"Trash" Mountain at the MK - Yuck

[crazyj4488]

I experienced the EXACT same thing while I was at the MK last week. Splash Mountain was an ugly mess when I first rode it on 4/25. This article posted to micechat sums it up perfectly. What the heck is going on with one of the super headliners in the MK? I didn't even want to get on this ride more than once during my vacation given the shape it was in. Guest relations will be getting a nasty letter from me on this one.

-J

**snip*** from micechat.com ***snip***

My partner G-Fan and I took the time to visit the MK today (4/24th) since it was such a lovely sunny and cool afternoon to be outdoors for a change.

We rode Splash because it was the only ride we had FP for since the MK was packed to the gills.

The conditions in which we found Splash Mountain were to say the least...deplorable. As we enter the cave just after the point where stand by and FP lines meet, we gagged at the "lovely" wall of chewing gum on display there across from that window where you see the shadow of Brer Frog on his rocking chair. About 2/3 of the wall was covered in what appeared to be 50 chewing gums or so stuck to the wall. Gums of different colors, shapes and sizes in a very ugly display of human insensitivity and lack of class.

Then, we were on the ride... everything was fine until after going up the first hill. The bushes in the outdoor portion of the ride are in most unkept form. Trash can be seen in almost every other scene of the ride...discarded napkins, empty plastic bottles and the likes, littering the outdoor AND indoor scenes of the ride. Plus once again!!! More chewing gum bits stuck to the rocky set across from the female rabbit house just before we see Brer Bear hanging in his own trap. I was simply appalled at this. As the ride progressed I counted at least 5 AA's that were out of commission and not even on display or removed from the scenes, including the ever so problematic jumpin Brer Rabbit AA (which for some reason is always in good working order at TDL's Splash and *never* misses his cue but here at MK??? It's a miss more than a hit)

All in all...I think it's atrocious and downright disgusting how bad things are allowed to get in regards to these maintenance issues, especially when they apply to a high profile ride like Splash Mountain. Yet, WDW is not all to blame, although they have allowed the problem to get worst due to the short staffing in Custodial. Some guests are being inconciderate pigs (and I am being polite here) and these are the ones who are spoiling the little magic that is left at WDW with their unruly, disgusting habits. As a former WDW CM and usual guest to the resort..I was downright embarrased by this situation. If I was here on vacation and paying the big bucks to enjoy WDW, I would have angrily complaint to Guest Relations.

What a sad sad visit this was for both G-Fan and I today to the MK.

 

[disneyaggie]

It amazes me how people pay good money to behave like idiots! I say if you don't want to show respect for property, like WDW, then don't go! Stay home and mess up your own living space!

 

[SnowWhiteIsDreaming]

My DD pointed out that 'wall of gum' in the queue last week. At first I thought it was a wall of colored stones since it was a mixture of sizes and colors. My DD and DS started playing with the stones...then I realized what it was and I shouted to them not to touch the disgusting pieces of gum. Yuck!

-Karen

 

[boucheresq]

we went in January '05 and thought it was gross too. Very disappointing as that is one of our fave rides - the music was messed up too!

 

[spumco]

Gross.

Is there any email address anyone knows to forward this to?

I can't believe this is part of the "Magic"

 

[greenyskp]

I hate to be the a stick in the wheel here....

Ive been on Splash Mountain on the same day twice, several times in fact and in the morning, near opening, it was pristine and fine.

Later that evening.....different story... It was a mess, bottles everywhere, napkins etc..

This isnt Disney's fault, you can thank your fellow theme park patrons. They are the ones throwing their trash away on a ride. Which is just AWFUL, i mean its the equilivent of going into someone's house and throwing your napkins and bottles on the floor. There are trash cans all over Disney for a reason.

If Disney shut down Splash Mountain every hour to clean it, we'd have a thread on here complaining how often Splash Mountain is shut down.

Instead, they spend all night cleaning, painting and making sure the animatronics work. For the next day. They obviously cant do that every hour on the hour, on every ride.

Sometimes you gotta step back and realize that Disney is a real place, with real people, that have real jobs.

Here's an analagy:

I handle finances at work, if people came in my office every hour on the hour, wanting to know the exact balance of the account, I couldnt tell them. And then they would get upset and complain about how I dont do any work.
When in actuality Im busting my butt all day, so by tomorrow morning, everyone has an accurate figure of what the balance is.

