Wdw Beachclub- what has gone wrong with Disney??

[durangojim]

what about us that have spoken with our wallets? Last park trip was to DL.. and we'll have two cruises in before we even consider another park visit. Minus.. the two trips to Universal that will have happened in there too...

Yeah DL is great on so many levels. My 2 kids are willing to skip WDW next year just so we can go to DL and a 7 night cruise

 

[rob0519]

We just did our first cruise and it looks like we will be going to DL before WDW again. It probably won't matter. There will always be more New people to take our place at WDW.

 

[stratman50th]

You should count your blessing that you don't live in the DC/METRO Area. Buses that don't show up or mysteriously vanish from the app. Trains that are packed to the gills and running on their own mysterious schedule and every 30+ minutes on the weekends.

I live in the DC Metro area. I work in Rockville. The Disney transportation system is not up to the price difference for staying on property.

 

[stratman50th]

My last trip was June 2012. We decided at that time we weren't coming back until my daughter has her own kids to take (Not even on the radar scope now). It's nearly impossible to get dinner reservations at a sit down restaurant. We normally book months in advance and I try and reserve at our favorite restaurants at the same time and they are booked. We liked the Poly. Have stayed there 5 times out of the 18 times we've been. My wife found out that they were cutting Monorail service for the extended magic hours and that was enough for her. Busses are a perk for staying on property. Monorails are the perk for staying at a "Monorail" resort. Don't know if they are running for EMH now or not, haven't checked in two years. Bus service from the Poly to DTD and Animal Kingdom was horrible. Timed it last time we stayed there... 38 minute according the the stopwatch on my trusty Cassio. The quiet pool at the Poly was so packed with kids we couldn't hear ourselves talk. (I know it's not exclusive to adults, just a comment about the "Total" experience). We stayed at the POFQ in 2012, our last trip as we like the pool. It was packed and they had a DJ with an over the top PA system blaring to entertain the kids. Out of 100+ people in and around the pool, there were only 3 kids participating with the DJ. I feel like the big white glove is just always out there, palm up waiting for cash. I don't feel that the experience is what it used to be. Like I said, 18 trips to see the mouse. The last 5 or so we struggled trying to pretend the magic was still there. Stayed at different places we loved trying to recapture the magic. Couldn't. My biggest gripe out of many is, it doesn't appear as though proper maintenance and upkeep is being done at the parks. There was some kind of tarp a plastic covering one of the props at big thunder mountain for three consecutive years. If you tell me they fixed it but it needed fixing three additional times, I will say, "Really"? or "They should have fixed whatever it was right the first time".
So now I've been getting all the emails, getting the PIN's Mickey has been asking me to come back and see them. I don't think so any time soon.
Oh, and My entire family loved the mouse. Sad..
PS: Love all the cast members! They are the only thing that saved any of the downs. They try very hard but I don't think they can make up for what I see as corporate shortcomings....

 

[Violiav]

Hmm. So like, you know how you really like bologna (or insert food) the first time you have it? Well if you eat a whole lot of it then maybe you don't like it so much after awhile. It starts to get bland and you can really taste its flaws. It's like that with anything.
Growing up in So Cal I went to Disneyland, so I always envied those that got to go to WDW. So when BF (also a SoCal native)and I decided which coast to visit we went with the one we had experienced the least. New to us.

 

[tamotu99]

Well around here we have a bus service that runs once a week, get on it in the morning to go to the town and either catch it back in the afternoon or wait another week

Having said that, i have previously lived on Europe's (and possibly the worlds) busiest bus route in Manchester, where there is regularly 3 double decker buses at each stop, and as one pulls out another pulls in so i have experienced zero wait time for a bus as well

At WDW i dont find the wait times excessively long, there are occasions when the wait is long, but that is bound to happen on a system that is not run to a set schedule but that is manually controlled with the number of buses running and destinations that they go to, based on best guesses of route demand (ie EMH in MK 80% of early morning buses to there then)

The disadvantage that Disney has over a Metro system is that every origin (hotel) has to serve every primary destination (park,waterpark, DTD) whereas a Metro system does not it is up to the user to ride from their destination to an exchange point (or two or three) change to another mass transport, and then to their final destination (the way it works for hotel to hotel), but because Disney is not set up that way it is inefficient to do it that way, you could quite easily drive for 15 minutes past where you want to be

the system could be improved dramatically and quite easily just by having an ETA for each bus at each stop.

