Long lines and lots of trash

[Ksdisney22]

Long time Disney fans. Had annual passes for DL for a long time.

I am typing this as I am waiting in a 3 hour line for navi. Posted at 120 when we entered.

The wait times posted do not match actual wait. CSM are definitely under posting. Monday at Hollywood wait for tower was easily 180 when posted 105. Sunday at MK wait for 7D was also 180 when posted 120.

Lots of rides going down. Today navi and Kali were down at the same time. Sunday it was space and people mover.

Is it just us and we are having a string of bad luck?

Also, staff are definitely stressed and running short. Bathrooms have not been clean at any park so far. Restaurants don't have enough staff and people are cleaning their own tables. I like the mobile order though. That's a good add to the app.

Anyone else having issues at wdw?

Happy to be here but have to say that in the 100+ trips we've made over the years, this one ranks at the absolute bottom.

 

[MikeNamez]

Pretty sure Disney started cutting back staff, increasing wait times and probably leading to some of the other stuff you mentioned like trash and the bathrooms.

Stay Strong, your at Disney and I'm at work lol Its all relative

 

[Tomh]

I think these are the kind of reports that make the constant price increases so hard to bear. When CM's are fighting to get a living wage, and the parks are visibly understaffed, lines are ridiculous, trash is strewn about, and the cost of a visit is constantly marching skyward, that is where the problems arise. I understand prices always go up. I understand Disney is spending a tremendous amount of money to upgrade things right now, but one of the main reasons we started going to Disney in the first place was because it didn't look, or feel like our local Six Flags park. When I'm one of the first people in line for a ride in the morning, and there is a pile of trash laying there that has obviously been left at least from the night before, I can get that at the local park for a fraction of the cost.

Disney . . . are you listening? You can do better, and you should!

 

[Shanti]

Long time Disney fans. Had annual passes for DL for a long time.

I am typing this as I am waiting in a 3 hour line for navi. Posted at 120 when we entered.

The wait times posted do not match actual wait. CSM are definitely under posting. Monday at Hollywood wait for tower was easily 180 when posted 105. Sunday at MK wait for 7D was also 180 when posted 120.

Lots of rides going down. Today navi and Kali were down at the same time. Sunday it was space and people mover.

Is it just us and we are having a string of bad luck?

Also, staff are definitely stressed and running short. Bathrooms have not been clean at any park so far. Restaurants don't have enough staff and people are cleaning their own tables. I like the mobile order though. That's a good add to the app.

Anyone else having issues at wdw?

Happy to be here but have to say that in the 100+ trips we've made over the years, this one ranks at the absolute bottom.

Reports seem to indicate this is a very crowded week, which is not surprising as it's spring break week for so many regions of the south. When it's this crowded, things don't go as smoothly.

Sorry you're having a rough time! At least you're there!

 

[Shanti]

I think these are the kind of reports that make the constant price increases so hard to bear...When I'm one of the first people in line for a ride in the morning, and there is a pile of trash laying there that has obviously been left at least from the night before, I can get that at the local park for a fraction of the cost.

I agree that prices are getting ridiculous, but am just wondering where in the parks you've seen piles of trash first thing in the morning. I've never seen anything like that (or piles of trash anywhere at WDW, actually).

 

[Ksdisney22]

Yup. Gone are the days when I can visit at a slow time. We came in from Texas and it's our spring break.

I am ok with waiting in line but I honestly can't tolerate inaccurate wait times. Many a time I've worn the badge to help guage times so I know it's possible.

The rides breaking down in multiples really make it worse. Maintenance has to be increased.

I honestly think it's staff cutbacks and management commitment to quality.

I pay the high prices because it's usually worth every penny. Unfortunately not this time.

Makes Universal more attractive. We were there yesterday. Wait times were over reported (100 minute wait was 80) and I like that better. Harry Potter was awesome. The park was crowded but the bathrooms and restaurants were clean.

Still love Disney and I am happy to be here but mgmt has to do something bc it's definitely on a six flags path.

Thanks for the encouragement y'all. I will eat a mickey pretzel for ya. Maybe a dole whip too.

