mickeysaver
Well-Known Member
The letter...
This is a first draft. I am worry that I am still to mad to make much sense. I appreciate any feedback that you want to give me on it via PM.
This is a first draft. I am worry that I am still to mad to make much sense. I appreciate any feedback that you want to give me on it via PM.
I am a Walt Disney World Resort vacation fan. I have pretty much been one ever since I was lucky enough to have seen the Magic Kingdom as a 3 year old before the park officially was opened to the general public. I have many magical memories of Disney all through my life with experiences ranging from meeting Mickey Mouse, actually meeting Al Weiss in the parks, to even something as simple as just sitting there on a bench and people watching. I hold those Florida Disney parks near and dear to my heart. They are a part of some of the best memories of my lifetime. My partner and I have made Walt Disney World Resort our vacation of choice since 2001. What has kept us going back year after year is the perceived value of our vacation dollar when you look at the big picture and of course, the pixie dust.
Soon we will be spending a week at the Yacht Club resort. We are attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We are going to do a Wishes Dessert Party. We even were lucky enough to be able to book an Animal Kingdom Wildlife Discovery Excursion. We have some great dining plans with a dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, a breakfast at Cat Cora's new place, lunch with Remy at Les Chefs de France, the Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian, and our old favorite breakfast spot, Kona Cafe. I am hopeful that we will have a magical time.
We were hoping to catch the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" show at the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party this year, because we just never have been able to see it on previous trips for one reason or another. You are most likely already aware that the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" show was cancelled this year for the new "A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas" show. When the news came out that there was no longer going to be a "Twas the Night Before Christmas" production, I was disappointed, but I know that things change and the parks were never meant to be museums. I was pleased to see that even though there was the cancellation of one show, that there was a new production that was offered in it's place. I tried watching some of the video from the "A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas" show on YouTube, but honestly, it's has little appeal to me at all, but that's ok. We will use that time to enjoy another ride or two instead.
The choice that we made in booking a room at the Yacht Club, instead of our beloved Poly, was one that was heavily influenced by our love of Epcot at the holidays and the desire to be near some nighttime entertainment options, since Pleasure Island's clubs are now long gone. We were looking forward to several evenings over at Epcot enjoying the Lights of Winter display, which has been a spot that we have enjoyed on many previous trips. Quite frankly, I was not at all happy to hear about the cancellation of the Lights of Winter display at Epcot. I am going to miss those beautiful and, dare I say, magical holiday lights. Epcot doesn't have much holiday decoration to it to begin with and I feel the loss of the Lights of Winter display leaves the park looking rather lacking in festive atmosphere. I have many happy memories from previous holiday trips of enjoying those lights with my partner, family, friends, and fellow guests. Our plans have now changed and we have cancelled several dinner reservations at Epcot because of it. In my opinion, the choir, D'vine Voices, while I am sure they will provide quality entertainment for some of your guests, they are not going to create the more universally perceived magic that the Lights of Winter did and it's not a suitable thing to be tauting as the replacement experience.
I would just like to say that I feel that the cancellation announcement in regards to the Lights of Winter display at Epcot being made through Twitter was highly inappropriate. I am glad that information was shared, but I feel that this should have been handled by way of a press release and a more honest answer should have been given. Also, I find that it rather odd that the Lights of Winter were featured in the December D23 holiday material, but they were cancelled. I am assuming that this was a rather recent decision, or that there was a big miscommunication between departments. I also find it sadly ironic that this news comes in a year where there is a new backstage tour in regards to the wonderful things that you folks can do with holiday lights.
I am pretty sure by now that through Disney's new social media outlets, that you folks have gotten the idea that the reason given for not putting up the Lights of Winter display is just not holding water. Walt Disney himself said, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." Why could the Imagineers not have been working on a solution to the problem? I have a feeling it's because "obsolete technology" is just a poor excuse for, "We didn't want to spend the money." If Disney parks were to suddenly dispose of all things that create magic and enhance the guests experience that are based on "obsolete technology" then I fear that there would be very few things to see or do there at all. It's also hard to believe this excuse since Siemans, who is a large corporate sponsor at Epcot, owns Sylvania, who has made lights and lighting technology for years and the majority shareholder of Disney stock is Steve Jobs, who I am sure you know owns Apple computers. Between those two resources and some good old fashioned Disney Imagineering, the Lights of Winter should never have been allowed to lapse into a state of being plagued by "obsolete technology" issues.
Beyond the disappointment associated with the loss of the Lights of Winter, for all of their beauty and magic memories, there is the much larger issue of these cuts. These cuts to the guest experience that are made without suitable replacements. These cuts made in hopes that the loyal customers won't notice and that we will forget that the value of the Disney experience keeps slipping and that the cost of a Disney vacation keeps growing, like the recently announced increases in locker, wheelchair, ECV, and parking fees.
My partner and I don't live extravagant lives. Our biggest expense, outside of basic daily living, every year is the vacation that we have made a priority of taking as a gift to ourselves in honor of our hard work throughout the year. Yes, there are cheaper places that we could go that are closer to home, but until now, we have held in our minds that the value of a Disney vacation was worth every penny. I am having a harder time holding onto that ideal. I find this to be incredibly sad. We have been holding off on purchasing DVC, which was at one time a very appealing idea to both of us, because of these cuts. The loss of Pleasure Island's Adventurer's Club, the Comedy Warehouse, and the other dance clubs is a huge factor in the DVC decision too. We don't have kids and really would love to have some more adult entertainment options in our vacations. We are still hopeful that as the economy improves that the "nickel and diming" and the "Walmarting" of the Florida Disney resort experience will end. These cuts have got to stop. What might be excellent for the bottom line in the short term is going to cost you plenty down the line as the guest experience becomes more and more like a generic theme park experience rather than the magical one that Disney has made famous over the years.
I am not the letter writing sort, and I only write this one due to my sincere love of the Walt Disney World Resort experience. I hope that my concerns and the concerns of your other loyal guests over these issues will be met with open ears and open minds. Not everything that exists at Disney can directly be tied to profits. I write this with hope in my heart that someone who can make a difference reads this letter. Please preserve the magic of the guest experience and the find a way to help your guests hold onto their perceived value of the Disney vacation experience before the brand is damaged any further. I thank you for your time and attention to these matters.
