The Spirited Back Nine ...

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Spirit. That whole saga is sad. There is so much we don't know yet, but the man deputies are looking for has gone through so much. Lost his hands and arms at age 16 to meningitis. Nothing could excuse the murder of his parents (if he is responsible) but few of us could fathom what he and his family have gone through. My prayers are with those grieving.

Yes. It seems to just be a tragic story (like there aren't enough of those!) I have been occupied the last few days and didn't hear a thing about it until 40 minutes ago. But they showed a pic of the parents at EPCOT and the father is just so familiar to me.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Brigante is usually pretty down on the state of the parties.

I keep hearing Disney is down on him, but that never seems to show itself. Much like I hear that Blogger (Fill in with a fave) is on Disney's Pooh List monthly, but that doesn't stop them from being at the feeding trough. I guess Lovely Leanne and her Celebration Place Happy Fun Propaganda Gang don't really give a damn.
 

FloridaRes

Active Member
I'm discussing guest interaction.

I have no comment on your managers as I dont know them. I have met many. Some are good and interested in good guest service. Some are good and interested in helping cast with professional development. Some are GSMs straight out of College with zero management or real world experience. And others are interested in making themselves look good, covering their own rear and climbing the corporate ladder.

Hopefully you've had good managers. Hopefully you've helped others with professional development and helped to mentor other cast members. Hopefully your bosses have as well.

But thats not always how this company works. Anyone who has been here 42 years has seen the shift in the management winds.
I'm discussing guest interaction.

I have no comment on your managers as I dont know them. I have met many. Some are good and interested in good guest service. Some are good and interested in helping cast with professional development. Some are GSMs straight out of College with zero management or real world experience. And others are interested in making themselves look good, covering their own rear and climbing the corporate ladder.

Hopefully you've had good managers. Hopefully you've helped others with professional development and helped to mentor other cast members. Hopefully your bosses have as well.

But thats not always how this company works. Anyone who has been here 42 years has seen the shift in the management winds.

i specifically responded about managers, if you will read back. And I am sure there were good and bad manager ever since creation.
And do you ever actually work?
 

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
i specifically responded about managers, if you will read back. And I am sure there were good and bad manager ever since creation.
And do you ever actually work?

Yes, I once worked for the company. It was a good experience. My managers were ok. Not the best, not the worst, but I saw the internal politics in action.

Since then, I've worked for many newspapers since and I'm quite open about being a freelance photojournalist. I've interacted with the public for the past 15 years on a daily basis, including being spit at, shot at and swung on.

So yes, I've worked for a living in the real world, far from the safety of a desk.
 

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
You know it will be bad when Cars 3 gets announced...

Oh wait
iZIry9o.jpg
 

stevehousse

Well-Known Member
Saw Interstellar in 70MM IMAX today. I naturally want to avoid saying anying about it, but I look forward to the discussions we could have about it.

And remember to use the
Spoiler
tag or @PhotoDave219 will come to your home and break your fingers and toes!

Did u like the movie? I watched a few minute here and there throughout at our screening this evening and it looks great! I really do want to see it but 3 hours is a huge time investment! Lol
 

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Two-thirds of Florida voters sat home, even with weeks of early voting. That's very, very sad.
It is sad, but I see it as sad for likely somewhat different reasons than you. While many probably don't bother to vote just out of laziness, i think there are a lot of people out there who want to care but simply have no hope or faith in the choice of politicians selected for them. Even for the ones seemingly adhering to their personal beliefs, people have been lied to so many times by their own parties that it's increasingly harder for them to see a purpose in voting and placing trust in them. They get burned and then even feel subconsciously ashamed of their participation in the matter, afterwards choosing to subscribe to the George Carlin train of thought by abstaining from voting entirely.
 

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
It is sad, but I see it as sad for likely somewhat different reasons than you. While many probably don't bother to vote just out of laziness, i think there are a lot of people out there who want to care but simply have no hope or faith in the choice of politicians selected for them. Even for the ones seemingly adhering to their personal beliefs, people have been lied to so many times by their own parties that it's increasingly harder for them to see a purpose in voting and placing trust in them. They get burned and then even feel subconsciously ashamed of their participation in the matter, afterwards choosing to subscribe to the George Carlin train of thought by abstaining from voting entirely.

I think you're right about that. Without getting too political here, it's difficult to believe in a system that results in a governor being elected with only 40% of the votes, and an electoral college actually casting your presidential vote. But I still vote....
 

