Disney World customer service has seen improvements recently, with many guests experiencing exceptional service during their visits. While there was a perception of declining service in past decades, recent trips indicate a resurgence in attentive and friendly interactions from Cast Members, enhancing the overall park experience.

The Nerds just returned from a Walt Disney World trip, and boy are our arms tired (buh-dum-bump!). Seriously, folks. Tip your servers.

The Nerds feel that Disney World Customer Service (well, Disney World, Disneyland…) has slipped in recent decades.

What had been unrivaled service seemed to diminish over the past couple of decades.

As we witnessed this change, our best guess was that it was tied to the parks’ push for profitability that resulted in lower Cast Member to guest ratio.

This would be expected if you have fewer people serving more people – there is just less of them to go around.

Plus, keeping 20,000,000+ guests at a park happy each year is no small challenge (no excuses…just laying out some facts).

(Disney World Tickets: A Simple Guide)

Our Experience with Disney World Customer Service

Relative to other theme parks, Disney was still “top dog” but we felt Universal Studios Florida was making tremendous strides in their service levels relative to Disney.

To be sure, there were examples of excellent Disney World customer service, they were just less frequent than before.

This time around, in a COVID world, maybe Cast Members were happy to be back at work (they sure seemed to be and we were often thanked for coming out to the parks) or perhaps the Cast Member to guest ration was “up” due to limited capacity.

Whatever the case, we were thrilled!

Everywhere we turned, day after day and restaurant after restaurant, we had smiling Cast Members and excellent service and it had such a positive impact on our trip.

During our visit to the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant (we frequent this eatery on every visit), we found speedier service and wait staff with more time to chat here and there about what was happening in the park and to make recommendations on how to avoid long waits.

Plus, we got the check and receipt quicker than any time we can remember.

(Can you return Disney Tickets?)

The same can be said for the 50’s Prime Time Diner, Jungle Skipper Canteen Restaurant and Tony’s Town Square Restaurant.

Even though interacting with guests is part of the appeal at 50’s Prime Time, there was definitely extra time and attention given to the guests eating nearby.

Same goes for Tony’s Town Square and Jungle Skipper Canteen Restaurant – our waitress stopped by with a quirky joke frequently and it was a blast!