I did not read all the posts, but let me sum up and see if I have what many are saying:
1) Keep making more hours available to us, heck why not just say open 24 hours.
2) Stop adding new attractions that do not meet what I want to see in the park, New Fantasy Land, who cares.
3) Pay people more
4) People on this message board could run the parks better than the folks who do now
5) Screw the kids, make everything geared more to us needy adults.
This about sums it up right? There are so many flaws in most of your positions, but let me name a few...
first, the FP+ rather than the EMH...hmmm lets see, Disney can give a benefit to resort guests (who are contributing to the bottom line in a big way) a benefit without spending a ton of $'s on staffing, and that is a bad thing. Well, first and foremost, Disney is a corporation, they are in it to make $'s, if you can give someone a benefit that is comparable to what they get now, but save money doing it, it is a win win situation. Also, with the costs of benefits and other HR related expenses going up, those costs get passed along to all of you in the price of the tickets...so...sure, lets increase hours, but your ticket price will keep skyrocketing faster and faster.
Next, you all want more maintenance, but you want them to do it in less downtime, and god forbid an attraction is down when you are visiting, it would be terrible. there is give and take here. Think about what you are all saying, increase hours, but keep things in better condition. Those two cannot happen at the same time.
Third, so everyone wants new attractions, well when they get them what to they do? Complain. Little Mermaid is not my cup of tea, but little ones love it, and it adds to the fantasy land area, so I think it is a good addition. Do we miss Mr. Toad and what not, sure, but when a kid who is now used to all the technology that is out there, and has no sentimental history for a ride, goes on that ride, disappointment would be an understatement.
Lastly, everyone who talks like they know what is best for Disney needs to realize that WDW has been and will continue to be a destination vacation spot and one of the best Theme Park areas because the people who are running it actually might know what they are doing. Sure things might perfect, but I have to say Disney is HEAD and SHOULDERS above 95% of the other parks around.
Ok, I'll get off my rant, but people, enjoy WDW for what it is, and realize that first and foremost it is a business, so things might not be how you want, but I'll take Disney over just about any other resort area around.
Oh my, I already can tell this is going to be a fun one! Let’s work our way backwards.
I'll take Disney over just about any other resort area around.
And that’s why you continue to get exactly what you deserve, higher prices, declining quality, and fewer guest experiences.
realize that first and foremost it is a business
Yes, my customers love hearing that one. “Sorry I just missed the deadline but it’s a business.” “Sorry the product I just shipped you doesn’t work but it’s a business.” “Sorry I’m charging double what I used to charge but it’s a business.” Corporations who adapt the “customers will take whatever we give them and be happy with it” mentality fall. TDO simply hopes that there are enough people with the “I'll take Disney over just about any other resort” attitude so that they can charge them more, even as WDW’s attendance declines in 2 of the last 3 years.
people who are running it actually might know what they are doing.
Yes, that’s why they let Harry Potter go to Universal. (You know they had the inside track on this one, don’t you?) Because they were just so much smarter than everyone else they just
knew WWOHP was going to be a complete flop. That’s why Universal’s attendance has skyrocketed, because the geniuses at TDO knew better. That’s why SeaWorld is experiencing a renaissance, because TDO knew better. That’s why DCA’s numbers are through the roof, because TDO knew better. That’s why AP prices are up 10.6% and DDP prices are up 12.5%, because TDO new better. Do you know better?
Hopefully, you understand the history of business well enough to know that business leaders make mistakes, and lots of them are pretty spectacular.
so everyone wants new attractions, well when they get them what to they do
Do you know anything about the history of WDW? Have you ever read what it was like in the past or perhaps even experienced it first-hand as an adult paying your own way? When WDW regularly added entire theme parks and charged less than they do today in the process. When a new attraction was “WOW”, like Tower of Terror, and not “It that it?”, like Little Mermaid.
You know, like what’s happening at Universal right now.
you all want more maintenance, but you want them to do it in less downtime
Do you know that WDW used to keep the parks open for very long hours? Do you know that WDW had huge cuts in maintenance staff and budget, making it impossible for those remaining to keep up with the growing list of issues at the theme parks? That if TDO hadn’t started to micromanage maintenance about 15 years ago, most of these problems wouldn’t exist today? Instead, the brilliant, I mean the “people who are running it actually might know what they are doing” management crowd were more focused on the size of their annual bonuses than on the long-term health of their company’s most valuable physical asset. Par for the course in business’ “gotta make this quarter’s numbers” mentality.
if you can give someone a benefit that is comparable to what they get now, but save money doing it, it is a win win situation
No one wins with FP+. There are just losers and big losers. Onsite guests are going to lose EMH. That’s 4 extra park hours per day most days. Call me slow but I can’t understand how having the number of operating hours reduced benefits me. Of course, if they’d actually hire the maintenance staff they need and budgeted accordingly …
Everyone loses FP. The current FP system allows everyone equal front-of-the-line access, whether onsite or offsite. “But now that onsite guests are losing EMH, we gotta do something to keep them from abandoning WDW completely. I know, let’s take away all those FP we used to hand out for free and give them to onsite guests instead.” Of course, even the onsite guests lose FP and concede all control of their vacations to TDO, you know, that group of executives making all those brilliant decisions. Offsite guests, well, they get everyone else’s scraps. Why do you think they are adding FP+ to attractions that don’t need them? So they can throw offsite guests a bone.
P.S. Merry Christmas
