I'm Back!

[mightyduck]

Woohoo! Just walked in from my last-minute Disney trip. It was fantastic! Thanks to all who gave advice--I had so much fun! Except for last night when my flight to Philly was cancelled and I stayed in Kentucky instead....

I told Mickey some of you all would see him real soon!

Best parts of Disney trip (in no particular order):
*live shows
*RnR coaster (I DID IT! I was very brave and kept my eyes closed most of the time)
*Kali River Rapids (soaked!)
*Splash Mountain
*Fantasmic

Worst parts:
*2 solid days of rain
*rude tour groups (they need to do something about this...)
*parents running into the backs of my calves with strollers
*people who refuse to wait their turn (line jumping was way too popular this trip_

Thanks, y'all!

Jenny

 

[wdwmagic]

Welcome back!!

I know what you mean about the tour groups. They were going nuts over at Epcot several times during my trip. They arenot as bad as they were 4 or 5 years ago though, but they still can be a pain in the butt. I saw about 50 give their tickets to a CM to get FASTPASSs for eveyone of them - and he did it!!!

I thought they had rules about how big a tour group can hit an attarction at any one time?

 

[mightyduck]

If they have a rule on tour group size, they weren't enforcing it. I watched the tour operator zip through 150 fastpasses for Space Mountain.

At the RnR, the same group ran ahead of me and the one tour guide pushed me aside at the beginning of the line while he let the others in his tour go ahead of me. Then I began walking up, and literally 30-40 of them jumped the chains and cut further ahead in line. A CM saw the whole thing as I complained, and he went to talk with them and came back, saying "Gee, no, it's not right" but no one removed them from the line. The group screeched through the entire preshow so I have no idea what the premise was other than what I had read. The only plus was that since I was alone and the group was annoying the CMs, too (although they did nothing about it--including the fact that the group was largely barefoot and dressed in bikini tops or no shirts), the CM packed the group together and gave me choice on seating on the first limo without them.

I never got on Space Mountain because I came back with my fastpass, and the line stretched across tomorrow land, under the peoplemover because once again the tour groups descended at once. The harried fastpass CM there said she had no idea how long it would be, but she could only say it would be shorter than the 65 minute wait in standby. I had to leave the park before then, so I missed out.

In the late 80s and early 90s, the tour groups were horrendous, then not so bad when we went in 96, 98, and 99/00, but this was outrageous. I think if they actually escorted a group like that out once or twice, the behavior would stop. I teach high school and have a high tolerance for teens, and these kids were seriously out of control.

J

 

[wdwmagic]

yep - agree with what you are saying. I think CMs now just accept what is going on and dont challenge it. It is going to take something from management to sort it out. ie. training to the tour guide operators, and some consequences if they break the rules, like losing a tour license.

 

[mightyduck]

It makes me wonder if the point is they don't care about little me taking a solo trip to the World--those tourgroups bring a lot more $$ to the cash registers than i can afford....

 

[Disneynut]

A few years ago I asked a CM about tour groups and also about dress code (shoes and shirts). I was told that security must be called to deal with these things. I don't know if that is due to a concern about lawsuits, but they need to address these problems soon.

 

[mightyduck]

I was going to write a letter to complain, but I'm sure I'll get a very polite "We're sorry you felt you were inconvenienced" type response.

 

[Disneynut]

About 5 years ago, neighbors of mine wrote a letter complaining about tour groups. It happens that one of my friends, was knocked to ground by a tour group. They used to go to WDW every year for about two weeks, and had annual passes. Well, guess what, all of them were given free annual passes for the next year.

 

[mightyduck]

Interesting...

Thanks! The best part of the tour group thing was when I got to the "front" of the line, and a CM asked me to wait while the rest of the tour group continued to go ahead! I refused, btw.

I don't think people should be allowed to hold spots for 40 people. It's one thing when someone's five year old has to piddle right then, it's another when people perfectly capable of getting in a line don't do it.

 

[Eeyore]

We used to make our yearly trips to WDW in July but the tour groups were sooo bad that we now go in mid August. By that time they are all back home and in school.

 

[mightyduck]

Not a bad idea, Eeyore. I was looking for a reason to go back in a few weeks.

j

 

[MouseRight]

On the subject of Tour Groups. Several years ago, I read a story how Disney had prepared a training program for these groups arriving from South America. They would show a videotape on the bus from the airport. It included such topics as:

1- Line etiquette - culture differneces were the reason noted in the article as to why these groups don't seem to respect the queue.
2- Taking a shower with a shower curtain closed (these kids have never seen one - they only have shower doors in thier country. The rooms were flooding because they didn't shut the curtains)

I have noticed a big difference over the last few years. The training program seems to be paying off.

 

[mightyduck]

Interesting. A friend of mine from Croatia has said the queue concept is very much part of American culture, and when her family visits from Europe they have to be reminded Americans don't like stampedes and don't tolerate pushing to the front. The tour groups do seem better, but this one was particularly horrific. A girl screamed into my ear deliberately after I asked the CM if she could do something about all the screeching...