Oh, I totally agree. I do tend to be an apologist. I turn a blind eye to many things, such as closures. I also have the luxury of going to Disney during Xmas, when they usually have it in top condition... but this year should be interesting with the construction and lack of Osborne Lights.
Last year was a bit of an eye opener. I mean, look, I love food. LOVE it. And with so much of Disney's food falling into the nostalgia category, I go and eat my face off. I like just being away for Christmas and being in Disney is an added perk. But in the past few years we have noticed dips in the level of employees they hire. It used to take a special kind of person to work at Disney. I don't quite know how to explain it. They were almost one of those "too good to be true" people. I played high school football with someone like that. The kid biked across the country, was always helping others. His smile lit up a room with his positivity. He was a good person. Coincidentally, he worked the Disney intern program.
Last trip, we had an extremely rude maid. We stayed at POFQ and the transportation - for the first time ever - was a mess. We complained and the CM we spoke to made it seem as though "we're doing all we could, if you miss the bus just go out 15 minutes earlier next time." We were all but done with Disney and figured we needed some time off. So we wrote an email and boom... we get called by a CM (much like the above) who comps us park tickets and 2 nights stay. And we're immediately sucked back in.
But seriously. I get it. I think Disney needs a reminder of how awesome it used to be. Having done case studies on Operations in college (before I sold my soul to advertising) I learned about the inner workings. Any successful business, like Disney, that is known for their customer service usually had higher ups who loved what they did. It stems from the top down so obviously there's some ******* on the managerial or board of directors level. Something isn't meshing the way it used to and the quantity is overriding the quality there. At least from the service standpoint. Just my 2 cents.
That's always why I love the DisUnplugged Podcast. I run my own podcast and I do tend to glorify things a bit. A lot of podcasts do. Pete and the gang always tell it like it is. If they love something at Disney, they praise it. Give credit where due. If they don't like something, they'll call it out. They're transparent and I love them for it.