Damage Control PR Spin for Star Wars Begins

WDW Pro

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
There's another meeting today to find more cuts in employee hours for the remainder of the summer. Attendance is down again today.

FREEZE! Disneyland Implements Hiring Freeze and Cutbacks
By
Dusty Sage
-
July 10, 2019
Things are getting serious at Disneyland where a hiring freeze and budget cuts have just been implemented in response to low summer attendance.
All departments have been asked to cut labor hours and make other cuts as necessary. The park had staffed up for the expected huge crowds for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. When those crowds didn’t appear, Disney unblocked Cast Member admissions and launched discounted pass holder tickets. While those admissions do seem to be successful, it isn’t enough to make up for soft hotel room bookings and short attraction waits.
Guests should expect to see entertainment, custodial, and non-essential labor cuts immediately at the resort.

Called it.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Called it.

Another false narrative....

From the thread about the cuts:

Entertainment (and the parks in general) always see budget cuts in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year (July/Aug/Sept). Galaxy's Edge may have made the cuts a bit deeper this year, but they always happen. A quick Google search finds that both the Oswald M+G at DCA and the live performers from Rivers of Light were cut in Q4 2018, Minnie's Fly Girls being cut from DCA just after Q4 2013 ended, and this article shows a few different Entertainment acts being cut from WDW in Q4 2016. It's disappointing to see cuts, especially to Entertainment, but also relatively commonplace for Disney this time of year.
 

Happyrebster

Active Member


  • Universal did actually do something like that in its Hollywood park for the opening of WWOHP. Raised prices too aggressively and lost their core pass holders. The land was a ghost town.
And Universal is still running television ads aggressively here in So Cal this summer. I still don’t think that they have gotten their summer crowds up to where they would like. By contrast, I think Disney has been fairly conservative on their local tv ad budget this summer. And I think that’s a wise call on their part. The locals will be back very soon - in just a few weeks - as the AP restrictions lift. And everyone in town knows about Galaxy’s Edge. But local pass holders aren’t going to buy an additional day ticket just so they can see it in July rather than August.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
When I give you a heads up many hours before anyone else gets the information, it's not a "false narrative". And a hiring freeze is not typical at all, period.
No, the false narrative is that its only as a result of SW:GE, which is what you are insinuating. Which as the posters from the other thread rightful pointed out, has nothing to do with freezes or cuts during this period of the year. Sure SW:GE might be making those cuts or freezes a bit deeper as the poster pointed out, buts the overall cuts and freezes are not a direct result of SW:GE. Companies do this all the time in order to get their numbers in line for Wall Street going into a new fiscal year. And its not the first time TWDC P&R has done it either.
 

WDW Pro

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
No, the false narrative is that its only as a result of SW:GE, which is what you are insinuating. Which as the posters from the other thread rightful pointed out, has nothing to do with freezes or cuts during this period of the year. Sure SW:GE might be making those cuts or freezes a bit deeper as the poster pointed out, buts the overall cuts and freezes are not a direct result of SW:GE. Companies do this all the time in order to get their numbers in line for Wall Street going into a new fiscal year. And its not the first time TWDC P&R has done it either.

My statement at 2PM was:
"There's another meeting today to find more cuts in employee hours for the remainder of the summer. Attendance is down again today."

I didn't mention SW:GE at all in that post. It was two sentences of pure fact... so please take your narrative and push it somewhere else. Do you know what the official name of today's meeting was? "Close the Gap". Ops was given the number of projected guests, and the actual number they're now seeing and forecasting based on the real numbers... and then they were shown the amount of money they had to get down to... thus, "close the gap". Those original projections were based on perceived demand for the first new land in DLR in decades. But I didn't get into any of that, I simply relayed the meeting was occurring, and held back information that (at the time) could have given away where the leak came from. Now that it's been discussed elsewhere, I'm sharing with you more details.

I appreciate that you have strong opinions about SW:GE, the reasons for lack of crowds, etc. However, I know the details from the meeting today, which I told you about before anybody online anywhere, and TDA does not share your opinions. I would go so far as to say they are actually in panic mode now. That's not hyperbole.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
My statement at 2PM was:
"There's another meeting today to find more cuts in employee hours for the remainder of the summer. Attendance is down again today."

