Cleanliness at DLRP... what do you think? so...so for us

Started by Tinkerbelle, August 08, 2008, 10:38:11 PM

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Tinkerbelle

We just came back from DLRP and had a blast!  :D I noticed many good things that have improved since last year. I remember that last year they took my e-mail address for a questionnaire to know our level of satisfaction, complaints and suggestions, which I made sure to fill with everything I could think of.
I made sure to make clear that I thought that the resort wasn't as clean as the US resorts, that there was some kind of pee odor in many of the toilets, and that while having breakfast at Santa Fe it was quite challenging to find a clean glass or tea cup.
This year I noticed that the Santa Fe was a lot cleaner, specially those things I pointed out, the cups and glasses, so that was a great positive thing that has improved.
But the pee odor hasn't improved at all, and this year I paid special attention to it, it was definitely pee odor and not NH3, which I thought last year was a possibility, in case they used that to clean the restrooms....
I noticed it in the ladies' restrooms situated at the left of Town Hall at Disneyland Park. Also in two restrooms in fantasyland, and also in the restroom located at the exit of the right of the park. Surprisingly I didn't use any of the restrooms at the Studios so I can't speak for those.
The restrooms I noticed that had pee odor, had it at park closing time (which could even be understandable), but also had it as strong in the morning at EMH (there's no way I can justify that). In one of the restrooms I saw a cleaning employee finishing his duty and getting out of the restroom... but no, it wasn't NH3 it was definitely pee... anyone knows what they use to clean the restrooms?! they can't be THAT smelly!!!! and in case it was some kind of cleaning product that smelly... why don't they change it to something that smells better?!

We also smelled pee in the Pirates of the Caribbean queue (but can't blame Disney for that I guess?) and saw so many garbage around the park, queues, gardens...

I don't want to think that Europeans are messier than Americans in a way that Disney can't manage... I also don't want to think that Disney doesn't pay attention to park cleanliness in DLRP...
What's going on then? any recent thoughts?
those who haven't been at the US parks.. what do you think?
those who have been at other disney parks around the world, ... do you think DLRP has a serious cleanliness problem?

Also, don't want to scare any phobics since this can be completely normal in a park surrounded by open and green spaces but... we saw a rat running across the pathway on the left side of the fountains right before entering the Disneyland Park sign at the Disneyland hotel.... it was trying to avoid the stampede of guests getting out of the park at closing time. Seemed funny to me at the moment and I screamed "RATATOUILLE!!!! REMY THE REAL ONE!!! YAY!!! HAHAHA" but not even my husband turned around at the time, he thought I was acting crazy
I also saw the biggest spider I've ever seen in real life at one of the restrooms in Fantasyland...
Both the rat and spider can be something normal I know... but just wanted to add it to this post since it's a matter of pest control as well of cleanliness

davewasbaloo

Indeed DLP has always been subpar to the US parks in the cleanliness stakes. Though I was shocked last year. We went to DLP 6 months after a trip to WDW, and DLP was cleaner than the Magic Kingdom in Florida.

But yes, the cleanliness issues of DLP are very poor indeed. I mean the sweeping people joke in HISTA means something in DL and Epcot, but not so much at DLP lol
since 2001 (many before that)

pussinboots

I'm always a lot more bothered by poor maintenance than cleanliness. Garbage, to me, is fleeting; something that won't be there tomorrow, something I hardly even notice. In Fantasyland in particular, there seemed to be a lot of trash cans riddled with waste everywhere but inside the things (it took me a while to find clean ones for my trip report), but the unforgivable part to me was the sad, sad state of the trash cans, curbs and benches themselves.

On the bright side, I noticed Skull Rock didn't smell like urine at all last time.

MinniesBestPal

QuoteAlso, don't want to scare any phobics since this can be completely normal in a park surrounded by open and green spaces but... we saw a rat running across the pathway on the left side of the fountains right before entering the Disneyland Park sign at the Disneyland hotel.... it was trying to avoid the stampede of guests getting out of the park at closing time. Seemed funny to me at the moment and I screamed "RATATOUILLE!!!! REMY THE REAL ONE!!! YAY!!! HAHAHA" but not even my husband turned around at the time, he thought I was acting crazy
I also saw the biggest spider I've ever seen in real life at one of the restrooms in Fantasyland...
Both the rat and spider can be something normal I know... but just wanted to add it to this post since it's a matter of pest control as well of cleanliness

Hehe! A mouse ran under our table in the cowboy cookout, and my grandma screamed "A MOUSE! AAAAAH!!!" and ran across the room and refused to sit with us for the rest of the meal. She made such a fuss it was hilarious! She was jumping up and down and shaking her bags all the time, and stuff, and then my dad and grandad were joking on saying things like "I wonder if she'll be this bad with Mickey..."

Nicholas-c

Generally i think its clean considering the size they have to clean, as for the "urine" smell, its a chemical i cant remember the name of :p we use it at work for high-end "deep clean"
August 2003, 04, 05, 06, 07 and 08 - With family
Halloween 2008 - Best trip ever
July 2009 - All alone

madame_leota

if it is the case that its the chemicals used to clean maybe they just need to get some air freshners in there? Ones that spray automaticly. they could even use different sents for different lands - i.e floral in fantasy land, pine in fronteirland, candy in main street, not sure about adventure and discoveryland?

the rats/mice/spiders would be very hard to control i would think, as its such a wide open area and also surounding dlrp is a lot of feilds and trees ect which is probably where they are coming from. It must be a haven for them, all that food lying about, nice warm places to hide ect



davewasbaloo

Quote from: "madame_leota"the rats/mice/spiders would be very hard to control i would think, as its such a wide open area and also surounding dlrp is a lot of feilds and trees ect which is probably where they are coming from. It must be a haven for them, all that food lying about, nice warm places to hide ect

At DL in California, they have ferral cats that live in the park to help take care of the mouse problem. But DLP is the worst situtation I have seen. And I have never seen the trash problem in California either. It's down to the quality and quantity of cast members.

