Disney Giveth, and Disney Taketh Away

AmongMadPeople

AmongMadPeople

Active Member
unkadug said:
Didn't they CHARGE for this? It's unlike them to do away with a source of income.
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Yes! $60, while the regular carriage rides are $45. They only offered them in October, and they were highly sought after. From what I've read about them, the driver used to tell the story of Sleepy Hallow, then they switched to an audio recording of it. The headless horseman appears, which adds to the cost to run them every night. I've wondered if the cost of maintaining the audio system (I don't know how it's incorporated into the carriage) and the additional horse and rider contributed to the decision.

Speculation by others is that construction will interfere with the path of this ride. I've read it takes a different path than the regular carriage rides. One would think they'd find an alternate path before cancelling it if construction is the real reason behind this move.
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
AmongMadPeople said:
Yes! $60, while the regular carriage rides are $45. They only offered them in October, and they were highly sought after. From what I've read about them, the driver used to tell the story of Sleepy Hallow, then they switched to an audio recording of it. The headless horseman appears, which adds to the cost to run them every night. I've wondered if the cost of maintaining the audio system (I don't know how it's incorporated into the carriage) and the additional horse and rider contributed to the decision.

Speculation by others is that construction will interfere with the path of this ride. I've read it takes a different path than the regular carriage rides. One would think they'd find an alternate path before cancelling it if construction is the real reason behind this move.
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So it took all of what, three people to run this? :rolleyes: I agree about the construction...you would think that with all the property they own, they could create a new path. A few people with chain saws and swing blades....manual labor is fairly cheap.
 
asianway

asianway

Well-Known Member
Characters in Bloom & I Dig Bugs weekends were removed from the Flower & Garden festival in 2009. These were weekends where rare characters were brought out for the weekend as an enhancement

And my personal pet peeve: failure to repaint the "D"s onto the monorails on the current round of repaints
 
laxchik18

laxchik18

Active Member
raven24 said:
I was going to save some money and head out to Florida for the first time to visit WDW in honor of my college graduation next year. Should I even bother at this point? Honestly, I don't want to go if the parks are in such bad shape and quality. I'm thinking I should just stick to Disneyland, for now.
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no,no disney world is still amazing, dont worry
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
laxchik18 said:
no,no disney world is still amazing, dont worry
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I want to visit when the resort is in good condition, though. I don't want to see broken effects, lights and animatronics and the things people keep posting on this thread aren't helping. I am glad that I created an account here and decided to learn about the resort first, and found out about the stuff going on there. I don't think WDW vets would want me to see their resort in the condition its in, especially since I've never been there and I'm coming from a Disneyland background. I don't want to have a bad first impression.
 
disney fan 13

disney fan 13

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
I want to visit when the resort is in good condition, though. I don't want to see broken effects, lights and animatronics and the things people keep posting on this thread aren't helping. I am glad that I created an account here and decided to learn about the resort first, and found out about the stuff going on there. I don't think WDW vets would want me to see their resort in the condition its in, especially since I've never been there and I'm coming from a Disneyland background. I don't want to have a bad first impression.
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Even though WDW is somewhat messed up right now it is still a nice place to visit. (Though to be honest I am heading to WDW far less then I used to.) Heading over in October though for a MNSSHP, HHN trip.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
disney fan 13 said:
Even though WDW is somewhat messed up right now it is still a nice place to visit. (Though to be honest I am heading to WDW far less then I used to.) Heading over in October though for a MNSSHP, HHN trip.
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I have high expectations. Would you honestly recommend WDW for me, in the condition its in? Honestly. For a first timer, and someone who is used to the quality at Disneyland.
 
laxchik18

laxchik18

Active Member
raven24 said:
I want to visit when the resort is in good condition, though. I don't want to see broken effects, lights and animatronics and the things people keep posting on this thread aren't helping. I am glad that I created an account here and decided to learn about the resort first, and found out about the stuff going on there. I don't think WDW vets would want me to see their resort in the condition its in, especially since I've never been there and I'm coming from a Disneyland background. I don't want to have a bad first impression.
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i see what you mean, but its really not as big a deal as some people are making it out to be, and ive never beeen to disneyland, but what i know of it, disney world tops it, even in its current condition, which is still pretty magical
 
Patricia Melton

Patricia Melton

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
Dining plan cuts include:
  • Removal of appetizer from Dining Plan
  • Gratuity no longer included in Dining Plan
  • Reduced selections - some of the best (and most expensive) options have been removed from menus. My DW is extremely disappointed that several of her favorite QS options have been removed from menus.
  • More retaurants added to Signature Dining list, making these more expensive
  • Perceived decline in the quality of food, apparently to reduce costs
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From what I understand, there seemed to have been a large chorus of angry guests who didn't like that gratuity was included in the dining plan. They complained that they were being "charged" for the tips when they wanted to decide what to tip. My husband was in the restaurant business and there was never any louder howling than when people saw an automatic gratuity added to a check (for parties of 8 or more, and they were told that when they sat down to eat).

