Spirited News and Observations and Opinions ...

[articos]

"solid third shift crew"

Pretty much an impossibility in this day and age. Better to run with fewer numbers of higher quality and use the overnight hours for maintenance, etc.

IMHO

But this is fixable. Work with Valencia, Full Sail, UCF...do apprenticeships and teach the skills. Of any company on earth, WDW is a perfect set-up to train people to the highest standards and get high-quality technical employees out of it who can maintain their property in a way that hasn't been seen in years. Pay a tad more, and give the perks that the property is set up for, and they'll get a quality employee base that they keep saying can't be found.

The problem is they don't want to pay the salaries or the perks. I think it would do Disney good to poach an HR head from a company in Silicon Valley that is used to attracting talent and knows the tricks to do so and then keeping them happy. But this is TWDC of 2012 we're talking about.

 

[Mickey2minnie1]

Do you think this will happen by summer? I was just going to book for the first time offsite. Now I am a little nervous.

 

[Captain Chaos]

It made no sense to me either. It's beautifully designed and detailed, has an awesome soundtrack and really sets you up for the adventure that's about to unfold. To me, it's one of the most perfect theme park entrances ever designed.

Because Disney didn't do it... Put Port of Entry into a Disney park and the dust addicts would be screaming from the mountain top how beautiful it is...

 

[td1129]

ITT I learned that port of entry is a marvel of detail and theming, fantasmic is a disgrace to entertainment and magic kingdom shouldn't have fireworks.

Wdwmagic is a truly special place.

 

[Rasvar]

This I agree with, and I think we're pretty much on the same page, actually. I don't necessarily think I'm identifying the wrong root cause, I'm looking at it from a different standpoint. There does need to be more budget allocated towards maint. I doubt that will happen. So, the next best thing is give the current resources more time to do the work. My other point is simply pointing out how the property has gotten to the point it is currently at, since the original conversation was regarding cutting out EMH, which I have always thought has been used as a reason to help justify the decimation of the maint. depts. If enough maintenance staffing and outside resources are paid for, it is possible to get enough done over a single third shift. But that's not easy to come by these days.

I understand the staffing issue well. My roommate for six years, when I lived down there, started in park maintenance and has been with the company for over 15 years. I got to hear about the issues on a regular basis. Of course a lot of the focus was trying to figure out ways to outsource a lot of those things away from the unions. That is a completely different discussion for another time and place. So my anger and frustration with trying point at the hours over the budget cuts tends to get me going.

 

[Captain Chaos]

ITT I learned that port of entry is a marvel of detail and theming, fantasmic is a disgrace to entertainment and magic kingdom shouldn't have fireworks.

Wdwmagic is a truly special place.

Then leave if you don't like it. Believe me, your drivel would NOT be missed... So, don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya...

 

[jt04]

But this is fixable. Work with Valencia, Full Sail, UCF...do apprenticeships and teach the skills. Of any company on earth, WDW is a perfect set-up to train people to the highest standards and get high-quality technical employees out of it who can maintain their property in a way that hasn't been seen in years. Pay a tad more, and give the perks that the property is set up for, and they'll get a quality employee base that they keep saying can't be found.

The problem is they don't want to pay the salaries or the perks. I think it would do Disney good to poach an HR head from a company in Silicon Valley that is used to attracting talent and knows the tricks to do so and then keeping them happy. But this is TWDC of 2012 we're talking about.

I just think the logistics of an operation the size of WDW favors as much streamlining as possible. Then just pay overtime when extended hours are warrented for your quality employees. Plus earned perks, as you mention, which they could really be creative with.

 

[GoofGoof]

Boo to that!

The main reason I don't go in offseason is the crappy hours. Want to run reduced hours? Reduce those ticket prices too.

I don't think the parks need to be 1-3am every night.. but mixing that in is nice. When I'm at the park in the June heat... 11-12pm is a great time to be in the MK.

What blows is having parks close at 9pm and then walking around going 'now what do we do??'

I know someone beat me to it, but I'll say it too, we could all go to PI after the parks close... No wait, scratch that.

I have young kids right now so I am not staying at MK until 3am or even 12am anytime soon, but they will get older eventually and I remember the times going to WDW as a young adult and staying at the MK until closing. I also remember going to PI almost every night on my trips in the 90s. I hate to say it, but I have to agree that TDO seems to be neglecting their guests who visit without kids or with older kids. When I was there in June we rode the elevator down with a family with 2 kids maybe 10 to 13 years old. They were pretty excited that MK was open to 3am with EMHs. Guess my kids will never get to experience that.

IMHO if the plan is to get people to stay on property more and the parks are going to close early they better address the issue of night time entertainment. For me at this point in my life I am cool with going back to my room at 9pm, putting the kids to bed and cracking a few beers while sitting in the living room or on the balcony of my DVC villa, but if I was staying in a studio with 2 cranky and bored teenagers I would want to chew my leg off. Adding (bringing back) quality nightime entertainment really seems like a no brainer to me anyway. Close the parks, provide extra entertainment (for an additional charge or course) and the guests who want it are happy and their wallets are lighter too. Maybe the nextgen data mining will tell them to do this

 

[ScoutN]

Do you think this will happen by summer? I was just going to book for the first time offsite. Now I am a little nervous.

