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

[Christian Fronckowiak]

I think Future World closing at 7pm IS a problem and it IS ridiculous. No, there may not be a ton of people around there at 7pm, but it's literally the front half of the park. Walking through a dark, closed ghost town to get to World Showcase is a little strange.

Maybe there's the problem. And not only at 7 pm.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

LOL, well I see you don't appreciate my optimism. That's cool (or should I say "kool"?).

This kool-aid drinker understands that most successful businesses reinvest their profits back into their business to make improvements that pay off over time. You know, like Disney is doing with their new lands/attractions at WDW. I agree much has been neglected and they should be doing more. But I see they are making progress.

To answer your question the flavor is grape- and my glass is half full (not half empty).

The problem isn't about enough profits to cover the re-investments in the parks. It's about enough profits to cover the re-investments in the parks while retaining executive bonuses and being able to show quarterly profit increases to Wall Street no matter the cost.

When companies as monstrous and profitable as Disney use smoke and mirrors to achieve financial goals and get patted on the back by those that suffer because of those methods, everybody loses.

And my glass isn't half full or half empty. My glass is simply twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I wish I could take all the Disney fans on here to Tokyo Disney/Tokyo Disneysea. $60 a day for each park or $145 for a three day park hopper ticket. In the off season queues are nothing, the customer service is top notch, and Disney Sea is probably the most beautiful Disney park in the world (and has amazing rides!). The park is run by a private company, instead of Disney, so it doesn't have that 'how can I get as much money out of the guests while giving them as little as possible' feel that Disney World has.

So much this.

You haven't lived till you've ridden Sindbad's Storybook Voyage repeatedly as a walk on.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I haven't seen this mentioned, or at least answered, but how will these cuts now affect Toy Story Playland and Star Wars Land in DHS? Are the budgets getting slashed? Is the beginning of construction now being delayed? Put on hold?

 

[Sped2424]

I haven't seen this mentioned, or at least answered, but how will these cuts now affect Toy Story Playland and Star Wars Land in DHS? Are the budgets getting slashed? Is the beginning of construction now being delayed? Put on hold?

This is my fear that the budget for the major Hollywood redo is being slashed to ribbons

 

[FigmentJedi]

On a more positive note with these cuts, they're killing off DCA's Mad T Party at the end of March despite the Burtonland sequel that's coming out.

 

[MandaM]

That said, the cuts so far have not be "Deal Killers" in my mind. Closing most of Future World at 7pm? Have you been there at 7:30pm? Folks it's a ghost town. I prefer it NOT to happen, I get that, but this cut is ok. I am less okay with the reduced water park hours for this coming up summer. But again thats because I have always enjoy that last hour or two when you feel like you have then entire water park to yourself. Again, while not has ghost town like as Future World can be, definitely understandable that they are choose to cost save there.

I have yet to hear of specific cuts to operations of the attractions while they are operating. I have also been eyeing MK's scheduled operating hours and so far.... no cuts, at least for the few months you can see in advance.

There is a lot of doom and gloom here, but I am just not sure it's time to panic. All this time of cost cutting has happened before, and it will all happen again. I have not seen a cut yet that I feel was an example of Disney Cutting off its nose in spite of its face.

The March hours were updated today, and they've definitely cut entertainment and operating hours compared to previous years. There's no second MSEP for the entire month, and there aren't many second Fantasmic!'s either. No 8am MK opens -- including during Easter. No 8:00pm AK closings. It's hard to believe that these cuts won't be impactful, especially during one of the busiest times of year.

 

[G00fyDad]

So basically this is Disney's message to us all:

Hello, welcome to Disney World. You are now paying more than you ever have for our tickets, resorts, food, and souvenirs. In return you are going to get less customer service, you will wait longer in stores when trying to buy our souvenirs, longer in restaurants when trying to buy our food, longer at the resorts when trying to check in and oh by the wait we are cutting hours on attractions and parks so you have less time to be at the parks and do stuff at the parks. Oh yeah, one of our theme parks is also going under a major remodel so it is gonna be almost half empty in a few months. Good news is our attendance is up so you have more people to be crowded in with and wait behind. Oh and this has nothing to do with our domestic parks, it is due to our international parks not doing what we need them to do.. Have fun!!

I mean I love Disney but they are making it harder and harder to love them as days go on. Higher prices, less things to do, more people there.. It is a shame.

You forgot something....

Hello, welcome to Disney World. You are now paying more than you ever have for our tickets, resorts, food, and souvenirs and soon you will be paying even more! In return you are going to get less customer service, you will wait longer in stores when trying to buy our souvenirs, longer in restaurants when trying to buy our food, longer at the resorts when trying to check in and oh by the wait we are cutting hours on attractions and parks so you have less time to be at the parks and do stuff at the parks. Oh yeah, one of our theme parks is also going under a major remodel so it is gonna be almost half empty in a few months. Good news is our attendance is up so you have more people to be crowded in with and wait behind. Oh and this has nothing to do with our domestic parks, it is due to our international parks not doing what we need them to do.. Have fun!!

