Declining by Degrees

[acp]

No no, you didn't offend, I just thought I'd point it out since it was fairly relevant to the thread. I, too, have seen CMs walk past stuff.

The popcorn stands were worst for litter.. Specially since people tend to spill the popcorn around the cart (usually the bits from the top, which are over the top of the container, thus knocked off by any breeze)... The first thing I always ended up doing when there was a lack of queue at the cart was to get the brush and clean up the popcorn outside... And of course, the popcorn inside that I'd dropped bits of (and the unpopped seeds that escaped the container whilst I was making more!)

It may also interest you to note that the carts (particularly the popcorn ones etc that have food preparation equipment) are inspected after they close to make sure they're clean before the vendor is allowed to leave for the evening. That's a Disney thing, not a Health and Safety regulation, I was told. Oh, the memories of cleaning out the popcorn machines at the end of the evenings...

The ice cream stands aren't inspected, because there's nothing to inspect.. it's just a cooler... The vendors do have to empty the soda wagon things (the big heavy ones that they take back through the park that the guests completely ignore you when you're shouting "Very heavy wagon coming through"... They walk in front of it like you can stop it.. Come on guys, these things will easily break your legs (or worse) if they hit you.. show a little sense!) and count it all back into the stock stuff backstage, which takes an age.. and gives you a very cold hand.. Those things are filled with ice (and water created by melting ice during the day)...

Anyway.. That's my 2p (or 2 cents, if you so prefer.. I still have some of those somewhere...) for now.

[Dr. Ravenscroft]

OMG I have seen so many people walk in front of those that I (emphasis on the I) even want to hit them with the cart to prove a point. Not saying it's right but I have felt like that. Is it to difficult to look left and right before you walk somewhere.......I should stop before I go into a I HATE PEOPLE thread.

The elimination of the Disney Animation Studios Tour of actual animators really upset me. To me it takes away from the feel of MGM being a actual movie studio. Now they have that stupid fake tour of one actor, a bunch of pictures of what they are doing for future, and a copy of Walts office that probably isn't the real furniture.

[jbvenn]

And that's the problem. No one is claiming WDW is filthy or boring or generally low quality...just that it's not as good as it was before. But as long as you liked it enough to return and will continue to spend your money there, there is no friggin' reason on Earth for these people to change anything. Assuming they have no respect for Walt, tradition, or basic human decency (which they don't), from their point of view, WDW is a complete success.

Complaints from purists have been ignored for years and sometimes I wonder if defying us is not ultimately seen as a good thing. If they completely drive away that small percentage of obsessive Disney nerds, there will be fewer complaints without a significant drop in profits. Although, I dunno, even that is doubtful, since they just ignore complaints anyway.

Here's the thing that's tough to swallow: we don't matter to Disney.

Wow, you sound a lot like my DH. Every time the subject of going back to WDW comes up, he points out how it isn't as "magical" as it was 10-20 years ago. He's an example of one customer Disney has definitely lost. But he lives with 3 people who would go back to WDW in a hearbeat, in spite of the diminished magic. A smaller pinch of pixie dust is still better than no pixie dust, at least for many of us. But you (and my DH) are probably right; we don't matter to Disney.

[subsonic]

I think the problem spawns from 2 major areas and one of those has subsets. The first, people don't complain about it much to managers or guest relations. Don't bother telling an entry level cast memeber. They might care, but, in my experience, managers don't care what CMs have to say.

The 2nd, cutbacks in pay and staff. Sure it looks good on paper, but it's not good for moral. I'm sure some CMs think, "Why should I pick that up and take care of the Park when Disney doesn't take care of me?"

I was one that picked up stuff because I had respect for the parks, as well as ACP, and I'm sure many other former/current cast members on this site.

Again, it's cutbacks that hurts the parks. Disney is learning that this is hurting them after a decade plus and are starting to get back in step.

[acp]

OMG I have seen so many people walk in front of those that I (emphasis on the I) even want to hit them with the cart to prove a point. Not saying it's right but I have felt like that. Is it to difficult to look left and right before you walk somewhere.......I should stop before I go into a I HATE PEOPLE thread.

What I found was that you'd shout ahead to people that there was a heavy wagon coming, they'd look right at it (and the fact there's often two people needed to push it...), THEN walk right in front of it. A lot of them are adults that drag their kids in front of them, too, which is just really silly...

[foldmama]

When we checked in on November 3rd at approximately 9:30 PM my sister-in-law and I were shocked at how rude the CM was when we checked into POR. I had reserved two rooms using my AP, so we checked in together. First, the CM was annoyed that I was not paying for both rooms and he had to complete two check-ins. The CM was totally p*** when I told him I wanted to use my Disney VISA Rewards Card to pay a portion of the amount due. I had about $225.00 on my rewards card and used it to pay part of the balance due. He actually said to me that it was now going to take twice as long to check us in. His reply should of been, "of course no problem.". In addition, he wrote my room number on my map so poorly that I could not read it. We figured out my room number, by trying the room key in the two rooms next to my sister-in-law. I was going to write a letter, but never did. I was so exicted to arrive at POR, and the CM really ruined my evening. We were both shocked boy how rude he was.

[Esmeralda]

foldmama, it's not too late to write that letter. If you hand write a letter and send it to the head of Disney World and one to the head of the Port Orleans hotel, Disney will listen. They really do want the guests to be happy and they need to know how rude this cast member was to you.

[knedeau]

You can also send an email to wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

They actually called me to thank me!

[foldmama]

OK, I will write a letter next week when I am on vacation. I just need to find the receipt so I can tell then what room I was in, etc. I don't want anyone fired, but someone needs to talk to this cast member about being polite to the customers. I could not have been more polite to him and I did not deserve his attitude.

[rdeacon]

Kevin Yee has posted another installment of his Declining By Degrees column

http://www.miceage.com/kevinyee/ky122806a.htm

Rich

[subsonic]

Thanks, it's nice to keep track of this

[rdeacon]

Here is the next installment.

Declining by degrees starts near the bottom of the page.

http://miceage.com/kevinyee/ky010407b.htm


Rich

[meticulus9]

i wonder if this column will spur WDW to change the way of business

[js3901]

probably not. I doubt that any of the higher-ups, or anyone close enough to them, read the unauthorized pages like miceage.com or wdwmagic.com, etc. Too busy going over the bottom line.

[GhostHost]

Disney should have the equivalent of something like the Secret Shopper where certain guests with a fine eye for true Disney magic details would inspect the parks upon their visit. So much valuable information could be gathered by these people whom would be more than willing to help search out those things that need a little TLC. Kevin is practically doing this now with his Declining by Degrees site but without a corporate audience it's falling on deaf ears. He is preaching to the choir really but I do appreciate what he is doing and hope that one day Disney starts to take notice.