Is the service REALLY declining? Where's the proof?

markyv;2485906 wrote: Three words describe the issue for our family. Fast Pass Plus. Disney vacations used to be magical when you could go there, wake up in the morning and decide what park you were going to and what restaurant you wanted reservations for. Those days are gone and so is the stress free vacation. Disney wants more money for less value and less attractions than is required for the size crowds that they are accepting. Fast Pass Plus is their attempt to route guests more efficiently in order to not have to add attractions, and I am sorry but a Frozen sing along is not an attraction. I am very turned off to WDW right now, and honestly don't plan on returning for a while.

But is that service? I don't think it is. Value, yes. Declining value I absolutely agree is an issue. But it's the argument that I hear people making about how the service isn't as good as it used to be that makes me mad.

I know there's a lot of grief about Fastpass Plus. Yes, things are different. We live in a different world. Your experience is diminished, you may feel, but others feel it has been enhanced. It's an arguable difference. And when people are unhappy, they tend to accuse Disney (in business to make money, even when Walt was in charge) of doing it all to make money while providing less value and trying to route guests without having to add new attractions. It couldn't possibly be their idea of providing a better guest experience (thus again, helping them make more money). With the new system, they can see where guests want to spend their time, which attractions are more/less popular, which will have less wait time, maybe help you find something new you haven't experienced, and figure out which new attractions to add (and they are adding, always). They know where we are spending money and time thus where to staff more heavily to counter crowds. It not all always to pull a fast one on the paying guest. They know they make more money when we are happy and spending money. It's not hard to see the results as far as it benefits them, especially now that guests can be tracked and monitored. If they were disappointing guests in great numbers and making less money, things would change fast.

I honestly do like the new Fastpass Plus and Magic Bands. It took me some time to get used to, yes. But I've always been a planner and I much prefer getting what I want without having to run to the attractions to get fast passes (get to that park early in case they run out!) and return later to ride. This last trip, I spent more time relaxed, knowing what my day would be like, and less time sweating the small stuff. And my family? They had no idea the planning I went through to make it all seem easy for them. Fortunately, they trusted my vision and went along. If you're not an advance planner, yeah, it's not ideal. But Disney trips have taken some planning since my first trip in 81.

Is the new system perfect? No. It needs some tweaks. I would like to be able to get more Fastpasses without going to a kiosk in the park and maybe make some Fastpasses for two parks at one time. And be less limited in my choices. Was the old system perfect? No. Standing in lines to put everyone's ticket into the FP machine and hope they all came out okay. Visiting each big attraction twice, one to get the FP and one to return to ride. Getting to parks early if you wanted certain FPs to make sure they didn't run out. And then as now, we had people complaining that Disney just wanted our money, wanted to provide less value for our money, and they weren't building new attractions fast enough.

I do think a lot of this is in the eye of the beholder and what each of us personally consider to be poor service. I can say I fall into the category that I don't think Disney has fallen from grace regarding putting their best customer service front and forward.
Each time we have been there I feel like we have been well taken cared of with the Disney staff from getting on the Magical Express to checking in to being at the parks.
I respect each person's opinion regarding the status of poor service. I don't think any of us are happy with increasing prices or a change in operations regarding fast pass or other items that change over the years but not much we a visitors can do about it other than enjoy it while you are there.
My two cents for the day also................

DH and I have been going at least yearly, if not twice a year, since 1996. I have to admit, I think service has actually improved over the past 5 years! We've found CM's to be friendlier, more open to conversation, incredibly helpful, and just full of magic! We've been very impressed with the service we've received at WDW.

Now, value? Well, value for what you pay has declined... in certain areas, not all. For example, MNSSHP is just too expensive for what we find we get anymore. I'm not paying over $200 for the two of us to go to the same party they've had for years. I don't really care about missing the Sanderson Sisters... I watched the vid online. The parade is the same, I can see the fireworks from the resorts and I can live without the cookies and hot chocolate.

We still love the dining at WDW because we are always thrilled with our signature restaurants, and still manage to be surprised at how some meals are really above and beyond what we were expecting. It's expensive, but we find with our TiW discount, it's quite acceptable.

