and the hits keep coming!

[pixiesmimi]

I think Disney owes you a free trip after all of this! I would persue it up the ladder. Hopefully this won't be our experience in 2 weeks. If it is, it will be our last trip. Especially after our trip in July where we paid for club level at the Beach Club and had a small room next to the service elevator that ran and banged all night long. We were not happy with this and it was the last room available, they told us.

[A Big Kid]

It got better, but it wasn't Disney-like for sure. Two events in my mind that stood out in particular that made me shake my head:

Riding the ToT. I guess they decided to open the second shaft and were short of costumed CM's. So they had non-costumed CM "escorting guests" into the elevator! He had on khaki slacks, a white shirt, blue jacket and his oval name tag.

Riding the GMR: the CMs are not acting at all.they are just reciting their lines as fast as possible. Of course, it didnt help that the microphone wasn't working for squat. It kept cutting in and out.

Finally, I am not sure I will hold this against Disney, but I will mention it anyway. My wife and BIL/SIL we having dinner at th California Grill Friday night. My birthday was Sunday. I didn't have a CLUE that my wife planned a birthday surprise with a cake. Seriously, I had no clue.

When we were checking, I went to was my hands and my wife was was excited because she as able to finalize the details. Well, as I came out of the restroom, the man showing us to our table asked me, "How old are you today?"

I was confused. I didn't understand why he asked me the question. Then he said, "I guess you arent the one having a birthday today?"

You should have seen my wife's face! She said something to the effect of "So much for a surprise" and we we're escorted to our table with nary an apology.

[waymickey]

I Disney is held to a higher standard because they hold themselves to a higher standard. And they charge dearly for that. If the standards decrease and the price increases, there is a problem.

Absolutely right!

Disney needs to understand that they represent so much more to people than what they really are; and if that dream is damaged it may be gone forever. A free night won't fix that problem.

Very True! Disney IMHO is losing the magic and becoming a Six Flags.

[rmsmith1208]

It sounds like your trip went about as well as ours did. One thing that got me was the cast members and how they really just did not seemed thrilled to be there at all. It was our two daughters birthdays and both wearing pins and maybe a total of two cast members said happy birthday. Hopefully your trip got better.

[Stu29573]

You know, one upside to having a trip like the one we had is that now I'm not dying to get back. I used to start planning our next trip on the plane home (even though it would be at least a couple of years away) now, its like "meh." I'm sure we will go again, but I don't really care when. It's sad, but it does take some pressure off, I guess...

[MissMaryPoppins]

It sounds like your trip went about as well as ours did. One thing that got me was the cast members and how they really just did not seemed thrilled to be there at all. It was our two daughters birthdays and both wearing pins and maybe a total of two cast members said happy birthday. Hopefully your trip got better.

It's a shame how awful some of the cast members are, isn't it? The only positive thing is when you encounter a cast member who is good at their job you appreciate them so much more.

[ronandjulie]

Disney World and Universal are getting so huge that there is no possible way to satff them completely with worthwhile empoyees at the rate they can pay. The bigger it gets, the less Magical it becomes.

[1DisneyNut]

Disney World and Universal are getting so huge that there is no possible way to satff them completely with worthwhile empoyees at the rate they can pay. The bigger it gets, the less Magical it becomes.

Its not that they can't pay them a little more, its that they won't because corporate greed has taken over. I started saying about 4 years ago that WDW was going down the toilet and caught some flack about it but I predicted you would start seeing a lot of these types of threads......and here we are. It has gotten to the point we don't even stay on site anymore. We stay in very nice resorts off site for about what moderates cost inside WDW. We very rarely eat dinner in the parks anymore; we go to nice outside restaurants.....far better quality at a much better price. We actually only went to Magic Kingdom and Epcot this last trip because Animal Kingdom isn't worth the time and Hollywood studios is sort of a mess now. We decided to skip WDW altogether in 2013 and go elsewhere. It is turning into a place of frustration due to paying so much more each time while at the same time get less along with poorer quality. It really makes me sad because I love WDW so much.

[Main Street Jim]

Riding the ToT. I guess they decided to open the second shaft and were short of costumed CM's. So they had non-costumed CM "escorting guests" into the elevator! He had on khaki slacks, a white shirt, blue jacket and his oval name tag.

This was more than likely a guest service manager. Since they "just opened the second shaft", I'm guessing that guest volume was higher than what was predicted, and yes, they were probably short on Cast until they could call and get some more CM's to come in.

Finally, I am not sure I will hold this against Disney, but I will mention it anyway. My wife and BIL/SIL were having dinner at the California Grill Friday night. My birthday was Sunday. I didn't have a CLUE that my wife planned a birthday surprise with a cake. Seriously, I had no clue.

When we were checking, I went to wash my hands and my wife was was excited because she was able to finalize the details. Well, as I came out of the restroom, the man showing us to our table asked me, "How old are you today?"

I was confused. I didn't understand why he asked me the question. Then he said, "I guess you aren't the one having a birthday today?"

You should have seen my wife's face! She said something to the effect of "So much for a surprise" and we we're escorted to our table with nary an apology.

I wouldn't hold this against any of the Disney CM's. I'm going to guess that your wife, when making the reservation, probably told the receptionist that it was a birthday dinner, but...failed to mention that it was going to be a "surprise" <?>. I'm not so sure that Disney CM's would have needed to "apologize" for something they may not have known was going to be a surprise. (They knew it was a birthday, but not a "surprise").

(OK, after reading again, I guess they shouldn't have made that comment - "Oh, so you're NOT having a birthday today?" I know I sure wouldn't have. On the other hand, if it *was* your birthday, and someone asks you "how old are you?", I think I would have played it off and commented something like "Young enough to be celebrating at Disney World!" If someone asks you "How old are you?", and it's *near* your birthday, I'm not understanding why you would have been confused<?>. I guess that's where *I'm* confused.)