Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[ford91exploder]

Just to add to the above Disney UK is currently marketing SSR & OKW at 35% off + free dining for most of 2014. And its across all units except grand villas.

And thats where the DVC overflow always went so if Disney is playing fast and loose with breakage I smell the foul stench of litigation looming as in Disney has sold a product it no longer intends to deliver on but wants to change the arrangement to be more beneficial to themselves.

ie DVC member fees pay for operation and maintenance of resorts but DVC members can no longer USE their points to reserve rooms - the points need to be translated to a 'cash equivalent' and used at lesser resorts so Disney can rent out the deluxe inventory to its preferred clientele.

 

[merry68]

I'm here now. Yesterday I saw a woman who was clearly frustrated over her MB as she was trying to make a purchase and her band stopped working. Again. She went off about how they get 1 band fixed then another band in her family wouldn't work. She was way over spending time getting problems fixed. Mind you, she wasn't mad at the CM, she was just venting to people around her. I also saw 2 other families have pay issues inside a TS restaurant, not to mention our server was still learning how to use her mobile pay screen, she forgot she had to wake it up according to another CM as we charged the meal to our room.

There were long lines at the MK kiosks and people move slowly when it's their turn as it takes awhile to decide which FPs you are changing.

We aren't MB testing, just my people watching observations as sometimes the MB problem slows us non-MB down. Case in point.. At Epcot yesterday and I got 2 Dasanis for $5 at a snack cart. I had a $5. After standing behind the other guest for a few minutes and a line really build up, the CM saw us took our $5 and said thank you. Color me confused as to the first guests problems but thank you CM for moving us on.

For touch to pay and park entrance its ok. I did notice extra CMs around, I assume to help with MB issues simce they had ipads ready.

As for Guest experience and satisfaction... We are driving over to Uni in a bit. Gee, my hard earned money going off property, who would've thought? Take that TDO!

No people watching until this evening, at least not at Disney.

 

[Tim_4]

they are both going to happen, but the BoD is more friendly toward throwing money at DLR after the billion dollar detaining boondoggle in the swamps posts more daily...

I'm glad you're not claiming it's $3 billion anymore. Or maybe you never did. But your disciples or whatever you want to call then have, and it's always good to clarify.

 

[Bolna]

I'm glad you're not claiming it's $3 billion anymore. Or maybe you never did. But your disciples or whatever you want to call then have, and it's always good to clarify.

@WDW1974 has posted at least twice that people should not claim it is $3 billion, he was actually trying to get it out that this number was to high.

 

[Tim_4]

when people don't stay, they don't spend. Disney can play with occupancy figures all it likes, but when it says a 1500 room resort is 90% full, but has 600 rooms out of service, it is lying.

And resort load levels have been abysmal for much of August, free dining or not.

I'm sorry but that's just not true. You had the same doom and gloom scenario about July park attendance that you do about August occupancy and month after month, the numbers don't actualize that way. I know you wish they did and think they should but that doesn't make it any more true.

 

[Bolna]

after a quick search - here are the posts:

it is not $3 billion ..yet anyway.

And I just want to make it clear that I am NOT saying the NGE program is costing $3 billion yet. I have no idea where that number hails from. All I know for certain is original number was $1 billion. BoD approved $1.2 billion ...number has gone significantly over that. That is it. Because I am royally tired of folks attributing things to me that I never said or claimed
What I will claim is this is being run very different than any other CAPEX project in WDW history in that, it appears, to have no cap on spending or cost. You read into that whatever you like.

 

[Tim_4]

@WDW1974 has posted at least twice that people should not claim it is $3 billion, he was actually trying to get it out that this number was to high.

I allowed that I might have been mistaken by attributing that number to him in my original post. I have neither the time nor the desire to keep up with the he-saids and the she-saids of every post, page, and thread around here but I do my best.

 

[Tim_4]

after a quick search - here are the posts:

Even those aren't true. The estimated final cost has creeped over a billion, but they have not yet spent that much.

 

[Bolna]

I allowed that I might have been mistaken by attributing that number to him in my original post. I have neither the time nor the desire to keep up with the he-saids and the she-saids of every post, page, and thread around here but I do my best.

