The BAD About Our Recent Trip...

[RyMickey]

We just returned from 10 days/9 nights at POFQ and BWV. By no means was our trip bad...it was great. But there were a few things that folks should look out for. I'll be posting "the GOOD" later on, but here are some of "the BAD" things we noticed on our recent trip.

--- People in general are a lot noisier. No one quiets down when a CM talks. Folks talk constantly through things like Wishes and Illuminations. There were many times that my brothers turned to people and said "Shhhhh!" very loudly so people would quiet down. And don't even get me started on people peeing in public (I've posted another thread about this disgusting sight I witnessed.

--- Buses to PO were awful. This hotel always had the longest lines for the four nights we stayed there. Getting to places was fine, but getting home was awful. We ended up driving to places after much of our group waited 45 minutes for a bus at Typhoon Lagoon.

--- Wait time boards were really off. At MGM, our group trekked down to TOT when the wait board posted a 13 minute wait (which is a walk-on in TOT talk). When we arrived it was a 45-minute wait. At MK, Big Thunder was listed as a 10-minute wait. We trekked across the park and were greeted with a 40-minute wait. Now, I can understand a difference of 10, even 20, minutes. But considering that there are people who are constantly changing these things, this was completely uncalled for. You would think they could be reasonably right, but these wait times were completely off!

--- Lying CMs. One of my brothers was incredibly upset that a CM told him no FastPasses were available during evening EMH at MGM. So, we did One Man's Dream prior to closing and then at around 10:30 walked down to RnRC and TOT only to find FastPasses just running out for the two attractions. My brother was so angry at the CM that lied to him (perhaps, and likely, unknowingly) that my brother wanted to report him.

Now, none of this ruined our vacation in the least. But, it did make us shake our heads a few times.

Anyone else been recently and noticed anything "BAD" about WDW?

 

[canda]

oh boy, Am I going to have a good time making fun of this post.
(this is in reference to my ever so popular complaining about WDW satires)

And don't even get me started on people peeing in public

please tell me this was toddlers. Not adults. I would not excuse this from a toddler, but that is only a trickle of pee. A big fat person like me could pee a gallon or so.


can't wait to hear what was good about the trip.

 

[babby]

Cm's at MK also told us that the fastpasses would not reopen for rides (like space mtn.) after the park closed and it was an EMH night till 2am. Wrong!!!! They did indeed have fastpasses for Space mtn. Luckly we were in the area doing other rides and noticed it. So we were able to get fp for 12:35am-1:35am. I wish they would have the correct info.

Also, at Soarin EMH morning the wait said 45 min. only after the park being open for 15 min(we went straight there). We almost did not ride it because my DH had gone to TT for FP and we did not want him to wait that long for us to get off of Soarin. But we went anyway and the total ride and wait time was 20 min!! That's off the ride- total time!! ANd the wait said 45min. Wrong again!

 

[RyMickey]

please tell me this was toddlers. Not adults. I would not excuse this from a toddler, but that is only a trickle of pee. A big fat person like me could pee a gallon or so.

Not a toddler. Check out my thread on this disgusting incident here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1153926

 

[DisneyEG]

Other than seeing someone pee in public, everything else should be expected in a place with sooooo many people. Glad to see you still had a good time.

 

[RyMickey]

Other than seeing someone pee in public, everything else should be expected in a place with sooooo many people. Glad to see you still had a good time.

None of the things I listed ruined a thing about our trip. But, out of all of them, what bothered me the most was the big difference between tip board wait times and actual wait times. A 30 minute difference between actual wait time and tip board wait times (not just once, but twice on our trip) is incredibly excessive especially when it's been accurate for us in the past and especially when they have people manning these things. Maybe they need to shift all of these to Epcot's computerized system.

 

[bobcat]

Posted wait times at either the tip boards or the ride itself are not always correct. The best way we have found to get an actual wait time is to ask the CM at the start of the line. They have a pretty accurate idea how many people are really in line and only a few times have we found that they wern't sure or were wrong.

 

[tmarquez]

When we went to Italy we saw a few people (none children) actually pee right on the sidewalk. One lady just moved over to the edge of the sidewalk (BUSY sidewalk) lifted her dress a little...did this squat kind of thing and peed right there. Gross...yes. My cousin says he's seen this in other countries as well...so I guess maybe if those people go on vacation to Disney they would do exactly what they do at home.

