When will the intervention come?

[davis_unoxx]

Thank you, that's kind of you. There's a lot of very funny people on this forum, and I find myself chuckling and laughing out loud regularly. Which is why I enjoy it here.

But your point is valid. Disney, and especially WDI, seem to take themselves so damn seriously nowadays. Everything they do now is "very important" and "meaningful" and "powerful" and whatever other HR buzzword is hip that month. They're all puffed up and self-important.

But they're just building rides for theme parks, for gosh sakes. With singing animals and robot pirates and princesses. This isn't cancer cure research or building a SpaceX rocket to Mars or designing an emergency replacement for the Francis Scott Key Bridge in record time.

If they are unwilling to actually go to the parks themselves and experience their own product as their paying customers do, without comped LL passes and plaid vest CM's sneaking them in the exit and reserving them seats for the parade, the least they could do is stop sounding so pompous. The top Imagineers of the 2020's (and a few other Parks division execs) could stand to deflate their ego a few sizes and learn to laugh at themselves a bit. You aren't that cool. It's just a theme park.

That would likely help them to start building better products again.

Great points! Fun is most important.

Also I remember while was a Disneyland CM, you’d make comments about how the CMs at the Star Wars cantina would be talking about the nail polish color or something like that or how they were acting bored, and let me tell you couldn’t be more correct!

I worked at DCA as a bar host at a certain bar with a grizzly bear in the background maybe across from Cars Land… and guests would make same comments as you all the time! I never replied to your comments since I was an employee.

And I don’t think it’s even a wage thing, as generational or bad management.

When I transferred to work at the hotels. I made over $25 an hour for an easy job, and there we had big trouble with cast “grouping” and also sleeping in cars while on shift.

Also when I went to parks during my time off, I saw so many CMs doing petty talk between each other and ignoring guests completely.

I remember first time I took my family to Disney world with my free pass and discounts as an employee, a plaid at the guest services office outside international gateway entrance at Epcot immitated my mother and gave her attitude because she lost her plastic card that gave her entrance to park.

So many parts of Disney are a former shelf of a decade or two ago, signed a CM until two months ago

 

[davis_unoxx]

First, we have to see some semblance of consequence for these projects.

Who at WDI got fired for SWGS, or SWGE for that matter? Is Ann Morrow still with WDI?

Look what Zach did to EPCOT, and he got promoted.

The two people most associated with this project are very senior at WDI. Will they suddenly get a chance to tell immersive storytelling elsewhere at the company?

What about the people behind Fort Wilderness cabins?

There’s no indication any of these people have had adverse consequences to these very costly mistakes.

I agree, it’s crazy.

My parents flip homes, due one every few years since they focus on quality vs quantity and treat it as side hustle and a work of art vs making a quick buck.

My mom’s the interior designer, and she could make something match so much better. I’m from New England and she takes 150 year old houses keeps charm, while having modern design intertwined on the interior. Disney is capable of that and succeed in the past, I really don’t understand what happened.

 

[JoeCamel]

I don’t know firing people helps all that much. You have to find the right ones in the first place. I mean, the White Sox keep firing people . . .

Every time Billy Martin got fired the Yankees did better.......

 

[Tha Realest]

To answer your question:

It already came in the form of Bruce Vaughn, and the departure of Barbara Bouza. It remains to be seen whether they acknowledge there is a problem that needs correcting, or how much this new leadership will refocus back to core competencies. It was too late to fix Tiana.

 

[Drdcm]

To say something nice… I think that, in isolation, GOTG and JoW are nice and well done. I also like the spaceship earth lighting. Placement is up for debate, but from an imagineering perspective I like them.

 

[DisCOT_97]

Hello all!

We’ve seen Disney has fallen onto very tough times creatively as a company, mainly with their recent movie debuts and in the parks as of late.

With the movie Wish being dragged by many for sounding like AI wrote the soundtrack, to Tiana’s being described as a direct to video sequel as a ride, when will Disney change course?

We’ve seen that Disney has been affected by this financially at the box office, and me personally as a former cast member through this year know that their hotels are not filling up like they used to with bookings, and the economy is still strong… Florida keeps breaking tourism records, while Disney’s occupancy at hotels keeps going down.

For example New Year’s Day this year at Animal Kingdom Lodge, the occupancy of the hotel was 70% not including the blocked off rooms to make occupancy look higher than it really is. When I was a cast member you could feel how the crowds are lesser due to less hiring as of late, and part timers getting next to no hours each week…

I truly love Disney, and I liked working for them but now’s a time for change, I personally believe they are in a bigger mess then even 20 years ago with that Save Disney Campaign to oust Eisner, which was a big deal at the time.

I’ve never seen public reception of Disney so bad, and it’s mainstream now people make fun of Disney and the people that visit their parks.

We saw Peltz try to gain a seat on the board, and since the Disney that he won’t be elected Disney’s stock has fallen back down around -20%


Also Disney is a very different situation with there parks than say 10 years ago, instead of a quarter of their profits coming from the parks, it’s over 70% now. So now that we’ve reached a tipping point in my opinion with room occupancy and public perception of Disney, it’ll be very interesting what happens to them financially especially if our economy slows down substantially.


