Originally Posted By RoadTrip We were at EMH at Epcot tonight and it was not a pleasant experience. Unlike two years ago when attractions actually stayed open until midnight; everything shut down at 11:15 unless you had a Fastpass for a time scheduled later than that. All there was to do between 11:15 and midnight was spend money at Mouse Gear. Also unlike two years ago, all monorail service ended at 10:00 PM. Previously they ran until after the close of EMH. We were told to take a bus from Stop 8. So we went over there and waited... and waited... and waited. Half a dozen buses drove by without stopping, which was strange seeing as how none of the other stops had people waiting. There were at least 10 of us waiting for transit to the Contemporary. By the way... this was not really late. We arrived at the stop about 11:45... 15 minutes before EMH supposedly ended. Finally, after waiting more than 30 minutes, we saw a cast member walk by and asked if we were ever going to get a ride back to the hotel tonight. He said he would contact someone and get a bus there. One arrived within a few minutes. Why didn't any of the others stop? Why didn't the drivers who passed by at least call to have someone else dispatched? Somehow I expect better service than that when I'm staying in a suite priced at $800 per night. It has been an enjoyable enough trip, but I won't be in a hurry to return. After four years of going on Disney Cruises, I had forgotten just how superior the service on the ships was to that at WDW. There is absolutely no comparison.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Epcot's evening EMH have always been a bit of a puzzle to me, since so much of Future World closes by 7pm each night. Yes, there are things to do in World Showcase, but the point of EMH has always been to focus on rides with shorter waits, so it seems strange to do it when so many rides are closed. I don't think that they use FPs for EMH, so I'm not sure why they were cutting the lines of early; perhaps there was some reason that they had to do a hard close at 11 (meaning if the line at 10pm was 60minutes, that's when they would close it so the last guests were off by 11). But again, given the focus of EMH that seems like a strange way of doing it As for the monorail, they're currently in the middle of ongoing work to upgrade the system so that the trains are driven automatically (though I believe a pilot will still be onboard), so they have been changing the schedules of them for months. Hopefully once it's all done, they will be running regularly and not cause these sorts of issues. That said, they've been going through these sorts of things for months now (since at least March), so you'd think that they would have figured it out by now. It often feels like all the buses coming by are for the wrong hotel (especially right after park closing when there are dozens of buses coming each minute), but they're usually quite good about having a 20 minute maximum wait. For what the folks on the monorail loop have to pay, I would hope that their replacement bus service would have been exceptional; that's the sort of thing that deserves to be complained about
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I expected that attractions that close early... Nemo, Universe of Energy, Innoventions etc. would not be open. But I expected that those remaining open would stay open later than 11:15. No idea about the Fastpasses... maybe now with FB+ they schedule FB late on EMH nights for those staying in the resort hotels. All I know is the standby queues had been closed while the FP queues remained open with the next available time posted. The bus stops were virtually deserted when we got there. I assume most guests left earlier with the attractions closing at 11:15. We stayed there to shop at Mouse Gear, but were at the stop by 11:45, 15 minutes before the stated close. I know there are buses to many destinations, but bus after bus drove through the area without stopping because there was no one at any of the stops... except ours. I thought one of them could have stopped for us or at least called in and reported people were waiting. Part of the problem probably was that there usually is no bus to the Contemporary from Epcot, just monorail. They need to figure out how to handle it.
