The World's Most Magical Celebration - Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary

[HauntedPirate]

I must say, Chapek's wet dream is finally taking place. People fighting over & creating huge lines for merchandise instead of queueing up for expensively overpriced attractions that dig into his wallet+.

Merch+!!

 

[ifan]

Is this a joke or are you serious?

Disney deployed a new tool to make recognizing Cast Members more convenient for their guests, and this is something that upsets you?

I just tried to use it to compliment a cast member - and found it not adequate for my needs. It doesn't let you put in a cast member's name, or the date, or well really anything outside of the department.

They've also hidden it under a subsection of the app in a not very easy to find place.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Merch was better under Eisner.

Wasnt everything?

 

[jpinkc]

At least SOMEONE at Disney gets the idea of what the 50th should be about!!!!

 

[donsullivan]

What was the reason they pulled back on the articulated heads? I can't remember why they stopped using them.

If I was to guess, it might be a training issue for the performers. I don’t know if it changed but the early versions of those heads were puppeteered by the performer. One hand triggered the mouth, the other triggered the eyes. It’s possible they just don’t have performers trained for that engagement of the costume yet.

 

[Disneyson]

How is adding a feature to a free app "monetizing" it?

So, perhaps monetization is the wrong word. I mean that the cast complements from this app are no longer personal thank yous, but will likely be used as “currency” to reward or put pressure on different members of management. It takes away the point of a cast compliment, which is meant to be a way to recognize an individual cast member for the had work they did in bringing the magic to life.

If you haven’t noticed, the choices for the system are divided into the “five keys”. The managers will likely have a tally of who has the most “points” in each department, and the upper-level proprietors will likely be able to praise/punish based on these hard numbers.

Disney has been trying to give “numbers” to spontaneous cast member appreciation for a very, very long time in order to prove it’s worth in hard guest satisfaction numbers. My greatest worry would be for areas that do not get a lot of “compliments”, or (even worse) an crack-down on areas that get a lot of compliments for some efficiency reason or another.

It’s too bad. 50 years ago Cast Members were empowered to make magic because it was the Disney thing to do.

 

[JohnD]

I just tried to use it to compliment a cast member - and found it not adequate for my needs. It doesn't let you put in a cast member's name, or the date, or well really anything outside of the department.

They've also hidden it under a subsection of the app in a not very easy to find place.

Do it the old fashioned way. Go to Guest Relations and give them the details. Hopefully, they’ll pass on the compliment to the right CM.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If you haven’t noticed, the choices for the system are divided into the “five keys”. The managers will likely have a tally of who has the most “points” in each department, and the upper-level proprietors will likely be able to praise/punish based on these hard numbers.

This is literally a fantastic thing. As guests, we should WANT high-performing managers to get kudos from their bosses and under-performing areas to get corrective attention.

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

Wasnt everything?

It’s heaven compared to now!

 

[the.dreamfinder]

 

[Andrew C]

So, perhaps monetization is the wrong word. I mean that the cast complements from this app are no longer personal thank yous, but will likely be used as “currency” to reward or put pressure on different members of management. It takes away the point of a cast compliment, which is meant to be a way to recognize an individual cast member for the had work they did in bringing the magic to life.

If you haven’t noticed, the choices for the system are divided into the “five keys”. The managers will likely have a tally of who has the most “points” in each department, and the upper-level proprietors will likely be able to praise/punish based on these hard numbers.

Disney has been trying to give “numbers” to spontaneous cast member appreciation for a very, very long time in order to prove it’s worth in hard guest satisfaction numbers. My greatest worry would be for areas that do not get a lot of “compliments”, or (even worse) an crack-down on areas that get a lot of compliments for some efficiency reason or another.

I think you are worrying for nothing and reading too much into this. They may be able to use it to provide incentives for CMs in certain areas, if their area does really well. Many companies have similar programs around guest satisfaction. But no one is going to be punished for "lack of complements" which by their nature will be limited in scope. And a little competition, if this is what they are actually doing, is healthy. If anything, it is a reward system.

 

[Disneyson]

This is literally a fantastic thing. As guests, we should WANT high-performing managers to get kudos from their bosses and under-performing areas to get corrective attention.

But the personal aspect is ruined. It is no longer a cast compliment. It is a metric. The soul has been ripped from the tool.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

But the personal aspect is ruined. It is no longer a cast compliment. It is a metric. The soul has been ripped from the tool.

Nothing has been ripped from anything, this is literally a brand new tool. You still have all the same options you had in the past, nobody took them away from you. This is additive.

 

[Andrew C]

Also, screenshots would be helpful...

 

[Communicora]

So, perhaps monetization is the wrong word. I mean that the cast complements from this app are no longer personal thank yous, but will likely be used as “currency” to reward or put pressure on different members of management. It takes away the point of a cast compliment, which is meant to be a way to recognize an individual cast member for the had work they did in bringing the magic to life.

If you haven’t noticed, the choices for the system are divided into the “five keys”. The managers will likely have a tally of who has the most “points” in each department, and the upper-level proprietors will likely be able to praise/punish based on these hard numbers.

Disney has been trying to give “numbers” to spontaneous cast member appreciation for a very, very long time in order to prove it’s worth in hard guest satisfaction numbers. My greatest worry would be for areas that do not get a lot of “compliments”, or (even worse) an crack-down on areas that get a lot of compliments for some efficiency reason or another.

It’s too bad. 50 years ago Cast Members were empowered to make magic because it was the Disney thing to do.

This makes me think of those silly surveys every company now sends after you have a customer service situation.

 

[Disneyson]

I think you are worrying for nothing and reading too much into this. They may be able to use it to provide incentives for CMs in certain areas, if their area does really well. Many companies have similar programs around guest satisfaction. But no one is going to be punished for "lack of complements" which by their nature will be limited in scope. And a little competition, if this is what they are actually doing, is healthy. If anything, it is a reward system.

I feel uncomfortable talking about the reason I think this is untrue in an open forum - I’ll PM you.

 

[Andrew C]

This makes me think of those silly surveys every company now sends after you have a customer service situation.

That is where they can do the punishing! Muahahaha

 

[James Alucobond]

This makes me think of those silly surveys every company now sends after you have a customer service situation.

Those are almost always designed to simply capture the transactional net promoter score since everyone’s in love with that metric for whatever reason.

 

[Communicora]

Those are almost always designed to simply capture the transactional net promoter score since everyone’s in love with that metric for whatever reason.

Yep. They are worthless except as a punitive measure.

 

[JohnD]

Nothing has been ripped from anything, this is literally a brand new tool. You still have all the same options you had in the past, nobody took them away from you. This is additive.

I know the tendency is to be cynical about everything here. I’ve joined in myself. But if there is something worthwhile, it should be pointed out.