Anyone ever had a less than magical trip to WDW and felt a bit lost afterwards?

I've never heard a Disney announcement say anything about "controlling your children". I do know they say, "Take small children by the hand"--and, on Jungle Cruise, "Take small children by the hair". That could be interpreted as controlling your child, but also as keeping them connected to you so they don't get lost in a crowd.
Same here, and I'm pretty sure they say something similar at DL.
 
I've been to WDW since then and I never once heard control your child.
Like I said, it the word may have been "supervise", but it was a stronger statement that I ever remember at Disney. Wish I had recorded it or someone who is there now would comment because it is the announcement they are using now.
 
She was there January 2015 to June 2015 as part of the Disney College Program.
And she just put in her notice and has taken a job at Disneyland working in the Publicity Department. I did not know about that.
She told me today she suspects the sterner announcement is part of changes after last years fatal alligator incident.


You think out of control kids are an East Coast thing which was confirmed by your all-knowing co-worker, who then says such announcements are a result of the alligator attack which occurred after she worked there for all of 5 months?

So basically, your co-worker's opinion is completely irrelevant to this discussion.
 
...That said. I am not a theme park person and I am not a believer in pixie dust or the Disney bubble or all the other nonsense some people come up with. I think people overly invest in the ideal of the Disney vacation. And then when they go too much, they start seeing things that bother them and they start seeing it as less magical. Then they blame Disney for going downhill...

So, OP, branch out. There's a big world out there and a break from Disney will result in seeing more things as well as give your family new perspectives of Disney when you return.
::yes:: I'd "like" this more than once if I could. It's a theme park, people, a theme park.
 


I work in an industry where the average tenure in a city and job is about 2 years. While I have been here all my life, the turnover of my co-workers is huge.

That's interesting. It's amazing that you know so much about them that can relate to all the dis threads. Good for you for getting to know them so well.
 
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Why did you drive? Six days on the road would kill my vacation vibe no matter the destination. Flying couldn't have been much more costly. I would downgrade my resort to make flying possible, if necessary.

How often do you vacation at WDW? If it's very often, I don't know how every visit could be as good or better than the last. It seems that it takes me about 3 years to start thinking maybe it's time for Disney again. We like to visit other places.

Maybe you are over the summer at Disney, I am. Due to kids, school schedules, etc. all of our trips but one have been in the summer. The last two have been in August. We had a great time but I don't want to do summer anymore.

Maybe you are over long trips. We had normally done 7 to 10 day trips but that's too exhausting. Our last two trips have been 6 days- 4 at Disney and 2 at Universal. That was enough. One of our most enjoyable trips was a long weekend in late April one year- cooler weather. Going forward, I think future trips will be long weekends (4 days) and October to April. That's long enough to see and do our favorites plus anything new while not totally exhausting. Plus avoiding the oppressive summer heat.
 
You think out of control kids are an East Coast thing which was confirmed by your all-knowing co-worker, who then says such announcements are a result of the alligator attack which occurred after she worked there for all of 5 months?

So basically, your co-worker's opinion is completely irrelevant to this discussion.
I respectfully disagree.
 


That's interesting. It's amazing that you know so much about them that can relate to all the dis threads. Good for you for getting to know them so well.
Nature of the business I am afraid, especially at an ABC TV station..
 
Like I said, it the word may have been "supervise", but it was a stronger statement that I ever remember at Disney. Wish I had recorded it or someone who is there now would comment because it is the announcement they are using now.

I'm confused, are you claiming the kids at WDW are more out of control than DLR, or are you stating that WDW has implemented announcements about controlling children in light of last year's tragic incident where the little boy was killed? If you're claiming one resort has more out of control children based on announcements alone, announcements you attribute to a horrible tragedy at one, why would announcements arising out of an alligator attack be necessary at DLR? How high of a risk do you think gators pose at DLR?

We've not been to either park since last year's incident, so I cannot comment on any announcements. However, having visited both parks over a wide number of years we've never noticed any difference in overall child behavior between the parks, having seen the overheated, overtired, overstimulated meltdowns at both -- matter of fact, witnessed it among adults at both resorts as well.
 
It's one thing to disagree with someone's viewpoint. It's quite different to totally dog someone out, especially since the meaning isn't even clear yet. The meaning behind the comment seems to have shifted, or maybe it's more specifically directed than was clear in the original comment.
 
I'm confused, are you claiming the kids at WDW are more out of control than DLR, or are you stating that WDW has implemented announcements about controlling children in light of last year's tragic incident where the little boy was killed? If you're claiming one resort has more out of control children based on announcements alone, announcements you attribute to a horrible tragedy at one, why would announcements arising out of an alligator attack be necessary at DLR? How high of a risk do you think gators pose at DLR?