 

[John]

Here is what chaps my.......well you know. To all those that say that these cuts are no big deal and yell....The sky is falling! Mocking people who have real concerns. Everything that has been cut......all the way back to when themed napkins and themed merch bags were changed. Everything that has been cut were implemented for a reason. EVERYTHING Disney does is for specific reasons. Themed napkins....ect. were created to create an ambiance, an experience. Singularly none of these cuts are significant. But when all added up it lessons the experience. All of these experiences made what WDW is today. You say there was no one in Mouse Gear before 10:00 so you understand why they might cut the hours? So why were they open to begin with? Water Park hours cut. why were they open to begin with? It goes on and on. There were specific reasons these things were in place to begin with. If those things are insignificant they wouldnt have been there to begin with. So when you yell the "sky is falling" you are just accepting a lessor product. You give Disney the nod to cut even more.

When management has the "bottom line" mentality and they have to top each quarter, how on earth does any of these things that are cut ever return? The domestic parks are doing incredible numbers these days....but remember, what goes up must come down. It isnt always going to be like this. The question I ask Iger, then what? Of course he will be gone and will leave this mess for the next guy.

 

[wdwmagic]

While cutbacks stink sometimes they can be good if done right. My dh still rants about our trip in 2014 the week before Mine train opened. There were 10, Yes 10 employees standing by a roped off entrance telling people it would not be opened until next week. HIs frustration was how many cm's does it take to tell you what a rope and sign would? He stated that is just poor management there. I agreed with him although it did not bug me as bad as it did him. He still talks about it. lol

I just kept thinking how many of those cm's could have been dressed as characters and roaming the park!

Not to get off topic, but just to address that.
Just before new attractions open, all the cast are typically there for training and to start get the ride cycling. Many of those positions being trained will be for things like load and unload, queue management, greeter positions. Without guests actually riding, they are hugely overstaffed, but their training is an essential part of getting the attraction up to operating levels. As a result, you tend to see large groups of cast around the entrance areas. Rest assured, they weren't all brought in to stand at the entrance, they had other roles.

Operations CMs which you saw are not entertainment CMs, so would not be costumed characters. That is a specialized position that requires training.

 

[WDW1974]

This is a pretty normal operating model for Epcot where World Showcase opens 2 hours after park opening and Future World closes 2 hours before park closing. For most of Epcot's operating life, that was the normal pattern.

"Most" might be the word that allows the statement to pass because it certainly wasn't always the case, although the park was designed with later hours for WS in mind. For any of us lucky enough to be there from the start, we always wondered why they listed both sections of the park separately because from 1982 until sometime in the park's second decade (around 93 or 94, perhaps) the park was always run with everything opened the same hours. Indeed, in slow months like September that meant EC would 'only' be open from 9-8 daily. But it also meant that in April or July you would see 8-midnight daily. Of course, back in those days they actually had these things to do called attractions, so it wasn't all about walking around looking at shuttered facilities while waiting for a lunch or dinner reservation while drinking.

But it was not until George Kalogridis took over as EPCOT VP in 1995 that the staggered hours became a permanent fixture of operations, This I know for a fact, from the man himself and being around the operation. Even when the holidays came like Christmas week, they might do a FW schedule of 8-8 and a WS of 10-10, but they staggered them.

I don't even think that is an issue anymore(although I do recall plenty of angry folks when they first started opening WS at 11 a.m. -- and briefly post 9/11 at noon). The issue is then staggering everything in the park and appearing like WDW, one of the most profitable entertainment ventures in the world, is about to go out of business.

I wish folks would stop making excuses for corporations behaving badly, but I realize that in the 21st century it is the American thing to do.

 

[PirateFrank]

Question ...Has anyone compiled all of the announced cuts in one post?

Ive seen some examples mentioned in this thread (such as future world closing, etc), but Im curious whether the impact to the guest experience has been considered in the aggregate....and if not, it might make for an interesting post....

 

[Brad Bishop]

and the biggest problem with Disneyland Paris for me is that for us coming from the UK I still don't feel like I want to visit. Florida feels better value and has better weather.

They just made too many mistakes with the planning of that resort.

I have many friends in the UK from when I used to work a contract job there and they, surprisingly to me, all said the same thing. "Florida is where it's at." I thought that Disneyland Paris would be the natural place for them but each of them said they'd just save up their money and head to Florida.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Did MILF and CBJ always open at 10 am or is that new? Was looking at operating hours for late May.

Also noticed Circle of Life still listed as closed in mid-May.

 

[Scuttle]

So basically this is Disney's message to us all:

Hello, welcome to Disney World. You are now paying more than you ever have for our tickets, resorts, food, and souvenirs. In return you are going to get less customer service, you will wait longer in stores when trying to buy our souvenirs, longer in restaurants when trying to buy our food, longer at the resorts when trying to check in and oh by the wait we are cutting hours on attractions and parks so you have less time to be at the parks and do stuff at the parks. Oh yeah, one of our theme parks is also going under a major remodel so it is gonna be almost half empty in a few months. Good news is our attendance is up so you have more people to be crowded in with and wait behind. Oh and this has nothing to do with our domestic parks, it is due to our international parks not doing what we need them to do.. Have fun!!

