Originally Posted By TDLFAN So, this afternoon, I left the house to go to Mall at Millenia, do some shopping among the sisterhood there and get something for my mother for Mother's Day. Got done quite faster than I thought... so, what to do next??? An impromptu Quality Control Visit to the MK and EPCOT, that's what's next!! Off I go down I-4 to El Mundo de Walt Disney (as most non-native locals call the place around here)... and arrive there at around 3:45pm. The AAA Diamond lot was closed and I noticed that the parking CMs were filling the very LAST row of the far west parking lot area (the one closest to Hess than to the TTC...) I decided to skip and go gayly forward to the Grand (?) FL Hotel and park at their self-park guest and CM area. Hopped on the monorail and arrived at the MK a few moments later, near deaf because of the loud mono spiel. Much to my surprise, the MK was closing at 7pm tonight... but I reckon it was because of Grad Nite tonight. Who knows. The park, while a bit busy, was not crowded at all... which is perfect since these are the times when the very few custodial CMs (actually I do not remember seeing one at all) can actually keep up with the guests' trashing the park. For the most part, the park was decently clean.. just your usual napking here, some of the same dirt spots I have come to recognize in Tomorrowland, or a discarded water bottle there. Yet I was perplexed at how many non-custodial CM's do stand next to these little imperfections yet DO NOT bother to bend over and pick up the rubbish. Doesn't anyone take a bit of pride while working at the MK anymore??? Or are their huge bellies not allowing them to bend over?? I mean, you can burn a few calories just collecting a discarded guidemap off the floor, and trust me... some CMs need the exercise, and better fitted costumes as well. I also walked pass POTC which is once again closed to guests. A wall covers a portion of the front entrance and I believe that is where the new signage will be installed. Nearby, Hook, Mr. Smee, Peter Pan and Wendy (all newly arrived from their new night time gig at Universal Japan I suppose) pose galantly for photos with guests. This particular Peter looked 12, while Wendy looked 28. Oh well... they looked great in costume and acted the parts accordingly.. That is what matters. Nearby...on the POTC wall... a sign reads "Dead Men Do tell tales". Original.. eh? That was besides the customary "this ride is closed for 'improvements' that won't match those bieng done in CA to POTC" sign. More puzzling... CM's in Flying Carpet costumes were stading next to the POTC signs directing guests to "move along.. nothing to see here". Over on Main Street, the entire Sports shop (formerly the Magic shop and Penny Arcades) is totally closed for refurbishing at this time. No loss there. This being a mostly sunny day...it makes a big impact on the MK. Buildings look brighter and everything looks more colorful.. Or maybe they have added some new paint here and there? But for the most part..everything looked GREAT! Now... on to my ever lasting frustration: The monorail service. As I leave the MK, mono CMs are stationed just outside the gate, telling people.."Only the Ferry Boat to the TTC at this time folks..." I think to myself..."here we go again.." I am beginning to believe they do this on purpose everytime Team Disney finds out TDLFAN is out and about at the resort unnanounced. Anyways.. since I had parked at the Grand (?) FL Hotel... I go directly to the resort monorail line which was opened. After waiting there for about 5 minutes, a big surly CM yells at the crowd that a "monorail was stuck in the beam and the service is being delayed..and YOU (the resort guests) will be SECOND in line to board" I was like.. WT.. (shush your mouth!) About a minute later, we see monorail red coming over.. and I see progress... but WAIT! Red is not in the resort beam, but coming backwards in the express bean, fully loaded with guests, and so it enters the MK station. Doors opened and out poor some very unhappy guests who apparently had departed the MK station earlier bound for the TTC and were delayed out there on the beam for a wee long time before being returned to their point of origin!!! Two mins later or so... Mono Yellow arrives, doors open on the opposite side of us (center/exit platform) guests disembark, and the guests who were back at the station from Mono red are invited to board. Doors close and off they were... It was another 5 mins or so before we (the resort guest line) were boarded on the next monorail. At this point in time... several guests around me are b*** and moaning and saying how "ridiculous" this situation was jada jada... or at least that's all I could hear since the spiels were blasting loudly and furiously over the PA system. Anyways... I finally arrived at my car about 40 mins after I left the MK. One note about the monorail spiels... They are too loud, too frequent and too MUCH!!! There are so many spiels now being recited by that annoying voice, that one spiel is not quite over before the next one cuts in. In other words... it's a constant assault of loud jibberish.... jada jada jada, blah blah blah.. Utterly ridiculous!!! It has gotten so bad that while a monorail is in motion, there are NO breaks from the constant blah blah blah hurling at us thru the PA system... Among all of this monorail drama worthy of an Irwin Allen movie... one bright spot: Chrisrails. I spotted Chrisrails at TTC and waved from afar. We miss you around here Chrisrails!! With hand signals, he informs Babyrails is