Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 OK ... we've had the good or even the great Spirited observations about his latest magical WDW visit, we all know what comes next, right? The never-ending negativity thread, naturally. I doubt there will be 30 negatives (unlike the good list, which frankly could have gone on even longer ...) ... but there were some things less than magical so here they are: 1.) Family and friends not making the trip at last-minute. They were missed. Also, just missed connecting with a few Spirits who came just after I left; 2.) Death on the rails. I rode both trains numerous times in the hours leading up to the crash. To wake up and hear about it was truly devastating ... to make my way back to WDW on July 5th and see no trains on the beams was eerie and something I never wish to see again. 3.) Not making it to Busch Gardens (for the first time since EPCOT was new) despite free tix ... and not seeing Endeavor's launch; 4.) Cutbacks in hours/entertainment. I have never seen a summer where Studios closed three days a week (including Friday, July 3rd) at 7 p.m. Or went from a minimum of 14 Fantasmic performances a week to six in three nights. DAK also was 9-7 for every day of my 11 days in O-Town, with one single night of EMH. And since I've been back Studios one 9 p.m. close weekly has been cut back to 8 and 10 p.m. closings are now sprinkled in MK hours. These hours are the worst I can remember. To be fair, Universal (which I did not visit) was closing both parks nightly at 9 (earliest summer closings since it became a two-park resort). But also to be fair, SW not only is open 9-10 daily until Labor Day, but so is Aquatica ... Disney's water parks both close at 8. 5.) Food prices recently went up again (before summer), but that's not stopping the restaurants from being packed. Thanks to the 'value' of the DDP. Nothing like seeing brats with $28 steaks ... guess, I must be jealous because when I was a kid if I got a steak at Sizzler it was a treat. 6.) Air conditioning in DAK's shops was not sufficient on my one visit. On EMH night too. Only place I had an AC issue. But makes no sense. People will spend more when they're comfortable. They're more likely to walk out of a stuffy shop without the $30 tee. 7.) MK cleanliness was very up and down. One night was shocking because Buzz Lightyear's queue (always the filthiest) was spotless, another night it was typical. In general, not nearly enough custodial CMs and none in the queues. 8.) MK crowd control was practically non-existent on the 3rd (as I dashed for backstage to run to the BLT, hop in the car and do a Fanboi Fireworks run to Sea World). Just a lot of pushing and shoving and general chaos and disorder. Very bad show. 9.) Soarin queue was embarrassing with trash cans overflowing and all over the floor. Good thing I could stare up at the white fabric (??) fixtures above caked in dust/dirt from the AC units above them. Does anyone notice these things? Clean them? Did anyone think maybe white wasn't the best color for them? Oh, and the Gum Ramp on TT is really so Six Flags ... has Danny Cockerell even seen it? 10.) Hallways at BW DVC Villas have filthy carpeting (to be fair, it will be getting replaced shortly, but it should have gone a year or two ago) made more noticeable by the recent refurb of all BW Inn rooms and hallways (like the PP-esque carpeting there). 11.) Cutbacks across property in hours became apparent beyond simply theme parks. Tried to make a run to Company D with friends twice only to find Disney U locked down in the afternoon. ... July 4th at the BW, everything was closed at 11 p.m. ... How on earth could that be? A Saturday night? In summer? On a freaking holiday? I watched kids pulling on the doors at both the ice cream shop and the ESPN Club Arcade. Just incredibly poor thinking by management. BW should have had everything open until 1 a.m. minimum on the 4th and really every weekend night in summer. Crowds are there. People are spending big money. No excuses. 12.) TSMM queue ... cheap materials, guests who are pigs, management not being diligent all add up to chunks of walls missing etc ... 13.) Closing WDW RR and Liberty Belle Riverboat early. In 11 days, I spent parts of 4 or 5 at MK (you don't have much choice if you like nights -- see above about hours) and never got to do either favorite because they don't run at night. 14.) No Fourth of July pyro at DD. This isn't really a complaint for me as I've never seen the shows they used to put on. This is for some very nice hard-working Levy's employees who said that 'Disney is destroying our business. First, PI. Now, they have signs on the road telling guests not to come here today.' 