Labor cost cutting measures begin at Walt Disney World as the company enters Q1

[Lilofan]

That is the exception not the norm.

Never said it was.

 

[Heppenheimer]

TWDC must at all costs protect and serve their most important entity. Their shareholders.

More likely, the bond holders, I'm thinking. Shareholders can weather a bad quarter or two, but companies that miss a bond maturation payment are in deep doo-doo.

 

[VaderTron]

OK what do you do with the capacity that is going unused then? Time to remove Hall of Presidents? Tiki Room? Country Bears? Carousel of Progress?



OK let's flip the script a bit. If the parks have been experiencing this massive underinvestment for 10+ years, why hasn't the attendance gone down appropriately?

The general dumbing down of society combined with an unwillingness of long-time fans to let go of nostalgia and see things for how they actually are in reality.

 

[JoeCamel]

More likely, the bond holders, I'm thinking. Shareholders can weather a bad quarter or two, but companies that miss a bond maturation payment are in deep doo-doo.

They have something like $50B outstanding, that is a large nut to service, good thing rates are so low.

 

[wutisgood]

I never said no one high up comes from parks but mtg and execs ( not all ) if you refuse to believe, get promoted from within and do rise up the food chain. You probably never heard of Al Weiss , George Kalogridis, Phil Holmes who started as teenagers in the early 1970s. What is "sadly"? I've known waiters in places that are in the same position for many years earning more annually than their salaried bosses.

I worked at a known chain in the parks, and the people who got promoted were the ones who were not quite good enough to get out to better jobs but good enough to get the job done. Professional waiters are basically a sales job where the salaries rise with inflation aka food costs and tips and even then many of those people are quitting. The idea that you can just move up in 2021 is boomer nonsense. The best people are going to move out to whoever is actually paying and leave the mediocre people, which is why park chains who pay dog crap that actually want good people discriminate against their existing workers who want promotions. Those parks intentionally hire mediocre workers with the idea that they could not or would not move up. If you work in parks on a basic to moderate level and want an actual good job leave on good terms and maintain connections. They will hire you for a real job when you have leverage.

Went to knotts this weekend. Significant amount of union wage entertainment, possibly more than california adventure. I don't think they are crying poor.

 

[JoeCamel]

I worked at a known chain in the parks, and the people who got promoted were the ones who were not quite good enough to get out to better jobs but good enough to get the job done. Professional waiters are basically a sales job where the salaries rise with inflation aka food costs and tips and even then many of those people are quitting. The idea that you can just move up in 2021 is boomer nonsense. The best people are going to move out to whoever is actually paying and leave the mediocre people, which is why park chains who pay dog crap that actually want good people discriminate against their existing workers who want promotions. Those parks intentionally hire mediocre workers with the idea that they could not or would not move up. If you work in parks on a basic to moderate level and want an actual good job leave on good terms and maintain connections. They will hire you for a real job when you have leverage.

Went to knotts this weekend. Significant amount of union wage entertainment, possibly more than california adventure. I don't think they are crying poor.

Wow, so bitter
Bad job move on

 

[wutisgood]

Wow, so bitter
Bad job move on

would you like to provide a constructive counterpoint?

 

[Tay]

That's for sure. Replacing towels while doing nothing else is not housekeeping.

They didn’t even do that on my trip.

 

[WDWTrojan]

I never said no one high up comes from parks but mtg and execs ( not all ) if you refuse to believe, get promoted from within and do rise up the food chain. You probably never heard of Al Weiss , George Kalogridis, Phil Holmes who started as teenagers in the early 1970s. What is "sadly"? I've known waiters in places that are in the same position for many years earning more annually than their salaried bosses.

Those are all great examples of Disney execs who rose up through the ranks, but like the movie starlet who gets discovered at the soda fountain, they are the exception to the rule. WDW is a notoriously bottom heavy organization. It is very, very hard to move up beyond the GEM level and even harder beyond the proprietor level. People work 25 years as an entry level manager to become a proprietor and make $70K a year.

On the corporate side, it always shocked the executives in Burbank from other business units how their peers in Florida were classified as managers or directors when they were doing the same job (often with fewer direct reports) and were VPs or SVPs.

 

[Tay]

I just left the boardwalk, was in a 3 bedroom grand villa. When I arrived the shower head in the master bathroom was just hanging off the wall, and the fridge was warm and didn’t work.

Since this was DVC I don’t expect much mousekeeping but at least check the freakin rooms before people check in.

