DIT's Very Merry Princess Petting Party

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

Thanks for taking the time to write out a trip report, even if you didn't intend to.  I am glad you overall had a good time.  Sorry about the sour notes that marred your vacation.

 

Overall, this TR left me excited for my upcoming trip to WDW, and wishing I was going to see the DIT gang at GG sometime soon.

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Thanks for the trip report and the conclusion to sum everything up.

 

You make some great points about WDW.

 

We try to branch out and do other vacations but we are always drawn back to WDW for those reasons you listed.  There is no other place where you do that many different things so easily and with kids.

 

As much as we like other vacations WDW is super family friendly for kids of any age and even with all the headaches of planning a WDW vacation these days it is nice to know what to expect while on vacation.  We know all the areas and restaurants and can a variety of entertainment pretty easily, that can't be said for most vacations. 

 

Having said all of that, the crowds and price are causing our trips to be less frequent.

 

WBI

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

Great report!! As I said before, love the motorhome and wish you much luck with it. Hope to get one myself one day.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

[dieseldave 5]

For not having any intention to write a trip report this turned out awesome!  Thanks for sharing!

[dvccamper 32]

So we've come to the end of the report and still have no idea what could have happened to sour you so badly. How strange. Sorry, wrong trip report.

But seriously I have enjoyed reading along, you made me laugh out loud more than once. I'm not positive of your dates but I think we had just missed you as we were at the Fort January 3rd.

Thank you for sharing, I hope it helped you to focus on all the nice moments you had with your family, which certainly looked like you had many.

[lightbikes 73]

Final Thoughts

 

Well, we've reached the end.  

 

2 full weeks at the Fort, including Christmas and New Years.  

 

5 park days.

 

Countless enjoyable meals.  

 

Lots and lots of character interaction, including some good touchy-feely time with Princesses.  

 

AWESOME Fiend time, including a GG with new and old friends, and sharing a loop with the Dawg Fans.  

 

A DIT family reunion at the Fort.

 

A brand spankin' new motorhome.

 

A fun, special meal at Trails End.

 

We surprised the girls with New Years Eve at the HDDR.

 

Super treatment from cast members toward Anna, including some "re-rides" on the Mine Train.

 

Date night with my beautiful wife at California Grill.  

 

Yep....this trip really sucked monkey butt!   :rofl2:

 

So let's get real....we had a very good trip.  Not perfect, of course,  because what IS perfect?  But it was great.  

 

Yes, it ended on a very sour note.  One that made us truly not want to return to the parks for a while.  I do think Disney has screwed up some things terribly.  I'll address all of that separately.  I know I've dragged it all out for months now....not intentionally, it just worked out that way as it naturally would have come at the end of this report as it happened on the last evening.  And I became conflicted on whether to share it at all.  But I will.  

 

So where do I stand on the whole Disney thing now?  

 

I still love Disney.  

 

And I also hate Disney.  

 

They do so many things right.  But at the same time they are NOT the company they used to be.  Management makes SO MANY boneheaded decisions.  I seriously shake my head at some of them.  And I think some of those decisions are terribly unfortunate.  But there is still no place on the planet that compares to WDW.  There is no place that offers everything that is offered at WDW on one property.  Where you can park your car and never drive it again for 2 weeks if you don't care to, and visit different theme parks, multiple hotel resorts, water parks, countless dining and nightlife options, and shopping, all connected by transportation.  Nothing compares.  Which is why it's heartbreaking when you see the STUPID decisions that current management makes at times.  

 

So I'd say I have a love/hate relationship with the place.  

 

My family is kind of over it for a while.  We are going to spend our dollars elsewhere this year.  We'll still have lots of fun, and we'll see new places.  Nothing wrong with that.  I know we'll be back at the World someday.  I have no doubt about that.  And we are planning another Disney Cruise later this year.  But for now....as far as WDW is concerned, we are done.  

 

And so is this report.  

 

Thanks for reading!  

 

 

Wonderful trip report and I loved the title you finally settled on.

 

And I think you nailed our current feelings about the place precisely with your comment above -

 

"They do so many things right.  But at the same time they are NOT the company they used to be.  Management makes SO MANY boneheaded decisions.  I seriously shake my head at some of them.  And I think some of those decisions are terribly unfortunate.  But there is still no place on the planet that compares to WDW.  There is no place that offers everything that is offered at WDW on one property.  Where you can park your car and never drive it again for 2 weeks if you don't care to, and visit different theme parks, multiple hotel resorts, water parks, countless dining and nightlife options, and shopping, all connected by transportation.  Nothing compares.  Which is why it's heartbreaking when you see the STUPID decisions that current management makes at times.  

