of everything I had hoped.

If people have complaints there is usually a reason for it. Those things you claimed weren’t issues for you WERE issues for someone else. And their experiences and opinions are just as valid as yours.

 

[Shanti]

I wanted to encourage people who have spent a lot of time reading negative things on these boards. Everyone’s perspective is different. People on the internet can be super negative. I read a lot of things that worried me about our trip. None of them have been proven true so far.

Here’s the list of things that I’ve found NOT to be true:

The monorails are terrible, dirty, and breakdown a lot. (No issues so far. We did see one stopped for about 10 minutes)

California Grill food is terrible and salty (braised pork was absolutely amazing!)

Bus waits are awful and buses are crowded (nope and nope)

The Polynesian is dirty, noisy, bad housekeeping, in need of repair (our room is super quiet, in good repair, and housekeeping has been good)

Rivers of Light is a snooze-fest and you should skip it (everyone in my family loved it)

The bathrooms are disgusting (they’re typical public bathrooms but I’ve seen constant cast members cleaning and stocking them)

Cast members are rude/crabby/bad (nope)

I’m sure there is more, and I’ll add as I remember. But really, we're having a great trip and all the things I worried about were dumb lol.

I agree.

 

[corgi_monster]

Glad to hear this! I'm feeling reassured about January 2019

 

[Haley R]

1. Dining plan is overrated/too much food.
2. All Star Resort hotels stink.

Both have not been true for my family.

I agree with you on the dining plan. I’ve never thought it was too much food and I don’t really eat that much in one sitting. I love getting snacks to take on the plane ride home and as souvenirs.

We’re going the end of February so I’m going to go into our trip with an open mind considering crowds have been wacky this year.

 

[AncientSoul]

I’m honestly glad those things were not problems for you, but I think it’s unfair to assume because they weren’t a problem for you that people who did have problems are just being needlessly negative.

Trust me, I would have preferred to have had a perfect experience, but unfortunately it just wasn’t the case. And it was crushing to me to spend thousands of dollars and countless hours and tons of effort on a trip that fell so short of everything I had hoped.

If people have complaints there is usually a reason for it. Those things you claimed weren’t issues for you WERE issues for someone else. And their experiences and opinions are just as valid as yours.

I have to agree with this. People describing their negative experiences at Disney does not necessarily make them negative people. They simply had a bad experience, from their own unique perspective. And many people want to help others on the forum by relaying their bad experiences, so that other people are aware and can possibly avoid having the same bad experience themselves.

 

[Tramp&TheLady]

Glad you had a good trip and that Disney decided to clean the Epcot bathrooms. However I can assure you that was not the case the week I was there.

 

[slpeters]

It can be really jarring to read all the negative stuff here and wonder where they all went, right?

We came back to find that apparently it had been unusually busy while we were in the parks. Really? We used Disney transportation all week and thought the boats and buses were wonderful. We heard so much about how rude the other guests were. We wore our anniversary pins all week and had another table send over a bottle of champagne one night and someone we did not even meet picked up our tab at Nomad Lounge. We loved Rivers of Light. We heard a fair amount of smack about JBJB and the dessert party and it was truly one of the high points of our trip. I thought it was frankly a little weird how upbeat every single cast member we encountered was. I mean we interacted constantly with them for a week--there really should have been at least a couple bad apples. Other than the fact that it still amazes me that all that Rapunzel stuff is a restroom, I didn't find any of the restrooms remarkable in any way, good or bad.

Part of the problem I think is that, like Tolstoy said, "All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. There are hundreds of people on this board who adore Disney and have wonderful experiences there. But in the end those all kind of blend together. The bad experiences, well those are all different--and they stand out. I think there's also a point where the structure of the board lends itself to catastrophizing. If you go somewhere and spend a week in public something not so great is going to happen. It just will. And if you feel that it was something you could have avoided you come here to tell people so that maybe they can avoid it. The problem is that then people are left with a laundry list of what can go wrong and the natural reaction is not to think one of these things might happen to me, but all these things might happen to me, despite the fact that no one reported that all those things happened to them.

Finally I do think there are some people who simply aren't able to enjoy themselves--especially for extended periods. Just about anytime we go anywhere we end up commenting about how blessed we feel that we are able to enjoy ourselves, because I'm convinced many people just can't. Pick your top three splurge amazing restaurants, look them up on Yelp and sort for two star and lower reviews. Some people are just miserable. This last trip was our first and I found it ASTONISHING that we basically surrendered ourselves entirely to a major corporation for a week and enjoyed literally almost every waking moment of it. I mean really think about that. It's amazing. Yet I remember having several conversations about how sad it was that so many people in the parks really obviously weren't enjoying themselves.

 

[hllb]

I never said anyone was lying. I said that people have different perspectives. You’ll see a lot more complaints on the internet than praises. It doesn’t mean the complainers are lying, but they’re the ones most likely to post. And it gives the impression that those experiences are the norm.

