if Disney actually monitors this site then WHY, don't they seem to listen..?

[DfromATX]

Disney has to start to look and see that its "core people, " the Baby Boomers of the late 40's and 50's.. with 57 being our biggest birth year, is starting to die off. Those of us who watched Davy Crockett and Annette with such intense, are going away.. I am 59.. I watched the Mickey Mouse Club in black and white.. WDW gave me a place to encourage my love and to give in to all those things we were taught on a daily basis.. a place where my siblings who are much younger , have no idea what churns in my inner being when I walk or drive under that Banner on the south side of the property.. They never had THAT DISNEY EXPERIENCE.. and never will . We have been the ones to bring our kids..but because our kids never had the daily indoctrination they get Disney but only to a certain point.. They still do not quite understand , why does DAD cry at Disney... ? what causes that type of deep emotion.

I think I understand what you're saying. I'm a 70's child and I feel the same about my childhood and Disney, although my only visit to their parks as a kid was Disneyland in 1984, when I was already 14. I didn't go to WDW until my 30's with my own family, but we've gone many times since then. My husband and I both fell in love with it and our kids love it too. My mom is 68 and she's described a similar childhood to what you described. I believe she even cried when Annette passed away.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think I understand what you're saying. I'm a 70's child and I feel the same about my childhood and Disney, although my only visit to their parks as a kid was Disneyland in 1984, when I was already 14. I didn't go to WDW until my 30's with my own family, but we've gone many times since then. My husband and I both fell in love with it and our kids love it too. My mom is 68 and she's described a similar childhood to what you described. I believe she even cried when Annette passed away.

I surely can understand your mom's emotion, but, to be honest, although connected, it isn't about Disney. It is about our place in the world. We sit and watch helplessly as all the things the define our childhood are dying and we are also very aware of how close we are skirting the same fate. If we don't have a strong ability to live in the present we can and do get really depressed. Annette passing away just triggers things like that, the memories of our childhoods when our lives were just beginning to now when they are drawing to a close. It might be a few years left, but, it is hard to plan very far ahead because we don't know where the finish line is. This past year alone we lost so many folks that were the identity of our youth. It's hard to ignore.

 

[DfromATX]

I surely can understand your mom's emotion, but, to be honest, although connected, it isn't about Disney. It is about our place in the world. We sit and watch helplessly as all the things the define our childhood are dying and we are also very aware of how close we are skirting the same fate. If we don't have a strong ability to live in the present we can and do get really depressed. Annette passing away just triggers things like that, the memories of our childhoods when our lives were just beginning to now when they are drawing to a close. It might be a few years left, but, it is hard to plan very far ahead because we don't know where the finish line is. This past year alone we lost so many folks that were the identity of our youth. It's hard to ignore.

I get it. (She's actually not a Disney fan, not like her daughter is anyway. When @bjlc57 mentioned Annette, it made me think of her. Her passion is actually Elvis.) All that you just said is something she would say and, to be honest, I think she does get depressed about it at times. She's convinced the America she knows is falling apart. She often tells me about her childhood and teen years - being a kid in the innocent 50's and a teen in the 60's. And yes, all the rockers that have recently passed away.. that's been very unsettling.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I get it. (She's actually not a Disney fan, not like her daughter is anyway. When @bjlc57 mentioned Annette, it made me think of her. Her passion is actually Elvis.) All that you just said is something she would say and, to be honest, I think she does get depressed about it at times. She's convinced the America she knows is falling apart. She often tells me about her childhood and teen years - being a kid in the innocent 50's and a teen in the 60's. And yes, all the rockers that have recently passed away.. that's been very unsettling.

I was hoping that I wasn't the only one that was feeling that way. Let me tell you something, if anyone thinks that going through the teen years and puberty, etc. was tough... wait until you get our ages. With the exception of senior discounts there are absolutely no benefits to getting up in years.

 

[DfromATX]

I was hoping that I wasn't the only one that was feeling that way. Let me tell you something, if anyone thinks that going through the teen years and puberty, etc. was tough... wait until you get our ages. With the exception of senior discounts there are absolutely no benefits to getting up in years.

Oh noooo, you are not the only one. Do you know that movie "American Graffiti?" That's one of her favorite movies and she said that's her teen years. She's doing pretty good actually and just recently retired last week.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

Because this board represents a very small percentage of WDW visitors.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

^^^ THIS ^^^
Exactly.

To think such outdated and lazy thinking still has its supporters.

 

[copcarguyp71]

I'm confident that if I can complaint enough about cheese and the fresh baked goods on Main Street, in addition to bringing Maelstrom back, then and only then will we know that Disney pays attention to boards like these.

You should start an online petition...they always seem to help!

 

[raven]

The Disney employees who watch this site are mostly Interns working in HR. There have been a number of cases where a CM would post something and then get sacked for doing so because they sign an agreement not to post anything about the company online. I know some will think I am making this up but it's 100% true information.

 

[Dead2009]

You should start an online petition...they always seem to help!

Petitions are for the birds.

 

[Horizons1]

Because Disney sees most of the people on boards like this as being crazy super fans that will continue to come no matter what.

 

[Phonedave]

I'm a bossette at a big-ish company, so maybe I have insights, maybe not.

1. Cultural change takes 5 years enact (even in a small team). So if the parks are doing some changing with all of the new leadership, they are 6 months into the process.
2. We're the noisy, minority, whiny, fanbois/haters (the 1%). The Disney net promoter scores are probably super high because regular guests are wowed by their services every day.
3. Go read a HBR article about big companies. Slow to change, hard to innovate, earnings reports, shareholders, inertia. There are really awesome consultants that make big bucks helping massive companies get a box of transformational innovation and a can of operational efficiency.

