WSJ: Disney Downtime increases as cost of visiting goes up

[ceecee101]

I guess I’m not as bothered by it at DL as I am at WDW because those rides have so many other options, if Space, Matterhorn and Rise are down I still have Indy, BTMRR, HM, etc. If three Etickets go down at Epcot, DHS or AK, the 1-2 remaining will be mobbed.

As someone who is here now at WDW I could not agree more. DL only in our future

 

[ChrisFL]

Once upon a time Walt Disney World bragged about how they had the ability to make any part they would need.

As someone who is very familiar with additive manufacturing/3D printing and somewhat knowledgeable with CNC machining, I don't doubt they can make a lot of things, but things like electronics are often another matter

 

[Disney Analyst]

There's pressure on publicly-trade companies to please their real customers: stockholders. Stockholders are increrasingly demanding more and more returns. In the past, a modest profit was considered a good thing; now investors want 100% year-over-year, product and service be damned. It's unsustainable, and ultimately impacts the level of investment in the business (i.e. innovations, maintenance), as more and more funding goes to dividends and buybacks. It's a vicious circle.

This has always been my issue. Each quarter is expected to be better than the next. If they aren’t meeting their targets, they cut things to get there.

Diminished quality and experience to have a better quarter.

No big picture, just short term. And it doesn’t matter whether they made a profit, if it wasn’t the biggest profit ever.

It’s dumb.

 

[ChrisFL]

This has always been my issue. Each quarter is expected to be better than the next. If they aren’t meeting their targets, they cut things to get there.

Diminished quality and experience to have a better quarter.

No big picture, just short term. And it doesn’t matter whether they made a profit, if it wasn’t the biggest profit ever.

It’s dumb.

Sadly it's standard practice for a majority of publicly traded U.S. companies these days

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

As someone who is very familiar with additive manufacturing/3D printing and somewhat knowledgeable with CNC machining, I don't doubt they can make a lot of things, but things like electronics are often another matter

I wonder how much technology factors into downtime (seemingly) getting worse.

When I was a kid all I needed was a Haynes manual and some hand tools and I could fix anything on my car in a matter of hours, now there’s so many sensors and computers I don’t even know where to begin.

Physical repairs are still easy, some wood or a welder, but electrical repairs usually require ordering and waiting for replacement parts.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I wonder how much technology factors into downtime (seemingly) getting worse.

When I was a kid all I needed was a Haynes manual and some hand tools and I could fix anything on my car in a matter of hours, now there’s so many sensors and computers I don’t even know where to begin.

Physical repairs are still easy, some wood or a welder, but electrical repairs usually require ordering and waiting for replacement parts.

That might be part of it - plus if one element goes down on an older ride, the ride can likely still run and provide a similar experience whereas some new rides and something goes wrong and the whole thing has to shut down.

On the flip side, the fact that the reliability of Rise is worse now than it was 2 years ago is, um, not great

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I’ve been to DLR twice in the last three or so months and I’ve noticed this a lot. At some points combinations or all of Indy, BTMRR, HM, Pirates and Space Mountain were down. It’s especially bad when they only have fireworks on weekends and then they cancel it 2/3 days because of stupid winds. At WDW, rides definitely break down less. Idk why DLR is like that. The trope about better maintenance there is absolutely not true from my experience as a regular at both resorts.

 

[TQQQ]

Hot take: Runaway Railway is a better ride than ROTR, Guardians, and Tron.

Lol. That’s actually funny

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Lol. That’s actually funny

To be fair, I guess I can't really judge ROTR. I've yet to ride it when every single show element is actually working. And I've ridden it a lot.

 

[RSoxNo1]

@lentesta can probably speak to this better than myself, but I want to put the topic out there:

The downtime argument is something different than the wait time argument.

It looks like the WSJ article is focusing exclusively on Standby data. Knowing that approximately 70% of guests (during Fastpass) would ride a ride via the alternate entrance, is it fair to hypothesize that downtime isn't the only thing at play here? Are they playing games with Genie+ percentages relative to Fastpass percentages? Are they using the Touring Plans actual wait times or reported times? Genie+ / Lightning Lane also debuted in October of 2021 so you're not comparing identical numbers here.

