spoiled by disney parks

[GrammieBee]

I do believe the gum catchers also catch other things that fall off peoples' heads or out of their pockets. None of which I want falling on my head.

 

[Wikkler]

Busch gardens treat their guests like crapola.

Personal experience from years of going to BGW say otherwise.

 

[BiffyClyro]

Personal experience from years of going to BGW say otherwise.

Well that's great for you then.

We have always found them rude and unhelpful.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Well that's great for you then.

We have always found them rude and unhelpful.

Williamsburg or Tampa? There's a big difference in the service, for some reason.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Well that's great for you then.

We have always found them rude and unhelpful.

Have you thought it may not be the employees that is the issue here.

Just sayin like.

 

[boilerpicc]

I have been to a lot of amusement parks: Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, Worlds of Fun, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens FL and VA, Universal Studios FL, Sea World FL, lots of Six Flags (St Louis, Great America, America, Magic Mountain, Fiesta Texas). I have enjoyed all of them - especially the roller coasters. That is one thing that they all do better than Disney. However, none of them is ever as clean or as well themed as Diney (Busch Gardens is the closest IMO). So, I am only slightly spoiled in terms of theme parks.

Where I am completely, 100% spoiled is resorts. I cannot count the number of times that my husband and I have said "we wouldn't see that at Disney" when we walked past a dumpster or an employee on their smoke break. Then we always make fun of ourselves for being complete Disney snobs.

 

[Allym146]

All I have to add is that a friend texted me last week saying "I really want to go to Darien Lake! Will you go with me?!?" and I cringed as I texted back "yea sure!". There goes $70 that I could be spending at Disney.

 

[BiffyClyro]

Have you thought it may not be the employees that is the issue here.

Just sayin like.

Ahh, can trust this website to try and rile people up at any comment they disagree with. I have witnessed staff yell and someone else's child, obviously upsetting their parents. Staff members talking and ignoring customers and ignoring a complaint about a cart lifting up from the tracks.
Great service.

Just saying' like.

Williamsburg or Tampa? There's a big difference in the service, for some reason.

Tampa Never been to Williamsburg. I've only been to the Tampa one twice though. Maybe just bad experiences on those days maybe. Never had a problem anywhere else. Always get the odd one but can let it go.



I find it weird how people complain so much about disney and universal staff, who always are lovely yet I say this and suddenly i'm attacked. Pathetic.

 

[TubaGeek]

Ahh, can trust this website to try and rile people up at any comment they disagree with. I have witnessed staff yell and someone else's child, obviously upsetting their parents. Staff members talking and ignoring customers and ignoring a complaint about a cart lifting up from the tracks.
Great service.

Just saying' like.

I find it weird how people complain so much about disney and universal staff, who always are lovely yet I say this and suddenly i'm attacked. Pathetic.

I haven't paid enough attention to make any assumptions as to whether or not Pumbas meant anything by it, but, since it IS Pumbas... I wouldn't take too much offense. He's an equal opportunity offender, and usually good for a laugh.

 

[BiffyClyro]

I haven't paid enough attention to make any assumptions as to whether or not Pumbas meant anything by it, but, since it IS Pumbas... I wouldn't take too much offense. He's an equal opportunity offender, and usually good for a laugh.

This made me laugh so much.

 

[Wikkler]

@BiffyClyro I wasn't attacking you. I was just stating that from personal experience at my local Busch Gardens, the staff weren't rude and were willing to go out of their way to help.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

. Pathetic.

No need to be so harsh on yourself, its all part of being a jakey ned.

 

[BiffyClyro]

@BiffyClyro I wasn't attacking you. I was just stating that from personal experience at my local Busch Gardens, the staff weren't rude and were willing to go out of their way to help.

That's fine and i'm happy about that. Like I said, i've been twice and saw crappy things happen because of staff.... But that that was a few people, not the entire place obviously. I wasn't referring to you anyway, I was referring to the person that said I was the problem. Dunae worry about it

 

[hichloe]

I'd say that generally Disney, Universal, Busch Gardens, etc. have spoiled all theme parks for me in the UK... As someone said earlier, Drayton Manor - our local theme park - would benefit from any of the quality and effort put into the parks... Alton Towers, arguably the UK's main theme park, seems to have a "build it and wait until it crumbles away so we can build a replacement" sort of attitude towards its rides.

WDW has ruined DLP for me to an extent. Disneyland Parc might be beautiful but Walt Disney Studios would be lucky to be compared to Six Flags, never mind WDW. And that's without me getting started on the employees....

