Where has the Magic Gone??? Just back

[valandemmy]

Hello Everyone.

Just back from a week Spur of the moment trip the the world.
Crowds were VERY light, walk on to almost everything, the only thing that had a wait the entire week was 30 minutes on saturday for EE.

Issues...
I know I will be flamed for this BUT....
I have seen more Electric wheel chairs in use this trip than at any time, which is fine for those who need them, but what I do not think is right, is moving to the front of the line and THEN letting 8 or 9 ppl who are with the one person skip the the front as well.
2nd - at Jak and Yeti - when we got the bill I asked the server for a total amount so I could know how much to tip him, he said " ah, well it was about a 130.00" There were 2 adults and one child no alcholic beverages the bill should have been between 70 to 80 bucks, I told him it was impossible the total was that much and I would like to see the bill, he then told me " sorry, we dont do that here" my wife not wanting me to make a scene still tipped him, I however would not have d/t the fact He was lying to me in order to recieve a larger tip.
3rd. the CM's while not rude by any means, did not seem to have the happy attitude as they have always had on past trips, it was like they were just going throught the motions.

I dont know... I just did not have the excitement and fun that we have always had on each and every trip, even my dd6 told me, and I NEVER thought i would hear it come from her, that she wanted to go to universal for our next trip....


Sorry for the Rant

Charles

 

[Robo]

I have seen more Electric wheel chairs in use this trip than at any time, which is fine for those who need them, but what I do not think is right, is moving to the front of the line and THEN letting 8 or 9 ppl who are with the one person skip the the front as well.

Aging population. Expect MANY more as the years go by.
Many new attractions (and refurbs) put the chairs/scooters IN the queue, so nobody gets to "go first."

So sorry you couldn't find your magic at WDW this trip.

 

[mslclark]

I can't belive they didn't give you a bill. Every time we've been on the dining plan we got a receipt with the total. Why wouldn't they tell what your bill was? Weird.

 

[bradk]

Y&Y isn't a disney restaurant despite being inside a disney park. that said, i would have caused a scene and asked to speak to the manager.

ECVs and wheelchairs don't get you FOTL access either.

 

[Robo]

2nd - at Jak and Yeti - when we got the bill I asked the server for a total amount so I could know how much to tip him, he said " ah, well it was about a 130.00" There were 2 adults and one child no alcholic beverages the bill should have been between 70 to 80 bucks, I told him it was impossible the total was that much and I would like to see the bill, he then told me " sorry, we dont do that here" my wife not wanting me to make a scene still tipped him, I however would not have d/t the fact He was lying to me in order to recieve a larger tip.

Your beef is with that rude CM waiter.
Shouldn't have happened to you.
The manager should have been called.
Your wife didn't want to make waves...
and you rewarded the poor behavior of the CM with a tip.
Now I understand that is a fair decision to make (to save some time and aggravation by just paying and getting it overwith) but that choice was yours, I'm afraid.

 

[Robo]

...the CM's while not rude by any means, did not seem to have the happy attitude as they have always had on past trips, it was like they were just going throught the motions.

"Luck-of-the-draw" kind of thing.

I've always paid close attention and have certainly seen the good and the bad.

The good has always outweighed the bad on our trips, thank goodness!

 

[eliza61]

You could just be suffering from a bit of burnout. After 20 or so trips not all mine were magical either, but then I don't expect them all to be.

I agree with mslclark, it is pretty weird about the bill. Next time, tell ms charles you don't have to make a scene to demand service. I do it all the time in & out of disney and no way do I tip if it is not appropriate. I've called the manager over when I was on the ddp to have tips removed. I will never, ever pay for unsatisfactory service. So I can't side with you on that one.

I think you guys just probably had an off trip. There's still magic to be had.

 

[Robo]

I dont know... I just did not have the excitement and fun that we have always had on each and every trip, even my dd6 told me, and I NEVER thought i would hear it come from her, that she wanted to go to universal for our next trip....

Now THAT'S an idea that can really net you some perspective on just what kind of difference the employees can make in your park experience.



Hope the next trip is more enjoyable!

 

[paladin]

I don't think you mean "electric wheel chairs", you mean "ECV's", but either way they do not get front of the line priviledges unless they are Make a Wish. Most lines are mainstreamed, but in some they may wait somewhere else and in some cases the waits are longer.

 

[merryweather20]

Hello Everyone.

Just back from a week Spur of the moment trip the the world.
Crowds were VERY light, walk on to almost everything, the only thing that had a wait the entire week was 30 minutes on saturday for EE.

Issues...
I know I will be flamed for this BUT....
I have seen more Electric wheel chairs in use this trip than at any time, which is fine for those who need them, but what I do not think is right, is moving to the front of the line and THEN letting 8 or 9 ppl who are with the one person skip the the front as well.
2nd - at Jak and Yeti - when we got the bill I asked the server for a total amount so I could know how much to tip him, he said " ah, well it was about a 130.00" There were 2 adults and one child no alcholic beverages the bill should have been between 70 to 80 bucks, I told him it was impossible the total was that much and I would like to see the bill, he then told me " sorry, we dont do that here" my wife not wanting me to make a scene still tipped him, I however would not have d/t the fact He was lying to me in order to recieve a larger tip.
3rd. the CM's while not rude by any means, did not seem to have the happy attitude as they have always had on past trips, it was like they were just going throught the motions.

