About the hotels...

[goofyfordisney]

Hello All,

I recently created a post about "disney hotels not being up to par"


I made it clear in the post that I always do and always am going to stay in Disney Hotels. (MY GOAL IS TO STAY AT EVERY HOTEL OPERATED BY DISNEY!).

Everyone had very good points about location, and the monorail, and I couldnt agree more. I guess I got caried away, and I am going to tell you why.

As anyone who has read my posts knows that I am a HUGE disney fan (arent we all?) my parents always tried to make it at least 4-5 times a year, since I was 4, (im 21 now, and I make sure I make it there that many times), anyways, over the years I have seen quality go down

I always stay at Disney hotels, so I never saw anything else. The last 3-4 years, I have noticed Disney losing some "magic". Hotel rooms dirty, or employees being "un-disney". I have never been able to go to another park, i.e., Universal, or Busch Gardens because everyone I went with would get ed because I would spend the day saying "Disney wouldnt do that", or "Disney would do that differently, or "that guy would never be hired, if this were Disney" But lately I cant say that.

Again, I am not saying Disney sucks. I fully understand that Disney is a corporation, like any other, and has employees that dont always work like they should, but what is going on?

Has Disney gotten too big, and they cant handle it?

Again, I repeat, I still and always will love disney, I am just saying what I notice. Perhaps the bottom line is when I was younger I didnt pay attention to the things that I do pay attention to now.

Maybe when I was yougner I never thought of Disney as a corporation, but instead as another world, which was perfect in every way. And now that I am older, I pick at even the smallest things, because I now realize that its not perfect.

Oh Well, I still love DISNEY, and I always will.

Let me know what you think!



:sohappy:

 

[ToTBellHop]

Disney obviously employs thousands of Cast Members...many of them get paid very little, and given that there has been an increase in the number of employees since Animal Kingdom opened, it is harder and harder to find people willing to earn very little for the job. The people with the higher paying jobs are just as awesome as ever--performers, chefs, IMAGINEERS! Where you see shortcomings is in food service, ride ops, and room cleaners. It's simply because there are not enough "nice" people for all of those jobs who are willing to get paid very little, and since SOMEONE has to fill those positions for the company to function, they have to...how shall I put this...lower their standards...will that work? I mean...wherever possible, they try to put the nicer people on rides and the people who...can't really speak English too well at the restaurants, simply based on guest interaction. As for the dirtiness...perhaps we should be angrier at the jerks making all the messes...but, I do understand you, the guest's, viewpoint ("I pay big bucks for stuff to be CLEAN!") And you are right! But realize that the property has gotten so large that it is nearly impossible to keep everything spotless anymore, and given some of the nasty people who visit the World (which I have noticed more and more of--which is completely out of Disney's control), I think disney does a hell of a job at keeping their parks clean--clearly better than Six Flags, Universal, or Sea World, and they all basically charge the same prices at this point. As for your hotel room being dirty, I hope you reported this to Guest Relations. THAT is ridiculous, and I cannot say that I have ever gone into a hotel room that was not spotless...I've always been extremely impressed with the way they make up the rooms...I'm fairly certain that they would at least give you a free meal if you reported something as ridiculous as that...what do you mean by "dirty", anyway? I mean...I could see my reflection in the wooden floors at Animal Kingdom Lodge, the rest rooms were spotless, and so was my room...I saw IMPECABLE service this year. I don't know about the other resorts, but at this point, the Cast Members at Animal Kingdom Lodge have mastered the TEAM approach to being a Cast Member (Together, Everyone Achieves Magic). Granted I could never quite understand the lady who took my order at The Mara...it was still great. Haha...here was our daily conversation...

Kyle: Can I have waffles with fruit topping, please?
Rosetta: Bacon o sausage?
Kyle: Actually, I'd like fruit topping, please.
Rosetta: Sausage?
Kyle: Haha...no...fruit topping, please.
Rosetta: Bacon?
Kyle: Sure...thank you.

It was FUN! Oh..how I love Disney! Anyway, hope I answered your question in my characteristic wordy, convoluted fashion!
Kyle

 

[Ursula]

What do you mean by "dirty" ?

