I really do think though that you're mostly seeing the organization largely as it was under the Eisner era and it's residual effects
Just because the ball was set in motion back then - I don't give them any slack for failing to stand up and stop it - especially since they've had changes in leadership. Instead you have people more than willing to stick to the status quo... which to me is vulgar in a company that supposedly is innovative and creative focused.
Nearly nothing new has been shuttered since that time
The long drawn out refurbs which allow them to idle attractions? (Nemo Subs) The trimming of operating hours... It's the land of a 1000 cuts.. carefully orchestrated to avoid looking like a larger thing.
And yes, they have brought back some that were on the ropes (CoP) but just because you get 1 out of 5 right on a test.. you don't get an A - you still got an F.
But we see an increased (almost ridiculous) refurbishment schedule, we saw the fantasyland expansion, see the huge investments being made across the resort in infrastructure, and we see what's being done at the other Disney resorts.
The refurbs still lag behind because of the reduced upkeep INBETWEEN the refurbs. Again, doing something 1 out of 5 times doesn't get you credit for doing it. While the work being done seems massive, it's also because it's a massive piece to keep up to date. We see volume of activity - not coverage. And projects like NFL added how much attraction capacity to a park that was woefully behind? I've never been one of those "Disney doesn't do anything!" guys.. but I still believe they are far below the line in what is needed.
I do think WDW sees guest feedback (as measured in surveys, clearly not fan message boards) as a bottom line metric because they want to make sure people have no reason not to come back
I'm sure they see it as important because someone probably made it a METRIC they track and are graded on. Instead of actually ensuring the end game... they play a game of watching the number and manipulating the number. Where are the survey takers after the @$%% hits the fan on a big night? Oh wait.. you'll find them out in mass when a new attraction is opened tho..
My company does it.. they supposedly tie everyone's compensation to a cust sat score of 1-5 they track within two decimial places. And its all complete and utter crap.
They rely heavily on middle class families who need their fix and come back every year as well as international tourists who tell all their friends about it. Since their audience is largely is not really expanding to new demographics, and we see them trying to milk the current demo for all it's worth - part of that milking is ensuring they want to come back for more.
Ahh.. but you miss how they address this without needing customer loyalty. Expand your market. They invest in attracting the South Americans... they invest in bringing in the conventions.. the sports teams... Then you add in things like RunDisney, the ever expanding number of F&W variations, etc. THAT is how they address needing to increase guest counts without needing to move an individual customer from an 'ok visit to a wonderful visit'. It's diminishing returns to polish one customer... but if you can bring in 3 more for the same cost... you win!
And perhaps it's just possible some executive woke up and looked at DHS and said to themselves, "holy crap this park really is a waste of space. Think of all the extra people we could get in here if we knocked all this stuff down"
They can't be as engaged and interested in customer satisfaction as you state and also be oblivious to situation in the park. It would have been in their face for ages. Let's be real.. just like DCA... the park was doing 'enough' to let it keep doing its thing.
Do we really believe American Idol was closed because of customer feedback? Or do we realize it was a show that included lots of high cost labor.. that wasn't pulling in the numbers... and for all we know could have been up for a licensing renewal they didn't want to take.
If TRUE customer sat was really up at the top of the list... they would have put a bullet in the head of so many things so long ago. But customer sat is now a METRIC - not a sentiment.
YMMV
