Cuts coming to every area of parks and resorts - thanks to Shanghai and Paris

[wogwog]

and hurricanes..

And those cute gators.

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

Some cursing but this totally fits

Spoiler

Get to see him on Wednesday!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I thank you my dearest chap.

If you're really tryin' to be 'Murica, you'd have gone with White Castle.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I'm personally glad to know that portion sizes are being reduced, hubby and I often share a meal in summer, we don't eat as much, due to the heat. Now, we will have to rethink our strategy to keep down costs. Probably will bring our own snacks from home to share.

Perhaps if you didnt snack youd eat a full portion. Still hoorrahh for Disney helping with our weight management program. small portions on homogenised menus at over priced rates, its enough to put anyone of their tuka.

 

[The_Jobu]

If you're really tryin' to be 'Murica, you'd have gone with White Castle.

Personally, I like to keep an eye out for Bob Evans when I visit the States.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Personally, I like to keep an eye out for Bob Evans when I visit the States.

My family calls it Bug Evans. I'll let you guess why.

We no longer frequent the establishment.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Then I will do my own adjustment, go outside of the park to eat.

I've been happily doing that for over 30 years now. I was way ahead of my time!

 

[Goofyernmost]

For a lot of Brits its the American thing, not just the Disney thing. Multiple parks. Palm trees. White sand beaches. Cheap plentiful food. Denny's. Wendy's. Big cars. 100 degree heat guaranteed.

Though DLP is the best themed park offering for Europe.

I think that is true. I was in DLP in October and it was a nice park, but it was lacking in something. I'm not sure what it was, but, it seemed old somehow, like it had been there for a hundred years. I can't ever pinpoint why it felt that way, it just did to me. Florida, on the other hand, is so much more... pastelly, pink and tan, palm trees, lakes and new looking. I would think that would be attractive to Europeans as well. Heck, I live only 400 miles from Florida and I feel that when I go there. It's just different where DLP epitomizes Europe in many ways.

I just read through my post and please believe me I can see that someone might take that as a slam on Europe. It is not, it is just an observation and a thought of why people travel that far to go to WDW. It's not just Disney just as DLP is not just France. I went to Europe to see Europe. I happened to be in the area of DLP and decided to stop in there as well, but, Europe was the target. WDW is a target and reason to go to Florida. Same emotion, just different focus.

 

[djlaosc]

I'm not from the UK, but I've gotta say that I'd be there all the time if I were a couple hours away via train. We made the trip from the states in 2009 and we really loved the differences.

I guess it depends on where you live and which form of transport you can take - if we could get a simple train all the way through, we would be there all the time as well - however, it takes less time to fly to Orlando that it takes to take the bus to Paris...

 

[JohnWD]

Given your track record around these parts I appreciate the insight. How often do we get information like this?......right from the source. I try not to antagonize the pixie dusters but I cant help but think of all the conversations that went on here since MM+ inception. So we now know the TRUTH, MM+ and the MB was a huge waste of money.

All we really know is one persons opinion. Implementers don't always have the strategic view since they are in the trenches to get someone else's vision done. The opposite can be true too - the strategists determine something was a waste while the implementers loved it. I follow Disney stock and analyst viewpoints where this could come out But why would MM be the cause of shortened hours that the CMs and bus drivers are telling us about? Usually CMs are not given to much creditibility on this board on knowing the whys and wherefores.

 

[John]

All we really know is one persons opinion. Implementers don't always have the strategic view since they are in the trenches to get someone else's vision done. The opposite can be true too - the strategists determine something was a waste while the implementers loved it. I follow Disney stock and analyst viewpoints where this could come out But why would MM be the cause of shortened hours that the CMs and bus drivers are telling us about? Usually CMs are not given to much creditibility on this board on knowing the whys and wherefores.