How about the toilet not clean, I could see "spots" on the sit and the floor where the toilet has been used before.
It was 9 pm when I arrived after driving about 10 h. and after the waitting period for checking in, it was not pleasent to have to wait for 45 min. for some one to come and clean

 

[AJAX]

My wife and her sisters spent 4 days at WDW from 2/11 thru 2/14. As a veteran, her report upon return was not encouraging. They visited all 4 theme parks, and noticed a marked decrease in the cleanliness standard that we've come to expect.
She also said that the flower beds through out all the parks were in need of work, and weren't nearly as pretty as on prior trips.
And to top it off, they ran into a server at the 'Prime Time Cafe' who was just plain rude, not withstanding the 'culture' of that restaurant.
Their server had told them the usual; elbows off the table, clean your plates, etc. They thought they'd play the game and clear the table of their appetizer plates, so they put them on an adjacent table that had not been bussed. The server in charge of the 'dirty' table saw them, and walked over to read them the riot act. She was not 'playing the game', she was being rude.
BTW, the extra dishes on her table comprised of two serving plates, and five bread plates, all of which were cleaned up by an uncomplaining busboy.
We e-mailed Customer Relations upon our return, but received no response.
I hope this isn't a portent of things to come, as WDW has always been for us a port in the storm that American society has become.

 

[The Mom]

I was also at WDW in early February. I also noticed some of the above mentioned problems, but also got the feeling that crowds were much larger than anticipated (they were certainly larger than I expected!!!), and ALL areas were being overwhelmed. I don't think Disney expected tourism to pick up as quickly as it did...they had responded to the slowdown after 9/11, and hadn't gotten back up to speed. This doesn't excuse rude behavior, just explains it.

 

[JoeZerboy]

As another person who has grown up going to the Disney properties in Florida, I can empathize with some areas not seeming as well kept as usual. But as far as the other companies that were mentioned are concerned [ie: Six Flags and Universal] I'd like to offer my comments.

I am now a resident of Metro Atlanta [since 97] and the Six Flags here doesn't seem to have the same polish and panache of the Florida parks [and I mean all the big ones: WDW, Universal, IOA and Busch Gardens]. In fact, it seems to have a layer of grit that is imperceptable by most...but I notice it with my WDW raised eyes.

Now, for Universal and IOA. I think that these parks hold up to WDW standards of cleanliness and finesse. And eventhough WDW holds a special place in my heart, IOA has outdone WDW with some of the architecture they use. Whenever I am on line for Dueling Dragons, the RPG'er in me wets himself with the neo-realistic look of the castle. And who can not help but smile when walking through Suess Landing?? And to think those oddly curved and angled buildings were sculpted out of styrofoam...

I've seen Busch Gardens get better over the years...and Sea World looks to have made a nice turn around since Busch took over a few years ago [still have yet to try the Krakken].

I think the major difference between the Central Florida parks and those out of state is that Florida has the climate where they can be operating 365 days a year [barring hurricanes and such] and have to be presentable for guests everyday; while parks like Six Flags [except maybe Magic Mountain] are only open generally from March/April through September/October...and the parent companies don't manage them all that well.

Granted, I call Atlanta home now, but Orlando is still my top destination for a break from the everyday. Hope this made sense...

J :goodnevil

 

[ToTBellHop]

personally...I would have asked for a different room if I came in and it was that nasty. If a waitress was that rude to me I would not have waited till I got home to e-mail them...all you get when you e-mail is either a canned response or nothing...I would have demanded to speak with the manager or been down at Guest Relations demanding a refund! Now..the gardens being unkempt...I was there in February and did not notice this...some of the plants were not in bloom but it WAS the middle of winter...you cannot possibly expect every Cast Member to be one of the nicest people on the planet...there are simply not enough nice people to fill every disney position at the wages they pay. Raise the wages? Sure...if you don't mind paying $70 to get in. Now...IoA being better quality? Let's see...what did I experience...OH YES...the workers on Dr. Doom's Fearfall were smoking and they didn't check our shoulder harnasses! I walked into that characteristic nasty bathroom with toilet paper all over the place (which I have experience at disney, so I will admit it is not the park's fault, but the morons who feel the need to do this and the people who walk into the rest room and act like nothing is going on...) and the rafts on Bluto's smelled like mildew and were slimey! I certainly was not impressed...I will give you that Dueling Dragons' queue is amazing, but the theming stops once you board the trains. Tower of Terror's queue is amazing; so is Splash Mountain's...but the theming continues and gets BETTER as you board your ride vehicles! That is something I saw very little of at Islands, and there was no shortage of cheap, broken Audio Animatronics there...even if our Cast Members are sometimes rude, I have never seen one compromise Guest safety.