doing OK. Now... On to EPCOT. Drove my car and arrived at EPCOT's auto plaza at around 5:20pm or so.. There is only ONE attendant doing switchback duty with two auto lines.. There were 14 cars on the right lane, and 15 on the left (yes, I counted them) Seemed to me this CM could have used some help. With this much traffic, one plaza CM is simply not enough and not acceptable. After waiting for about 5 mins.. I flash my AP and am allowed to proceed. Gleefully, I parked my car in one of those "reserved" spaces at the beginning of each park row ("reserved" for who? TDLFAN?) and a short walk to EPCOT's front entrance... and I witness fiasco in the making. Only 3 turnstyle stations opened, guests backed up all the way to the backside of the ticket booths, no "Guests with NO bags" line anywhere, which I could have used since my grandma didn't come along today, and no relief in sight. Ay ay ay... I put myself at the mercy of God and stand in the shortest line I saw which was about 30 guests deep... Took almost 12 mins to reach the turnstyle, mostly because of that idiotic "bag search" and also because 1 out of every 3 guests seemed to have problems with the finger scanner...either they did not know how to insert fingers, or the system was not reading the tickets properly. Anyways... same old disaster at the turstyle. After so much delay and frustration, I marched to Guest Relations to give them my opinion about their staffing shortages and how guests are being made to wait too long unnecesarily. The nice CM, who I had to ask to speak to me in spanish since his accent was quite strong and I was having a hard time understanding it (this happens when two people with respective accents of their own collide in conversation. Don't believe me? Go to Manchester UK), finally confessed to me that turnstyle frustrations and delays are just about the most common complaint from guests all day long, day in and day out. In his words, translated here for your benefit. Oh well... At least while standing in line at Guest Relations, I got to enjoy the guest whose 8 year old daughter had been missing for a while now and how he was telling everyone off for not handling the situation to his satisfaction. Personally, I feel he could have been a better parent and keep a leash on his little Princess, but that's a different trauma. Finally, After a quick stop to get the AP-exclusive Flower Fest pin #3, I left EPCOT and came home. In closing.. if you have read thru all of this... One of the interesting aspects of visiting WDW every now and then is to be pleasantly surprised. Sometime it does happen. Today, it didn't. It pains me to see a lack of consistency in regards to good customer service. Management needs to realize that operating their parks with minimun staffing impacts the overall satisfaction of the guests. I was NOT the only one fuming out there today...trust me on that. But many won't take the time to tell management about it. It's very sad. Disney guests deserve better than this... and a free "front of the line" pass to conpensate for my troubles (which I declined to accept, much to the Guest Relation CM's surprise) does not fix the problems I see at WDW on a recurrent basis. Hopefully next time, it will be a better day at WDW.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Why, TDLFAN, duckling! My sisters and I were at the Magic Kingdom today, as well! But we left around 5 pm. We noticed that one of the monorails seemed to be stuck. Now you've confirmed it. ORGOCH: Don't I always tell ya's it ain't safe ta git near one them dang Monster Rails?! Maybe now yer gonna' believe me!! Take the boat instead! Air's fresher and ya can do some fishin' along the way! ORWEN: At least the monorails in California have open windows to jump out of--in case they get stuck. I just don't like riding anything enclosed like that. It's too claustrophobic. ORDDU: As for your other concerns, we'd like you to know we never miss a chance to offer constructive Criticism at City Hall, ourselves, whenever we see something that needs to be reported. ORGOCH: Yeah, Pest Relations knows yer witches REAL well by now. ORWEN: On a happier note, we're proud to announce that everything was working right inside Splash Mountain today. Br'er Rabbit was hopping about like he's supposed to and the jumping waters were really jumping over our heads for a change!!
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: We'd like to add that we were equally surprised to discover the park was closing at 7 pm for Grad Night. Our original intent was to stay until closing so we could enjoy the fireworks show--WITCHES. ORWEN: I just hope when we go to Disneyland--next week--they don't close THEIR park down early on the weekends for Grad Night. ORGOCH: Don't think they will. Already checked.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Sorry I missed you gals, I wish I had known you were going to be there, and maybe we could have shared some frog legs over at the Crystal Palace.. As for Splash Mt.. I didn't ride any rides today.. just a walk-around visit. Did you happen to notice if the chewing gum from last year's Grad Night event was finally removed off some of the sets inside Splash? I mean, with Grad Nights back on again this week... it's time for the high school brats to go at it again...
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost TDLFAN, that customer service thing is the sore point that you and I have been trying to convey concerning Fastpass. Talk about angry upset guests, that takes the cake. But that's another thread. Good report!