My perception of wait times might be off as we regularly decide to get on the first bus that comes to the resort, if we havent got plans for the day (unless its a waterpark bus) and i know sometimes you can be waiting for an Epcot bus for example and see 3 buses for everywhere else first

If we have a dinner reservation at another hotel, we either drive over there if we have a rental car, and are cutting it fine (or taxi if no rental car) but in general we leave in plenty of time as we like exploring the other resorts,, and can happily spend an hour or more at them before a meal

 

[Dwarful]

To the OP....I understand your feelings and concerns. We just returned from an 8 night stay but this trip we were at Pop. We have a return trip scheduled in Feb. with my daughter's band...otherwise we are calling it quits for quite some time. We will give DL another visit. But we had issues at the resort and in the parks. Some were addressed and others (teens and adults swimming in street clothes) not addressed. My husband's band was wonky the entire trip service wise. The other three worked fine...but by day two of our trip I had a horrible rash from mine. My husband ended up wearing mine on the pin lanyard. We encountered rude CMs at dining locations both QS and TS, in ride lines and dealing with adding on the 4th FP at MK especially. Things were just not the same for us and both my husband and I have been coming to WDW since we were toddlers. Our girls were the first to ask if we could skip WDW next summer and try something better...their words not mine. But if the kids can see the differences the suits should see it as well.

 

[cw1982]

To the OP....I understand your feelings and concerns. We just returned from an 8 night stay but this trip we were at Pop. We have a return trip scheduled in Feb. with my daughter's band...otherwise we are calling it quits for quite some time. We will give DL another visit. But we had issues at the resort and in the parks. Some were addressed and others (teens and adults swimming in street clothes) not addressed. My husband's band was wonky the entire trip service wise. The other three worked fine...but by day two of our trip I had a horrible rash from mine. My husband ended up wearing mine on the pin lanyard. We encountered rude CMs at dining locations both QS and TS, in ride lines and dealing with adding on the 4th FP at MK especially. Things were just not the same for us and both my husband and I have been coming to WDW since we were toddlers. Our girls were the first to ask if we could skip WDW next summer and try something better...their words not mine. But if the kids can see the differences the suits should see it as well.

Wow... sorry to hear that! Odd that we were in the same resort at the same time and had (apparently) completely different experiences. I'd love to compare notes!

 

[Dwarful]

My only real issues at Pop were:
the high school band group that was allowed to pretty much run rampant at the main pool from about 9 - 11 PM swimming in their street clothes...i.e. tank tops and shorts, shouting crass things and pretty much ruining the pool and pool side movie for families. Unfortunately for us we had a main pool view room second room from the food court on the pool side. One grandmother complained to the life guards and was pretty much told that it wasn't their job.

in our room we also had these issues: the tv and Wi-Fi continued to drop service. When we checked in to our room we had no tv service at all they sent a tech and he changed wires. It worked on and off the entire trip. I do know that one day they did do service resort wide to improve the service from about 11 AM - 2 PM.

also two of the drawers in our room were broken so we had to pull them out carefully. We let the front desk know so hopefully the next guest would have it repaired or replaced.

Nothing that would ruin the trip, but as a frequent WDW visitor the first pool issue was the one that really stood out.

 

[psukardi]

My only real issues at Pop were:
the high school band group that was allowed to pretty much run rampant at the main pool from about 9 - 11 PM swimming in their street clothes...i.e. tank tops and shorts, shouting crass things and pretty much ruining the pool and pool side movie for families. Unfortunately for us we had a main pool view room second room from the food court on the pool side. One grandmother complained to the life guards and was pretty much told that it wasn't their job.