15.) Pyro scheduling at WDW. You know my hopes of doing all three Disney shows seemed dashed when Disney said there wasn't going to be a show at Studios. My hopes were brought back when they added the show back at last minute at 9, before changing it again to 10 (so that guests had to make a choice of either EPCOT or Studios). Naturally, I picked EPCOT. But the idiots planning must have not realized that TPFKaTD-MGMS is directly behind World Showcase. Why was that an issue? Well, just as the torches were being blown out at EPCOT, the skies behind Japan, USA and Morocco burst into red, white and blue stars ... since many guests aren't regulars I am fairly certain a large number thought that ROE included the Studios display, which thankfully lasted only eight minutes. (the pyro they used did look kewl though) 16.) Dead, desolate, depressing ... TSFKaPI. No there, there anymore. A lot of confused guests since Disney still has the signage up and neon on. But Paradiso 37 (didn't try it, was told by more than one CM that it wasn't that good) and a few of PI's old bars mixed with Disney merchandise carts aren't fooling anyone. Just a big, big empty mess. 17.) Westside might be next. They put Princess Di's dresses in Virgin at $14 a head. Have no idea how that's working out. Starabilla's is in the midst of its 40% (we really mean store closing) sale. And DQ only remains open because Disney has no choice. BTW, went into DQ's shop for the first time in 2-3 years and there's not ONE item that says DQ on it ... not even a pin or a cheap keychain or plush ... that tells you all you need to know about its future. 18.) Four Seasons construction. Yeah, I am sure I will stay there. And that it will likely be the nicest hotel at WDW and in central Fla ... but I hate, hate, hate where it is being built. Pretty soon, there will be no land left, just little green berms and retention ponds/ Having watched forests disappear in a few days (literally) for Westside and Coronado Springs, I keep hearing Walt's 'blessing of size' over and over again ... and realize that two words he likely never uttered about the Florida Project were 'timeshares' and 'buildout'. 19.) Queue management at RnRC was a disaster. They couldn't figure out whether they wanted to open the single rider line or not and once opened it didn't move for 15 minutes, so using an eight hours old FP I had picked up, I simply changed lines. 20.) CMs not having/sharing correct info with guests. On more than one occasion I had to step in after the fact and correct info that wasn't right ... like a well-meaning waiter at the Grand Flo Cafe who gave a totally erroneous fireworks schedule to the people seated across from me that would have resulted in them seeing no pyro at all that night. 21.) Stopping by the bar at Rose and Crown on an EMH night (when it is listed as being open until midnight) and trying to get some food at 10:05 only to be told 'we're not serving food, the kitchen closed at 10' ... we weren't the only ones who wanted bar type snacks and couldn't get any ... and this was after being handed a menu with appetizers on it. Again, just plain dumb. Some folks like grub with their booze. And they often will drink more if they have something with it. OK ... that's about it ... as I've said before there was far more good than bad. What pisses me off is that much of the bad can largely be chalked up to poor management. This isn't a staleness issue ... an adding new attractions deal ... these are basic operations decisions. ... As I said in my more 'magical' thread, I didn't have one lousy CM ... or one lousy meal ... in some ways it was one of my best trips in the past 2-3 years. Still, I'm glad I'm going to DLP and DL soon!
Originally Posted By leobloom What a bunch of Doom and Gloom! If you hate the place so much, why do you go?! My family thinks WDW is the gold standard in vacations, bar none! We'd pay double what we do just to be able to do all the Meet and Greets. The Backlot Tour is our favorite thing there. And who cares if the menus are being dumbed down? You can always order an All-American hamburger! Your negativity makes me sick! *Ahem* Now that that's out of the way, the thread can continue with its scheduled reasonable discussion.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub One could also ask Leobloom why do you read Spirits honest reports if you dislike them so much? Spirit does have 3 other topics going that balance the Positive,mediocre and the negative. I hope you take the time to read them also.
Originally Posted By The Duck Leobloom, haven't you noticed by now that these boards are loaded with bitter, frustrated Disney lover/haters? Come on folks! Life's too short to carry on about whether or not Mr. Toad's Wild Ride should be reinstalled or if the new ghost bride in the HM was part of "Walt's vision". Disney Parks have their ups and downs but we should always remind ourselves that WDW was and still is a wonderful place to visit.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Speaking for myself only I am going thru Disney withdrawal and that makes me irritable and jealous of all locals everywhere. Hear me whine Not fair locals!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<This has to be the fastest I've ever seen a thread go meta.>> What can I say? I'm a very special Spirit! (headed out now, hope I come back to pages of vitriol!) ;-)
Originally Posted By MPierce >> What a bunch of Doom and Gloom! If you hate the place so much, why do you go?! My family thinks WDW is the gold standard in vacations, bar none! We'd pay double what we do just to be able to do all the Meet and Greets. The Backlot Tour is our favorite thing there. And who cares if the menus are being dumbed down? You can always order an All-American hamburger! Your negativity makes me sick! *Ahem* Now that that's out of the way, the thread can continue with its scheduled reasonable discussion. << I so agree!!!! Let's lynch him after we give him 100 lashes!!!! At least I got it Leo.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> This has to be the fastest I've ever seen a thread go meta. << Just your typical Spirit thread.
