A frustrating weekend with the mouse

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I've been told that the Kiosk at MK is only for the boats and that I got lucky since a manager is normally not there. Also the other Kiosks are no longer staffed on a regular basis. It was also mentioned that if you know a CM (If one was still posting that would be nice) :) trans managers E mail addresses are available.

 

Aren't you going on a cruise with one soon?

 

Twist his arm, and tell him he's missed here.

 

TCD

[Cyclonic 55]

 

And Dave for the WIN!

[Starbuc71 162]

I meant to ask about this.  Did you bid on a WDW room on Priceline?

 

I assume you went through Priceline for some kind of savings.  Is there some kind of deal available through that site?

 

TCD

I actually use Trivago all the time now and they pull the cheapest room from numerous websites. Priceline had the cheapest for POP at $115 a night without bidding. That was almost $25 cheaper than a FL discount on Disney website

[Starbuc71 162]

Time for #3. Peco "Gastopo" Bills.

Back in the day, we would always eat at Peco bills for lunch or dinner. About two trips ago we noticed a change there. There was now a butt load of CM now patrolling all entrances, cashiers, condiment stations and the condiment bar and last but not least the rest rooms. Sunday, we had fast passes for BTMRR. As soon as we got there, my son said,"dad, I gave to go pee pee real bad". I asked if he could hold it and he said he couldn't and didn't know if he could make it to the rest room. I quickly grabbed his hand and headed to the closest rest room which was located below the train depot in frontierland. Of course when we got through the thick crowds and got to the rest room, we were greeted by a CM stating ,"sorry, but these rest rooms are closed. The closest one would be in peco bills". Angerly we ran back through the crowds and made it to peco bills. We went to one of the smaller side doors and got stopped by CM #1. She said are you eating here? I said no, the cm at the closed rest rooms said we could come here and use them. She responded that they were for eating customers only and that we needed to go to the rest rooms by the diamond horseshoe. Now I was pissed. I looked at her and said" my son is going to PISS his pants, please let us in. She then said, sorry please use the one by diamond horse shoe. I was mad and told her off. Next we went to the main door and ran into cm #2. He stopped us and said" are you eating here". I said you have to be kidding me. I said my poor son is going to pee his pants PLEASE. he was nice and said go right ahead. Next was CM #3 who stopped us walking past the condiment bar and asked if I needed a table. I ignored him and kept moving. Now it was cm #4 who stopped me right in front of the bathrooms and asked if I was eating here. I said some less pleasant words and pushed through. At last my son made it to the urinal. The last part of this story was we left through the small side door where we had a run in with CM #1. She looked at me with a mad look on her face and I laughed right in it. What is the deal with peco bills?

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Time for #3. Peco "Gastopo" Bills.

Back in the day, we would always eat at Peco bills for lunch or dinner. About two trips ago we noticed a change there. There was now a butt load of CM now patrolling all entrances, cashiers, condiment stations and the condiment bar and last but not least the rest rooms. Sunday, we had fast passes for BTMRR. As soon as we got there, my son said,"dad, I gave to go pee pee real bad". I asked if he could hold it and he said he couldn't and didn't know if he could make it to the rest room. I quickly grabbed his hand and headed to the closest rest room which was located below the train depot in frontierland. Of course when we got through the thick crowds and got to the rest room, we were greeted by a CM stating ,"sorry, but these rest rooms are closed. The closest one would be in peco bills". Angerly we ran back through the crowds and made it to peco bills. We went to one of the smaller side doors and got stopped by CM #1. She said are you eating here? I said no, the cm at the closed rest rooms said we could come here and use them. She responded that they were for eating customers only and that we needed to go to the rest rooms by the diamond horseshoe. Now I was pissed. I looked at her and said" my son is going to PISS his pants, please let us in. She then said, sorry please use the one by diamond horse shoe. I was mad and told her off. Next we went to the main door and ran into cm #2. He stopped us and said" are you eating here". I said you have to be kidding me. I said my poor son is going to pee his pants PLEASE. he was nice and said go right ahead. Next was CM #3 who stopped us walking past the condiment bar and asked if I needed a table. I ignored him and kept moving. Now it was cm #4 who stopped me right in front of the bathrooms and asked if I was eating here. I said some less pleasant words and pushed through. At last my son made it to the urinal. The last part of this story was we left through the small side door where we had a run in with CM #1. She looked at me with a mad look on her face and I laughed right in it. What is the deal with peco bills?