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
This is required reading before posting on this thread ... or indeed posting on these boards:

http://fyeahjonathanlewis.tumblr.co...-was-really-like-working-at-walt-disney-world

(Before anyone asks, don't know this kid, but given his resume, probable only a degree of separation.)

Good reading, though sadly, there's nothing here I haven't read before.

It's really depressing that Disney depends on the same degree of blinding brand loyalty that makes its perennial guests ignore degrading park quality to also maltreat employees. Pixie Dust seems to affect people on both sides of the berm. No company besides Disney could get away with acting as they do.
 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
So, who is going to hang out with the bloggers/Lifestylers/whores at Friday's MVMCP kick-off?

And how many of them will tell their flocks that they shouldn't attend this very tired event that extorts Christmas from Guests annually? The over/under is ZERO.

I have a friend attending ( non-blogger/lifstyler/etc. ) tonight.
Looking forward to her thoughts on the experience as it will be her first X-mas Party Event.

Before she left for Orlando, she was telling me about her previous visit last Autumn, and how annoying she found the whole MM+/FP+ nonsense.
Her attitude towards that has not changed, but i enjoy hearing her feedback on the 'whys' behind her not necessarily enjoying that aspect of the Parks.
It is also always interesting to hear someone like her not aware of the 'whys' behind the scenes give a honest opinion on her general feelings on what she is experiencing down there.

I get the impression she has become a little disenchanted with the place.
Much of what she has expressed touches on many topics we have covered right here in thsee 'Spirited' threads concerning MM+/FP+.

The primary reason she went back to FL was to go to Universal's new Diagon Alley...with a 'side trip' one day visit to the MK for the Party.
Interested to hear what her thoughts are on that.

I keep urging her to visit Disneyland instead, but no luck so far.
Perhaps after this visit...
( rubs hands together )
;)
 
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Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Is there anyone who's job it is to make sure things are working, and has the power to change them if they're not? Each attraction should have a manager who's job it is to fill out an inspection sheet each day, ticking anything broken, which gets sent to a maintenance waiting list. I bet they don't have anything like that, but they should.

Yes, several years ago.
The famous SQS ( Show Quality Standards ) department.

Needless to say they were not well liked by some uppers.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
It's really depressing that Disney depends on the same degree of blinding brand loyalty that makes its perennial guests ignore degrading park quality to also maltreat employees. Pixie Dust seems to affect people on both sides of the berm. No company besides Disney could get away with acting as they do.

It stems from the corporate standoff position where you become so risk adverse, and try to remove all thinking, that you take away all empowerment from people. Add on top of that union oversight which tries to enforce total uniformity, and you end up with an environment where policy rules all... and people are not treated like humans.

Its what leads to the mentality of 'workers are just numbers'. Its very easy to fall into those traps as an organization grows. The way to combat it is to offer flexibility, hands-on management, train people, empower people, and retention. That way 'good' employees make decisions consistent with your values and vision... and you weed out bad employees who don't. You retain and promote those who succeed so they in turn educate and lead the next generation of workers.

That was a mentality that the old company understood. That was a mentality that fostered the idea that 'cheapest wasn't necessarily the best' and PnL isn't the most critical metric. But that seems to have lost ground to the manage by the numbers mentality.

Just like in the customer facing side... in employment Disney can coast on it's past reputation and continually suck in new blood. Some are so enamored with the idea of working in the most magical place on earth they can overlook the bad.. others are desperate enough to not seek better. For many, the pros outweigh the bad... but its a shame that the # of pros from the employer side have become a shell of what they used to be.
 

Kuhio

Well-Known Member
A friend, and former poster here who is on his way back from Asia right now (and I hope he pops in here ... hey @Kuhio, I'm talking 'bout you!) was at UNI about five or six weeks ago and loved DA but had similar feelings about Gringotts. He termed the effect to be 'Universal Fatigue' and I brought this up while with my UNI-Creative friend 'Gywn' ...the feeling is one of sameness because UNI is so infatuated with screens on its attractions. I hope he makes a return here because I absolutely agree with it.

Popping in briefly here -- still catching up on things on the homefront after my journeys through Asia. I'll post more a little later, but to set up the context:

I was in Orlando for a couple of days in the early fall, and had the chance to experience the attractions that were new to me since my visit a year ago -- chiefly 7DMT and Gringotts. I may post more about my O-Town sojourn later (though I'll likely focus on the Asian parks), but Mr. '74 has very concisely encapsulated my own opinions.

