Post here regarding WDW cutbacks, changes & Complaints

[Beader7]

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[The Sybah Shelstah]

I guess i have been pretty lucky I haven't really be party to pain in the but people or cms who didn't have the majic. I have encountered some foreign visitors who like to try and but up in lines but that is few and far between. I like to go with the flow. I don't let anything distrub my visit, I am there to enjoy the time I have at the parks.

That's interesting that you should say that- is that a common occurance with some people? The cutting in lines? I wonder.
We had one experience where the lines were horrendous in a store and I had promised my son a "something special" (letting him pick out something small in the store) because he was getting upset that he couldn't ride some rides (like RnR at the time) and I felt bad for the short little thing (hehe). Anyway, the lines were really long in all different directions from each register- pretty much you could barely shop in the store because of the lines of people waiting to pay. Well a man comes up with a young girl in his arms (about 3yrs old maybe- not that it matters) and just keeps trying to stand in front of the 2nd person in each line!

Well, the first time I saw him do it was in front of ME... and I'm not a rude person but I'm also not a shy one and just let that happen. I just politely said- the end of the line is that way and pointed way way behind me. I didn't even think that he might not understand my language -just didn't dawn on me. I think he understood but he spoke back to me where I couldn't quite understand and all I got from what he said was "you have problem?". His facial expression let me know he was basically saying "you got a problem?" and challenging me about it. I just stood there (standing my ground without saying a word- but not moving to let him cut) and he moved over to another line and cut right in front of the 2nd person in line!

I have never encountered ADULTS that would do such a thing. The man had to be in his 30's. (as am I) A woman next to me, who btw spoke with such a LOVELY accent- probably British, made a comment about how some people from foreign countries do things differently and perhaps he was from Germany or Russia where they are known to disregard lines? I don't know.. but it sure was odd. A kid, teen or young adult I might have understood. Some of them tend to think the world revolves around them- but an adult with a child teaching them this behavior? (especially the rudeness towards someone just innocently letting them know where the end of the line is. I honestly didn't think he was INTENTIONALLY cutting- I thought he just didn't realize I and the many others behind me were in line! I'm so naive at times. LOL)

*shaking my head* Takes all kinds in this world I guess.

 

[eeyore0062]

Yes unfortunately you do get line cutting. Basically we handle it exactly like The Sybah Shelstah did. If the person gets ugly, we get the attention of a CM and they take care of it. Many times, the person in question doesn't speak English, or at least doesn't to us.

 

[Jeanny]

isn't amazing that when you see a line, you just automatically find out where the end is..... however, some people don't think lines apply to them??? If someone tries to cut, I usually ask them "what do you think everyone else in line is waiting for? the end of the line is there"

One of my professor's was on a cruise and in line to get his pictures, and some foreign people, pretending the didn't understand the "line process", went right up to the counter,,, right in front of EVERYONE.. The CM at the counter couldn't believe it, nor could anyone else, especially the people who were being waited on at that moment.

rules apply for a reason, but I guess not in their country... no wonder the kids grow up the way they do!! Look at their examples.

ok, thank you for letting me vent!! I needed that!
J.

 

[walt's assistant]

Maybe I am just a non-confrontationalist but I try not to let such things as people cutting me in line bother me too much if I can help it. If someone is really blantant about it (shoving themselves into the line, the rest of us be damned), I'll say something to be sure. But if someone with the person cutting-in is in the line already, I try not to worry about it. Bottom line is that I don't want to ruin the karma of my vacation.

By the way Jeanny...congrats on your first cruise. They are a lot of fun!

 

[Jeanny]

Well, Thank you Walt's Assistant, even though my cruise is next year, I am having SO much fun planning it and researching it. I'm driving my daughter crazy with my "disboard hobby"!!

I am so glad I found this board last year when I was planning our WDW trip for Thanksgiving!!

 

[queenbee0120]

I noticed the changes in the last year or two.
But, I love Disney and will continue to go there!
If I have a problem, or I think someone on staff is lacking "Disney Magic" I let them know.
I am nice about it, but I do let them know.

 

[heart4dis]

Disney needs to do what it takes financially to stay successful. I don't like to consider the alternative. While no company is perfect, Disney comes pretty close to maintaining its superior standards for quality and excellence consistently. I don't think Disney is cutting quality and I like its strategy--at least for its theme parks. I want Disney to remain viable and successful and in the present world circumstances and economy, that means we'll all have to make sacrifices. So be it. We're still better off than 99% of the world...just by being able to GO to WDW.

I'm done gushing for now...can you hear, "God Bless America" in the background?

