What's Up with Disney these days???

[BuzzNwoodY0824]

Just returned from a Jan 27 to Feb 1st trip and was extremely disappointed. Crowds were big for the time of year, BTG's ruder than ever, rides breaking down left and right. Whats going on???? Rides that broke down during our trip...Everest, Tower of Terror, Thunder mountain, Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh. Thunder Mountain broke down after my husband and son waited for almost an hour Thursday afternoon and then Friday morning it didn't start up till after 10. It was disappointing because having Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Winnie the Pooh down all at the SAME time cause crowds and long lines. The new scanners were not recognizing children's tickets and therefor you could not get a fastpass with their key to the kingdom tickets. So cast members had to take your ticket write down info and give you a fastpass pass for the day. To say the least it was frustrating. Cast members seem to be tired of the BTG's and warned us many times to expect nothing but rudeness from them. Trying to get food at a buffet or in the POP food court was a nightmare. I love Disney and we god every year at this time but I was extremely disappointed. I feel disenchanted after this trip. I will be going back but I think since I do take my son out of school we will be finding a different time of year to go. I LOVE everything Disney and will not let one bad trip out of so many magical ones keep me away. Has this ever happened to anyone else????

We were there the same time and yes, the ride breakdowns were a little more then I've encountered. We went to the new little mermaid .. Broke down... Went back, got to ride using our FP.. As we are exiting... No one is in line?? Ride down. Test track.. After we got off ... Down. Haunted mansion... Down. Astro orbiter.. Down. For a while it felt like we were ping-ponging through MK trying to find a ride. Tickets weren't working left and right. Some times the new reader would.. Other times all had to be scanned. POP cafe was a nightmare. Esp. After park closed. The one night it was all tour groups and about 10-15 tables of non groups. We were lucky and only encountered one horrible group at HM. They were pushing and there was a little girl in front of us.. My DGF turned around and said stop pushing there's a baby in front.. And we were met with "no speak English". We both in unison went , "yea, you do". The night before we had met a few from a group wearing blue. They tried very hard to speak English to us and did very well. We had a nice conversation with them and it gave me hope that the groups would all be like this.
But yea, I feel your pain. I think if I go back within a year, I'm avoiding New fantasyland at all costs. But as you said, ill still go back... Just think next time it'll be early September. No more January.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I have to say that I was a little disenchanted after our last trip as well. It just didn't seem as magical as it had been before. There weren't a lot of break downs it just seemed overall things weren't as kept up as before. Rides looked a little shabby, there was much more trash around (including a Mt Dew bottle on Pirates that stayed there for our entire trip...and everyone knows pirates drink coke) and the hair bands tossed at the top of Expedition Everest. It just seemed as if Disney didn't care as much. And since we are a family of 5 (6 went last time) and we live in Montana, every trip runs 7-8k. I want to enjoy a vacation when we spend that kind of money. The good news it we always wanted to go to USO and never made it because we didn't want to lose out on time at WDW. Next trip we are splitting time between the 2 places. I guess some lost magic means we are going to try new places.

 

[Orsino]

We were at the world from 25 Jan through 2 Feb and didn't notice the crowds being too terrible. We made the mistake of going to the MK to see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes on Monday the 27th. It was more crowded than I expected. I guess that was due to MSEP only being shown on certain nights that week. The plus side is we somehow managed to get back to the Boardwalk after Wishes in record time and were able to visit Epcot to see Illuminations (and eat pastries). So that night we saw MSEP, Wishes and Illuminations.

We went to MK on 1 Feb (Friday) as well. It did seem crowded, but I attributed that more to all the construction cutting into the walkways. The only ride that was down for us was Pooh in the morning. We rode Teacups (twice) and Pooh was back up. So it was down, but not for very long. I imagine luck has quite a bit to do with how things go.
We did wait 35 minutes for a bus to MK though (7:15AM to 7:50AM). We were late for our Crystal Palace reservations. Quite irritating. I watched the 7:15AM bus leave completely empty. I figured it was going back to Kidani Village to scrounge for passengers. Nope, bus left AKL completely empty. Next bus didn't show up until 7:50AM. Ouch!