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Thanks. However, I must admit, this is the type of WDW report that I hate to write about, but I am quite frustrated with the lack of "will" to improve some of the inconsistencies I experience at WDW on a regular basis. Oh well... I guess I am the eternal optimists since I just dropped another $309 to renew my WDW AP in hopes that maybe I will get to see positive changes on that property. Maybe I should pull up a chair, sit down and wait. It may never happen.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney Grad nights can't be helped, but at least they are early here. At DL they run up until late June. I have been noticing more problems with the monorails of late and I can't help but wonder if budget-cutting and poor maintainance are playing a factor. The trains are certainly dirtier than they used to be, so it's not a giant leap. I haven't been to the MK in weeks, but I'm glad you thought it looked so good. I think it always looks better with smaller crowds. Once it gets busy, custodial simply can't keep up in its present state. And kudos to you for not taking the front of the line pass, WDW's idea of 'guest recovery' is to give the least bit it can to shut the guests up and get them out of guest relations, so they don't ever have to deal with real source of frustration. FWIW, I bet the Daddy of the missing girl walked away with something much larger himself, even though losing your child isn't the fault of the place you happen to be.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Actually, he just walked out! The Guest relations CM passed him the phone and he was screming bloody murder to whoever was on the line... Said a few choice words, then walked out mad as hell.
Originally Posted By Coachbagfanatic1 TDLFAN - Thanks for the report. Unfortunately, it seems that when you complain to guest relations the complaint goes no where and that's what's so frustrating. All the times we have stayed at GF, we have never had a problem with the monorail but there is always that chance. Lack of staff definitely has an effect on different aspects of the park. Besides offering someone a "front of the line pass" just to appease them does not cut it at all. Doing something about the complaint: Priceless As far as that father is concerned, it was his responsibility as a parent to keep an eye on his child not WDW. If the child was 8 he or she should have known what to do if they get separated from their parents. My son knew what to do the moment he was able to understand but he never left my sight. He is now 10 and I still sometimes grab his hand to keep him near me.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Witches in terms of the monorail breaking down. It all depends on who is in the car with you at the time! If you know what I mean.
Originally Posted By mickey_ring Great report as always. It's a little off topic, but I sure would like to see the Experimental put back into Epcot. Let me see the Legacy graveyard moved to an open space somewhere and have some cool exhibits in the area in front of SSE. Future World bait, like an alternative energy display, land use technology, ocean info, way-out future transportation, like that. A little up front preview might make the Future pavilions more attractive.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Same old problems? And you're complaining? At least they're showing consistency!
Originally Posted By cape cod joe I especially liked the sojurn down I 4 from my favorite Mall in the world, Millenia! My big splurge there was getting a crock wallet at Neiman Marcus that you just can't find on the cape. Thanks so much and this is exactly why I love the LP for posts like yours TDL even though it's negative for my blood like LUV's a few weeks back, I accept it as the truth. THANKS and there's ONE person ME who savors every thing you wrote. You gave me a vicarious day in my beloved Orlando.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<LOLOL!!! Classic '74!!! Welcome back my child.>> Accept no imitations and/or substitutes.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip WDW... is that REALLY YOU?? Welcome back my man. Even though you're wrong about half the time I've sure missed your posts!! ;-)
Originally Posted By Lewis Goofy <<guests backed up all the way to the backside of the ticket booths, no "Guests with NO bags" line anywhere, which I could have used since my grandma didn't come along today, and no relief in sight. Ay ay ay... I put myself at the mercy of God and stand in the shortest line I saw which was about 30 guests deep... Took almost 12 mins to reach the turnstyle, mostly because of that idiotic "bag search" << That idiotic bag search that Security is doing is extremely important. IMO no wait is to long to go through Security. They give me peace of mind knowing my family will be safe inside any Disney park. <<no "Guests with NO bags" line anywhere<< Sometimes they have to do this because Security not only searches bags but they also visually inspect all guest. As I said before it is an extremely important job. Most guest understand that it is important and appreciate the Security that Disney provides and the concern about guest safety that Disney shows. After all if we did not care about guest safety we would provide no security at all.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN There is hardly a "Guests with NO bags" line at EPCOT. The only two times I have seen one were the times when they have a SINGLE security area setup between the center ticket booths by the monorail station entrance.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>That idiotic bag search that Security is doing is extremely important. IMO no wait is to long to go through Security.<< Sorry.. for got to add my two cents about this.. Security at the parks' gates is a JOKE. It's done for show purposes and accomplishes absolutely NOTHING other than delay guests entry into the parks. Not until WDW installs security gates with metal detectors and X-ray machines... will I ever feel somewhat secured within a Disney park. That's the way it is, but if it makes you feel secured to see the Mousekapolice pretending to be professionals, then be my guest. I know better than that.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^ Yea... I don't always agree with TDLFAN (duh) but he is dead on with this one. The WDW "Security Checks" are PR only. Now... I don't know that I think that is bad. I pretty much think any security check is worthless because if someone really wants to get around it they can. You can hold enough explosive in your body cavities to take a fair chunk out of DL/WDW. Unless you want to start subjecting everyone to strip searches, what are you going to do? My preference would be to stop the charade and just let people in. I know I'm probably in the minority on this.
