TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
As your handle suggests, you can be a disney fan and a critic. I've read some interesting perspectives on this board!
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EPCOT Reflections of Earth confirmed to be replaced by Harmonious
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
trainplane3
Well-Known Member
There's only been a few managers I've seen in the parks that were actively watching guest and CM interaction. Most of them are too tied up in their phones to pay attention though. Regardless of what they're doing on the phone, it's a bad look.
Perhaps a roaming manager would've caught some CM's complaining about how, and I'm quoting directly, "the company can waste money on c*ck rock in Morocco but not fix-" something in the Land pavilion. That comment got some nice passing guest reaction.
TikibirdLand
Well-Known Member
I do want to point out that said managers need to work at those positions for a day EACH. Only then will they see what the problems are -- on the ground.
Shared the story before... The CEO of a major retail company put out this very mandate: each executive had to work as a clerk in a store for 1 day each year. It was next to the airport. Guess who picked my store? Yep, that very CEO. I had him up on ladders doing inventory before we opened (he was there 2 hours before the store opened and, that's what we do at that time -- inventory. You should have heard some of the "insights" he had while looking behind boxes and checking the list! He had other appointments and only stayed until the store opened. I can only imagine had he stuck around to handle an irate customer over the onerous return policies.
Hope that provides more detail.
mightynine
Well-Known Member
It really was short-sighted, as the aforementioned Morocco rock would've made a fine Pam & Tommy on Hulu cross-promotional opportunity.
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yensid1967
Well-Known Member
Haven't seen it in person, but
#!- I think the barges during the daytime hours is hideous looking!! It totally ruins the view of The American Adventure as it used to be viewed from Showcase Plaza
#2- I think Disney could have come up with a show that was just as good as RoE, just needed some TLC. Disney is not good at providing TLC, when something needs TLC, they tear it down and begin again!
RoE had good bones, just needed a refresh. From the videos I have seen of Harmonious, I am not impressed and would rather watch a bad day of RoE!
#!- I think the barges during the daytime hours is hideous looking!! It totally ruins the view of The American Adventure as it used to be viewed from Showcase Plaza
#2- I think Disney could have come up with a show that was just as good as RoE, just needed some TLC. Disney is not good at providing TLC, when something needs TLC, they tear it down and begin again!
RoE had good bones, just needed a refresh. From the videos I have seen of Harmonious, I am not impressed and would rather watch a bad day of RoE!
Imagine that.
If only there was a way for them to avoid such things... Maybe a requirement for management should be having theme park experience, AND customer service experience, AND listening to input other than surveys, etc.? If they did that, we wouldn't have a crap peddler uttering a phrase such as, "Everyone loves Disney music!" being the basis for a nighttime show. At Epcot.
TTA94
Well-Known Member
Lol I’m surprised the kites lasted this long. If Enchantment isn’t on their radar to it needs to be.
At least there will be one good nighttime show on property this year, which is F!. Unless they somehow manage to ruin that to.
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
As I've said before, the kites are fun in a stupid way and the unpredictable nature of the crashes and clashes lends it more interest then a lot of theme park shows. If I had to wait any time at all to see it rather then just glimpsing it from Flametree it might annoy me, but as long as it doesn't block a good night time show, I'm just as happy it remain. It's AK's Fast & Furious: Supercharged.
The blandness of the big expensive nighttime boondoggles is a much bigger sin - in entertainment, bland is always worse then stupid.
The blandness of the big expensive nighttime boondoggles is a much bigger sin - in entertainment, bland is always worse then stupid.
trainplane3
Well-Known Member
Oh I knew what you meant. The problem is how a lot of the managers can't even be bothered to be active during their jobs. You expect them to go out of their position and experience the crowds from a guest perspective? Aside from a minority, I doubt that would ever happen sadly.
Executive management would be the one's that should be forced to do that since they can make large, sweeping, operational changes.
tpoly88
Well-Known Member
i was just there Sunday, walked around and we went to an early dinner at La Hacienda, normally the view from here is amazing. Looking out over the lake, looking at the different countries and seeing all the people walking, now all you see are those #$@! barges. looks absolutely terrible. Seeing some of the other threads, not going to say i was worlds great boss, but i did get my hands dirty and do the jobs that others would not. Even getting the "why are you doing that? others get paid for that". well im old school and i beleive you need to do all the jobs and know the people doing them or how do you make good business decisions and how that decision will affect the staff. im a big proponent of walking around anonymously and talking with people to get their take. makes a difference in the outcome and how you provide a superior product.
Vinnie Mac
Well-Known Member
Good. I don't imagine the universal fans are prepared to face the stupidity that comes with some parts of the Disney community.
DisneyGentlemanV2.0
Well-Known Member
The point that the management seems to be missing is that the successes they have had are tied to an emotional response. The millennium theme was that the time had come to step into a new future - what could be more grand than that?
The theme today is more like "we have expensive IP - pay us to celebrate it with expensive screens."
Disney fans are sophisticated in a very unique way. They like grandeur and they like the feelings that "good show" brings to their hearts.
Maybe the heartless just don't understand...
123mart123
Active Member
I applaud audacious business investments and taking chances. Sometimes though, you simply fail. Worse than failing is not learning from the failure or not acting on it.
My recommendation - Write off Harmonious as a loss and remove the barges. Then move on to a replacement with appropriate urgency.
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
This seems a completely avoidable failure that they had multiple opportunities to course-correct on along the way, which I feel makes it pretty unforgivable. It would be one thing if the show itself were simply a miscalculation and a dud, but the entire infrastructure supporting it is a mess and, judging by the number of times additional barges are on the lagoon regularly servicing things, a maintenance nightmare in full view of guests. Many, many inexplicable decisions led to where we are now. I agree that they should respond with due haste, though.
Soccerbrad
Member
@marni1971 you talk about “higher ups” and I’ve always been curious-how high up are decisions like this made? Is the final call on something like Harmonious (or Genie+/LL, Epcot redesign, or any of the other major changes thru WDW history) made by WDW management, WDI executives, Josh, the Bobs, the board? I’ve always truly wondered who gets to make the final call on these sort of things.
Only a few?
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
So I watched Harm from Gran Destino tonight and had the music piped in. This is the second time seeing the show after seeing it once in person and hating it. I realized tonight, for me, it’s the dig a little deeper song that pushes me from meh to hate. It’s just TOO MUCH loud yelling music in a row going from Coco/saludos amigos right into PATF. I think cutting/adjusting the PATF segment (and I love that movie) could really help the flow of the show.
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
Agree completely. Both it and Reflection drag on and have grating instrumentation, which is weird for me to say considering how much I typically like Chinese fiddle. I honestly would've preferred Colors of the Wind if they needed something tied to America for the show. Princess and the Frog is already decently featured in Enchantment whereas Pocahontas just, uh, tumbles over a waterfall for two seconds in one sequence.