Disney cancels free tickets for Anaheim sixth-graders, cites pandemic - OCR/SCNG

[Darkbeer1]

What’s really weird to me is with all the effort going into the PR engine that is DisneylandForward (at some point in the future), this seems Iike the kind of shortsighted decision making that could leave a sour taste in folks’ mouths.

Combined with unbundling many of the free customer services, closing Disney stores, outsourcing Imagineering to Florida, very public spats with talent, etc., TWDC leadership really hasn’t been doing themselves many reputational favors lately.

Simply hiding under the cloak of their “more magic” and “more inclusion” messaging really isn’t going to cut it.

November, 2022 (no primary), Four seats are up for grabs in the City, The Mayor and District 2, 3 and 6. The safest seat is D6, the other three will be a battle. Dr. Moreno is termed out, so Disney could have 7 friendly folks on the council, or it could be as little as 4.

Plus, DisneylandForward.



But it seems like the decisions are being made in Burbank and Florida.

 

[Brer Panther]

Can we just kick Iger and Chapek to the curb already? They are actively destroying the company.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

I know DLR Government Relations HATED the decision of cancelling the Elementary Ticket program.

I don’t blame them. Totally shortsighted and meaningless cost cutting that is likely not worth the reputational risk.

Don’t expect you to spill the beans on this: But in my own view (as a lowly WDC shareholder with a GR background) it’s really concerning such a ill-conceived decision could be made out of Burbank given the financial importance of maintaining a friendly relationship with the city.

Especially after a year+ closure with the parks division finally back in the black it’s pivotal the company maintain positive relationships with their respective state/local government partners. Particularly given the soft theatrical market and Disney+ continued growth phase.

P.S. Great to have you back, @Darkbeer1. Glad you enjoyed your travels!

 

[Adventureland Veranda]

Josh D'Maro will visit the school and cry with the students. Maybe he'll hand out a few Disney+ mouse ears to smooth things over.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Josh D'Maro will visit the school and cry with the students. Maybe he'll hand out a few Disney+ mouse ears to smooth things over.

He's learning from Chapek. Frankly I think they're both trash.

 

[Sailor310]

We had a CM on on that other site a while ago (Westsider?) who wrote a lot of inside scoop. If I remember, he said Josh was a really good guy, got out of the office to mix it up in the parks a lot and see how the CM's were doing. It seemed the CMs liked and respected him.

 

[TP2000]

Combined with unbundling many of the free customer services, closing Disney stores, outsourcing Imagineering to Florida...

To be accurate, Disney didn't outsource WDI to Florida. They moved a bunch of Imagineers to Florida, in a move of 2,000 California salaried white collar folks in Anaheim and Burbank.

But that's not surprising. The exodus of businesses out of California is rapidly accelerating in 2021, ahead of its the already steady pace of 2019 and 2020. Florida, Texas and Tennessee are the top recipients of all those good paying California jobs.

Businesses exiting California surges in 2021, dealing 'death knell' to state's economy

The number of businesses fleeing California is on the rise.

www.foxbusiness.com

But it seems like the decisions are being made in Burbank and Florida.

I know DLR Government Relations HATED the decision of cancelling the Elementary Ticket program.

This reminds me of the failed One Disney concept that Jay Rasulo came up with over a decade ago. Floridians are probably thinking "You're giving free tickets to Anaheim schoolkids?!? Why?! We don't give free tickets to Orlando schoolkids, so you need to stop that ASAP!"

The Floridians have no idea who Walt was, or why he would agree to such a wasteful tactic for some town called Anaheim. Floridians think Walt is just the old creepy ghost who built the Castle in 1971.

 

[castlecake2.0]

The tickets are “free” to give out, but I have a feeling the reason this is ending is probably more to do with layoffs in whatever department was responsible for administering the program. This program probably made the park money as parents would need to buy their admission plus food etc.

 

[castlecake2.0]

He might be a nice person to interact with, but I'd say in his one year of being head of parks has done more long term damage than anyone else in that timeframe.

He is definitely cut from the same cloth as Chapek and if anything is more brutal than Chapek was.

I’ll never forgive him for the destruction of Disney Look and for not fighting to keep Disney Stores open, both of which are directly under his jurisdiction.

 

[DanielBB8]

The tickets are “free” to give out, but I have a feeling the reason this is ending is probably more to do with layoffs in whatever department was responsible for administering the program. This program probably made the park money as parents would need to buy their admission plus food etc.

I agree with this. It’s ridiculous to think free Disneyland tickets is a charity especially since the costs to go are still there. The better way is a day field trip with bus and chaperones. Schools still do field trips with the worse of the pandemic over. Offering free admission should be part of the whole package and only focused on the kids and not their families.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I'd love to know where you guys work and live where "COVID" is an excuse, and not a legitimate reason for disrupted operations. The way people here talk, you would think that the whole world was back to normal except at Disney, where they're publicly lying to everyone by using COVID as an excuse to save money.

 

[Brer Panther]

"We can't let kids have free admission to Disneyland because of this pandemic, but we CAN spend what little funds we still have on retheming a popular attraction like Splash Mountain even though we're in the middle of, y'know, a pandemic."

Nice to see their priorities are in check.

 

[TP2000]

"We can't let kids have free admission to Disneyland because of this pandemic, but we CAN spend what little funds we still have on retheming a popular attraction like Splash Mountain even though we're in the middle of, y'know, a pandemic."

