Have I Become Jaded?

[pax_65]

Well, that was one of the original selling points for the hard-ticket parties -- enjoy the MK with smaller crowds.

I was thinking the same thing, and it makes perfect sense and works for everyone - if you don't want to pay more for the party, don't... if you do, then you get to enjoy the parks with a lower crowd level.

The only flaw in this logic is that they are shortening the regular park hours to accommodate the parties, so the regular pass doesn't provide the value it used to provide (and they don't discount the passes because of it).

Example... if you look at the calendar for the first week of December, the Magic Kingdom closes at 6pm Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to accommodate 4 Christmas parties that week! In years past, the MK would be open until 10 or 11pm those nights except for maybe one Christmas party. Since the Magic Kingdom is our favorite park, that's a pretty big deal to us.

Also... the MK crowd levels increase on the other 3 nights since everyone will want to go those nights since they are the only nights the park is open. So the nighttime crowd is spread over 3 nights instead of 6 or 7 because of the parties.

 

[mitchk]

So you got $150.00, free dining, anything else.

No, I had my $50 refunded, and got a free upgrade dinning plan

 

[D M C]

We just had a 6 day trip that ended on Oct 1st. We had a nice trip, but the end of night bus service was terrible. It looks like Disney would add extra buses at park closing times. We did have a good trip and I have a trip that starts on Dec 17th. This is our 1st trip without a dining plan. Wow, I know it will be crowded but I feel that if we go with the flow and don't rush it will be a great trip. This will be our 1st Christmas trip, can't wait.

 

[Magenta Panther]

We just had a 6 day trip that ended on Oct 1st. We had a nice trip, but the end of night bus service was terrible. It looks like Disney would add extra buses at park closing times. We did have a good trip and I have a trip that starts on Dec 17th. This is our 1st trip without a dining plan. Wow, I know it will be crowded but I feel that if we go with the flow and don't rush it will be a great trip. This will be our 1st Christmas trip, can't wait.

But you are making dining reservations in advance, right? I'd highly recommend it.

 

[BrunoTaTa]

Value is in the eye of the beholder. Objectively, it is clear that the parks are busy, which for those who have little patience for crowds and modern concepts of courtesy, ruins the experience. So, while YOU may not mind waiting in lines for simple things like food and drink, or even a bathroom, which we take for granted in the outside world (for half the price!) others may be bothered by it. I choose not to pay premium prices for a mediocre experience, at a business with fat margins that still insists on cutting staff the minute crowds aren't massive, so that you still wait around more than you would at any business in the outside world, businesses who would love to enjoy WDW type profit margins. Therefore, I am choosy when I visit and what I do. It requires more planning, but it is worth it. I have 6 days of park passes left on a 10 day, and after that, I doubt I would return again for 5 years or more, if ever. We own a beach condo a 90 minute drive away, so by dropping a mere one night's stay to Disney coffers we can enjoy a couple of days at the park. No way I would fly in, pay for a week or more, plus passes, food, etc, and consider that money well spent. It's not so much the quality, which I find ok, but the higher attendance which means you're paying $1,000/day or more to sit around and wait a lot.

Would you go to a restaurant where once you enjoyed perfect food and your reservation was honored on time, if now the food wasn't as good and you waited 20 minutes?

Continuing to pay for something that is worse than it once was merely guarantees it will continue to get worse.

 

[BrunoTaTa]

So we turned up two days late for our vacation (due to unforseen flight issues) at 11pm of the night of our Halloween party resevation. The young girl at the checkin offered us the choice of any other MNssHP for the entire 2 week stay ( even though the later parties were more expensive) that is Disney not having any customer service and were just seperating us from our money ?
Keep on banging your drum of falsehoods.
As for the rest. There has always been more to Florida than Disney and it has always been cheaper.

Giving you passes to a non-sold-out event costs them nothing and results in goodwill. You will then come back and drop $5,000 for their $0 investment. Every time you interact with them they have a screen that shows your spending habits with them. Just like in Vegas. Except nobody pretends the people in Vegas have charity in mind when they give you perks there.

 

[King Racoon 77]

Giving you passes to a non-sold-out event costs them nothing and results in goodwill. You will then come back and drop $5,000 for their $0 investment. Every time you interact with them they have a screen that shows your spending habits with them. Just like in Vegas. Except nobody pretends the people in Vegas have charity in mind when they give you perks there.