 

[fhtpdw20]

For the first time in 18 years, I am not looking forward to my trip in a couple of weeks. This report is just another nail in the Disney coffin. Disney set its own bar high with the way the customer is treated and the way the parks are run. It is what people expect the Disney vacation experience to be and what they spend the extra dollar to get. Now it is just profit first and do more with less to include maintenance and staff. The lack of staff, dogs, security checks, spiraling prices, up charges everywhere you turn and now charging for parking, did Disney hire a former airline exec to run its parks? It is beginning to look like the Disney experience is turning into a do it yourself vacation. Go online schedule everything from check in to fast passes, you get the feeling they just don't want to deal with you as long as you spend a boatload of money.

 

[Dee McGee]

My theory is that Disney is cutting staff amd ride capacity to appear busier than they actually are so they can justify the price increases. The Dis Team have been speculating on this since the ticket prices and plans for tiered pricing on multi-day tickets were announced.

 

[Christy702]

I’m at MK now. Got here at rope drop and 7DMT, barnstormer, haunted mansion, and tiki room were all down. Then Buzz and people mover went down. 7DMT is back up but the line was instantly 2 hours long so we’ll try to ride during EMH tonight. I don’t think we’ve ever seen so many rides down at the same time.

 

[scrapquitler]

Long time Disney fans. Had annual passes for DL for a long time.

I am typing this as I am waiting in a 3 hour line for navi. Posted at 120 when we entered.

The wait times posted do not match actual wait. CSM are definitely under posting. Monday at Hollywood wait for tower was easily 180 when posted 105. Sunday at MK wait for 7D was also 180 when posted 120.

Lots of rides going down. Today navi and Kali were down at the same time. Sunday it was space and people mover.

Is it just us and we are having a string of bad luck?

Also, staff are definitely stressed and running short. Bathrooms have not been clean at any park so far. Restaurants don't have enough staff and people are cleaning their own tables. I like the mobile order though. That's a good add to the app.

Anyone else having issues at wdw?

Happy to be here but have to say that in the 100+ trips we've made over the years, this one ranks at the absolute bottom.

Well that stinks.

I will say that people mover and space mountain seem to constantly have issues. At least that's what I noticed every time I've been there in the last three years. Wait times longer than posted might have something to do with intermittent break downs where they are just waiting to see if they can get the ride going again before they empty the line and officially close it. I'm guessing it must be that because my experience has almost always been that posted wait times are way overstated.

And I love the mobile ordering too. I watched every time I used it, and I almost always had my food before the people who entered the CS at the same time as me and got in line had even ordered.

 

[chudlyfudly]

I do think you're right especially on the cast member stress levels; on numerous occasions in the last week I've heard cast members being very vocal about being made to work certain hours or similar kinds of complaints (also a couple being IMO a little too vocal about a frustrating experience with a guest). I'm not saying this is wrong of them to be disgruntled as they're only human and it sounds like a difficult place to work at the moment, but hearing things like this is very different to the Disney of years gone by.

 

[tlmadden73]

Sorry for your underwhelming experience. Frankly I don't know how wait times can really be accurate anymore with FP+. A group of people have an hour window to jump the standby line ... if they all showed up at the same time to skip that line, the standby wait time can jump immediately.


But think about this ... in a few weeks you get to pay even more to do something you used to get for free (parking at resort) for this underwhelming service.

 

[Ksdisney22]

Ok 2 hours in and no where close.

Talked to a coordinator. She showed me the iPad and estimate. A time estimate hasn't been taken for over 2 hour and the last wait was 91 minutes. They don't use the badges here they take wait times from magic bands but obviously it's failing bc the last entry was over 2 hours ago and is very wrong

I definitely think that underposting waits is the norm so that ticket purchasers still buy

The coordinator was also obviously upset. Said fricking about 10 times. I was polite and also told her I want to help her

Imho the problem is with mgmt. The algorithms are wrong and can't handle capacity. They oversold and underdelivered

 

[claven123]

I was just there and didn’t see any trash, did see the long lines though but that’s to be expected, many of the rides were down on and off throughout the day. Overall it was a lot of fun, think I’d rather take a cruise next time though, just saying

Speaking of lines, what got me was the longer food lines at Epcot, that was discouraging. We wanted to try some of the new foods and drinks but the lines were usually pretty long, we did wait in a few of them. We did get to try some new foods and we liked a lot of them.

 

[pitpat]

I definitely think that underposting waits is the norm so that ticket purchasers still buy

If you follow along on here it seems waits are usually lower than posted.

