Kevin Yee- Parks close one day a week?

[wdwfan100]

Again, could we please stay on topic, ie, what WDW may or may not do in response to the economy, rather than argue about the economy, which keeps leading the discussion into the political arena, and has resulted in name calling.

Thank you.

You are right. I apologize for my part of the uprising. I believe that "wherever" we are economically, It would have to get ridiculously worse for Disney to start shutting parks down. I am not saying it is impossible. I just don't see the economy getting that bad anytime soon.

 

[ToTBellHop]

For what its worth, one only needs to see the park hours Disney has posted for the 2nd half of the year to know that congencies are already being set in motion. From what I'm hearing changes will be happening in the "Adventureland opens at 11am today" variety after Labor Day.

Which is completely reasonable to me. Disney has been having World Showcase open at 11 am for years now--simply due to guest trends. No one really complains about that. Disney has always adjusted its hours in line with the guest volume expected. No one expects the Magic Kingdom to be open until midnight in October, so if attendance levels during a busy period end up lower, at levels expected in October, then I wouldn't consider it at all unreasonable for Disney to shorten its park hours as a result. Most would agree this is reasonable. It's closing the parks outright that does not seem right. Still, Disney chooses how to run its parks, so anything is possible, I guess. They now close the water parks much longer than they need to for the yearly refurbishment (I remember not too many years ago that Blizzard Beach would close for its yearly refurbishment around Christmas and reopen in mid-February. Now it reopens in mid-March). Originally, that was to give Presidents' Week crowds the option of two (or three way back in the mid-90s) water parks. Apparently, since then, they have decided that although it is crowded that week, guests only need one waterpark to visit when temperatures peak in the low-70s. That's their prerogative.

 

[TigerLily_CM]

I don't know what this guys creds are but I can't see it happening. people who plan to come to Disney for shorter stays...especially our annual passholders would be ticked to find a park was closed. True, AP's generally are well informed of park operations and would probably keep up with which parks are open but not everyone does get that info before they visit and I think it would be more headache than its worth

I find park hopping is a huge part of many peoples trips so just because a park is a little less crowded at one point in the day doesn't mean it won't pick up later on.

besides, Disney makes a lot of money with parks being open and they understand fluctuating attendance and act accordingly. Frankly if attendance goes down then you'll see more refurbs at that time and less cast members.

The number of cast members can go up and down by over 5,000 depending on seasons so the seasonal/part time/casual workers would be laid off to adjust for attendance.

Personally i don't see a whole park closing in the future (but I have been wrong before) :shrug:

 

[DisneyJoe]

True, AP's generally are well informed of park operations and would probably keep up with which parks are open but not everyone does get that info before they visit and I think it would be more headache than its worth

They would need to post this info 180 days in advance - what are the odds of that happening?

 

[TigerLily_CM]

They would need to post this info 180 days in advance - what are the odds of that happening?

probably about the same odds as DHS having the same name in 10 years :lol:

 

[StitchRox]

This will never happen, this guy is a grade A moron. It was completely dead after Sept. 11 they cut back on hours and staffing but not once did they close the parks. They picked back up eventually.

 

[culturenthrills]

If the plane is packed than people are traveling.

the plane is packed because domestic carriers have reduced the number of flights to Orlando by 20%. So there will be fuller planes because there are less flights. And Southwest still has not released their schedule past October so who knows if they are gonna cut flights and raise their airfares.

 

[RSoxNo1]

This will never happen, this guy is a grade A moron. It was completely dead after Sept. 11 they cut back on hours and staffing but not once did they close the parks. They picked back up eventually.

I don't think the best argument against Kevin Yee's article is pointing to the days following September 11th. Given the nature of Disney as a vacation destination, I wouldn't expect them to announce that starting tomorrow DAK will be closed on Tuesday's and MGM will be closed on Thursday's. If any announcement like this were to happen, it would presumably be made months in advance.

 

[Michael72688]

They didn't even do this after 9/11 when attendance plummeted everywhere

 

[DisneyJoe]

I don't think the best argument against Kevin Yee's article is pointing to the days following September 11th. Given the nature of Disney as a vacation destination, I wouldn't expect them to announce that starting tomorrow DAK will be closed on Tuesday's and MGM will be closed on Thursday's. If any announcement like this were to happen, it would presumably be made months in advance.

That's the thing - tourism was down drastically after 9/11, for at least 2 years, if not 3, and they didn't even close a park a day during that time.

They:

- reduced park hours
- stopped offering early morning hours, introduced Character meet and greets at the resorts
- reduced staff
- closed French Quarter, stopped building at Pop Century, closed off some buildings at other resorts (I was at All-Star Music when they only had 5 of the 10 buildings open)
- reduced fireworks and parades somewhat
- closed a few dining locations
- offered deep room only and package deals (Fairytale package, ie. 7 nights for the price of 4 and then 7 for 5, AP rates as low as $49/night!)

I can see them doing all of this again, but I believe that things would need to be a lot worse than the post-9/11 days to warrant closing an entire theme park for a day a week.

If Kevin wanted to present a balanced article (!), he would have noted what was done post-9/11 and compared it to this new info - instead of this drastic doom and gloom piece that he wrote.

 

[jt04]

That's the thing - tourism was down drastically after 9/11, for at least 2 years, if not 3, and they didn't even close a park a day during that time.

They:

- reduced park hours
- stopped offering early morning hours, introduced Character meet and greets at the resorts
- reduced staff
- closed French Quarter, stopped building at Pop Century, closed off some buildings at other resorts (I was at All-Star Music when they only had 5 of the 10 buildings open)
- reduced fireworks and parades somewhat
- closed a few dining locations
- offered deep room only and package deals (Fairytale package, ie. 7 nights for the price of 4 and then 7 for 5, AP rates as low as $49/night!)

