Originally Posted By Dinseymomx2 This past weekend we took a spur of the moment trip to Disney. Planning on a nice quiet slow weekend, we were sadly mistaken upon arrival. One's first look at the TTC lines and the parking lot at 10 am, would surely seem like it was Summer vacation at the Magical world of Disney. Did someone say RECESSION, didn't seem that way this weekend. But back to my topic, while enjoying a busy day at Epcot, we noticed much more garbage on the grounds than usual. Usually we see none. But as we walked around, the garbage seem to be in such large amounts, that it looked like no-one had been there to sweep in at least three hours. In my whole day there I saw two custodial staffers. One on a segway with a grabber on a stick, and another going into a bathroom with a broom. Have there been layoffs or reduced hours in this area, or what? Any thoughts on this?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 could be one of two things - likely a combo of both... I am sure there is less custodial staff ( which has been noticeable each year progressively )-- However I have been reading about lower park attendances lately- if that is true I am sure they are staffing to that lower number - so if attendance spiked- I am sure that overwhelmed the staff on those days.
Originally Posted By dshyates I think that vbdad55 is correct in that they were sort of taken by surprise with this past weeks crowds. Spirit has a thread where they suddenly extended hours at the parks because of the larger than expected crowds. So my guess is when they were scheduling custodial staff, if was for the smaller crowds. But I do believe that they have a floating level of fulltime custodial where they simply have let go of some for the "value" season. With intentions to raise staff numbers as the springbreak and summer crowds roll in later. No need to keep everybody through the value season.
Originally Posted By MPierce Parks were very clean on my visit. Like everybody else has said, I really think it has to do with the number of guest there at any one time. That's really no excuse though. If you are going to build your reputation on appearance, cleanliness, and quality, you should always be able to maintain those standards.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<This past weekend we took a spur of the moment trip to Disney. Planning on a nice quiet slow weekend, we were sadly mistaken upon arrival. One's first look at the TTC lines and the parking lot at 10 am, would surely seem like it was Summer vacation at the Magical world of Disney. Did someone say RECESSION, didn't seem that way this weekend.>> Well, if you already have a Florida AP, I suppose that a day trip to WDW would be considered cheap compared to other forms of entertainment. The real question is: what is it like during the week? DLR is always packed on weekends for the same reason.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 The parks were clean when I was in them. Even on busier days. But that doesn't count the filthy walkways and pavement that isn't cleaned anymore on a regular basis. I guess only the Buzz queue, which is always one of the worst, was really bad ... and it wasn't trash, it was leaves that had blown in and weren't swept up. I can tell you that custodial clearly isn't what it was even five years ago. When you can stand at Epcot and look around for 15 minutes and not see one CM cleaning, you damn well know they aren't staffing like they did at one time. So I would guess it's now almost totally random as to whether you'll have a very clean park, a very dirty one or something in between. Unless Bob Iger is coming that is. ~Pass the Pixie Dust~
Originally Posted By MPierce >> But that doesn't count the filthy walkways and pavement that isn't cleaned anymore on a regular basis. << That's strange, cause I was pretty low to the ground this trip, and didn't have an issue anywhere I went. I do realise that things are always subject to change at WDW day to day.
Originally Posted By fkurucz << guess only the Buzz queue, which is always one of the worst, was really bad ... and it wasn't trash, it was leaves that had blown in and weren't swept up.>> That's interesting, I have often found the Buzz queue in DL to often be dirty as well.
Originally Posted By blueharvest82 This past week was president's weekend. New York, north New Jersey, and about four other states have the entire week off for their winter recess. It is the busiest week for the family oriented spring break crowds. It is the same situation every year. If you look at the schedules for the parks for that week, you can see the increased hours and show times. The magic kingdom had two spectro's running each night and there were three nights with fantasmic with 2 shows per night. The crowds tend to be steady from now until the end of april and then pick up again after memorial day.
Originally Posted By blueharvest82 also, even though many nations are facing a recession, we were hit pretty hard. people from other countries find it a little easier to come here. You can see a huge increase in international attendence. As far as the attack on the custodial team. I think anyone who wants to complain about a couple of tissues on the ground should spend a day as a janitor at the magic kingdom first, i think your heads would spin.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub I agree Disney is cutting back and has been for a very long time but I also KNOW the public has gotten even worse. I do not know how Disney could possibly keep up with human behavior unless we were all assigned a personal attendant upon entry to the park to follow us all day. I find every public place I go seems to be not very clean. Most people can not even make sure the toilet has flushed properly in public as they exit the stall. I am talking the ladies room...Haven't visited the men's lately. I did have somebody tell me yesterday that it is just as important to wash your hands before as it is after...I said thanks I did not know that Now I have even more to worry about!!!
Originally Posted By avro_imagineer ^^^ Uh in mens rooms... do you know how many men misaim? Do you know how many men don't wash their hands (even sadder is the ones coming out of the stalls)... But I agree human nature seems to be deteriorating in some regards (as are parenting skills). Also Disney is seen more casually now. (Probably treated more casually as well). Recall the days people actually wore you know nice shirts (ironed even!) not FCUK/ other nicer branded or wifebeaters to the park...
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad I haven't had a problem in WDW bathrooms. In Nov. many times there was a cm cleaning the bathroom when I was there. Two years ago I got food poisoning on the way down to Disney so the first 4 days of our trip I toured every bathroom in WDW. I'm happy to say that my 2006 bathroom tour found almost all WDW bathrooms were clean and well stocked. I hope this is a tour I never have to repeat again. Every ride made me feel like a shaken soda can.....Ooops. I may have just shared a little too much 0)
Originally Posted By matthewdort >>Also Disney is seen more casually now. (Probably treated more casually as well). Recall the days people actually wore you know nice shirts (ironed even!) not FCUK/ other nicer branded or wifebeaters to the park...<< How far we've come from, say, the early days of Disneyland, when people came to the park dressed like they were at church. But yeah, the general public seems to have become much more thoughtless and unhygienic in recent years.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad I have to say that in Nov. I saw a ton of muscle T's (wife beater in coloers with decals). I thought those went out of style in the 80's .
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt <<I thought those went out of style in the 80's >> Fashion runs in a 20yr cycle..Better get your "Frankie Says" Tee out!
Originally Posted By MPierce If they would paint little Bullseye targets on the urinals it would help with clealiness.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 ^^Good idea. But what to do about women who sprinkle? I remember when we first started going to WDW, to fly, I wore nylons, high heels, dressed nice. Yeah, like for church. But now a days, some people dress like crap to go to church. Now, I'm bad, I wear sneakers so I'm ready to run for the Parks.
Originally Posted By dshyates "If they would paint little Bullseye targets on the urinals it would help with clealiness." If they did that some bean counter would suggest an upcharge as it is now a game.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I remember when we first started going to WDW, to fly, I wore nylons, high heels, dressed nice. Yeah, like for church. But now a days, some people dress like crap to go to church. << That's so funny how things have changed. Almost like 2 different worlds we lived in. Go back to my topic on is WDW dining worth it, and hurry!
