Disney plans hiring freeze, some jobs cut......

[Disone]

More people trying to come than the park can operationally handle comfortably.

For literally decades, they literally handled this problem without a park reservation system. They do not need the park reservation system to handle this problem.

 

[wdisney9000]

More people trying to come than the park can operationally handle comfortably.

Wouldn't the old system of phased closings work if the park reaches capacity?

And by preventing park hopping until 2 pm, it doesn't help to relieve crowds at a park that gets crowded early.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

D+ and Hulu. They're spending like lunatics on content.

Because they always had to…just like all the others.

And why none have ever made heaps of cash

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Did Disney make any statement about cutting front line cast members at the parks?

That’s never the first…but it will happen. This isn’t the first down cycle they’ve had.

…when you’re old enough I’ll tell you about it.

 

[castlecake2.0]

For literally decades, they literally handled this problem without a park reservation system. They do not need the park reservation system to handle this problem.

Never heard of phased closings? People who hate the reservation system would also hate being in the parks without one.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Wouldn't the old system of phased closings work if the park reaches capacity?

And by preventing park hopping until 2 pm, it doesn't help to relieve crowds at a park that gets crowded early.

Phased closings are a huge guest dissatisfier. Now people know ahead of time if they’re getting into a park or not.

 

[Goofyernmost]

On one of the Imagineering story episodes Bob Weiss (iirc) said he never understood why they always do layoffs right before Christmas.

Seems to be a pattern for Disney.

I have thoughts about that situation. We park fans are quick to feel that the Parks are Disney's entire business, it is probably like the old days when the parks were actually holding the company together. But since Disney has diversified so extensively over the last decade or so it reaches in many directions, I see two things. The first is timing. Do it just before Christmas because right after or during Christmas is probably when executive bonus's are issued and they need to make the board think that they are taking measures to shore up the company. The second thing is the need to layoff staff in the parks. It is nearly impossible to think that they are not taking in enough money to support the current staff and more, but since it is both the most profitable and the most heavily burdened with payroll expenses they will cut some of that expense and be able to hold up the rest of the company that might not be fairing as well. It really makes no sense to make the profits that have been posted for the parks and then cut back on the people needed to deliver the services that guests are paying for. But somebodies have to even out the load and you can be sure that no executive is going to give up their golden egg laying goose when there are so many sacrificial lambs at the lower levels.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Let’s not forget the forced attrition of Imagineering with the Lake Nona “move.”

WDI’s already been decimated and no help is on the way. Should put rumors to rest that they’re conjuring up something big to take on Epic Universe.

WDI is still bloated.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

They are the only theme park company requiring reservation.

They're the only theme park company running four parks on a single site. When you buy a ticket for Six Flags New England, the ticket IS your reservation because there's only one park. You can't take your Six Flags New England ticket and show up at Six Flags Great Adventure.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Phased closings are a huge guest dissatisfier. Now people know ahead of time if they’re getting into a park or not.

And the Park Pass crowd levels are much lower than phased closing, meaning even on Christmas day the crowds can't get as bad as they used to.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Where has Disney actually 'announced' anything?

Yes, you and @CaptainAmerica pointed that out. Thanks. Incorrect assumption on my part.

 

[Disone]

Never heard of phased closings? People who hate the reservation system would also hate being in the parks without one.

Oh come on.... now your just using a straw man argument and being sarcastic. Have I heard of park closings? Yes I've heard of phases closings. They happen very infrequently.

The Park reservation system is daily, You are aware of that right? (See I can be sarcastic too)

.

Okay, putting little snarcastic snips aside.....



I think in general people understood that the park had a certain amount of capacity and on some very busy days it actually hit that capacity.

What's more frustrating now The amount of days they cannot get a reservation for the park they want to go to first.

If you have some data saying that the park reservation system is actually liked by a certain population, I'd love to see it.

In the meantime " I'm so glad Disney came up with the park reservation system, it really makes my park experience much better" is something I have yet to hear from anyone.

And just a double down, I'm not being sarcastic on that last part. I've literally heard no one ever say that.

Let's be honest here. It's not to fix the problem. As you stated. All it does is allow them to schedule a minimum amount of labor to attend to a fixed and predetermined population in the park. That's it and nothing more.

 

[Marne-la-Vallée]

If the Disney parks in their current state just opened today with this staff, appearance standards, service quality, lack of attention to detail and cleanliness, and hyper focus on revenue yield, they would never be associated with "magic" or "world class" nor would there be the brand halo of "Disney"

I used to think this as well. But in Europe we’ve been through this phase at Disneyland Paris. That resort was in an awful state not too long ago. After years and years of mismanagement, budget cuts en literally no maintenance (some constructions on site were actually deemed unsafe) I thought things were about to go downhill. But that didn’t happen. Attendance at the parks in Paris remained high and grew. The brand was so strong, the resort survived a lot of bad experiences by guests. Even a lot of bad press. Ever since The Company took control over the Paris resort things started to look better, at the moment it is probably a better experience than WDW.