Navi being down for hours this morning is messing with your wait time. Doubt it's gonna seem worth it at this point. Should've bailed.

 

[Shanti]

Gone are the days when I can visit at a slow time. We came in from Texas and it's our spring break.

I'm a fellow Texan and we're on spring break, too.

If school schedules are the issue, you can still visit during a slower time: summer. Our trip in late July 2016 featured the lowest crowds we'd seen since January 2009. It was amazing. Other people's midsummer trip reports have described similar experiences.

 

[michelepa]

Reports seem to indicate this is a very crowded week, which is not surprising as it's spring break week for so many regions of the south. When it's this crowded, things don't go as smoothly.

Sorry you're having a rough time! At least you're there!

We went end of August with barely any crowds and still had trouble with numerous rides breaking down for long periods of time.
So it's more the cutting back of Disney than the crowds that is at issue

 

[Ksdisney22]

This is my first post but I've used this board for years. Lots of good info.

I am accustomed to the usual of wait times being lower

This trip is not the case at MK HS or AK. it's consistently under Posted and under Posted by alot.

Fastpass is definitely affecting it . They are overallocating. They want you prebooking and following a plan.

Times have changed. I was around when fp first rolled out and learned the system including linked and unlinked.

This trip has been bad. Kinks definitely need to work out and if there is a positive the park is busy and the economy must be doing well. My Disney stocks Will go up.

 

[Amanda999]

Touring Plans has MK yesterday as expected 7, actual 10 crowd level. Some choice average wait times: Jungle Cruise 94 minutes; HM 88 minutes, BTMRR 120 min., Space 157 minutes, 7DMT 173 minutes. I can only imagine the wait to get counter service lunch. Ugh. For my family this = pool at the hotel time.

 

[AngiTN]

I'm going with mostly timing and bad luck I guess.
We got home from our trip for DGD's birthday about 3 AM this morning.
We got there Friday evening but don't really count Friday, all we did there was FEA and then dine and watch Illuminations
Sat was HS. Not bad here at all, mid-light crowds
Sun was MK. Surprisingly light IMO. Prettiest day of the trip
Mon was AK. Spotty rain, crowds were so-so
Tues was Epcot. This was the heaviest crowds I saw all trip. It was an EMH day but we always do Epcot on our departure day so we were locked in anyway. Crowds rivaled what we have seen at F&W on a weekend day. They were severe
Spent pretty much open to close at each park
Of those the only ride outage we hit was not really an outage but a slow down at ToT on Saturday. They told us we could get in line with our FP but they were pushing through and converting all our FP to an anytime due to technical difficulties. We opted to wait and hope it got running full strength later since we had lunch at MM to get to and then Jedi Training for DGD. It worked out as ToT was running normally by the time we got back over there just before we went to F! that night.

We never saw any dirty bathrooms despite very heavy crowds. There was always someone working in every bathroom.

We did find very long lines for FP lines, longer than I've ever seen quite honestly, even during our NYE trip this year. Just as an example we rode LwtL yesterday and the FP line to enter wrapped all the way around the seating area that is next to the queue, the one the reserve for VIP tours to dine, and back to the wall where the kids have painted designs. But the lines all moved very fast.

We did not do many stand by waits at all but the ones we did were grossly underestimated, so I do agree with you there. We did the M&G with Minnie and Mickey at AK and it said 35 min and we waited 50-60. We had nothing else to do at that time so it was ok but I think it was a common theme from what I could tell based on the FP lines. We did get a lot of FP. Had no problems finding them one right after another. At MK I think we got a total of 10, and that was even with us leaving the park for several hours to get DGD a hair appointment at GF and to do the Tea over there. We could have kept going and gotten more right up till closing but DGD was ready to go so we quit getting FP finally.

We found the staff super sweet though, lots of friendly faces and smiles all over. Some real gems stood out too. The CM at Ivy Trellis that was checking us in is one, as is our waitress at Rose and Crown on Friday night.
Only had one that I was unhappy with and it was because she held us captive at H&V on Sat morning. She scanned the band, I entered the pin and she took the TiW card when we first sat down and was supposed to ring us up so we could pay and be ready to head out but instead she held on to our card and didn't bring the final check for an hour so we were running late heading to TSMM and ended up in a huge line there. I couldn't find her to get it either. Couldn't leave because the had the TiW card.