 

[denyuntilcaught]

Bob will retire in a few years and he is out to make the most money for the stockholders and as long as attendance remains high despite price increase, lack of staff, lack of maintenance what does he care. Bob will walk away with millions as long as he keeps the board of directors happy and the stockholders happy. The next CEO will do the same thing until people stop going.

Welp.

 

[Grumpy4196]

Hot take: Runaway Railway is a better ride than ROTR, Guardians, and Tron.

It's not even better than Great Movie Ride IMO.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It's not even better than Great Movie Ride IMO.

It is better than guardians though, And Millenium Falcon, and probably Tron.

 

[Bocabear]

apples to oranges here... they are very different experiences, very different audiences, different styles, different objectives... by that argument I could say that Mall of the Millenia is way better than The Polynesian Resort... too broad a brush stroke unless the only filter is what you personally prefer.
RoTR is better than Millenium Falcon most agree. Runaway Railway is adorable and a fun addition that maybe should have been in the Animation courtyard. Guardians of The Galaxy is a very well done attraction, and a lot of fun in a wrong location. I can't pan any of these attractions...I think they are all good but most didn't go far enough or are in the wrong location... Tron we will find will be very popular...but in the end, it is incredibly short. I hope they do more with the pre-show queue areas than I saw in Shanghai... and what we REALLY should have gotten if we were going to import an attraction, was the Shanghai Pirates.

 

[JD80]

It's not even better than Great Movie Ride IMO.

MMRR is the best ride in the park.

 

[Touchdown]

MMRR is the best ride in the park.

Ok I get this is a dig on Rise but even if we take that out, this is the park with ToT. So you’re still wrong.

 

[wishiwere@wdw]

The smoke from the Roman torches caught my eye. But it’s an example of great SQ next to awful SQ. The parks are currently shockingly hit and miss show quality wise.

Also some love for the printing press finally working again (yes, minus the steam lol).

You bring up a valid point. And another one to add is the older ride systems not being as flexible for those with disabilities. While certainly not always the case, many many stoppages on SSE are due to loading folks that need some extra time. Buzz, Mansion, etc many times fool guests into thinking the ride broke down when in fact it didn’t. Even more confusing when it might happen 5 or 6 times in a row, like our SSE ride last week.

 

[el_super]

Physical repairs are still easy, some wood or a welder, but electrical repairs usually require ordering and waiting for replacement parts.

I actually think the opposite is true. It's harder now to find skilled technicians and machinists. Disneyland ran an internal promotion for a few years where they asked entry level cast members to take on training courses at the local college to learn some of the important crafts they were missing. They came out and stated that some of those required crafts were just out of favor today and harder and harder to replace.

I’ve been to DLR twice in the last three or so months and I’ve noticed this a lot. At some points combinations or all of Indy, BTMRR, HM, Pirates and Space Mountain were down. It’s especially bad when they only have fireworks on weekends and then they cancel it 2/3 days because of stupid winds.

Not sure if this aligns, but during one of the recent wind storms in Anaheim, my lights kept flickering. I assumed that tree branches or other obstructions were interfering with the power lines. If that happens at the park, if there is any form of power interruption at all, the rides will shut down. If multiple rides are all down at once, it's a good bet that's what happened.

Welp.

Still somehow... technically true.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Also some love for the printing press finally working again (yes, minus the steam lol).

You bring up a valid point. And another one to add is the older ride systems not being as flexible for those with disabilities. While certainly not always the case, many many stoppages on SSE are due to loading folks that need some extra time. Buzz, Mansion, etc many times fool guests into thinking the ride broke down when in fact it didn’t. Even more confusing when it might happen 5 or 6 times in a row, like our SSE ride last week.

Then use a System to pull carts into separate load/unload area similar to forbidden journey

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

apples to oranges here... they are very different experiences, very different audiences, different styles, different objectives... by that argument I could say that Mall of the Millenia is way better than The Polynesian Resort... too broad a brush stroke unless the only filter is what you personally prefer.

I disagree. It’s a comparison of modern built, headliner Disney attractions at the WDW resort.