Just got back

[Graham9]

Just got back from the World and for the first time, I'm glad to be back.

Hordes of rude, abusive and ignorant gangs of kids, people pushing and cutting in, CM's uninterested....

The best time I had during the whole trip was our visit to Harry Potter at IOA.

Sorry WDW, we're calling it a day. I don't see why I should travel 4,500 miles and take a major bite out of our money to put up with this.

 

[wm49rs]

Not to disparage your unfortunate visit, but were you aware your trip coincided with the Pop Warner Football Tournament at WDW?

 

[loveofamouse]

Not to disparage your unfortunate visit, but were you aware your trip coincided with the Pop Warner Football Tournament at WDW?

Again, exactly why I think Disney should be putting disclaimers in the booking process so people KNOW they are going to disney with thousands of unsupervised sugared-up girls.

"Hi! We would like to let you know you are scheduling your much anticipated vacation during pop warner week! This means you'll be spending thousands to have horrible children running and screaming at the top of their lungs no matter where you go on every single leg of your trip. You will not even be able to hide in your room! This will make your trip hell! Thank you very much for wasting your money this week on a vacation you will be upset about."

 

[Computer Magic]

Just got back from the World and for the first time, I'm glad to be back.

Hordes of rude, abusive and ignorant gangs of kids, people pushing and cutting in, CM's uninterested....

The best time I had during the whole trip was our visit to Harry Potter at IOA.

Sorry WDW, we're calling it a day. I don't see why I should travel 4,500 miles and take a major bite out of our money to put up with this.

Sadly we just returned and feel the same way. We didn't see that many kids running around. Most of the kids spend their day at ESPN and we stayed at the Boardwalk. Just rude people including CM's.

My wife stated in the middle of the trip, she wasn't sure when she wanted to return. Maybe some of the issue is it was so cold.

 

[tampabrad]

Unfortunately, Disney is in no way obligated to tell people who is staying on property.

If I had a bad experience, I would defineately contact guest relations. Unless you tell them, they wont know. Hopefully, more people will get on the band wagon and plan vacations elsewhere. May be it will make WDW step up to where they once were.

 

[Mammymouse]

We spent Christmas week at WDW in 2006 and were so excited to go because we had never seen the decorations and such. :xmas: But it was the worst trip we ever had there. We love going to WDW and go quite frequently, especially now that we live in FL. The problem was the crowds, and when I say rude - they were RUDE! That week and Easter week are supposed to be the busiest weeks there we found out. We've been there Easter and, although it was very crowded, they were not rude people. It just must depend on what group of impatient types choose that week. And as the Hotel manager explained to us they of course have to hire extra CM's those weeks, and some have not had large crowd experience so they can get pretty overwhelmed at the sight of a sea of thousands of people coming at them. I tried to look at the place through those eyes and I understood what some CM's might feel in that situation, although there is no excuse for rudeness. Magic Kingdom overflows and gets closed due to capacity, and if the weather is not good (we had tornadoes and bad thunderstorms that week) then the people that might have headed back to the pool to avoid the crowds can't and are either stuck in the Park and can't get on a ride, or go to Downtown Disney (yuck right now). So we only go for a couple days at most around Christmas now to see the decorations and then we spend a week at some other time of year to enjoy the rides and whole experience. From other posters on this forum it seems that the Pop Warner kids are quite a nuisance, and particularly so this year. Sorry to hear you had such a lousy experience and I hope you will reconsider another vacation at WDW in the future. Under normal circumstances it is truly a Magical Happy Place!

 

[Graham9]

I think one of the worst things about having to tolerate this misbehaviour is the total apathy Disney has towards it. Its almost your fault they are like this and if you don't like it, tough.

Here's an example, Last week we were in Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom. The place was already very busy and I had to wait for a while for a table. No problem there, its just one of them things. So while my wife was getting the food, one of them Brazillian schools turned up. All 250 of them with no where to sit. The food on the counter was put on hold as they had to suddenly cook up 250 pizzas and pour assorted cokes and sodas. As people left this already-full pizza house, so they gradually took the tables. They started taking people's chairs, pushing people off tables, throwing food around, shouting abuse and language and cheering.

