Thoughts from recent trip. 3.14 to 3.16.19

[Steve Dixon]

Full trip report here:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/trip-report-3-14-to-3-16-19.3741004/

some thoughts:.


Who: Me51 DW55 DS14 DS15

When: March 14 15 16

Last visit was March 2016


The Good = The Bad = The Ugly


The Good:

-Courtyard Marriott Theme Park Entrance. Loved it. Four Beds, two showers, water park, indoor hallways, 8 minutes to security. The price is a little higher but with teenagers refusing to share a bed having the bunk beds saved us from a suite or two rooms so keep that in mind when comparing prices.

-The DL app. Don’t leave home without it. What a huge logistics tool.

-MaxPass. Yes it is expensive at $60 per day for a family of four but I bet if you ran the numbers it more than pays for itself if you use it effectively.

-CC dinner. We loved it and thought it was worth high price. Probably would not have been worth it if I was not able to relax and enjoy the experience sans kids.

-Our bartender at CC lounge and his Disney Magic FP for WOC and WOC itself

-RBT Premium Table for F!

-GOTG, love the new experience

-Star Tours, we saw all new clips on each ride this time. Including ending by landing at Batuu and the Black Spire Outpost.

-Breakfast at Steakhouse 55

-Tropical Hideaway, the best use of that space since Tahitian Terrace closed. (Bring back Tahitian Terrace PLEASE)


The Bad:

-The new redhead in POC

-The Hank looking octopus in POC

-Food and Wine Fest, just not our thing and really caused a lot of congestion

-While I loved DL app and MP in particular it did glitch several times. One time telling me there were no more FP left for the day. Then about 30 minutes later hey tons of FP available at DL with only Space sold out. If they are charging $15 per person per day that thing should be bulletproof.

-Where are all the photographers? Don’t put free photopass as a perk for MaxPass, then get rid of nearly all the photographers!


The Ugly

-Seeing maintenance workers out in the open. Painters painting on MS with no scrim or walls up. Active painting of Astro Orbiter in plain sight above the walls. Ugly tarps in the Splash train tunnel visible from the Splash boats. Landscapers picking weeds. I know these things need to be done but it always seems to me that in the past these activities were kept away from the eyes of guests.

-Buzz. I know there have been much discussed issues with scores and ride photos but I was absolutely taken back by the condition of the ride vehicles. My gosh they reminded me of department store horsey rides from the 1970s. So much warn off paint. I found it inexcusably ugly and tacky. Very un-Disney-like.

-While we encountered many wonderful CMs during our trip we also encountered some CMs that seemed to care less about being there. The types you’d find slinging big gulps at a 7-11 somewhere. There is definitely inconsistency in hiring and training of CMs.

-The fastpass system with the scanners has some serious loopholes. We witnessed many times where a line up started at the scanners. Some people waited for the CMs to get distracted and literally bull their way past undetected and without scanning.

 

[sherilaine]

Glad you had lots of good on your trip.

• We experienced some glitching with MP as well but I found as soon as I turned off my wifi it worked much better.
• We noticed a great lack of photopass photographers too - and this is just since our trip one year prior so it's certainly been reduced since photopass is now included. Seemed to see one with each character we met though so that was nice.
• I'd actually rather see someone doing maintenance than have walls up. Especially on main street as we dealt with walls there last year and it was not pretty.
• As to the CMs - with the number of employees they need to hire I am surprised as many of them are happy and friendly considering they are not getting paid a lot of $ for the job they do and I am sure they encounter more disgruntled guests than we encounter cranky CMs.

 

[smiles33]

We were there about the same time (Fri-Sun, though, not Thur-Sat). Did your bartender at CC give you FP for WOC? I wasn't sure what that bullet point meant.

As for the Food and Wine Festival, we didn't get to try any of the food as the little booths were almost always closed when I walked by. They didn't open until after 10:30 am (I know, I know, most people don't eat that kind of food before lunch) and it was far too crowded navigating back there after lunch. I think the booths that set up past the Buena Vista St. fountain near the entrance to Carsland created a terrible logjam as that walkway got SO CROWDED!

