WDW Taking a Hit Over Gator and Massacre ...

[LAKid53]

What about croc shoes? They are everywhere

Yes. Cross should be removed. Not because of the name, but because they are flat out ugly. The American shoe version of the sandals with socks those eccentric foreign guests we love so much wear.

Edit: *Crocs* Stupid autocorrect.

 

[bjlc57]

I happen to agree with each and every thing the original poster has stated.. and I have asked during at least two recessions , when does Disney hit the TIPPING POINT.. ? how much teflon does this company have..? at one point this op states that Jim is coming no matter what.. but in every economic situation THERE IS A TIPPING point.. that the "unlimited supply" suddenly becomes LIMITED.. in the past 40 years I have gone through all these recessions. Some I felt , others I did not.. and one just about wiped me out.. but Disney World has remained.. but for the first 20 years ..they DIDN"T PRICE GOUGE.. and now they do.. they used to BUILD WITH SPEED.. and now they don't.. The place was clean and magical and had the best staff.. and while the staff and the place is not a carnival .. its not as clean nor is staff as good as it used to be.. but the money is still pouring in.. when does it stop being about maximum profit and more about Walts Dream.. ? again.. we aren;t coming next year.. and maybe not the year after if things don't suddenly change..

 

[fosse76]

To their credit I did see that they had umbrellas and hydration stations set up in the outside queue.

While up the street they decided to pull the plug on free water and ice in the freestyle machines two days ago.

Seems one of the F&B managers from WDW escaped to UOR and brought their mindset with them?

I'm sure you can still get free ice water from the kiosks and restaurants. If you buy the souvenir freestyle cups, you can only get your free refills from the freestyle machines, so cutting the free ice and water is probably to minimize the lines and to maintain supply for those who paid for it.

 

[jensenrick]

I'm sure you can still get free ice water from the kiosks and restaurants. If you buy the souvenir freestyle cups, you can only get your free refills from the freestyle machines, so cutting the free ice and water is probably to minimize the lines and to maintain supply for those who paid for it.

In which case, I totally approve. It was a pretty hot summer day last time I was at UOR and it was difficult by the end of the day to find a machine that still had ice.

 

[flynnibus]

Just want to throw this out here. When I rode Living with the Land the other day and the boat passed through the scene with all the realistic gators on the water's edge, all I could think of was that poor kid being dragged under. Did it make me sad for a few minutes? Sure. But it didn't ruin my weekend.

It is inevitable that certain visuals will trigger that sort of imagery in the wake of something so horrific. Mainly - the sight of the Grand Floridian itself. I think it will be a few years before I can look at that resort without thinking of what happened. Or maybe never. They can't exactly put the GF and SSL in storage. So I don't really see the point of removing anything more than the JC joke and the chomping float, because people are going to think about what happened no matter what.

People work themselves up

Does the height of the contemporary atrium makes people think about the jumpers?
Do the sight of bicycles in attractions like the Osborne lights make people think about the kid who died riding his bike? Or the buses make people think about the bus that ran him over?
Do the clubs on Boardwalk make people think of pulse?

Sometimes people just need to control themselves

I mean I get if you were the family, or witnesses some tragic element of it live.... But distressed over reading about it?

 

[rob0519]

I happen to agree with each and every thing the original poster has stated.. and I have asked during at least two recessions , when does Disney hit the TIPPING POINT.. ? how much teflon does this company have..? at one point this op states that Jim is coming no matter what.. but in every economic situation THERE IS A TIPPING point.. that the "unlimited supply" suddenly becomes LIMITED.. in the past 40 years I have gone through all these recessions. Some I felt , others I did not.. and one just about wiped me out.. but Disney World has remained.. but for the first 20 years ..they DIDN"T PRICE GOUGE.. and now they do.. they used to BUILD WITH SPEED.. and now they don't.. The place was clean and magical and had the best staff.. and while the staff and the place is not a carnival .. its not as clean nor is staff as good as it used to be.. but the money is still pouring in.. when does it stop being about maximum profit and more about Walts Dream.. ? again.. we aren;t coming next year.. and maybe not the year after if things don't suddenly change..

It will never stop being about maximum profit. Wall Street and Shareholder Value will see to that. As for Walt's Dream? It's as dead as Walt. That dream was created over 60 years ago in much different social and economic climates. There is no business that was running 60 years ago doing things the exact same way today.

If you're looking for "sudden change", whatever that means to you, you may not see WDW again for quite some time. As for your comment on how Disney is now price gouging. While some people claim to be addicted to Disney a visit to the resort is certainly not an essential good or service. In a free market a seller is allowed to price their products as they choose and a buyer is allowed to not pay those prices. If not enough buyers choose to pay the price eventually comes down or the seller goes out of business. You have chosen not to pay while millions of others still find value in the product. We, as a family, choose to visit less often and stay shorter amounts of time than we have in the past.

As a criminal offense, Florida's "state of emergency" law[2] is an example. Price gouging may be charged when a supplier of essential goods or services sharply raises the prices asked in anticipation of or during a civil emergency, or when it cancels or dishonors contracts in order to take advantage of an increase in prices related to such an emergency. The model case is a retailer who increases the price of existing stocks of milk and bread when a hurricane is imminent.

