Walt Disney World General
Topic: Four Parks: One Stale World?

#	Author	Message
11	MPierce Sun 11/2/2008 12:51p	I have to say each and every thing you brought up Spirit, should be deemed unacceptable by Disney Management. Those would certainly be things to take the shine off of any magical trip for me. I am worried (really I am). I've noticed more, and more similar complaints on just about every forum. This, I'm afraid, is a dangerous trend that if allowed to continue will become the norm. While I'm sure most people would agree, the vast majority of CM's do an exceptional job, there is no room for rudeness at WDW. The CM's are the backbone of WDW, and they can certainly make or break a vacation. I remember one vacation there was a security guard at the gate of the Wlderness Lodge, her name was Kat. everytime one of the busses departed or arrived she would be outside waving. You would have thought this woman was on a float in the MK. You always knew when she was on duty, she would be outside waving My wife made a trip out to the guard shack to get her name so we could send a complimentary note to WDW guest services. I couldn't tell you about anything else note worthy on that trip. I'm sure we had a good time, and that one really friendly gesture by a cast member really enhanced it. We haven't seen her since, and were not able to find out what happen to her. I just wish somebody would slap some sense into Disney management, and get them to weed out the bad CM.s and make sure all the remaining CM's are well trained. Now is the time to get all of Disney standards up to what they should be at WDW.
12	barboy Sun 11/2/2008 1:10p	///I put it(Alien Encounter) squarely in the 'D' ticket category/// That's fair to say.... meaning I can see your justification. Now, if you had called it a 'B' or 'C' experience then I'd have no choice but to debate that until the sun goes down. ///I refused(to exit the 'Time Rover') and we wound up riding again/// I'll have to remember that trick--- getting glasses entangled in the cargo net--- for next trip so I can ride two consecutive times :) ///he told me I could park at EPCOT or the Disney-MGM Studios/// What a punk thing to say to a guest.....as if those places are free and close by. Service in the US sucks so royally!
13	MPierce Sun 11/2/2008 1:52p	>> Service in the US sucks so royally! << That seems to have become the norm nowdays. If you reeive exceptional service today you become excited. Instead of demanding the best we have settled for mediocrity. I don't know if the good old days were any better, but they sure seemed to be. America has slipped into a just get by mode, and we are not alone. You must be wealthy or well connected to receive exceptional services in much of the rest of the world also. Though I am not a world travler I have both friends, and family that do travel extensively. Everyone of them agree that service for the most part improves with smaller, and more rural communities. This holds up for most places. I just wonder if people in larger cities have forgotten how to be friendly, and civil to strangers?
14	Spirit of 74 Sun 11/2/2008 2:12p	<<I have to say each and every thing you brought up Spirit, should be deemed unacceptable by Disney Management. Those would certainly be things to take the shine off of any magical trip for me.>> I still enjoyed myself, dear minion. Really! :-) It's just if that stuff happens to me, it happens to others as well. Maybe newbies. It's not the way to impress guests and keep customers. I honestly was thinking 'what will those crazy online pals of mine think?' as I was arguing with the security guard at the Beach Club. Are they so afraid of losing parking revenue by locals during the Food and Wine Fest that their policy is to be nasty to people who try and park at the Epcot Resorts ... even those who intend to spend their money at said resorts? I really saw the situation escalating and since I have some 'fans' at Team Disney, I thought it was best to just drive to the Boardwalk, where I was welcomed with open arms and didn't even have to make up a lie to park there, just show a license. <<I am worried (really I am). I've noticed more, and more similar complaints on just about every forum. This, I'm afraid, is a dangerous trend that if allowed to continue will become the norm. While I'm sure most people would agree, the vast majority of CM's do an exceptional job, there is no room for rudeness at WDW. The CM's are the backbone of WDW, and they can certainly make or break a vacation.>> Absolutely. And I had some very nice CM interactions. I especially enjoyed speaking with some of the young Chinese after spending the summer in their country. But it is human nature ... if you have 100 OK, good or great CMs, but one awful one, you remember the awful one. Hell, I still recall a crazy security guard back in 1997 or 98 who wouldn't let us walk on the WALKWAY from the Contemporary to the MK and made us return to the hotel and take a monorail causing us to be late for dinner with friends. That elicited a major complaint from me at City Hall (complete with red face and one or two light expletives) with a supervisor offering (and me turning down) a free dinner as compensation. I'll go back even further. I still recall the first nasty CM I ever dealt with at WDW ... this was back in 1986 when my mother showed an AP at the EPCOT entrance plaza (it had expired, but we had certificates to exchange for the new one) and this little fem twit decided we were trying to scam Disney and he got very nasty with mom and confiscated her old AP and made us pay for parking. I was speechless because in a dozen years of visits I had never witnessed a nasty CM before. We did report him. We did get our parking money back (but not the old AP). And we did get free dinner (at San Angel Inn, Nikki) on the Mouse. Again, I've experienced hundreds and hundreds of great, exceptional CMs, but those (expletive not inserted) others? They're the ones I can recall vividly. And I won't even talk about some of my more personal, intimate situations with folks on the exec pay scale! <<I remember one vacation there was a security guard at the gate of the Wlderness Lodge, her name was Kat. everytime one of the busses departed or arrived she would be outside waving. You would have thought this woman was on a float in the MK. You always knew when she was on duty, she would be outside waving My wife made a trip out to the guard shack to get her name so we could send a complimentary note to WDW guest services. I couldn't tell you about anything else note worthy on that trip. I'm sure we had a good time, and that one really friendly gesture by a cast member really enhanced it. We haven't seen her since, and were not able to find out what happen to her. I just wish somebody would slap some sense into Disney management, and get them to weed out the bad CM.s and make sure all the remaining CM's are well trained. Now is the time to get all of Disney standards up to what they should be at WDW.>> They have to want to do it, buddy. I don't believe they care. Not at all. But maybe the new Eyes and Ears will have photos of Meg dressed as a Pirate or Princess and 'working' MNSSHP on the 31st!
