What is going on with Disney parks?

[bakerworld]

When we took the kids to WDW they didn't even know there were 'carnival' type rides there. We went for all the rides you cannot get at the local church fundraiser and state amusement parks. Limiting Disney to Disney feature rides makes it special. One of the reasons we loved Disney is because so it was packed with event rides - not one roller coaster or spinning ride after another. Now it seems that every other new ride is a version of a roller coaster. Where is the story telling?

 

[ClapYourHands]

Now it seems that every other new ride is a version of a roller coaster. Where is the story telling?

I don't know that this is true. I'm thinking of the newest rides in each park, and I don't think roller coasters are taking over. NRJ and FoP are not coasters in any way. Neither of the new GE rides will be coasters; MFSR has been criticized for being too screen heavy, but not for lacking a storyline. Conversely, AS2 isn't a coaster, but I think has the least story of any ride in the park. SDD is a coaster, but arguably the most popular one in WDW, and has a "story" in that the land is meant to evoke what it would be like if you shrunk down to toy-sized. 7DMT is another coaster, but definitely has a story to it.

I agree with you that the story telling is what makes WDW rides stand out from run-of-the-mill amusement park rides. Personally, I'd like to see some more classic imagineering that gives us rides not directly linked to a film. BTMRR and PotC are two of my favorites, and didn't need to be based on a movie to be awesomesauce.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

This! I didn't want to say anything for fear of being called a racist or something ridiculous. Yes, I couldn't agree more. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of Americans behaving badly as well. But the foreigners do exactly what you said. I've been shoved out of the way or cut off more times that I can count without so much as an "excuse me" or "sorry 'bout that". I also don't want to throw all foreigners into this category. Some of the best encounters I've had have been with foreigners. But, by and large, if I get run over or shoved out of the way, it's a foreigner. It's got to be the money. Surely they're not like that at home. LOL

Well as someone who lives in Central America I wish I could say they are not like that at home, but if home is here and they have $$$$ then they are used to always getting there way and taking it by force. Now this is a small percent of all the people who live here and most of this culture are very kind. But personal space in not a thing here for anyone. If you leave an inch in any line or with your car inbetween the next car, you are inviting someone into that space. hahaha.

 

[LizzyS]

On the topic of foreigners, I think Americans are just accustomed to more "personal space" around them than other cultures and we find it off-putting when we don't get our personal bubble.

 

[dizneefan13]

My wife is the opposite, she looks forward to all of my condescending and snide remarks that go straight over the heads of most of other guests who act inappropriately towards us or the others around us.

Small example: someone cuts in front of us in the haunted mansion que: "I'm so glad you made it! I was saving that spot for you...."

When we were in line one time, a group of 5 cut in behind us and my husband said loudly, those poor folks don't know what they're in for....I just ate 3 bowls of beans!

 

[Alynw]

On the topic of foreigners, I think Americans are just accustomed to more "personal space" around them than other cultures and we find it off-putting when we don't get our personal bubble.

It not so much of losing our "personal space" as it is the way someone else just takes it. It doesn't matter what race or nationality you are, there is one thing we all should have and that is common courtesy. If there was room in front of someone and I wanted to take it, I would be polite about it and treat them with respect. Even with a language barrier I have had foreigners get my attention and use their hands to point and ask about moving somewhere and then give me a hi/thank u sign. So it has nothing to do with personal space but how people chose to try and take it.

 

[middlechild]

Having some experience in other countries due to a career that spanned the globe, the ideals and concepts we enjoy here in the US are not necessarily the norms in other countries. Stood in the mob scene at Jay Peak, VT as well as a very large intersection in China without traffic control devices or a modern 4 lane road ending at a two lane path in India gives a mental image of what would be unacceptable here. For many outside the US, personal space has a different meaning. Perhaps this melding of societal mores is introducing a new level of complexity to fixing the problems at WDW?

 

[Tink-osophy]

My DD#2 has worked as a CM for DLR 3 times. Once in retail (left personal issues); once as a ticket taker (left because of toxic co-workers and guests); and once as a CM in Batuu (those fancy light sticks; left last week because of lack of hours/issues with management).

