A Spirited Perfect Ten

[ford91exploder]

"Quality will out" doesn't seem like a dead concept to me.

At least at Disney it's a dead concept, Strangely enough it seems to be working well for Apple...

 

[ford91exploder]

No, I meant The Disney Store. They were conceived of as mass market retailers that trick suckers into paying more for products that are also available at Target or Walmart. The emphasis was on creating an experience and selling unique merchandise. That changed when Paul Pressler pursued an aggressive expansion and shift in focus on higher volume, higher margin products. A strategy that worked for a small blip, but was clearly dead when Disney sold off the stores.

Funny how good customer experiences drive traffic and business is it not?, And how a strategy of gimmicks fails sooner than later.

 

[Goofyernmost]

"Quality will out" doesn't seem like a dead concept to me.

Never said a word about quality. What we are talking about is selection. If we cannot accept the fact that Disney Stores are and should be primarily for kids, then we might as well hang our brains out to dry cause we are not using them anyway.

There is a strong psychological factor involved. Adults do not go to Disney stores to buy their apparel. They might now and then buy a novelty item, but, they don't go there to enhance their personal wardrobe. They aren't now and never have been aimed at adults. Anyone that has ever been involved with retail knows that you must use every inch of space to display salable items. The occasional purchase does not pay the bills. Rate of turnover is the gospel. Disney stores did not go bankrupt because they changed their merchandise setup, they failed for the same reason that they are still struggling and that is price. Just like the parks and all things Disney, everything is overpriced. When you can go to your local Walmart or Target and buy the same things for your kids at half the price, it is a no brainer. Take my word for it, a kid does not have the slightest care about whether or not their princess outfit comes from a Disney Store or a Discount warehouse.

It never fails to amaze me that people still can't understand why Disney took out things that didn't sell in the parks and replaced them with things that did. It was because all of those that are complaining the most didn't put their money where their mouth is an buy the stuff that Disney was selling. Now it's gone, boo hoo, they have ruined my childhood memories. If they made money on it, you can bet it would still be there.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Never said a word about quality. What we are talking about is selection. If we cannot accept the fact that Disney Stores are and should be primarily for kids, then we might as well hang our brains out to dry cause we are not using them anyway.

There is a strong psychological factor involved. Adults do not go to Disney stores to buy their apparel. They might now and then buy a novelty item, but, they don't go there to enhance their personal wardrobe. They aren't now and never have been aimed at adults. Anyone that has ever been involved with retail knows that you must use every inch of space to display salable items. The occasional purchase does not pay the bills. Rate of turnover is the gospel. Disney stores did not go bankrupt because they changed their merchandise setup, they failed for the same reason that they are still struggling and that is price. Just like the parks and all things Disney, everything is overpriced. When you can go to your local Walmart or Target and buy the same things for your kids at half the price, it is a no brainer. Take my word for it, a kid does not have the slightest care about whether or not their princess outfit comes from a Disney Store or a Discount warehouse.

It never fails to amaze me that people still can't understand why Disney took out things that didn't sell in the parks and replaced them with things that did. It was because all of those that are complaining the most didn't put their money where their mouth is an buy the stuff that Disney was selling. Now it's gone, boo hoo, they have ruined my childhood memories. If they made money on it, you can bet it would still be there.

Except that The Disney Store was making more money when they did appeal to adults...

 

[Mike S]

Never said a word about quality. What we are talking about is selection. If we cannot accept the fact that Disney Stores are and should be primarily for kids, then we might as well hang our brains out to dry cause we are not using them anyway.

There is a strong psychological factor involved. Adults do not go to Disney stores to buy their apparel. They might now and then buy a novelty item, but, they don't go there to enhance their personal wardrobe. They aren't now and never have been aimed at adults. Anyone that has ever been involved with retail knows that you must use every inch of space to display salable items. The occasional purchase does not pay the bills. Rate of turnover is the gospel. Disney stores did not go bankrupt because they changed their merchandise setup, they failed for the same reason that they are still struggling and that is price. Just like the parks and all things Disney, everything is overpriced. When you can go to your local Walmart or Target and buy the same things for your kids at half the price, it is a no brainer. Take my word for it, a kid does not have the slightest care about whether or not their princess outfit comes from a Disney Store or a Discount warehouse.

It never fails to amaze me that people still can't understand why Disney took out things that didn't sell in the parks and replaced them with things that did. It was because all of those that are complaining the most didn't put their money where their mouth is an buy the stuff that Disney was selling. Now it's gone, boo hoo, they have ruined my childhood memories. If they made money on it, you can bet it would still be there.

I was referring more to this part of your post.

What worked 30, 40, 50 or 60 years ago will not necessarily work now no matter how much we wish it would.