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

Then there's Skull Mountain which is exactly like Space Mountain except without the space and a queue that is full of advertisements.

While I agree with what you were trying to say... if they had a better themed queue and a big space screen, the ride would be exactly the same????? I admit, that made me chuckle.

 

[75disney]

Oh. Does the different European country theming not count? Or the themed rides like Curse of DarKastle, Escape from Pompeii or Verbolten?

Verbolten was cool, but Curse is too jerky and the story is really hard to follow. The ride in Ireland (can't remember its name) is a poor knock off of Soarin'. I personally just feel that they attemp to theme or entertain like Disney but fall short. I leave wanting more and disappointed that it didn't measure up to my expectations. Also, the park is poorly spread out and very hilly.

Hershey is good, but it is just an amusement park. The Hershey Lodge though is a fabulous place to stay. It offers many free and entertaining activities for the families that stay there. We do not even need to leave the hotel; my kids are very entertained all day long with free Bingo games (Hershey candy prizes of course), free a arts and crafts projects, pool games (3 pools), free miniature golf, free sports equipment, children's check-in desk, and free Hershey candy throughout the stay. Every time we turned around we were getting more chocolate! In recent years, I have noticed Disney adding more family activities at their resorts, like the movies and pool games. Definitely a plus!

 

[brb1006]

While I agree 100 percent - comparing disney to even Universal is laughable. Disney is based on "magic, customer service, etc" that is their brand and has been. Universal - I do not go there for a magic or great customer service - while I have never had any problems - Universal is like going to six flags. However, Universal food is much better than disney. Six Flags is the bottom the barrel - not my thing

To be far I can understand why people compare to Universal to Disney at least in terms of quality and entertainment.

 

[brb1006]

The beginning of this video epitomizes what the perfect theme park experience is for me, and it's at Islands of Adventure. It's so beautiful... pure bliss. Volume is necessary.

Another theme park that I love that is non-Disney is Alton Towers in the UK and especially Efteling in Holland in the Netherlands.

 

[brb1006]

None of the other parks that have I have been to are the same type of branding as Disney, so I don't compare.

I love Disney, but I also love Holiday World. There, I have free parking, free soda, and there is no need to buy a park hopper to go between the amusement and water park. I have never seen a tour group leader with a flag. I can eat reasonably priced meals that taste decent and I don't have to book them out at 180 days. In several visits I have always seen at least one of the owners working (usually in a janitorial position) and they are wearing a regular uniform. The place is spotless and the workers and fellow park goers are friendly. It's simple and quaint. I don't have to do a lot of preplanning and organizing. It's a show-up and go with the flow kind of place. It's not as grand, but that is okay.

I feel the same with Dollywood. Everybody is friendly there. Although, I may be a tad bit biased since that is where I grew up and my parents still live there. The workers are a different group than Disney, most live in the area and have for most of their lives. They have a particularly vested interest in the parks.

Another park we enjoy is Worlds of Fun in Kansas City. As the name implies, it's pretty fun.

None of these parks are Disney, but that is not their niche. The workers have always been friendly and the parks have always been clean.

I love how the Holiday World characters are also themed to a holiday. My favorite being Kitty Claws the ballerina cat.

 

[brb1006]

We go to a lot of other amusement parks. We have always received friendly service at Silver Dollar City, Holiday World and Dollywood. Silver Dollar City does a good job in the Ozark mountains with natural beauty...although the family sold off to another corporation and changes are happening that don't make me thrilled. I love the free parking at SDC, free drinks at HW and cleanliness at all three. I don't 'pine to be at WDW' when we are on a Branson trip...its a different kind of get away for us. Same with Dollywood and HW.

We have passes for Six Flags STL because we live so close and my girls love thrill rides. It is NOT the SF I grew up with....not near as clean, not near as 'family friendly'. They are going for the thrill seekers...but we know that when we go....so we have a different set of expectations.

Of course our Season Passes for SF cost us $300 for our family of 5 and that includes free parking. We have Season Passes for SDC cost us about the same. SDC gives everyone free parking but we do get discounts on sit down dining and some other pass perks....including 50% off tickets for Dollywood.

I guess what I'm saying is I spend less than 10% of my WDW budget for my SF budget so I have no expectation to compare them. If I were spending 3,000 for SF you bet my expectations would be different. lol

I remember before Six Flags wanted to focus most on the thrill for it's advertisements they focused more on family crowd by mostly advertising the Looney Tunes characters. I remember one slogan was "Having Cartoon Fun".