I think it's natural to expect better (or at least maintained) service with higher prices factored in.
Even back in the day, if something didn't go exactly right... service wise, you were compensated somehow; free desert. free ticket... something!

SBETigg;2485953 wrote:
Is the new system perfect? No. It needs some tweaks. I would like to be able to get more Fastpasses without going to a kiosk in the park and maybe make some Fastpasses for two parks at one time. And be less limited in my choices. Was the old system perfect? No. Standing in lines to put everyone's ticket into the FP machine and hope they all came out okay.

I agree...the system is not perfect, but I don't dislike it quite as much as I anticipated disliking it before our first trip with the new system.

Just wanted to note that this past trip in April, we discovered that some changes had been made. We were able to book our additional FP+ from my phone when we were in the parks. Which was nice some evenings when we were able to make a FP+ for something for 20-30 minutes later, go get a ride in and then go back for our FP+. We also discovered that as long as we used our initial 3 FP+ reservations in whatever park we started our day at, we were able to make our additional ones (still one at a time) in whatever park we ended up in that evening.

The official line on the Disney site now is : "Use the First 3, Then Get More
Once you redeem your initial set of FastPass+ selections (or the last arrival window has passed), you can make another FastPass+ selection for the same day at an in-park kiosk or using your mobile device, up to park closing. After you redeem the additional FastPass+ pick, you can return to a kiosk to make more selections (one at a time).

If your ticket includes a Park Hopper Option, after you use your initial FastPass+ selections at the first park, you’ll be able to make additional FastPass+ selections (one at a time) at the second park you visit that day, up to park closing. Just visit a kiosk or using your mobile device to make the additional selections."

I honestly feel like each person's experience and perception is going to be the basis for their experience. We've had bad experiences in the past but this past trip was near perfect. We consider ourselves lucky to have such an amazing trip. WDW is amazing and all but they can only do so much because we still live in the real world. Yes they train their employees to a certain degree but they are not responsible for every individual reaction or word that comes out of their mouths. CM also have to bear the brunt of unhappy people who may be unhappy just because they chose so. For example a visitor was mad at a CM at writers stop bc he 'didn't like the set up they had' and he was quite rude to them and treated them like it was their fault. Like yeah maybe things are a little different but that person acted like a child and created a less than savory environment for the people around him. It's a store at a theme park, dude. You are so lucky you get to even go to a theme park. Enjoy what is around you and live up the magic and create it for yourself because its a mindset. And if you don't think that a store in a theme park is worth your money then don't pay the money for the theme park and don't come back.

I don't think the service has suffered, as a whole. However, in my opinion, that is not enough to offset the nickel-and-dime mentality that Disney has adopted through the years. Memorable experiences that used to be a part of regular admission are now a separate charge (if you choose to do so). Perhaps the added cost and extra planning leads to increased expectations on the guest part, as far as service. I don't think that's hard to understand; when so much time and money is invested in a vacation you expect it to knock your socks off. If it's a mindset, it's one that Disney has cultivated, IMO.

FP + is the pits if you don't have a smart phone. We spent a lot of time going from kiosk to kiosk. I thought even the QS food prices were ridiculous. The food wasn't that great. The bus waits at night were awful.

mandaep;2486067 wrote: I honestly feel like each person's experience and perception is going to be the basis for their experience. We've had bad experiences in the past but this past trip was near perfect. We consider ourselves lucky to have such an amazing trip. WDW is amazing and all but they can only do so much because we still live in the real world. Yes they train their employees to a certain degree but they are not responsible for every individual reaction or word that comes out of their mouths. CM also have to bear the brunt of unhappy people who may be unhappy just because they chose so. For example a visitor was mad at a CM at writers stop bc he 'didn't like the set up they had' and he was quite rude to them and treated them like it was their fault. Like yeah maybe things are a little different but that person acted like a child and created a less than savory environment for the people around him. It's a store at a theme park, dude. You are so lucky you get to even go to a theme park. Enjoy what is around you and live up the magic and create it for yourself because its a mindset. And if you don't think that a store in a theme park is worth your money then don't pay the money for the theme park and don't come back.