 

[flynnibus]

This. I doubt people will remember the time someone died coming off a Mission:SPACE or ToT 20 years from now.

If a shark attack won't stop people from flocking to the beaches a month after it occurs, I honestly doubt people will stop going to Disney because of this incident.

Or stop riding monorails... Or buses... Or btmrr....

The mob's memory or short... Viral stuff and mass ignorance just causes the flare ups to be more severe

 

[MOXOMUMD]

and forbid you from wearing alligator/croc shirts.

This HAS to be a joke. Better not bring that University of Florida backpack I have. Seriously IF the parks sold Gatorade (instead of Powerade) would they pull it from their coolers too?

 

[Donaldfan1934]

What about croc shoes? They are everywhere

I know you're joking, but it sounds in line with these rumors so far. For the record, removing the JC joke was necessary. I also can see why the temporary removals of the EWP float, Tic Toc float, and Louis from the castle show were done despite that I think they're focussing on the wrong target by catering to the oversensitive. However, I think that a permanent removal of these as well as key attraction elements would be so oversensitive catering, that it sets a dangerous precedent for the future. What if they go so far that they decide the Crocodiles should be removed from Kilamanjaro Safaris? That would be outright cruel of them to banish real life animals just for being what they are. In the end, Disney should be focusing on safety and only safety since any other extremes will only affect the quality of the parks and possibly the lives of animals in a strongly negative way.

 

[olie64]

I know you're joking, but it sounds in line with these rumors so far. For the record, removing the JC joke was necessary. I also can see why the temporary removals of the EWP and Tic Toc floats and Louis from the castle show were done despite that I think they're focussing on the wrong target by catering to the oversensitive. However, I think that a permanent removal of these elements as well as key attracion elements permanently is so oversensitive catering, that it sets a dangerous precedent for the future. What if they go so far that they decide the Crocodiles should be removed from Kilamanjaro Safaris. That would be outright cruel of them to banish real life animals just for being what they are. In the end, Disney should be focusing on safety and only safety since any other extremes will affect the quality of the park and possibly the lives of animals in an strongly negative way.

Well said

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

View attachment 148177

I'm wearing that to the MNSSHP!

 

[Yensid1974]

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.

I wouldn't put money on that joke never returning...

 

[Donaldfan1934]

Well said

Thank you. I just hope that Disney makes the right decisions when all is said and done. Any executive that thinks these rumored permanent measures are a good idea is beyond an idiot. News stories fade and so will this one. Permanent changes would only further remind guests of the tragedy for many years to come. Disney needs to take heed in the words of Rafiki. Running away from the past does more harm than good.

 

[disneylandcm]

Did anyone answer with a legit response regarding merchandise being removed at DLR in relation to the gator attack in O-Town?

We have removed four items involving Tic-Toc from our shelves for the time being.

 

[matt9112]

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).

we tried the new flamingo crossings and for 89 a night that place is killer. real swag pool too.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

We have removed four items involving Tic-Toc from our shelves for the time being.

Really? At a resort where nothing happened? All Disney needs to do is keep the temporary censorship temporary in Florida and focus on the real problems.

 

[TLtron]

We have removed four items involving Tic-Toc from our shelves for the time being.

1. Tic-Toc is a crocodile.
2. He never attacked children. He helps Peter chase off the bad guy, and as a result, the children are set free. He should be labeled as a friend of the children.
3. Once again, he is a crocodile...a relative to the alligator, but not an alligator. Are we going to start removing Dalmatian or Lady/Tramp apparel if a wolf attacks someone?
4. It was respectful for Disney to remove any JC jokes involving alligators, or children being fed to alligators. I get why those needed to go temporarily. That was a sensible move, and will allow time for public healing from this tragedy. But removing Tic-Toc's likeness from the premises is (imo) going a bit too far.
5. The same can be said for Louis from Princess & The Frog. Yes, he is an alligator, but he is also a non-aggressor. He just wants to play jazz with the Big Boys.
6. What message is Disney sending by eradicating a good-hearted, non-aggressive gator, and a heroic, pirate-defeating crocodile, when neither of these fictitious characters had anything to do with the GF tragedy?
7. Doesn't this all sorta go against the Zootopian message of not painting all animals with the same brush, based on the actions of one or a few?
8. Wouldn't it be a lot more respectful for the victim's family to simply put up "Do Not Feed Wildlife" signs / warnings at bungalows & other areas, so future guests do not make the same mistakes which led to this gator approaching humans easily?
9. Wouldn't making necessary changes in policy, guest protection, and guest awareness be much more effective than demonizing cartoon critters which never threatened children during their respective stories?
10. Not sure what to put here for #10. But just needed a solid even number to wrap it up.

 

[TLtron]

I've heard rumors recently that they may remove be tic tic from PPF and forbid you from wearing alligator/croc shirts.

Okay, now they're just messing with us.

 

[BiffyClyro]

I read this as "Gator massacre" and though Woah exaggeration

 

[zooey]

I've heard rumors recently that they may remove be tic tic from PPF and forbid you from wearing alligator/croc shirts.

I'd be okay with them banning Crocs, honestly.