What is going on with Disney parks?

[NickC]

They have to be tamper proof before I would think about using them.

We had the wall mounted bottles on a recent Disney cruise. They had little stickers on them so you could tell if they had been opened. After the cruise, we spent a few days at The Contemporary and they had the disposable bottles.
I don’t have a preference, but the wall mounted ones were convenient.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Do not disturb signs being effectively useless like they are in Disney is not something I’ve experienced anywhere else. In most cases they mean and are treated as don’t try and enter my room, we don’t want anyone in here.

This is why when the room checks were first started so many people were shocked the signs were not being respected. It isn’t the norm.

But they aren't and have never been "do not disturb" signs since the introduction of the room checks. They say "room occupied", which to me, in no way implies to not enter the room, just a little heads up to the staff that somebody is in there.

 

[Ellie Webbs]

Maybe their travel style is different. They have longer breaks and and more vacation weeks.
On longer trips, they don't need to use every possible park hour which is cheaper for WDW. Affording the expensive flight + trip signals they're likely to afford shopping too.

They take it easy and have money to spend. It could be they're giving WDW the same profit per head as stateside guests, even with the big discount that was used to lure them in?

From personal experience we don't take it easy and don't have any money to spend

 

[DGsAtBLT]

But they aren't and have never been "do not disturb" signs since the introduction of the room checks. They say "room occupied", which to me, in no way implies to not enter the room, just a little heads up to the staff that somebody is in there.

Okay, but it’s pretty well known what those things are for in the hotel industry despite the wording on Disney’s which is why (1) people were surprised they didn’t work to keep people out, and (2) declining housekeeping and someone entering your room is not an unusual practice or disallowed at most hotels.

 

[TomServo27]

Recently stayed at the Best Western mini suites across the street from Disneyland. We had housekeeping enter our room with the do not disturb sign on our door when we were in the room. I didn’t think much of it till reading this thread.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Recently stayed at the Best Western mini suites across the street from Disneyland. We had housekeeping enter our room with the do not disturb sign on our door when we were in the room. I didn’t think much of it till reading this thread.

Thats VERY unusual! I’ve never had it happen. Hopefully in your case it was simply an unobservant housekeeper.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Someone here had photos of the unhygenic grossness of the wall mounted dispensers. Was it @HopperFan?

 

[TomServo27]

Thats VERY unusual! I’ve never had it happen. Hopefully in your case it was simply an unobservant housekeeper.

We thought maybe the sign fell off the door but it was still there. We had it out for a couple days don’t think they could have missed it. Also had a call I think it was the night before asking if we needed anything from housekeeping was odd. We usually only have housekeeping come in after three or four days. They did knock waited a few seconds and peeked in the door and quickly closed it and apologized when they saw just sitting in the bed watching tv.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We thought maybe the sign fell off the door but it was still there. We had it out for a couple days don’t think they could have missed it. Also had a call I think it was the night before asking if we needed anything from housekeeping was odd. We usually only have housekeeping come in after three or four days. They did knock waited a few seconds and peeked in the door and quickly closed it and apologized when they saw just sitting in the bed watching tv.

They could have a policy (either corporate or that location) regarding just how many days you can decline housekeeping before they need to peek in the room. That would explain it IMO.

Under normal circumstances though, outside of the above, that would be quite strange IMO to have housekeeping dismiss the sign and enter if I opted to have housekeeping come yesterday but not today. Hasn't happened yet at least.

 

[HopperFan]

Someone here had photos of the unhygenic grossness of the wall mounted dispensers. Was it @HopperFan?

I took a photo in our POP Century room. The room had been open one week. The units can be unlocked and removed easily and behind our bottles was standing water and soap scum. The contents are not secure from guests. This is a photo I posted from that trip.

My issue with Disney's is that these bottles are refilled from large containers (to replace bottles negates the plastic savings). When you do this you greatly increase the growth of bacteria and often mold will form inside the bottles. Some hotels that have the dispensers have the kind that once the pouch inside is out, they replace with a fresh pouch. That reduces time for bacteria to grow. We do not use Disney's dispensers. I cover them with a plastic bag so my DS won't touch them.

 

[Searc]

Every hotel I've stayed at still comes to service your room. If the sign is out they just come back later. But those signs are nearly gone everywhere now anyway. Not just at Disney.

