The Quality Question

Well, I haven't read those reviews (will go back and do that), but my observations are that the quality is still there. I think things can and do go wrong anywhere, but what sets Disney apart is how they handle it: They go out of their way to make it right. If a ride breaks down, they give you a fast pass to return after it has been fixed. If a product stops working, they replace it with a smile (my friend's watch clasp was loose and they were not able to repair so they gave him a brand new watch to replace one that was 2 years old!). Even with silly things, they go out of their way. On one trip, I had stood in line to meet Kim Possible and Ron. (Yes, I AM a dork!!!! ). There was not a photopass photographer there, so DH took my picture but there was no opportunity to have Rufus "appear" in the photo. I went to the photo place and asked if there was any way I could have a pic with Rufus, maybe in front of the sorcerer's hat? The CM called a manager, the manager caled someone else and the next thing I knew, I was getting my pic taken by a photog so that Rufus could be added. I was really impressed at the time and committment of the CMs. It was important to them to make me happy. (I WAS wearing my Rufus T-shirt, so maybe they were afraid the crazy lady would make a big scene? ) Anyhooooooooo.........I didn't get to WDW in 2008 but was there in Aug 07 and Feb 09 and going again in Aug 09......but have not noticed any decrease in quality.

You hit on a really good example of a simple thing that Six Flags for example handles terribly. If you're at a Six Flags park and the ride breaks down they say "We don't know when it's going to be fixed, you can wait or not." Whereas at WDW they just give you a Fastpass so you don't have to play "ride-fix-roulette." It's all the little touches like that that make WDW so amazing. At the same time I do think they've been increasingly looking for ways to get a little more efficiency out of things, which I think can be a slippery slope. Still, they're of course by FAR the best experience out there.

disney could decrease in quality by quite a margin and still be head and shoulders above six flags.

Last year our nephew went to WDW for the first time, so we decited to be nice, called the resort and had them deliver him 50 "Disney Bucks" with our charge card. At the end of the stay they charged his mom's card the 50 and ours the entire vacation. WDW can be expensive so needless to say that bounced about 5 items in our checking acount. We called Disney and the next day thay payed all the money back to us, and all the bank and late fees.

They really do take care of you. (OF course when she pulled up our acount and saw that we go every year that may have helped.)

That's a really good point. Most of us are "frequent visitors." I wonder how much that affects our treatment. Have you ever seen any other examples of that?

Realistically they probably have more incentive to treat the first timers well than the frequent visitors. At least as far as the superficial stuff. I'm an addict and I'm going to go again no matter what. Whereas Disney really wants to turn first timers into weirdos like me.

Now in the case of something like marzyar, where they have messed up and could easily alienate someone to the point of not returning I bet they're much more inclined to hop-to and fix things. That's probably a more likely place to get preferential service because of your addiction.

It probably makes a lot of sense to give "perks" to newcomers but also make sure your regulars never get outraged.

Delicate balance--especially since Disney knows how much message boards and media can influence peoples' expectations.

I doubt any amount of bad-mouthing on message boards would dissuade me before I'd seen things for myself. Although I will say that during the changes to IASW, the Disney message boards and blogs probably helped charge up my sense of rage.

I think the changes to IASW were tastefully done. Non of them look too out of place and it gives us something new to look at.