No company is too big to fail, greed and thinking you can do whatever is always the downfall of big companies.


What’s next? Will Disney keep making mid projects like Tiana that are bashed for playing it so safe and being a dull ride?

Thank you all, and I look forward to the discussions.

Thanks for starting this thread! I thought it was extremely interesting when the recent Jenny Nicholson Starcruiser “documentary” made its rounds out of the theme park niche and in fact went viral. Not a good look for Disney at all. And the way it portrayed company culture and the viewer agreement is very telling. The problem is that Disney, a company that has always centered on creativity (and profit, of course) is gravitating towards just that profit element. Iger’s recent statement about only pursuing IP projects is an indicator that they wanna put stuff in the parks that sell. They do not believe original stories will sell.

 

[Trauma]

To say something nice… I think that, in isolation, GOTG and JoW are nice and well done. I also like the spaceship earth lighting. Placement is up for debate, but from an imagineering perspective I like them.

Isn’t that part of the problem though ?

Even when they are doing something positive there is always some strange drawback.

For example the giant GOTG building.

You build Rise and then put it a lackluster “land” that could be improved immensely if they put in any effort.

The idea to build a Tiana ride was great. Forcing into Splash makes it doomed from the start.

Everything lacks focus. It’s like even when they get it right it’s still lacking.

I think it’s points to a lack of a unified vision.

That tells me that there is a lack of leadership.

 

[Drdcm]

Isn’t that part of the problem though ?

Even when they doing something positive there is always some strange drawback.

For example the giant GOTG building.

You build Rise and then put it a lackluster “land” that could be improved immensely if they put in any effort.

The idea to build a Tiana ride was great. Forcing into Splash makes it doomed from the start.

Everything lacks focus. It’s like even when they get it right it’s still lacking.

I think it’s points to a lack of a unified vision.

That tells me that there is a lack of leadership.

Is that an imagineering problem though? I don’t think the imagineers are the problem, it’s the higher ups. The creativity and attention to detail is there even in SWGE that everyone despises.

I have no excuse for the travesty of what appears to be Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and the removal of basically all detailed scenery

 

[DisDude33]

The problem with the idea of “fixing” Disney is that there isn’t one issue or one person to point to. There are a good number of large immediately noticeable issues that are being made so much worse by hundreds of little things that I believe the executives aren’t even aware of or not see as problems.

 

[davis_unoxx]

Thanks for starting this thread! I thought it was extremely interesting when the recent Jenny Nicholson Starcruiser “documentary” made its rounds out of the theme park niche and in fact went viral. Not a good look for Disney at all. And the way it portrayed company culture and the viewer agreement is very telling. The problem is that Disney, a company that has always centered on creativity (and profit, of course) is gravitating towards just that profit element. Iger’s recent statement about only pursuing IP projects is an indicator that they wanna put stuff in the parks that sell. They do not believe original stories will sell.

I got you!

Me and Jenny are both Disney park fans, and were both former Disneyland CMs. I’ve watched around half of her video so far, and it’s spot on.

I’m described as an old soul, someone who doesn’t say “have a magical day” when I was a cm, I was just my genuine self and I actually connected well with a lot of the higher ups from Anaheim and Burbank.

Since I worked at a bar, they felt more comfortable with telling me stuff of what was going on behind the scenes…

From how Lasseteer was pushed out and morale was at all time low at Disney Animation according to one of the guys that was in charge of Wish, to how creativity was pushed to the backboard…

Also you don’t even want to know how little Disney pays for their wine for example, Justin wine they sell for almost $20 a glass, we were getting for $6 a bottle due to the wineries viewing it as an ad having their product in Disney, lol.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

A family friend is an exec for Universal Studios Hollywood - he said Universal's internal motto right now is 'Don't do what Disney's doing.'

That is very interesting if true, but I believe it. I see what they're doing with Epic Universe and although i'm not a fan of IP placement, the entire park just looks incredible. The general feel for me is that they're prioritizing story and theme over advertisement.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

I don’t agree with most of that. Some of the changes were quietly made and then blown up out of all proportion by the people who didn’t like them.

Quietly made? LOL. Most changes, if not all, they've made recently came with a "look at what we're doing! We're with the times! We're inclusive! Buy Star Wars and Marvel and Disney products!"

 

[Chi84]

Quietly made? LOL. Most changes, if not all, they've made recently came with a "look at what we're doing! We're with the times! We're inclusive! Buy Star Wars and Marvel and Disney products!"

Right, but Disney made the changes without comment and all the rest was attributed to them by their opponents blowing up simple actions all out of proportion.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

When will the intervention come?

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Right, but Disney made the changes without comment and all the rest was attributed to them by their opponents blowing simple actions all out of proportion.

Which particular changes are you referring to? I think to an extent they knew their announcements would cause a firestorm but did them anyway. Especially because modern Disney has dropped the ball so often.

