WDW Taking a Hit Over Gator and Massacre ...

[Nubs70]

With U.K. visitors being the third largest group of WDW Guests and the British pound down 10% in overnight trading as a result of the Brexit vote, WDW business could be taking yet another hit.

In the case of a trip to WDW from UK, trip price just went up 10%.

 

[matt9112]

I almost fully disagree on your opinion of their response to the gator attack. It was 100% neccessary to remove the joke from the Jungle Cruise. It would've sounded idiotic and foolish to joke about a gator attack days after one happened. That "joke" will likely never return and never needs to.

The chomping gator in the Grand Floridian water show also needed to be removed. It's in a show at the Grand Floridian! And on water, where the attack occured! They would've been almost just as stupid to ignore that.

It would've also looked bad to open a new show with a dancing alligator only days after the attack happened. Can you imagine the negative media attention they would've gotten for that? The parade float thing, I think, was a good idea to temporarily remove. But I can see why you or other people would disagree with that. As long as it doesn't go away permanently, I think it's fine.

But the JC joke and the light show gator needed to go. Unquestionably. I'm glad they don't hire you or some others to run their marketing and PR.

EDIT: originally said that you should've posted this in another thread. However, I now realize that the mods do not want opinions in that thread. So nevermind on that.

you must cry alot.

 

[alphac2005]

With U.K. visitors being the third largest group of WDW Guests and the British pound down 10% in overnight trading as a result of the Brexit vote, WDW business could be taking yet another hit.

That's for certain. I've just come into the office and our company has seen a weakening in the dollar over the past several months that has increased our exports and after the Brexit vote, we've got a dollar soaring. On a positive note, our family's planned trip to Britain and France just got cheaper.

 

[scout68]

Nuts is thinking that removing a float will repair any physical or emotional damage that's been done. If you're weak enough that seeing a fricking alligator float would send you into hysterics then please keep yourself in the shallow end of the gene pool.

I'm far from being a robot. Heck, the thought of the parent's last few seconds with their son was spent hearing him scream for help saddens me beyond belief. However, turning the world into a big, soft piece of bubble wrap for everyone's feelings is ridiculous.

I think you're missing the point. Removing the float isn't about repairing emotional damage, it's about not causing more.
It's also not about being weak or strong it's about being decently human.
As to what depth of the gene pool someone belongs in, well, I'll leave that one alone.

 

[King Capybara 77]

That's for certain. I've just come into the office and our company has seen a weakening in the dollar over the past several months that has increased our exports and after the Brexit vote, we've got a dollar soaring. On a positive note, our family's planned trip to Britain and France just got cheaper.

The exchange rate didn't go down quite as bad as people make it out. Started thursday on 1.4something briefly blipped up to 1.50 and went down to 1.33 early am Friday. It then recovered to around 1.36/ 1.38 . Still a drop but not as massive as some would make it out to be.

 

[alphac2005]

The exchange rate didn't go down quite as bad as people make it out. Started thursday on 1.4something briefly blipped up to 1.50 and went down to 1.33 early am Friday. It then recovered to around 1.36/ 1.38 . Still a drop but not as massive as some would make it out to be.

It's still the largest drop in three decades in a given day. If you're spending good money on a trip, it's a nice sum of money especially since the dollar is always so hard to gain on the sterling. The more interesting question is how this pans out long-term? The dollar is trading less than ten cents away from parity with the euro and the tightening trend has been going on for more than four years. It will be interesting to see. Essentially a dime might not seem like much on the sterling side, but that tightening on the export side puts a lot of pressure on American exporters.

The question for all of us isn't just logical, it's based on emotion and this is a cause of concern for Disney. Is there a sudden pullback in spending out of the UK (and/or the rest of the current Eurozone) because of uncertainty? 48% of the 72% of the voters said to stay in, so say nearly half of the voters. Does that crowd resign themselves to a new reality and hope to work within it, or do they doom and gloom? It will be interesting.

 

[King Capybara 77]

It's still the largest drop in three decades in a given day. If you're spending good money on a trip, it's a nice sum of money especially since the dollar is always so hard to gain on the sterling. The more interesting question is how this pans out long-term? The dollar is trading less than ten cents away from parity with the euro and the tightening trend has been going on for more than four years. It will be interesting to see. Essentially a dime might not seem like much on the sterling side, but that tightening on the export side puts a lot of pressure on American exporters.