 

[Evoga]

BTG. It just sends a shiver down my spine remembering them in the parks. They are excellent at cutting in lines and being rude I will give them that.

Hope you have better luck next time.

 

[g8torphan]

Just got back from a Sat (2/2) at MK.
1 ride down (Pooh), wait time for NFL grew rapidly, but we knew it would so we did that area first. LM stalled a couple of times, and I wasn't impressed with it overall anyway. Broken stuff in Pooh's playground was a bummer too. Hope they repair it.

Encountered 2 BTG's.
Only one was an issue, loud singing for no reason with no regard for others. 3 of the CM's on the monorail deck were clearly sick of them and the lead CM (wearing maroon, seemed in charge) explained to them they needed to be quiet for safety reasons. Which they did.
Another young couple in front of us were telling us of other issues they had had with them throughout the day, but I didn't really experience anything that bad myself.

We're going back in May. So were not sick of it yet

 

[disrev]

Here now/ kids and in-laws (7 total). We were in the parks Sunday and Tuesday. Sunday was busy but manageable at MK, but very sparse at HS at the end of the day. Tuesday was light at MK during the day and surprisingly light at EPCOT (touring plans worst park) in evening. We had no issues with ride breakdowns and come at this time of year expecting refurbs and new cast training to be happening.

We've encountered multiple tour groups, but more from Argentina then Brazil. In fact I would guess at least 1/3 of the people at Fantasmic were Argentine. They were excited and slightly rowdy but it made the preshow a lot of fun. Several of the girls were very sweet on my 3yo son (adopted from Uganda, he's a looker). They were very kind.

We've encountered chanting, mass fastpass grabbing, but no line cutting. I was here in 2010 same time w/ a lot of Brazilian groups. They were very similar to what we are experiencing now. Now, I may have a bit different perspective on this than others.
- I work with Middle and High School students and have taken groups as large as 200 to amusement parks.
- We've been blessed to be able to travel all over the world and see a lot of cultures, their beauty, and their not-so-beauty.
- I have family who were missionaries to Brazil and had a Brazilian student live with us while I was in High School.

So, maybe it's these experiences that form a higher tolerance or something, but we actually enjoy seeing the groups. We don't avoid them, walk right next to them, etc.

I hope this post doesn't come off "holier than thou," I merely want to throw out a different perspective as one who read on these boards in prep for a trip, getting very nervous, nobly to discover it was much ado about nothing in our book.

 

[lugnut33]

It's not a holier than thou attitude. It's just that you know the world is bigger than what you see and you can remember what it's like to be a young teenager with boundless amounts of energy. You are also more open minded to people who come from different cultures where their idea of having fun might involve singing and dancing.

A lot of the BTG hate on this board is simply people going into it with bad attitudes.

 

[larryz]

A lot of the BTG hate on this board is simply people going into it with bad attitudes.

I wouldn't call it hate, but they are popular topics of discussion, based on actual experiences near/in/behind BTGs.

 

[BuzzNwoodY0824]

A lot of the BTG hate on this board is simply people going into it with bad attitudes.

I understand where you're coming from. The few kids we talked to at the cafe in POP were very nice and were trying darn hard to speak English. Most of the groups at pop were respectful. We encountered the one group at MK on 2/1. THEY were an issue and incredibly disrespectful. Pushing at HM, LOUD chanting and screaming through the whole ride to the point it drowned out the voice over. They plopped right outside the exit. We had a wheelchair and they would not move. When a path FINALLY cleared a boy (it appeared) purposely put his legs out into the path. Needless to say our older grandmother didn't see and rolled right over his feet and proceeded to say ," did I hit a bump?".

That was the only bad encounter we had. But I can see if you keep running into that time and time again and not meeting the nice group we did at the hotel, and did not have a positive experience, that it would always hold a negative connotation. Being open-minded cannot overlook pure rudeness.

 

[larryz]

... a boy (it appeared) purposely put his legs out into the path. Needless to say our older grandmother didn't see and rolled right over his feet and proceeded to say, "did I hit a bump?"

for Grandmother... the agony of the feet

 

[Laketravis]

And yet it will most likely only get worse.............

At Disney's earnings report this week:

Iger said price hikes at Disney's parks are possible as it continues to roll out new attractions.

