Originally Posted By Labuda "You certainly wouldn't pick up and eat something that had been on a gosh-awful dirty Disney carpet, would you? (Especially if you were staying at PO Riverside.)" I love you, Trippy!
Originally Posted By Labuda "It could also be avoided by building out the queue using materials other than painted drywall. This is another example of how doing things on the cheap affects show." Pardon my construction ignorance, but what other options are there?
Originally Posted By mrichmondj Peeling paint is more often than not a sympton of the environment in which it was applied, and not the material being painted. Paint applied in high humidity environments (i.e. Florida) is more susceptible to separation from the painted surface than paint applied in other environments.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 Spirit, I hope you told someone at WDW what you've told us. There must be SOMEONE there who if they hear it often enough will figure that there is a problem that should be handled.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> When I said 'any surface' I thought it was clear that I was NOT including the carpet. If that half cashew was on the carpet it certainly should be (and I'm sure would be) picked up. << But it sure would be more fun to leave it there with a new clean napkin under it, wouldn't it? I can see my career at housekeeping wouldn't last too long.
Originally Posted By alphabetmom I have only been to Disneyland, and I always find it prestine. I have always heard how wonderful WDW is, now I am having second thoughts. I hope it gets spruced up before Oct. when I will be visiting.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<A few comments on your comments... Queues... I agree with your comments 100%. I think the specific problem with the queues you mention is that significant portions of them are out of the sight of any CM. I have noticed this particularly at Buzz where guests, and I use the term loosely, apparently take great joy in peeling off the paint and the top layer of the drywall used in the queue.>> Yes. Guests, of all ages, at WDW must simply pull, pick, touch, rub, grab any surface they come in contact with. Even in the Pirates queue where it was obvious that guns were glued down, I watched as an entire family (ages 8-40 something) just kept pulling and pulling. <<This could all be avoided by having CM stationed in areas so that no parts of the queue are unwatched. This is actually a pretty decent idea for the safety of guests too. Yea, it would cost a little money. But I bet you can pay a lot of entry level CMs to watch the queues for what Disney pays the carpenter/painter they need to repair the damage.>> If they won't station custodial CMs in the queues, you'll never see that. <<I also have to agree with you on the Living Seas. I'm very happy that the lower level has some life again. I also think the Nemo ride is a dandy dark ride. But unfortunately I again have to agree with you 100% on the sad condition of the upper level.>> I'm sure they didn't bring their media guests up there during the Nemo opening in January ... unless the bar had been opened for hours first! <<Now for a few areas where I'll pick a nit... <<Fountains all over the park remain stuffed with buckets of plants to cover up the fact they haven't operated for years ..>> Does this have anything to do with water conservation? I think I read somewhere a year or so ago that theme parks, hotels, etc. were being asked to turn off fountains etc. in an attempt to conserve water during a very dry year.>> That was the 'excuse' used back in the major drought of 1998 ... almost a decade ago. The fountains barely use any water. It's also a resort in a semi-tropical climate. Flowing water is relaxing and always was an important detail of the parks that no longer exists. <<Hate to have to tell you this Spirit, but Monsters WAS a cartoon. What would you expect them to use for seating... Victorian style sofas?>> Nope ... I just meant the seating surfaces are very cheap. They felt like something parents would sit on at a McDonald's playland when their kids were running around. <<Your complaints about garbage in out of the way places and hairs in the bathroom are certainly justified. But for the sunflower and cashew thing... I think Mousekeeping has been taught to NEVER TAKE ANYTHING left on any surface in the room. I noticed this last trip when I left a few dollars lying on a towel on the vanity for the 'Trash and Towel' Mousekeeper. I usually put tips on a bed pillow, but since this person would just be collecting old towels and leaving new ones I figured they would never even check the beds. When we got back to our room the towel that the money had been sitting on had been taken, but the dollar bills were now sitting on the vanity in exactly the same place as where they had been on the towel. A candy wrapper may be trash to one person and the wrapper holding the Wonka Golden Ticket to another. My guess is that Mousekeeping is told to NEVER make an assumption about something left on a nightstand, vanity, etc. being trash. If so, they were just doing what they had been trained to do in response to your 'test'.>> I understand where you're coming from on this, Trippy. But I think (as shocking as this might be) that you're putting far too much thought into it. Food remnants that would attract bugs sitting on a night stand should be tossed away. <<Great review though Spirit. I agree about the resorts, restaurants and Epcot being the best of WDW. That is why we love the Boardwalk... we are probably in Epcot for at least a portion of our day every day we are at WDW.>> Sadly, Epcot custodial is starting to remind me of MK's crew in places though ... Disney needs to pay more and expand less. It's just that simple. There's a finite supply of even incompetent workers willing to toil for $6-8 an hour and WDW exhausted that pool (even going to the islands) about a decade ago. There's nothing that can be done without raising wages.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<The waterfountain at the MK First Aid station hadn't worked for a year and a half when I came down here FT some 2+ years ago. I'd given up on it. Then all of a sudden it was fixed! It ran daily for some months, then quit again. Now it is now dry once again. I'm keeping vigil on it.