Entertainment Cuts at WDW

[wdhatter]

Well folks. Disneyland started the ball and now it keeps rolling to WDW. Disneyland entertainment was just cut a great deal. WDW is now cutting their entertainment down to help on expenses.

Luckily, as of now, no shows are closing for good as at Disneyland, but drastic hours have been cut. The only thing I've heard of as of now, is Animal Kingdom. They recently had a meeting with the Cast, and this is what was revealed...

Festival of the Lion King will now show only 4 shows a day.
Tarzan will now only show 4 shows a day.
Pocahontas will now show only 5 shows a day with it closed completely on Sun/Mon.
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade is now going to be at 4pm instead of 3pm.

Yikes! I hope I still have a job tomorrow....

[Planogirl]

Yikes! Pretty soon we'll have to do in park karaoke for entertainment. It never seems to end does it?

The best of luck to you wdhatter.

[Janet2k]

Oh, wdhatter, I hope things get better soon. I feel your pain. I work in the high-tech industry and we've been struggling all year (layoffs, pay cuts, forced shut-downs, etc.). It's been a horrible year. We all could use a little pixie dust.

[wdhatter]

OK...here it is...in addition to the Animal Kingdom cuts listed above...

Studios...
Beauty and the Beast down to a 5 day operation; 4 or 5 shows a day.
Hunchback down to a 5 day operation; 4 or 5 shows a day.

Magic Kingdom...
Diamond Horseshoe saloon girls and Miss Lucille have been let go. They will no longer be part of the show. The Host is left as well as the Singing Cowboy, Piano Player and Magician.
Belle's Story Time is down to a 5 day operation.
Merlin's Ruler for the Day is down to a 5 day operation.

Pleasure Island...
All P.I. Dancers have been let go. There will no longer be Dancers at P.I.

All performers who lost their jobs are Equity contract performers (Singers, Professional Dancers, Stunt Men, etc.) Many people lost their jobs....to be fair, some were offered other positions in the Company....Third Shift Custodial, Parking or Merchandise, but many turned those offers down due to the HIGH cut in pay. (I know at least it's a job....but still....I probably would have turned those offers down too.)

Some performers were offered positions in Christmas shows, but that only lasts until the beginning of January. No Character Entertainment performers who are full time have lost their jobs so far. They are part of a different union and are not contract performers. Many of them have had their hours cut severely, though.

That's all I know for now...

[wdhatter]

Just one more thing...I feel incredibly horrible that these people have lost their jobs. Many were close friends of mine who have been with the Company a long time. It's very sad that these horrible world events made a sagging economy so much worse. It has affected so many people's lives who had no real connection to anyone in the terrorist attacks. It just sickens me.

[mktiggerman]

thanks for clarifying this Hatter. I have a feeling that we're not going to know the full extent of the terrorist attacks for a long while.

[Janet2k]

Wdhatter, like you and others, I feel that the terrorist attacks were long-reaching and we won’t fully know their effects ever. I had a friend commit suicide within a few days of the attacks. I truly feel that had the terrorist attacks not happened, he might still be with us today. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for him to have seen/heard/read about the terrorist attacks for 24 hours a day, for several days straight, before he took his own life in desperation. I cannot tell you how angry I was (and still am) over that.

I am so sorry for the WDW Cast Members who have recently lost their jobs. Do you think some of them may be hired back during the upcoming holidays since WDW will be busier then (I know you already mentioned some performers were offered the Christmas shows)? My fingers are crossed.

[wdhatter]

Bump

[kozmo]

Madhatter, im coming to animal kingdom to see your shows,more people will come ,we have antidotes and we have a country full of heros ,i called a cm at the grand floridian yesterday and he told me ,take care coming but come,he wa such a nice person -and i dont know if he knew just how reassuring he was ,but let me tell you,I AM COMINGand i AM EVEN going to take this pooh size body swimming and how i blind a terrorist or two!!!!I AM GOING TO HAVE A GOOD TIME AND I AM GOING TO SURVIVE(GOD WILLING) WHATEVER COMES MY WAY!!!!!I am going to wdw!!!!!

[wdhatter]

Good for you! Come on down! I hope you have a GREAT time!

[kozmo]

sorry i called ya madhatter :D i meant wdhatter

[lindym]

What days at MGM are dark for Beauty and Beast and Hunchback?

[lisapooh]

wdhatter which show in AK do you do. I am partial to Festival of the Lion King. My absolute favorite, especially the Blue Bird. Will definately coming in Dec.

[lisapooh]

one is dark Mon and Tues, the other Thurs and Fri. Absolutely unacceptible as far as I am concerned as the deaf cannot see both interpreted on the same day. That is not equal access.

[Mr D]

All the more to book a future vacation at TDS, why does Eisner keep on trying to destroy Disney? If he had any guts he would ADD for American morale and not DETRACT, I cancelled and requested my $3906 I gave Disney for a resort package, I'm still going but with all the cutbacks its not worth spending the extra to stay in the park anymore, instead I rented a longer (14 days) stay at a vacation home that was less than half what I paid Disney for a 10 day stay at their resort.

