Bad advice boils my blood!

[mousermerf]

Ever hear someone give really bad advice for WDW and you just wanted to smack them?

Well, this is the thread to vent and share your favorite bad advice

My first rant is about Mike Scopa over at Mouseplanet.com, and his note in this week's WDW update (by Mark Goldhaber) that he could get into restaurants without a Priority Seating (now called "Reservations") this week.

This to me seems like a major abuse of the power he weilds with that website. Thousands of people read the website for updates, and if thousands of people follow his "tip" then there's gonna be a lot of unhappy people who get turned away.

WDW restaurants regularly turn walkups away. Did he try getting into Cinderella's? He didn't specify. He's been to WDW a million times though so i'm betting he wasn't doing a character meal, and he wasn't going to the most popular places. World Showcase for lunch? Sure, walk-up, you'll probably get in somewhere. MK for dinner? Good luck with that!!! How about any character meal? How about Ohana for dinner? Oo.. next we'll try walking up to California Grill right before the fireworks and then we'll see if we can get a Fantasmic Dinner Package at MGM by walking up! Oh joy! Can't wait!

Other suggested rants: telling people to rent a wheelchair to avoid lines, suggesting someone watch the fireworks from the Rose and Crown, and the various ways to try and make your child taller to meet a height requirement.

 

[Cecil]

Yes i hate when people tell me stuff and its wronge and all this stuff goes wronge and waste time!

 

[Bravesfn1]

Chill Out. It's just Disney World, don't take it so seriously. I think Mouseplanet is a decent web site for information. If this guy on this site has some info that might be wrong just ignore him. You seem to be more in the know than him anyway. People should try a variety of places to get advice on a specific topic/issue than rely on one random source of any kind on the internet. Relax...

 

[Scooter]

Not defending this guy, but my wife and I never make Reservations/Priority seating/ (whatever they're call this week) either.

We eat during the off hours and go to WDW in the off seasons thus avoiding crowds.

For instance, We eat Lunch at 11:00 or 11:30AM and then dinner at 4:40 or 5:00PM.

We've never needed a reservation and are almost always seated immediately this way.

Having said that we almost ALWAYS make reservations for charactor meals but have walked into Chef Mickeys without one and gotten seated immediately.

But I agree...for someone to say that they can do this during peak times and regular dinner/breakfast/lunch times, is giving a LOT of people the wrong impressions and information.

 

[mousermerf]

I think when you run a website that lots of people listen to, you have the responsibility to post "in non-peak times, off-hours, and with some luck" rather than just a blanket statement.

 

[MKCP 1985]

MKCP's Top Ten List of Bad Advice:

hee hee

10. Don't use fast pass. It is too confusing.

9. If you stay at the All Stars or Pop, take a bag with a swimsuit and a towel and drive over to the Polynesian to swim at its pool. They won't mind!

8. Don't worry about staking out a spot to watch the parade. Just show up as the parade is about to start and let your darling children push their way to the curb and squeeze in.

7. If you bought a refillable mug at any resort at any time in your life ever, take it with you on your next trip and fill up for free all you want, regardless of where you are staying. That soda doesn't cost Disney anything and you deserve free soda for what you are paying for your room, not to mention what you paid for that mug to begin with!

6. As long as you are outside, smoke wherever you like. You're outdoors, so what does it matter? It is a free country.

5. Take plenty of flash photos when you go on dark rides. Those spiels about "no flash photography" don't apply to you.

4. If anything bad happens on your trip, don't hesitate to give a piece of your mind to the nearest cast member. It is their job to give you a perfect vacation - remember what you paid for it! Rained out parades, attractions closed for refurbishment - all is fair game.

3. Save a bundle on your park tickets by purchasing used tickets on e-bay!

2. Don't fool with reservations for meals, especially if there is a particular restaurant your family really, really likes. Just show up around noon for lunch and around 7:00 for your evening meal with your hot and hungry kids and they will take pity on you and find you a table right away with no wait.

and finally,

1. Tell those rent-a-cop bag checkers to shove off. This is America and they don't have a warrant. You are taking your video camera bag and going in and they can just get over it! They can't really make you let them search your bag. There's a little thing called the CON-STI-TUTION, which means you can do what you want and they can't stop you.

Well, there you have it. A mixed bag of annoying behaviours, risky financial gambles and simply false information all designed to ruin your day and, possibly, the day of others around you. :wave:

 

[LilDucky]

Don't worry about staking out a spot to watch the parade. Just show up as the parade is about to start and let your darling children push their way to the curb and squeeze in.

