Dear Sandra Pedicini (& Dr. Blondie) ...

[WDW1974]

I thought I might make a thread for all of you who see things that, quite frankly, WDW Co should be made to answer for. Things that the Orlando Sentinel beat writer (she must make $40,000 a year, after all) should be questioning and writing about ... but isn't as she's too buy trolling Twitter for quotes and 'sources' ... things that Dr. Blondie (my fave 'little Celebration Place cupcake) should have to answer for as a PhD in social media you'd think would actually require engaging fans/consumers who do not like or agree with every move your company makes.

A lot of you like to whine here, but you are unwilling to voice your complaints where they will make a difference (yes, Disney is about to screw you all over with surge pricing, but how much and how bad could be something that gets toyed with if suddenly exec inboxes are loaded with complaints and, as I have said, DIS does not want you contacting the people making these decisions because DIS isn't convinced they are smarter than you or can talk without a lawyer being present -- really!)

So, if you are afraid to email Danny at the MK ... or Melissa at EPCOT ... or Phil at whatever they call that park now ... or ... who the hell is even running DAK these days? (Of course you are afraid of George ... I have no idea why, but I actually know the man and know how harmless and toothless he is.) this provides you a forum to gather your thoughts and then engage the journalist whose job it is to keep making Disney and UNI happy...oops, sorry ... I mean the journalist who scares these companies because she has the power of the press behind her as well as Disney's top dog (and no one would accuse Cupcake, she still got cast with looks in mind, of being a hound) in social media.

Maybe you'll feel more comfortable this way ... I dunno. I do know things operationally are going to get worse, a lot worse, if you all think that complaining here is your fan service.

But, hey, it's not like Disney has gotten so focused on pennies that it's inventorying pin lanyards (many which have counterfeit pins to begin with) that cast use and that CMs will be warned if they give too many away ... it's not like some bars will be switching to plastic cups for drinks (hey, if you pay $400 a night, you should get your booze in a cup ... doncha know DIS is just being green? Like when they refuse to let your AC run below 72 degrees and when you aren't dancing under the sensors.) ... not like they are just going to ignore the repairs needed to run the streetcars on MSUSA until you forget they even exist ... not like quietly removing some pyro viewing from FP+ so they don't have to staff the areas (you do realize most of those CMs were pulling in well over $30 an hour, right?)

You all seem to be the generation that loves disrupters (that's a neat new age name for illegal operations like Uber and Lyft and Airbnb and DraftKings and FanDuel etc. ... ) so why not act like a disrupter yourself? Otherwise, just come here and and then talk about how you only have three more WDW trips booked in the next two years (all on site) and won't then return until Toy Story Land opens (did you see what I did there?)

Complaining here is fun ... and, yes, Disney is reading. But it isn't the same as taking the time to actually contact people. You unhappy that FW is a Ghost Town after 7, but somehow Disney has the money to start Food and Wine in the middle of hurricane season? Give Melissa a ring ... she's got plenty of time just sitting in George K's old HUGE office.

 

[CrescentLake]

I hear ya 74. Who is the best person to contact? How do we get the word out beyond the people in this forum?

 

[wdisney9000]

I think many people truly want to do/say something but dont know who to contact or how to contact them. For anybody that wants to voice their concerns, most of the executives emails are pretty basic. Such as:
George.Kalogridis@disney.com
Robert.A.Iger@disney.com
Meg.Crofton@disney.com.
Trish.Vega@disney.com (Tom Staggs assistant)
Melissa.Valiquette@disney.com

just put the dot between their first and last name followed by @disney.com. Now start sending those emails and as 74 said prior, be polite, get your point across, dont make your email 2 pages long and for the love of God, please dont ask to be compensated for your troubles.

 

[matt9112]

Rally the troops. Are those emails above all of them or can we get a formal list?

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

I'm on board for sending notes out. Gotta be willing to walk the walk, not just talk under pseudonyms.

 

[danv3]

JMO, but I don't think Disney execs remotely care about emails from super fans. We're easily dismissed as message board crazies who don't represent their customer base. The focus is on once or twice in a lifetime guests whose primary source of information is the Disney parks blog. Those people have absolutely no idea that anything has been cut. As long as they keep coming, Disney doesn't care if we stop. Indeed, Disney is actively trying to make us stop coming so much (AP price increases, surge pricing).