I dont know... I just did not have the excitement and fun that we have always had on each and every trip, even my dd6 told me, and I NEVER thought i would hear it come from her, that she wanted to go to universal for our next trip....


Sorry for the Rant

Charles

You are mistaken. A wheel-chair user is only allowed to take 5 members of their party with them. If you saw more than that than it included people from a second or third party. Sometimes someone may need additional time to board, but do not use a wheel-chair, so you might have assumed they were with the wheel-chair user when in fact they were a separate party.

Finally wheel-chair users do not get to skip the queue, when wheel-chair users are pulled out of line, it is to go wait somewhere else, nearly always this wait is longer than yours would have been. In the unlikely event that the wait was shorter for the wheel-chair user, they deserved it, they waited longer than you did at most of the other rides. I've waited an additional (thats in addition to what you waited) 45mins-1 hour to board as a wheel-chair user.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

I, too, have had yucky times and wonderful times. And, it doesn't always have anything to do with my attitude. I always go in a happy, excited, everyone loves the world mood. If I can take a family pic for someone, I offer to do it for them. If I'm in a store and the person behind me only has a couple of items, I let them go in front of me.

However, there have been times when there wasn't much magic to be found! And it had nothing to do with crowd level. You're not the first one to write about the dimming glow of the Disney magic!

I wish you a better trip next time....

 

[poeticdiabetic]

In response to the fact of the ECVs and the handicapped in general, it reminded me of a conversation I had with one of my sons when he was a little upset about having the handicapped being able to ride the rides and getting on the buses first.

I simply asked him if he would like to trade places with him: you take his body and mind, and get on the buses and rides first. Meanwhile, he takes your body and mind, patiently wait to get on buses and rides, and walk away from it with a healthy body and mind for the rest of his childhood.

Needless to say, he never complained about it again.

 

[CanadianGuy]

In response to the fact of the ECVs and the handicapped in general, it reminded me of a conversation I had with one of my sons when he was a little upset about having the handicapped being able to ride the rides and getting on the buses first.

I simply asked him if he would like to trade places with him: you take his body and mind, and get on the buses and rides first. Meanwhile, he takes your body and mind, patiently wait to get on buses and rides, and walk away from it with a healthy body and mind for the rest of his childhood.

Needless to say, he never complained about it again.

What she said.. and then some.

Judging others from their appearance alone is an ill-advised folly. You cannot possibly know what health issues may require a person to be using an ECV or not. It's not a black and white affair.

As has been clearly outlined by other posters -- wheelchair users do not generally get front of line access and are limited to 5 guests in their party -- unless they are a Make A Wish guest, in which case they should get FOTL access and whatever else Disney chooses to provide.

Most attractions now have mainstreamed queues -- which means that ECV and wheelchair guests proceed thru the regular queueing area with all other guests. In the few locations where that's not possible, then there is a separate waiting area where wheelchair/ECV guests wait their turn like everyone else.

Of course it is entirely possible that a wheelchair guest could have been able to load a ride with an additional 8 people ... but you should be comforted by the fact that this would not be a frequent occurrence since it doesn't jive with Disney policy.

I think this particular issue is really a problem of perception than reality.

For example, tell yourself before your drive home today that there are way too many 'white' cars on the road and everyone driving a white car is rude. And I guarantee you'll see plenty of white cars and one or two of them may be driving aggressively ... in which case you'll perceive your theory is valid.

For the vast majority of Disney guests the delay in handling a wheelchair or ECV guest (regardless of how many people are in their party) is not significant in the grand scheme of things. There are far many other factors that could affect your waiting time much more significantly than that.

It seems on the internet everyone wants to dump on the ECV guests, but frankly I don't see the point. Even if the ECV guest had 12 people with them.. in most attractions that will not signicantly affect your waiting time.

Even the slowest loading attractions at Disney load well in excess of 250 people an hour. (Dumbo for example) Roughly four guests a minute on average.. most load at a rate much faster than that. So even if a wheelchair guest had 12 people with them.. your 'additional' average wait would be 3 minutes. I realize if you were actually in line for Dumbo which loads in cycle, you wait may have been increased by ride cycle time. However, almost all attractions at Disney are continuously loading ...

Three minutes or even eight minutes longer. It hardly seems a large sacrifice. And I can't imagine that happened to you on every attraction.

At the end of the day, if you have issues with how Disney handles differently abled guests, you should feel free to write a note to Disney's guest communications and share your feelings. Complaining about it on an anonymous internet message board won't probably change very much in reality.

Thanks,

Knox

 

[cabanafrau]

In response to the fact of the ECVs and the handicapped in general, it reminded me of a conversation I had with one of my sons when he was a little upset about having the handicapped being able to ride the rides and getting on the buses first.