"Quality will out" worked all those years ago, and it could work today. Personally I couldn't care less about the Disney Stores. Absolutely nothing of interest, even in the parks in most cases. On my trip to Disneyland I was disappointed they didn't sell any ride specific shirts for Indiana Jones, just the same stuff I could get at DHS. Ended up buying a blue "Disneyland" shirt instead. Luckily Disney sold a 20th anniversary IJA shirt online recently so I snatched that up.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I was referring more to this part of your post. "Quality will out" worked all those years ago, and it could work today. Personally I couldn't care less about the Disney Stores. Absolutely nothing of interest, even in the parks in most cases. On my trip to Disneyland I was disappointed they didn't sell any ride specific shirts for Indiana Jones, just the same stuff I could get at DHS. Ended up buying a blue "Disneyland" shirt instead. Luckily Disney sold a 20th anniversary IJA shirt online recently so I snatched that up.

And the reason you have no interest in The Disney Store or the stores at Disney theme parks is because Disney still remains oddly committed to the vision of Paul Pressler. He has been thoroughly discredited but Disney remains steadfast even though his career nosedived along with the rest of the retail industry that he imitated.

 

[Smiddimizer]

Captain Jack or Captain Hook?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/03/11/johnny-depp-hurts-hand-pirates-set/70140330/

 

[Phil12]

A really minor nitpick/observation: the music loop for the area must be pretty short. Before and after Cirque, I heard the loop repeat itself with Michael Jackson's "Rock with You," the Bee Gee's "You Should Be Dancing," and Talking Heads' "Letting the Days Go By."

Now, the choice of songs is pretty good, all things considered. The Talking Heads is extremely ironic given the lyrics, but the Bee Gee's song was the most interesting. I kept racking my brain trying think what movie this song was in. And it dawned on me it was in Despicable Me 2. Which made me want to ride Minion Mayhem. Nice work, Dis.

Some of us still think it was from Saturday Night Fever:

 

[wdisney9000]

But Staggs said nor implied anything of the kind.

The quote is also not his. The 'paradox of choice' quote is the author's: You make people happier not by giving them more options but by stripping away as many as you can.

Staggs presents a MM means to tackle that paradox: by streamlining the overwhelming choice into 'missions'. Into personalised preferences. For example, ride thrill rides, or, have a day of stopping to smell flowers. In your case the mission could read 'explore lots of different rides, have a different day than the ones before'. Staggs talks about how this can be achieved more easily, how it can be offered to the guest. One way to achieve this is to reduce necessary actions needed for a Disney day by eliminating the ones needed for the mass, leaving only the ones necessary for the personalised mission and subsequently enabling those with the least guest effort needed.

I think the words 'mission' and 'vacation' dont go together. I understand your using the word 'mission' in a sense of what you can accomplish in the day, but it just seems forceful to view what should be a relaxing experience (vacation) as something to be conquered by strategic planning. The bolded part of your statement is somewhat of a contradiction. Planning any personalized mission for a day at WDW requires effort, timing, planning, cross referencing ride times with dining times, checking weather, etc. That hardly seems like "least guest effort needed". Not saying its extremely difficult either, but I dont think many people are spending entire days just smelling flowers, or strictly riding thrill rides. If they are, its an extremely small amount. IMO, Anything any of the Disney execs say is just to massage the truth of the fact they are doing everything possible to make money without actually doing what made them so amazing in the first place.

 

[ford91exploder]

Never said a word about quality. What we are talking about is selection. If we cannot accept the fact that Disney Stores are and should be primarily for kids, then we might as well hang our brains out to dry cause we are not using them anyway.

There is a strong psychological factor involved. Adults do not go to Disney stores to buy their apparel. They might now and then buy a novelty item, but, they don't go there to enhance their personal wardrobe. They aren't now and never have been aimed at adults. Anyone that has ever been involved with retail knows that you must use every inch of space to display salable items. The occasional purchase does not pay the bills. Rate of turnover is the gospel. Disney stores did not go bankrupt because they changed their merchandise setup, they failed for the same reason that they are still struggling and that is price. Just like the parks and all things Disney, everything is overpriced. When you can go to your local Walmart or Target and buy the same things for your kids at half the price, it is a no brainer. Take my word for it, a kid does not have the slightest care about whether or not their princess outfit comes from a Disney Store or a Discount warehouse.

It never fails to amaze me that people still can't understand why Disney took out things that didn't sell in the parks and replaced them with things that did. It was because all of those that are complaining the most didn't put their money where their mouth is an buy the stuff that Disney was selling. Now it's gone, boo hoo, they have ruined my childhood memories. If they made money on it, you can bet it would still be there.

You are correct to a point, Unfortunately Paul Pressler introduced a metric ie sales per sq foot so slower moving merchandise even if it sold well for it's category was outranked by cheaper higher margin items. This was the end of a 'mix' of merchandise at the Disney stores - only things which did well in per sq ft sales and velocity (how fast it sells) remained. It's why today's merchandise is a dog's breakfast of random kiddie items.

 

[culturenthrills]

You want to know how cheap WDW is. It's 87 degrees outside and the have the AC barely running. If my family is spending $80 for lunch at Via Napoli we shouldn't be sitting here sweating. Btw last 3 days at UNI every building was nice and cool. #sweatydisneyside

 

[space42]

Except that The Disney Store was making more money when they did appeal to adults...

Come on - that's silly. Everyone knows that Disney is a business and they weren't profitable before 1998.