15	-em Sun 11/2/2008 3:41p	>>I don't believe they care. Not at all.<< sigh- They don't. -em
16	Bob Paris Sun 11/2/2008 3:50p	I know it's the kinda default reaction around here when bad things are being spoken about the US parks to mention something about TDR but this is relevant. Upon heading back to the airport for our trip back to Australia, we took the coach from our hotel that happened to pass through the Mira Costa to pick up guests there. After the passengers were boarded and their luggage stowed, we headed out through the MC's driveway loop back to the main road. I looked out to see a single bell hop, dressed appropriately in custom era attire. He saw me looking at him from the bus and saluted a perfect salute. I was in so much shock at this simple yet completely respectful and fitting gesture. It spoke VOLUMES to me about Disney service, about the ethos of the Japanese Disney experience and about respect on a deeply personal level. I DO actually remember tearing up at how it made me feel. It was THE perfect capper to a trip that had included the US and Japanese resorts. It was TRUE Disney. God, I cannot wait to hear Spirit's reactions when he finally goes to the TDR.
17	dshyates Sun 11/2/2008 3:51p	Iger pretty much said the place was bullet-proof. The economy hasn't effected the numbers at all. If they think a major recession/depression won't hurt it, what harm is a little peeling paint going to do?
18	-em Sun 11/2/2008 4:01p	>>The economy hasn't effected the numbers at all.<< It has. Atleast they are in full defense mode... I don't know exact numbers but while the parks seem to be hanging in, resorts are rollercoastering it much more than usual.. The convention centers are suffering pretty good (to the fact that we are all on reduced hours- sigh back to eating ramen for another month- I had moved up to mac n cheese..)
19	Goofyernmost Sun 11/2/2008 4:26p	I have a theory about why, if it is true, the CM's are getting a little, shall we say, short with people is not unique to WDW. It is a general and long overdue change of attitude. That attitude is that I am no longer going to be someone's whipping boy just because you spent a few bucks to get in here. Your spending money does not justify treated another person without respect or consideration. This has been an ongoing trend for that past years. Treat people like crap and you will eventually upset someone enough to get comped for your trip. People are starting to say, minimum wage is not enough to put up with dehumanizing behavior from anybody. Treat me well and I will treat you well. Approach me like an obnoxious twit and I will call you on it. Before I get shot, I was not talking about you Spirit. I was talking about public behavior in general. My humble opinion is that if one person is involved in more than one incident the only common denominator in that scenario is that one person. I'm sure it wouldn't take to long to discover exactly what is happening and why. In my roll dealing with customer complaints I will tell you one thing, the complaints are getting dumber and dumber. Thus those that deal with the complaints are starting to fight back and say enough is enough. Stop treating me like I'm an idiot is the battle cry. You would not believe the outright lying that is going on as well. We have camera monitors installed and they show that at least 90% of the time, the complainer is out and out lying about the incidents. Thank god for modern technology.
20	barboy Sun 11/2/2008 5:51p	SERVICE SUCKS IN THE US PT. 2 Compare and contrast: Tokyo Disneyland A team of 3 push broom/squeegee CM's worked a low spot in the asphalt where a puddle was constantly forming(it was nonstop rain showers that day) on a less traveled walkway just so us guests wouldn't have to slightly deviate from our normal travels. We could have easily walked around that low spot but I guess customer first is on their minds. EPCOT It started to rain hard and to escape the sudden downfall we dashed into the nearest shelter---some general international gift shop near the boat launch(closest to Mexico). It rained very heavy so we were all 'trapped' in that shop waiting and waiting for it to relent. We got tired of standing so just about everyone in the shop(maybe 15) sat on the floor. It couldn't have been more than 1 minute later 2 complete mindless, jerk, hypocrite cast members went around person to person telling us 'NO SITTING- IF WANY TO SIT YOU HAVE TO IT OUTSIDE THE SHOP'.

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