 

So I'd say I have a love/hate relationship with the place."

 

That's us love it/hate it - don't know what to do with that!!!!

 

Thanks again

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

As always, I enjoyed your report! That was a great ending. It was good to finally meet your family in person and hope we camp together soon. 

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Another Great TR Dave.  Excellent job!

 

I would like to hear about your last night, even if it's in a PM or email if you're not comfortable posting it here.

[jmaul 65]

Nice job with the Non-TR.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Another Great TR Dave.  Excellent job!

 

I would like to hear about your last night, even if it's in a PM or email if you're not comfortable posting it here.

 

Oh no you don't.

 

We were promised F-Bombs, and we all need to hear about them.

 

And the Mouse Turds too.

 

Or, I will write the management and request a gift card.  And it's going to come out of DIT's TR royalties.

 

TCD

[Mrs.TN22 12]

I really enjoyed reading about your trip!  Thanks for the report/non-report :)

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Thank you for writing a TR!  But I still want to know what happened that last night.

[diane+ not THAT monte 7]

What Gwen said .

 

 

 

      NTM

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I'm glad to see that writing this trip report helped you to see things in their proper perspective.

 

Now, let's hear about that event on the last night that almost ruined everything.

 

TCD

 

Thanks for reading....and you've now read about that evening.  Hope it was as exciting as you expected.  :D

 

Bravo!!!

Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks Ray!

 

Thanks for taking the time to write out a trip report, even if you didn't intend to.  I am glad you overall had a good time.  Sorry about the sour notes that marred your vacation.

 

Overall, this TR left me excited for my upcoming trip to WDW, and wishing I was going to see the DIT gang at GG sometime soon.

 

Wish we were going to see your gang again too!

 

Thanks for the trip report and the conclusion to sum everything up.

 

You make some great points about WDW.

 

We try to branch out and do other vacations but we are always drawn back to WDW for those reasons you listed.  There is no other place where you do that many different things so easily and with kids.

 

As much as we like other vacations WDW is super family friendly for kids of any age and even with all the headaches of planning a WDW vacation these days it is nice to know what to expect while on vacation.  We know all the areas and restaurants and can a variety of entertainment pretty easily, that can't be said for most vacations. 

 

Having said all of that, the crowds and price are causing our trips to be less frequent.

 

WBI

 

Yep...the crowds and the prices are tough to deal with.  And the sad part is....they don't seem to have found their max price level yet, or else the crowds would be diminished!  It can get worse.  

 

Great report!! As I said before, love the motorhome and wish you much luck with it. Hope to get one myself one day.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

 

thanks Norm!  I hope you get that motorhome too.

 

For not having any intention to write a trip report this turned out awesome!  Thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

So we've come to the end of the report and still have no idea what could have happened to sour you so badly. How strange. Sorry, wrong trip report.

But seriously I have enjoyed reading along, you made me laugh out loud more than once. I'm not positive of your dates but I think we had just missed you as we were at the Fort January 3rd.

Thank you for sharing, I hope it helped you to focus on all the nice moments you had with your family, which certainly looked like you had many.

 

Oh man, just missed each other!  

 

Glad you read the report!  

 

Wonderful trip report and I loved the title you finally settled on.

 

And I think you nailed our current feelings about the place precisely with your comment above -

 

"They do so many things right.  But at the same time they are NOT the company they used to be.  Management makes SO MANY boneheaded decisions.  I seriously shake my head at some of them.  And I think some of those decisions are terribly unfortunate.  But there is still no place on the planet that compares to WDW.  There is no place that offers everything that is offered at WDW on one property.  Where you can park your car and never drive it again for 2 weeks if you don't care to, and visit different theme parks, multiple hotel resorts, water parks, countless dining and nightlife options, and shopping, all connected by transportation.  Nothing compares.  Which is why it's heartbreaking when you see the STUPID decisions that current management makes at times.  

 

So I'd say I have a love/hate relationship with the place."

 

That's us love it/hate it - don't know what to do with that!!!!

