Attendance: Cast vs Tourists

jakeman

jakeman

Well-Known Member
MarkTwain said:
...and then the cast members (particularly those that work in that park and have a special connection to the place) end up buying tons of merchandise while they're in the park. I bought $100 worth of anniversary merch during Epcot's 30th (after my cast discount), probably quite a bit more than any average guest that just happened to find themselves at Epcot that day, unaware it was an anniversary. I also took a lot of dates to expensive restaurants around World Showcase and Hollywood Studios. Cast members aren't just employees draining Disney's resources by exploiting a perk; many have a special connection to the place and act on those feelings with significant spending back to the company. For Disney to turn around and mistreat their cast could end up hurting Disney in more ways than one.
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During my CP, other than gas and the occasional off property meal, almost all of my money went back to Disney.

While I didn't every spend enough to cover the cost of a ticket, I'm sure I contributed enough that my employment was a breakeven proposition for Disney at the worst.

I know there are other CPs and full timers at the opposite end of the spectrum, but if they took away reasonable park access then they would have lost quite a bit of profit from me and my group of friends.
 
W

wdwfan30

Member
i think most of you are being a little hard on cps. lets not forget that they too are making magical moments for you and your family. they are just as magical as any other cast member. they work long hours, are away from their family for 5 plus months, are making less money than regular cms, and most of their earned money goes to rent, food, and back into the parks on days off. to assume that parents are giving them money to live is wrong.
 
jakeman

jakeman

Well-Known Member
wdwfan30 said:
i think most of you are being a little hard on cps. lets not forget that they too are making magical moments for you and your family. they are just as magical as any other cast member. they work long hours, are away from their family for 5 plus months, are making less money than regular cms, and most of their earned money goes to rent, food, and back into the parks on days off. to assume that parents are giving them money to live is wrong.
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In some cases. Speaking as a former CP (albeit almost a generation ago now), I would say in my group of friends about a third of them received assistance (and were vocal about it) from their parents. It's not something that was really discussed in polite conversation.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Jakester said:
I would guess that on an average day you don't see a horrible amount of CMs in the parks. But when Disney does special events (Studios25,Villains,OMDD, ect) I would estimate that it's got a chunk of CMs as part of attendance. Personal observation from the Studios 25th was I saw more off duty CMs from Studios that day then more tourists when the evening came
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I agree - especially DHS25.
 
rael ramone

rael ramone

Well-Known Member
MarkTwain said:
...and then the cast members (particularly those that work in that park and have a special connection to the place) end up buying tons of merchandise while they're in the park. I bought $100 worth of anniversary merch during Epcot's 30th (after my cast discount), probably quite a bit more than any average guest that just happened to find themselves at Epcot that day, unaware it was an anniversary. I also took a lot of dates to expensive restaurants around World Showcase and Hollywood Studios. Cast members aren't just employees draining Disney's resources by exploiting a perk; many have a special connection to the place and act on those feelings with significant spending back to the company. For Disney to turn around and mistreat their cast could end up hurting Disney in more ways than one.
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I won't repeat in this thread what I've written in the 'cast member pay' thread - just to say that I agree that 'blackouts' should be applied as soon as the special event is announced and repealed if necessary later, out of respect for the employees that certainly are not exploiting the Mouse - when it's the other way around...
 
71jason

71jason

Well-Known Member
The Crafty Veteran said:
Is this a serious thread or just another weak backhanded excuse to try to explain why Disney parks in Florida keep increasing in attendance?
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Started IRL as a discussion of the popularity of SWW and the true feasibility of a SW land vs. conventional wisdom on the subject. I don't think it's a huge factor on any increase on guests--that's clearly the international market--but more curiosity on what the true market for WDW and its various parts really are.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
rael ramone said:
I won't repeat in this thread what I've written in the 'cast member pay' thread - just to say that I agree that 'blackouts' should be applied as soon as the special event is announced and repealed if necessary later, out of respect for the employees that certainly are not exploiting the Mouse - when it's the other way around...
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I understand that but i reitterate with them blacking out the 24 hour day, its näive to think that they wouldnt have blacked out Mark Hamill.
 
BrightImagine

BrightImagine

Well-Known Member
WDWFigment said:
I think everyone, or most everyone, can understand that reasonable blockout dates on Cast Member entry are acceptable. What's not acceptable is giving insufficient advance notice. Disney knew that Mark Hamill was coming to Star Wars Weekends months ago, and should have immediately blocked out the date once he was booked. Now, you can say that they didn't have attendance projections then, but it doesn't take a statistician to tell you that Mark Hamill is popular with Star Wars fans. Better to err on the side of caution, block the date out immediately, and then later announce a lifting of the blockout if projections show it to be unnecessary. People would rather be pleasantly surprised by an 'added' perk than disappointed that something they were counting on is yanked away at the last minute.