Nice to see their priorities are in check.

Don't worry, they aren't really working on the racist singing chicken log ride either.

 

[bustamelon]

Can't run the risk of allowing "regular kids" into the now exclusive country club that Disney is becoming, can we?

 

[DoleWhipDrea]

This is really sad. I so feel for all of those kids that were looking forward to participating in the program, have been through so much turmoil from the pandemic, and Disney goes back on their promise. These kids aren't going to forget this, either...

Using the pandemic as an excuse for everything isn't going to work in the long run. Yes, some decisions are necessary when it comes to safety, but so much is becoming their easy supposed cost-cutting excuse. In this case, those children weren't going to Disneyland alone...Disney was getting guaranteed visitors coming through those gates, and that's not taking into account the obvious expenditures that an average family would be making for a visit.

I’ll never forgive him for the destruction of Disney Look and for not fighting to keep Disney Stores open, both of which are directly under his jurisdiction.

IMHO the Disney Look needed to loosen up a little. I'm glad the CMs can be a little more comfortable at work.

The Disney Store plan, though, wasn't really D'Amaro's call and goes back to Chapek announcing the partnership with Target at the last D23 Expo. Why keep all those stores open and pay rent for those spaces when you can just make an agreement with a massive franchise to sell all of the generic merchandise you were already selling at Disney Stores? (I personally am saddened by how generic Disney merchandise has become and that generally if I want to find something interesting I hav to go to another retailer that gets creative with the Disney brand licensing.)

 

[TP2000]

I'd love to know where you guys work and live where "COVID" is an excuse, and not a legitimate reason for disrupted operations. The way people here talk, you would think that the whole world was back to normal except at Disney, where they're publicly lying to everyone by using COVID as an excuse to save money.

The Anaheim parks were closed for 14 months by order of the Governor, but they are now open. They're packing the Anaheim parks again.

So why can't they continue giving Anaheim sixth graders a free ticket like they have done for over 60 years?

 

[TP2000]

The Disney Store plan, though, wasn't really D'Amaro's call and goes back to Chapek announcing the partnership with Target at the last D23 Expo. Why keep all those stores open and pay rent for those spaces when you can just make an agreement with a massive franchise to sell all of the generic merchandise you were already selling at Disney Stores? (I personally am saddened by how generic Disney merchandise has become and that generally if I want to find something interesting I hav to go to another retailer that gets creative with the Disney brand licensing.)

Geez, I'd forgotten about that plan. What happened to it?

I have a Target down the hill from me in OC. It was massively remodeled a couple years ago, and then redone again this year to deal with Covid related pickup orders and a much enlarged Starbucks. It sits in an upper-middle class suburb of large single family homes in a very stylish SoCal county. There's a million kids around, and my front porch is a mob scene every Halloween. The store probably has dream demographics for Target executives, and thus all the updates and remodeling it gets. They even employ a few Target Ladies that are a total riot to chat with at checkout, just like Saturday Night Live.

And yet... the toy department is just basic white shelves heaped high with random plastic junk; Barbie, Matchbox cars, board games, dolls, robots, etc. It has no Disney branding that I've ever noticed, although I'm sure Disney toys are in there. It looks exactly like the shelving and areas of the store they use to sell toilet paper or toaster ovens or wine and gin.

Was something "Disney" supposed to happen at Target by 2021? I haven't noticed a thing, and I make a Target run every couple weeks.

 

[Brer Panther]

My local Target does have a small section in the middle of the store with a bunch of Disney merchandise.

Exciting.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

Geez, I'd forgotten about that plan. What happened to it?

I have a Target down the hill from me in OC. It was massively remodeled a couple years ago, and then redone again this year to deal with Covid related pickup orders and a much enlarged Starbucks. It sits in an upper-middle class suburb of large single family homes in a very stylish SoCal county. There's a million kids around, and my front porch is a mob scene every Halloween. The store probably has dream demographics for Target executives, and thus all the updates and remodeling it gets. They even employ a few Target Ladies that are a total riot to chat with at checkout, just like Saturday Night Live.

And yet... the toy department is just basic white shelves heaped high with random plastic junk; Barbie, Matchbox cars, board games, dolls, robots, etc. It has no Disney branding that I've ever noticed, although I'm sure Disney toys are in there. It looks exactly like the shelving and areas of the store they use to sell toilet paper or toaster ovens or wine and gin.

Was something "Disney" supposed to happen at Target by 2021? I haven't noticed a thing, and I make a Target run every couple weeks.

Right now only a bit over 50 stores out of the almost 2,000 Targets have the mini Disney Store inside of them. Apparently they're going to open up a 100 more by the end of this year according to a bunch of news articles from two weeks ago.

 

[TP2000]

My local Target does have a small section in the middle of the store with a bunch of Disney merchandise.

Exciting.

Right now only a bit over 50 stores out of the almost 2,000 Targets have the mini Disney Store inside of them. Apparently they're going to open up a 100 more by the end of this year according to a bunch of news articles from two weeks ago.

Ah, well no wonder Bob Chapek perked up for the Target news at his D23 speech after having to talk about all that dumb amusement park stuff.

Bob Chapek at 2019 D23 Expo:
"Enough about rides... In two years there will be four dozen Target stores in North America with special Disney sections of crap no one actually needs! Can you guys even believe it?! And here's the Target CEO to prove it! This is gonna be IMMERSIVE!!"