I thought this was a previously addressed issue. Going during Pop-Warner Foodball or Cheerleading or just in general results in an unruly brood acting a fool. On the other hand I've never had this experience at the Beach Club or Grand Floridian.

in our room we also had these issues: the tv and Wi-Fi continued to drop service. When we checked in to our room we had no tv service at all they sent a tech and he changed wires. It worked on and off the entire trip. I do know that one day they did do service resort wide to improve the service from about 11 AM - 2 PM.

That's a shame that they couldn't resolve it. However, I would hope that the lack of that horrible infinite looped video or Story Time with Duffy wasn't the main gripe of the rip

also two of the drawers in our room were broken so we had to pull them out carefully. We let the front desk know so hopefully the next guest would have it repaired or replaced.

Nothing that would ruin the trip, but as a frequent WDW visitor the first pool issue was the one that really stood out.

I would be curious if your experience would have differed had you stayed at a Moderate.

 

[Dwarful]

I don't think it would have. Last year they put is in a room at Port Orleans that had a leaking toilet. When we checked in the bathroom was flooded. Obviously housekeeping missed the leak..but I'm not sure how. Long story short it was an interior leak and they had a Brazilian tour group staying at PORS so they didn't have another room that slept 5 available for our two week stay. They had to move us to AoA. That room was fine. We have stayed at all levels...from Values to Deluxe. Our favorite has been Boardwalk...our least Beach due to the mold in the room and broken fixtures.

I couldn't care less about the inside television but would like to keep up with National news while on vacation without the tv shutting off after 10 minutes of viewing.

We are going as chaperones with our daughter's band in Feb. and we are back at PORS so hopefully we will have a better experience this time around.

 

[Dwarful]

I don't have a clue when Pop Warner Football is (or what it is) lol. But, regardless, I should expect the amenities offered to all guests to be available to all guests w/o harassment or crass and inappropriate behavior being displayed. If WDW cannot handle these groups they either need to follow their rules and guidelines, increase the chaperone requirement or inform ALL guests that are making reservations that these groups will be running rampant and ruining the guest experience for others before making reservations.
We only ran into the groups three times...twice at the pools and once at the buses. Only when they were playing "Slutty Chicken" their term not mine, in the pool did the lifeguards step in and stop them.
5 - 10 - 15 years ago I wouldn't have seen this behavior...but it made the Jersey Shore group look like angels.

 

[stratman50th]

Hmm. So like, you know how you really like bologna (or insert food) the first time you have it? Well if you eat a whole lot of it then maybe you don't like it so much after awhile. It starts to get bland and you can really taste its flaws. It's like that with anything.
Growing up in So Cal I went to Disneyland, so I always envied those that got to go to WDW. So when BF (also a SoCal native)and I decided which coast to visit we went with the one we had experienced the least. New to us.

My sister lives in SoCal. Has for 20 years. My now 30 year old nephew and 20 year old nephew go Disneyland just to hang out. We would always give them season passes for Christmas. Seems like it is a totally different experience than WDW. My theory, and you can correct me, the locals would never allow Disneyland to fall to poor maintenance like WDW has. And the guests at WDW don't notice the disrepair because they are so transient. But nevertheless, the money is NOT being spent on maintaining the parks as it should be. My unwavering opinion. That is just incorrigible. Because at one time it was a truly magical place. As for being bland and getting tired of the taste, Disney isn't tired of my money. If they ever want any more of it they need to get their act together again. But, I'm afraid there's way too many people that are willing to take my place so they have no incentive to do better, or as Walt used to say, "Plus it". They've raised the park admission again. I think they are just testing the waters to see what their customer's pain point is. If the prices go down, or you start to see a lot of "Discounts or special packages" You'll know they've pushed too hard.