I could not agree with more. I've been to Disneyland several times as a child. And I've been going to WDW since 1999, so 16 years now. We have been AP holders that whole time. We go at least monthly if not more.
I haven't noticed a decline in magic or service. Have things changed? Of course, that's the one sure thing in life. Do I miss some of the old stuff? Of course. But I also love the new stuff.
I go into it with the mindset as an escape from reality and submerse myself in the magic.
I have been going since before I was married with children. And my children have been going since they were less than a month old.
And especially for my special needs son the CM always make it so magical for him.

I think for us, even now WDW means so much more. My son [like many of you know has ASD/SPD/Anxiety, and he also had ITP and is currently undergoing chemo]. Due to his health, so many doctor appointments, another personal things, I had to begin staying home and I am also homeschooling him.
So we are once again a single income household. My husband is an ESE teacher.
We had to make cuts and sacrifices and one of them was our AP passes [well for me and the boys, my DH hates Disney [for shame! LOL] ]
And I miss it so much, my boys miss it so much. So in the grand scheme of things for myself and my family. There are just more important things to worry about than "why did they change this or do that."
I'd give anything to be able to give my sons that magic back, but it is what it is.

Overall, I would contend that service has not declined over the years. There still are great people working at Disney as there were decades ago when we first starting going. And there are still the rare negative "less-than-Disney" type cast members, as there were decades ago when we started going!

Every trip we start out planning, hoping for that perfect trip. Sometimes we come close. Sometimes we don't. But I think sometimes the things that make it less than perfect are actually out of Disney's control - the flight down is delayed or the rental car is messed up or the weather isn't ideal or something has us distracted back home. But we still love the Disney resorts, parks, restaurants, shops,.... and a very large majority of the Disney cast members. We find those cast members still try to make our stay as magical as possible. And with the craziness of the real world so much of the year, we still seek out the special feeling we get vacationing with Mickey and friends!

I haven't been in quite some time however I was discussing this with several people yesterday that travel often - we believe the service is not declining but perhaps has reached a more stressed point. More people & the same number if not fewer CMs being stretched & therefore stressed out perhaps coming off as service declining. I think the lovely conversations & loads of time CMs once had to actually interact with guests is a thing of the past and if not it is definitely becoming more of a rarity.

Good point about value vs. service. Value decreasing doesn't automatically equate to service decreasing. And, the "making it right" attitude is still there in our experience. After our last two trips there were things that didn't go smoothly that I offered suggestions on in surveys. They weren't even complaints, and each time they were one small part of what was otherwise overwhelmingly positive feedback. Both times someone from Disney called us and insisted on offering us something to make it up to us.

I can't really point to any ways that the service in Disney has suffered over the years, but I CAN tell you that the quality of what I see has suffered. We've visited many, many times in the last 20 or so years and I've watched the little things I loved about the place gradually disappear. Back when we first started visiting, one would be hard pressed to find a piece of trash in a queue line or public area. By comparison, during our last few trips especially, I was appalled by the messes I saw almost everywhere. Gum, water bottles, maps, food trash, even dirty diapers in the Big Thunder Mountain queue line AND thrown over onto the scenic portions of the ride itself? Wow. How about the really annoying array of hair elastics left on Expedition Everest right at the point where we see that the tracks have been broken and we're about to plummet backwards? To me, this is inexcusable. Theming and attention to detail are what Disney was known for and, for people like us who notice these things, appreciate these things, and love these things, it's upsetting to see them fade away into our memory of what Disney used to be like.

Also, I know that many aren't thrilled with Fastpass Plus (personally, I don't like it, but I'm giving it a chance), I honestly believe that everything started changing for the worst when Disney implemented the Dining Plan. Food before the dining plan was fun and we looked forward to having our favorite treats during each trip. It was part of the anticipation. Now? TERRIBLE quick service food adds nothing to our trip. We simply eat because we have to, and that's it.

But, I love Disney World. Always will. We roll with what changes and see the magic where we can. There's still plenty of magic at the happiest place on Earth.

We had a good time, but things could be better. Why are some people such slobs? There are trash cans everywhere. The one Fantasmic per night was a disaster. FP+ is the pits without a phone. The food court was out of an item for 2 days. The hotel had a foul odor. Several rides had issues.