Anyone who has ever had their plans changed as a result of last-minute changes by Disney (bonus points if you first learned about your plan changes from the internet, before Disney contacted you), should be able to empathize with this.
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Thank you for stating my point better than I did. It was the fact there was a week's notice that was upsetting. I may be naïve but I know for certain that we weren't the only family disappointed when this happened. I have learned my lesson... recheck the dates regularly.
 
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natatomic

Well-Known Member
BrightImagine said:
Thank you for stating my point better than I did. It was the fact there was a week's notice that was upsetting. I may be naïve but I know for certain that we weren't the only family disappointed when this happened. I have learned my lesson... recheck the dates regularly.
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It didn't affect (effect? I really have no clue...) me any, but one of my friends' birthday was that weekend, she's a HUGE Star Wars and Mark Hamill fan, and so she decided to spend the day at DHS, and made lunch and dinner reservations to celebrate. But...she's a CM. So obviously she had to cancel her entire birthday plan, including her dining reservations, just a week before. Had those dates been blocked out when they announced Mark Hamill's plan to attend, she never would have made those plans to begin with.

This whole "blocking out Cast IDs" is very new. Maingates are one thing, IDs are a whole new ballgame. Especially this whole business of blocking them out the week before. I can't think of a single day that IDs have ever been blocked out pre-24 Hour Days (which I totally understood, btw). If anyone knows of any though, feel free to correct me!
 
tirian

tirian

Well-Known Member
natatomic said:
It didn't affect (effect? I really have no clue...) me any, but one of my friends' birthday was that weekend, she's a HUGE Star Wars and Mark Hamill fan, and so she decided to spend the day at DHS, and made lunch and dinner reservations to celebrate. But...she's a CM. So obviously she had to cancel her entire birthday plan, including her dining reservations, just a week before. Had those dates been blocked out when they announced Mark Hamill's plan to attend, she never would have made those plans to begin with.

This whole "blocking out Cast IDs" is very new. Maingates are one thing, IDs are a whole new ballgame. Especially this whole business of blocking them out the week before. I can't think of a single day that IDs have ever been blocked out pre-24 Hour Days (which I totally understood, btw). If anyone knows of any though, feel free to correct me!
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You're correct. They were never before blocked out in Florida—not even NYE. But this happens all the time in California. Thanks, Georgie K!
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
natatomic said:
It didn't affect (effect? I really have no clue...) me any, but one of my friends' birthday was that weekend, she's a HUGE Star Wars and Mark Hamill fan, and so she decided to spend the day at DHS, and made lunch and dinner reservations to celebrate. But...she's a CM. So obviously she had to cancel her entire birthday plan, including her dining reservations, just a week before. Had those dates been blocked out when they announced Mark Hamill's plan to attend, she never would have made those plans to begin with.

This whole "blocking out Cast IDs" is very new. Maingates are one thing, IDs are a whole new ballgame. Especially this whole business of blocking them out the week before. I can't think of a single day that IDs have ever been blocked out pre-24 Hour Days (which I totally understood, btw). If anyone knows of any though, feel free to correct me!
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No, you're on the money there with your history.

IMO, I would have been begging for Comps from friends as those were still valid.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
tirian said:
You're correct. They were never before blocked out in Florida—not even NYE. But this happens all the time in California. Thanks, Georgie K!
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I can only think of four days that Cast IDs were blacked out. 24 Hour Day Last year. 24 Hour Day this year. The Sat & Sun of Mark Hamill.
 
wogwog

wogwog

Well-Known Member
natatomic said:
It didn't affect (effect? I really have no clue...) me any, but one of my friends' birthday was that weekend, she's a HUGE Star Wars and Mark Hamill fan, and so she decided to spend the day at DHS, and made lunch and dinner reservations to celebrate. But...she's a CM. So obviously she had to cancel her entire birthday plan, including her dining reservations, just a week before. Had those dates been blocked out when they announced Mark Hamill's plan to attend, she never would have made those plans to begin with.

This whole "blocking out Cast IDs" is very new. Maingates are one thing, IDs are a whole new ballgame. Especially this whole business of blocking them out the week before. I can't think of a single day that IDs have ever been blocked out pre-24 Hour Days (which I totally understood, btw). If anyone knows of any though, feel free to correct me!
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About three years ago, I think 2012 Food and Wine the same Id blackout happened one day at Epcot. Some cast tell me they think it was a test to see how much squawking the CMs came up with. The two 24 hour events at MK were the next two, now Hollywood. Iger slowly chipping away at the so called benefits.
 
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PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
wogwog said:
That would not go to far as each cast gets only four comps annually. They usually save those to try to get some family in around the Christmas Holidays.
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I always treated mine like gold. I used maingates for the family. Comps were for special occasions.
 

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