When she was there, in both retail and tickets, she was spit on, cussed out, yelled at, etc. Her leads did nothing. She would follow the policies; the guests would have a meltdown; the leads would give in (to preserve that 'Disney magic', I guess). At Batuu, she was screamed at by people who couldn't get in to build those fancy light sticks, because the spots were full. She had one woman smack her arm (left a nasty bruise) because she couldn't bring her whole family (6 people) in with one builder (there is just not space for that); the woman got free glow sticks for her whole family.

Some people think that because they spend the $$, that they are entitled to whatever they want. Disney lets that feeling continue, because they want that $$, and don't want to have bad 'press'. Until Disney addresses these issues...the smoking in the parks, the abuse of the CMs...it will continue to get worse and worse.

We were at Busch Gardens, Tampa, a few months ago. Some woman was screaming at the GS people because something didn't apply on her tickets correctly (just what we overheard while standing in line). A guy came over to the woman (I'm guessing a manager type, from their outfit) and told her that she needed to calm down or she wouldn't be allowed to enter the park. At Disney, they would have handed her several unlimited FPs, apologized and walked her through the gates.

That's horrendous! No wonder she left.

Just to clarify, I deliberately worded my post that, "I wish Disney empowered their CMs...".

--- CMs aren't currently empowered, are they?! Empowered means means recruiting enough CMs; training them (not just writing a policy for them to follow); having management there to support and take over when necessary AND, most importantly, consistently responding to rule-breakers with consequences.

It doesn't seem that CMs have any authority and that doesn't help command respect from rude, aggressive guests. People with that tendency soon learn what they can 'get away with' in certain environments. Not everyone learns, of course! ...But reducing the current number would help.

Also, Disney has created an environment which is now highly pressured and competitive for their Guests. Cultural differences aside, this can bring out the worst in even more mild-mannered people (especially when they have spent so much money to be there). The Disney execs need to recognise this and the impact it has on both Guests and CMs. Maybe,then, they could make it a more consistent and magical experience again.

 

[Tink-osophy]

On my trip to World on Labor Day weekend, there was this lady screaming at the cast members while blocking the tea cups so they couldn’t start the ride. She was demanding that 2 children need to be removed from the ride so that her daughter could ride in her favorite tea cup. She refused to move until a manager showed up 15 minutes later. They were given fastpasses, the people they inconvenienced by blocking the ride from operating were given nothing. They encourage this behavior.

This kind of narcissism and Disney humoring it is mind-boggling! Tell her she can have that cup (!) on the next ride run or she can have what's free on this run, but what she cannot do is block the way. (Honestly, though, isn't this like a 2 year old melting down because their juice isn't in the 'right' color cup!)

I've said it a couple of times on this thread, but I'll say it again: By overlooking, allowing and, even, rewarding behavior like this in their parks (and, let's face it, much worse behavior), they are prioritizing completely the wrong people. The considerate and law-abiding Guests and CMs get the raw deal.

 

[middlechild]

Hey, Disney.. Sell less tickets!

 

[Heather07438]

Hey, Disney.. Sell less tickets!

Haha, they're trying. I think they're getting near the highest prices people will still pay to keep the parks consistently active but not crazily crowded.

 

[TomServo27]

Well Disneyland has been absolutely slammed all week. Mainly due to fall break in Arizona and Utah I guess. But I’ve seen people say they have never seen it so crowded.

 

[Alynw]

The bottom line with all this is money. Disney doesn't want to spend the money it takes to put enough actual trained security personnel at every ride and every corner to enforce the rules and procedures. CM are trained but they aren't trained for possible physical altercation and therefore part of their training is to actually avoid it. It would not be feasible to properly train all the CM's for physical altercation and that is the type of training they would need if they were to actually force people out of the lines or out of the park for breaking the rules. This would require actual security guard type personnel and Disney isn't going to spend the money for it. But there could absolutely be a happy medium if Disney would just spend a little extra money and better train their CM's and make sure the cm is doing their job, cause I've seen several times where the cm was almost afraid and didn't really say anything at all. But ive also seen some really good cm's that have threatened to shut a ride down or remove a specific guest if they didn't straighten up. It also wouldn't hurt for Disney to do a better job recognizing who is better made for a cm and who is not.