 

And that is something we saw too many times on this trip....getting conflicting information or directions from different CM's.  The training and management of CM's appears to have gone terribly down hill.  If the CM's at Pecos Bills have been instructed, for some ridiculous reason, to only allow dining guests to use the restrooms, they should have informed the CM's working near the CLOSED restroom nearby not to send all the guests to the Pecos Bill restrooms!  

 

:banghead:

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

If the CM's at Pecos Bills have been instructed, for some ridiculous reason, to only allow dining guests to use the restrooms, they should have informed the CM's working near the CLOSED restroom nearby not to send all the guests to the Pecos Bill!  

 

:banghead:

How stupid is that. Only dining guest can use the restroom. It's a CS restaurant.

"Sir are you riding Pirates of the Caribbean? No! Sorry you can't use this restroom. You'll have to go to the restroom by the ride you are going on. This one is for guest riding POTC only."

" they should have informed the CM's working near the CLOSED restroom nearby not to send all the guests to the Pecos Bill! "

This would require "giving a darn". And proper training. And that doesn't seem to be happening anymore.

[Retired and Happy (Ken) 101]

I'm sure Walt to spinning in his freezer jar over the lack of service now being offered.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Time for #3. Peco "Gastopo" Bills.

Back in the day, we would always eat at Peco bills for lunch or dinner. About two trips ago we noticed a change there. There was now a butt load of CM now patrolling all entrances, cashiers, condiment stations and the condiment bar and last but not least the rest rooms. Sunday, we had fast passes for BTMRR. As soon as we got there, my son said,"dad, I gave to go pee pee real bad". I asked if he could hold it and he said he couldn't and didn't know if he could make it to the rest room. I quickly grabbed his hand and headed to the closest rest room which was located below the train depot in frontierland. Of course when we got through the thick crowds and got to the rest room, we were greeted by a CM stating ,"sorry, but these rest rooms are closed. The closest one would be in peco bills". Angerly we ran back through the crowds and made it to peco bills. We went to one of the smaller side doors and got stopped by CM #1. She said are you eating here? I said no, the cm at the closed rest rooms said we could come here and use them. She responded that they were for eating customers only and that we needed to go to the rest rooms by the diamond horseshoe. Now I was pissed. I looked at her and said" my son is going to PISS his pants, please let us in. She then said, sorry please use the one by diamond horse shoe. I was mad and told her off. Next we went to the main door and ran into cm #2. He stopped us and said" are you eating here". I said you have to be kidding me. I said my poor son is going to pee his pants PLEASE. he was nice and said go right ahead. Next was CM #3 who stopped us walking past the condiment bar and asked if I needed a table. I ignored him and kept moving. Now it was cm #4 who stopped me right in front of the bathrooms and asked if I was eating here. I said some less pleasant words and pushed through. At last my son made it to the urinal. The last part of this story was we left through the small side door where we had a run in with CM #1. She looked at me with a mad look on her face and I laughed right in it. What is the deal with peco bills?

This has actually been going on at the big CS restaurants for a while at busy mealtimes, in order to keep folks from "saving" tables while someone is in line and to keep the restaurant at fire code capacity or less they have turned them into one way in, one way out, etc. It is the exact same way at Cosmic Ray's, Columbia Harbour House, and Electric Umbrella over at Epcot. The CMs in Pecos Bills were just doing what they were told, but yes, the CM at the restrooms under the train station should have been trained to direct you to a truly "public" restroom.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

This has actually been going on at the big CS restaurants for a while at busy mealtimes, in order to keep folks from "saving" tables while someone is in line and to keep the restaurant at fire code capacity or less they have turned them into one way in, one way out, etc. It is the exact same way at Cosmic Ray's, Columbia Harbour House, and Electric Umbrella over at Epcot. The CMs in Pecos Bills were just doing what they were told, but yes, the CM at the restrooms under the train station should have been trained to direct you to a truly "public" restroom.