Originally Posted By hopemax > I thought one of them could have stopped for us or at least called in and reported people were waiting. Part of the problem probably was that there usually is no bus to the Contemporary from Epcot, just monorail. They need to figure out how to handle it. < You think WDW encourages this type of "out of the box" thinking? No one talks to each other, so what monorails do usually has no impact on busses. This is the same group of people that when Typhoon Lagoon's bus schedule got changed (after 2PM all buses go to Epcot, and you get a resort bus there) initially had no plan to get the Epcot Resort guests from the front of Epcot to their hotel. And drivers making their own decisions about things, that's usually a recipe for getting in trouble. What's weird about your attraction experience, is that I didn't think FP+ was allowed during EMH. I found a DIS post from April saying that was still the case. I'll blame it on MM+ cost overruns. They need the labor to go home at midnight, not 12:35 or 12:52 or whatever it would take to get everyone cycled through. Some would think it's crazy, but the things my family member has told me about what they CAN'T do, even if it's necessary for their area to operate, until the new fiscal year starts...and that's at a location with the $800+ suites RT was mentioning earlier.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I have a crazy theory here that may or may not have any truth to it: nobody had a FP, but they were using the FP scanners for verification that you belonged at EMH Back in the day they distributed wristbands to folks staying onsite, or you would flash your room key at the ride entrance to prove that you were staying at one of their hotels. But now that they have all the technology installed to link everything together automagically, why not just let the scanners do the dirty work? Instead of setting them up to read if you have a FP for a certain time, they could be set up to read if you're staying at the hotel or not (and verify it, unlike flashing a hotel key that could be leftover from a previous trip). And since they only have the scanners on the FP side of the queue, everybody would have been routed through there. This is the sort of stuff that MM+ was designed to do, so it seems crazy enough that it just might be true Were you actually told that the standby queue was closed and you needed a FP to ride, or did you just infer it from the way traffic was flowing? Have you been to other evening EMH's on the trip? How were they handled?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^ That could well be the case. The first attraction we rode during EMH was Figment just because it was the first one we ran into after entering from the Showcase and I knew it would have zero line. They had a guy out front with a handheld scanner since that attraction obviously doesn't need FP. The next we went on was Mission Space... there was a guy there making sure people went to the proper queue, green or orange. We did use the regular FP scanners. At Test Track there was no CM in front, and unfortunately we didn't attempt to gain entry via the FP queue. Being a compulsive rule follower isn't always a good thing.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Upon further review... I'm sure they were closed. There was no one stationed at the scanners to check the results.
Originally Posted By tashajilek After reading this I am very happy my next Disney trip is to the DLR.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Another irritant...minor perhaps but still irritating. When we finally got back at close to 1 AM, the front doors to the Bay Lake Tower were locked and the lobby was empty. Sure, we were able to get in using our Magic Band. But I don't think I've ever been to a Super 8 that didn't have a 24 hour front desk. Given what they charge for rooms here, guests certainly deserve better service. If instead of paying with DVC points I was having to actually pay the rates asked at the WDW reservations website, I would be having a bloody fit. As it is, I've just made a mental note to always stay at the Boardwalk in the future... when that time comes. For the time being, it is back to Disney Cruises for us.
Originally Posted By Mr X Or you could just come out to Tokyo if you want a comparable customer experience with all the perks of a resort.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Or you could just come out to Tokyo if you want a comparable customer experience with all the perks of a resort. >>> ... and they already have monorails that drive themselves, run on time, and don't get delayed "waiting for traffic clearance." <<< After four years of going on Disney Cruises, I had forgotten just how superior the service on the ships was to that at WDW. >>> I just spent a week aboard the Fantasy with a WDW resort CM, and they were shocked at just how high of a service standard was maintained on the ships as compared to WDW resorts.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>They had a guy out front with a handheld scanner since that attraction obviously doesn't need FP.<< And yet, with MM+ it's a FP option. My last time on it, there was an actual wait (about 5 minutes, but still) because the FP+ riders were getting priority ahead of us. I'm sure it was doing exactly what Disney wanted, but it was still pretty annoying >>Upon further review... I'm sure they were closed. There was no one stationed at the scanners to check the results.<< I would have thought the opposite. Unless there's someone there telling me that it's closed and/or a rope across all entryways, I would assume it's open. Especially if you can hear/see cars speeding by every 12 seconds >>...the front doors to the Bay Lake Tower were locked and the lobby was empty.