 

[Mome Rath]

Things can be very subjective to people; ask a 5 year old if a 10 pound weight is heavy, and then ask a 20 year old 200 lb body builder if a 10 pound weight is heavy. But, what I've found is that, after 38 trips spread over 30 years you will experience all the good pixie dust Disney has to offer and all the problems Disney has to offer. Out of all my trips I have indeed experienced a couple of negative cast members, one unacceptable hotel room, a couple dirty bathrooms, etc... So, if a person takes one trip and experiences those things on that trip, I can see why they'd be upset.

Having said that, it's a lot about expectations and too negative or too positive reviews can skew a person's perspective that has never been. Go into a vacation excited but not comparing it either to a perfect vacation or a mess of a vacation. I will also say out of all the trips there, I've experienced a lot more magic than horrible experiences by far, and I truly hope those going get to experience the same thing. I too hope that overly negative views don't push people away from a Disney vacation, as they've been some of the best memories of my life, even when things go wrong. I also know that Disney is not for everyone, and even if the trip goes really well, some people have no desire to go back, and that's ok too!

 

[Mom2Stitch]

First, thank you @hllb for the wonderful report! It is so easy to let those negative reports put a little bit of worry in your head and I'm glad to see that your experience is a positive one to balance it out some. We will be staying at the Poly in May for the first time since 2010 and I've read so much bad stuff about the resort and the Monorail that I've really wondered if we should spend the extra $$ for it. Your report eases my mind some.

@slpeters I think you hit the nail on the head! I've always said that some people just aren't happy unless they are miserable, I know a few myself. Some of us are Tiggers, some of us are Eeyore and I bet most of us have had times when we were both.

We've been every year since 2001, some of our experiences on a vacation may not have been stellar, but they have never been vacation ruining. I'm sure we've had not good CMs or less than tidy restrooms, but if so it wasn't enough for me to bother making a memory of. In the parks I can't remember a time that I used a restroom that didn't have an attendant there, seems they are always there on my visits.

Oh and we love the dining plan-I think my DH actually thinks that the dining part is the vacation and we just work the parks and activities in around that, lol.

 

[KenHutch]

I wanted to encourage people who have spent a lot of time reading negative things on these boards. Everyone’s perspective is different. People on the internet can be super negative. I read a lot of things that worried me about our trip. None of them have been proven true so far.

Here’s the list of things that I’ve found NOT to be true:

The monorails are terrible, dirty, and breakdown a lot. (No issues so far. We did see one stopped for about 10 minutes)

California Grill food is terrible and salty (braised pork was absolutely amazing!)

Bus waits are awful and buses are crowded (nope and nope)

The Polynesian is dirty, noisy, bad housekeeping, in need of repair (our room is super quiet, in good repair, and housekeeping has been good)

Rivers of Light is a snooze-fest and you should skip it (everyone in my family loved it)

The bathrooms are disgusting (they’re typical public bathrooms but I’ve seen constant cast members cleaning and stocking them)

Cast members are rude/crabby/bad (nope)

I’m sure there is more, and I’ll add as I remember. But really, we're having a great trip and all the things I worried about were dumb lol.

Well Said

 

[GovieMom]

First of all, I love reading your posts, as you are always so helpful and informative. That being said, I do have to disagree about the buses. We have always experienced overcrowded buses, no matter which level of resort we stay at. We've also had to ride while standing more times than not, as the drivers keep loading people on after all the seats have been filled.

 

[DisneyChris2016]

I appreciate your report, and I agree... people do let negative reviews worry them needlessly. But I find it kind of ironic that those same people will be reassured by this one positive review, as if it really makes a difference. Of course, every negative experience will be balanced out by someone else's positive experience. It's partly about expectations, partly your ability to roll with the punches, and partly sheer luck of the draw. On my last family trip, we had horrible luck with ride closures, especially with our FP+. Is that going to happen to someone else? Sure. Everyone else? Of course not. But if no one posts things like that, lots of first time visitors will never consider that it COULD happen, and might be caught without a backup plan when their scheduled-to-the-minute itinerary starts to fall apart.

As for things like restroom cleanliness, that's subjective of course. And I don't think anyone is going to cancel their trip due to the possibility of a dirty toilet. But I think a lot of people figure that for what they are paying to visit Disney, the bathrooms should sparkle with pixie dust, and that's simply not the case. I do not have exceedingly high standards, but I do have two daughters who don't want to have to flush a toilet and wipe off the seat BEFORE they can go. This is one of those areas where I don't think it's Disney's fault - it's typically other guests (which is typical of public restrooms anywhere). Nearly every restroom I have entered at Disney had an attendant cleaning and restocking. But many toilets were un-flushed (I think a lot of people, especially children, don't realize that the self-flush feature only works properly about half the time, and you can - and should - manually flush if it fails). I have still seen water, toilet paper (and worse) on the floors of the stalls. And if the bathroom is dirty when you walk in, a lot of people will be less careful than they would if it was spotless. But if we all did our part, none of this would be an issue. My only real complaint about the women's restrooms at Disney is the clear glass-front display cases they use for their hygiene product vending machines... "Mommy, what are those?" This is not the place I want to explain THAT to my little girls.

Bottom line is OP is 100% correct - everything you read about someone else's Disney trip should be taken with a grain of salt. By all means, do your research and know that things could go either way at any given moment. At the end of the day, your trip will be what you make of it. So make it magical.