I know everyone expects Disney to be pristine all the time, and I think compared to some other parks (universal...) it is. Everything can't be perfect....

As for the music being messed up... Its an animatronic ride, that is complex and passes something like 2000 guests through it an hour. Its inevitable that a few of those boats are gonna be a little bit off with the music.

Maybe i'm just too easygoing, but I dont go into Walt Disney World looking for reasons to think i've wasted my money. I know its worth every penny, and i realize that those cast members get minimum wage, no more then a Mcdonalds worker. And while I have come across some good Mcdonalds workers, the service and attention you get at Disney from CM's is like no other company. And i appreciate that. It is not Jenn's fault who works in the gift shop of POTC that the music didnt match the mouth of the pirate in the striped shirt. And she could really care less that you and 1,000 other people that day are going to be upset at her for that.

Just have fun. Ride the rides. remember, children usually dont notice those things unless you point them out.

I'll get off the soapbox now...

 

[MissTink]

Wow, I can't believe this. IMO, even if ppl do throw trash around (ppl will be ppl you know) the Disney clean up crew should really make an effort to clean this mess up...I mean, do they not notice??? I am not taking sides in any way, I think it is very disrespectful to trash something just because you feel like it (a lack of manners, IMO) I do however believe that for the amount of garbage build up I am reading about, they must not be doing a good job over at WDW with the up-keeping of the rides. I'm actually really suprised, as I have always been under the impression that Disney was very careful in keeping the magic, making sure that every experience feels like the first.

 

[boucheresq]

I hate to be the a stick in the wheel here....

Ive been on Splash Mountain on the same day twice, several times in fact and in the morning, near opening, it was pristine and fine.

Later that evening.....different story... It was a mess, bottles everywhere, napkins etc..

This isnt Disney's fault, you can thank your fellow theme park patrons. They are the ones throwing their trash away on a ride. Which is just AWFUL, i mean its the equilivent of going into someone's house and throwing your napkins and bottles on the floor. There are trash cans all over Disney for a reason.

If Disney shut down Splash Mountain every hour to clean it, we'd have a thread on here complaining how often Splash Mountain is shut down.

Instead, they spend all night cleaning, painting and making sure the animatronics work. For the next day. They obviously cant do that every hour on the hour, on every ride.

Sometimes you gotta step back and realize that Disney is a real place, with real people, that have real jobs.

Here's an analagy:

I handle finances at work, if people came in my office every hour on the hour, wanting to know the exact balance of the account, I couldnt tell them. And then they would get upset and complain about how I dont do any work.
When in actuality Im busting my butt all day, so by tomorrow morning, everyone has an accurate figure of what the balance is.

I know everyone expects Disney to be pristine all the time, and I think compared to some other parks (universal...) it is. Everything can't be perfect....

As for the music being messed up... Its an animatronic ride, that is complex and passes something like 2000 guests through it an hour. Its inevitable that a few of those boats are gonna be a little bit off with the music.

Maybe i'm just too easygoing, but I dont go into Walt Disney World looking for reasons to think i've wasted my money. I know its worth every penny, and i realize that those cast members get minimum wage, no more then a Mcdonalds worker. And while I have come across some good Mcdonalds workers, the service and attention you get at Disney from CM's is like no other company. And i appreciate that. It is not Jenn's fault who works in the gift shop of POTC that the music didnt match the mouth of the pirate in the striped shirt. And she could really care less that you and 1,000 other people that day are going to be upset at her for that.

Just have fun. Ride the rides. remember, children usually dont notice those things unless you point them out.

I'll get off the soapbox now...

when we went on the ride in January, we were on it the first hour MK was open - we were very saddened by it - and it also doesn't explain the music

 

[kjs1976]

Yes, last year we noticed the trash in the queue are as well. We usually ride it later in the day or at night so I'm sure we're seeing it at its worst. It would be nice if Disney posted an extra walking custodian over there or at least made a clean sweep of the queue during times when it isn't as busy. As for the gum wall, there is no excuse for that to exist! Especially if it is growing...ewwwweeee...or do that many people put their gum there each day????!!!! ROTTEN!

 

[MommyPoppins]

I went on Splash for the first time every last month and I noticed the gum. It was about 9:15AM and so I know that it wasn't just because of a lot of people throwing their gum out that day. I couldn't believe that they didn't clean that up every day and they just let it keep accumulating. Yuck.

 

[mickeymom629]

I just emailed this page to wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com. I think you can send all complaints to this address.

