A Spirited Perfect Ten

[ford91exploder]

It's interesting that you bring this up because I've wondered for quite some time if the way that society, the economy, and life gets recalibrated is if we end up in a WW2 like effort again. President Xi and his crowd certainly have the potential to go too far in their rapid muscularized military maneuvers and growth.

Let's just say that with ties to the military and emergency management organizations we've had more nationwide interagency drills this year so far than the past 5.

Xi is just the kind of guy who will go too far and with the weakness we are currently projecting from DC I think he reads that he has a short time horizon to act.

 

[alphac2005]

Let's just say that with ties to the military and emergency management organizations we've had more nationwide interagency drills this year so far than the past 5.

Xi is just the kind of guy who will go too far and with the weakness we are currently projecting from DC I think he reads that he has a short time horizon to act.

To think that many analysts that Xi had the potential to be even more favorable towards U.S. interests. Example 1,000,000 as to why so-called experts and talking heads are nothing of the sort.

 

[ford91exploder]

Yeah, assuming things get out of hand. I dont see the US being able to do anything about it.

Alas, the military buildup by China in the South Pacific should be of extreme concern to Disney, their expansion and the openness of the market.

The first people China will shoot at is US, Xinhua is already talking about a war with the US, Just not good

 

[flynnibus]

2.) Working 20 hours on your feet in a theme park dealing, answering stupid questions over and over and doing whatever possible strenuous tasks you've been assigned to is much different than an IT or engineering guy

Yeah, the latter requires you to continue to think and solve complex challenges.. the former requires to stick to the program and do your programmed actions.

Physical limits are easy to stretch... complex intellectual work is just as tiring and draining. A CM has to deal with stupid IASW for hours on end... a release guy has to deal with stupid g711 narrow band audio on conference bridges for hours.. which in itself will make you cranky and less effective.

I used to work 10am to midnight pretty regularlly and while it's tiring.. it's still far easier than what I've had to tackle in my actual career. Working 10am to midnight was working at the beach and doing counterservice/retail.. piece of cake.. that we'd go out drinking most nights afterwards too..

 

[PhotoDave219]

The first people China will shoot at is US, Xinhua is already talking about a war with the US, Just not good

I'm not sure the United States will let it get that far.

I see more of a Cold War type environment.

 

[ford91exploder]

To think that many analysts that Xi had the potential to be even more favorable towards U.S. interests. Example 1,000,000 as to why so-called experts and talking heads are nothing of the sort.

Most of my chinese friends had no illusions along those lines, They thought Xi was likely to lead China into a war with 'someone' not necessarily the US prime candidates were Taiwan/Japan/Australia. (the first two for historical reasons the third for SLOC denial and resources in Oz'es case Iron and Coal.

The biggest problem in the US now is the Newsies are entertainers and are paid to parrot the corporate line and they are not journalists in any sense of the word in many cases they are simply well paid talking heads.

 

[flynnibus]

Ohhhhhhhhh. Those kind of people.

There is a lot of those kind of people that make up "Disney Twitter"

I generally avoid because as we all know I tend to bark back…

Who knows.. maybe you'd bond as birds of a feather I've not spent any real times on their forums.. but they used to give people a run for their money on DLR photo updates. But now that Micechat is a snowflake-protected-zone.. I've not been following DLR as much.

 

[ford91exploder]

They actually did raise the minimum wage they can pay their employees to $9 in an agreement with the Union last August or so. However, that alone doesn't change everything.

$9 is still hard to live on. You need two jobs minimum to support yourself and where Disney really hurts themselves is how management treats CMs. That's why when people work at Disney and then they go over and work for Uni, I always hear how much people love it more over there. I've been on both sides as well and Uni just knows how to keep their employees happy. At Disney, you constantly feel like your being watched, and that's not a good feeling for the morale of the CMs.

Yes but in the old days when EPCOT was opening they were paying lot CM's 11 per hour when the minimum wage was 3.25, Then a WDW job was indeed a 'Good Job'.

 

[Next Big Thing]

I used to work 10am to midnight pretty regularlly and while it's tiring.. it's still far easier than what I've had to tackle in my actual career. Working 10am to midnight was working at the beach and doing counterservice/retail.. piece of cake.. that we'd go out drinking most nights afterwards too..

Honestly, doing what I did at WDW wasn't hard. It was very easy as you said yours was and many of us used to go out to IHOP after our late MK shifts, even if we didn't get off until 4.

I'm just saying, it's a managerial issue more than anything. I can almost guarantee your beach job was pretty laid back and you didn't have to follow strict rules. You could probably even go a day or two without shaving if you pleased.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Who knows.. maybe you'd bond as birds of a feather I've not spent any real times on their forums.. but they used to give people a run for their money on DLR photo updates. But now that Micechat is a snowflake-protected-zone.. I've not been following DLR as much.

