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John and Donna Gross "The Full Mickey - At a Discount!" The Wall Street Journal
Joanne writes about her vacation at WDW in December, 2005:
"Dates: December 1-10, 2005 We stayed at Fort Wilderness in a cabin. The cabins are very nice however I don't think we would stay there again. The transportation was a little time consuming with having to take an internal resort bus to a bus stop and transferring from there to another bus or a boat depending on where we were going. We purchased the meal plan and we were very happy with it. It is a lot of food but we split counter service meals so we were able to do breakfast and lunch counter service a few days. Most of our meals were very good. We will not be returning to the Sci-Fi Diner in the future unless we were just looking for dessert. The food in our opinion was horrible. We did numerous character meals which I think the adults enjoyed more than the kids. Going with 2 small children slowed us down more than we thought it would so there were a few things that we did not get to do that we would have really liked to do so we have decided next time we will go for 2 weeks. All in all we had a wonderful time, and I can't wait until we can afford to go again." |
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Kim visited WDW the first week in December, 2005: "I have read some of the comments appearing on your page lately and felt that I too needed to speak up. We just went to Disney at the beginning of December. We noticed many of the same types of changes. We have been to Disney world 5 times and have noticed a definite difference in customer service, lines, and cleanliness. The first time we went, the famed Disney customer service was in full force. It was what made it a joy to stay there. Last year and then this year we saw major differences. Last year we stayed at Port Orleans and had numerous complaints with the food facility, lack of service and lack of cleanliness. This time we stayed at the Grand Floridian, figuring that we would experience the ultimate in Disney service. Unfortunately we did not. The lobby areas were always overflowing and extremely loud due to the over abundance of kids waiting for the character meals. It was obvious that these had been overbooked and the kids waiting just ran rampant through the hotel. The bathrooms in the lobby area were dirty every time we went in. One time, a child had become ill and had vomited through the lobby and into the bathroom. When I went to report this to the closest employee I could find, I was met with an attitude and told that they were very busy and would try to get to it! My 67 year old mother went down a slide at the Honey I Shunk The Kids Playground and severely injured her knee. The Disney employee standing at the bottom of the slide never offered to help her up or to get her a wheelchair. I had to get her up and have her hop on one foot while holding on to me until we reached a seat. Once back at the Grand Floridian we asked for a wheelchair to get her back to the room. They said that they were all out but would give us the next available. They sent us to our room in the golf cart. We waited and waited and no wheelchair ever arrived. We found out that there are NO wheelchairs at any resorts! They must be rented! We had been told incorrect information. When trying to work it out with the concierge, we got nothing but a run around! There is so much more that could be told, but suffice it to say that 1 whole day of our Disney adventure was wasted trying to get a wheelchair! Dinner reservations were cancelled and time in the parks was missed. The biggest thing was that along the way nobody even pretended to care or to help. They kept telling us "THE HOTEL IS OVERBOOKED RIGHT NOW AND WE CAN"T HANDLE ALL OF THE GUESTS ISSUES!" We went at was supposed to be a slow time. We decided we will give Disney one more try in the future. But it is 3 strikes and you are out! It is a shame for a company who actually taught customer service to other companies to have seen such dramatic negative changes in such a short time." I wrote Kim: According to our information, all Disney resorts have complimentary wheelchairs (with a deposit), but they are all gone very early. They should have recommended a rental. And they certainly should have helped your mother when she hurt herself. That's just common courtesy. Kim responded: "We too thought that all resorts had them. However we were told by the concierge desk as well as the Hotel Manager that that was not the case. You must rent from an outside company and the desk will try to help you coordinate it. In our case, my mother could not put any weight at all on the leg and it swelled incredibly. We spent the whole afternoon and night without anyway of getting her around. They had promised a chair to our room then by 8 am the next morning. at 930 am when still no chair arrived, we suggested for the 3rd time to the manager that he send an employee one stop away to the MK and get one of the 1000's of chairs they have there! Finally they did and we got a wheel chair at 10:45 - we still had not had breakfast - they kept telling us "any minute, we'll have a chair." It was really pretty bad. The main thing was how little anyone cared along the way and the excuse was that the hotel was busy!" I ran this question past Beth, our travel agent, and she writes: "I have not been told anything about the wheelchairs, but I'll ask around. My understanding was always that they are like the rollaway beds... SOME resorts have them and some don't, but you can't reserve them in advance and they do go fast, so if you are sure you need it it's better to arrange with an outside source. When I go next week I'll ask at AKL to see what their response is." Beth has a source for wheelchairs and scooters and she'd be glad to arrange delivery for you at WDW.