 

Thanks again

 

Yep....I love the Mouse.  And I hate the Mouse.  LOL.  

 

As always, I enjoyed your report! That was a great ending. It was good to finally meet your family in person and hope we camp together soon. 

 

Hopefully soon....

 

Another Great TR Dave.  Excellent job!

 

I would like to hear about your last night, even if it's in a PM or email if you're not comfortable posting it here.

 

Thanks Aaron!  Glad you read the report. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Nice job with the Non-TR.

 

Thanks!

 

Oh no you don't.

 

We were promised F-Bombs, and we all need to hear about them.

 

And the Mouse Turds too.

 

Or, I will write the management and request a gift card.  And it's going to come out of DIT's TR royalties.

 

TCD

 

You got your mouse turds.  Hope you enjoyed them.  No need to complain to the management.  

 

I really enjoyed reading about your trip!  Thanks for the report/non-report :)

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Thank you for writing a TR!  But I still want to know what happened that last night.

 

You got it.  

 

What Gwen said .

 

 

 

      NTM

 

There is a thread covering that now.  

[Beckers 1,136]

Thanks for writing this Dave!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

For not having any intention to write a trip report this turned out awesome!  Thanks for sharing!

 

This exactly! 

 

[lklasing 16]

Really, really great report!  Looking forward to seeing/camping with y'all again soon!

[we3peas 12]

Thanks!

 

 

You got your mouse turds.  Hope you enjoyed them.  No need to complain to the management.  

 

 

Thank you for reading!

 

 

You got it.  

 

 

There is a thread covering that now.  

Where is it? I can't find it....

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Where is it? I can't find it....

 

http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/15414-the-reason-for-the-f-bombs/

[FW Rendezvous 5]

I HAVE to confess, and be transparent to the Fiends.

 

It was THIS topic by DaveInTN that inspired me to actually join the forum.

I just HAD to discover what the mouse turds really were.   

Now that I've read about it, I can truly sympathize with Dave & his family, and what went down on that final evening.

As a former Main St. Ops CM, I can see where CM training in dealing with crowd control is on occasion, compromised to a group of part-time CMs who just happened to be working that evening shift.  

Their lack of real attention to correcting the issues is pretty sad.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I HAVE to confess, and be transparent to the Fiends.

 

It was THIS topic by DaveInTN that inspired me to actually join the forum.

I just HAD to discover what the mouse turds really were.   

Now that I've read about it, I can truly sympathize with Dave & his family, and what went down on that final evening.

As a former Main St. Ops CM, I can see where CM training in dealing with crowd control is on occasion, compromised to a group of part-time CMs who just happened to be working that evening shift.  

Their lack of real attention to correcting the issues is pretty sad.

 

That's what I call a silver lining!  

 

Welcome!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

As a former Main St. Ops CM, I can see where CM training in dealing with crowd control is on occasion, compromised to a group of part-time CMs who just happened to be working that evening shift.  

 

I am not sure how long it's been since you've been a CM, but the delegation of PAC (Parade Area Control) shifts to untrained DCP CM's was not an occasional occurrence this past holiday season.  It was the norm.  The CM's working PAC in the evenings during the Christmas holiday were DCP kids pulled in from custodial, housekeeping, quick serve food and beverage, and other roles, with no training or understanding of how to address the first of Disney's Four Keys-SAFETY. 

 

That falls right at the feet of management.  The fact that they were uncaring and unresponsive to DIT's efforts to call this to their attention tells us all we need to know.

 

TCD

[FW Rendezvous 5]

Sadly, that is and was the case regarding the evening PAC duties.

My time as a CM was in 2005 and my shifts as PAC were always during the afternoon parades, and I never enjoyed that part of the MSO position. Fortunately after the afternoon parades, people disperse in all directions rather than forced down Main St..

Even back then, CM training was sometimes spotty, and PAC training for me was more like "here, shadow this DCP and maybe you'll pick up on stuff." For example, which specific barrier rope goes to which stanchions in what location.

What to say to guests when they stand off the curb, etc.

As a matter of fact, the actual manager assigned to me (a weekend CM) didn't even work weekends. I heard that he was a great guy.

I was these types of experiences that had me re-evaluating my short tenure there.

 

The management really need to understand that safety involves way more than just "keeping your hands & feet inside the ride at all times". That mob scene sounds terribly frightening to a grownup, let alone young children.