 

[bigs1923t]

We just returned from WDW making this trip a total of 42 days in one year timeframe. We do notice changes from time to time. We dont let them have an effect on our enjoyment. They have been small changes, not as many Xmas decorations (no gingerbread dollhouse at the entrance from the monorail to the GF, no red & green lights on the balconies of the CR.) We have noticed more chipped paint on benches ect. that you would have never seen years ago. This just says to me that Disney is a business and may be struggling due to the economy just like many other businesses. The other thing I have noticed was the "lack of WDW knowledge" by the cast mambers. They are still polite but when asked questions many have had to say "i don't know let me find out for you" I think Disney has seen this problem as well and is addressing it because I noticed at many of the cash registers a note book titled something to the effect of "Answers to Questions" The parks & bathrooms are still very clean. All these changes are minor and dont spoil our Disney Magic but rather make us feel special because we have been to WDW enough times to notice the changes. We still have a great time there and if these little changes bother you enough to have an impact on your vacation I truly feel sorry for you. Ease up, enjoy the place for what it is The Greatest Place on Earth !

 

[Bill3]

Bigs- I have gotten so tired of all the whining that this thread generates. I have responded a couple of times but I tend to get caustic and sarcastic. You have said what I feel so much better than I have been doing- thanks.This is THE ANSWER.

 

[Maridw]

When we went in 2001, my daughter was looking for one of the Disney Pals dolls with blonde hair and blue eyes. There were none to be found anywhere. At the World of Disney, we asked a CM and she went out of her way to get us the stock number of the item and a number for Disney Merchandising to call.

When we went in April 2002, we got a button for my daughter that said "It's my birthday today". All CM's that saw her wished her happy birthday or asked how old she was. Alot of the female CM's made comment on her earrings (she can only wear niobium or titanium earrings). Most asked her where she got them or what they were made of. She really enjoyed the extra attention and it made her trip alot more special since her best friend couldn't make it at the last minute.

We went in November 2002 and the only thing I would have done differently was to go to the Spectacle of Lights later in the evening instead of right when it opened. This was the first time we had gone so early and we found it was too crowded. We happened to hit MK early in the afternoon and found that the CoP was open. Every previous visit to WDW it has not been open. So I was thrilled to find it open and we HAD to ride it. I had not seen it since it left DL.
But we have never had a problem getting help from a CM if we asked for it. There was one time in 97 that we went to the Polynesian Luau and had seats behind someone who's kids kept standing on the seat, or wouldn't sit still. We talked to a CM and they talked to the people. The family then had a parent with a child in their lap in front of me. So I missed more than half the show. We spoke to someone again on our way out and the only thing they would do was to give me (only) a pass for the next nights show. (We were leaving the next day).
Some seem to go out their way to go the extra mile. We are going the last week of March and I don't expect any problems.

 

[HTHbellhop]

I'm sorry to hear that some of you are so upset. I totally understand your frustrations though. You pay an arm and a leg, and you don't feel like you're getting your money's worth. However, it seems that some of you feel like Disney is against you, trying to steal your money and nothing else. I'm a college program/seasonal cast member, and no, I don't know everything and hopefully I won't sound like I'm trying to, but maybe I can help explain a few things.

First of all, the hour cuts. I think the hardest part about this spring break season is that Easter falls so late. Usually, Easter is earlier and closer to the college spring breaks, but this year that time frame spans close to two months. So naturally, Disney is making their spring break season of longer hours around Easter, which will be most K-12 spring breaks. Between April 12 and 24, SpectroMagic is shown 20 times, and the Fireworks 13. But even the weeks up until then, SpectroMagic is weekly and the fireworks are daily. I get the feeling from posts that some of you feel like Disney is cheating you, but you have to think about how much one extra hour or one extra show costs. I don't know the exact number of cast members working in the parks on a given day, but i'd say anywhere from 5000-10,000, and even if ALL of those CM's were CP's making $6/hr, that's at least $35,000, just for one extra hour of park time. (I KNOW that number could easily be off, I'm just estimating).

As for cutting back on shows, I'm not sure how much it costs for each showing of a parade or fireworks show, but I know that one showing of Fantasmic is around $23,000.

I'm not sure how known it is that there has been a hiring freeze at Disney, but there is. No more hiring of full-time (and I BELIEVE part-time) CM's in the near future.