I've found most photo updates to be generally boring.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm just saying, it's a managerial issue more than anything. I can almost guarantee your beach job was pretty laid back and you didn't have to follow strict rules. You could probably even go a day or two without shaving if you pleased.

True.. but there is something to be said for 'rushes' that last a solid 5hrs. I think my days as a grocery clerk were harder... not uncommon at all there to NEVER stop except on union breaks. Non-stop customers queued up for an entire shift. The work is pretty easy though... recommended for kids who need a decent paying job. My situation was a bit different because of the volume my store did...

 

[ford91exploder]

I'm not sure the United States will let it get that far.

I see more of a Cold War type environment.

The only question now is who gets shot at first in the South China sea, Japanese destroyers have been trading machine gun fire with chinese destroyers in the Spratley's, Unless cooler heads prevail it's only going to be a matter of time before someone uses missiles and then all bets are off.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Yes but in the old days when EPCOT was opening they were paying lot CM's 11 per hour when the minimum wage was 3.25, Then a WDW job was indeed a 'Good Job'.

Well, as I underlined by saying you'd need 2 jobs to survive, it's obviously not the best job going. But apparently within the next year or so the minimum wage will be going up another $1.50-$2. So they'll be back to where they were in 1982 or so.

You can thank the college program for the wages sneaking so low, btw.

 

[ford91exploder]

Well, as I underlined by saying you'd need 2 jobs to survive, it's obviously not the best job going. But apparently within the next year or so the minimum wage will be going up another $1.50-$2. So they'll be back to where they were in 1982 or so.

You can thank the college program for the wages sneaking so low, btw.

In dollars yes, in purchasing power no way, Back then a full time job at WDW put you at the lower end of the middle class.

The CP has been responsible for many evils.

 

[alphac2005]

Most of my chinese friends had no illusions along those lines, They thought Xi was likely to lead China into a war with 'someone' not necessarily the US prime candidates were Taiwan/Japan/Australia. (the first two for historical reasons the third for SLOC denial and resources in Oz'es case Iron and Coal.

The biggest problem in the US now is the Newsies are entertainers and are paid to parrot the corporate line and they are not journalists in any sense of the word in many cases they are simply well paid talking heads.

I read extensively some time ago about those in the Chinese military looking towards the Philippines as a potential hot spot and the U.S. "pivot" to the East is having the opposite effect that it intends to. The read has been that they want to humiliate the Philippines even though logic would say that would be odd considering the U.S. would be militarily entangled, but that is exactly the concept. The U.S. having to defend the Philippines and then they are essentially losers as they can only be saved from China because of the U.S. and have no ground to stand on. We'll see.

I know that we've both posted in the past about the joke that is the media here in the U.S. and what you've said is what can make your blood boil. X news organization brings on Y "expert" and fails to note the think-tank/corporation/agenda driven interest group that he or she is actually speaking for. Instead, they are presented as impartial experts on a given subject.

 

[MichWolv]

Yes but in the old days when EPCOT was opening they were paying lot CM's 11 per hour when the minimum wage was 3.25, Then a WDW job was indeed a 'Good Job'.

I have no doubt there were some CMs getting paid 11 back then, but the line workers were more like $5. For example...http://www.lostepcot.com/odysseyinterview.html

 

[Next Big Thing]

True.. but there is something to be said for 'rushes' that last a solid 5hrs. I think my days as a grocery clerk were harder... not uncommon at all there to NEVER stop except on union breaks. Non-stop customers queued up for an entire shift. The work is pretty easy though... recommended for kids who need a decent paying job. My situation was a bit different because of the volume my store did...

Honestly I love working when it's busy in any job because the goes by the fastest, as you are sort of saying.

What i'm saying is more so people can understand todays group of CMs a tad bit better. They aren't treated that well and because of that it reflects onstage in their attitude, posture, and general lack of care for the job. Many CPs I knew (and part-time) would just be going through the motions to get a paycheck.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirited Lunchtime Pricing Musings:

I see a lot of attention and angst regarding WDW surveying Guests about what is basically dynamic pricing (your price rises and falls based on factors like time of year, day of week, expected crowds etc.) Understand this: Disney is absolutely considering it, much like ways of charging for 'additional' FP+ without calling it such. All of the chatter (here in this thread, on what is now a 163-post other thread on this forum, in the Twitverse) is being monitored by people being paid (a lot more than $9 an hour) to provide detailed reports on your thoughts about it.

It's just another way of Disney showing that not only are they not special, not only are they (yes, here it comes ... cover your ears) a business, but that they are a cutthroat business only interested in the bottom line.

I am waiting for one (or more) of the CNBC/FOX crowds to come in and justify this. I'm sure they won't let us down.