Whenever I've checked in to resorts, no matter the city, I've never been asked if I'd like to decline housekeeping. Not once.

But I stick by what I said in that these checks are becoming the norm everywhere. In most cases housekeeping does the check of the room and no one even notices.

I've recently stayed in 12 different hotels the last 6 weeks, across brands and at all different price points (none disney) and every single one of them had a privacy please/do not disturb door hanger. Disney is not the industry standard on this.

 

[Alynw]

Well, I've just finished up booking all my fp for xmas trip and I can tell ya, I am very pleased. This is the first year I've been able to get the " hard to get" fp's rite out of the gate. I dont know if it's a sign of less people booking but I'm really hopeful that's the case. I stay offsite so I can do 30 days out so I have never been able to get FOP or Mine Train on my initial booking. I would usually have to keep checking for drops for weeks after and hope I could snag them but not this year, something definitely going on. I even got prime times for them as well. Either Disney is releasing more fp or there is less people booking at xmas. Has anyone else that's going at xmas experience this or did I just get lucky for the first time ever at the busiest time of the year.

 

[Leigh L]

Well, I've just finished up booking all my fp for xmas trip and I can tell ya, I am very pleased. This is the first year I've been able to get the " hard to get" fp's rite out of the gate. I dont know if it's a sign of less people booking but I'm really hopeful that's the case. I stay offsite so I can do 30 days out so I have never been able to get FOP or Mine Train on my initial booking. I would usually have to keep checking for drops for weeks after and hope I could snag them but not this year, something definitely going on. I even got prime times for them as well. Either Disney is releasing more fp or there is less people booking at xmas. Has anyone else that's going at xmas experience this or did I just get lucky for the first time ever at the busiest time of the year.

So glad to hear you've got everything you wanted!

Not sure the reason, but here's my experience.
We have a one-day in WDW (MK) planned on 12/24 as we pass through town going to visit family. I booked at 60 days out and got everything I wanted at MK at the exact times I was hoping including Splash and 7DMT. I never dreamed that would happen for such a busy week! So excited since we've never been in the parks Christmas week or experienced the parade or fireworks.

As a comparison, we have a 4-day trip in January where I booked FP this morning, it was a lot easier for 12/24 than it was for 1/25 at MK. Was aiming for an afternoon 7DMT figuring no problem, but all that was available was close to 7 pm, an hour later I was able to snag a 5:10. For FOP at 60+2, 60+3 (I didn't check for 60+4 since it's our last day and we have other plans), all I saw were evenings and they went quick. I went back to try to mod my 6:50 time (60+2) and no dice for any availability.

All in all, very pleased, but surprised December 24 was easier.

 

[Alynw]

So glad to hear you've got everything you wanted!

Not sure the reason, but here's my experience.
We have a one-day in WDW (MK) planned on 12/24 as we pass through town going to visit family. I booked at 60 days out and got everything I wanted at MK at the exact times I was hoping including Splash and 7DMT. I never dreamed that would happen for such a busy week! So excited since we've never been in the parks Christmas week or experienced the parade or fireworks.

As a comparison, we have a 4-day trip in January where I booked FP this morning, it was a lot easier for 12/24 than it was for 1/25 at MK. Was aiming for an afternoon 7DMT figuring no problem, but all that was available was close to 7 pm, an hour later I was able to snag a 5:10. For FOP at 60+2, 60+3 (I didn't check for 60+4 since it's our last day and we have other plans), all I saw were evenings and they went quick. I went back to try to mod my 6:50 time (60+2) and no dice for any availability.

All in all, very pleased, but surprised December 24 was easier.

That's awesome, I cant believe these fp were available so easily. I have been going at xmas for years now and this is the first time I've been able to snag Mine Train at the time of booking, I would usually have to choose another ride and hope one would pop up later and now with you also getting ur picks just shows something is definitely different this year. Not to mention I woke up 15min late this morning and still had my pick, that is just crazy. Maybe with ROTR opening the 5th everyone is hammering HS but I dont think so, not at the 30 day mark anyway. I'm really hoping it's as simple as just less people going during xmas.

 

[Alynw]

So glad to hear you've got everything you wanted!