 

[Simba22]

when we were there in May, I spent most of the time worrying about how my BIL was misbehaving so I didn't notice much of anyone else. But the one thing that does stick out is how people have to torture animals every where they go. In AK I saw people knocking on glass, shouting at animals, chasing after the little wild bunnies that you occasionally see, etc. The other thing that I noticed was mentioned by the OP...people always have to talk. During One Man's Dream, people were talking....during Indiana Jones, Fantasmic, and Illuminations, people were always getting up and walking in front of us, stop in front of us then turn around and shout back to the rest of their group "what did you want??" So rude!!! The last thing is how downright mean parents can be to their kids. I've heard parents make fun of their own children (they're too fat, they're too slow, they're too lazy, etc), I've seen kids get hit by their parents, dragged out of stores by their arms, etc. All the while yelling the most famous "Parent at WDW Line:" Now stop crying and start having fun or we're going back home tonight!"

 

[civileng68]

Peeing in public? are you kidding me?

I mean, growing up my dad told me to just go to the woods (which I did) but NEVER would I do in a place like that. I have to admit, as a kid, spelling my name in the snow was fun, but at Disney, let's just keep it in the toilet, even though most that try and miss.

Anyways, I agree with you but, also agree that it's hard to change it.

I am in the Customer Service industry and one thing I cannot handle is mis-information.

We train people that there's nothing wrong with asking a question. If you don't know the answer, the customer is much more appreciative if you are honest and say you dont know but will find out, and then do it, rather than simply giving a quick, yet incorrect answer so you look like you know what you are doing.

I find this alot when I go. Sometimes, I ask questions I know the answers to (not to quiz anyone but because I always second guess myself and like to be reassured) and some CM's give me answers that I know are just WRONG.

However, one thing we have to realize is, we're all NUTS here. We're all Disneyholics and in most cases know more information than most CM's.

 

[BamaFan121s]

OMG...someone has hit one of my all time biggest pet peeves... ...kids chasing the rabbits and ducks!! Grrrr....I just want to say, "Do you honestly think you're going to catch it?" or better yet, "Did you leave your parents at home today?"
I KNOW it is not my place to say anything to these kids, but I just can't help it. I will tell them to stop in a heartbeat, wait for their parents to come running and then tell them what I think of their classy kids too.
I SWORE that when we go back in Nov, I'm wearing a t-shirt that says "Stupid Kids Chase the Ducks..."

 

[Skroops]

Well one thing that annoyed me was that in the Hall of Presidents at the MK, people felt free to "heckle" the annimatronic presidents. That was totally lame. It almost became a "heckle" match between the "red" states and the "blue" states. It didn't ruin my vacation (of course) but it ruined the attraction for me.
It was embarassing to me that our fellow U.S. citizens would behave in that manner.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Did your brother get to report the Cast Member who lied to him about there being no more Fast Passes?

 

[BamaFan121s]

Well one thing that annoyed me was that in the Hall of Presidents at the MK, people felt free to "heckle" the annimatronic presidents. That was totally lame. It almost became a "heckle" match between the "red" states and the "blue" states. It didn't ruin my vacation (of course) but it ruined the attraction for me.
It was embarassing to me that our fellow U.S. citizens would behave in that manner.

What morons! Did they expect the presidents to heckle them back?
I had a similarly irritating experience where some teenagers behind us at Philharmagic kept excaliming that the princesses were "hot" along with other crude, loud comments. DH kindly turned around and told their parents(?) that if they couldn't control them, he could. He got applause from those surrounding us and the kids were quiet the rest of the show.

 

[marconat]

OMG...someone has hit one of my all time biggest pet peeves... ...kids chasing the rabbits and ducks!! Grrrr....I just want to say, "Do you honestly think you're going to catch it?" or better yet, "Did you leave your parents at home today?"
I KNOW it is not my place to say anything to these kids, but I just can't help it. I will tell them to stop in a heartbeat, wait for their parents to come running and then tell them what I think of their classy kids too.
I SWORE that when we go back in Nov, I'm wearing a t-shirt that says "Stupid Kids Chase the Ducks..."