The question for all of us isn't just logical, it's based on emotion and this is a cause of concern for Disney. Is there a sudden pullback in spending out of the UK (and/or the rest of the current Eurozone) because of uncertainty? 48% of the 72% of the voters said to stay in, so say nearly half of the voters. Does that crowd resign themselves to a new reality and hope to work within it, or do they doom and gloom? It will be interesting.

Agreed . I think this will be more of a long term impact on visitor numbers as a lot of UK holidays will have been booked already to get dining deals/early booking etc. It is the spending money side of it that will be sooner affected. people will either have less to spend or have to save more .

 

[mimitchi33]

It's sad business is going down as a result of these awful incidents. Will they also cancel the poolside movie showings of Zootopia, the movie that was shown on the night of the incident, due to this as well?

 

[SorcererMC]

I realize that I wouldn't cancel because I live in NYC/a city where bad things happen literally every single day whether I see them or not. The Disney Store I used to work at was evacuated a couple of times due to bomb threats. We've had awful tragic events here ever since I was a little kid.

Due to those tragic events and your awareness of them, it seems like you have developed a sort of 'immunity' to these kinds of events. This is important for recovery and resilience....some people simply don't have that yet (hence the reactions on these boards).

 

[Brad Bishop]

There are a few very simple things that could and should have been done:

1. Post real warning signs, not just no swimming
2. Educate guests on not feeding wild animals, let them know it's forbidden and enforce the rules against it.

I suppose real warning signs could have been posted but that leads me to the notion of: Does FL need "DANGER: Sharks!" signs all along the perimeter of it's beaches? Does every park in FL need to be setup so that, no matter which way you look, you always see an aligator/snake sign so that you know?

...or is it an unfortunate incident, sometimes bad things happen, and people just need to be responsible?

With regards to #2, guests don't care. They're going to feed the wildlife. At DAK there are signs everywhere and each time I've been there guests have been feeding the wildlife. I think that the only way you stop this is to kick people out for the day. If you feed the wildlife then you're escorted to the gate and there's no re-entry. Same with bungalows, hotels, motels.. If you feed the wildlife you're gone. That's the only way I could see stopping them. I think the managers would initially think, "Oh.. but we may lose money!" The reality is that the public would very quickly get the idea of: You don't feed wildlife at Disney or you're out - they're super serious.

 

[radiohost]

This is so stupid. I'm not downplaying the tragedy that happened but this is why we can't have nice things. This is why kids today get participation trophies for everything. People are TOO DARN SENSITIVE. get over it.

I agree...

I think Disney wants to avoid any bad publicity in the months ahead (they can't afford anymore this year) by just avoiding the potential issues that may arise.

All it would take is a "journalist" or blogger to post something on the Huffington Post that Yahoo! will put on their main page showing alligator mascots being used.

Headline: Disney still uses alligator mascots after June tragedy?

It would not be the substance of the article it would be the # of "clicks" the article would generate. Unfortunately that's the world we live in, and Disney does not want any part in any more bad publicity.

 

[Brad Bishop]

You can stay at a high end resort for that price or slightly more. $99 is still a crazy price for a Disney motel. Those are $49 rooms. They always have been and always will be.

They really are. It's a motel on Disney property. It's a good motel but that doesn't mean it's a great place to stay (lots of noise at night from people (teens) running loose up and down the breezeways).

 

[draybook]

I think you're missing the point. Removing the float isn't about repairing emotional damage, it's about not causing more.
It's also not about being weak or strong it's about being decently human.
As to what depth of the gene pool someone belongs in, well, I'll leave that one alone.

No, I understand the point.

 

[ParentsOf4]

The exchange rate didn't go down quite as bad as people make it out. Started thursday on 1.4something briefly blipped up to 1.50 and went down to 1.33 early am Friday. It then recovered to around 1.36/ 1.38 . Still a drop but not as massive as some would make it out to be.

I agree but there are 2 points to consider:

Would the pound have strengthened even further if the vote had been to remain in the EU, stimulating more WDW vacations?

British politicians opposed to Brexit painted bleak scenarios if the vote was to exit. Even if the pound recovers somewhat, does the resulting economic uncertainty affect Brit vacation plans? How will WDW be affected?