 

[correcaminos]

Never heard of phased closings? People who hate the reservation system would also hate being in the parks without one.

They were rarely used. Park reservations are not needed in conjunction with dated tickets. They shot themselves in the foot not doing a different approach to crowd limiting from day one. Last visit showed me that they are pointless as crowds are similar to 2019 anyway

 

[Disone]

They're the only theme park company running four parks on a single site. When you buy a ticket for Six Flags New England, the ticket IS your reservation because there's only one park. You can't take your Six Flags New England ticket and show up at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Interesting perspective captain. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading it but.....

Universal is just up the road with two parks, a water park and soon a third park. They seem to be doing just fine. So was Disney up until March 2020.

There is not this outcry of guests from Universal. Just wishing they had a reservation system like Disney does.

There is however, a large population of Disney guests who really lament the reservation system. It also greatly calls into question the integrity of the annual pass.

Gives you 365 days a year. They say, ops just kidding the 365 days is subject to reservations now.

 

[solidyne]

There is no digging involved. It's literally visible to anyone underneath the post.

True, but only for a limited number of responders. Sometimes you do have to click (i.e., "dig") for more names.

The digging wasn't really the point. The diligent keeping track of who liked this comment or who disliked that one was what caught my attention.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Oh come on.... now your just using a straw man argument and being sarcastic. Have I heard of park closings? Yes I've heard of phases closings. They happen very infrequently.

The Park reservation system is daily, You are aware of that right? (See I can be sarcastic too)

.

Okay, putting little snarcastic snips aside.....



I think in general people understood that the park had a certain amount of capacity and on some very busy days it actually hit that capacity.

What's more frustrating now The amount of days they cannot get a reservation for the park they want to go to first.

If you have some data saying that the park reservation system is actually liked by a certain population, I'd love to see it.

In the meantime " I'm so glad Disney came up with the park reservation system, it really makes my park experience much better" is something I have yet to hear from anyone.

And just a double down, I'm not being sarcastic on that last part. I've literally heard no one ever say that.

Let's be honest here. It's not to fix the problem. As you stated. All it does is allow them to schedule a minimum amount of labor to attend to a fixed and predetermined population in the park. That's it and nothing more.

I never said people love it. And it’s main reason of existence is not so they can cut labor. There’s also a difference between physical capacity and operational capacity.

 

[Lilofan]

I have thoughts about that situation. We park fans are quick to feel that the Parks are Disney's entire business, it is probably like the old days when the parks were actually holding the company together. But since Disney has diversified so extensively over the last decade or so it reaches in many directions, I see two things. The first is timing. Do it just before Christmas because right after or during Christmas is probably when executive bonus's are issued and they need to make the board think that they are taking measures to shore up the company. The second thing is the need to layoff staff in the parks. It is nearly impossible to think that they are not taking in enough money to support the current staff and more, but since it is both the most profitable and the most heavily burdened with payroll expenses they will cut some of that expense and be able to hold up the rest of the company that might not be fairing as well. It really makes no sense to make the profits that have been posted for the parks and then cut back on the people needed to deliver the services that guests are paying for. But somebodies have to even out the load and you can be sure that no executive is going to give up their golden egg laying goose when there are so many sacrificial lambs at the lower levels.

Warner Bros doing same thing, another entertainment giant - hiring freeze , limit spending , laying off staff. No surprise after recent executive retreat at WDW with Chapek and TWDC execs and now this news . The retreat wasn't just to tour WDW . Yes that's somewhat accurate in real world corporate , effectively manage , streamline and hit performance targets and get handsomely rewarded in year end bonuses.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Interesting perspective captain. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading it but.....

Universal is just up the road with two parks, a water park and soon a third park. They seem to be doing just fine. So was Disney up until March 2020.

There is not this outcry of guests from Universal. Just wishing they had a reservation system like Disney does.

There is however, a large population of Disney guests who really lament the reservation system. It also greatly calls into question the integrity of the annual pass.

Gives you 365 days a year. They say, ops just kidding the 365 days is subject to reservations now.

Disney certainly doesn't "need" it. They have tons of data, and I don't think Park Pass tells them much that they don't already know. I think it's more about steering guest behavior than predicting it.

I'll also point out that we still haven't seen it in practice during a time when the parks are fully staffed. They're still in a post-COVID labor shortage. My prediction is that, outside of Christmas and Easter, Park Pass won't matter to the guest much because same-day reservations will be readily available.

 

[solidyne]

Interesting perspective captain. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed reading it but.....

Universal is just up the road with two parks, a water park and soon a third park. They seem to be doing just fine. So was Disney up until March 2020.

There is not this outcry of guests from Universal. Just wishing they had a reservation system like Disney does.

There is however, a large population of Disney guests who really lament the reservation system. It also greatly calls into question the integrity of the annual pass.

Gives you 365 days a year. They say, ops just kidding the 365 days is subject to reservations now.

When you buy a single, non-hop Universal Orlando ticket, will it work at either Islands or Studios, or is it park-specific? (Not rhetorical; I honestly don't know and am curious because the answer is relevant to Cap's point.)