Park Cleanliness

[draybook]

I might come off as a complainer to some of you, but I honestly can't think of a time when the parks were messy during any of our trips. Disney is far from perfect, along with any other company, but their custodial crews are top notch.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Over the Christmas holiday I rarely visited a restroom without a CM working it in any of the parks. There were "dirty" restrooms but it was mostly guests leaving and simply dropping their used paper towels on the floor or missing the cans on the way out but they were being attended to and picked up nearly as fast as they fell.

I have found IME that restroom cleanliness goes down in the parks when they are a bit slower, WDW does not bring in the same number of janitors so they are split across multiple restrooms instead of dedicated as they are during extremely busy periods.

Guests today are PIGS overall, especially a lot of younger parents that cannot seem to grasp the idea that you pick up after your children. This is not necessarily Disney's fault but does attribute to more litter around to be cleaned up by CMs doing their best to keep the parks pristine.

 

[Graham9]

No matter how hard anyone tries, there is always a slob who feels they have the right to drop litter everywhere. And where there is one piece of litter, another slob will see it and will add to it, so a small piece will become a pile after a short time.

I have never had any cause for complaint with litter at WDW. In fact, I regarded it's cleanliness as a notable feature of WDW, given how many people are in the park at a given time. Of course, its never going to be 100% and there will always be something left somewhere. It will only be 100% clean with 100% of the people clean up after themselves. But that isn't going to happen and its just human nature with some people to act the slob.

If you want to see 'real' grime, go to a UK theme park. (One reason we go to WDW)

 

[Sage of Time]

I'd actually say that most maintenance has been on an upward trend during the past 5-6 years as opposed to some pretty terrible conditions from a few years ago.

I still want them to improve small things like missing lightbulbs and wonky and warm AC in some places, but litter collection and clean and painted building are in abundance

 

[raven]

I know they don't do this anymore, but all CMs used to be trained to pick up any trash that's within 10 feet of them, whether they were Custodial or not. Not so much any more.

I don't have a problem with the odd water bottle on the ground or piece of paper, it doesn't ruin my visit. But if it's obviously out of place, any CM should pick it up. Biggest issue with trash that I have is getting on a ride (especially HM) and seeing trash all over the opposite side of the boarding area.

 

[Pixie VaVoom]

I think that's one of the biggest differences between guests of the past and those of today, the respect for where you are, respect for yourself and others. I'm sort of generalizing here, but I tend to believe that people had higher standards in regards toward their own behavior and what they would tolerate from others. Just my opinion, but I think the percentage of guest who simply don't care has to have increased somewhat.

That is because back 'in the day' their momma's weren't too busy on their blog-sites to give their spawn some good old 'home-training'... and they knew that daddy was there to whomp their little behinds if they dared to etch names into the base of Mickey Mouses statue.

Too many of today's parents don't give a fig, they had the children bacause it was fashionable, or because they got caught with faulty birth control.
People need to teach their progeny that - "if you don't own it - don't mess around with it" !!

 

[SamandChel]

Disney parks are usually spotless in my opinion. I've had a couple hotel rooms that weren't cleaned properly but that is anywhere and it was fixed immediately.

Also I have seen a Disney employee clean a bathroom completely for a foreign tourist group to come in and trash the bathroom. Toilets not flushed, and paper towels and soap everywhere. Disney employee came back immediately and recleaned it

 

[officialtom]

I know they don't do this anymore, but all CMs used to be trained to pick up any trash that's within 10 feet of them, whether they were Custodial or not. Not so much any more.

I don't have a problem with the odd water bottle on the ground or piece of paper, it doesn't ruin my visit. But if it's obviously out of place, any CM should pick it up. Biggest issue with trash that I have is getting on a ride (especially HM) and seeing trash all over the opposite side of the boarding area.

I've actually noticed quite a few non-custodial CMs picking up random bits of trash (especially water bottles) and throwing them in the nearest garbage cans as they walk along their routes. You'd never see anyone in character picking up trash (understandably), but a lot of others do. I'm sure it varies CM-to-CM, but it seems like most of them take an awful lot of pride in WDW and in their work, and they pitch in with this simple yet helpful task.

 

[SamandChel]

Last I had heard about non custodial picking up trash is if you see it and it's easily picked up then you pick it up or you can get written up. All employees are required to pick up trash no matter what and I see them do it all the time.

 

[joeytomatoes]

Just scheduled a family trip for June. My first visit was in 1973 with my parents. This will be visit number 15. Over the years, I have noticed the park cleanliness standards decreasing. I know it's tough to keep a place clean when the visitor's aren't doing their part. I am curious about what recent years visitors have experienced.

I recently read a couple of quotes from Walt Disney regarding his thoughts on the matter. Trying to keep a park clean is a tremendous expense. And those sharp-pencil guys tell you, 'Walt, if we cut down on maintenance, we'd save a lot of money.' But I don't believe in that -- it's like any other show on the road; it must be kept clean and fresh. And this last one. "When I started on Disneyland, my wife used to say, 'But why do you want to build an amusement park? They're so dirty.' I told her that was just the point -- mine wouldn't be."

2- reasons for this folks. 1) first and foremost, the people going have lower standards, meaning there is less respect from the guests then there was all those years ago. I have been going to Disney since it first opened in the early 70s. I am now 50 and now live in Florida and still go on occasion. I think years ago people where more civilized if that's the right word. people were more respectful and mindful and that is the major issue at the parks. Second, I think the after hours maintenance has slipped just a bit. I remember when I first went to Disney with my parents and my dad getting up very early in the am (4ish) and walking around. he began talking to some of the crew at the hotel on property and they became chummy. He explained to my dad how there was a whole crew that their whole job was to go to the park and just check for burnt out bulbs. Disney did not want their guests to see burnt out lights in the park and how if it rained very hard overnight they would replace the wilted flowers early in the am so the guests could see it perfect. Overall it is still extremely clean considering the large numbers that go everyday but the major issue I still feel is the guests not being as considerate as we used to be.......