Again, love the detailed report.
but lots of large Brazilian families who either didn’t understand the directions or chose not to abide.
A couple more stories. We were in line to meet Donald Duck at Epcot. A CM was going to each family, explaining what to do. When she got to the family behind us, and started explaining, she was met with "Espanol, por favor." The CM didn't speak Spanish, and kept trying to explain, and kept getting "Espanol, por favor." She finally gave up and moved to the next family.
On our last night, we stayed late at MK to watch the fireworks. After they were over, we were in line for the tram. It was a mob scene, of pushing and shoving, but that's another story. Anyway, after the tram was full, people were milling around the bollards and the line. The CM kept asking for people to move back because the tram wouldn't leave until they moved back, but no one would move. He yelled to make himself heard, but no one would move. After repeatedly asking, he finally had to make arm gestures while yelling and going to almost every queue and eventually people understood and moved back. The big problem was that most of the folks around us were speaking in Spanish and apparently did not understand English!
No thank you.They should train their CMs to know a few phrases relevant to their job in the foreign languages
Bettergood ways to mime things.
Those are examples of a language barrier not rudeness.
I would put that squarely on Disney. It should be absolutely no surprise to them that they are an international destination. They should train their CMs to know a few phrases relevant to their job in the foreign languages most common in the parks or good ways to mime things. Move Back would be something very common for the CM doing that job to have to say (and therefore learn in other languages) but not something a tourist
would think to learn before going to another country.
I’ve been to Mexico but only speak maybe 10 phrases in Spanish. I learned to say a few things I thought I might need in case I was separated from DH who speaks some Spanish. If someone yelled Move Back at me in Spanish, I wouldn’t know what to do either.
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. No where in those two stories did I saw those were examples of rudeness. They are perfect examples of a language barrier though.
FWIW, I lived in Germany for three years when my Dad worked as a civilian Air Force employee. Not only did we have mandatory German lessons in school, but we as a family also tried to learn German to be able to converse with people who did not speak English. We also traveled extensively through Europe, and tried to learn some French, Italian and Spanish to be able to speak and understand in those countries. We also made sure we would understand and speak British English
Although some CMs are bilingual, its not on Disney to have bilingual cast members everywhere, or even folks who know key phrases. IMHO, its the responsibility of whomever is visiting to learn enough of a language to get along. I'm not defending Disney, but just pointing out that its pretty much impossible for CMs to know key phrases in every language spoken by visitors. For example, on our trip last week, I heard Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Portugese and Hebrew spoken.
As my wife said to me while in the parks "I would hate to go to a foreign country where English isn't spoken, and not know enough of the language to be able to get around."
We just retuned Saturday from a 8 night stay at Beach Club. I did so much research as to when to visit. I choose that week because of predicted low crowds. I realize its not guaranteed. We've been the second week of December and right after labor day. Both times were pleasant and we did everything we wanted with no crazy crowds. Except at holiday parties. I was IN SHOCK how crowded last week was and everyday at every park. It was literally wall to wall people in many areas. Rides like carpets and dumbo saw 35-40 min waits by 10am!!! Also Ive never encountered so many rides being shut down due to issues. Many we were in line for or actually on the attraction. It was really disappointing. There were many things we never got to do because they crowds. Even fast pass lines would be backed up way past the queues. Dont get me wrong we had fun and did a lot but all the crowds def make a difference in your experience and especially how much you pay for everything there. It makes me sad they just shove more and move people in the parks. Its really not enjoyable anymore. Im sorry when you can hardly walk and every ride is over 35 minutes how can anyone really have fun. We never even ate lunch at AK because all the food lines were horribly long so we just got snacks.
Beach club was a let down as well. We've stayed at AK Lodge and Contemporary both times were 1 bedroom villas, very spacious and had more than one bathroom (at least toilet area) Beach club had 1 and the layout was awful. So many doors in one little space. Check in was not up to par and I couldn't get something that I had paid for delivered because there was no one to deliver it?? It was just a let down thats for sure especially for a deluxe resort.
Some good things. We took a Minnie Van one morning to MK that was great! Fantasyland Early Morning magic is well worth it especially if its high crowds! We rode Mine train 4 times! FOP holly molly hands down the best ride Ive been on in my entire life. We were lucky and had fast passes!! We didn't get to do Navi river after we hiked there at rope drop with the herds of people to only find it broken down ( shocker) we were on our last day ... and by the time it was up and running the wait was well over an hour and half. I was just happy we got to do FOP because it was incredible.
Sad our trip wasn't as magical as past years as we wont be going back for a long time, I think we'll try a cruise in the next couple years though!
Just got back from a stay feb 9-16. I’m not sure why but this trip felt extremely crowded and the wait times were much higher than usual (longer than previous thanksgiving waits). Fast pass lines took longer as well. Disney even had to contract with local companies to provide bus service to and from resorts due to long waits. We were last there for Thanksgiving2017 (nov. 17-27) so I am familiar with busy times. Our Thanksgiving trip was much more enjoyable and we were able to get a lot more done than this past week. There were a ton of ride closures too. I think the shorter hours and short staff contributed to the unpleasantness.
Splash Mountain isn't part of EMH anymore. I am unsure if Jungle Cruise is supposed to be open for EMH or not.Was there 2/10 - 2/16 and over TG 2017 as well
Agree with longer waits and larger crowds
Very disappointed with this trip. Rides/attractions were breaking down left and right, bus service was shoddy at best and crappy park hours. Even worse during EMH at MK Wednesday night both splash mountain and jungle cruise were closed and it’s a small world was broken for most of the night
I think Disney is more worried about getting as many people in the parks as possible to maximize profits and less worried about our actual experience and enjoyment.
I for one will not be going back anytime soon and am contemplating cancelling our upcoming TG trip. I would rather spend my money elsewhere than have to deal with the crap we had to this past trip.
But at least the weather was great
The Haunted Mansion is at 75 minutes which is how I judge crowds. It's still way too busy imo.So what’s going on today park people? I just looked at wait times and while they definitely aren’t slow, they seem almost moderate. The e-tickets are all up over an hour but there are several that are only an hour and FOP is “only” 2. Several lower tier rides are around 30 mins including princess M&Gs and Belle. Is it bad weather today? Posted wait times off? From watching at home it looks solidly busy but not insane holiday weekend busy. I wonder is 2018 is opposite year or something? The year Disney truly flattened the crowds?
LOL! I just find this so funny (because probably true!) I bet they say in their dreams.... if you spend half your day sayin Move Back, which the CMs at the trams probably do....