Dont even get me started on this.... I know I'm 20, and they're five, but if Ive been waiting like and hour to watch Spectromagic, and my legs are cramping because of it, then I dont want some pushy parent to try to use their cute little cuddly 5 year old to get in front of me!

It used to work on me... until this parent asked me if they could let their kid stand in front of me (I agreed... I couldn't say no!), and slowly but surely, his whole family wound up in front of me, not just the kid!!!! Never again!!! I have learned my lesson.

Mousermerf, I also dont like it when people suggest to put someone in a wheelchair when they dont need it. My grandpa is an elderly gentlemen who cant do the whole day walk thats required, so we always put him in a wheelchair. Yes... sometimes it an advantage, but for every advantage, there is a disadvantage. Most of the newer rides have lines that are made to accomodate wheelchairs, so you wont be bypassing many lines. Some of the shows have not-so-great seating areas for wheelchairs, and some do. You are really not better off with a wheelchair.

 

[Number_6]

suggesting someone watch the fireworks from the Rose and Crown,

I'm not sure what the problem you have with this is, unless you mean that people are guaranteeing that everyone can sit outside and watch the fireworks for certain. If I mention this to people I do say that with luck, if they make the seating for between 6:30 and 6:45, then actually show up before that time, there is a good chance, but it is not definite, that they can be outside and still be there when the fireworks start. It's worked for me every time I've done it so far.

 

[Buzzforprez]

MKCP's Top Ten List of Bad Advice:


1. Tell those rent-a-cop bag checkers to shove off. This is America and they don't have a warrant. You are taking your video camera bag and going in and they can just get over it! They can't really make you let them search your bag. There's a little thing called the CON-STI-TUTION, which means you can do what you want and they can't stop you.

Well, there you have it. A mixed bag of annoying behaviours, risky financial gambles and simply false information all designed to ruin your day and, possibly, the day of others around you. :wave:

True there is a right to deny having your bags checked, but Disney also has the right to refuse admittance to anyone who will not obey their rules. Just try to get by and let me know how the park looks from the fast lane of route 4! :lol:

 

[Kadee]

I agree with you MKCP! It seems that a lot of people have gotten all of that bad advice and are following it regularly.


Another bit of bad advice: Don't waste money on the Disney resorts. The hotels off property are just as good and all you do is sleep and shower there.

**People just don't get it.

 

[se8472]

8. Don't worry about staking out a spot to watch the parade. Just show up as the parade is about to start and let your darling children push their way to the curb and squeeze in.

I have seen some bad stuff happen with people acting like that

 

[inafog]

Oddly enough, I met Mark Goldhaber at the Biergarten. His group of 5 was seated with my family group of 4; we were all there at 2 p.m. for lunch and none of us had a PS. Incidentally, he gave my DH a line pass for Test Track after we had spent over an hour trying to ride (we had FPs but the ride kept breaking down; DH had seen the preshow twice but had not made it to the car before the ride closed). He's a great guy and we had fun talking to him and his friends.

My favorite bad advice: Watch for airfare sales and then plan to go to WDW next week. Book offsite hotel that friends stay at and don't buy any tickets before you get there.

Sadly I have friends who did this and asked me for advice the day before they left. What I really wanted to tell them was put off the trip for six months and plan it out; you'll have more fun! DH told them to try not to think about how much the trip costs per minute. Thanks, DH...now let's all not think about pink elephants...

 

[awallaceunc]

:lol: I'm with you here. Hearing misinformation exchanged between guests is very aggravating (I have to resist jumping in... usually successfully ), but what really burns me up is when I hear a CM giving absolutely false information to a park guest. It's usually for something they *should* know the right answer to, but even if they don't know it, they shouldn't just make it up. :fork: I remember last year at Jiko, a table asked their waiter which park would be least crowded for fireworks and the waiter told them Magic Kingdom (and this was on the night of the 4th)... or maybe they asked if anyone besides MK had fireworks and were told no... it was something like that. :fork:

-Aaron

 

[Number_6]

Although I hate to say it, there are some CMs that after being asked the same question a whole bunch of times in a day(fireworks on July 4th, for example) will just start giving stupid answers on purpose. Technically, MK would be less crowded than Epcot because Epcot has a higher capacity. And since AK doesn't do a fireworks show and Disney-MGM has Fantasmic, but not usually anything else, then he was actually correct. He never said that they would be able to get into the park(MK reached capacity by around 10:30AM according to my managers).

 

[Rora]

I sure know how you feel. Someone told me they don't offer fastpasses for EMH. So I stood in line for Soarin for 90 minutes with the line barely moving, and having to watch a ton of people happily walking past us. I was a bit grumpy since my preference was to do Test Track instead, but I lost the vote.

