First the napkins, now the cups?

[ParentsOf4]

Walt Disney said it best:

I've always been bored with just making money. I've wanted to do things, I wanted to build things. Get something going. People look at me in different ways. Some of them say, 'The guy has no regard for money.' That is not true. I have had regard for money. But I'm not like some people who worship money as something you've got to have piled up in a big pile somewhere. I've only thought of money in one way, and that is to do something with it, you see? I don't think there is a thing that I own that I will ever get the benefit of, except through doing things with it.

 

[bunnyman]

Your comments weren't rude?? I'm not a better Disney fan, I just hold Disney to much higher standards than you. For a stock holder I would think that you should care a little more about the product that you own.

I care very much about the product. I see scrims covering Main Street to reface buildings, I see RFID technology and WiFi going in, I see a long empty and unfinished hotel being turned into Art of Animation, I see two state of the art cruise ships entering service over past two years, I see FLE, etc.

 

[bunnyman]

Walt Disney said it best:

Yes, and he had a brother in Roy who told him what they could and couldn't afford, and how they were going to pay for it all.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Thank the 6 pound baby Jesus.....finally someone who can explain it from another view point. IT ISNT ABOUT THE FACT THAT IT IS CUPS AND NAPKINS!!!!!!!!!!!

B...but...to me, it IS about cups and napkins. I want Mickey on them! I love little Disney touches like that.

Here's what I did on vacation. I am sitting in my favourite land, Liberty Square, after doing my beloved HoP. I decided on a little rest and a snack in Sleepy Hollow, facing the hub.
My little slice of heaven. My castle (yes, mine, deal with it), a Mickey waffle, served on a Mickey plate, with a Mickey napkin. The highlight of my stay. I loved it so much I took a million pictures of it.

My Mickey-themed stuff is more important to me than a $500 million Carsland. I'm so easy to please! I don't even need a Mickey meet&greet, all I need is a Mickey meet&eat.

 

[bunnyman]

B...but...to me, it IS about cups and napkins. I want Mickey on them! I love little Disney touches like that.

Here's what I did on vacation. I am sitting in my favourite land, Liberty Square, after doing my beloved HoP. I decided on a little rest and a snack in Sleepy Hollow, facing the hub.
My little slice of heaven. My castle (yes, mine, deal with it), a Mickey waffle, and a Mickey plate. The highlight of my stay. I loved it so much I took a million pictures of it.

My Mickey-themed stuff is more important to me than a $500 million Carsland. I'm so easy to please! I don't even need a Mickey meet&greet, all I need is a Mickey meet&eat and I'm perfectly happy.

Hey, I still want my PB&J sandwiches back at Aunt Polly's! Now that's something I'd fight for!

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Hey, I still want my PB&J sandwiches back at Aunt Polly's! Now that's something I'd fight for!

Do fight for it! To me, a fully operational TSI, with Aunt Polly's, is a total Potter swatter in its own right. Just give me my little retreats, my little pleasures, my little childish delights. It's all I need and my credit card wil be yours forever.

Don't money pinch me with closures and pesky removals of fun details! That, and nothing else, is what drives me to Potter.

 

[alissafalco]

I care very much about the product. I see scrims covering Main Street to reface buildings, I see RFID technology and WiFi going in, I see a long empty and unfinished hotel being turned into Art of Animation, I see two state of the art cruise ships entering service over past two years, I see FLE, etc.

This statement says it all. You clearly are only looking at the big picture while letting all the small magical touches fall to the wayside. What good are all these huge investments if you cant get the people to fill the rooms??

 

[Hakunamatata]

Yet you think someone else started with the insults?

Wasn't me.

 

[bunnyman]

This statement says it all. You clearly are only looking at the big picture while letting all the small magical touches fall to the wayside. What good are all these huge investments If you cant get the people to fill the rooms??

Listen, I'm not trying to fight. To each his own, and to me magical touches are things besides napkins and cups. Magical touches to me are the guard at the hotel gate saying "welcome home", the Cast Member getting some kid a new ice cream to prevent a magical meltdown when they drop it, etc. Actually, given today's aim for recycling and pollution control, I kind of like the idea of plain brown napkins without ink going into trash.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Yes, and he had a brother in Roy who told him what they could and couldn't afford, and how they were going to pay for it all.

I respectfully suggest you reread the Disney brother history a bit more. Walt nearly always got his way. Roy knew his brother was the creative genius and, in the end, always deferred to Walt's judgment.

Roy tried to talk Walt out of nearly everything we consider great about Walt Disney, including Disneyland. Roy initially opposed DL, suggesting they didn't have the money, amusement parks were dirty, and it was outside their area of business. Walt had a dream, an obsession really, and wasn't going to let his older brother deter him. They went deep into debt, risking the family's savings to build DL, all because Walt wanted to create something he believed in. In the end, DL was wildly successful and assured the family fortune.

