WDW Taking a Hit Over Gator and Massacre ...

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thought about putting this in my Spirited thread, but I feel it is important enough to not be buried in 200-plus pages. And it isn't specifically about the gators and bad parenting and whether George Kalogridis should be fired (he should), so I'd respectfully ask the mods to not bury this when the inevitable complaints due to who is writing it here come in.

From a trusted and well-placed source:

First, in what has been a very lousy summer (no, I don't care that there were 300 minute waits for Frozenstrom as we all know why that is and what it means) for WDW and O-Town in general, things are about to get worse in the $$$ department:

"The Grand Floridan has seen a huge surge of cancellations and requests to be moved to other resorts. There have also been a larger than normal request of refunds for Guest choosing not to visit at all due to the events on property and off."

Second, the ridiculous (and @WDWFigment wrote a nice blog post on his own site about this) and knee-jerk reaction of WDW in making it seem like gators don't exist in any realm, even fantasy ones are the rule of the day. In other words, who knows whether parade floats or foamheads will ever be allowed to return because one child died in 44 years.

I also forgot somehow that Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach both have alligators as mascots. One wonders if they'll rip out the fiberglass versions and change the maps because THAT will address the problems, not properly warning Guests these animals are present and properly warning them that they will be subject to fining, trespass and banning if they or their children feed gators.

Playing pretend is always so much better. From the source again:

"Marketing has been reviewing every single piece of collateral and pulling anything that shows or depicts an alligator or crocodile in addition to showing beaches in resort photos and listings as amenities.

Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon had a whole summer campaign featuring their respected gator mascots that was pulled at the last minute."

If anyone wondered how WDW would handle a crisis, you are now seeing it in full view and it isn't pretty at all.
 

fosse76

Well-Known Member
Erasing the existence of alligators and crocodiles is beyond over the top. What next? Close Test Track the next time there is a traffic accident on property resulting in fatalities? On second thought . . .

I wonder if Universal is also seeing reduced bookings. It would explain why I was able to get an AP discount at Cabana Bay for 4th of July weekend when none existed just a few days ago, and why even HRH, PBR and RPR have better AP discounts available.
 

AEfx

Well-Known Member
Second, the ridiculous (and @WDWFigment wrote a nice blog post on his own site about this) and knee-jerk reaction of WDW in making it seem like gators don't exist in any realm, even fantasy ones are the rule of the day. In other words, who knows whether parade floats or foamheads will ever be allowed to return because one child died in 44 years.

I'm not aware of the other ones, but surely you don't have an issue with them removing the Jungle Cruise joke that was about children getting eaten by alligators, on a ride just a few hundred yards away from where a child just died of an alligator attack?
 

DznyGrlSD

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Second, the ridiculous (and @WDWFigment who knows whether parade floats or foamheads will ever be allowed to return because one child died in 44 years.

"Marketing has been reviewing every single piece of collateral and pulling anything that shows or depicts an alligator or crocodile in addition to showing beaches in resort photos and listings as amenities.

If anyone wondered how WDW would handle a crisis, you are now seeing it in full view and it isn't pretty at all.

This is so stupid. I'm not downplaying the tragedy that happened but this is why we can't have nice things. This is why kids today get participation trophies for everything. People are TOO DARN SENSITIVE. get over it.
 

TeriofTerror

Well-Known Member
Thought about putting this in my Spirited thread, but I feel it is important enough to not be buried in 200-plus pages. And it isn't specifically about the gators and bad parenting and whether George Kalogridis should be fired (he should), so I'd respectfully ask the mods to not bury this when the inevitable complaints due to who is writing it here come in.

From a trusted and well-placed source:

First, in what has been a very lousy summer (no, I don't care that there were 300 minute waits for Frozenstrom as we all know why that is and what it means) for WDW and O-Town in general, things are about to get worse in the $$$ department:

"The Grand Floridan has seen a huge surge of cancellations and requests to be moved to other resorts. There have also been a larger than normal request of refunds for Guest choosing not to visit at all due to the events on property and off."

Second, the ridiculous (and @WDWFigment wrote a nice blog post on his own site about this) and knee-jerk reaction of WDW in making it seem like gators don't exist in any realm, even fantasy ones are the rule of the day. In other words, who knows whether parade floats or foamheads will ever be allowed to return because one child died in 44 years.

I also forgot somehow that Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach both have alligators as mascots. One wonders if they'll rip out the fiberglass versions and change the maps because THAT will address the problems, not properly warning Guests these animals are present and properly warning them that they will be subject to fining, trespass and banning if they or their children feed gators.

Playing pretend is always so much better. From the source again:

"Marketing has been reviewing every single piece of collateral and pulling anything that shows or depicts an alligator or crocodile in addition to showing beaches in resort photos and listings as amenities.

Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon had a whole summer campaign featuring their respected gator mascots that was pulled at the last minute."

If anyone wondered how WDW would handle a crisis, you are now seeing it in full view and it isn't pretty at all.
Extremely wild speculation on my part here, but do you think that some of these changes are happening to avoid offending the Graves family, and perhaps once they reach a settlement some of these changed items will revert back to their original status? I just think they may be walking on eggshells until that case is behind them. (I know nothing's been filed, but at the very least a large settlement is bound to happen.)
 

DznyGrlSD

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
If this is true, I'm wondering if WDW is discounting rooms at the GF for the next few months due to these cancellations. A September trip might be nice.

I just checked and nope. We got a discount for 1 night in September a few weeks ago (split stay) and nothing but club level is available right now.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
Thought about putting this in my Spirited thread, but I feel it is important enough to not be buried in 200-plus pages. And it isn't specifically about the gators and bad parenting and whether George Kalogridis should be fired (he should), so I'd respectfully ask the mods to not bury this when the inevitable complaints due to who is writing it here come in.

From a trusted and well-placed source:

First, in what has been a very lousy summer (no, I don't care that there were 300 minute waits for Frozenstrom as we all know why that is and what it means) for WDW and O-Town in general, things are about to get worse in the $$$ department:

"The Grand Floridan has seen a huge surge of cancellations and requests to be moved to other resorts. There have also been a larger than normal request of refunds for Guest choosing not to visit at all due to the events on property and off."

Second, the ridiculous (and @WDWFigment wrote a nice blog post on his own site about this) and knee-jerk reaction of WDW in making it seem like gators don't exist in any realm, even fantasy ones are the rule of the day. In other words, who knows whether parade floats or foamheads will ever be allowed to return because one child died in 44 years.

I also forgot somehow that Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach both have alligators as mascots. One wonders if they'll rip out the fiberglass versions and change the maps because THAT will address the problems, not properly warning Guests these animals are present and properly warning them that they will be subject to fining, trespass and banning if they or their children feed gators.

Playing pretend is always so much better. From the source again:

"Marketing has been reviewing every single piece of collateral and pulling anything that shows or depicts an alligator or crocodile in addition to showing beaches in resort photos and listings as amenities.

Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon had a whole summer campaign featuring their respected gator mascots that was pulled at the last minute."

If anyone wondered how WDW would handle a crisis, you are now seeing it in full view and it isn't pretty at all.

It's showing the executive teams general inability to think on their feet as to the gator massacre The only other way would have been to tranquilize and X ray the gators prior to relocating them in the glades somewhere so they cannot find their way back
 

fosse76

Well-Known Member
Extremely wild speculation on my part here, but do you think that some of these changes are happening to avoid offending the Graves family, and perhaps once they reach a settlement some of these changed items will revert back to their original status? I just think they may be walking on eggshells until that case is behind them. (I know nothing's been filed, but at the very least a large settlement is bound to happen.)

I don't think it is specific to the Graves family. Disney doesn't like ANY negative feedback, and if they think a casual guest with no relation to the Graves family might say something about the use of alligators/crocodiles being inappropriate or insensitive on merchandise or as characters in rides or as mascots, then purged they must be! It's one of the reasons I think that Disney's customer service is anything but: they grease the squeaky wheel to prevent any negative feedback (oh, you waited three hours for Frozen Ever After? Here's a free ice cream). I think the removal of the joke on the Jungle Cruise was sufficient.
 

dizneycrazy09

Well-Known Member
I definitely see how the events in Orlando as of late could be affecting current and/or in the near future bookings, but if the long-time visitors that I know are a representation of a the larger population of Disney-goers, it would seem that people are slowly starting to take notice of the budget cuts, the lack of new attractions/shows/ride/etc. and simply not booking trips to WDW.

Personally, I've gone every year of my life since I was 8 years old, up until two years ago. I haven't been back since 2014 and have no plans to go back until AT LEAST Pandora opens. I am going to Uni this year for the first time since '08...Disney doesn't care about that though, right @WDW1974 ?
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Probably will be losing Port Orleans's gators too.

I didn't even think about them (just like I zoned out on the waterpark mascots). Is every depiction of an animal so offensive that it must be scrubbed from reality? If so, I wish we could do the same with a word that rhymes with 'buns' because that might actually make our world and Da World better places.
 

rob0519

Well-Known Member
I just checked and nope. We got a discount for 1 night in September a few weeks ago (split stay) and nothing but club level is available right now.

Well oncr we pick our dates, we'll have to see what resorts have availability. Whileva horrible tragedy, I personally dont see this affecting occupancy at the GF or attendance in general to any major degree.]pp
 

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