 

[fhtpdw20]

Disney finally used up 18 years of goodwill. Nails in their coffin: constant price increases from tickets to food to hotel rooms and the list goes on, watering down resort room themes to resemble cheap motel decor, room "security" inspections, waiting in line at 10am for an hour for bus ride to the parks and close to another hour spent in security to get into the parks, park maintenance with the constant ride breakdowns, not enforcing their rules and rewarding bad behavior, entertainment cuts, growing lack of civility of guest behavior, and the last straw letting "therapy" dogs aka pets in the parks. I could care less about Star Wars or Marvel so none of the new will lure me back. I can only image the price increase they will charge for the 50th Anniversary. I am not willing to pay more for less.

 

[Brianstl]

Disney finally used up 18 years of goodwill. Nails in their coffin: constant price increases from tickets to food to hotel rooms and the list goes on, watering down resort room themes to resemble cheap motel decor, room "security" inspections, waiting in line at 10am for an hour for bus ride to the parks and close to another hour spent in security to get into the parks, park maintenance with the constant ride breakdowns, not enforcing their rules and rewarding bad behavior, entertainment cuts, growing lack of civility of guest behavior, and the last straw letting "therapy" dogs aka pets in the parks. I could care less about Star Wars or Marvel so none of the new will lure me back. I can only image the price increase they will charge for the 50th Anniversary. I am not willing to pay more for less.

Therapy animals are the biggest scam ever. Therapy animals are not service animals and shouldn’t be treated as such.

 

[fhtpdw20]

Please do not let this thread go off the tracks and debate therapy animals. That is not my intent. Last trip I witnessed two examples that just turned me completely off. The first was seeing a small dog, no vest, peeing in a planter where people sit on the ledge in Frontierland and the second was seeing a dog with a vest had wrapped its leash around the owner's leg and could not unwind trying to get owner's attention while he was engrossed in his cell phone.

 

[ZTator]

I'm replying with my own personal point of view. We have started planning a future trip to WDW after not being to Disney since 2009 , I could not believe how expensive planning a trip would be for 3 adults. Not sure I want to spend that kind of money for a weeks vacation, between tickets, hotel, dining, extra expenses, etc... I could easily go on a cruise or even out of the country for what a Disney trip adds up to. That and the fact every youtube clip/ pictures I have seen the crowds are more than I would care to deal with. I have notice also the wait in lines are extremely long for most rides now, and not being as young as I once was not sure I could handle the wait in long lines. So we are weighing out our options. I know people will say you can stay off property, eat at places off from Disney etc and still have a good time but to me that is part of the Disney experience to stay on property and experience the whole aspect of it.

 

[Jennifer Brooklyn]

The bottom line is that Disney is trying to see how far they can increase prices while cutting back on services. Yes there are people who can or won’t be willing to accept things as they are and they will stop coming. It’s no longer an affordable famijy vacation. But there are others willing to dig deeper into their wallets. They are changing the median income of those attending their parks. Will it have a negative effect and reduce revenues, probably, only time will tell. Will they walk back prices? I don’t see that happening.

The only problem to this argument is that Disney doesn’t necessarily provide the same type of luxury accommodations that those who can afford all the extras are use to. A family that books club level, does a day or two of a private VIP tour or other crown collection activities might be spending $15-$20k on their vacation while sleeping in a two bedroom with a lumpy mattress and no amenities. Certainly those guests can choose to book at the Four Seasons but if they are wealthy Disney fans who like to stay on property they might still choose a Disney Deluxe hotel. So at a certain point if Disney keeps pulling back on the Disney Magic even families who can afford that will start to ask themselves why not just travel abroad or go somewhere else for this amount of money.

 

[Alynw]

I'm replying with my own personal point of view. We have started planning a future trip to WDW after not being to Disney since 2009 , I could not believe how expensive planning a trip would be for 3 adults. Not sure I want to spend that kind of money for a weeks vacation, between tickets, hotel, dining, extra expenses, etc... I could easily go on a cruise or even out of the country for what a Disney trip adds up to. That and the fact every youtube clip/ pictures I have seen the crowds are more than I would care to deal with. I have notice also the wait in lines are extremely long for most rides now, and not being as young as I once was not sure I could handle the wait in long lines. So we are weighing out our options. I know people will say you can stay off property, eat at places off from Disney etc and still have a good time but to me that is part of the Disney experience to stay on property and experience the whole aspect of it.