There was a time when Disney knew that dynamic pricing was something 'those other businesses engaged in' and 'something we'd never consider' ... understand, they've been moving toward this for about 15 years if not a bit longer in the swamps.

Some examples:

1.) There was a time that when you renewed an AP via phone/mail (no, Internet in the 90s, sorry), that your AP wasn't active until you went to a Guest Relations window and exchanged your certificate for the actual AP. That meant, that if your pass expired in February and you renewed in your 30 day window, but didn't visit until August 1st, then the AP didn't start until August 1st and was good for a year from that date. A very fair and very Guest friendly way of DOING BUSINESS. Disney had your money. You had your lower renewal price. And you weren't locked into an arbitrary date based on when you purchased it the last year. You weren't sitting on an AP that was paid for and you weren't able to use that was running down daily ...

But someone at Disney realized that some amount of people (a number that likely was made far more financially significant than the reality) were actually benefiting from doing this. They were getting 'free months' (not really, because if you don't use a pass, then it isn't free) and, over a lifetime of owning an AP, avoiding multiple price increases that had been become annual (and sometime twice). So, people were conditioned into renewing an AP that possibly wouldn't get used for two weeks, two months or nine months, which led to ...

2.) MAGIC Your Way Ticketing options. In the past you bought a WDW 5-day pass and let's say you only used two days and had three left. Well, they were good forever (or until China destroyed the USA and took over ... wait, bad example). It was simple. It was fair. Some might say it was good business. Why should you put a proverbial 'fuse' on ticket media? Oh wait, because what if someone bought that 5-day pass in 1991 and wanted to use those remaining days in 2003? How much (in money that again only existed in theory -- much like soda thievary) was that Guest saving? So, Disney added a 'no expiration' option. No longer would those 10-day tix that @ParentsOf4 smartly purchased be good forever. Unless you paid a bit of extortion for that 'option' ... and people accepted that.

3.) Disney Resort Pricing. Hard to imagine now, but it once was easy. You had 3-4 seasons a year with prices for rooms based on category. If you arrived on the very last day of value season for a nine night stay, then that rate carried over for your entire stay. Again, putting Guests first, exceeding Guests expectations. I recall arriving on 12/25/99 for a two-week Milennium trip that was booked in 1994. It was the last day of regular season before peak season pricing began. I paid the regular season non-discounted rate of $119 to stay at Port Orleans. ... But look at all the that revenue ... all that profit that Disney lost. Whether they would have gotten it is another tale, but to those execs at Disney, they would have. Now, you can stay at WDW in the same room for two weeks and pay 4-5 different rates. Before again, because you know it's coming, someone points out that other hotel operators (most notably the Vegas casinos) use the same model, I'll again state that Disney has run its business on being unique and providing unparalleled Guest Service. Screwing people out of every last penny doesn't make most people want to come back and do it all again. ... Does that make you hungry? (I know I am, so need to make this short)

4.) Disney Dynamic Food Pricing and Discounting: It used to be so simple. You'd go to a WDW dining location (often without a reservation) and whether it was May 26th, Sept. 21st, Dec. 25th or Jan. 1st the prices on the menu were the same (specials excluded, obviously). And if you were eligible for a discount (be it DDE, AP etc), then you got it. But then someone decided that just like (some) other businesses, Disney could offer pricing based on time of year. If you were unfortunate enough to be spending a holiday with Disney, then they wanted to make sure you really got the white glove treatment. Suddenly, many dining locales (very popular ones, naturally) had 'holiday pricing' (basically, a surcharge) and those discounts that you used (or I did on Easter, July 4th, Christmas, NYE, etc)? They wouldn't be accepted on those days.

So, anyone who has watched Disney's Florida Business Model (DFBM from here?) shouldn't be surprised. Making the Ghetto Kingdom a more pricey one-day experience was just the first step. You want a cheap ticket, visit DAK or what's left of Disney-MGM on a week day in September. That's what Disney wants to do. Based on history, I very much see a day where you'd pay $180 to visit MK on Christmas, while paying 'only' $115 to visit DAK on Sept. 22nd.

Took so much time, that my thoughts on Tomorrowland (I'll give you a hint, I liked it) and my continued thoughts on China will have to wait.

 

[MKCP 1985]

I have no doubt there were some CMs getting paid 11 back then, but the line workers were more like $5. For example...http://www.lostepcot.com/odysseyinterview.html

maybe even less than $5 in 1982 for a new hire, but considerably more than minimum wage of $3.35.

 

[ford91exploder]

Honestly I love working when it's busy in any job because the goes by the fastest, as you are sort of saying.

What i'm saying is more so people can understand todays group of CMs a tad bit better. They aren't treated that well and because of that it reflects onstage in their attitude, posture, and general lack of care for the job. Many CPs I knew (and part-time) would just be going through the motions to get a paycheck.

That's a sad commentary because it did not USED to be like that at WDW.