 

[rwodonnell]

Ive been on Splash Mountain on the same day twice, several times in fact and in the morning, near opening, it was pristine and fine.

Later that evening.....different story... It was a mess, bottles everywhere, napkins etc..

We've noticed this too. I do think a lot of the trash accumulates during the day. It's sort of strange, though, because I don't see it happening to other rides.

The gum wall is another story, I believe. I don't think those all accumulate in one day, could be wrong, but I don't think so.

 

[civileng68]

I hate to be the a stick in the wheel here....

Ive been on Splash Mountain on the same day twice, several times in fact and in the morning, near opening, it was pristine and fine.

Later that evening.....different story... It was a mess, bottles everywhere, napkins etc..

This isnt Disney's fault, you can thank your fellow theme park patrons. They are the ones throwing their trash away on a ride. Which is just AWFUL, i mean its the equilivent of going into someone's house and throwing your napkins and bottles on the floor. There are trash cans all over Disney for a reason.

If Disney shut down Splash Mountain every hour to clean it, we'd have a thread on here complaining how often Splash Mountain is shut down.

Instead, they spend all night cleaning, painting and making sure the animatronics work. For the next day. They obviously cant do that every hour on the hour, on every ride.

Sometimes you gotta step back and realize that Disney is a real place, with real people, that have real jobs.

Here's an analagy:

I handle finances at work, if people came in my office every hour on the hour, wanting to know the exact balance of the account, I couldnt tell them. And then they would get upset and complain about how I dont do any work.
When in actuality Im busting my butt all day, so by tomorrow morning, everyone has an accurate figure of what the balance is.

I know everyone expects Disney to be pristine all the time, and I think compared to some other parks (universal...) it is. Everything can't be perfect....

As for the music being messed up... Its an animatronic ride, that is complex and passes something like 2000 guests through it an hour. Its inevitable that a few of those boats are gonna be a little bit off with the music.

Maybe i'm just too easygoing, but I dont go into Walt Disney World looking for reasons to think i've wasted my money. I know its worth every penny, and i realize that those cast members get minimum wage, no more then a Mcdonalds worker. And while I have come across some good Mcdonalds workers, the service and attention you get at Disney from CM's is like no other company. And i appreciate that. It is not Jenn's fault who works in the gift shop of POTC that the music didnt match the mouth of the pirate in the striped shirt. And she could really care less that you and 1,000 other people that day are going to be upset at her for that.

Just have fun. Ride the rides. remember, children usually dont notice those things unless you point them out.

I'll get off the soapbox now...

I do agree with this poster.

Sure sometimes the music is out and the AA's are out, and I do blame Disney for that. It needs to be fixed. However, AA's are not always simple fixes and they likely will work on them during slower times of the year. It's not an overnight work fix. Sometimes the problems, though they seem deep are more complex. Music may not just be a simple problem. There may be a complex wiring problem.

Many of these problems are fixes that happen in refurbishments. However, due to the fact that this attraction is a headliner, Disney tries to avoid pulling it down for a long refurb.

I remember a year or so ago when BTMRR was pulled down for a BIG refurb, everyone that was scheduled to go then complained so bad. Then those that were on other rides complained that the BTMRR refurb caused a bigger line on other headliners. It was the same old thing.

So, Disney can clean the place up, they can fix the AA's, but is that going to truly satisfy everyone? I used to be the big complainer until I really started learning about people. If Disney fixed the problems on the ride, we'd just find more to complain about. We'll never be truly satisfied.

The gum: if Disney cleaned the trash up every single night.......by noon the next day, it would be right back. The problem is the people. The kids.

If you want to know why trash and gum are everywhere, just look at the sides of your roads, your highways, your sidewalks in town. Regardless of if your city cleans it up daily or not, the people that did the mess are still going to do it again and eventually it will end up the same way again. Guess what? Those same people from your towns doing these things visit Disney and do the SAME things.

Just look at how out of control kids are today and just watch their parents laughing about it. Watch a child run around a restaurant and watch the parent basiclaly act like "well at least he's not bother us now", while he's tormenting others. Parents in many cases dont care anymore and discipline of children has just gone out the window these days.

The problem is that many of the parents themselves are not mature adults and yet they are trying to raise one or more.