This thread is an eye opener for me. I thought my dirty towels, broken iron, no coffee or cups or ice bucket and warm refrigerator was because I was at a value on a deal I found off SnapTravel. It’s resort wide. My whole week long trip I saw most cast members just standing there , especially at Epcot. Why can’t they just convert these people to housekeeping/custodial? Maybe this is their plan to justify the layoffs. WDW execs has made me into a conspiracy theorist lol.

 

[Bullseye1967]

I worked at a known chain in the parks, and the people who got promoted were the ones who were not quite good enough to get out to better jobs but good enough to get the job done. Professional waiters are basically a sales job where the salaries rise with inflation aka food costs and tips and even then many of those people are quitting. The idea that you can just move up in 2021 is boomer nonsense. The best people are going to move out to whoever is actually paying and leave the mediocre people, which is why park chains who pay dog crap that actually want good people discriminate against their existing workers who want promotions. Those parks intentionally hire mediocre workers with the idea that they could not or would not move up. If you work in parks on a basic to moderate level and want an actual good job leave on good terms and maintain connections. They will hire you for a real job when you have leverage.

Went to knotts this weekend. Significant amount of union wage entertainment, possibly more than california adventure. I don't think they are crying poor.

A little bitter are you?

 

[Lilofan]

Those are all great examples of Disney execs who rose up through the ranks, but like the movie starlet who gets discovered at the soda fountain, they are the exception to the rule. WDW is a notoriously bottom heavy organization. It is very, very hard to move up beyond the GEM level and even harder beyond the proprietor level. People work 25 years as an entry level manager to become a proprietor and make $70K a year.

On the corporate side, it always shocked the executives in Burbank from other business units how their peers in Florida were classified as managers or directors when they were doing the same job (often with fewer direct reports) and were VPs or SVPs.

In regards to making $70K a year I know people who live in Orange County FL and Orange County CA. One would live better in a lower COL in OC, FL.

 

[Cesar R M]

They didn’t even do that on my trip.

Supposedly you have to ask for them to go daily now, right?
if not they would go once every 3-4 days.

 

[wutisgood]

A little bitter are you?

I had no desire to sit around for years hoping a real job would open up I could get. I am not bitter at all. The parks were great experience out of college because they offered consistent skilled work and needed flexible people. I am just stating the reality of the situation when it comes to low level employees even in moderate skill positions vs the higher ups. If you are truly talented you are almost always losing money waiting it out in one of those positions and will gain better leverage at a bigger position outside the park. These employees crushed on hours do not have much ability or motivation to prove themselves at the end of the day.

I often said I wish I just took e hours with IASTE instead for experience and didn't do college but given the working conditions regardless of pay those people deal with that they are about to go on strike over, I am glad to be out of that industry. I can't even imagine the toll on the mental health of these people with even worse conditions who are not young enough to chalk it up to good experience.

 

[castlecake2.0]

This thread is an eye opener for me. I thought my dirty towels, broken iron, no coffee or cups or ice bucket and warm refrigerator was because I was at a value on a deal I found off SnapTravel. It’s resort wide. My whole week long trip I saw most cast members just standing there , especially at Epcot. Why can’t they just convert these people to housekeeping/custodial? Maybe this is their plan to justify the layoffs. WDW execs has made me into a conspiracy theorist lol.

Because they were not hired for those roles, it’s not that easy unfortunately, they can be redeployed to other locations but can’t be forced to work a different role.

 

[Thelazer]

Just wait till they outsource the roles 100% to 3rd party.. You know it's going to happen.

 

[djsamuel]

There is a nice story on the longest tenured cast member in parks. Oscar Martinez was hired as a busboy in DL in 1956 and he retired in 2017 as a chef at Carnation Cafe. He recalled memories of seeing Walt in the park .

We were eating at the Carnation Cafe back in 2019 and Oscar was there, walking table to table asking people if they were enjoying their meal. I assumed he was just another guest since he was not in costume, until our server called him Oscar. Then I realized who he was. A really nice guy.

 

[Lilofan]

Just wait till they outsource the roles 100% to 3rd party.. You know it's going to happen.

There is a percentage already run by third party. 100% is wishful thinking.

 

[peter11435]

There is a percentage already run by third party. 100% is wishful thinking.

A very small percentage

 

[Lilofan]

A very small percentage

Select places at Disney Springs Epcot, Coronado, resort valet parking, etc,