We have WDW today only because it was Walt's dream to expand to the east coast and his brother Roy believed in finishing his brother's dream after Walt died. So Walt got his way even after he died.

Perhaps the following quote will help you understand Walt's view of DL:

The park means a lot to me. It's something that will never be finished, something I can keep developing, keep 'plussing' and adding to. It's alive. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need changes. When you wrap up a picture and turn it over to Technicolor, you're through. Snow White is a dead issue with me. I just finished up a live-action picture, wrapped it up a few weeks ago. It's gone. I can't touch it. There are things in it I don't like, but I can't do anything about it. I want something live, something that would grow. The park is that. Not only can I add things, but even the trees will keep growing. The thing will get more beautiful year after year. And it will get better as I find out what the public likes. I can't do that with a picture; it's finished and unchangeable before I find out whether the public likes it or not.

As many have posted and yet people who join this thread seem to miss, it's not about the napkins, cups, or any one detail. It's about the cumulative effect these have on the entire Walt Disney World experience, an experience whose financial success is based on convincing people to spend money they don't need to spend because, in return, they will receive a product of the highest quality. It's about corporate leadership abandoning a business philosophy that was shown to be financially successful for decades: treat the customer with respect and profits follow. Treat the customer like a number and attendance flattens while it skyrockets at the competition.

There's a reason Bob Iger dodged questions about theme park attendance at the most recent stockholder meeting. At this point, it's obvious to Disney senior management that something's got to be done at WDW. Raising prices, cutting corners, offering Free Dining, and building more DVC is no longer working.

 

[John]

B...but...to me, it IS about cups and napkins. I want Mickey on them! I love little Disney touches like that.

Here's what I did on vacation. I am sitting in my favourite land, Liberty Square, after doing my beloved HoP. I decided on a little rest and a snack in Sleepy Hollow, facing the hub.
My little slice of heaven. My castle (yes, mine, deal with it), a Mickey waffle, served on a Mickey plate, with a Mickey napkin. The highlight of my stay. I loved it so much I took a million pictures of it.

My Mickey-themed stuff is more important to me than a $500 million Carsland. I'm so easy to please! I don't even need a Mickey meet&greet, all I need is a Mickey meet&eat.

Of course it is......and if it were up to me you would have all of your childish pleasures...isnt that what WDW is all about? Sadly as you know my point was being some people are argueing that we are having a hissy fit over cups and saucers but you have illustrated very nicely that its about the small (childish) pleasures that are being lost and not just some paper cup with Mickey printed on it. This whole subject in my opinion has evolved into something much bigger then simply cups and napkins. How many times now have we read on the 18 pages of this thread.....Are you serious? You people are complaining about cups and mapkins! No we are not complaing about cups and napkins......we are complaining about something much bigger......we all have our own version of childish pleasures......all being chipped away little by little. But never fear, two new cruise ships were launched. Funny though I havnt seen what park that new cruise ship ride was in? Scrims on Mainstreet....Sorry long over due maintence. Am I happy that MSUSA is getting some love? Ofcourse.....but shouldnt that happen anyway? Should I get all warm and fuzzy because they are repairing something that has been needed for sometime. Which by the way....being long over due probably cost more and took longer to complete? FLE? Dont want to even get into this.....had my say....in a sentence....dosnt do nothing for me. Will probably spend very little time here.

What Mr Stockholder is missing that those of us who visit the blue pages are multible repeat customers. We probably spend more the your average guest. Losing these small WDW pleasures is what kept us comming back. What is going to keep new guest comming back time after time? FLE? refurbed mainstreet? they have no idea what it looked like before. cruise ships? The small childish pleasures that have been talked about is what we all refer to as.......the Disney Magic.

 

[scpergj]

I have an interesting insight to this one today. Yesterday my wife and I took our kids to the Magic Kingdom for the day - drove the 2 1/2 hours each way to make it a single day trip. We met my brother, sister-in-law, and their two kids (my kids are 14 and 10, theirs are 6 and 2). We ate lunch at Cosmic Ray's, pretty much because that is where we were at lunch time...and while I noticed the napkins were plain brown, I don't remember what kind of cups we got. I do remember that the small drink my daughter got (you know, the kids size fountain drink) was the redish cup with the white character outlines, but the others? No idea. I've been following this thread since the beginning, and even agree with the declining by degrees thoughts at times....but tonight, while my wife and I both remember plain napkins, neither remember anything about our drink cups.