That reminded me of what happened this last summer. DW, DD, and I went into cosmic rays and I waited in line to order and DW and DD went to find us a table. When I finally got lunch I saw them Just standing there. They told me the CM wouldn't allow them to sit at a table

Because they had no food and were told that they couldn't save a table. Of course there were no tables available. I asked the CM if they were allowed to save a table we wouldn't be standing here now letting our food get cold. She just looked at me. Luckily a small family had a big table an invited us to sit with them.

I watched lots of families just standing there with trays of food getting cold. And nothing is worse than cold French fries.

This last Christmas I noticed at cosmic rays that there were CM outside the doors only letting a few people at a time go in to even order food. And there must have been at least 100 people outside waiting to get in. And that doesn't include all the people that were inside already waiting to order.

I know the CMs are just doing their job and it's not their fault. It's managements fault for letting so many people into the park.

[Travisma 1,317]

I know the CMs are just doing their job and it's not their fault. It's managements fault for letting so many people into the park.

 

 

BINGO!!  We have a winner!

 

If you can't expand the park/amenities to handle the crowds, then start closing the gates.

 

We couldn't get near any places to eat a week ago Friday at lunch time (as late as 1:30) so we left and walked to the Contemporary.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I know the CMs are just doing their job and it's not their fault. It's managements fault for letting so many people into the park.

 

 

BINGO!!  We have a winner!

 

If you can't expand the park/amenities to handle the crowds, then start closing the gates.

 

We couldn't get near any places to eat a week ago Friday at lunch time (as late as 1:30) so we left and walked to the Contemporary.

 

To further on this comment.....if you can't handle the crowd sizes to avoid nearly crushing someone to death, maybe you should close the gates.  

 

Oh, but it's ok.  They're Disney...they know what they're doing.  

[DaveInTN 3,247]

This has actually been going on at the big CS restaurants for a while at busy mealtimes, in order to keep folks from "saving" tables while someone is in line and to keep the restaurant at fire code capacity or less they have turned them into one way in, one way out, etc. It is the exact same way at Cosmic Ray's, Columbia Harbour House, and Electric Umbrella over at Epcot. The CMs in Pecos Bills were just doing what they were told, but yes, the CM at the restrooms under the train station should have been trained to direct you to a truly "public" restroom.

 

I can understand that....but it sounds like the message given to Dave was ridiculous.  Why not say it is a capacity issue, or something other than "these restrooms are only for guests"?  That just doesn't sound good.  I saw SO MANY examples of poor CM training and leadership on our last trip.  I can't fault the CM's.  But whoever is in charge should be fired.  That park is simply not run the way it used to be.  

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I actually use Trivago all the time now and they pull the cheapest room from numerous websites. Priceline had the cheapest for POP at $115 a night without bidding. That was almost $25 cheaper than a FL discount on Disney website

 

What?

 

Was that for this past weekend?  Presidents' Day weekend?

 

That's nuts- they offer lower rates on a site that they must have to pay some form of commission to instead of offering the lowest rates on their own website?

 

Why in the world would they do that?

 

That's a rhetorical question by the way.

 

It is also worth noting that the price they charged you for a hotel room was less than what the Fort was charging for campsites.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That reminded me of what happened this last summer. DW, DD, and I went into cosmic rays and I waited in line to order and DW and DD went to find us a table. When I finally got lunch I saw them Just standing there. They told me the CM wouldn't allow them to sit at a table

Because they had no food and were told that they couldn't save a table. Of course there were no tables available. I asked the CM if they were allowed to save a table we wouldn't be standing here now letting our food get cold. She just looked at me. Luckily a small family had a big table an invited us to sit with them.

I watched lots of families just standing there with trays of food getting cold. And nothing is worse than cold French fries.

This last Christmas I noticed at cosmic rays that there were CM outside the doors only letting a few people at a time go in to even order food. And there must have been at least 100 people outside waiting to get in. And that doesn't include all the people that were inside already waiting to order.

I know the CMs are just doing their job and it's not their fault. It's managements fault for letting so many people into the park.