 

[DisJosh]

MKCP's Top Ten List of Bad Advice:


7. If you bought a refillable mug at any resort at any time in your life ever, take it with you on your next trip and fill up for free all you want, regardless of where you are staying. That soda doesn't cost Disney anything and you deserve free soda for what you are paying for your room, not to mention what you paid for that mug to begin with!

I don't find this to be stupid advice at all. Using a mug from a different resort is pushing it, but if you're at the same resort at which you purchased the mug, I don't see the problem.

If this were such a problem I'm sure Disney would more closely monitor soda fountain usage at resort food courts. Disney may not be getting their soda free but I seriously doubt Disney or Coca Cola are losing out on money because guests have the foresight to save them selves a little extra cash each trip.

If anything I would think that Disney would be pleased to see guests returning vcation after vacation to their resorts and dishing out the thousands of dollars it costs to have such a vacation. The mugs are there for convenience and for money saving purposes to begin with. Free soda at your resort is a heck of a perk and I'm sure it plays a small part in what draws back alot of guests over and over.

 

[cynicall]

It is not mouseplanet's fault at all. You chose to follow his advise.

 

[Tom]

I don't find this to be stupid advice at all. Using a mug from a different resort is pushing it, but if you're at the same resort at which you purchased the mug, I don't see the problem.

If this were such a problem I'm sure Disney would more closely monitor soda fountain usage at resort food courts. Disney may not be getting their soda free but I seriously doubt Disney or Coca Cola are losing out on money because guests have the foresight to save them selves a little extra cash each trip.

If anything I would think that Disney would be pleased to see guests returning vcation after vacation to their resorts and dishing out the thousands of dollars it costs to have such a vacation. The mugs are there for convenience and for money saving purposes to begin with. Free soda at your resort is a heck of a perk and I'm sure it plays a small part in what draws back alot of guests over and over.

I've never purchased one myself, so I don't know what the posted rules are when you get a mug - but if they say something like, "Good for this vacation only." then you're stealing when you bring it back the next time - whether you believe you deserve it for paying a lot to stay in their resorts or not. You don't buy a medium drink at McDonald's, leave, then come back the next day and expect a free refill (well, maybe YOU do, but I don't).

As for CMs answering questions wrong on purpose or not: I'm one of those people (OCD) who has to know everything about anything I'm involved with. Mainly because I can't stand being asked a question and NOT being able to answer it. I work at the Indy 500 (the real one!) as a Yellow Shirt (Safety Patrol and Guest Services). I get lots of questions just like CMs do at WDW - and I make sure that I know every single answer....and if I don't, I immediately find a supervisor or another Yellow who does. I refuse to make up and answer or tell the person "I don't know" then blow them off. Of course, not everyone is like me - and obviously Disney has gotten so huge that they can't screen every single CM for qualities like this, as they used to. They get kids whose mommy is telling them they have to get a job, and that Disney is hiring - so they go sign up and do a half-assed job and don't care. It makes it a bummer of an experience for us all, and makes other GOOD CMs look bad too. I was asked what time the race started about 50 times in 2 hours. I could have been rude after the 20th time and made it up, or said I don't know, or said "12 you idiot!" - but I didn't. I used proper Customer Service practices and treated each and every instance of the question as if it was the first and only time anyone had ever asked me. Sure, it was frustrating to answer it the 50th time, but that was the first time that person asked me - so why treat them like an idiot?

 

[Tom]

9. If you stay at the All Stars or Pop, take a bag with a swimsuit and a towel and drive over to the Polynesian to swim at its pool. They won't mind!

There are whole threads on this issue, because so many people just think it's ok. It goes with my philosophy: just because you can get away with it or nobody is there to smack your hand and tell you "NO" doesn't make it legal, moral or ethical. People all to often think that just because they are paying more than they think is reasonable for something, that they can abuse their privileges and get what they think they deserve for that price. Swim in someone else's pool and you're cheating WDW and all the guests who acutally PAID to swim in that pool.

8. Don't worry about staking out a spot to watch the parade. Just show up as the parade is about to start and let your darling children push their way to the curb and squeeze in.

UGH! Should have gotten there 2 hours early like me, eh Junior?

5. Take plenty of flash photos when you go on dark rides. Those spiels about "no flash photography" don't apply to you.

Good luck on this one! Don't you realize that the world revolves around me and I WANT PICS OF THIS RIDE, so I'M GONNA TAKE THEM!

 

[cherrynegra]

Actually, I have to admit that I've never received bad advice from people here at magic. Everyone is very kind to share what's worked for them with particular situations. I find that you just have to tailor whatever advice you follow to your situation. And then everything seems to work out in the end.