 

[zakattack99]

I see britex having short term impact on WDW. As long as the UK is aggressive with getting good trade deals and has relative governmental stability and I think they will (unless a massive terror or war event happens) they should be doing OK by the time the exit comes along. I see British visitors being down next summer as they will be a little nervous with the changes but that should pass in 2-3 yeas as long as the UK stabilizes.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I see britex having short term impact on WDW. As long as the UK is aggressive with getting good trade deals and has relative governmental stability and I think they will (unless a massive terror or war event happens) they should be doing OK by the time the exit comes along. I see British visitors being down next summer as they will be a little nervous with the changes but that should pass in 2-3 yeas as long as the UK stabilizes.

Brexit has resulted in a dip in the pound but they'll get trade deals ironed out and it'll all be back to normal soon enough. I think it's a good thing, myself. It's not like the UK is going to cease to exist and no one is going to trade with them any longer. It'll all be back to normal but without them having the anchor of the EU. It was a smart move on their part to avoid the Euro, too.

 

[SorcererMC]

It was a smart move on their part to avoid the Euro, too.

Yep. This is a culmination of events since the 2008 meltdown....domino effect remains to be seen, so I don't know how quickly it will be back to normal. It will be a new normal.

 

[zakattack99]

Brexit has resulted in a dip in the pound but they'll get trade deals ironed out and it'll all be back to normal soon enough. I think it's a good thing, myself. It's not like the UK is going to cease to exist and no one is going to trade with them any longer. It'll all be back to normal but without them having the anchor of the EU. It was a smart move on their part to avoid the Euro, too.

Yep. Totally agree. Best move they made was to keep the pound. It's down because the world (and economy) do not like uncertainty, once things calm down it will be right back. Happy for the UK, if it works out for them I would not be surprised if a few more jump ship, but that's another topic for another day.

 

[Rutt]

I've actually always found this very funny.

They're the same way with their movies. Instead of selling thousands of copies of relatively unpopular movies for $5 each, they'd rather sell hundreds at $20.

Ummm, I literally just bought 20 movies from their own movie club for $7 apiece. They are always on sale somewhere. The only one Ive paid full price for lately is BATB (presale) which here in Toronto is nearly impossible to get for some reason. I'd like to thank my dear children for losing the copy we had already.

Agree. It's actually the people who disagree with removing anything who are projecting the most outlandish concepts of what could be removed.

"They'll remove Al E. Gator from Fantasia Gardens and and and the gators in LWTL! Don't forget that next thing you know they'll rename Alligator Bayou and will yank the Captain Hook/Tick Tock AA out of Peter Pan."

Anyone who has thought about what they should do in the short term has never advocated anything like that. But the removal of the JC joke, the croc barge in the EWP, and Louis in the castle show makes sense at this time. Although if what's reported is correct, the JC joke is back.

I get why they did it. It does make sense for them to do it. I think you will find that most (I say most, not ALL) who are complaining have a record of doing so no matter what WDW does. I hope they don't go away permanently (except maybe the SSL float, that honestly just might be much). I myself am a very sensitive person with an overactive imagination. I can honestly say that although not my child, the thought of being at the GF in October may be rough for me. I dont expect most to understand why, Ive come to accept that I see things differently than most people do.

Those that are saying that society is oversensitive etc, it may be so, but since we are all about crazy nonsensical comparisons, I would compare that float to someone putting on a show about shooting up a nightclub in Orlando, good idea right now? Bad idea? If you don't agree that's fine, don't agree, but to pretend like it's a BAD idea to remove these temporarily is just silly.

 

[rob0519]

It is still ridiculous. People always pay different rates. I just stayed at Cabana Bay at UNI. I paid $50 a night as the friend of a TM. When you fly an airline you may be paying $278 for your seat and on one side of you is someone who is paying only $212 and someone else who is paying $511. It is the nature of the business.

Not discounting distressed inventory is just plain stupid. Disney can sell a room at the Poly for $99 a night and make a profit much like they can sell a LE pin at an outlet store for $1.99 and make a profit. It's all about the size of the profit.

I'm agreeing with you. It's all about "perceived" value to the customer and maximized profit. We plan any trip to WDW around their rare discounted times or the AP discount.