On layoffs, very bad attendance, and Iger's legacy being one of disgrace

Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Internal gossip is one thing, but consider that blueprints and project details etc are intentionally leaked because the company wants them to leak.
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
tirian said:
Oh yes.

For its first few years, this “News and Rumors” forum was essentially an online club for many insiders to trade gossip. Think of a local bar after work. Pheneix was one of those original members. Lee and Marni were others. Their track records were impeccable.

Iger had just become CEO and his original policy for WDW was “maintain, don’t build.” Disney refurbed Main Street USA and the HM but ignored almost everything else. You can imagine how negative the insider opinions were.

As the site became more popular and the forums gained more Pixie Dusters, the new members couldn’t handle the realistic conversations and labeled the insiders “Doom-and-Gloomers,” an issue that did exist on many Disney fan sites but was rarely a problem here. But it became tiresome to constantly battle, and many of the new members set themselves up as self-styled experts even though they were not insiders at all—just curiously defensive fans. Original insiders began to fade away.

We also had a few good years with a certain Spirit who left MiceChat and headed here; and even though his attitude was gruff, his Disney business knowledge was dead-on. But he frequently mixed political and personal opinions into his posts, and people joined the boards to tail him and constantly argue even when his Disney news was right.

Steve (Mr. WDWMagic himself) still knows what’s going on, but there are fewer insiders constantly posting. For one thing, many left the company. Others were afraid of revealing their sources when Lasseter cracked down on leaks during his brief stint at WDI. The Spirited discussions on here also attracted Disney Social Media employees who set up accounts specifically to argue and defend. And Lee, Pheneix, and others drifted off.

These are still the best WDW fan forums; and tbh, once a site grows like this, it can’t be the office water cooler for gossip. There are just too many people. Most of the modern news isn’t interesting anyway.

It’s good to see Pheneix again.
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Posts like these is why I'm proud to be a member of this site. I'm going to add save/quote this post for future use.

I was originally a member of Disboards before joining this site. Grew tired of many posts being a bit to positive. Sure I started off a bit naive when I joined in late 2015 after my third trip to WDW (during my Senior trip). But I started getting more mature and fascinated with the inner workings of Disney and the parks in general.
 
L

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
Damn... when I was a grocery cashier my til had to be within a dollar or I got sent to the principals office (the assistant manager..). And that was over probably hundreds of transactions per shift. Back then we had to wear ties too...

One of my summer jobs the candy store owners prided themselves on making people count change back rather than using the register to tell you the change needed. I bet they had to give that up too...
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I can't even find a real cashier at Target. Customers all have to use self service kiosks to pay and bag our own items.
 
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Lilofan

Well-Known Member
hopemax said:
This is where I usually jump in, and point out how Disney in Orlando has corrupted this basic premise, by importing labor from the Caribbean and the College Program. Local wages do not have to increase, if you can simply get people from somewhere else. The House always wins. Yet somehow we still declare the system fair to all. :facepalm:

This time, though, I'm not sure unemployment will stay in a range where people will be content to fight over scraps. Rather than fighting for access to the full tables of the bourgeoisie. You have to believe you have a chance at the jobs that might exist to take the normal path to the front door. The numbers we're talking about for evictions, missed payments, unemployment. Too many people won't have the luxury of taking the normal path. Historically, these types of imbalances end very poorly. Especially, when one side effectively just told the other side, "we don't care if you get sick and die, shut up, go to work so I can have things."
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Importing labor from Carribean? That's a stretch. I would suggest immigrant labor already living in Central Florida. That's more realistic.
 
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Lilofan

Well-Known Member
CaptainAmerica said:
Maybe I have experience that you don't. Maybe I've seen people destroy their marriages by going into thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying damaged merchandise at Property Control. Maybe I've seen people abandon jobs that provide for their families for a minimum wage job and food stamps.

I have many good friends who are cast members, both in "front line" and professional fields. The culture is toxic.


It's my brand.
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Maybe that's why Orlando has many pawn shops everywhere you turn? People in debt needing to pawn for cash.
 
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Lilofan

Well-Known Member
brianstl said:
Disney doesn’t need more employees now and won’t for a long time. They can afford to burn off 20% of their current parks employees and be fine. Have you seen the crowds in the parks?

Then if they need to add employees in 8
-12 months they won’t have an issue hiring employees. The unemployment rate in Orlando is above 17%.
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Orange County unemployment rate 29.6% ( Orlando )
Osceola County unemployment rate 39.6% ( Kissimmee )
It's not good
 
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Lilofan

Well-Known Member
mkt said:
A lot of people that have never worked for Disney hold the company in such a high regard, and they assume Disney is a great employer.

It isn't. But you can certainly make a solid middle-class life working there if you manage to get promoted to a leadership or professional role.
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Have you ever worked in a busy fine dining restaurant?. The person that makes lower income than some of the waiters is the salaried manager.
 
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Lilofan

Well-Known Member
hopemax said:
I believe mostly Puerto Rico, because they are already American citizens and don't have to worry about visas. Haiti is another big one. It's been a few years, since I did the whole "Disney forum thing," so current links to news items aren't my thing anymore but I remember Disney talking about their international job fairs. I think they even expanded into Western Africa. Mostly, housekeeping and other back of house positions, I think.
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Sorry to say that's not correct. DCL recruits from third world countries and other countries for the ships. That's more accurate. Also ICP recruits for countries in Epcot.
 
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Lilofan

Well-Known Member
pheneix said:
Wow. Thank you for the kind words spoken by all.

There is a sequel thread I've hit "save draft" on a fair amount. Probs tomorrow.

Today, a Splash Mountain boat went underwater and all hands abandoned ship. I can't top that.
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SM boat- probably the boat was overloaded by overweight guests.
 
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BigThunderMatt

Well-Known Member
WDW862 said:
Lol you don't know **** about unions
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It's my personal experience that the unions at WDW are fairly weak and don't have much leverage in negotiations. The UAW they are not. Yeah sure they got the $15 an hour increase but it was not an instantaneous raise. Like all of their "increases", it gets phased in over the lifetime of the contract so that by the time it becomes base, inflation and cost of living will see to it that it is no longer the standard for a living wage and Cast Members are back at square one.

FFS these people have a no strike clause in their contract. I don't know what the history on the union is going back to the 70s but I wouldn't be surprised if some idiot at the negotiating table gave that up as a concession at some point expecting the company to continue to act in good faith and yet here we are.
 
networkpro

networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
PhotoDave219 said:
I mean.... thats not the worst suggestion I've heard. Certainly will be more effective than thinking that Dynamic Tolls will somehow reduce traffic. All that does is make Transurban rich and commuters .... more angry.
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Tolls dont work, they just shift traffic pain to alternate routes. One thing that the DC area has working against it is every 4-8 years as administrations change a sizable percentage of that workforce changes as well.

"Rich" is a relative term based on values and purchasing power. I was able to opt-out of the DC area because of my education and hard technical skills.
 

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