Example: I was at a massive air show in Ft. Lauderdale this past weekend. A 15 year old guy (roughly) needed by my brother in law. My brother in law was about to take a picture (he loves photography). the kid said "excuse me", instead of just waiting. I turned to him and asked him to hold just a moment until the shot was taken. The kid said "excuse me again". I repeated, "please just hold another 5 seconds". The kid then got upset, barged in front of the camera and was nearly ready to fight. As we thought he was needing to go somewhere else..........he was just going to the family in front of us............yet he couldnt wait. Well this caused a big problem, the father turned around and wanted a piece of my brother in law, who was now appologizing (FOR NOTHING, mind you) just to avoid a confrontation, and the parents heard him saying "excuse me" while my bro-in law was taking a picture and didnt tell him to wait a second. I had to tell him, so they wanted a piece of me too for simply saying something to their 'little boy'.

These are the people in Disney World these days. Times have changed and unfortunately so have respect and manners. This is why you see trash all over the parks, even when trash cans are everywhere. It's a complete lack of respect and the parents and kids are to blame.

I never did these things for one simple reason: I was raised to be respectful.

I was raised to say "yes mam, and no mam, yes sir and no sir" to those older than I. How often do you hear kids say "yes sir" or "no sir" anymore? In fact, how often these days do you even hear kids say a "thank you"? Makes you think doesnt it?

 

[civileng68]

We've noticed this too. I do think a lot of the trash accumulates during the day. It's sort of strange, though, because I don't see it happening to other rides.

The gum wall is another story, I believe. I don't think those all accumulate in one day, could be wrong, but I don't think so.

I think it's because this ride has more areas where you are less monitored by employees, there are more people going through, probably more kids than older adults ride this, and it likely goes down for less extended refurbs than other rides.

 

[greenyskp]

I do agree with this poster.



I remember a year or so ago when BTMRR was pulled down for a BIG refurb, everyone that was scheduled to go then complained so bad. Then those that were on other rides complained that the BTMRR refurb caused a bigger line on other headliners. It was the same old thing.

We'll never be truly satisfied.

The gum: if Disney cleaned the trash up every single night.......by noon the next day, it would be right back. The problem is the people. The kids.

Just look at how out of control kids are today and just watch their parents laughing about it. Watch a child run around a restaurant and watch the parent basiclaly act like "well at least he's not bother us now", while he's tormenting others. Parents in many cases dont care anymore and discipline of children has just gone out the window these days.

The problem is that many of the parents themselves are not mature adults and yet they are trying to raise one or more.

These are the people in Disney World these days. Times have changed and unfortunately so have respect and manners. This is why you see trash all over the parks, even when trash cans are everywhere. It's a complete lack of respect and the parents and kids are to blame.

I never did these things for one simple reason: I was raised to be respectful.

I was raised to say "yes mam, and no mam, yes sir and no sir" to those older than I. How often do you hear kids say "yes sir" or "no sir" anymore? In fact, how often these days do you even hear kids say a "thank you"? Makes you think doesnt it?

I couldnt agree more. This is how I was brought up.

Stay concerned with your family, and instead of complaining about the trash to your children, explain that the people who did it are disrespecting the ride. And set an example by throwing your trash away.

Well said though.

 

[patsal]

Over the last five years I've noticed a huge decline in the parks cleanliness. I'm sure staff cuts are to blame as well as the lack of responsibility many take in the form of not picking up after themselves. Last year the wall of gum was very noticable, during the summer months as well as an old bandaid discarded to the left of the fast pass que. It was there for the full two weeks I was. In february people were just dropping gum and all sorts of trash around the queing area of Philharmagic. The one thing I really noticed in Feb. was a complete understaffing. One Cm was in charge of counting out and admitting bothe the FP and regular line, "holding " the line, admitting the stand by line to the next entrance, and requesting that they "move all the way in" Way too much work for one person. Just managing the people alone was the work of five or six--there's no way she could keep the area clean or ask people to take care of their trash. I'm hoing withthe anticipated crowds and the pick up in travel that WDW will hire back in the areas they have previously cut. I really have found that the filth detrats from my experience--nothing worse than stepping in gum or leaning into it.

 

[bornandraised]

Okay a little back history on me first, I'm almost 18 and my mom has worked at Disney since she was 17! I didn't start going to Disney until I was about 5 cause I couldn't ride the 'big kid' rides. I remember the first time I ever rode Splash Mountain and I remember gum on the walls. I picked at it cause I just thought it was a colorful rock and then my mom told me what it was and to not put my fingers anywhere near my mouth! XD I remember ever since then gum on the walls and BE WARNED don't touch the railing that seperate the two lines. I almost ALWAYS touch some kind of fresh gum on the bottom as I walk along.