I mean I love Disney but they are making it harder and harder to love them as days go on. Higher prices, less things to do, more people there.. It is a shame.

I've gone nearly a year without annual passes and just as I was thinking about getting them again this happens.... I've got more important things to do. I'm not contributing to this. I don't see myself setting foot inside WDW until Avatar is open.

 

[Brad Bishop]

The Hard Rock Park opened in Myrtle Beach, SC in 2008 during the beginning of the economic crash. It lasted just over a year before they closed up shop and sold off the attractions. It's a shame, it wasn't a bad park.

If anyone is curious, head over to Theme Park University (.com) and search for Hard Rock Park and you can read all about it (10-part series).

 

[dreamscometrue]

Although this sucks, and is likely not necessary because of the money Disney makes, here are a few thoughts...

1. It's not unheard of at all for a massive company like Disney to reduce operating expenses elsewhere (at least temporarily) to try to offset a massive over expenditure (Shanghai). (Btw, does anyone know if cost overruns at Pandora are also a contributing factor?)

2. I see this in part to send a message to some O-Town middle managers from Chapek, that things better become more efficient. I'm okay with short term pain for long term gain. People on these boards have shouted to the hills forever about inefficiencies at TDO and WDI, and perhaps Chapek (and Bob Weis) need to let people know that things had better get better. Changing a culture is very difficult, and I think the perceived need to reduce operating expenses in the short term, is also being used as an opportunity to posture by the new people in charge.

3. There has been no mention of cuts to the budgets of major projects, refurbs, etc., nor should there be.

4. We went to WDW 7 times from December, 2007 to May, 2010 during the height of the recession and in the midst of significant, long term operating cutbacks. Except for the super annoying Fantasmic only twice each week fiasco, and parks occasionally closing earlier than we would have liked, we noticed no difference in service compared to our trips several years preceding 2007 and those to 2015. I mean that in terms of the operations, we didn't experience longer queues for attractions or service, any difference in room cleanliness, food quality, Magical Express service, etc. (The poor look of Splash, BTMRR, etc. during the recession was not a result of the recession cutbacks, but a 10 year lapse in maintenance which has, in general, improved during the past 3-4 years.) In other words, I don't believe that the cuts will be as deep as during 2007-2010, nor last very long. That being the case, I expect the impact on the guest experience to be minimal, if noticeable at all.

All of this micro analytical WDW discussion-which is what we do on these boards-can easily snowball into a 'sky is falling' mob mentality. Here's the thing. If we analysed, and got 'behind the scenes' info about any of our local businesses, hospitals, schools, churches, theater groups, symphony orchestra, etc., I can guarantee that we'd do the same thing. I know, as do you, people who work in many industries, and without exception, they all have issues with salary, management, reorganization, cutbacks, overtime, operations, budgets, travel expenses, and so on. I fully expect that my 2016 trip to WDW will be practically unaffected by these temporary cutbacks.

 

[Brad Bishop]

While they may need more CMs in Guest Relations, you can bet they will not be added. Last November the line at Guest Relations both outside the MK and inside at City Hall were dozens of people long. I think the idea is that if they make you wait long enough to make a complaint you may get frustrated and just walk away. For the most part, not all, Guest Relations has become a joke of it's former self.

I heard they're going to add FP+ to guest relations so you can do some shopping instead of being in a line waiting to complain.

When I think about it, the last few times I've been to Guest Relations (not to complain) there has been a pretty decent line there.

 

[wdisney9000]

I wish folks would stop categorizing strategic business decisions as "behaving badly". But, I realize that in the age of big business bashing, it is the internet thing to do.

The simple method of 'charge more for less' is hardly "strategic". Every kid who ever had a lemonade stand figured this out. But Im sure Disney had 15 MBA executives in a room for weeks to come up with this plan. Meanwhile, the Imagineers continue to waste paper designing what could actually produce profits instead of cost savings budget slashes. Yes, it is behaving badly and its at the expense of your loyal, high paying customer.

ETA: Id love to know what 30% of all the executive bonuses are compared to savings they will gain from all these cut backs. Or compared to the annual salary of 100 front line, low wage CM's.

 

[Mike S]

The simple method of 'charge more for less' is hardly "strategic". Every kid who ever had a lemonade stand figured this out. But Im sure Disney had 15 MBA executives in a room for weeks to come up with this plan. Meanwhile, the Imagineers continue to waste paper designing what could actually produce profits instead of cost savings budget slashes. Yes, it is behaving badly and its at the expense of your loyal, high paying customer.

I would love to know how much money they've wasted in pursuit of "cheaper" ways to make money than the strategy that has consistently worked since the beginning.