I complained to one of the CM's trying to cope and he just shrugged his shoulders. People got up and left in disgust taking their food with them. It was hopeless. And because of them, it took 1/2 hr for us to order two pizzas because of this lot, who arrived after we did.

I was enough to leave a bad stain on the day and because of these and more, I left WDW with more bad memories than good ones.

 

[loveofamouse]

I totally agree. If Disney actually took steps to control these crowds our hndle them, it wouldn't be so bad. The CMs see these groups yellling and beig outright pains but they don't even say anything or wait until others complain. With the cheerleading, I would start banning squads that are problems at hotels. I would also notify Pop Warner

 

[R W B]

I thought Pop Warner was football players, they have Cheerleaders too? I thought the Cheerleaders came in Feb?

 

[ddbowdoin]

I think one of the worst things about having to tolerate this misbehaviour is the total apathy Disney has towards it. Its almost your fault they are like this and if you don't like it, tough.

Here's an example, Last week we were in Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom. The place was already very busy and I had to wait for a while for a table. No problem there, its just one of them things. So while my wife was getting the food, one of them Brazillian schools turned up. All 250 of them with no where to sit. The food on the counter was put on hold as they had to suddenly cook up 250 pizzas and pour assorted cokes and sodas. As people left this already-full pizza house, so they gradually took the tables. They started taking people's chairs, pushing people off tables, throwing food around, shouting abuse and language and cheering.

I complained to one of the CM's trying to cope and he just shrugged his shoulders. People got up and left in disgust taking their food with them. It was hopeless. And because of them, it took 1/2 hr for us to order two pizzas because of this lot, who arrived after we did.

I was enough to leave a bad stain on the day and because of these and more, I left WDW with more bad memories than good ones.

yeah, but realistically what can they do? ban groups from certain nations?

 

[loveofamouse]

I thought Pop Warner was football players, they have Cheerleaders too? I thought the Cheerleaders came in Feb?

Yes, they have a cheer program for ages 5-17. It could also have been regular school/comp squads mixed in.

 

[devoy1701]

yeah, but realistically what can they do? ban groups from certain nations?

no but if you were to take notice of the tour group's name, Disney could very easy send a warning to that Tour Agency to better control their group or be banned from booking through Disney or staying on property. I don't think they could actually keep them from coming to the parks. But other people have said that some groups of Pop Warner have been banned from returning.

 

[captainkidd]

yeah, but realistically what can they do? ban groups from certain nations?

Groups? Sure. Why not?

 

[dreamfinder]

We also just got back, and had a completely opposite experience. The only times we saw groups of kids at the parks, they were well behaved. The ones that weren't well behaved were just families actually, not players/cheerleaders. I think the most noise we heard from any PW group was on the flight back home when the attendant congratulated a local team for winning. That was it. Overall we encountered mostly well behaved tourists and CM's.

WWoHP was extremely well done, and DW and I were both looking forward to it. Will we go back to IOA? Probably not. People complain that AK or DHS are 1/2 day parks, we found that to be more so of the case at IOA than anywhere else. We did everything in WWoHP twice, and the other attractions in park including the shows, and were done 5 hours after we came in. The includes shopping and eating.

Disney does need to step up their game to match WWoHP, but the rest of IOA was worse than anything I have seen at WDW for a while. Rude CM's (had one yell at me for trying to take a picture outside of a ride), trash all over the place, and just general eh. The CM's were very pushy, constantly trying to upsell every product in the park. The ones in WWoHP were mostly outstanding, (The wand keepers were top notch) but that was it.

 

[fosse76]

no but if you were to take notice of the tour group's name, Disney could very easy send a warning to that Tour Agency to better control their group or be banned from booking through Disney or staying on property. I don't think they could actually keep them from coming to the parks.