I simply asked him if he would like to trade places with him: you take his body and mind, and get on the buses and rides first. Meanwhile, he takes your body and mind, patiently wait to get on buses and rides, and walk away from it with a healthy body and mind for the rest of his childhood.

Needless to say, he never complained about it again.

Exactly, there but for the grace of God . . .

I also have to say that when you catch sight of the lunkheads using them strictly as a lazy convenience in the park -- and operating them irresponsibly, to boot! Now, before anyone gets their dander up, I have no problem w/ people who need them using them -- whether or not I have the first clue about why they need them & where they do or don't fit into any line. I'm talking about honest-to-goodness, genuine, distinctly unpatriotic lunkheads who haven't the first clue they're not the only human being in the parks, either with paid admission or probably being underpaid to make it magical for the guests & operate ECVs as lethal missles and/or battering rams. Please may I never grow so small I can't manage to hold up my own portion of consideration and kindness for others, that's truly a very ugly handicap indeed.

 

[boxer]

he said " ah, well it was about a 130.00" There were 2 adults and one child no alcholic beverages the bill should have been between 70 to 80 bucks, I told him it was impossible the total was that much and I would like to see the bill, he then told me " sorry, we dont do that here"

I'm sorry but this is just plain funny........I love the fact that a resturant BUSINESS doesn't have receipts for thier customers.

I hope the IRS doesn't read internet messageboards, because I would love to see how they validate their income----

 

[drew64]

People make thier own magic at DW or anywhere with expectations/attitude. Letting silly things like 1 waiter or others using ECVs ruin your trip is silly. Address it, handle it, shrug it off and move on.

 

[jmpeterson70]

but what I do not think is right, is moving to the front of the line and THEN letting 8 or 9 ppl who are with the one person skip the the front as well.

I mean no offense, but I find it odd that you posted this immediately after saying "walk on to almost everything, the only thing that had a wait the entire week was 30 minutes on saturday for EE." Doesn't sound like the folks in wheelchairs had much of an impact on your wait times. Why complain?

We just returned from our first family trip to WDW. My 10-year-old daughter has Rett Syndrome and is in a wheelchair. It was nice to be able to keep the family together and go on attractions that we might not have been able to go on if we had to wait the full 30 minutes. I certainly didn't like knowing that on some attractions others had to wait longer -- and I certainly felt the stares as we passed by -- but if we hadn't been able to do so, her $75 ticket would have been for a nice walk in the park. (And as someone noted above, you really wouldn't want to trade places with us just to wait a few minutes less for a couple of attractions. If that's a "perk," it's about the only one I'm aware of).

 

[dopeyfanatic]

No receipt? I wouldn't have paid....

As for the ECV's, I think some people are getting hot headed for no reason. The OP didn't say they didn't like them, they complained about so many people jumping into line with them.

 

[allie_to_you]

I have seen more Electric wheel chairs in use this trip than at any time, which is fine for those who need them, but what I do not think is right, is moving to the front of the line and THEN letting 8 or 9 ppl who are with the one person skip the the front as well.

One thing I think you should try is to rent an ECV for the day in one of the parks, then come back here and tell us all the rides you went right to the front with little or no wait time for. Also be sure to take 10 extra people with you so that you can back up your previous statement. I think you'll find that you are totally off base with that one.

We just got back from Disney a few weeks ago and my DH is confined to a wheelchair. With the exception of shows that are required to let the wheelchair guests go first to the wheelchair seating area, we waited in line for every single ride, sometimes for a long time. Then, after waiting in line, we'd go to another line where we waited some more for a wheelchair accessible ride vehicle.

2nd - at Jak and Yeti - when we got the bill I asked the server for a total amount so I could know how much to tip him, he said " ah, well it was about a 130.00" There were 2 adults and one child no alcholic beverages the bill should have been between 70 to 80 bucks, I told him it was impossible the total was that much and I would like to see the bill, he then told me " sorry, we dont do that here" my wife not wanting me to make a scene still tipped him, I however would not have d/t the fact He was lying to me in order to recieve a larger tip.
3rd. the CM's while not rude by any means, did not seem to have the happy attitude as they have always had on past trips, it was like they were just going throught the motions.

I dont know... I just did not have the excitement and fun that we have always had on each and every trip, even my dd6 told me, and I NEVER thought i would hear it come from her, that she wanted to go to universal for our next trip....


Sorry for the Rant

Charles

I would have politely told the server..."since you don't do bills, I don't do tips"

 

[DOOM1001]

I don't understand you at all,you say you got the bill but you asked the server for a total to come up with a tip,what do you mean???Did you get a receipt that showed a total and everything that was rung up???People don't pay restaurant bills based on what total a server says it is,especially if you thought the amount was wrong???

As far as people who rent wheelchairs or ECV's to go ahead in line,I would consider them to be a small percentage of the people who legitimately need to rent them,we get a wheelchair for my grandma and if it wasn't for that she wouldn't be able to visit any park.