Having the tip included made some people angry because for some reason they twisted things to think that they were being charged for the tip without their ability to say "no tip!" if they wanted. So that's why that is gone.

This business about the "quality of food" always gets me as restaurants are being hard-hit these days across the board in terms of food costs. I'm glad we got out of the business years ago, because I'd hate to have to meet the bottom line running a restaurant today. Just another example of this appeared in the news today about the drastically increased price of corn (which affects everything that is raised for food using corn): http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/07/30/corn-soybean-prices/

There are those who like to make the claim that Disney is a villain for "reducing costs" with "declining in the quality of food" but it's not just a phenomenon with Disney. Every restaurant in the country is having to make the hard choice between eliminating more expensive ingredients or raising the menu prices to keep pace with surging food and gasoline costs (which the shipping companies place on the purchasers of products that end up in restaurants).

Glad my husband is retired so we don't have to fret over this stuff anymore by being involved with franchises.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
laxchik18 said:
i see what you mean, but its really not as big a deal as some people are making it out to be, and ive never beeen to disneyland, but what i know of it, disney world tops it, even in its current condition, which is still pretty magical
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Funny. I've heard the exact opposite, and I've heard it all here, from WDW vets. I'll visit when I feel it's right and I'm not feeling it right now. Things need to get better before I go.
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Patricia Melton said:
From what I understand, there seemed to have been a large chorus of angry guests who didn't like that gratuity was included in the dining plan. They complained that they were being "charged" for the tips when they wanted to decide what to tip.
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The issue is not that WDW eliminated the gratuity, it's that WDW eliminated the gratuity and increased prices. Rather than return that money to the patrons, WDW actually had the gall to increase prices.
 
Patricia Melton

Patricia Melton

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
The issue is not that WDW eliminated the gratuity, it's that WDW eliminated the gratuity and increased prices. Rather than returning that money to the patrons, WDW actually had the gall to increase prices.
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I don't think "gall" is the right word to use. When the F&B divisions meet to set the prices for things, their motivation is not "gall"...their motivation is to make sure that a profit is turned on the food offerings and that at the end of the day what they are paying for supplies, labor, transportation, and other expenses in the F&B division are covered by the menu prices with enough profit to meet the earnings projections for that division set by Wall Street. Disney is a publicly traded company that must perform for its shareholders' expectations.

There's no "gall" involved but there is business survival mentality in a time when the cost of food supplies to restaurants has never been higher (and just keeps going up and up).

I am sure you have noticed this in your grocery store when you do your own personal shopping. Are the groceries stores driven by "gall" when they raise their prices, or do you see that they raise their prices not as a personal affront to you but because they are businesses that need to increase prices to make a profit?
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Patricia Melton said:
I don't think "gall" is the right word to use. When the F&B divisions meet to set the prices for things, their motivation is not "gall"...their motivation is to make sure that a profit is turned on the food offerings and that at the end of the day what they are paying for supplies, labor, transportation, and other expenses in the F&B division are covered by the menu prices with enough profit to meet the earnings projections for that division set by Wall Street. Disney is a publicly traded company that must perform for its shareholders' expectations.

There's no "gall" involved but there is business survival mentality in a time when the cost of food supplies to restaurants has never been higher (and just keeps going up and up).

I am sure you have noticed this in your grocery store when you do your own personal shopping. Are the groceries stores driven by "gall" when they raise their prices, or do you see that they raise their prices not as a personal affront to you but because they are businesses that need to increase prices to make a profit?
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I respect your view. Please understand that I'm a businessman and know what is required to keep a company profitable. I also know how to read an annual report, listen to customer feedback, and observe trends within an organization well enough to recognize what is happening within the upper echelons at WDW. Rather than investing and innovating in order to attract new theme park business (something that Disney was once the undisputed world leader in) Disney corporate leadership is following an old, tired model tried by many once-great corporations; raise prices while providing a product of ever declining standards. Focus on quarterly statements rather than on the long-term health of the company.

What's happening today at Disney echoes the American automotive industry. If Disney's senior leadership continues to set direction based on a balance sheet rather than provide real leadership that looks towards the future, they eventually will become the GM of the future.

Therefore, yes, as a businessman, I think it takes a lot of "gall" (as well as demonstrates poor corporate leadership) to charge more for less.
 
Tip Top Club

Tip Top Club

Well-Known Member
Some of the things on this list just bother me. I don't understand how you can include Magic Carpets on the "Thematic Intrusions" but not the Tiki Room roof, which is just as much, if not even more visible from frontierland. By the way, there is also a Princess Castle at the end of the turn of the century american Street.

Come on guys. I know you're angry, but try to use some common sense with some of these.
 

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