 

[Disneyworld_here_we_come]

I agree with a lot of other people that maybe going often can lead to these jaded feelings. Ive noticed that a lot of people on these threads go to Disney fairly frequently. I personally have only been 3 times. Once in 92, which I dont remember much of, then in 2010 and again last month. I spent months on these forums in order to get a feel for what was going on and what to expect and any advice or tips I could find. I was lucky, my trip was magical. We did 2 days at Universal and 1 at Legoland and 7 at Disney. For my husband and I, we still felt like Disney was a magical and superior place. I read all the comments about the parks being run down or the rides needing repairs, the negative comments about the transportation and crowds and food and prices. Honestly I was terrified that I was going to be so disappointed for building Disney up in my head. However that wasnt the case. The room was great (AKL 2 bedroom) the food was great, the service was almost always great. Most lines were in the 20-45 min wait which is better than I expected. Maybe because I went in expecting large crowds I was never put off by it, I was happy in my world. My boss talked me into trying the buses and they were great too! Yes occasionally we had to wait, especially when busy but never for longer than 15-20 mins. After a day at Legoland, which we felt had a sort of run down feeling, we thought Disney looked at felt amazing. Universal was wonderful, especially Harry Potter world, but it disnt have that magic that we get from Disney. Although we will probably always visit both parks when in Orlando. Fingers crossed for 2020.
Im sorry the hotel manager didnt live up to expectations. Maybe he was having a bad day, maybe hes just an awful manager, we wont really know. Sometimes I get defensive when I read things like that because as someone who worked in customer service until about 1.5 years ago I know the struggle. Ive had people threaten to kill me, throw things at me, call me all kinds of names (and as an overweight woman, they had no problem pointing that out). Sometimes you're having a bad day, and yes your job is to not bring that to work, but we're all human and no one is perfect. Like I said he could also just suck at his job.
I know I'll probably be ripped to shreds for this, but I feel like there is a lot of negativity on these forums, I try to look past it so I can get helpful information for my next trip. I just dont understand why, if you arent happy with Disney, why keep going? Obviously you were saying you were thinking about not going for awhile. Maybe a few years away will make it a happier place for you when you come back.
Just my opinion and experience, please be kind to me if you respond. Thank you.

 

[King Racoon 77]

@Disneyworld_here_we_come well said.

 

[LAKid53]

I hear you, its crazy, we always keep cash, credit cards, and other valuables in the safe, but this card was hidden in a drawer that my wife had her undergarments in.... I told her it was kind of her fault, but man, to pay what we did a night, you would think we wouldn't have to worry about thieves ... but they are everywhere

And that employee was searching for something to steal. No other way to explain opening the drawer in a dresser and rumaging through a guest's undergarments. Plus, the safes are small. Why can't the safes be like the ones in the newer resorts - larger with a code you input rather than the wall safe with a key?

 

[LAKid53]

I would do the obvious stuff and I would sue them.

It woukd cost you more to sue than the amount that was illegally charged. And your credit card company will refund the charge.

 

[IanDLBZF]

Why can the safes be like the ones in the newer resorts - larger with a code you input rather than the wall safe with a key?

Examples?

 

[Pixieish]

Examples?

Great Wolf Lodge NE - the safes are HUGE. You can literally put 4 iPads, 3 phones, a men's and woman's wallet, and a large purse and have room to spare.

 

[LAKid53]

I’d sue to make a point that I’m not OK with it. I fully understand how credit cards work.

Really? Then expect the judge to admonish you for a frivolous lawsuit. And possibly award damages in the form of costs incurred to the other side....

 

[King Racoon 77]

Examples?

Not the best but this was at the Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda.

 

[LAKid53]

So I worked in the hospitality industry for quite a while and studied at Temple University Event leadership program in their school of tourism, although I didn't make it my career I do want to point out a few "truism".

When you are in any type of "customer service" industry, whether it's selling a product or offering a service, First response is crucial. Studies have shown that the vast majority of customers experiencing a problem DO NOT want any type of compensation, what they want is to feel that their problems are taken seriously and that their concerns are being addressed.

When I was in school the famous case studies they used were the Tylenol poisoning incident and the Mcdonalds coffee burn suit.
The makers of Tylenol are the example of handling a horrible situation and coming out relatively well. When the first case popped up Tylenol immediately addressed the problem, reassured the consumer, and mitigated all legal issues resulting in a restored public image.
Mcdonalds is the case of "what not to do". had they simply addressed the womans claims and handle it seriously they would not have suffered the PR disaster they did.