Originally Posted By MPierce I am really curious about the shortened hours for some things. As you pointed out, summertime holiday week-end, you've got to be kidding me. If I was in charge I would push everything to the max. If you wanted an ice cream cone at 1 am on the Boardwalk you would have no problem finding a place open. Of course I don't know how to run a theme park efficently. I guess WDW just doesn't need the money.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 The reason you see dirty queues at attractions is because hourly attractions CM's are given "tasks" to sweep the queue. It comes as part of the CDS system that assigns CM's to positions. When there are no upcoming positions that need to be replaced (like breaks, lunches or people going home) the system assigns tasks. The problem is that no one monitors those CM's and the tasks are usually ignored. And while this is most definately not an excuse on any level...try to sweep and empty trash cans during the middle of the day at either Soarin or Buzz. It is next to impossible with the number of people crammed in...especially at Soarin. Not to mention the hundreds of "happy" guests waiting for 45 mins while FP guests are ushered thru who decide that YOU are the person they should unload that info on. Fun.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Good one I just actually read post 2 all the way thru. Is it April first already? I was taking out my frustration with the autism postings on Leobloom. <ahem>So sorry
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<I guess WDW just doesn't need the money.>> They wish that was the case. Stay tuned for Disney's earnings on Thursday after the bell. It ain't gonna be pretty.
Originally Posted By leobloom >>Let's lynch him after we give him 100 lashes!!!!>> I don't know about the 100 lashes. He might enjoy it too much. Better yet, let's tie him down to a chair and hold his eyes open like in A Clockwork Orange and make him watch videos of Phil Holmes spliced together with film of Walt Disney walking around the WED workshop. Now THAT ought to do the trick!
Originally Posted By areyou23 >>>Stay tuned for Disney's earnings on Thursday after the bell. It ain't gonna be pretty<<< Agreed it ain't gonna be great, but we should definately see an improvement on the calamity that was Q2.....(?)
Originally Posted By jkayjs For me the only way to tolerate going in the summer is the extended hours. Go early, return to resort to swim/relax & return towards the evening/night when the sun goes down & it cools off @least a little. It's also the only way to see much with the # of guests contributing to mind numbing waits. I just got back but spent very little time in the parks. In fact I only went to DHS one afternoon for about 4 hrs. It was very enjoyable but very limited. I spent more time @ DtD & the resorts this trip. We're going in Dec will assess better then. I missed you too Spirit!
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Spirit, I feel you man. And it's a shame that others seem to bristle so much when you share your trip reports. We can't help what we know, and if your expectation for Walt Disney World is to experience a clean park with efficient, well-trained Cast Members, restaurants with good menus and reasonable prices -- and it doesn't happen for you, you're in your right to complain about it.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I don't think Spirit's criticisms were unfair. As a manager of parks (real...not amusement) I would love to have a site or two where I could go and see what people were staying: both good and bad. And, to be really fair, Spirit always posts the good with the bad. Disney isn't perfect and for those who have seen the far better days at WDW it does hurt to see where things have slid. And, I suppose I could tolerate some of the issues if it weren't for the fact that ticket prices just keep going up and up. I wouldn't like the issues...but they wouldn't sting as much.
Originally Posted By disney pete It's quite sad to listen to this part of your trip,i was talking to davewasballoo on another thread and he was telling me about crappy hours fantasmic only 3 times a week and no more spectro in does piss you off indeed i can only hope all my favs are open in oct when we go.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo That's alright Pete, we are boycotting DLP for a little while now, they have implemented a pathetic staggered hours system where some attractions like Pinnocchio is not opening until 3pm, and others are closing early. I mean DLP is open until 11 in the summer, but only 3 attractions are open between 10 and 11pm. and WDW and DLP love to cross pollinate their management teams. DLP may have the most ornate MK, and WDW may have the largest number of attractions, but the ops are best in California. That said, as Spirit has shown, there is still a lot of good there, and I am sure you guys will have a great time. But your sister gave you the low down of her experience. If you reset your expectations, hopefully you will be very suprised and have a wonderful time.