You certainly have a point about them removing the benefits we used to have pre covid and that being a concern. I think their newer stuff, except for a handful like MMRR, Indy’s changes and Swiss treehouse in Anaheim, have fallen flat and have been unable to duplicate the Magic.

 

[Chi84]

Which particular changes are you referring to? I think to an extent they knew their announcements would cause a firestorm but did them anyway. Especially because modern Disney has dropped the ball so often.

You certainly have a point about them removing the benefits we used to have pre covid and that being a concern. I think their newer stuff, except for a handful like MMRR, Indy’s changes and Swiss treehouse in Anaheim, have fallen flat and have been unable to duplicate the Magic.

I don’t have a problem with a more modern Disney, but I never developed an emotional attachment to WDW. We visit often because we enjoy it, but when we stop having a great time there we won’t return.

I don’t expect anything to stay the same forever. And I see the charge-more-for-less mentality everywhere these days. Disney’s quality is still far above other theme parks.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Great points! Fun is most important.

Also I remember while was a Disneyland CM, you’d make comments about how the CMs at the Star Wars cantina would be talking about the nail polish color or something like that or how they were acting bored, and let me tell you couldn’t be more correct!

I worked at DCA as a bar host at a certain bar with a grizzly bear in the background maybe across from Cars Land… and guests would make same comments as you all the time! I never replied to your comments since I was an employee.

And I don’t think it’s even a wage thing, as generational or bad management.

When I transferred to work at the hotels. I made over $25 an hour for an easy job, and there we had big trouble with cast “grouping” and also sleeping in cars while on shift.

Also when I went to parks during my time off, I saw so many CMs doing petty talk between each other and ignoring guests completely.

I remember first time I took my family to Disney world with my free pass and discounts as an employee, a plaid at the guest services office outside international gateway entrance at Epcot immitated my mother and gave her attitude because she lost her plastic card that gave her entrance to park.

So many parts of Disney are a former shelf of a decade or two ago, signed a CM until two months ago

I went to a Wendy's the other day
There were 5 people working there. The cashier took the order for the customer in front of me and then walked away. She was talking with the other employees and was kind of doing some stuff, we stood there after a few minutes I asked if there was a cashier and she snapped at me that she was busy. I hadn't asked in a rude way, but that was it. I walked out with my family. I have seen this level of service at many places, but it isn't generational, as I have seen some older people act this way too. It has to come from management down. The places that have good service push for it.
Disney has had rude employees for years, it's nothing new.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I don’t have a problem with a more modern Disney, but I never developed an emotional attachment to WDW. We visit often because we enjoy it, but when we stop having a great time there we won’t return.

I don’t expect anything to stay the same forever. And I see the charge-more-for-less mentality everywhere these days. Disney’s quality is still far above other theme parks.

This is where I am at. I still love the trips, but I know it's an evolving changing park. I don't sign petitions to save any rides...they are rides things change. I do hate that the trips now require looking at my phone so much, but then again their was always anxiety with getting fast passes in the mornings under the old ticket option! I would probably hate the phone stuff more but I am also a planner when it comes to trips so a small part of me enjoys the "game" of working the days itinerary as rides go down or line times change.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

I mean...it sort of already did happen?

We saw it play out in real time this year. While it's true Peltz never had even a slim chance of earning a seat on the board, Iger and co. fought hard to make sure that it didn't happen. And along the way, we've seen more commitment to investment and change than we have in years.

We've just not gotten to see it yet. All we're seeing right now are the end results of decisions made years ago, hell some over a decade ago at this point. It's going to be a little while before we see the fruits of the changes that have been made this year. Change is most certainly on it's way, and anyone paying enough attention to how much Iger's approach to communicating what's on the horizon as of late can sense that.

In the meantime though, I don't know that Disney's overall situation is as dire as it's made out to be. It's nowhere even close to the worst it's ever been. The Disney fandom tends to get very doomerist with things. Not for no reason, there are lots of cracks in the foundation, but they're also not cracks that the majority of people Disney serves are going to think too much about. Disney is still the dream vacation, they're still holding the majority of the top 10 most visited theme parks in the world, and that isn't going to suddenly change here.

The truth of the matter is that the majority of guests aren't really unsatisfied with the product the parks provides. First timers are going and having the absolute time of their lives even still. People who've been going forever of course have noticed the changes, but really those of us that have been going their whole lives make up a small subset of the people who visit (at leaat at WDW).

For now, we just have to wait and see what things look like when these new changes and pivots we've seen a commitment to this year come to fruition. What those will turn out like we don't know. But make no mistake...the intervention's already come and passed. We're beginning the shift now.

 

[TP2000]

Also you don’t even want to know how little Disney pays for their wine for example, Justin wine they sell for almost $20 a glass, we were getting for $6 a bottle due to the wineries viewing it as an ad having their product in Disney, lol.

Cripes, you mention this Justin insight only now?!? You don't have a hookup on their Isosocles '20 or '21, do you?