Huh? @tirian was not a "bus driver". He already said he was on the "inside" and was part of the team developing MM+. Does he know everything there is to know? No, he has admitted so. I doubt there is one person who knows everything there is tto do with the program. Frankly I dont understand the point you are trying to make? Are you discrediting tirian? Questioning his information? Which is perfectly fine btw. Just not clear of your point. But this isnt just an "opinion" it is his inside experience. Now its up to us to believe if he was really on the inside. Its perfectly your right not to. I choose otherwise.

 

[JohnWD]

Please don't post such nonsense with no research to back yourself up. As already stated by several people on here - DLPR has only seen a financial drop of 1% in the last quarter due to being closed for 4 days after the terrorist attacks. For the first quarter of the year this has been offset by increased in guest spending, hotel occupancy and park visitors. UK visitors have been up for the last 5 quarters if you bothered to read any of the financial reports. Saying people from the UK aren't visiting because of refugee crisis in Europe is alarmist and not based on any fact - just your own wrong opinion. Disneyland Paris is still the most visited theme park in Europe and the investments currently happening are helping bring the resort up to proper standards.

Where's @danlb_2000 when you need him? I think it's ok to post an opinion that some may call nonsense since this is a discussion board.

 

[JohnWD]

Huh? @tirian was not a "bus driver". He already said he was on the "inside" and was part of the team developing MM+. Does he know everything there is to know? No, he has admitted so. I doubt there is one person who knows everything there is tto do with the program. Frankly I dont understand the point you are trying to make? Are you discrediting tirian? Questioning his information? Which is perfectly fine btw. Just not clear of your point. But this isnt just an "opinion" it is his inside experience. Now its up to us to believe if he was really on the inside. Its perfectly your right not to. I choose otherwise.

Thanks for replying- obviously my post wasn't clear. In no way I was discrediting him - my point was that as an implementer he sees things at the ground floor, but those at the penthouse level may see it differently. (I love this thread!) does that make sense?

 

[John]

Thanks for replying- obviously my post wasn't clear. In know way I was discrediting him - my point was that as an implementer he sees things at the ground floor, but those at the penthouse level may see it differently. (I love this thread!) does that make sense?

Sure, I understand your point. And I agree with it but I do not see the correlation between my post and the fact that the implementer doesnt know the motivation of management and why they are doing things. No matter what the "why" was..... the results of it being a mistake is what tirian was addressing. Because of not knowing what the motivations are doesn't change the results. What direct cause it has on the cuts that are now happening? Dont know, I am sure it has some kind of indirect effect. You dont spend that kind of coin and it not having some kind of effect on your business over all. There are people around here a lot smarter then me that could answer those questions.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Just a quick followup on a point @Lee posted and I extrapolated on, but word from very well-placed folks came in this evening (yes, I am living the life of a true Faux Top One Percenter in Europe right now) that backed up the chatter that more than Chappie laying down the law and certainly much more than anything happening with ESPN or DLP, these cuts are all related to two factors. Just two:

1.) Shanghai Disneyland (AKA Bob Iger's biggest Legacy project, followed by Lucasfilm and Marvel) is an over budget disaster that keeps getting worse and eating money more than the typical O-Town fanboi living off of Mommy and Daddy's money. And beyond opening, this park has a guaranteed Phase II coming that hasn't been budgeted or paid for yet and,
2.) MM+ is an unmitigated failure. Don't care one iota whether you like your MAGIC Bands or if they made your sixth WDW resort stay since May of 2013 so much more MAGICal. There were financial projections/guarantees made for this project and what it was expected to achieve and, despite all that placed PR content (you recall when that Austin dude just happened to wander in here because he really cared about your opinions and wasn't doing Burbank's biding, right? and y'all lapped it up almost as sickeningly as you did the Con Man of the Hills BS mea culpa!) it can't hide the fact that it will likely never even earn back the money that has been thrown into it, yet alone result in that 11% increase so prominently and proudly crowed about for years as WDW stagnated and rotted and y'all got excited over new toilets and uncharge parties.

