As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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We were just in WDW in January. We didn't have issues with any rude CM's, thank goodness, but I did notice the lack of cleanliness in all the restrooms during our 12 night stay. Toilet paper on the floors.....wet floors.......water faucets that didn't work.......trash bins filled to overflowing. I was really surprised! In our many trips there, this was the first time I noticed filth.
I actually don't think it is a general decline i think they have always had good years and bad years for customer service. I remember we went in 1998 and they were fantastic but in 2002 we encountered a lot of rude CMs my husband even commented on how rude they were. We found it had improved since then.
Customer service is a function of 2 things the personality of the people you hire and how you treat them. As Disney is tightening the belt I would imagine they are not having as happy a time at work as normal I'm sure it will improve again
I actually don't think it is a general decline i think they have always had good years and bad years for customer service. I remember we went in 1998 and they were fantastic but in 2002 we encountered a lot of rude CMs my husband even commented on how rude they were. We found it had improved since then.
Customer service is a function of 2 things the personality of the people you hire and how you treat them. As Disney is tightening the belt I would imagine they are not having as happy a time at work as normal I'm sure it will improve again
I agree with you to some extent - funny but we were there in late 1997 & late 2002 and while we definitely had a great trip in 2002, the CMs were definitely a little less than lackluster especially those at CSR. To the point that we actually had to stop at a different resort to have several issues addressed. And it was not just at CSR however that was the worst group of CMs we encountered but we also ended up with seeking out a manager at the Boardwalk & Epcot. Funny how after 15 years or so these moments of less than stellar customer service stick out in my mind. When we went in 2007 & 2008, while not everyone was amazing or magical, there were by far less CM issues and we had a huge party to accomodate (17 people vs 2) and less face facts that it is hard take everyone happy all the time. I hope that by the time we get that WDW again in late 2017/early 2018 that the tide has turned again to magical CM encounters as the norm not the rarity.
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For us, this is one of the reasons we've switched from WDW to DLR in California. The CMs at DLR still seem to care. We were at World of Color at California Adventure last December and started talking to the 3 people beside us. Turned out they were WDW cast members at DLR on vacation. They commented on how nice the DLR cast members were compared to what it's like at WDW now. Interestingly, 1 was a front line guest relations cast member, one was a telephone guest relations cast member and one was a tech support cast member. They could not believe how friendly, helpful and nice the DLR cast members were compared to what they're now seeing at WDW. A sad state of affairs.
For us, this is one of the reasons we've switched from WDW to DLR in California. The CMs at DLR still seem to care. We were at World of Color at California Adventure last December and started talking to the 3 people beside us. Turned out they were WDW cast members at DLR on vacation. They commented on how nice the DLR cast members were compared to what it's like at WDW now. Interestingly, 1 was a front line guest relations cast member, one was a telephone guest relations cast member and one was a tech support cast member. They could not believe how friendly, helpful and nice the DLR cast members were compared to what they're now seeing at WDW. A sad state of affairs.
Perhaps this is a WDW thing, not a Disney thing. Perhaps the management there? I could believe that because we noticed that none of the management at WDW greeted us. In previous visits, managers would smile and greet us (not in crowds, of course but in more 1x1 situations). This time, none of them did. A bunch of them even stood around a bench outside of the BC while we stood by waiting for our DME back to the airport. They blocked the bench while customers stood within a few feet. They didn't offer to move or even notice us. That would never have happened in the past. And when I asked them to step aside so my wife could sit down, they did move but not with an apology or acknowledgement.
This reminds me of when a former company for which I worked started getting huge and started hiring senior managers from outside. Management lost the culture that made the company great and made a place where people wanted to work. I wonder if that's happening at WDW.
FYI, I got an email followed up by a phone call from a very nice gentleman in Guest Services today in response to the email that I sent regarding our experiences. We talked for about a half an hour and he was truly interested in finding out what happened and how he could help fix things. I honestly believe that he cared and wanted to make a difference. As he said "That's not the Disney that I work for and that's not the kind of experience that our guests should have". It was a good call and while I don't know if he'll be able to help fix things, it was nice to know that someone truly cared.
FYI, I got an email followed up by a phone call from a very nice gentleman in Guest Services today in response to the email that I sent regarding our experiences. We talked for about a half an hour and he was truly interested in finding out what happened and how he could help fix things. I honestly believe that he cared and wanted to make a difference. As he said "That's not the Disney that I work for and that's not the kind of experience that our guests should have". It was a good call and while I don't know if he'll be able to help fix things, it was nice to know that someone truly cared.
That is positive news. Glad you had a follow up to your email. At least he acknowledged that it's not the kind of experience guest should have. Makes me feel hopeful.
Yeah, I think that the more feedback that Disney gets, the better. I would encourage everyone who has had less than Disney-like experiences to write to Guest Services and let them know. Based on what the representative said about my email, sending feedback that comes from a good place (i.e. not just complaining) that points out exactly what happened and the effect that it had on your Disney experience helps. It also helps to point out any good experiences that you had. This shows them what they did well and keeps the feedback from just being a complaint session. I imagine that purely negative complaint sessions (which are understandable in a lot of situations) largely get ignored. However, reasoned feedback gets their attention. Just a thought.