I think one of the more frustrating things about being a Disney fan for 40+ years is realizing that you are no longer who they wish to do business with.

 

[Cesar R M]

I stood at a US McDonald's some time ago, and did not even manage to order a burger. After half an hour of both they and I questioning each other what on earth we wanted I ended up just throwing five dollar on the counter and begging the employees in sign language to bring me something to eat for that amount.

your allegory related to the airport is also very flawed, there is a huge gigantic difference in movement paths to make the flow efficient and fast, and the other is the OPTIONS of offerings that the Airport offers (like food, bars, stores).


also in my opinion.. there is also a big difference in "too many options" with "too little options".

In McDonalds case (and many burger joints I've seen) their burgers are HARDLY different in many cases, they have minimal changes yet advertised as different products(like breaded fried chicken wit bacon and cheese vs with no bacon and Swiss cheese for exampe, they could have been just the same product and ask the vendor to change the cheese for an additional)

I remember once McDonalds had like 30 burgers combinations ( that were hardly different ) and could have been resumed to just 10 burgers with minimal variations.

 

[Cesar R M]

"Quality will out" doesn't seem like a dead concept to me.

Quality always leads to consumer trust and faith.
Building of a following, but only if they maintain said quality.

At least at Disney it's a dead concept, Strangely enough it seems to be working well for Apple...

Honestly, in Apple's case, I feel their bad service is countered by their insanely efficient marketing department.
anyone remembers Apple's blunders? Bendgate, the failing high end screens (yellowing screens too), the laptop failures, the "you're holding it wrong' mantra..etc..
but in general, the quality of the products are high.

 

[Cesar R M]

I think the words 'mission' and 'vacation' dont go together. I understand your using the word 'mission' in a sense of what you can accomplish in the day, but it just seems forceful to view what should be a relaxing experience (vacation) as something to be conquered by strategic planning. The bolded part of your statement is somewhat of a contradiction. Planning any personalized mission for a day at WDW requires effort, timing, planning, cross referencing ride times with dining times, checking weather, etc. That hardly seems like "least guest effort needed". Not saying its extremely difficult either, but I dont think many people are spending entire days just smelling flowers, or strictly riding thrill rides. If they are, its an extremely small amount. IMO, Anything any of the Disney execs say is just to massage the truth of the fact they are doing everything possible to make money without actually doing what made them so amazing in the first place.

The only defence for this concept I can think of... is by reserving long in advance is.. you will feel "at ease" that whatever happens, you will be able to ride these rides or get the food you wanted so much.

otherwise.. there is almost null spontaneity.
due of crowds, you have to time every single attempt at attractions and shuffle where you have to go and what to do with very thigh timings.
I dont think that is the definition of "relaxing".

 

[Cesar R M]

You want to know how cheap WDW is. It's 87 degrees outside and the have the AC barely running. If my family is spending $80 for lunch at Via Napoli we shouldn't be sitting here sweating. Btw last 3 days at UNI every building was nice and cool. #sweatydisneyside

but imagine how much energy they are saving by NOT turning on their AC's!
/sarcasm

 

[Phil12]

I remember once McDonalds had like 30 burgers combinations ( that were hardly different ) and could have been resumed to just 10 burgers with minimal variations.

I remember when McDonald's had only one burger. You could get that with fries and a drink and get change back from your dollar.

 

[Travel Junkie]

No, Disney didn’t have anything to do with that Wired article. Disney deleted the tweet shortly after.

 

[Frankie The Beer]

The new restaurants looks good but there is a severe lack of affordable options there. Not much counter service at all and I think that will hurt them eventually. I just cant see these new high end places doing well for a long time.

Le Cellier is an average dining option on property featuring some of the most bloated prices you can find anywhere, and its packed open to close 365 days of the year. Never underestimate the person on vacation at WDW.

I predict all new restaurants will be huge successes from the get go.

 

[Omnispace]

And the reason you have no interest in The Disney Store or the stores at Disney theme parks is because Disney still remains oddly committed to the vision of Paul Pressler. He has been thoroughly discredited but Disney remains steadfast even though his career nosedived along with the rest of the retail industry that he imitated.

This rings so true. That entire mindset of pushing overtly branded merchandise is very ingrained now. It was a long time ago but I remember my teenage sister buying a very nice hat at Disneyland. It wasn't a "branded" hat. It didn't have anything related to any attraction in the park or any characters on it. It was just a nice fashionable hat she found in a store in New Orleans Square. All it really had special was a Disneyland tag. I remember her wearing it a lot after that for all occasions. That is an example of where the Disney shopping experience was then. It was quality, tasteful merchandise that respected the shopper and added to the themed experience. There were also souvenirs in the park, (giant pencils, rubber snakes, etc..), but those were kept to their own places. You have to give credit to the merchandising people for capitalizing on the collectibles market but look at how much it has damaged the cache that used to be associated with Disney. Whereas before a quality hat with a special tag could be enticing, now everyone is looking for discounted, mass-produced, Disney-branded merchandise in the discount centers. It wasn't as much about selling merchandise then, it was about selling an experience.