I only consistently saw Photopass Photographers at the Carsland Billboard and the bridge to Pixar Pier. We had a TERRIBLE PP by the end of Buena Vista Street where that blue sky is. She was totally checked out and acted like it was a bother when we asked her for photos. I didn't actually hear her sigh, but she reluctantly took 2-3 shots (terrible shots without a good view of that gorgeous backdrop and no variety in the angle or zoom!) and didn't interact with us at all. Later, when we were taking a break nearby on a bench, I saw her just standing there, almost off to the side like she was hiding, while dozens of people posed by the blue sky backdrop. A good PP would have walked over to volunteer to take photos of groups (even on people's personal iPhones/cameras, as PP used to do that willingly for us). I didn't get her name but I probably should report her to Disney. They need someone better serving as PP!

I didn't see people pushing their way through FP, but I agree many of those CM seemed to be only halfheartedly monitoring the crowd. I could easily see people slip past.

 

[Steve Dixon]

We were there about the same time (Fri-Sun, though, not Thur-Sat). Did your bartender at CC give you FP for WOC? I wasn't sure what that bullet point meant.

Yes he sure did.
CC lounge was wonderful. I had the Carthay Martini. The bartender apologized that the device they use to make the sphere ice cubes was not working. They had some premade so that was fine. The nice thing is I had two more and told him I could reuse my sphere. It said great as we only have a few. He made them with the high end ingredients but only charged me for a standard martini after that. I thought that was nice. DW drank Rum and Diet. Huge pour.

We had a great conversation with the bartender. He was super nice. He asked us if we were going to WOC. I told him no as I forgot to get FP earlier in the day. When he found out that we had never seen it he disappeared for 10 minutes. When he got back he handed me four fastpasses to the dinner package area. WOW. I thanked him profusely and left a generous tip. Probably my best Pixie Dust moment ever!

 

[smiles33]

Yes he sure did.
CC lounge was wonderful. I had the Carthay Martini. The bartender apologized that the device they use to make the sphere ice cubes was not working. They had some premade so that was fine. The nice thing is I had two more and told him I could reuse my sphere. It said great as we only have a few. He made them with the high end ingredients but only charged me for a standard martini after that. I thought that was nice. DW drank Rum and Diet. Huge pour.

We had a great conversation with the bartender. He was super nice. He asked us if we were going to WOC. I told him no as I forgot to get FP earlier in the day. When he found out that we had never seen it he disappeared for 10 minutes. When he got back he handed me four fastpasses to the dinner package area. WOW. I thanked him profusely and left a generous tip. Probably my best Pixie Dust moment ever!

How awesome! I am sure the fact that you were gracious about the sphere ice cubes and happy to help him out made a difference. What a nice unexpected treat!

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

-While I loved DL app and MP in particular it did glitch several times. One time telling me there were no more FP left for the day. Then about 30 minutes later hey tons of FP available at DL with only Space sold out. If they are charging $15 per person per day that thing should be bulletproof.

-Where are all the photographers? Don’t put free photopass as a perk for MaxPass, then get rid of nearly all the photographers!


The Ugly

-Seeing maintenance workers out in the open. Painters painting on MS with no scrim or walls up. Active painting of Astro Orbiter in plain sight above the walls. Ugly tarps in the Splash train tunnel visible from the Splash boats. Landscapers picking weeds. I know these things need to be done but it always seems to me that in the past these activities were kept away from the eyes of guests.

-While we encountered many wonderful CMs during our trip we also encountered some CMs that seemed to care less about being there. The types you’d find slinging big gulps at a 7-11 somewhere. There is definitely inconsistency in hiring and training of CMs.