But then, what was the point of your post? Trying to make @WDW1974 responsible for some nonsense others keep saying? If you did not know what he said on that topic why comment at all by claiming that he had changed is opinion?

This is one of the things that I really understand on these threads. I often get the impression that a lot of people (whether they like what @WDW1974 posts or not) don't actually read what he posts. Not a criticism directed to you personally, just a general observation. The most interesting bits of news he posts often do not get picked up at all.

 

[WDWDad13]

I'm not talking about My Magic+, I'm not talking about you, I'm not talking about my family. Sometimes it can get frustrating posting because people always look inwards and not outwards with their statements.

You're right, many families have a fantastic time on their vacation, but there are also many that go to WDW because they just feel that in society (e.g. their local community, etc.) that it's something that they are supposed to do and you see the misery on many of their faces and hear about it afterwards. My goodness, look at the WDW marketing campaigns, that's what they directly imply. They completely cater to young families and multi-generational families that going to WDW is something that you're supposed to do and it will bring you happiness because they say so.

It's funny to me that certain posters (not you) have made it seem like the whole premise is outrageous that going to WDW is very much an implied rite of passage in many communities in America and that many simply do it because of that. Again, one area that I oversee at our company is marketing, and Disney couldn't be any clearer in how they market their product as I mentioned above. Maybe if people didn't always take everything so personally and realize that statements don't include everyone and obviously many people on a WDW fan site wouldn't see that maybe a trip to Disney for lots of families isn't the greatest thing in the world. Again, @WDWDad13, this isn't to you, but I get the feeling that some around here just like to argue and pick at everything for some reason.

I agree...

somewhat related I honestly hate seeing families struggle at Disney World and not have a good time... or hear people when they return how miserable they were etc. I don't know how many times I've been sitting waiting on a parade to begin and see families with a lot of kids try to come in at the last minute to get a spot and then dad has to go off and stand in line to get them food somewhere and misses the parade or can't find them when he returns or something. I feel bad for the kids in that situation and that is why I usually always let them (the kids only) in front of me for parades even if I am there first...as long as my kid has a spot up front and I'm right behind her experiencing it with her I'm fine.

I actually hope that they massively promote the MyMagic+ thing the right way and also allow travel agents to have a way to help setup plans for clients who just don't get it or aren't tech savy, etc. I can honestly see a lot of benefits to it... IF... IF done correctly...so far the jury is out and it sounds like they are working through a lot of bugs (not surprising to be honest, this is a big paradigm change here). Hopefully more and more families down the road can plan or get help planning better so they and their kids can have a great vacation

 

[WDWDad13]

@WDW1974 has posted at least twice that people should not claim it is $3 billion, he was actually trying to get it out that this number was to high.

exactly and I've been saying all along the final price tag also isn't hard dollar money out the door either...(lot of monopoly money) so when people say "OMG THEY ARE SPENDING A BILLION DOLLARS THAT COULD HAVE BUILD XYZ" that's not entirely true, because a lot of that cost is internal labor costs (IT hours, etc.), not purchasing hard equipment. Some is, some isn't...it's apples and oranges in some respects

also we need to keep in mind the costs for researching, designing, implementing NextGen is not just for WDW long term

 

[WDWDad13]

I often get the impression that a lot of people (whether they like what @WDW1974 posts or not) don't actually read what he posts. The most interesting bits of news he posts often do not get picked up at all.

nothing against him personally here... but if the majority of his posts weren't full of negativity or hints wrapped around a good interesting rumor or news, it might be easier to see and discuss amongst the masses lol

 

[Tim_4]

But then, what was the point of your post? Trying to make @WDW1974 responsible for some nonsense others keep saying? If you did not know what he said on that topic why comment at all by claiming that he had changed is opinion?

This is one of the things that I really understand on these threads. I often get the impression that a lot of people (whether they like what @WDW1974 posts or not) don't actually read what he posts. Not a criticism directed to you personally, just a general observation. The most interesting bits of news he posts often do not get picked up at all.