 

Another side effect from this policy is that they force entire families to stay together in the queues they have set up for ordering and paying at the quick serve locations.

 

Those are set up with metal rails to corral guests into a line to wait for their orders.  When your order is ready, it's all loaded on to a tray for your convenience.  Then you have the task of trying to navigate your way through the exit lane. In theory, the exit lane is supposed to be clear and you are supposed to just walk through with your tray.  In practice, it's an obstacle course filled primarily with all the kids who would ordinarily be sitting at a table waiting for one of the adults in their party to bring the food.  Those metal rails make very nice monkey bars which those children seem to really enjoy.

 

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

What?

 

Was that for this past weekend?  Presidents' Day weekend?

 

That's nuts- they offer lower rates on a site that they must have to pay some form of commission to instead of offering the lowest rates on their own website?

 

Why in the world would they do that?

 

That's a rhetorical question by the way.

 

It is also worth noting that the price they charged you for a hotel room was less than what the Fort was charging for campsites.

 

TCD

As I had mentioned in a post I had started, we cancelled our Spring Break stay at the fort.

 

With taxes, etc., the partial site was close to $90 a night.

 

We booked the Caribe Royale Suites at the corner of 535/International for $83 a night with taxes/fees.

 

It's not Disney, but we will survive.

 

We only booked 1 night, whereas, we had 4 booked at the Fort, since it doesn't make sense to book 1 or 2 nights at the Fort and deal with all of the setting up and breaking down.

 

We used Hotwire and found a special code that took the original $103 with taxes down to the $83.

[southernview -- Ray 25]

I know the CMs are just doing their job and it's not their fault. It's managements fault for letting so many people into the park.

 

 

BINGO!!  We have a winner!

 

If you can't expand the park/amenities to handle the crowds, then start closing the gates.

 

We couldn't get near any places to eat a week ago Friday at lunch time (as late as 1:30) so we left and walked to the Contemporary.

 

This was a predictable situation from quite sometime ago and this is why I also think that FP+ is also just a means to an end.  Sooner or later the lines for FP will be just like the regular lines always were.  When you have finite space and ever increasing crowds who will be taking advantage of FP, how can it not be?  When the attractions are not increased and everyone is trying to get on the same popular rides it appears to me that the situation can't get any way but worse.

 

Have you ever wondered why the campground is never enlarged?  By Disney standards of building new resorts and the such, it would appear that spending a comparatively small sum to add a few campsites would be chunk change.  Again, we have to look for the money trail which brings us to what was built right out from the entrance to the Fort.  Of course, this is the American way of doing business so who can blame them.  Disney is no longer, if they ever were, primarily interested in building something for family entertainment, rather they are looking at how they can produce the most profit. 

 

I'm sure there will be many that will disagree with me on this and maybe Disney will expand the campground in the near future.  Perhaps they will decide to properly train and supervise their CM's so they can regain the standards they had a few years ago.  I ask myself why they should when those of us that love the place will continue to come anyway and the newer crowds won't know the difference so they will continue to come primarily because it is a "one of a kind" place that can't be duplicated anywhere else.  Disneyland duly acknowledged.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

This was a predictable situation from quite sometime ago and this is why I also think that FP+ is also just a means to an end.  Sooner or later the lines for FP will be just like the regular lines always were.  When you have finite space and ever increasing crowds who will be taking advantage of FP, how can it not be?  When the attractions are not increased and everyone is trying to get on the same popular rides it appears to me that the situation can't get any way but worse.

 

Have you ever wondered why the campground is never enlarged?  By Disney standards of building new resorts and the such, it would appear that spending a comparatively small sum to add a few campsites would be chunk change.  Again, we have to look for the money trail which brings us to what was built right out from the entrance to the Fort.  Of course, this is the American way of doing business so who can blame them.  Disney is no longer, if they ever were, primarily interested in building something for family entertainment, rather they are looking at how they can produce the most profit. 