A newsletter subscriber visited WDW in December, 2005: "Dear John, Although we are not subscribers to your affordable disney, we do receive your letters and enjoy them very much. I did think that you might enjoy hearing about our recent trip with our children and grandchildren to Disney World in Orlando. There were 15 of us, 7 adults and 8 children (2-13,1-9,1-7,2-5,1-3 and 1 almost 2). We left for Disney on Dec.10th, 11 of us leaving from Illinois and four from Minnesota. We took advantage of the magical express transportation and found it very good. We did have to wait for about a half an hour for our turn to board the bus but found it efficient and comfortable. Upon arrival one group stayed at BoardWalk and the other at Saratoga Springs. We were in two bedroom condos. We are time share owners (not Disney) and had traded into Disney. Our accommodations were wonderful. All of the workers are so helpful and polite. Everyone and everything was exceptional. Even the pools were very warm and the grandchildren had a wonderful time in them. Because we were there during what is considered low season we hardly ever waited more then 15 minutes for a ride except of course Soarin, which we got fastpasses for. We did wait once without fastpass and it was only about 40 minutes. Soarin is a wonderful experience and everyone really enjoyed it. My husband and I were fortunate in that we had already experienced Soarin last April before the official Grand Opening so we knew it was well worth the wait. We also purchased dining discount cards. As Annual pass members we received them for 50% off. This was a huge advantage for us. In it we received a extra 20% off our meals up to 10 people. This card paid for itself over and over. I took the girls to two Princess meals (one breakfast and one lunch) and my husband took the boys to Mickey's Breakfast and at that point the card was free and clear. The Princess lunch in the castle is well worth the money. The meal was wonderful and the restaurant is lovely. The girls really enjoyed visiting with each of the Princesses that were present. The Princess breakfast at Norway in Epcot was enjoyable but the food was just ok, nothing to brag about. The princesses in Magic Kingdom seem to spend more time visiting then they did at Epcot. My one Grand daughter is a huge Belle fan so we had to go to the breakfast at Norway to get to have time with her. I had made her a 'Belle" dress and she looked lovely with Belle. When we visited the Beauty and the Beast we even got special seating because she was in her "Belle" dress. It was wonderful, she felt very special. My husband and I did stop and listen to the symphony a couple of nights at epcot also. It was truly a magical experience well worth the time. We ate at Morocco (the men loved the belly dancer), Japan, Mexico, and snacked at several other countries. The food was all delicious and we used our dining card at a couple of these countries too. We also ate at Planet Hollywood and the kids loved it. Our server was excellent and the food was very good. And once again used our discount card. One of our favorite places to eat is Bongo's in Downtown Disney. This trip we did not eat there, but had in our previous two visits this year. Anyone who visits Disney World should take the time to really visit each country in Epcot, their entertainment is wonderful and it is very enjoyable. The children can make something and go to each country to add a new piece to it and a stamp showing they were there. If all countries are visited and stamped something is given to them when they complete it. My grandchildren loved this and raced from one country to the next to see what was next. I think it is a great idea to excite children into visiting each of the countries. We will probably not return to Disney World for a few years now, but this year has been such a fun year for us. It had always been my dream to take our children and grandchildren all together for Christmas. This year we finally could afford to take them. It was worth every penny (and dollar). We now have memories to last ours and their lifetime. My husband and I also saw La Nouba. What an experience. It was so incredible. The acts are so good. It is well worth the money. We were fortunate to get a discount because of being Disney Card members and lucky to be in Disney at the time it was offered. Our children had all left so it was something for just the two of us to enjoy. And because we stayed at Saratogo Springs we could walk to and from it with ease. Sorry for going on and on, but as you can hear I loved our trip. Sincerely, one excited g'ma." Looks like you made some wonderful memories for you and the children! Thanks for sharing.
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