<< I've never been to BLT myself, but doesn't it share a check-in desk with the regular Contemporary hotel? Is the BLT lobby ever staffed? What exactly do those folks do, since I would assume that all amenities are shared with the hotel (other than the ones within the tower, like the pool and lounge). It's not like there's a separate bus stop, right?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>... and they already have monorails that drive themselves, run on time, and don't get delayed "waiting for traffic clearance."<< They also have a population that rides trains on a daily basis, and knows how to load and unload them quickly. Especially with the number of wheelchair/scooter-bound guests WDW sees, I'm not sure they'd ever be able to run on a reliable schedule the way that trains in Japan do. TDR's monorail is fully accessible; WDW's requires a special ramp to be laid down so that wheelchairs can roll on board, which eats up valuable time in any sort of automated system
Originally Posted By Mr X ***WDW's requires a special ramp to be laid down so that wheelchairs can roll on board, which eats up valuable time in any sort of automated system*** Not always. The Tokyo subway system uses similar accessibility ramps, and somehow they manage to do it without compromising their renowned punctuality. Maybe they should just send the whole WDW cast to Japan for re-training. ;D
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Bay Lake has its own check-in desk; that was the first time I had ever seen the lobby unstaffed. The bus stop is between the hotel and the Bay Lake Tower, and of course you catch the monorail at the hotel. You get bell services at the Tower, but the personnel is shared with the hotel and sometimes wasn't as fast as I had come to expect at The Boardwalk. There was no valet service at the Tower, something I had come to count on at The Boardwalk. At least the walk to parking at the Bay Lake is much shorter than at the BW. I consider valet parking at the BW to be essential. All services and food are at the hotel except for the Top of the World Lounge as you mentioned. The appetizers served at Top of the World were really very good. Three or four of therm served Tapas style between two people would make a satisfying meal. While the Top of the World lounge is open there is an additional person on the lobby to handle that. They check for a DVC ID card; people staying there on cash or rented points cannot access it unless a member is with the group. They walk you back to the elevator and insert a key that allows you to access the 16th floor. They apparently also offered a breakfast at the Top of the World, but we never tried it so I cannot comment on that.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Maybe they should just send the whole WDW cast to Japan for re-training. ;D<< They should just bring a bunch of Japanese folks over to run it for them! I'm always amazed by the level of service that you get in the Japan pavilion, which is staffed by Mitsukoshi employees, but then I remember that it's perfectly in line with what you'd experience in Japan I do wonder if everything else were controlled, whether a mob of average Americans would be able to load a train at the same speed as a herd of Japanese people. The Japanese are groomed to efficiently navigate transit on a daily basis so they just inherently know what to do; for most Americans, getting on a train or a ferry is a completely foreign experience (no pun intended) Not to mention that there are *way* more wheelchairs, strollers, and ECVs in WDW than anywhere in Japan! We were pleasantly surprised at TDR to see that even very young kids (2-3 years old) were walking and strollers were really only used for infants. It made it much easier to navigate the parks
Originally Posted By Mr X ***I do wonder if everything else were controlled, whether a mob of average Americans would be able to load a train at the same speed as a herd of Japanese people*** Well, yeah. There's that, too. One of my clients, a Japanese businessman, is living in NYC now, and he told me about a busy event which prompted the closing of several nearby subway stations (for safety reasons, because they were already mobbed). I mentioned that I've never heard of that in Japan, and his reply was something like "there's no need to do that in Japan because we Japanese are a lot more organized".
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Breakfast at the Top of the World? Now that would be Disneys best kept secret for sure. Never knew about that...would like to know more?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Breakfast at the Top of the World? Now that would be Disneys best kept secret for sure. Never knew about that...would like to know more?>> I don't know anything more about it myself, but am calling DVC on Monday to find out. I was in the lobby one morning waiting for my wife and I overhead a family go up to the DVC podium and ask the guy there to go up to the Top of the World lounge. He said something like "You're here for the blah-blah-blah breakfast?" They said yes and he took them back to the elevator. I don't know if it was a private special event, a ticketed event open to the public, or what. But I will try to find out.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Seriously I should just call you...haha we seem to be having conversations all by ourself tonight on 3 different topics .... I googled it and <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.disneycontemporary.com">http://www.disneycontemporary.com</a> reports it is a WELCOME HOME Breakfast..not sure how to qualify tho