We've not been to either park since last year's incident, so I cannot comment on any announcements. However, having visited both parks over a wide number of years we've never noticed any difference in overall child behavior between the parks, having seen the overheated, overtired, overstimulated meltdowns at both -- matter of fact, witnessed it among adults at both resorts as well.

My post was about the announcements ONLY.
 
My post was about the announcements ONLY.

I've gone back to read your page one comment again and still my takeaway is you're claiming the kids in WDW are more uncontrollable, which I still dispute based on our experiences on both coasts.
 
I've gone back to read your page one comment again and still my takeaway is you're claiming the kids in WDW are more uncontrollable, which I still dispute based on our experiences on both coasts.
That wasn't my claim. It was the comment from a former WDW worker, and soon to be DL worker.
 
We made our first trip to WDW last week (June 4-9) after dozens of trips to Disneyland. Rained everyday but the last.
I think all of my disappointments were actually just not being familiar with the Florida parks.

I think the biggest one is that everything at WDW opens later, and closes earlier than DL. For example today Disneyland is open 8 am to Midnight, while the Magic Kingdom is open 9 to 11. That's 2 less hours of park time a day.
I'm still mad that Disneyland isn't open until 1 am like is used to be. With Magic Mornings, many of our trips there started at 630 am and ended at 1 am in years past. The World displays at Epcot don't even open until 11 am!

Second was we needed to be better organized and find a way to get the FPs we wanted and the dinner reservations in the same park for the day. Between dinner reservations, and FP for things like Pandora, we spent a lot of time traveling between parks. That was ALL our fault.

Third. We were caught off guard by every bus/monorail/ride operator ending their safety talk (keep your arms and legs inside, etc) with "parents please control your children". We found out why, because I have never seen more out of control children. DW and I both think we will pay closer attention on our next Disneyland trip to see if this is a national trend or just an east coast issue.

That wasn't my claim. It was the comment from a former WDW worker, and soon to be DL worker.

On page one it seems to have been your observation, no mention at all of a former WDW worker. Surely you can see how someone reading your words got the wrong end of the stick. For courtesy's sake I think I need to leave it at that.
 
Third. We were caught off guard by every bus/monorail/ride operator ending their safety talk (keep your arms and legs inside, etc) with "parents please control your children". We found out why, because I have never seen more out of control children. DW and I both think we will pay closer attention on our next Disneyland trip to see if this is a national trend or just an east coast issue.

WHAT? Just an east coast issue? I've been to WDW a lot, and I don't recall being told to control my children. But I live in Texas, near the Gulf Coast, so maybe this isn't my issue. No, that can't be it, because my kids are out of control a lot.

To OP's point, we did have one terrible trip when my kids were younger. Them being out of control due to being on the east coast was a big part of the problem with that trip. I swore we'd not go back until they were much older. But instead we did a short "make-up" trip later that year, and I have some of the best memories from that make-up trip.
 
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So, OP, branch out. There's a big world out there and a break from Disney will result in seeing more things as well as give your family new perspectives of Disney when you return.

I totally agree with this! For awhile for us Disney was the end all be all and our vacations were always there- until we started going other places and realized there is a great big world out there to see without people dressed up in costumes and us riding the same rides and seeing the same shows year after year. Just on our road trip around the US we found a bunch of places we would love to spend more time at- next year we are heading to Utah for 2 weeks to take a mini road trip around Utah and Arizona! We will go back to Disney again- maybe in 5 years, but until then we will enjoy new vacation spots!
 
We were caught off guard by every bus/monorail/ride operator ending their safety talk (keep your arms and legs inside, etc) with "parents please control your children".

Wait, monorail operators made the announcement as well? Have they now placed CMs on the monorails? The only announcements I've ever heard on the monorail was the pre-recorded announcement.

We found out why, because I have never seen more out of control children. DW and I both think we will pay closer attention on our next Disneyland trip to see if this is a national trend or just an east coast issue.

Sorry, but the way you've worded this and what you've stated in subsequent posts, I read this as you and your DW have never seen more out of control children and you wonder if the out of control children are a national trend or just an east coast issue. I'm wondering if I'm the only one reading your statement(s) incorrectly.
 
Wait, monorail operators made the announcement as well? Have they now placed CMs on the monorails? The only announcements I've ever heard on the monorail was the pre-recorded announcement.



Sorry, but the way you've worded this and what you've stated in subsequent posts, I read this as you and your DW have never seen more out of control children and you wonder if the out of control children are a national trend or just an east coast issue. I'm wondering if I'm the only one reading your statement(s) incorrectly.
Monorail was recorded, like I mentioned earlier in the thread
 

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