Ummm, yes, they can. Disney is private property. While it must adhere to non-discrimination laws, it can prevent anyopne from entering its property provided doing so does not violate any existing laws (they can ban specific Brazillian tour groups for cause, but they can't ban brazillian groups as a whole).

 

[fosse76]

We also just got back, and had a completely opposite experience. The only times we saw groups of kids at the parks, they were well behaved. The ones that weren't well behaved were just families actually, not players/cheerleaders. I think the most noise we heard from any PW group was on the flight back home when the attendant congratulated a local team for winning. That was it. Overall we encountered mostly well behaved tourists and CM's.

Same here. I didn't see any outward rude behavior by anyone. Once at Downtown Disney two small groups of girls (but they were with their families) pretty much cut in front of everyone to get on the bus (and their mothers didn't seem to care). I normally would have said something, but I had a cold and didn't feel like screaming at anyone. And to be fair, the people were actually waiting in the bus shelter and these girls went directly to the bus loading area, so technically they weren't cutting, but they were really obnoxious. But that was the only negative incident regarding guests I witnessed.

WWoHP was extremely well done, and DW and I were both looking forward to it. Will we go back to IOA? Probably not. People complain that AK or DHS are 1/2 day parks, we found that to be more so of the case at IOA than anywhere else. We did everything in WWoHP twice, and the other attractions in park including the shows, and were done 5 hours after we came in. The includes shopping and eating.

Universal tends to skew older, so the crowds arrive later in the day. But
also it was pretty cold this week, which might have kept some people away. But that said, IOA still has much more to do than DAK and DHS.

Disney does need to step up their game to match WWoHP, but the rest of IOA was worse than anything I have seen at WDW for a while. Rude CM's (had one yell at me for trying to take a picture outside of a ride), trash all over the place, and just general eh. The CM's were very pushy, constantly trying to upsell every product in the park. The ones in WWoHP were mostly outstanding, (The wand keepers were top notch) but that was it.

I don't buy any of that for one second. I took TONS of pictures, and every employee was pretty nice. No one pushed merchandise sales, no one was rude, it was pretty clean. If asking someone "may I help you find something" is considered being pushy, then you have some serious issues. I am beginning to think people are making up some of the negative experiences they have at Universal to justify a reason not to go back.

 

[stphnbogert]

I'm sorry but when you go to Disney World the majority of people think they get to the park to themselves. That is not the case. There are other people vactioning at Disney. And I know some of you will be surprised by this but rude teenagers and even just rude people come to WDW.

 

[fosse76]

I'm sorry but when you go to Disney World the majority of people think they get to the park to themselves. That is not the case. There are other people vactioning at Disney. And I know some of you will be surprised by this but rude teenagers and even just rude people come to WDW.

So true. I remember one time I was at Mickey's Philharmagic, and this one girl sitting two seats over from me would occasionally sing along. I tried to ignore it, because I wanted the pure experience of the film. But then I calmed myself doen that I was at a theme park, and she's ejoying herself (and it's not like she was singling at the top of her lungs). Just like those obnoxious girls I mentioned above, they were just having fun, and not really being rude to anyone (though I do think it was bad manners for them not to let the people on the bus who had been waiting there before them...but they were hardly the only ones trying to get on the bus first.

 

[Graham9]

So true. I remember one time I was at Mickey's Philharmagic, and this one girl sitting two seats over from me would occasionally sing along. I tried to ignore it, because I wanted the pure experience of the film.

We went to many shows in WDW but instead of singing, we had to tolerate the jerks with Iphones, Blackberry's and assorted other distracting gadgets which people cannot live without lighting up the auditorium and taking away from any entertainment the show offered. Then there are those who insist on talking and giving thier own commentary throughout it.

 

[ddbowdoin]

Ummm, yes, they can. Disney is private property. While it must adhere to non-discrimination laws, it can prevent anyopne from entering its property provided doing so does not violate any existing laws (they can ban specific Brazillian tour groups for cause, but they can't ban brazillian groups as a whole).

well, lets be realistic... dollar bills run the show, whomever sends them in sends them in... they need to operate a profitable business