And I'll leave you with this nugget to ponder: TWDC and WDW have never been more profitable. So, ask yourself if this is how they handle uncharted prosperity, just how will they handle some adversity ... especially with the global economy (this time led by China) poised for a major downturn?

Don't any of you cause any discomfort by actually voicing complaints to the execs? Nope. You might find yourself relegated to UNI's parks. (Oh, and while they are certainly better in O-Town right now, the fact remains that their leadership is basically as clueless as Disney's ... The Boy Who Lived makes up for a lot of shortcomings, just don't let the UNI Wave Wanders hear I told you so!)

Written nearly three years ago: http://micechat.com/24073-disney-fastpass-plus/
Written nearly two years ago: http://micechat.com/62433-disneys-mymagic-failure/

Edit, a line from the second article:
"To recap, in order to avoid a “costly” attraction driven theme park war with Universal, Disney has opted to go with the “less costly” alternative: a bottomless pit of an infrastructure project that to date has cost more money than the initial build of any stateside theme park after inflation."

And then the finale paragraph from that article:
"Unless a change of philosophy takes place, Disney will continue to make cuts and only make safe additions to the parks. They will do so as long as the current management team remains in place and the current management team will remain in place as long as the stock price continues to rise. Strip mining Walt Disney World is not a long term plan, and it’s one that will eventually catch up with those doing the mining. There are no diamonds left to uncover, no matter how many Dwarfs are sent to look for them."

 

[Cesar R M]

And those cute gators.

and grandmah killing snakes..

 

[Cesar R M]

I've been happily doing that for over 30 years now. I was way ahead of my time!

You cant do that much nowadays.. I mean yes, but that means losing a lot of attraction time.

 

[Cesar R M]

Written nearly three years ago: http://micechat.com/24073-disney-fastpass-plus/
Written nearly two years ago: http://micechat.com/62433-disneys-mymagic-failure/

Edit, a line from the second article:
"To recap, in order to avoid a “costly” attraction driven theme park war with Universal, Disney has opted to go with the “less costly” alternative: a bottomless pit of an infrastructure project that to date has cost more money than the initial build of any stateside theme park after inflation."

And then the finale paragraph from that article:
"Unless a change of philosophy takes place, Disney will continue to make cuts and only make safe additions to the parks. They will do so as long as the current management team remains in place and the current management team will remain in place as long as the stock price continues to rise. Strip mining Walt Disney World is not a long term plan, and it’s one that will eventually catch up with those doing the mining. There are no diamonds left to uncover, no matter how many Dwarfs are sent to look for them."

isnt it a bit ironic that there was a shuffle on management, and the first thing we think "maybe things will be better".. suddenly.. huge cuts everywhere..

 

[RonnieHare]

I always wondered why I saw so many from the UK when I go to WDW... I kept thinking to myself, why would you fly all the way over here when you have a Disney that is just a train ride away... Is Disney Paris that bad? or is it really just horrible weather that causes people to avoid it.

1) WDW is much larger.
2) DLP is a great park, but Studios is woefully bad.
3) No Universal or Sea World in Paris. For my kids Universal is their favourite park.
4) Weather, obviously.
5) Paris is very expensive.

 

[RonnieHare]

http://micechat.com/24073-disney-fastpass-plus/
Written nearly two years ago: http://micechat.com/62433-disneys-mymagic-failure/

And then the finale paragraph from that article:
"Unless a change of philosophy takes place, Disney will continue to make cuts and only make safe additions to the parks. They will do so as long as the current management team remains in place and the current management team will remain in place as long as the stock price continues to rise. Strip mining Walt Disney World is not a long term plan, and it’s one that will eventually catch up with those doing the mining. There are no diamonds left to uncover, no matter how many Dwarfs are sent to look for them."

Just to think there were hardcore supporters for the current Disney regime as recent as last week. Now, most in the knows are citing what a horrendous tenure Bob Iger and his cronies have had on the Disney theme parks.