But to my knowledge SM has always been one of the rides that have always had gum. Now I've never noticed the music out of since maybe cause I'm too preoccupied looking at the sets but don't think so much about it. Don't touch the walls and just don't litter. CM aren't miracle workers and do you know HOW HARD it is to scrape a year old piece of gum off a wall is?! Have any of you ever had to scrape school desks for detention? That's what I thought, maybe they aren't able to get it off without chipping the actually stone.

 

[bornandraised]

Over the last five years I've noticed a huge decline in the parks cleanliness. I'm sure staff cuts are to blame as well as the lack of responsibility many take in the form of not picking up after themselves. Last year the wall of gum was very noticable, during the summer months as well as an old bandaid discarded to the left of the fast pass que. It was there for the full two weeks I was. In february people were just dropping gum and all sorts of trash around the queing area of Philharmagic. The one thing I really noticed in Feb. was a complete understaffing. One Cm was in charge of counting out and admitting bothe the FP and regular line, "holding " the line, admitting the stand by line to the next entrance, and requesting that they "move all the way in" Way too much work for one person. Just managing the people alone was the work of five or six--there's no way she could keep the area clean or ask people to take care of their trash. I'm hoing withthe anticipated crowds and the pick up in travel that WDW will hire back in the areas they have previously cut. I really have found that the filth detrats from my experience--nothing worse than stepping in gum or leaning into it.

Oh just so everyone knows about the understaffing within the last 3 months Disney has had a mass job fair to get more CM. There is also one this coming week (which I'm going to! XD) for another mass openings. So maybe they realize they are understaffed.

 

[civileng68]

Oh just so everyone knows about the understaffing within the last 3 months Disney has had a mass job fair to get more CM. There is also one this coming week (which I'm going to! XD) for another mass openings. So maybe they realize they are understaffed.

Well what they are doing is saving money. They are laying off high level management employees which require high salaries and in turn, are taking the money saved to hire cheaper CM's. REally they are still saving money but have done so at the expense of management levels. They claim they are being more "efficient" but anyone who knows business will tell you that is a bunch of business policits BULL!

 

[crazyj4488]

Okay...those of you sticking up for Disney must remember this...the same trash has been seen on the ride over a couple of days. Therefore, this is not a case of having to clean the ride every hour. This is a simple case of them NOT cleaning the ride each night which I think should be done. I saw the same food wrappers over a three day period. That wall of gum has obviously been there for MONTHS people....MONTHS. They need to send someone in there with a putty knife and some paint...it's just freakin disgusting and I felt like I was at a Six Flags park. Did anyone else notice the HUGE tear in the fabric behind the grand finale scene with the rocking riverboat? It is to the right of the hidden mickey cloud, is visible from many angles and can even be EASILY seen when riding the train through the mountain. It's a huge tear in the backdrop fabric and it is hanging there with a gaping hole. It was like that the ENTIRE week I was there.

There are NO excuses for the condition of this super headliner attraction..NONE...NADDA...ZILCH! I was at WDW in the late 90's and early 2001 and this ride looked great...I dunno what the heck happened between now and then but something needs changed. You can goto Disney's website and send an email to guest relations. They have already contacted me back to apologize for my experience and said that this issue would be forwarded to the proper department for review and action.

We've all got to expect the best when we are shelling out an average of around $450 a day to visit Disney World. This figure was calculated for a family of 4 in the UG book. This figure DOES NOT include your hotel stay people!!!! Think about it. Disney offers the best theme parks in the world for a reason. They have the budget and attendance to support a pristine environment and, typically, do a darn good job of that. Furthermore, Disney guests consistently expect the best when visiting the parks given the money that has to be spent to get there. I don't think expecting just that is unreasonable...at all.

The attention you get when writing guest relations is proof positive that they do care about their guests and their experiences in the parks. Everyone needs some help staying on the ball now and then.

As far as the public acting like pigs, we aren't going to change the ills of society. Those are here to stay. Disney needs to be prepared, and usually are, for the messes that rude people leave behind. I haven't talked to one person that doesn't have the word CLEAN on their list of things they like about Disney. That reputation needs to be closely monitored by Disney because it is one of the largest attractors for guests.