I completely agree, especially on the photographers and the CMs. We came across several who didn’t care to be there at all and some who were absolutely wonderful. It would help to also train CMs better on knowing when to call security on unruly guests as well. As for the photography, the only time we were able to utilize a photographer was at a couple character meets and a few rides. It was a stark contrast to last time and we had over 70+ pictures from photographers on our last trip and this we had around 15 over four days. I saw a few but when I went to approach to ask for pictures, they would turn away and walk away as though they didn’t see me or want to be bothered—I didn’t think we were that scary looking of a family, but maybe we are haha! We also encountered so many workers as well which I had never noticed before—some that need guest relations training and others who were a delight to talk with. I only had a few MP/app issues but my husband had constant issues.

 

[VandVsmama]

We hardly saw ANY PP photographers during our entire trip. So the free PP pics as part of Max Pass is really not that big of an add on...at least on our trip from 3/9-3/11 earlier this month. A year ago, we had WAY more PP pictures and there were a lot more PP photographers in various parts of both parks.

Like you, we didn't do any of the Food & Wine booths, either. Mostly because of people. Crowds. And my MIL was with us. She was on a scooter, so having her navigate through each booth, buying her food, & eating were logistically going to be way too challenging for her. In addition, NONE of the Food & Wine food appeals to my kids. There were times in DCA that we encountered a fair number of pretty drunk park guests. That was annoying. I'm not really a fan of Food & Wine, to be honest.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

A good PP would have walked over to volunteer to take photos of groups (even on people's personal iPhones/cameras, as PP used to do that willingly for us).

You brought up a number of valid points, but an FYI: PP photographers are not allowed to approach guests AT ALL. A lot of the time when they’re standing around looking bored, it’s because they are, in fact, bored and can’t do anything about it until someone approaches them.

While I’ve been extremely disappointed in the removal of Photopass photographers from the indoor meet and greets (and have emailed Disney about it), I’ve actually had some really great PP experiences over the past couple of months - the Sword in the Stone and roaming Hollywoodland ones (like by Guardians) have gone consistently above and beyond, to the point that we have dozens of pictures from those two locations alone so far this year. We’ve also had individual great ones in Town Square on Main Street lately. I’m sorry you hit a lackluster one!

 

[dieumeye]

I feel like I see a lot of PhotoPass photogs in DCA, but definitely fewer at DL. I mean, shouldn't there ALWAYS be someone by Partners?

DCA: Buena Vista Street, Storytellers statue, Hollywoodland, with Pluto by the Grizzly Peak plane, Cars Land entrance, Car's Land walking the main strip, outside Flo's, bridge to Pixar Pier, by the Pal-a-Round, etc.

DL: Main Street, Partners (sometimes), Tea Cup, Sword in the Stone. I don't think I've personally ever seen someone anywhere else in the park!

 

[smiles33]

You brought up a number of valid points, but an FYI: PP photographers are not allowed to approach guests AT ALL. A lot of the time when they’re standing around looking bored, it’s because they are, in fact, bored and can’t do anything about it until someone approaches them.

While I’ve been extremely disappointed in the removal of Photopass photographers from the indoor meet and greets (and have emailed Disney about it), I’ve actually had some really great PP experiences over the past couple of months - the Sword in the Stone and roaming Hollywoodland ones (like by Guardians) have gone consistently above and beyond, to the point that we have dozens of pictures from those two locations alone so far this year. We’ve also had individual great ones in Town Square on Main Street lately. I’m sorry you hit a lackluster one!

Good to know! I didn't know they weren't allowed to approach guests. I don't know if most people would have approached her. She clearly gave off "sour faced"/resentful vibes. I only went up to her because I wanted to get a family photo of all 4 of us.

Even with that rule, I still think she could have stood in a more prominent position next to the blue sky background instead of "hiding" closer to a brick building. I also went back and checked. Of the 5 different PP we encountered over 2.5 days, this "checked-out" PP was the only one who took 3 photos of the identical background/pose/zoom. The four others took between 7-9 photos, multiple poses (at their direction, not my idea), multiple angles, and multiple zoom distances. So I decided to report her to Disney anyway so they know she needs more "guidance" or to be shifted to a different role that doesn't interact with guests.