I can see them doing all of this again, but I believe that things would need to be a lot worse than the post-9/11 days to warrant closing an entire theme park for a day a week.

If Kevin wanted to present a balanced article (!), he would have noted what was done post-9/11 and compared it to this new info - instead of this drastic doom and gloom piece that he wrote.

Kevin obviously has ulterior motives. He THINKS he has a large enough voice that he can be a player in the "doom and gloom" propaganda machine that is currently screaming, "the sky is falling". I actually used to respect the guy.:hammer:

 

[1disneydood]

They better not have any parks closed during times when MK and Epcot fill to capacity.

And for those who don't think we're in a recession, tell that to the Dodge dealership my wife works for. They're having a meeting today and every employee has to meet on the sales floor at noon. Nobody is buying american cars due to gas. If wife gets let go, there goes our WDW trip next year down the drain. Due to the economy, due to gas.

 

[Giraffe Lounge]

They better not have any parks closed during times when MK and Epcot fill to capacity.

And for those who don't think we're in a recession, tell that to the Dodge dealership my wife works for. They're having a meeting today and every employee has to meet on the sales floor at noon. Nobody is buying american cars due to gas. If wife gets let go, there goes our WDW trip next year down the drain. Due to the economy, due to gas.

Sorry to hear about your wife, but in all due respect, people don't buy American cars for many reasons.

But back to the topic, I don't think they would do this, but if they did close two parks on day a week you'd still have 26 park-days per week, which is still 5 more than we ever had prior to 1998. So I think the resort could handle it. It would hardly be a sky-is-falling situation.

And for those saying the DDP means they'd have to schedule this 180 days out, show me where it says you're guaranteed to eat at any restaurant on property, I just don't understand this argument.

 

[DisneyJoe]

And for those saying the DDP means they'd have to schedule this 180 days out, show me where it says you're guaranteed to eat at any restaurant on property, I just don't understand this argument.

No guarantees are ever stated, of course....

LOL - you need to check out 1 or 2 of the more insane Disney forums, where hundreds, if not more, people, were FREAKING OUT when November hours weren't posted right away; they couldn't plan their days or make their ADRs, and once the hours were posted (2-3 weeks late!), there were long wait times on the dining line for days!

Many complaints were sent in to Disney.....

 

[fosse76]

I think comparisons with regard to the terrorist attacks that occurred on 9/11/2001 are too simplistic on what Disney did and didn't do. It wasn't that people couldn't afford to go, it was that people weren't travelling. While in hindsight it may seem prudent for Disney to have closed a park one day per week to offset costs, the fact that they knew tourism would pick up (and though it dropped immediately after that day, it gradually increased) is what kept them from implementing this plan.

This scenario, however, seems more like a long term plan, if the economy looks as if it won't recover anytime soon. While most people won't change immediate travel plans, they are less likely to make future travel plans as they did before. People simply can't afford to go. While an extra $100/month in expenses may not seem like that much, a lot of people might not be able to afford that. It seems the wealthier people on this board (who are easily identifiable by telling people to get over the price increases) think that there is an infinite amount of money people have access to. Their solution is you can't afford it, either you don't deserve to have it or you get a second (or higher paying) job. As if life were that simple.

Disney wouldn't have a plan like this if the downturn were expected to reverse course in a matter of months. This seems like plan for when it becomes clear that people won't be travelling as much as before.

***EDIT

I imagine though that this would be a plan that was implemented moreso in the off-season. I can't imagine that they would have it year-round.

 

[rlaeromech]

In my opinion,

They won't close a park, they will cut back in other areas more directly effected by the economy, you may see less busses running, less cast members and other things as people have stated.

Attendace WILL go down if the economy continues which means........

WAIT TIME GOES DOWN AND I WILL BE THERE TO REAP ALL THE BENEFITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

 

[nemofinder22]

Hmmm DCA didnt even close after 9/11 I doubt WDW will close a park one day of the week. I can see reduced hours and such.

 

[AEfx]

This article just ripped the last shred of any respect for this yahoo I may have ever misplaced in him.

No matter how bad things get, Disney would never do this for one simple reason : it would be the worst PR nightmare ever.

For a guy so full of "love" for these parks, I haven't heard him make any positive contributions for years, he just likes to drive traffic to his little glorified blog entries so peole who don't know any better buy his crappy, rehashed pamphlets he puts forward as "books".

AEfx

 

[Spyne]

Oh please, I call this completely false. Walt Disney World's attendance is as high as ever, and I don't see it changing. Especially with WDW being the #1 vacation destination, closing certain parks on a day of the week would be a stupid decision.

 

[pheneix]

No matter how bad things get, Disney would never do this for one simple reason : it would be the worst PR nightmare ever.
AEfx

They had a guest die on one of their rides at Disneyland because of their own malpractice. I think they could manage the PR consequences of closing a park for one day a week.

There has already been a case study of how guest flow would be impacted by shuttering a park when Epcot lost an operating day due to a power outage a few years ago. Senior management scrutinized how the other three parks pretty carefully and what they found has not been forgotten. The resort can handle the load on an average day. Considering that such measures would only be taken on extraordinary levels of low attendance*, the other parks would be more than capable of handling the pressure.

* Personally I think adject greed would push for this change before low attendance. Remember, this is the resort that will push 20,000 day guests out of the MK just to collect extra revenue off of 8,000 guests for an after hours event.