 

I'm sure there will be many that will disagree with me on this and maybe Disney will expand the campground in the near future.  Perhaps they will decide to properly train and supervise their CM's so they can regain the standards they had a few years ago.  I ask myself why they should when those of us that love the place will continue to come anyway and the newer crowds won't know the difference so they will continue to come primarily because it is a "one of a kind" place that can't be duplicated anywhere else.  Disneyland duly acknowledged.

 

:bellringer:

[red...Susan 37]

Is it lack of training or the general disrespect society has for others. In the past people acted with personal pride. Most no longer care what others think of them.

[Travisma 1,317]

In general nowadays people demand everything to be perfect in their day to day lives, and they don't want to be bothered with details, excuses or logical explanations as to why something didn't go their way

 

Disney Magic hype, their print/TV advertising and mailers, and promises, just make it worse once people drive under those welcoming arches.

 

They were promised Disney Magic, and damn it, they are going to get it no matter how many other people they have to screw over or how many crying kids they have to drag thru the parks!

[Starbuc71 162]

This was a predictable situation from quite sometime ago and this is why I also think that FP+ is also just a means to an end.  Sooner or later the lines for FP will be just like the regular lines always were.  When you have finite space and ever increasing crowds who will be taking advantage of FP, how can it not be?  When the attractions are not increased and everyone is trying to get on the same popular rides it appears to me that the situation can't get any way but worse.

 

Have you ever wondered why the campground is never enlarged?  By Disney standards of building new resorts and the such, it would appear that spending a comparatively small sum to add a few campsites would be chunk change.  Again, we have to look for the money trail which brings us to what was built right out from the entrance to the Fort.  Of course, this is the American way of doing business so who can blame them.  Disney is no longer, if they ever were, primarily interested in building something for family entertainment, rather they are looking at how they can produce the most profit. 

 

I'm sure there will be many that will disagree with me on this and maybe Disney will expand the campground in the near future.  Perhaps they will decide to properly train and supervise their CM's so they can regain the standards they had a few years ago.  I ask myself why they should when those of us that love the place will continue to come anyway and the newer crowds won't know the difference so they will continue to come primarily because it is a "one of a kind" place that can't be duplicated anywhere else.  Disneyland duly acknowledged.

Well stated. It will be interesting how all this fast pass plus thing works out when the parks are getting full and they are paving the way to enlarge the capacity the park can hold. This past weekend was the worse for Fast passes. This was actually going to be my next and final disappointment of the trip. We waited over 40 minutes in the FP line at Space Mountian, 30 minutes at the jungle cruise FP line and a reasonable 15 minutes at BTMR. I guess this really isn't such a big complaint since the other schmucks were waiting in line with standby under a sign that said 200 minutes. Next I could see Disney charging for the FP option like Busch Gardens and Dollywood does. I think with more people in the park,FP will get longer and longer until going to Disney becomes a $105 dollar a day people watching experience vs a park where you can ride the experience

[southernview -- Ray 25]

In general nowadays people demand everything to be perfect in their day to day lives, and they don't want to be bothered with details, excuses or logical explanations as to why something didn't go their way

 

Disney Magic hype, their print/TV advertising and mailers, and promises, just make it worse once people drive under those welcoming arches.

 

They were promised Disney Magic, and damn it, they are going to get it no matter how many other people they have to screw over or how many crying kids they have to drag thru the parks!

 

I cracked up on that last line, but the whole post is very accurate.

[southernview -- Ray 25]

Well stated. It will be interesting how all this fast pass plus thing works out when the parks are getting full and they are paving the way to enlarge the capacity the park can hold. This past weekend was the worse for Fast passes. This was actually going to be my next and final disappointment of the trip. We waited over 40 minutes in the FP line at Space Mountian, 30 minutes at the jungle cruise FP line and a reasonable 15 minutes at BTMR. I guess this really isn't such a big complaint since the other schmucks were waiting in line with standby under a sign that said 200 minutes. Next I could see Disney charging for the FP option like Busch Gardens and Dollywood does. I think with more people in the park,FP will get longer and longer until going to Disney becomes a $105 dollar a day people watching experience vs a park where you can ride the experience

 

That expresses my sentiments very well and I thought it was ironic that the next day after my post I see where Disney is raising the prices again.  You may be more of a prophet than you think with that last line.