Disney magic being replaced with greed

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Morganza

It's not about price, it's about value. I first visited in the mid 90s and Disney was a delight. Photo opportunities were free and plentiful. Not every ride ended inside a shop. Cast members were happy and made you welcome. The parks didn't feel crushed. It was magical.

Recent visits have been very different. The parks are not as clean. There's a lack of care. There's too many people for the facilities. The feeling that every last cent will be squeezed out of you is palpable.

Most posters are objecting about the decline in service and experience. Not the price.

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Agreed
It has nothing to do with the price. The price is the price either you can afford it or you can’t. The issue is that even when I first started going in the Mid 80s it was expensive then in relation to other holidays. The different is, if I’m paying a premium and we are, (especially if staying on site as the standards of hotels are not as good as many offsite hotels when you compare like for like) I expect the standards that defined Disney in the past to be sustained throughout however many visit I take.

These are the areas in which I feel WDW is now lacking in any real basic service compared with twenty even ten years ago

• CMs. Rude, dismissive, unapproachable
• Restaurants. Waiting staff , entitled, overpriced and underwhelming food
• Cleanliness. No longer pristine as it was
• Housekeeping. Insufficient staff, proper cleans not done

This is not a dig at CMs or staff it’s an indication of the sort of people WDW are employing, staff training and supervision. All of which appear to way down the list. Top of the list is flog as many light sabers as you can


I suspect I’m one of hundreds who complained and got five nights free whenever I want wherever I want. I wonder if any of the issues would have been addressed, throwing out freebies seems to be WDW customer service mantra now

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

I don’t want it to be warm as it tastes awful and I don’t like the free water we got in the cups.

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The free water you get from the QS restaurants is filtered tap water. Which is exactly the same as the Dasani water you buy in the parks. It's pretty much the same stuff.

We used to freeze a bottle of water and then take it to the parks with us. It used to take a while for it to melt. We'd top up the bottle with free water from the water fountains near the toilets, which tended to be cool. I've never generally had a problem with warm water.

We do also get sodas in the park too, just because we did fancy something different now and again. But, then again, the last couple of times we've been on the dining plan so got the sodas for "free" (= "included in the cost of our stay").

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by duchy

Although for many years you could only buy alcohol as part of a table service meal...

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And you can only do that at MK now as well.

I'm not sure when the other parks started selling alcohol (usually Bud) from QS places and from carts but they've been doing it for as long as I can remember. I've never seen any issues with drunken people other than at Epcot during F&W Festival. And then I haven't seen any major problems with them as such - just some drunk people being a bit loud and silly - although I realise others have.

BTW, the F&W Festival at Epcot started in 1995. Which was before I first visited WDW.

I bet back in the late 90s people were complaining that WDW had lost the magic since the good old days in the mid-80s or late 70s or whenever. Things were always better back in the past (apparently).

[salmim]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

And you can only do that at MK now as well.

I'm not sure when the other parks started selling alcohol (usually Bud) from QS places and from carts but they've been doing it for as long as I can remember. I've never seen any issues with drunken people other than at Epcot during F&W Festival. And then I haven't seen any major problems with them as such - just some drunk people being a bit loud and silly - although I realise others have.

BTW, the F&W Festival at Epcot started in 1995. Which was before I first visited WDW.

I bet back in the late 90s people were complaining that WDW had lost the magic since the good old days in the mid-80s or late 70s or whenever. Things were always better back in the past (apparently).

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I have a large photo of us in front of the Castle early 1980.

It was mid morning and hardly anybody at the end of Main St and a couple sitting on one of the benches before the "circle".

The good old days 😊 only MK then as well.

Well the good old days didn't include our attire actually! Short shorts 🤣

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by salmim

I have a large photo of us in front of the Castle early 1980.

It was mid morning and hardly anybody at the end of Main St and a couple sitting on one of the benches before the "circle".

The good old days 😊 only MK then as well.

Well the good old days didn't include our attire actually! Short shorts 🤣

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Here's a photo of me in front of the castle (well, off to the side actually) the first time I visited back in '97:



Ah, the good old days when the castle looked like a big pink birthday cake!

(Oh and we visited in December so no shorts).

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by riversider2014

And it’s not as if there are loads of rampaging people walking around drunk either so not sure why safety is even an issue

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There are at Epcot during Food and Wine!

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Andybear

There are at Epcot during Food and Wine!

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There aren't "loads of rampaging people walking around drunk" during F&W. I've visited Epcot during F&W and I've not seen "loads of rampaging people".

Yes, some people do get drunk, especially at the weekends. Yes, some of those do get a bit rowdy. And yes, the behaviour of a few of those is unacceptable and not to be tolerated. But that's not the same as "loads of rampaging people walking around drunk".

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Andybear

There are at Epcot during Food and Wine!

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What do you deem “rampaging”.

I have seen a few tipsy people but never seen any “rampaging”.

I’m pretty sure if people were “rampaging” it would be fairly well publicised and Utube would be full of videos of this rampaging

[salmim]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

Here's a photo of me in front of the castle (well, off to the side actually) the first time I visited back in '97:



Ah, the good old days when the castle looked like a big pink birthday cake!

(Oh and we visited in December so no shorts).

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Great photo although I hated the cake!

For the health and safety of all on the Dibb I have been banned from sending our photo!

Nice and quiet there ..happy days 😊

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

The free water you get from the QS restaurants is filtered tap water. Which is exactly the same as the Dasani water you buy in the parks. It's pretty much the same stuff.

We used to freeze a bottle of water and then take it to the parks with us. It used to take a while for it to melt. We'd top up the bottle with free water from the water fountains near the toilets, which tended to be cool. I've never generally had a problem with warm water.

We do also get sodas in the park too, just because we did fancy something different now and again. But, then again, the last couple of times we've been on the dining plan so got the sodas for "free" (= "included in the cost of our stay").

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We didn’t buy any bottle water. Was always pop. Two reasons cos didn’t like taste of the water and cos I don’t wanna pay for water then soda is 50c more.

If the free water was better that would be great. Still didn’t like it with the squash stuff in