Tightening the belt? With rising costs at Disney? Should not be happening...
It is though. Shanghai Disney is costing an absolute fortune to get ready for opening and that along with all of the large new projects at WDW are definitely tightening Disney's belt. Should it affect the CMs attitudes? No. Does it realistically? Probably.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
We've had wonderful, amazing service for the last 2 decades, but we've also had issues. It's not something new. It's been there all along.
A few that stand out:
14 years ago, we were on the monorail from EPCOT to MK. The only other people in the car with our large, extended family were 2 girls who were CMs but were there on their day off. The language was horrid, the complete and utter disrespect for others and the hatred of their jobs was amazing.
Almost 5 years ago, we were in WDW celebrating the graduation of my middle DD from HS. I was there with my DDs (13, 18, 28), my oldest's youngest sister from her bio-dad's side (11), the 18 year old's BFF (18), my niece (16), and the 11 yr old's BFF (8). If you're counting, that's me and 7 'girls' aged 8-28. We went to Coral Reef and had the MOST atrocious meal - not one of the 8 dinners we ordered came correctly, including TWO that were raw (RAW) chicken. We spoke to the server who was pretty nasty, then the manager who did nothing to rectify the situation. She ever refused to not charge us for the meal (we were on the meal plan and it was/is a 2 point restaurant). We did the get the points put back on our meal plan, after about 45 minutes on the phone with Customer Service.
I think it's really a commentary on the population at large. In general, it used to be known that you had to work your way up the ladder, that customer service was paramount, and most people were, if not happy with their jobs, content to pretend until something better presented itself. Now, people are told they should be "HAPPY" at all times. Told our jobs should make us happy - all of the time. Can't tell you how many fresh grads I've dealt with who aren't content to learn the ropes and then start that climb, they think they should be promoted to charge nurse or manager within the first 2 months. I blame it on participation trophies.
Unfortunately the way things are going, you can expect your CM interaction experiences to continue to slide. Disney is cutting back on personnel in a big way, both at the parks and at the hotels. Also, they are not interested in the repeat guests to WDW anymore, only the one timers who wouldn't know the difference between "Disney Customer Service" and non-Disney service. Quite frankly, you can thank Shanghai for this as Shanghai is so overbudget that the only way Disney can pay for it is to make cuts at it's domestic parks.
Our most recent experiences at WDW were such that we don't plan on returning anytime in the near future. If we want/need a Disney fix we'll probably head to Disneyland in California unless we are just going to go for a couple days, in which case, you can find us at the Swan and Dolphin.
So sad to be hearing all these negative experiences. It's such a shame, especially since interacting with CMs often adds to the fun. We were in WDW in August, 2015 and most of our CM interactions were pleasant, even a couple above and beyond instances. We're bringing family (some who have never been and will possibly not get to go again) and I really want them to have an awesome time. This is worrying me.
I think part of the issue is, those of us who have gone for years, have very high expectations of Disney service that we would not have at say, Six Flags, or your local amusement park. Yes, that is the Disney way, but I think it is easy to be let down when you go in thinking everything is going to be "magical." I agree with others who say this problem has always been there. We just went in October of 2015, and we only had one rude CM encounter, compared to MANY other excellent ones. Of course, that one stands out in my mind. But overall, the Disney customer service is much better than other places, most of the times.
My second comment is in agreement with Teresa's. You are only as good as the people who work for you. I have hired people for 15 years, and let me tell you, the caliber of candidates in the hiring pool has gone down considerably. No work ethic, bad attitudes, and people who aren't willing to start at an entry level job. Since most of the people we are encountering at Disney are starting in an entry level position, I can see where this has started to become a problem. But what is Disney to do? They have to staff the places, or things won't run. So, I am sure they are forced to hire sub par people who are bitter and don't want to be there. Unfortunately, it sounds like we've all encountered some of these folks.
It's a shame things have gotten this way, both at Disney and out in the real world. I used to have 3-4 people to choose from when offering a job. Now, I'm lucky if I see one decent resume or have a decent interview (some people have shown up in SHORTS. FOR AN INTERVIEW). I think we'll continue to see this type of decline in service until attitudes of those being hired changed.
*sigh* I still say, a bad day at Disney is better than a day at work!
I've had good and bad days at Disney. When I go solo it seems like CMs pay attention to me .. I think they think I'm a spy!
When I was with my parents both use ECVs - we had a negative experience with a CM and I told the CM I understand its hot and people are rude but we aren't being rude so please take a go take a break and another CM will assist us. She was annoyed because they were running out of ECV space so my dad who can walk short distances offered to park his ECV and asked if we could just sit in the Handicap section so we wouldn't have people trample us. (this was at HS - Beauty and the beast show) The CM looked at me and apologized. We are human and sometimes don't know we come off snippy!
I also had to call Disney regarding a CM getting yelled at during the Halloween party - A CM did not know something and was walking to ask someone else and this lady started yelling at her I felt bad for the CM ... so I let Disney know. Everyone has bad days I get it and a Ill take a bad day at Disney anytime!
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