"We've got some price leverage," he said. "If you build the right things not only will people come but you get some leverage out of it as well."

 

[stargazertechie]

I wouldn't call it hate, but they are popular topics of discussion, based on actual experiences near/in/behind BTGs.

You forgot under

 

[starjazz]

We're here now. We've had an absolute blast. Couple rides went down...no biggie, we now had never ending FPs...fine with us, lots else to do.

Really, by working the FPs and the touring plan and lines app, been a breeze. I feel like a little planning turns you into a celebrity or something. We've not been waiting long, met tons of characters, and evem though it feels crowded, we've not dealt with it so far. On a break now while kiddos rest, then back to MK for more fun.

Cant emphasize enough. Do some planning, work the FPs, have a touring plan, and dont sweat the small stuff!

Lovin' Disney!

 

[BuzzNwoodY0824]

And yet it will most likely only get worse.............

At Disney's earnings report this week:

Iger said price hikes at Disney's parks are possible as it continues to roll out new attractions.

"We've got some price leverage," he said. "If you build the right things not only will people come but you get some leverage out of it as well."

Get leverage for what? Roll out a ride and two months later it breaks down 2 times in one day? I love Disney as much as the next fanatic, but I'm not stupid. I doubt ill buy a park hopper again, or step foot into MK until everything is finished. I'm the type of Disney fan that even staying at a Disney resort is a blast. But they better get ALOT straightened out before they expect to have any leverage.

 

[BuzzNwoodY0824]

Cant emphasize enough. Do some planning, work the FPs, have a touring plan, and dont sweat the small stuff!

Lovin' Disney!

I have to say, aside from the chaos of MK.. Rides that week were enjoyable. Mostly walk on. I defiantly can't complain about that. We had AK done (except for rafiki's planet) done by 3. Despite the crowd levels,
Oddly enough the rides were decent with wait times.

 

[Mad Hattered]

"If you build the right things not only will people come but you get some leverage out of it as well." [/I]

Yeah.....NFL has been a HUGE success for them.

 

[lugnut33]

Just remember, their money is just as important as yours and here's why Disney loves them:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/24/travel/brazilian-tourist-invasion

Just a highlight:

That's because Florida is the top U.S. vacation destination for Brazilians, who are taking advantage of a favorable exchange rate and low prices. Brazilians outnumbered all other international travelers to Florida in 2011, up 41% from the previous year, according to state tourism officials.

Menezes says she expects her business to double in 2012. That could be a conservative estimate as the United States plans to expand its global entry program, which aims to speed up the visa approval process for international visitors.

As a result, Disney hired 54 Portuguese-speaking "Super Greeters," most of them from Brazil, to assist Brazilian tour groups throughout Disney's parks.

Want to know why Brazilians are so loud at Disney World? Because they are so happy to be there. This is a huge trip for them and they love it as much as you do. When they are happy they have a tendency to be loud and chant, it's part of the culture. Have you ever seen a soccer game from Brazil? It's crazy.

 

[Lemonademouth]

It seems there are no safe times from BTG's. in September they were there when we did disney and in November when we went to universal and legoland.

 

[NHKristy76]

I was at ASMovies 1/21-1/28 and we saw many, many tour groups. We were seated with many portguese speaking people on one of our trips on the safari. Although there was a little chanting, when the driver asked where people were from, they were completely respectful and behaved like anyone else.


There are definitely rude people, rude Americans and rude Argentinians. But I have simply had it with the people on these boards and the BTG threads. Can you even IMAGINE if someone put all African Americans in the same "bucket" and claimed they were horrid and their mere presence was ruining the magic of Walt Disney World? If there were posts about how Jewish people were rude and destroying the magic?

Are we hear to share experiences? Absolutely. But I challenge each of you, before you insult an entire population, to imagine changing the descriptor to "black teens" and see your post in the light others do...

 

[Cyrano]

There are definitely rude people, rude Americans and rude Argentinians. But I have simply had it with the people on these boards and the BTG threads.:

Well said

This is the last on the matter and posters are reminded to be respective to all, including international visitors. If you cannot comment without the need to denigrate entire nations then you should move to discuss another topic.