DLP is getting better, but it still is not up to traditional Disney standards. Then again most of Europe is dirtier than the US too. Could be cultural.
since 2001 (many before that)

pussinboots

Quote from: "davewasbaloo"[...]
DLP is getting better, but it still is not up to traditional Disney standards. Then again most of Europe is dirtier than the US too. Could be cultural.

THAT is debatable. Have you been to New York? Paris on the other hand is one of the cleanest cities on earth.

RnRCj

I wouldn't say DLRP is extremely dirty, but it certainly isn't completely clean. I do think that a bit more effort should be put into cleaning the parks, and also refurbishing things. They only seem to be focused on adding news attractions at the moment. :roll:

Quote from: "davewasbaloo"DLP is getting better, but it still is not up to traditional Disney standards.

True, very true. Walt Disney himself I'm sure wouldn't be too impressed with the cleanliness of the Parisian parks.

Quote from: "davewasbaloo"Then again most of Europe is dirtier than the US too. Could be cultural.

I'm not sure about most of Europe, but I really think the UK is bad. Most of our streets are made up of chewing gum. :?

Maarten

Compared to other Disney parks I have seen, Disneyland Resort Paris is definately not as clean. However, to me the Studios seem cleaner then Disneyland Park.

As far as it comes to toilets however I had a postive experience last month. The toilets I have seen both in the Studios and in Disneyland Park were very clean, something I didn't quite expect.

I also noticed that one of the main factors of the poor cleanliness is guest behaviour. Many people don't feel obligated after diner to put their waste into a trashcan. They just leave it on the table. Its plain arrogant and above all lazy in my opinion. Guests' laziness combined with laziness of a castmember makes it only worse. The attitude of castmembers is equaly important to get the place clean.

Another thing I noticed is the way guests are sleeping between bushes near Frontierland and on the grass near Space Mountain. And dont get me started about guests wandering through the gardens surrounding Central Plaza to find a good spot to watch the parade. I even saw a boy urinating a few metres away from me while waiting in the queue of Honey I Schrunk the Audience. Simply bad, rude and ignorant behaviour. A bit offtopic, I don't want to stereotype, but on most times when I noticed a guest behaving badly, it was quite obvious from which country they came from, even in the hotel (burping loudly in the lounge, letting kids scream and run around during breakfast etc.). But thats an entire different topic. Once again, to me the key elements for cleanliness are both guest and castmember behaviour.

pussinboots

Quote from: "Maarten"A bit offtopic, I don't want to stereotype, but on most times when I noticed a guest behaving badly, it was quite obvious from which country they came from, even in the hotel (burping loudly in the lounge, letting kids scream and run around during breakfast etc.). But thats an entire different topic.

Were they burping in a Romance language? (Sorry, awful, tasteless joke. I have no idea what I'm talking about.)

MizzRabbit

When we went to dlrp last year the toilets were plain filthy. I could hardly find a stall 'cause there was pee on the toilet seats, on the floor, all over and it was disgusting. But to my surprise when we came back this summer the toilets were much better and very clean and it really made me happy to be able to go to the toilet whithout having to stand in someone else's pee. I think DLRP are improving a little at a time. I hope it gets much better.

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burntsienna

Quote from: "RnRCj"I'm not sure about most of Europe, but I really think the UK is bad. Most of our streets are made up of chewing gum. :?

That is why I'm always so impressed with the park...compaired to the streets in the UK the park is like heavenly clean!  :lol:
I don't like chewing gum anyway, but it's just really offputting when the street is more gum than cement/paving slabs.

Quote from: "MizzRabbit"When we went to dlrp last year the toilets were plain filthy. I could hardly find a stall 'cause there was pee on the toilet seats, on the floor, all over and it was disgusting. But to my surprise when we came back this summer the toilets were much better and very clean and it really made me happy to be able to go to the toilet whithout having to stand in someone else's pee. I think DLRP are improving a little at a time. I hope it gets much better.

I understand there! It's terrible sometimes in the toilets!
But there was an improvement this year from last year I must say.
The cleanliness throughout the park is at quite a high standard, I rarely see rubbish on the floor, or if I do there's always someone on their way to sweap it up.
"I could be the Alice to your Wonderland"


Aveen2008

#13
Hi,

because I haven't been to the UK parks I can't compare but I have to say I never see anything wrong with the cleanliness of DLRP. Infact I always think it's pretty good standard considering the amount of people there is to actually cause the dirt in the first place. I do think sometimes the toilets could do with an extra clean and sometimes the restraunts need someone to go around and clean the tablets instead of just relying on the previous table occupants to put their stuff in the pin and put away the tray without the table being cleaned butas I say I still find this understandable and it would never really be an issue for me when I am at DLRP.

Aveen xxx

opps I meant USA parks.
Luv Aveen xoxo

davewasbaloo

Quote from: "Aveen2008"Hi,

because I haven't been to the UK parks I can't compare but I have to say I never see anything wrong with the cleanliness of DLRP. Infact I always think it's pretty good standard considering the amount of people there is to actually cause the dirt in the first place.

I am guessing you have never been to the American or Japanese parks.  They are even busier and much, much cleaner (ok, maybe not the MK in Florida anymore, and DLP get's their management from WDW boo boooooooo).
since 2001 (many before that)