 

[tinkrbel]

I have to agree totally with DogsRule! We once had a problem with the room ..not really nasty but there was sand in the bed and on the floor in the bathroom and there was a baby bottle in one of the drawers that had sour milk in it. ( this was at the CBR) and during that same stay our maid service was very off. I called and they did come clean the room while we were at the parks. But during our stay our cups came up missing , including our Resort Mugs. and the maid/ maids never did any to the special touches we had been use to. so when I got home I sat down and wrote a letter to Mr. Al Weiss. We were sent a very nice letter back from someone at the CBR and sent new Resort Mugs. (even though we had bought new ones to replace the missing ones) and we were offered a free night on our next stay. I havent ever used that free night but we havent stayed at the CBR since then, we have been staying at other resorts. So I think if your really unhappy then you should tell them.

Mr. Al Weiss, 1375 E. Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista, Fl. 32830

31 days to go

 

[The Mom]

Interestingly, when I had similar problems with the room at the Portofino at US, they removed the (2 night) charge from my credit card!

I guess #2 has to try harder.

I will add, however, that I pointed out a problem with the room design that could have cost them hundreds of thousands in lawsuits. On my last visit, I noticed that the problem had been corrected.

 

[figmentmom]

Several years ago, we stayed at Port Orleans in April. Unfortunately, so did an entire visiting high school marching band. Now, my husband and I, both music teachers ourselves, are used to dealing with high-spirited kids - but these kids were out of control, running around screaming until all hours, slamming doors...you get the idea. Several phone calls to the front desk proved fruitless in resolving the situation. The next morning, we insisted on speaking in person with someone in charge. Eventually, we met with a very courteous young woman who, after telling us that "after all, it is THEIR (the band's) vacation, too!" did offer us a free breakfast at Bonfamilles. She had, by the way, no explanation for why no one spoke to the marauding kids the night before.

 

[Beauty and the]

Originally posted by figmentmom
Several years ago, we stayed at Port Orleans in April. Unfortunately, so did an entire visiting high school marching band. Now, my husband and I, both music teachers ourselves, are used to dealing with high-spirited kids - but these kids were out of control, running around screaming until all hours, slamming doors...you get the idea. Several phone calls to the front desk proved fruitless in resolving the situation. The next morning, we insisted on speaking in person with someone in charge. Eventually, we met with a very courteous young woman who, after telling us that "after all, it is THEIR (the band's) vacation, too!" did offer us a free breakfast at Bonfamilles. She had, by the way, no explanation for why no one spoke to the marauding kids the night before.

I appreciate how you must have felt with your sleep being disturbed etc. but is that Disney's fault or the incompetent irresponsible people who were in charge of the children?

 

[GoofyMike29]

Dogs Rule I am with you. Not once have I ever experienced anything bitter at Disney, ever. If something is not up to peoples expectations, say something and Disney will fix it.
My father always complains and he has in the past in Disney and we got a free meal at the Rainforest in the Animal Kingdom. Blieve me when I say it, Disney's number one concern is customer service.

 

[The Mom]

Originally posted by Beauty and the


I appreciate how you must have felt with your sleep being disturbed etc. but is that Disney's fault or the incompetent irresponsible people who were in charge of the children?

I agree that it wasn't Disney's FAULT that the kids were out of control, but they should have spoken to the chaperones, etc to resolve the problem, or ask them to leave. That being said, sometimes different people have different tolerances for noise. I remember staying in a hotel with my husband, daughter, baysitter, and 3 month old for 3 nights. The people in the next room were constantly calling the desk about all of our noise, and I honestly don't think we were making any out of the ordinary, except 2AM feedings, which I took care of as quickly as possible! They started complaining about the TV interfering with their sleep at 8PM every night, then would complain because we "made noise" at 6 AM!!!