It's probably not fair but I see it like a coach who gets criticised for his player's actions. @WDW1974 is seen as the "face" of the anti-NGE crowd. Since it's about impossible to keep track of every user name that shares his opinions, it's natural (though you're right, unfair) to attribute most anti-NGE thoughts out there, especially the ones that pickup steam, to "@Wdw1974 and those who agree with him."

 

[asianway]

exactly and I've been saying all along the final price tag also isn't hard dollar money out the door either...(lot of monopoly money) so when people say "OMG THEY ARE SPENDING A BILLION DOLLARS THAT COULD HAVE BUILD XYZ" that's not entirely true, because a lot of that cost is internal labor costs (IT hours, etc.), not purchasing hard equipment. Some is, some isn't...it's apples and oranges in some respects

also we need to keep in mind the costs for researching, designing, implementing NextGen is not just for WDW long term

There's entire teams focused on NGE implementation are you saying the wages paid for a department that wouldn't exist otherwise doesn't count? Trying to understand...

 

[alphac2005]

I agree...

somewhat related I honestly hate seeing families struggle at Disney World and not have a good time... or hear people when they return how miserable they were etc. I don't know how many times I've been sitting waiting on a parade to begin and see families with a lot of kids try to come in at the last minute to get a spot and then dad has to go off and stand in line to get them food somewhere and misses the parade or can't find them when he returns or something. I feel bad for the kids in that situation and that is why I usually always let them (the kids only) in front of me for parades even if I am there first...as long as my kid has a spot up front and I'm right behind her experiencing it with her I'm fine.

I actually hope that they massively promote the MyMagic+ thing the right way and also allow travel agents to have a way to help setup plans for clients who just don't get it or aren't tech savy, etc. I can honestly see a lot of benefits to it... IF... IF done correctly...so far the jury is out and it sounds like they are working through a lot of bugs (not surprising to be honest, this is a big paradigm change here). Hopefully more and more families down the road can plan or get help planning better so they and their kids can have a great vacation

Great post and I totally agree. Another thing that we've seen a lot is the parents constantly bickering where one doesn't want to go on a ride, but the other does, or the typical "We're going to have a great time because we spent so much money!" while the kids just look completely sad where they should be having a great time.

Contrary to a lot of posts, I also agree with you that there could be some real benefit for the MyMagic+ for the type of people that we're talking about. While I personally don't want to plan out and schedule a vacation, it seems like if it works, so many of those parents that are screaming and stressed about wait times, where they are going next, etc., might really benefit if it all works right.

 

[marni1971]

Even those aren't true. The estimated final cost has creeped over a billion, but they have not yet spent that much.

Thats lucky then. Avland can go full steam ahead again then.

 

[Tim_4]

Thats lucky then. Avland can go full steam ahead again then.

I get that you're hinting that I'm full of crap but it is what it is. The balking at NGE right now is because they're ANTICIPATING going way over their initial budget to finish the project, not because they already have.

 

[marni1971]

I get that you're hinting that I'm full of crap but it is what it is. The balking at NGE right now is because they're ANTICIPATING going way over their initial budget to finish the project, not because they already have.

Nah. I wouldn't think someone like you is that. But I would say that the money syphoned from DAK for NG overruns can be put back now to allow planned projects to get back on schedule.

 

[WDWDad13]

There's entire teams focused on NGE implementation are you saying the wages paid for a department that wouldn't exist otherwise doesn't count? Trying to understand...

no absolutely they count... time = money... but I'm saying if NextGen is costing 1billion... that's not exactly 1billion out the door in terms of purchasing equipment

there would be A LOT more people time behind the scenes devoted to NextGen implementation then there would be (I would think) in building Snow White Coaster for example. Maybe not...

 

[WDWFan_Boston]

nothing against him personally here... but if the majority of his posts weren't full of negativity or hints wrapped around a good interesting rumor or news, it might be easier to see and discuss amongst the masses lol

No offense, but @WDW1974 is good at one thing: promoting himself. He's extremely negative and, from what I have seen, has as much real inside information as the rest of us