And there is the exact reason disney is doing this!

 

[Tip Top Club]

EMH is a really great perk, and (before I was local) was the main reason I stayed on site. If they eliminate it, to me there is very little reason to stay on site any more. The Hotels are nice, but expensive, and with easy transportation and perks like EMH that was the main reason to do it. If I were not local, I can guarantee that I would never stay at a Disney Resort again.

Fantasmic! is probably my favorite night show. I know everyone has strong opinions on it, but I adore the Pocahontas Segment, and I think it's insanely magical. I can't get through it without a tear. That being said, I'm the first person to admit that the show really is falling apart. But it NEEDS to be fixed. Does anyone remember that one time when they cut it back to two shows a week and everyone cried about it and then Animal Kingdom passed Hollywood Studios in attendance because no one came to the park when it was only open until 7:00 for pretty much an entire summer? Did we learn nothing from that?

Lastly, Port of Entry is beautiful. I can't think of another Sail-Punk themed area in any theme park, so it's pretty unique. That said, Fantasyland is quite visually pleasing as well. I enjoy Mermaid, Belle, Be Our Guest, and Storybook Circus, they are nice and needed additions. They are, however, not attendance drivers, they were necessary, but more expansion and refurbishment is needed to keep this park from going stale.

 

[ScoutN]

EMH loss is going cause my family to drop over 10APs in favor of Uni. As DVC members who are going off prop more like other members it is going to hurt the mouse' pockets. We have always done morning EMH and experience 10-13 attractions between 8 and 930. Headed back to the resort to pool relax. Maybe buy something at DtD. Shopping hours are gone. Refuse to make purchases in park. Hey if they want to lose the dollars. Eliminating evening EMH that we have always taken full advantage of will allow us to eat dinner off prop much easier. More lost dollars to them. Hellllooooo SWF!

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I will say that Universal/IOA does have it's issues, but Port of Entry being ugly isn't one of them. They could do a better job of hiding the show building at Poseiden's Fury and Forbidden Journey.

As far as hiding the tracks of Dragon Challenge. There are 2 major points as to why they didn't and both are very valid. And Disney fans reject both,

1. There is a huge group of theme park goers that actually WANT to see coaster track. When growing up, as we would be approaching which ever park we are going to, be it Disney, Busch parks, of Paramount parks we would play the game of who could spot the coasters first. It would definitely amp us up for a day in the parks. There are actual coaster fans out there that are willing to throw money at parks for coasters. Of course Disney fans think of them as bottom feeders who's only taste exists in their mouths. That is a truly offensive mindset.

2. There are 2 different types of artistic expression when designing coasters. Realism and Impressionism. If you are going to stick exclusively with realism, you are going to get a lot of mediocre coasters buried in mountains. With the impressionistic route you can acceptably go much bigger to satisfy the coaster fans while still providing acceptable themeing to get the artistic intention across. Dragons, and Manta are fantastic examples of this route. NEWSFLASH: I can still tell that BTMRR is a coaster and not an actual mine.

 

[wdwmagic]

It's the year 2012.

I have a hard time understanding people who get worked up over fireworks. I think they are a waste of money and resources, to be honest. And I wonder what setting off all those explosives has been doing to the environment around the parks all these years.

Definitely not a "green" form of entertainment.

Would much rather see light shows and other things that don't set off those explosions and litter bits of paper and chemicals down to the ground every night.

Because fireworks are a wow event that Disney does particularly well and really set Disney parks apart. Disney has developed a number of systems to be environmentally friendly, with air launch systems and reduction in some of the more hazardous materials.

If you think they are a waste of money you are seriously out of touch with what people want. The Disney firework shows are hugely popular with guests.

 

[ScoutN]

I will say that Universal/IOA does have it's issues, but Port of Entry being ugly isn't one of them. They could do a better job of hiding the show building at Poseiden's Fury and Forbidden Journey.

As far as hiding the tracks of Dragon Challenge. There are 2 major points as to why they didn't and both are very valid. And Disney fans reject both,

1. There is a huge group of theme park goers that actually WANT to see coaster track. When growing up, as we would be approaching which ever park we are going to, be it Disney, Busch parks, of Paramount parks we would play the game of who could spot the coasters first. It would definitely amp us up for a day in the parks. There are actual coaster fans out there that are willing to throw money at parks for coasters. Of course Disney fans think of them as bottom feeders who's only taste exists in their mouths. That is a truly offensive mindset.

2. There are 2 different types of artistic expression when designing coasters. Realism and Impressionism. If you are going to stick exclusively with realism, you are going to get a lot of mediocre coasters buried in mountains. With the impressionistic route you can acceptably go much bigger to satisfy the coaster fans while still providing acceptable themeing to get the artistic intention across. Dragons, and Manta are fantastic examples of this route. NEWSFLASH: I can still tell that BTMRR is a coaster and not an actual mine.

2 could NOT be true. No way no how the park that has won worlds most beautiful 22 years in a row is doing that way. It's rigged I tell ya!