The problem with Disney is their front line staff is ill prepared, disinterested and cannot make any type of decision. Case in point, when you call from your hotel room with a problem you don't even get the desk of your hotel, you get some bs central location. let me tell you I have worked in just about every price point hotel. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE ELSE gets away with that crap. I have a problem with my room and I now have to physically go downstairs to the lobby to get immediate service?? and that's a good business model?? bull.

The reality is HAD the front desk manager shown proper attentiveness and concern, the op probably would not have had to take it a step further. Had guest services swooped in, made an effort and rectified the situation without trying to make crappy excuses (oh it's Florida, of course their are roaches. Seriously??? hell yeah you would have been in hot water with that lousy excuse) I'm willing to bet a huge amount of cash that the 150 would not have been needed.

If you want an example of the difference. My late hubby and I did an anniversary trip to Vegas for my 50th. we stayed at Cesears, the room was gorgeous. anyhoo, a manager stopped by the room about 15 minutes after checking in to make sure our room was satisfactory and my husband jokingly mentioned that the handle on the toilet "jiggled". lol 20 minutes after that a team of bell service arrived to move us up to another room. 2nd room was even more phenomenal than the first. we spent the entire day apologizing to the staff because we were joking. and this happens constantly at Vegas.

Had a similar service at a hotel in SF. One afternoon, a manager knocked on our door with a member of housekeeping. He said that they were there to change the featherbed mattress topper because when housekeeping was servicing our room earlier, they noticed the topper wasn't as soft and fluffy as it should be. I told him it wasn't necessary as I hadn't noticed it and the bed was fine. He told me that the bed would not be up to the hotel's standard and that it would only take a few minutes to change the topper. And he apologized for disturbing us. This was a nice hotel in SF, but not a 5 star. I was shocked, as they could have waited until we checked out the following week. But they felt it was important to fix immediately.

 

[LAKid53]

Lol, you're too funny. You didn't post anything factual. The law is way too complex for you to just dismiss a hypothetical case as unwinnable. You simply cannot know that. I guarantee you I would win if I sued them. Facts, you can't argue against them.

No one thought OJ could win either. Except he did.

First, you'd end up in small claims court. Second, most states have implemented mediation to handle small claims like yours. Three, the judge would ask if you'd been compensated by your credit card company. Fourth, the judge would deny your claim and admonish you for wasting the court's time. And point out that you were suing the wrong individual. And the other party would immediately ask that you pay THEIR costs.

Now, if you wanted to make this a criminal matter, you're not the one suing. It would be up to the state attorney for the 9th judicial circuit in Florida to determine if your case has merit to file criminal charges. And I doubt he/she would.

 

[LAKid53]

Examples?

Poly and GF have safes that are built into a shelf in the closet. So instead of the safe on the wall that's not very deep, these safes are more like a large cubbyhole. I can fit my entire purse, camera, tablet, iPod and jewelry in with no problems...and still have room. Plus, I punch in a 4 digit code I choose, rather than carrying around a key.

 

[LAKid53]

Not the best but this was at the Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda.
View attachment 245953

That's pretty similar to the ones at Disney.

 

[GoofGoof]

We did 2 days at Universal and 1 at Legoland and 7 at Disney. For my husband and I, we still felt like Disney was a magical and superior place.

I liked your whole post but I did want to highlight this one sentence. Anyone complaining about long lines at WDW should never, ever step foot in Legoland. I think it’s a really cool park and I loved the miniature area but the lines for rides were outrageous when we were there in June. The queues were also not setup like Disney so the wait was both hot and boring.

We just got back from WDW and while the crowds were bigger than I expected for the time of year they were very manageable. We did nearly every ride and attraction in all 4 parks over 8 days and never waited more than 25 minutes for anything with a little creative FP planning. The only exception was Rockin Roller Coaster when half of my party went on because the sign for the standby line said 20 minutes but it was actually broken and the line ended up being close to an hour. The CM at the front apologized and said they were trying to fix it. I was not personally in that line so I don’t count it

I also agree with your general point that the attitude and tone from some people here is over the top jaded. It amazes me that some people have such a negative experience but still visit every year or multiple times a year. If I had half the issues some people claim to have I’d never be back. I can tell you that the standard response will be that the people complaining are true fans of the parks and upset to see things not hold up to the standards of the past. You may also be told that if your oldest trip that you remember is 2010 that you don’t have a point of reference for the true golden age of WDW in the 80s and 90s. This is a somewhat valid point. The overall quality has gone down hill (with the rest of society). If you compare WDW of today to most other theme or amusememt parks it’s still the gold standard (along with Universal) but if you compare WDW to itself 25 years ago it doesn’t stand up as well.