Then there's this idea that you can really only excel at one thing. It could be: efficiency in delivering your service (Fedex) or customer service (old Zappos) or lowest price (Walmart) or highest quality (Coach). The best you can hope for is to be good or fair at other stuff.

What's Disney's thing? "Best quality family entertainment", "Most E-Ticket rides", "Super duper nicest employees"........

I could not agree more

Change is hard. I work in a large company (Fortune 50) and manage a number of projects, and culture change is difficult, even within smaller groups. I don't think a lot of people realize the conflicting issues that go with projects in a companie the size of Disney.

 

[TubaGeek]

Despite the punishment they're seeing, Orlando is still INSANELY profitable, which is all the Soulless care about. As a certain clock says: "If it's not Baroque..."

 

[Chef Mickey]

There are several reasons:

1) Most importantly, and let me be clear on this...Disney does not care. That is, as long as the numbers look good and the money keeps rolling in (it is).

2) Most people (executives included) don't even think or know the quality of offerings has eroded. They lack a frame of reference.

3) We are the fans. We live and die with every attraction. Most people don't even know anything else used to be at EPCOT. We care about the parks emotionally where executives and many people do not.

4) Many people have such short attention spans that an interactive queue makes more sense than a truly great ride.

5) Disney is in margin squeeze mode, particularly at parks. ESPN worries and other macro economic changes have caused Disney to tighten their belts. Investing in other parts of the word causes Disney to make job cuts at WDW for example.

6) Did I mention they don't care?

 

[Phonedave]

There are several reasons:

1) Most importantly, and let me be clear on this...Disney does not care. That is, as long as the numbers look good and the money keeps rolling in (it is).

2) Most people (executives included) don't even think or know the quality of offerings has eroded. They lack a frame of reference.

3) We are the fans. We live and die with every attraction. Most people don't even know anything else used to be at EPCOT. We care about the parks emotionally where executives and many people do not.

4) Many people have such short attention spans that an interactive queue makes more sense than a truly great ride.

5) Disney is in margin squeeze mode, particularly at parks. ESPN worries and other macro economic changes have caused Disney to tighten their belts. Investing in other parts of the word causes Disney to make job cuts at WDW for example.

6) Did I mention they don't care?

ESPN is killing them. Watch it suck dollars from every other operation unless they do something about it.

-dave

 

[Chef Mickey]

ESPN is killing them. Watch it suck dollars from every other operation unless they do something about it.

-dave

Media networks (along with ESPN) is still historically a higher margin business than the parks and accounts (adjusting for 1 time Star wars) almost 45% of their profit. The ESPN worries are there, but overblown.

 

[LAKid53]

Disney has to start to look and see that its "core people, " the Baby Boomers of the late 40's and 50's.. with 57 being our biggest birth year, is starting to die off. Those of us who watched Davy Crockett and Annette with such intense, are going away.. I am 59.. I watched the Mickey Mouse Club in black and white.. WDW gave me a place to encourage my love and to give in to all those things we were taught on a daily basis.. a place where my siblings who are much younger , have no idea what churns in my inner being when I walk or drive under that Banner on the south side of the property.. They never had THAT DISNEY EXPERIENCE.. and never will . We have been the ones to bring our kids..but because our kids never had the daily indoctrination they get Disney but only to a certain point.. They still do not quite understand , why does DAD cry at Disney... ? what causes that type of deep emotion.The new Mouse Club was a whiff of the original show.. We were taught lessons of life and honesty and how to be a good person. Not to lie or cheat but to help one another. And there are less of us each and every day. Including many of the Mouseketeers ..We got WDW to this point.. and we have brought others with us.. .but the deep loyalty is not as deep as it was with us core people .. and it never will be, and it can't be.. and the less it gets.. The more management needs to work to keep the spark and the dream alive.. They need to offer more and not less. and if they don't see this people can change. .No one would ever think that GM would go out of business. but in effect, they did.. Sears is going to close.. JC Penney isn't far behind.. a husband and wife friend of mine, worked at one each 25 years ago.. and the morning joke was , Which store was bigger, number one in sales, as they were one and two at the time.Now both will soon be gone..Dance parties will not carry WDW into the next 25 years. No matter how often management says to let us "eat them".. as the old quote " let them eat cake .." Let them EAT DANCE PARTIES...

As a Boomer, I disagree. My daughter, while not raised on MMC, Walt's Sunday night show and Disney educational films, still has a love and passion for all things Disney, since those are the film's of her childhood. Her love of Disney is so deep that she convinced mom to spend some bucks to get married at Disney.

 

[POLY LOVER]

No company is invincable no matter how big or profitable they seem to be. There are tons of examples of company's that thought they were King and then found out to the contrary. All company's can be humbled.

 

[bjlc57]

I guess that I was hoping that some one like Lee, or Photodave or WDW1974 , or one of the other true insiders here would post an insightful comment on this thread.. someone who really knows what Disney is thinking and how they feel now that the minions no longer are willing to settle for chopped liver or gruel from the powers that be..

 

[Hakunamatata]

I guess that I was hoping that some one like Lee, or Photodave or WDW1974 , or one of the other true insiders here would post an insightful comment on this thread.. someone who really knows what Disney is thinking and how they feel now that the minions no longer are willing to settle for chopped liver or gruel from the powers that be..

Which minions are you referring to? The thousands upon thousands lining up to spend money at the parks each day?