Well I can say with confidence that at the very least, frontline attraction management does not. They teach one thing and one thing only: numbers, efficiency.
Many thanks for the post. Your perspective is
greatly appreciated. My perspective on the decision-making process within large corporations is from a different direction.
A company's ultimate goals and vision are set by the top-most layer of management, Harry Truman's "The buck stops here." First tier management drives the company in the direction their bosses set which, in turn, flow down from their bosses. Today's operational mess we call WDW lies squarely on the shoulders of CEO Bob Iger, who is responsible for the long-term health of the
company he is paid handsomely to manage. Ultimately, it is Iger who needs to take into account the many conflicting demands placed on him by stockholders, employees, and customers, along with other needs of the company in order to assure the long-term growth of the organization he
shepherds. Iger has it within his power to change the direction to whatever he feels is most appropriate. He truly is the captain of the ship. WDW is having these problems either because Iger is not monitoring TWDC's most valuable physical asset closely enough or because he is flowing down a series of priorities to his subordinates that cause them to manage WDW exactly how we see today. Either way, Iger and Iger alone is responsible.
CEOs are people too. They develop tunnel vision, often failing to see how their decisions affect their organization, often blaming others for their mistakes. The difference is that CEOs of major corporations are paid tens of millions of dollars to do their job and, at that price, should do it well. What CEOs often forget is that their compensation does not come from shareholders. In the end, it
emanates from customers.
For the amount of compensation that Iger receives, customers have every right to expect the very best. As paying customers, we need to more forcefully insist that Disney provide us with the best service at the least amount possible. As consumers, we would be foolish not to.
There are many who defend WDW, who adopt the attitude "it's good enough" or "I just want to enjoy myself and simply turn a blind eye to it." Such consumers are doing a disservice to themselves and their fellow consumers. WDW prices itself as a premiere vacation destination. Smart consumers should demand that WDW delivers on what it promises to be, "The Most Magical Place On Earth".
P.S. TWDC spent $1.1B to "fix" DLR because DLR's guests demanded it. As a whole, DLR's more local-centric guests are considerably more sophisticated consumers than WDW's one-every-few-years guests. DLR guests have been visiting the theme parks every year for many years. To them, DLR's problems were glaringly obvious. I encourage WDW's guests to become as sophisticated as DLR guests. If enough people make their voices heard, WDW will listen.
