Things Disney Keeps Getting Wrong

While I agree that your room should be ready after the check in time (3pm or 4pm), I don't think just because you say you'll be here at 1pm it should be ready. The amount of people checkin in and out each day must be crazy and the mouse keepers need time to get the rooms ready. And if you add late check outs, it could take longer. That being said, I have no experience in the hotel industry so I don't have any idea if that's something easy to coordinate or not.

Although with all the price increases, they could hire more mouse keepers

Ok, I have not watched the video, shame on you for sharing spoilers!!! Oh wait, that's Endgame we are all worried about.

Anywho, without watching this yet, the very first point gets me started, not only Wi-fi in the parks but their entire IT program as a whole. The dreaded "free dining drop" for TAs, tickets and FPs dropping off, system wide interruptions, MDE, you name it, it is awful!

Ok, now I can go watch and add to this

Wifi in the Parks - you know my take on this one already...

Continuous price increases on top of price increases - this is to be expected but it does seem to be out of hand, even has us considering not renewing the APs this year. Even for a short weekend trip, I'm finding it difficult to pin down a decent room rate. And I'm taking more snacks/drinks on even short trips to offset some costs. I would normally just take them on our weeklong trips but not it is over nights or couple day trips.

Corporate communications, and guest feedback channels - Some of my favorite things is having an issue, tweeting a company about it and getting a response from them or even just chatting with someone on a FB post. I had an entire conversation with "Chewy" about Walt on FB that was awesome. Wendys has Twitter in stitches and SW as AJ mentioned is fantastic at it too. COuld you imaging tweeting with Disney? It would be fantastic. I do believe they could become more transparent overall, and it would be to their benefit.

Lack of menu variety at Disney owned restaurants -*slow hand clap* yaaaassssss and get some fresh hamburger meat, I KNOW you can afford it. Burgers are one of my favorite things and at the same time least favorite at the parks (Except for Victoria Falls) I think they stick to the safe side for the kiddos who can be picky but at the same time, they can offer more exciting options for adults. I love the bowls at Satu'li and the options at AK parks and resorts. It wouldn't be difficult to add an option or 2 at other locations. One of our conversations revolved around DCL. Don't get me wrong, I love the cruise line but we have been on 5 cruises in 4 years, every ship has the same restaurants with the same menus. Change it up a bit. Tiana's and Rapunzel's were a breath of fresh air with the variety. But again, it's just like the parks. Kind of bland and boring.

Resort early/late check-out - Only once or twice have we had to wait past 3 and a handful of times we've gotten in before 1, after driving 6 hours we are usually ready to rest a little bit before hitting the parks but it's never been a real issue for us.

Disney Hollywood Studios overall - Cohesive no, fun and exciting meh, Disney yes.... And by Disney I mean as long as I am there, I am happy. JoAnn and I spent a day there on our trip which was the longest I've ever spent in HS and it was enjoyable. Other than that, there are some great lounges. I would love to see the animation stuff come back or let's just change the name, add a little more and move on.

Being late on trends - trends smends... I assume when you are mass producing something you need time? I really don't have much imput on this one but boy, their own Rose Gold trend kicked booty huh???

Homogenization of rides, food, and merchandise - There are a lot of repeats but you can find little things here an there that are land, park, resort specific. Again not only the World Showcase but the AK park and resorts have this down too.

My thoughts....

No company is going to get it exactly right, but I feel most companies have it together more than Disney who is Worldwide and has millions of followers. They have the income and revenue flow to make the changes and make it work. They have the imagineers to implement new ideas, they have the talent to put concept into life, I just honestly feel like they are becoming complacent.

100% this. It is absolutely insane how many issues there are and how it doesn't seem to ever get any better. You are one of the biggest companies in the world Disney but every other major company has seemed to figure out technology. Smack my head.

And corporate communications! Yes! I don't even why they have a chat feature on the website when they can never answer more then the most basic, base line questions on there. So frustrating.

Disney does respond to people on twitter.

you were there with me and there were cocktails involved.... just sayin'

I've been pretty lucky with having my room ready when I arrive at the resort.

J-Squared weekend - no text when I arrived. I stopped at the front desk when I got to the resort. The room we were assigned was not ready. The CM found one that was available and moved us to it.

October pre-cruise - received text that room was ready @ 10:48 while on the way to the resort

October post - cruise - received text room was ready @ 11:05 while on the way to the resort.

January - GF - received text that room was ready @ 10:02 while on the way to the resort.

January - CBR - received text @ 4:15 that room wasn't ready. Never did receive the text when it was. I looked on MDE and the room number was there. I really can't complain. We spent the day in MK. It's not like we needed to get in the room. Plus I got a free upgrade to a Pirate Room.

April - Pop - received text room was ready @ 10:12 before leaving the airport on the DME.

April - Boulder Ridge - received text room was ready @ 4:09 which was perfect timing as we were leaving MK.

April - Copper Creek - received text @ 1:34 that room was ready.

I've never had a need for late check out. On my last day, I check my luggage with airline check in and leave my carry on with bell services. I hit the parks or hang out at the resort if I have an earlier flight.

They do need to upgrade their wifi in the parks. For house keeping, one person is in charge of cleaning a set amount of rooms and check outs take the longest to clean and the longer the guest stays in the room, the longer it takes to get it clean for the next guest. Also, house keepers are only scheduled for 8 hours a day in the morning.

One thing Disney gets right is inconsistency.

I follow a lot of Disney groups and pages on Facebook. This morning someone posted they bought an AP and is planning on going to MK to activate it. They asked about paying for parking. Half the people responded they just showed their voucher and the CM at the gate let them through. The other half said they had to pay for parking but were reimbursed when they activated their passes.

There was no way for housekeeping to know when the room was vacated other then just knocking on the door and walking in. They should be focusing on check outs first if the rooms are vacated, if not they move on to the next one then come back later to see if the room is empty. It is noted on the rooms sheet what rooms are check outs, need new bedding or just need to look pretty.

Most of those things don't bother me with the exception of price increases. I would add one more thing to the list, long attraction wait time.

Granted this was back in 2013, so it's possible they have upgraded the way they communicate when rooms are vacated.

No Kristen they have not. They still have to physically have to knock on the doors when checkout time has passed unless the person tells someone that they are leaving, which we do every time.

WiFi personally don't find too bad but then I'm not on FB, Twitter or Instagram so don't need the speed. Coming from the UK room being ready early has never been an issue!!

I get annoyed when you do ask Disney a question and they reply with "that's a really good question" doh I know, at that point you know they are not going to give you a straight answer and it is going to be hard work.

Disney will always put up prices and will do all the while people still pay. I don't like it but I have free will so I pick and choose what I eat and shop. It is never a cheap vacation for us but we do it because we love it, it is one of the true happy places where the reality of mundane life is forgotten.