And I agree that it sucks for Disney to decrease park hours just a week or two beforehand, that sucks for those who planned their vacations around park hours. But they DO add hours just as easily as they take them away if attendance permits, trust me on this. They'll also add shows, parades, and fireworks...I've also seen this happen.
I know that this doesn't answer much, if anything, but I just wanted to give what little input I have about why some of these things are going on. I know it's hard, if not impossible, to understand, but the Disney people really DO have their reasons for what they do. The last thing they want to do is upset guests. This is their #1 priority because they know the cash flow will slow if guests are unhappy.

 

[colleen costello]

Just back from a wonderful Spring Break week with myself, dh, the two children and my parents. We stayed in a nice big room at Old Key West and had a ball. We WERE, however, affected by the cutbacks.

My Mom has never seen SpectroMagic so I had printed out the March 2003 hours from the Disney website. We planned out day at the MK around this so Mom could see the parade then Tinkerbell and the fireworks. We had PS and everything... Imagine my surprise, upon arriving, to see that the already-short hours had been cut even more! There was only one day in 9 or 10 days when the park was open late and Spectromagic played. We were really disappointed.

What bugs me is that the tix are still expensive. No other amusement park I know of has such short hours in exchange for your $50 ticket. We went to MGM that morning and "park-hopped" to the MK that evening. By the time we got there (and endured the line for the useless "securrity check" for the second time) there was only two hours before the park closed. We got to see very little by 7pm. My Dad said this is so you head to the resorts to eat an expensive meal! We actually got hotdogs at Caseys and shopped on Main Street to make the experience last a LITTLE longer.

We diecided the hours were so poor that we wouldn't try the MK again. We did Epcot one day and it wasn't crowded so we saw a lot. Also got booted out at 7pm. I am saving the rest of my tickets for a summer visit when the parks are (hopefully) open late. I am not going to use tix again when parks are open 9-7.

 

[maggie767]

HTH BELLHOP, do you have any idea what the park hours will be in late october. we decided to go at that time. its not as crowded and its a better time to go there. also do they still run fantasmic and the parades. thank you for any info.

 

[HTHbellhop]

Originally posted by maggie767
HTH BELLHOP, do you have any idea what the park hours will be in late october. we decided to go at that time. its not as crowded and its a better time to go there. also do they still run fantasmic and the parades. thank you for any info.

I can't tell you for sure what the park hours will be for October...they probably won't be scheduled until august or so. But, going by past years, I would say it could possibly be something like:
MK 9am-7pm (8pm or 9pm weekends)

EPCOT
FW 9am-7pm
WS 11am-9pm

MGM 9am-7pm (maybe 7:30pm)

AK 9am-5pm

Fantasmic is for sure at least once a day, no matter what time of year. During Oct., I'd say it'll be at the time the park closes.
There should be a parade at MK, MGM, and AK during the day, every day. Illuminations every day. And Spectro on select days, and MK fireworks should be daily. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party should be going on (I think they still do that) at MK...for an extra price. And if you're there on Oct. 31, catch the villian parade at MGM...VERY cool to see all the villians together!

October's a great time to go! Small crowds and nice weather. And the end of Oct. is usually when the Int'l Food and Wine festival starts at EPCOT...a really cool experience.

Hope that helped a little. Let me know if you have any more questions...I'll do my best to answer

 

[maggie767]

HTH BELLHOP, thank you very much we always go in october but i thought maybe the hours would be different since the crowds aren't as bad since the war has started. thank you very much for your info. we love to go to disney. this will be the first time for my daughter and 1 granddaughter, i can hardly wait for them to see disney. i could go on and on, this is my favorite place for vacationing. thank you again.

 

[colleen costello]

Maggie767, your little grandaughters will lOVE it. You'll have fun no matter WHAT the hours are! Just plan on working your schedule around the posted hours at the parks. For example, you might go to the MK on a night it's open later, or plan a meal somewhere nice right after a park closes. We got up earlier this trip, and went to bed earlier, because the parks were closing earlier.

A friend of mine went in November last year and they saw lots even though the parks closed early - -she said they didn't wait for anything! I know you'll have a ball, spreading the WDW magic to the children.

 

[juliette]

Where can I find a list of all the cutbacks that everyone is talking about When does all take in to affect Is it on going I will be there on June 30- July 10

 

[DNBois]

My DH noticed something that I am not sure is true but it is a common marketing practice. Disney closes the rides at Epcot down at 6 pm but the World Showcase is open until 9 pm; it looks like they planned the 9pm fireworks so people have a reason to stay and what is the only thing that you can do while you are waiting for three hours - shopping and/or eating which, of course, means $$$$. Whether this is true or not, who knows? I am just upset about the overall hours and the fact that a couple of our favorite rides will be closed for refurbishment during the month of May and felt I had to vent

 

[tomko]

I totally agree!!!!!