>> Don't. You might be dead and buried before they get around to turning it on. ANd I do recall it working briefly a few years back. <<So if they discover a piece of trash on the floor, or a half cashew and sunflower seed on the counter top, they should leave it in place, with a napkin slipped underneath it to indicate that they'd been there? >> It should have been thrown out-- period. It wasn't because the table was (and is) never touched/cleaned. Disney doesn't train its Mousekeepers to do so and it certainly doesn't have leads that inspect the rooms and go over a checklist. I generally can find 5-10 things wrong in a room immediately without even trying. That just shouldn't happen.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I have seen custodial CM's work their way through a long line at DL, cleaning as they move through it. Why can't they do that in Florida?>> Because it costs money and they don't believe they need to. In other words, they just don't care.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<The only thing I find interesting about these observations is that someone who claims to be such a WDW expert would even bother going to WDW during the Spring Break season.>> Spring and fall are the two best times of year to visit WDW. That is why I choose to go then. <<I learned 25 years ago that this is absolutely the most miserable time of year, and I haven't been back at this time of year since then. >> No. The worst, most miserable times of year are generally July and August as well as Christmas week. <<The parks are overcrowded, and worst of all, there is no swell of college program and teenage cast members that boost the WDW work force>> Sorry, wrong again, buddy. There were loads of CPers working ... very nice, professional kids, I might add.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Spirit, I hope you told someone at WDW what you've told us. There must be SOMEONE there who if they hear it often enough will figure that there is a problem that should be handled.>> I didn't tell anyone anything. But rest assured, every word I post is read by management. You assume (incorrectly) that management would care about correcting these issues. They don't. And there are execs that have personal issues with me because ... well, frankly, I want to see them unemployed, so they would never take anything I say seriously if I did complain. They run a very defensive operation at Disney. Until something embarrassing appears in the mainstream media, it's always business as usual and lie thru your teeth.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Peeling paint is more often than not a sympton of the environment in which it was applied, and not the material being painted. >>> You seem to be referring to paint peeling by itself. That's not what is being discussed with regard to the Buzz queue. The original statement was: <<< ... have noticed this particularly at Buzz where guests, and I use the term loosely, apparently take great joy in peeling off the paint and the top layer of the drywall used in the queue >>> This kind of paint peeling is most definitely affected by the type of material to which the paint has been applied.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Disneyland is quality over quantity.>> For now. I remember half a dozen years ago when folks were up in arms about the condition of Disneyland and wondering why WDW got all the money. Don't get complacent... things can obvioulsy change rather quickly.
Originally Posted By Megara <<I guess I shouldn't mention how I left a sunflower seed and half a cashew on the nightstand for four days to see if it would disappear and it never did.>> Maybe they thought you were saving it for later.
Originally Posted By Megara <<Even in the Pirates queue where it was obvious that guns were glued down, I watched as an entire family (ages 8-40 something) just kept pulling and pulling.>> Absolutely disgusting. Why don't they do us all a favour and just stay home in their own sty. I would have given them dirty looks and said something to them or the CM.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< <<Even in the Pirates queue where it was obvious that guns were glued down, I watched as an entire family (ages 8-40 something) just kept pulling and pulling.>> Absolutely disgusting. Why don't they do us all a favour and just stay home in their own sty. >>> This reminds me of something I immediately noticed about the design of Tokyo DisneySea: there are many items in the queues that are within easy reach of guests, have been left intact for years despite literally tens of millions of guests passing by them, but likely would not have lasted a single day in a US park without being ruined. I'm sure that some of these items have been disturbed by a guest from time to time and since repaired, but there's stuff there that I really think would literally not last a single day in a US park before *someone* would vandalize them. It's an interesting commentary on one difference in the cultures, but I'm more interested by the fact that WDI Glendale was somehow able to latch onto this and design queues with this in mind in a way that they'd never do for a US park.
Originally Posted By Megara Yes, I have also heard this before about Japan and USA. I would never imagine damaging the Disney parks myself. I much prefer to look, admire... maybe touch it and photograph it - but would never think to vandalise a place I love so much. The Disney parks are there for millions to enjoy for years to come. Please, please play nice.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj << Sorry, wrong again, buddy. There were loads of CPers working ... very nice, professional kids, I might add. >> Thanks for pointing out that I'm wrong, even when I'm not. The Spring CP at WDW is nowhere near the size of the summer program, even though the number of guests in the park reaches the same level during the weeks surrounding Spring Break. There is a big difference. << Spring and fall are the two best times of year to visit WDW. That is why I choose to go then. >> I agree Spring and fall are the best times -- as long as it is not the weeks surrounding Easter or the week of Thanksgiving. Visit at your own peril during those periods. They are just as miserable as summer -- maybe worse when you consider the staffing shortfalls during those times. I will say that it is getting harder and harder to find an off-season at WDW. The convention business in Orlando pretty much keeps things going year-round now, and has been amplified by the fact that a lot of Gulf Coast conventions were moved to WDW after hotels there were wiped out by Katrina. Then there is the DVC factor, which compells DVC-owners to schedule a trip every year with all the consideration of off-season vs. peak season rates. People are also more likely to take their kids out of school for vacations these days, which wasn't necessarily the case 20 years ago.