 

[tissandtully]

I thought I might make a thread for all of you who see things that, quite frankly, WDW Co should be made to answer for. Things that the Orlando Sentinel beat writer (she must make $40,000 a year, after all) should be questioning and writing about ... but isn't as she's too buy trolling Twitter for quotes and 'sources' ... things that Dr. Blondie (my fave 'little Celebration Place cupcake) should have to answer for as a PhD in social media you'd think would actually require engaging fans/consumers who do not like or agree with every move your company makes.

I laugh every time I see "PhD in Social Media".

 

[sshindel]

what are the chances that these folk's executive assistants greet all outside emails with a form letter reply and a delete before they ever make it to the desk of the bigwig? I know people at MUCH lower levels at my company who's EA handle just about everything they do.

Just curious because if I want to take the time to craft an email, it would be nice to think it was read and not directed to junk mail.

Probably shouldn't send it from my epcotmanifesto email address...

 

[GhostHost1000]

what are the chances that these folk's executive assistants greet all outside emails with a form letter reply and a delete before they ever make it to the desk of the bigwig? I know people at MUCH lower levels at my company who's EA handle just about everything they do.

mostly likely you are correct... I doubt they are personally monitoring their emails and these emails would get filtered out for the most part.

 

[baymenxpac]

what are the chances that these folk's executive assistants greet all outside emails with a form letter reply and a delete before they ever make it to the desk of the bigwig? I know people at MUCH lower levels at my company who's EA handle just about everything they do.

Just curious because if I want to take the time to craft an email, it would be nice to think it was read and not directed to junk mail.

Probably shouldn't send it from my epcotmanifesto email address...

as someone in public relations, i can tell you that when executives get emails, it has an impact. if you feel passionately enough about it, i would highly recommend writing an email.

DO NOT BE A CRAZY PERSON. i can't stress this enough. be thoughtful, express yourself, but be appropriate.

 

[wdisney9000]

what are the chances that these folk's executive assistants greet all outside emails with a form letter reply and a delete before they ever make it to the desk of the bigwig? I know people at MUCH lower levels at my company who's EA handle just about everything they do.

Will sending an email yield a call from Kalogradis himself? Of course not. Its the cumulative effort that is worth the time. If an EA continues to tell their executive boss on a daily basis that they are seeing more emails from concerned customers, it may eventually result in an inquiry by said executive. They may mention it to another executive who says they are receiving the same complaints and it sparks a discussion. Who knows, but its worth a shot. A butterfly flaps its wings...

I sent an email to the above executives i posted in regards to an extremely botched reservation and I got a call within an hour. Somebody is reading them. And no, I did not get a call from guest relations. It was a person with a real title and an office in Orlando. I even asked her if I received the call due to the executives I cc'd in the email. She said yes and that she was "informed" about it quickly and told to contact me. She wanted to hear what happened. She asked many questions. She asked what she could do to make it right. I told her I did not want compensation. I was merely voicing my concern at the deterioration of customer service. She had obviously looked up my file and history of trips because she spoke of our trips back in 2002 when my wife and I first visited together.

 

[sshindel]

as someone in public relations, i can tell you that when executives get emails, it has an impact. if you feel passionately enough about it, i would highly recommend writing an email.

DO NOT BE A CRAZY PERSON. i can't stress this enough. be thoughtful, express yourself, but be appropriate.

So, asking for a friend, if one was passionate enough to start a website devoted to discussing a single Disney Park, sending an email might be worth it?

Will sending an email yield a call from Kalogradis himself? Of course not. Its the cumulative effort that is worth the time. If an EA continues to tell their executive boss on a daily basis that they are seeing more emails from concerned customers, it may eventually result in an inquiry by said executive. They may mention it to another executive who says they are receiving the same complaints and it sparks a discussion. Who knows, but its worth a shot. A butterfly flaps its wings...

I sent an email to the above executives i posted in regards to an extremely botched reservation and I got a call within an hour. Somebody is reading them. And no, I did not get a call from guest relations. It was a person with a real title and an office in Orlando. I even asked her if I received the call due to the executives I cc'd in the email. She said yes and that she was "informed" about it quickly and told to contact me. She wanted to hear what happened. She asked many questions. She asked what she could do to make it right. I told her I did not want compensation. I was merely voicing my concern at the deterioration of customer service. She had obviously looked up my file and history of trips because she spoke of our trips back in 2002 when my wife and I first visited together.