I then spent a couple of weeks traveling through Asia, hitting up the major Southeast Asia parks and their Halloween festivities -- Universal Studios Singapore and its Halloween Horror Nights, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Ocean Park. So I had a pretty good chance to compare Universal's domestic vs. foreign offerings, as well as the WDW parks vs. HKDL (which I'd visited once a number of years ago, when the park was much sparser on attractions), with very fresh memories.

In a nutshell: Mystic Manor is AMAZING. My expectations were high, but MM completely blew me away. (I think the message I sent '74 right after I experienced it said something like, "When the ride ended, I had to suppress the urge to clap like a trained seal.") Having experienced every major Disney and Universal attraction thus far (with the exception of Ratatouille), I can safely say that MM is not only Disney's best attraction, but the best theme park attraction anywhere. I don't think it's even close. The POV videos give you some idea of the attraction, but there is an immersiveness to the special effects, coupled with the movement of the trackless vehicles, that the videos just can't provide.

On the whole, HKDL and its resort hotels are being operated and maintained on a level comparable to TDR. If you were to take Mystic Point and drop it in Tokyo DisneySea, there would not be any appreciable difference in the level of theming and details. As another example, it's a small world (which, as an aside, is the best version of the Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed) looked like it opened yesterday -- without a single effect or doll or lightbulb inside or outside of the attraction inoperational or compromised in any way.

The HKDL hotel might look like a "Reader's Digest condensed version" of the GF, but it's really like a boutique version -- the room rates are comparable to those of the WL or AKL, but the level of service and upkeep far exceeds that of any WDW resort. The buses that run between the hotels and the park supposedly run every 10 minutes, but I never waited more than 3 or 4 minutes for a bus, even at the end of the day when the park closed -- they simply operated more buses, so that a new one pulled up as soon as one was full.

And CMs everywhere were efficient, knowledgeable, and friendly -- I really felt the "Disney difference" between HKDL CMs and those at USS or OP (or, for that matter, WDW or UF).

Anyway, more to come a little later... but HKDL exceeded my expectations in every possible way, and left me optimistic for the future of both HKDL and Disney parks generally -- clearly Imagineering still has some tricks up its sleeve that it can (if it chooses to) deploy stateside...
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Thanks for that.....somehow I feel validated in how I feel about TDO and WDW in general. To those who say some of us are nothing but Doom and Gloom......what do you say now?

Come on @Goofyernmost I know you have to have an opinion.
Yes, I do have an opinion and you will be surprised by what it is. But, first the irony of that article is that he goes on and on, using expletives and then ends up like a loving person that gained something from the experience.

Next the tone of your post leads me to believe that you think that I endorse every thing that Disney does now, did then or will continue to do. That is absolutely wrong. If you had read a number of my posts over time you would know that. I only try and interject some logic into these conversations that seem to run wild with venom over things that either haven't happened yet, are never going to happen or are just plain products of overactive imaginations coupled with paranoia.

I know that Disney has faults and the biggest are how they treat their help as well as how they allow the loudest whiners, of which that guy is one, to be rewarded for that behavior. But, in the long run I probably spend an average of 4 days in any Disney park per year, so I consider that to be a product of protecting themselves from the hassle of confronting people and the overwhelming entitlement factor that not only is in the general public, but, is really in full bloom with many of the folks that post on these boards.
 

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
It stems from the corporate standoff position where you become so risk adverse, and try to remove all thinking, that you take away all empowerment from people. Add on top of that union oversight which tries to enforce total uniformity, and you end up with an environment where policy rules all... and people are not treated like humans.

Its what leads to the mentality of 'workers are just numbers'. Its very easy to fall into those traps as an organization grows. The way to combat it is to offer flexibility, hands-on management, train people, empower people, and retention. That way 'good' employees make decisions consistent with your values and vision... and you weed out bad employees who don't. You retain and promote those who succeed so they in turn educate and lead the next generation of workers.

That was a mentality that the old company understood. That was a mentality that fostered the idea that 'cheapest wasn't necessarily the best' and PnL isn't the most critical metric. But that seems to have lost ground to the manage by the numbers mentality.

Just like in the customer facing side... in employment Disney can coast on it's past reputation and continually suck in new blood. Some are so enamored with the idea of working in the most magical place on earth they can overlook the bad.. others are desperate enough to not seek better. For many, the pros outweigh the bad... but its a shame that the # of pros from the employer side have become a shell of what they used to be.

The really scary thing is that all of Disney's current strategies, whether we like them or not, seem to be working wonderfully, at least in terms of maximizing profits and maintaining their workforce. Who are we to say they're charting the wrong course?
 

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