So how do you propose they fix this?
I know many that still feel that Disney is the most special/magical vacation that anyone can take, and many of my clients agree.
I'll begin by relating my personal story. I first went to WDW as a young teen with my parents. It was fun, I had a good time, but I had a "been there done that" attitude.
Now fast foward 10 years or so. I am married and my (now ex) wife wants to go to WDW with the kids. I have no great love of Disney. Be it WDW or any other product. I took a look at it, and said "wow, thats pretty expensive for a theme park, but it will be a "special" event so we will go". We went, and I loved it. Not because of the attractions or because of the characters, but because of the attention to detail. Cast Members smiled and said "hi", walkways ways were spotlessly clean, grass was trimmed, paint was fresh, shelves were neatly stocked, etc. It was a special place and it felt like a special place. That attention to detail has been neglected. THAT is what WDW needs back. It's the little things that make it special. I still go because I have come to enjoy the Disney brand, and I also enjoy the memories I have made while there, but quite honestly, the feeling that I am in a special place when I am there is all but gone.
Maybe you play golf. There are some very nice public County courses around here. The courses are well kept, they are perfectly OK to play, and they are quite enjoyable. However, when you go to a private course, and there is a person who cleans your clubs for you, loads your cart and takes your shoes - thats special. When there are nice finishes in the clubhouse and you sit at a wood table and eat off of a china plate, as oppsed to at a formica counter and a paper plate, it feels special. I find myself acting accordingly. I am not rude or boorish on a county course, but I do dress differently. I also tend to play a different level of golf. Of course those extras all cost money, and you pay for it in the higher greens fees.
This is the same thing WDW has done. They have kept their "greens fees" low. Well, lower, it still is not cheap. In doing so they have forsaken a lot of the small but important things that made WDW feel like a special place.
Sure it is going to feel special to people who go there onvacation. It's a family vaction where memories are made. There is a run down cabin on a lake in Canada with no shower and a cast iron stove for heat that is very special to me. Not because of the cabin itself, but because I spent many childhood family vacations there. That does not mean though that somone walking into that cabin would say "wow, this is a special place, let me act accordingly'. Your clients feel that WDW is magical/special because THEY have made it special, not because Disney has made it special.
-dave