Ptting Up With Poor Service

I Waited 20 minutes for a hamburger. It was nothing special, just a standard 1/3 pound hamburger, plain, no fries, at Pecos Bills. $7.75 and a twenty minute wait in line. If I went off property, I could have went to the Texas Road House for a 1/2 pound burger with fries for $8.50. The last time we went we had it in 15 minutes, table service. Peco Bills is quick counter service. And it wasn't like we arrived during a dinner rush, it was 8:30pm.

McDonalds has set the standard for quick service. I place my order at the drive thru and by the time I drive around the building, my hot and ready meal is handed to me out the window. And the hamburger doesn't cost nearly $8.

Providing poor service at Disney seems acceptable because attendance doesn't suffer. Disney feels it is acceptable to make people wait through unreasonable delays. For example, when we left the Magic Kingdom it took 45 minutes to get to our car. Some of it was the delays in walking through the crowds, but most of it was due to waiting in line at an transportation system that is under capacity. The transportation system was designed when crowds were half their current levels and there have only been minor improvements since then.

So, rather than make investments in the necessary improvements, it is acceptable for it to take 45 minutes to get to your car. We arrived early at Ohana for our reservation and sat waiting until 45 minutes past our reservation before we were seated. Disney is crowded and overloaded and rather than deal with it appropriately, Disney takes the huge profits at the expense of the customer experience.

Why do we put up with it? Why would Disney change? The line is out the door and with increased park attendance, isn't getting any shorter. Raise the prices, cut the staff, make more money, and the customer suffers!

All right... I need to confess something. When I read Disney blogs and Disboards, it is mostly ponies and rainbows. Everyone is so in love with Disney that is clouds rational judgement. I set out to be different - to write about some good things but mostly write glass-half-full encounters so that my articles stand out from the rest.

While the waiting annoys me and shouldn't be, it honestly isn't so bad as to ruin the Disney experience. For example, we waited 45 minutes for Ohana, but then had one of the greatest Disney experiences ever with a fantastic meal, stellar waiter, and outstanding characters. The great encounter helped us to forget about the wait.


I hope that reading my posts does not discourage anyone from their Disney Dreams but instead, perhaps, open your eyes a little and allow you to see this magical place from a unique perspective.