I totally agree, I can't stand it myself... my kids are well behaved, I'm very strict... even when I find them silly, people keep saying that they are so quiet and well behave...so I guess it's true, so it drives me insane when I see the other ones doing annoying things, (like I had some kids crawl under my table or just coming up to my table an look at me and the kids) ha! ha! but I try to be polite and shoooo them away... after all I'm in disney and there to enjoy myself...

 

[clonetothebone]

We just got back and didn't notice the wait times as being incorrect at all...if anything they were overstated in my opinion. We were there 6/22 through 6/30.

We also stayed at POFQ and used the rental car except for trips to the MK. The bus drivers were great...we had Earl 6/24 and he made everything he said fun. Then on 6/26 didn't catch the guys name but everyone on the bus sang "The Wheels On the Bus" song which made the trip fun.

We didn't much care for the bus service though...3 of the 4 times I rode we had to wait 10 to 15 minutes while they loaded someone on the handicapped ramp. I understand that everyone needs access to the bus system so not complaining that handicapped people were riding but sure seemed like a long time to wait when trying to keep a schedule. The last day we went to MK we drove our rental car over to Epcot and rode the monorail which turned out great because both times between Epcot and the TTC we got to ride up front.

I also noticed lots of kids chasing the numerous ducks and made sure my kids were told each time we saw it that this was inappropriate. Not much else you can do about it.

We noticed a lot of misinformation about the dining plan. Some places said we "had to" get desert or they couldn't ring up the meal and other places were able to. It was paid for of course so we didn't mind other than a lot of the food went to waste because we couldn't eat it all. Maybe it was the way the cash registers were set up differently but I suspect it was more of a training issue.

Overall, we had a great time.

 

[civileng68]

Well one thing that annoyed me was that in the Hall of Presidents at the MK, people felt free to "heckle" the annimatronic presidents. That was totally lame. It almost became a "heckle" match between the "red" states and the "blue" states. It didn't ruin my vacation (of course) but it ruined the attraction for me.
It was embarassing to me that our fellow U.S. citizens would behave in that manner.

THANK YOU! You are right on with that! I get disgusted by that. We are there trying to just enjoy the show. I do disagree with various political views but you know, I love my country and when Im there Im trying to think about how real they are and imagine that being Abe Lincoln really sitting there. It's just so real. Then suddenly you get boo's when it comes to Presidents Clinton and Bush Jr.. It disgusts me in a venue like that. It's classless and also embarassing considering many are in there from other countries trying to get a little historical knowledge about the United States and they hear Americans booing their own presidents. It just rubs me VERY wrong and it's a shame others dont have more class than that.

Recently when someone boo'd someone yelled out "shut up" and then there was an obvious attempt in the theatre for the one booing to irritate everyone in there.

i do think there should be an announcment made of no disruptive talking or noises during the show.

 

[Cor44432]

People do realize that the "13" minute wait time for Tower of Terror is
part of the whole "twilight zone" show.......(13th floor, etc.)

 

[chigirl]

Years ago people would politely applaud for Lincoln and Kennedy at HOP, but I did notice it was a Blue Vs. Red State cage match when I was there in September. You can thank the media, both liberal and conservative, for bringing that out in people. Both sides are bad, wrong, screaming, non-factual. It did ruin the experience for my DS, age 8.

 

[#1 TITANS FAN]

Cm's at MK also told us that the fastpasses would not reopen for rides (like space mtn.) after the park closed and it was an EMH night till 2am. Wrong!!!! They did indeed have fastpasses for Space mtn. Luckly we were in the area doing other rides and noticed it. So we were able to get fp for 12:35am-1:35am. I wish they would have the correct info.

Also, at Soarin EMH morning the wait said 45 min. only after the park being open for 15 min(we went straight there). We almost did not ride it because my DH had gone to TT for FP and we did not want him to wait that long for us to get off of Soarin. But we went anyway and the total ride and wait time was 20 min!! That's off the ride- total time!! ANd the wait said 45min. Wrong again!

FP return times for Soarin start 1 hour after park opening, so for the 1st hour the satnd by line actually moves quickly. I have noticed on Soarin they seem to deliberately overstate stand by times.