 

[JimboJones123]

Mmmmm. Sunshine Seasons... What did u eat? I love the pork chop and mashed potatoes there.

I miss the BBQ and Baked Potatoes.

 

[jensenrick]

I miss the BBQ and Baked Potatoes.

Do they still have that "Soarin" creme brulee with the touch of orange? I really liked those.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I have an interesting insight to this one today. Yesterday my wife and I took our kids to the Magic Kingdom for the day - drove the 2 1/2 hours each way to make it a single day trip. We met my brother, sister-in-law, and their two kids (my kids are 14 and 10, theirs are 6 and 2). We ate lunch at Cosmic Ray's, pretty much because that is where we were at lunch time...and while I noticed the napkins were plain brown, I don't remember what kind of cups we got. I do remember that the small drink my daughter got (you know, the kids size fountain drink) was the redish cup with the white character outlines, but the others? No idea. I've been following this thread since the beginning, and even agree with the declining by degrees thoughts at times....but tonight, while my wife and I both remember plain napkins, neither remember anything about our drink cups.

The 'red with white outlined stuff' are the cups we are talking about. I think that if they served you one, they served you everything in them.

While it is beginning to appear that the napkins will be gone for the foreseable future, the status of the cups is unclear. If memory serves me correct, they were reported missing from EPCOT's Sunshine Sesaons, then were reported to be returned, then reported to be missing from the MK, and now reported in use at Cosmic Ray's.
Lord knows. Everything written about the cups is conditional. The dissappearance of the napkins has made us sensitive to the issue. The napkins removal started with a few unclear reports too. So reports of missing cups means a clear possibility that they will go the way of the napkins. But it very much remains to be seen.

 

[Clever Name]

Walt Disney said it best:

"I've always been bored with just making money. I've wanted to do things, I wanted to build things. Get something going. People look at me in different ways. Some of them say, 'The guy has no regard for money.' That is not true. I have had regard for money. But I'm not like some people who worship money as something you've got to have piled up in a big pile somewhere. I've only thought of money in one way, and that is to do something with it, you see? I don't think there is a thing that I own that I will ever get the benefit of, except through doing things with it."

The problem with that quote is that it doesn't reflect the truth of the matter. When Walt Disney died in 1966, his personal estate was worth about 5 billion dollars. That was a very big pile of money. Walt looked for every opportunity to make huge sums of money for himself. His personal ownership of the Tiki Room, Railroad and Monorail in DL are good examples. Also, his personal ownership of WED Enterprises and keeping it a secret from the shareholders is another good example of his deceptive money practices.

 

[jensenrick]

Do fight for it! To me, a fully operational TSI, with Aunt Polly's, is a total Potter swatter in its own right. Just give me my little retreats, my little pleasures, my little childish delights. It's all I need and my credit card wil be yours forever.

Don't money pinch me with closures and pesky removals of fun details! That, and nothing else, is what drives me to Potter.

I like how you put that- it was very sweet. The only time I ever ate at Aunt Polly's it was a disappointment, but I probably missed the good years for that one.

 

[jensenrick]

Listen, I'm not trying to fight. To each his own, and to me magical touches are things besides napkins and cups. Magical touches to me are the guard at the hotel gate saying "welcome home", the Cast Member getting some kid a new ice cream to prevent a magical meltdown when they drop it, etc. Actually, given today's aim for recycling and pollution control, I kind of like the idea of plain brown napkins without ink going into trash.

I like how you put this as well - it felt very real.

 

[heatherkatheleen]

nah, we'll just vote you off, hee hee.

Like Survivor... The Disney tribe has spoken... Scary!

 

[M.rudolf]

"I've always been bored with just making money. I've wanted to do things, I wanted to build things. Get something going. People look at me in different ways. Some of them say, 'The guy has no regard for money.' That is not true. I have had regard for money. But I'm not like some people who worship money as something you've got to have piled up in a big pile somewhere. I've only thought of money in one way, and that is to do something with it, you see? I don't think there is a thing that I own that I will ever get the benefit of, except through doing things with it."

The problem with that quote is that it doesn't reflect the truth of the matter. When Walt Disney died in 1966, his personal estate was worth about 5 billion dollars. That was a very big pile of money. Walt looked for every opportunity to make huge sums of money for himself. His personal ownership of the Tiki Room, Railroad and Monorail in DL are good examples. Also, his personal ownership of WED Enterprises and keeping it a secret from the shareholders is another good example of his deceptive money practices.

What does it matter Walt was allowed to make money. He had a business to run and all businesses need capital. He found a balance providing an excellent product for a value. Something that is not happening now. He may have been holding on to the money as a means to an end. No one can ask him, so why judge when we never can't get an answer.