Not sure the reason, but here's my experience.
We have a one-day in WDW (MK) planned on 12/24 as we pass through town going to visit family. I booked at 60 days out and got everything I wanted at MK at the exact times I was hoping including Splash and 7DMT. I never dreamed that would happen for such a busy week! So excited since we've never been in the parks Christmas week or experienced the parade or fireworks.

As a comparison, we have a 4-day trip in January where I booked FP this morning, it was a lot easier for 12/24 than it was for 1/25 at MK. Was aiming for an afternoon 7DMT figuring no problem, but all that was available was close to 7 pm, an hour later I was able to snag a 5:10. For FOP at 60+2, 60+3 (I didn't check for 60+4 since it's our last day and we have other plans), all I saw were evenings and they went quick. I went back to try to mod my 6:50 time (60+2) and no dice for any availability.

All in all, very pleased, but surprised December 24 was easier.

I hope u really enjoy the park at xmas, we love it. U just have to go in with the mind set that its going to be extremely crowded like you've never experienced before, if u can accept that and look past it, u will love it, the xmas parade is so grand. Our personal game plan, we concentrate on our fast passes only and dont worry about other rides cause the wait times are going to be very long, even small world will be up around 45min but we still keep an eye on the wait times and if we can catch a ride with decent time then we do it but we go in with the expectations to only ride our selected fp's. We watch the parade, the frozen castle show and fireworks, they are so nice but definitely keep track of times and try to go find a viewing spot about 45min before attractions begin. Good luck with ur xmas experience and I wish u the best, hope u enjoy it.

Ps
We'll be at MK on the 26th...As much as we love it, I learned my lesson goin to MK on xmas day, they will reach capacity by noon and close the gates...smh

 

[Alynw]

Has anyone noticed a difference between using MDE app vs online MDE. I've been trying to make changes in the times of a couple fp and my Oga's reservation and everytime I use the mde app it shows absolutely nothing available but then when I go online to mde it shows several different options. Is this by design or is this a tech issue. Since I've noticed this I started checking a few other things and sure enough, the mde app says nothing available but online mde has multiple choices. Something tells me this is by design by Disney to take advantage of those who visit frequently and have become complacent to the mde app. From here on out I'll be using the online mde for everything.

 

[Alynw]

The more I think about it the more it bothers me, there is something wrong. I recently posted about how I was able to get all my fp this year for xmas and thought that odd since I've never been able to before, not at xmas time anyway. What i didnt mention earlier, cause it never dawned on me until now, was that I had to switch from the mde app to online because the mde app wasn't loading properly. Basically, at 6am (7am disney time) the other day I got on mde app to select my fp's but the app was having issues, as it sometimes does, but I just assumed it was from so many people trying to get on at 7am time. So I decided to just go online mde to do my fp selections and that's where, at the time, I thought I got really lucky with being able to choose Mine Train and at the time I wanted (5pm). Originally I thought maybe this was due to less people going at xmas this year but after seeing what's going on with the mde app, I'm just wondering if that's been going on the whole time and why I've struggled in the past to get certain fp's. Has anyone else noticed this at all.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Well it’s packed to the gills this week! FP lines are 25 minutes at the MK right now. CM at Splash seemed a bit panicked. I’m interested to see what EMH is like tonight!

 

[fireflyer]

Perhaps Universal is just outcompeting DisneyWorld. DisneyWorld's gotten very complicated, having to schedule fastpasses long before, and then again the day of. And they are banking on space themes, which were popular decades ago. Epcot has been outdated for at least a decade. The animals at Animal Kingdom did not look very "magical" the last time I was there, it was like a sad zoo. Meanwhile, Universal offers Harry Potter at a level of immersion that is astounding, a can't-miss. Anyway, that's why Universal's been getting my money the last couple years. I'm really not interested in anything Star Wars.

 

[ZuuL]

Maybe it just me but it's starting to sound like the reason to go to universal is for Harry Potter. And that's the only reason. Sure they have other things but anything new not named Harry Potter range okay to subpar at best. Hopefully that changes with their third gate. But as of right now it's a maybe I'll go back every 4 yrs instead of almost every year like disney.

But that doesn't mean disney is without faults, more so under Iger than any other in companies past. Like raising the prices yearly, buying every company up, etc. Hopefully under new leadership a lot of these price gouging will change.