I saw that
@WDWFigment dropped by with his perspective on DLP's 25th and since operations issues were his biggest complaint (mine too!) I think that's the next logical topic.
Simply put, they are a disaster. And not in the way I typically read on Disney forums. The ones that talk about lousy, lazy, non-English-speaking French CMs as the problem.
No, they were pretty much wonderful. The CMs now are much better than even a decade ago. And in parts of four days at the resort, we never encountered someone who couldn't communicate or understand us in English. I would venture to say that at least 75% of those we encountered were completely fluent in English, maybe with an accent but so what? I don't know how many times I've dealt with WDW CMs who had little or no English comprehension. Service is different there. They aren't going to keep telling you to "Have a MAGICal Day!" They aren't going to rush out into MSUSA to dance with your little princess. But that isn't what they're supposed to do.
Unfortunately, the biggest issue with DLP right now is it simply doesn't have enough of them. The resort is woefully understaffed in a manner that can be jarring when coming from the USA, which doesn't compete with staffing at the China parks or can even compete with Tokyo's.
Crowd control during the parades seemed generally fine. Even saw CMs go out and grab people who attempted to take pics in the middle of MSUSA as the floats were winding their way down.
But during Illuminations it was another matter. Indeed, two of the three times we saw the show, we didn't notice ANY crowd control CMs or organisation at all. The final night AFTER the show we saw two in the Hub near Discoveryland. If you don't think this is importance, why don't you ask yourself what a crowd like would do if it thought it heard a gunshot (like a balloon bursting). People also climb up into planters and other places they don't belong. One would think Disney, about to be the owner of the place, might realise the legal implications of this. Not yet.
Now, I never felt unsafe. But it also wasn't exactly a hugely busy period. A month from now will be a different tale.
Not having enough staffing pops up in other ways. On a bright, sunny, warm day, imagine kids pulling at the door to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream shop only to find it isn't open yet (was close to noon). Imagine wanting something from the Bakery at 7 p.m. (when the park is open until 11) and finding out that it was closed an hour earlier? Imagine looking for food because a fair number of QSRs are closed or on very limited operating hours.
This is the big issue. Money and people are the solution.
Even when there is staffing, it doesn't always seem organised for efficiency. Gibson Girl, for example, closed at 9:30 every night we were there. One night we walked in at 9:15. One CM was taking the orders and ringing up the Guests. One. There was another but she was busy cleaning the coffee machines for the night. So, imagine having a small line of 10 people (and twice two groups of two left and walked out). Approaching 9:30, I finally ordered and looked behind when I heard noise. People were trying to get into the now locked facility and FOUR CMs were standing around the entrance to tell them it was closed. That just should never happen. Will someone in Burbank or Georgie K please forward this to CEO HotAussieCathy? You don't screw with ice cream ... especially very good Ben and Jerry's instead of the boring crap they serve in the swamps.
Operations deficiencies move into the attractions area as well. Every day we were there the Railroad had waits of between 25-60 minutes (yes, you read that right). Being that I haven't ridden the rails since at least 2012 (maybe longer) I wanted to see how all the work on Frontierland looked from the train ... and ... like Old Dead Guy Walt ... I love the trains too. But we never rode. Why? Two lovely French CMs broke out into ABBA's "Money, Money, Money..." when we inquired. You see DLP has four trains just like WDW and DL do. But they only run one every day, regardless of crowds. At least, they say the others are being maintained and not left to rot like the Mark Twain. But they should have had 2-3 operating.
Same thing with Star Tours. You have six sims, but are running two?
Those two attractions were by far the worst examples. Everything else was better, but c'mon ...
I know it's hard when Disney execs start crossing the line, but please try. Thank you.