 

[WDI3423]

I think maybe after 9/11 Disney might have cut down on the number or quality of their servers/cast members, etc. I don't mind if it is a little dirty. I mean, NOTHING is perfect. And you have got to admit, WDW is pretty darn close. Sure there will be mishaps here and there. And there will be dirt or a rude server every now and then. But look at the overall impression. Look at this gigantic world where once you walk in you feel the magic that is created by Disney. Quite frankly I find it to be AMAZINGLY clean. If you read how many people are actually there in one single day it is unbelievable! And to think they keep almost every aspect of the parks perfect. It takes hard work and careful planning to do what they do there. I have been to some other theme parks, where I wouldn't even want to step in the bathroom, or touch the hand railings on rides. WDW is incredibly clean. I cannot be that critical on something so vastly large and busy. Yes it would make all the difference if it was problem free. But it is not. So we can enjoy the wonderful and amazing aspects of WDW and put aside or manage with the small and unimportant flaws.

 

[s25843]

I live far up in the Northeast(Massachusetts) and try to make it down to WDW at least once (or sometimes twice) a year. In the past 10 years, yes I have seen quality and value for my $$ go down. But latley, I have not seen much of the problems that everyone is complaining about, maybe its because I stay in suites, and eat in high end resturants, and everyone there is very very Disney Like. But Face it people, compared to the real world, Disney is still a magical place. Its all about $$ these days, and everyone will do somthing extra to save some money, like in Disney's case, closing down rides (and yes I did complain about that) and doing some staff cutting,, and granted that they still maintain a pretty clean place for such a big property. For a second I am going to compare it to my Flight on American Airlines going down to Orlando. I am an AA frequent Flyer, and I have racked up quite a few miles, so I use em for first class upgrades. On this most recent flight in First Class, I would have much rather been in Economy. It was a first flight of the day, and the plane should have been spotless, however it was a MESS, they couldnt even take the hassle of puling the tray tables out of the armrests and cleaning them. When I complained about it, I got a simple letter, and thats that, no phone call no nothing. When I complained about the cutbacks at Disney, they took the bother to write me a letter, and spend 20 minutes chatting on the phone about it, with me. I guess what im trying to say is, dont complain about the little things, and live with, maybe a little longer check in line, or somthing of that sort

 

[Disney_Freak:oþ]

Originally posted by WDI3423
I think maybe after 9/11 Disney might have cut down on the number or quality of their servers/cast members, etc. I don't mind if it is a little dirty. I mean, NOTHING is perfect. And you have got to admit, WDW is pretty darn close. Sure there will be mishaps here and there. And there will be dirt or a rude server every now and then. But look at the overall impression. Look at this gigantic world where once you walk in you feel the magic that is created by Disney. Quite frankly I find it to be AMAZINGLY clean. If you read how many people are actually there in one single day it is unbelievable! And to think they keep almost every aspect of the parks perfect. It takes hard work and careful planning to do what they do there. I have been to some other theme parks, where I wouldn't even want to step in the bathroom, or touch the hand railings on rides. WDW is incredibly clean. I cannot be that critical on something so vastly large and busy. Yes it would make all the difference if it was problem free. But it is not. So we can enjoy the wonderful and amazing aspects of WDW and put aside or manage with the small and unimportant flaws.

I totally agree!!!! these people are being so picky...disney world is very clean for having like over a million people a day or something....and it's very well kept...i agree with you all the way..i couldn't see being in a bad mood working at disney though...that would be cool

 

[ToTBellHop]

I could see being in a bad mood. Step in the shoes of a janitor. You get paid very little, and walk into a bathroom where some morons have thrown toilet paper all over the place and you have to clean it up...or you work in a restaurant, again, don't make much money, and you have some bratty nine-year-old throwing his food on the ground, you go over to clean it up, and he throws food at you. You just have to realize that when you see a mess, and it's not there an hour later, someone had to clean it up. I feel sorry for those people. My personal favorite is when someone is smoking, throws their cigarette butt on the ground, walks twenty feet and complains about the mess. All I can say is: if you see a problem AND see the people CAUSING the problem, instead of getting ticked off at disney, approach the jerks who lack manners and tell them they need to stop doing what they are doing...you can even be like me! Get one of those Guest of Honor nametags and dress up like a Cast Member (disney merchandise)...people will think you are a Cast Member! IT'S GREAT!! The jerks listen to you and others will turn to you for your disney expertise (people would literally walk up to me and ask directions!)! Also..if it's a small problem, perhaps try cleaning it up yourself. Think about it...if we keep the number of janitors down, more money can go to building new attractions! As for rude Cast Members, if you tell Guest Relations, the worst that will happen is you will get a free meal!