Cartoons are the only ways to go bro.

 

[thehowiet]

Interesting crock of bull. I guess they should get rid of the park hopper and pools at the resorts while they are at it along with shutting down the restaurants at the resorts so people will be forced to spend all day in the parks since that is when the average guest should be there. I also suppose That every attraction will be open the entire day instead of shutting down early. The idea that the company can't manage 9:00am - 1:00am and still keep everything working is a complete joke. For years, this was the normal everyday hours in the summer. All the attractions were maintained and open from open to close. Yes, the parks closed earlier in the off-season. But, there was also plenty of entertainment in the resorts in the evening. Live music and dinner shows were available at the Contemporary, Polynesian and Ft Wilderness. Over the years the non-park options at night grew. I was never really bothered if the parks closed at 9:00PM. I'd spend my evening enjoying Disney entertainment over at Pleasure Island. It filled that night time need for people who are more inclined to enjoy things at night.

I could not agree more with these statements. Back in the mid to late 80's when I would go with my family in the summer, MK and EPCOT were open until midnight EVERY night. The parks were also in pristine condition. Late hours, quality, and upkeep can all coexist at WDW. TDO just chooses not to let it happen. I highly doubt the elimination of EMH will result in better maintained parks. We'll get the same product with just less time to spend with that product. Even without cutting hours, WDW needs more nighttime options actoss property for onsite guests. Cutting parks hours will show that to be even more true.

At this point I don't think management will ever wake up and change their ways. Whatever they think they can get away with, they will. When they do reach the breaking point, WDW will be in such poor condition it will take a miracle to even get it back to its current state, let alone the place that existed in the 70's, 80's, and the first couple years of the 90's.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Loss of EMH is of no concern of mine. Even when I stayed on site I never used it. I know it's just me but staying out until 3 AM or even 1 AM in a theme park is something the my brain cannot even process. My body tells me that I should be sleeping during that time and that is what it does. The only time in my life that I ever stayed out that late I was either drinking or working (or maybe both, I don't remember). All I know is that by doing that the next day was lost to me. I couldn't focus or muster up the ambition to do anything and there is one thing I will not do is waste valuable daylight when at WDW. Besides my feet start to really hurt after about 8 hours and I must give the dogs a rest.

 

[Rasvar]

To be fair, Under the Sea is not a bad C-ticket. It just is not the big be all end all attendance driver that the over the top marketing campaign wants it to be. It's a fancy Mr. Toad. If there wasn't such a desperation for expanded capacity in the park, it probably would drop off pretty quickly. To me, it doesn't even have the re-rideability factor that a Peter Pan or even the now closed Snow White had. If I am going to be standing in line for an hour, I want the big ending to be something that is memorable. It just did not have it for me. Nice addition but it doesn't live up to the hype or the goal. It pales even more when compared to Cars Land in DCA. That was the correct way of doing an expansion (even with its own imperfections).

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

I think the closing time should be 11pm during the summer.

You're kidding, right? With the exception of Animal Kingdom (because of not much to do at night), all parks should stay open at least until Midnight (if not later) during the summer. If Disney is charging me premium prices to go during the summer I should get the parks to stay open late. They used to stay open until at least Midnight until they decided that cutting corners and nickel and diming was SOP.

 

[Alektronic]

But this is fixable. Work with Valencia, Full Sail, UCF...do apprenticeships and teach the skills. Of any company on earth, WDW is a perfect set-up to train people to the highest standards and get high-quality technical employees out of it who can maintain their property in a way that hasn't been seen in years. Pay a tad more, and give the perks that the property is set up for, and they'll get a quality employee base that they keep saying can't be found.

The problem is they don't want to pay the salaries or the perks. I think it would do Disney good to poach an HR head from a company in Silicon Valley that is used to attracting talent and knows the tricks to do so and then keeping them happy. But this is TWDC of 2012 we're talking about.

There is already apprenticeship programs in place. It is an 4 year apprenticeship program through the Union and Disney. They don't teach that much basically it is OJT. And it doesn't pay much either until you complete the apprenticeship program and then there is a 5 year progression to reach the top pay. They have been hiring a lot of apprentices lately.

The other classification is an Facilities Support Craftsworker which is a basically an unskilled laborer which does basic things like changing light bulbs or unclogging toilets or basic room calls. They even make less money and not too much room for advancement.

Most maintenance depts used to be all Journeyman workers, then it started with resorts, they started replacing skilled workers with unskilled ones, so now many have the skilled workers just supervising the unskilled ones and using outside contractors to do the majority of the work.

And they are doing the same thing with Attractions maintenance, they are replacing the Journeymen with more apprentices and FSC's. They are saving a lot of money on labor that way.

 

[harveyt0206]

FLE is the Kardashians of theme park expansions. Pretty, yet vapid..

Hee heee...this made me laugh.

I will be sad to lose the EMH perk. We always took advantage of nighttime hours. We don't have kids so we left the morning EMH to the families. Are they planning on charging for fast pass plus? Similar to how the charge extra for park hopping? If so, then it's really not a great exchange in my opinion. A free perk in exchange for one you have to pay for? Sigh...