 

[flynnibus]

My theory, and you can correct me, the locals would never allow Disneyland to fall to poor maintenance like WDW has

They did.. the Pressler/Harris years transformed the park with more merchandise, more ODV carts, and abysmal maintanence and upkeep. It's considered the 'dark times' at DLR and included two deaths in the park due to training/operations/maintenance issues.

It's during that time that bloggers like Al Lutz made a name for themselves calling out the parks for what state they were in. As much as many people didn't like it - their disdain didn't stop it from happening.

The locals get more in an uproar over taking away things or starting to charge for them than they did over upkeep.

 

[Violiav]

Late 90's/early '00's we're not pretty times for Disneyland. I remember that BTM crash. Eesh. Saw it on the news.

 

[lebeau]

Years ago the busses were more frequent. Now it is a crap shoot when they are going to arrive. But the increase in the amount of ECVs that they have to load and unload has sky rocketed and I do not think that they have compensated for it. I still use the busses because we are on vacation and do not rush around but I have noticed a difference.

This has been our experience as well. The buses used to run more frequently. But back then, you didn't have to wait 15 minutes to load ECVs on every bus. On our last two trips, it was rare that we didn't have to wait at least 10 minutes for one or more ECVs to be loaded.

I'm not sure what the answer to that problem is. But I don't see it getting better. I think it's only going to get worse.

 

[psukardi]

This has been our experience as well. The buses used to run more frequently. But back then, you didn't have to wait 15 minutes to load ECVs on every bus. On our last two trips, it was rare that we didn't have to wait at least 10 minutes for one or more ECVs to be loaded.

I'm not sure what the answer to that problem is. But I don't see it getting better. I think it's only going to get worse.

Maybe they could just send a shuttle to the Hotel's for ECV's. That way you don't lose 1/2 a bus to the things and don't have to wait even longer for the next bus

 

[rob0519]

Maybe they could just send a shuttle to the Hotel's for ECV's. That way you don't lose 1/2 a bus to the things and don't have to wait even longer for the next bus

They can't fix two drawers in a value resort guest room. It's unlikely they will run buses exclusively for ECVs. Plus that will just start the whole topic of special treatment for some people all over again.

 

[lebeau]

Maybe they could just send a shuttle to the Hotel's for ECV's. That way you don't lose 1/2 a bus to the things and don't have to wait even longer for the next bus

We had quite a few conversations with other guests who were annoyed with the frequency with which EVCs had to be loaded and the amount of time it took. We wondered if one day it would come to that, but I don't see how the logitics would work. I don't really expect them to ever change the system to accomodate the increasing use of EVCs. But at some point, I think something's got to give.

My wife was especially irritated becuase no matter how long we had been waiting, they loaded the EVCs first. More than once, we waited 20 minutes or so only to have one or more groups with EVCs pull up and be loaded first. She joked that she was going to rent an EVC next trip. At least, I think she was joking. I'm not 100% sure.

Personally, I have just come to accept that this is how things are and they aren't going to get any better. It's an inconvenience. We took a cab once during our trip because we just couldn't stomach another bus ride. I would clasify about a fourth of our bus experiences this trip as service failures on Disney's part. But so far, it seems, I am willing to deal with it.

I definitely agree with those who think Disney can and should do better. But I do sympathize with the no-win situation they are in with regards to EVCs. I just don't see that mess going away.

 

[KingdomofDreams]

My wife was especially irritated becuase no matter how long we had been waiting, they loaded the EVCs first. More than once, we waited 20 minutes or so only to have one or more groups with EVCs pull up and be loaded first. She joked that she was going to rent an EVC next trip. At least, I think she was joking. I'm not 100% sure.

I really do not understand why this would be the procedure. There is no reason for someone in an ECV to be loaded ahead of other guests who have been waiting longer. Everyone should queue up in order of arrival and someone in an ECV can wait their turn just like everyone else. This should apply everywhere... rides, shows, transportation, whatever.