There seems to be 2 types of groups in here with different opinions on staying onsite or offsite. You have those, like myself, that do a Florida vacation and always go to Disney but also go other places and then you have those that only go to Disney exclusive. Those that only go to Disney will say you should always stay onsite and those who go to Florida but visit Disney will say stay offsite. And after reading through hundreds of opinions, they are both correct for what their plans on. So coming from someone that does a Florida vacation but always visit Disney, I would have to agree with the folks that say to stay onsite if your only going to Disney. If your entire vacation is specifically Disney then it only makes sense to stay onsite, we have had in depth discussions about cost and transportation and after it's all said and done, it's not a huge price difference to stay onsite. Now this all depends on where your staying at Disney and what your plans are but if your budget conscience and you choose economy resort with free bussing and watch your budget, u can stay onsite comparable to offsite prices. I've personally recommended that folks try and stay offsite if they can to help save money but only if they do things and go places outside of Disney. The determining factor is if your doing a Florida vacation or a Disney vacation. If you decide to do a cost comparison I'd be curious to see what you come up with if you don't mind sharing. Good luck in whatever you decide, either way it all goes away and is forgotten about while your there in the moment.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

This! I didn't want to say anything for fear of being called a racist or something ridiculous. Yes, I couldn't agree more. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of Americans behaving badly as well. But the foreigners do exactly what you said. I've been shoved out of the way or cut off more times that I can count without so much as an "excuse me" or "sorry 'bout that". I also don't want to throw all foreigners into this category. Some of the best encounters I've had have been with foreigners. But, by and large, if I get run over or shoved out of the way, it's a foreigner. It's got to be the money. Surely they're not like that at home. LOL I'm sure they're spending way more than I am to come here and visit what's supposed to be the happiest place on earth. I wish people understood - all people - that just because you can afford to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and I'm staying at one of the All Star resorts, or are spending $10,000 on your vacation while I'm only spending $1,500, that doesn't make you more entitled than my family and I to a spot in line.

And, yes, if Disney actually enforced the rules in place instead of rewarding bad behavior (as has been mentioned in several posts), it really would make it a more magical place. They might tick one or two people off, but they'll make 20 or 30 or more people very happy. I feel bad for the CMs, I really do. They get paid so little, have to put up with so much crap, and then (as it appears) get no support from management. I think when I go next year I'll go out of my way to make the CMs I encounter feel appreciated.

Utter nonsense. First point about where guests stay, how do they know where you are staying?

Yes, there are some nationalities who do behave badly, but, it is the culture of their country, go to Disneyland Paris to really experience that (I'm not even talking about the French)

The most badly behaved are entitled parents of entitled kids and they tend to be American, although, not exclusively so. They are the ones who think that Disney is about the kids, especially their kids. They are the ones racing around pushing strollers at breakneck speed, carrying huge strollers even for kids that are way too old to be in strollers. I was killing myself laughing at the players in DHS Sunset Boulevard sitting in director chairs making comments about kids who were far too old being pushed around in strollers ('Get A Job!!!')

Or, controversial here, the people who hire scooters and have never used one before and nearly cause accidents or see it as means to get them and their families onto the bus first even if they are the last to turn up. I swear, one morning at the entrance there were more people in scooters than not and they race around at breakneck speed too, I don't know how many times I was nearly hit by people thinking they were Dale Earnhardt, especially at night or in crowded areas

Let's be honest, it's nothing to do with nationality or money, it's to do with entitlement. It's the 'the rules don't count for me' attitude to people who smoke, bring in selfie sticks or those carts that are now supposedly banned.

If Disney protected their CMs with a zero tolerance policy towards bad behaviour and aggression towards the CMs then that would be a step towards stopping the bad behaviour. A CM tells a smoker to go to the designated area and the guest gets stroppy, call security immediately, remove the person and cancel their tickets for the rest of their trip. Better still, do it just for being caught smoking in the parks, the rules are clear, no excuses. All bad behaviour should be punished, CMs should not be afraid of what will happen if a guest loses it, they should know they will get back up and it should definitely not be rewarded, but, that is exactly what entitlement is; being rewarded for bad behaviour. Time to enforce the rules and reward those who play by them by letting them have a peaceful trip.