We were not rewarded any dreams in fact, in 6 days I saw maybe 6 or 7 dream fastpasses around people's necks, 3 or 4 ears and exactly 2 dream cast members, one walking into town hall and the other talking to other cast members by Everest. We received much more magic on previous trips including being asked to be in the parade at Animal Kingdom and just dealing with friendly happy cast members going out of there way to make your vaction better. I think it is ironic that on this trip I didn't even see that. The disney magic was very flat for us. Maybe Disney was too busy granting dreams for everyone else, they felt they didn't need to take care of us.
For example, after deciding to forgo fastpasses for Kali River rapids, we instead joined the posted 5 minute standby line only to get to the front of the line 45 minutes later just as the ride closed for technical difficulties. Now, I know, Disney can't control the posted wait times or the rides going down, but I was shocked that they didn't give out fastpasses to everyone who waiting in the line. That has always been the case when attractions go down (especially Test Track). We did not make a stink but there were some pretty tricked off people. In my opinion, the Cast Members did a terrible job handling the irate customers only saying there is nothing they could do. There is always SOMETHING that can be done and sometimes you gotta throw a bone. The fastpass thing would be an easy fix, I mean isn't that the point of fastpass, to hold your place in line??
Anyway, we of course had a great time at Disney, but we experienced a heck of lot more "magic" during the second part of our trip which was three nights at Royal Pacific at Universal. It was our first trip to Universal and I hate to say it, but we had a better time there. I guess the Universal Team Members don't need a stupid promotion to provide great experiences for their guests...
What a heart-felt post, sorry your trip didn't turn out the way you had hoped
Our recent trip, split between WDW & U, was our most magical ever. We experienced a few bumps @ Disney - Splash Mt. down 1st thing in the morning & no fast passes either...CM said he didn't have any & couldn't find any
Being the pit bull my DH sez I become...I corraled a "more seasoned CM" maintenance man
Hi Lamar. He went the extra mile, walked to the nearby gift shop & handwrote a FP for us.
Behind schedule, walked over to BTM & received our 2nd set of YOAMD FP.
told the CM who said we should by FL lottery tix, we did & won, left it for mousekeeping as a tip.
My point -my individual experience was satisfying, another's could be totally different; especially when compared to a prior trip or glowing reports read here.
I agree 100% on FP distribution when the lines are down. BTW, some fool pulled the fire alarm @ U's Poseiden ride & the poor folks didn't get FPs either...i would've freaked if we didn't have FOTL.
I am thankful we are able to visit Disney often, not sure if familiarity breeds contempt or you just have a certain point of reference to compare visits after the initial pixie dust has disapaited.
Disney is very expensive, yet we don't regret paying the big bucks because we've always received top value. We're DVC & Disney stockholders, certainly respect the bottom line, just do agree that things have changed over the last 5 years:
*Dining plan has "dumbed down" the menus & made it nearly impossible to get an ADR unless you book months ahead of time, add to it the change next year of no tip/appetizer...why not just increase the price and be honest about it?
*Last Oct. we had an unfortunate incident wherein the mgr @ the BCV dropped the ball on correcting a roach infestation in a timely manner
; corporate offices say he was severely reprimanded and it will never happen again.
we won't stay there again, yet have had all excellent experiences elsewhere on site.
On the flip side we had issues @ RPR that weren't resolved @ checkin, they comped us a furture night when I wrote the GM
IMO, good customer service is based upon listening and validating the customer's concerns. If the problem cannot be solved to the guest's satisfaction, CMs should IMMEDIATELY refer the guest to mgmt for resolution or at least 'professional damage control'.