I'd not expect a call to be received, that is for sure. I'd settle for someone reading it. Since I'd have no single incident, or even targeted purpose, just a couple of decades of neglect of a certain once-grand park, I'd not expect any sort of communication back aside from a standard form letter.
I would however be satisfied if I felt that someone read and at least contemplated it before hitting delete.

 

[wdisney9000]

I would however be satisfied if I felt that someone read and at least contemplated it before hitting delete.

I would like to think that when all these cuts and surge pricing were discussed, that one or hopefully more of the executives decided to give it a shot pending public reaction or at the minimum to keep an eye out for feedback. As much as they dont give a rats a$$ how we feel, they definitely care about not being the one who is called upon by Staggs, Iger or the BOD to answer as to why there are so many complaints or why their park is having problems. None of them want to loose their plush job with its perks and bonuses.

And to Sandra, if you (or one of your assistants) reads this, why not an article highlighting this fiasco? What do you have to be afraid of? Disney cant ban you from the parks or fire you. Theyd turn you into a martyr. Thats your protection. You could be the Fox Mulder of exposing theme parks. Even if it reflects negatively on Disney Im sure it will get plenty of clicks and views/reads. The Sentinel surely cant be upset with a story that gets readers interested and buy subscriptions.

 

[Horizons1]

...a PhD in social media? Real cutting edge stuff right there.

Drop the emails of blonde and all her cohorts. I'll send em all some words and then I got a group of kingdomcasters that will do the same. We don't snort the pixie dust and we aren't afraid to tell these executives that.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I would like to think that when all these cuts and surge pricing were discussed, that one or hopefully more of the executives decided to give it a shot pending public reaction or at the minimum to keep an eye out for feedback. As much as they dont give a rats a$$ how we feel, they definitely care about not being the one who is called upon by Staggs, Iger or the BOD to answer as to why there are so many complaints or why their park is having problems. None of them want to loose their plush job with its perks and bonuses.

Then why not direct the concerns directly to the BOD. You don't think that those executives are going to run to the BOD and express concerns that the public has on their (executives) decisions do you? The Execs. might react or they might just put it in File 13 figuring that the BOD will never even hear about it. And seriously, don't even begin to think that any BOD member has the time or inclination to read a discussion board.

 

[tissandtully]

And to Sandra, if you (or one of your assistants) reads this, why not an article highlighting this fiasco? What do you have to be afraid of? Disney cant ban you from the parks or fire you. Theyd turn you into a martyr. Thats your protection. You could be the Fox Mulder of exposing theme parks. Even if it reflects negatively on Disney Im sure it will get plenty of clicks and views/reads. The Sentinel surely cant be upset with a story that gets readers interested and buy subscriptions.

Reporters do not have assistants, especially not newspaper reporters. We have to understand that WDW is a huge advertiser for the Orlando Sentinel. They may talk about Chinese Walls between advertising and editorial, but that's just a ruse. Nowadays newspapers can't afford to tick off huge advertisers. Also, Orlando Sentinel is owned by Chicago Tribune, which we know being based in Chicago has ties to TWDC corporate in some way.

 

[sshindel]

I would like to think that when all these cuts and surge pricing were discussed, that one or hopefully more of the executives decided to give it a shot pending public reaction or at the minimum to keep an eye out for feedback. As much as they dont give a rats a$$ how we feel, they definitely care about not being the one who is called upon by Staggs, Iger or the BOD to answer as to why there are so many complaints or why their park is having problems. None of them want to loose their plush job with its perks and bonuses.

The key part here, at least in terms of the cuts, would be that contacting them to talk about things that might happen are going to be far less effective than complaining about things that have happened. If they get blasted with emails from people who have not had negative experiences after the cuts, the emails from those actually impacted will be lost in the mix.

Now, the more high-level, directional issues, like surge pricing, those seem like could be sent in at any time, if they are actually looking at the feedback.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Scott Maxwell (smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com) from the Orlando Sentinel should really be covering Disney. Sandra is a press release recycling machine.

 

[wdisney9000]

And seriously, don't even begin to think that any BOD member has the time or inclination to read a discussion board.

Who said they did?

 

[Goofyernmost]

Who said they did?

No, one did, but, if you want to get to the heart you don't kick in the elbow. It was for the benefit of those that feel that when someone repeatedly says "Disney is reading these threads" think that someone important is reading them and therefore feel that the ones that can really affect change will get the word. They will not!