I didn't mention SW:GE at all in that post. It was two sentences of pure fact... so please take your narrative and push it somewhere else. Do you know what the official name of today's meeting was? "Close the Gap". Ops was given the number of projected guests, and the actual number they're now seeing and forecasting based on the real numbers... and then they were shown the amount of money they had to get down to... thus, "close the gap". Those original projections were based on perceived demand for the first new land in DLR in decades. But I didn't get into any of that, I simply relayed the meeting was occurring, and held back information that (at the time) could have given away where the leak came from. Now that it's been discussed elsewhere, I'm sharing with you more details.

I appreciate that you have strong opinions about SW:GE, the reasons for lack of crowds, etc. However, I know the details from the meeting today, which I told you about before anybody online anywhere, and TDA does not share your opinions. I would go so far as to say they are actually in panic mode now. That's not hyperbole.
The fact you posted it in this thread shows the narrative you're pushing without you even mentioning it in your post, two sentences or not.

I have no agenda or narrative. And I appreciate your insight and strong negative opinions about SW:GE. But decisions like this are not planned overnight, likely months in advance, and likely are from higher levels. The fact that you state the official meeting name was "Close the Gap" indicates this. This is a term thrown around in MANY corporations in Q4, I've sat in many a meeting when this topic was brought up.

If X happens at the same time each year, Y happening doesn't result in X being directly cause by Y. Y might impact X but again is not the direct result of X occurring.
 

shortstop

Well-Known Member
My statement at 2PM was:
"There's another meeting today to find more cuts in employee hours for the remainder of the summer. Attendance is down again today."

I didn't mention SW:GE at all in that post. It was two sentences of pure fact... so please take your narrative and push it somewhere else. Do you know what the official name of today's meeting was? "Close the Gap". Ops was given the number of projected guests, and the actual number they're now seeing and forecasting based on the real numbers... and then they were shown the amount of money they had to get down to... thus, "close the gap". Those original projections were based on perceived demand for the first new land in DLR in decades. But I didn't get into any of that, I simply relayed the meeting was occurring, and held back information that (at the time) could have given away where the leak came from. Now that it's been discussed elsewhere, I'm sharing with you more details.

I appreciate that you have strong opinions about SW:GE, the reasons for lack of crowds, etc. However, I know the details from the meeting today, which I told you about before anybody online anywhere, and TDA does not share your opinions. I would go so far as to say they are actually in panic mode now. That's not hyperbole.
388716

Here’s a gold star for sharing your exclusive extra-special supposed insider info.
 

Mouse Trap

Well-Known Member
My statement at 2PM was:
"There's another meeting today to find more cuts in employee hours for the remainder of the summer. Attendance is down again today."

I didn't mention SW:GE at all in that post. It was two sentences of pure fact... so please take your narrative and push it somewhere else. Do you know what the official name of today's meeting was? "Close the Gap". Ops was given the number of projected guests, and the actual number they're now seeing and forecasting based on the real numbers... and then they were shown the amount of money they had to get down to... thus, "close the gap". Those original projections were based on perceived demand for the first new land in DLR in decades. But I didn't get into any of that, I simply relayed the meeting was occurring, and held back information that (at the time) could have given away where the leak came from. Now that it's been discussed elsewhere, I'm sharing with you more details.

I appreciate that you have strong opinions about SW:GE, the reasons for lack of crowds, etc. However, I know the details from the meeting today, which I told you about before anybody online anywhere, and TDA does not share your opinions. I would go so far as to say they are actually in panic mode now. That's not hyperbole.

Attendance was down again today? Compared to what? Because I can tell you for a fact this has been one of the heavier Wednesdays in terms of attendance this summer.
 

180º

Well-Known Member
When I give you a heads up many hours before anyone else gets the information, it's not a "false narrative". And a hiring freeze is not typical at all, period.
If I may — It is obvious that you have a certain amount of insider knowledge. I think many of us are wary of the conclusions you draw. There seems to be a lot of confirmation bias going on in your editorializing.
 

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