[Laurajean1014]

Disney still offers a fantastic deal for what you pay! I've been there over 20 times in 16 years and I still haven't seen every thing yet. Also, please remember, everything is temporary! :)

[Safari Steve]

1. Do you live in a cave?

2. Have you had no access to a TV, Radio, or Newspaper in the last two months?

3. Are you completely unaware of how the American economy (and FL's economy) works?

If you answered no to any of these questions, there is no reason for you to think that "Eisner wants to destroy the company..." is a rational conclusion. These are tough times for everyone, and the people who make these decisions (btw, Eisner doesn't directly oversee human resources, contrary to popular belief) are doing so to ensure that the company stays in the black and is able to provide our unique brand of entertainment in the future. Thanks for trying to understand.
:rolleyes:

[All Aboard]

Steve,

The company I work for (and make decisions for) is suffering because of the fallout post Sep 11 as well.

Here's what we are doing:

Cutting prices, offering some freebies that we did not before, providing more coverage...

Our goal is to stay strong and in a position to make a full recovery when the economy does. During this time we know how important it is to retain our current customer base and keep them as happy as we can.

I've been one of the biggest defenders of WDW on this board, that's no secret. However, I question the strategy that is being implemented now.

[Safari Steve]

Oh, I think it's crummy, don't get me wrong. The whole "Eisner is intentionally trying to destroy the company" thing just always gets me riled up. How ignorant...

[HBK]

Oh, I think it's crummy, don't get me wrong. The whole "Eisner is intentionally trying to destroy the company" thing just always gets me riled up. How ignorant...

Personally I think it's ignorant to put your head in the sand and not see what's happening. Many of these cutbacks are not temporary (and those which are labeled as such will become permanant). Many of these cutbacks were rumored long before Sept 11. Many of these cutbacks are destroying the Disney vacation's we so in love with.

[Safari Steve]

Oh, my head's not in the sand. I'm quite aware of what's going on. I'm always trying, however (and I've covered this several times) to not say anything on these boards that I wouldn't say at work (when I can get a shift, that is)...

[yesdisneyfool]

I truely believe we will get through these difficult times.
Mr. Walt Disney is looking over his kingdom.
He will not let his DREAM fade nor die.

[HBK]

Originally posted by Safari Steve
Oh, my head's not in the sand. I'm quite aware of what's going on. I'm always trying, however (and I've covered this several times) to not say anything on these boards that I wouldn't say at work (when I can get a shift, that is)...

So you would call someone's point of view ignorant? Not trying to pick nits, but remember....when you get agitated when people Ei$ner bash, I get the same feeling when people blindly defend him.

[HorizonsFan]

I just re-read. I didn't see where Steve called anyone's point of view ignorant.

[hopemax]

The problem is that many people were in cars 2 & 3 before September 11. I wonder how many people would have been in cars 2 & 3 at the beginning of the year. Maybe if I was in car #1 on 9/11 I would be more sympathetic to Disney now, but I wasn't. During the financial boom of the late 90's Disney made a lot of decisions that really bothered me. Things like the empty 20K lagoon and the delay of Beastly Kingdom to name just 2.

Disney isn't a friend or family member that I feel obligated to help get back on their feet. It's just a product that I can live without. There are many, many other vacation choices I have. And since this *is* a hard economic time, I have to keep an eye on my own personal "business." I have an obligation to my family to make sure our household still is financially secure, and still gets what it needs. The reality is that I can fulfill our need for escapism and time off by traveling somewhere else. For instance, my in-laws are moving to N. Arizona. I can go visit them and go see the beauty of Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches and the Grand Canyon. I'm not going to feel guilty for choosing that vacation over WDW while the situation down there is what it is.

[disneyking]

Well its confirmed. I just received a call from a special CRO rep that confirmed that ALL 9:30 PM Hoop Dee Doo shows through Oct 31 have been cancelled. They are rescheduling everyone on the 5:00 & 7:15 shows. She indicated that they were manually redrawing the seating charts. As you may know seating at the Hoop Dee Doo and Polynesian Revue seating is decided by when you make your reservation. First reservations get best tables. They are attempting to redraw the seating to accommodate the cancelled guests original reservation date. Also since Amex specials were at 9:30 only they are accommodating Amex discounts at earlier shows for cancelled guests.

[Planogirl]

What amazes me are the people on the other boards who are commenting that the only reason that people are angry is because "some people just can't be satisfied". If I dislike a decision, I'm going to say so. Disney doesn't get some kind of magical pass from me just because it's Disney. I am one the company's biggest advocates but I don't own a pair of rose colored glasses (or a pile of sand ;) ).

Steve, I want to add that what upsets me the most and always has are the CM's being let go. I have always felt that CM's are what make WDW what it is more than anything else and I really believe that the experience will suffer because of those choices. As a matter of fact, to me it already has in some ways. I'm keeping my hope that everything will get back to "normal" someday though in spite of a nagging worry that it won't.

[Safari Steve]

Planogirl, I can't say that I disagree, CMs are special (especially at the Jungle Cruise...)

King, it's no fun to have reservations switched around, but it sounds like the company is doing something that WDW is famous for (and very good at): Service Recovery. They're going to honor the discount regardless of the show time and they're going to try to get you the best seat they can. Doesn't sound like a thumbs down to me. The 5 and 7 shows were probably not totally full. I'm sorry you won't be seeing it at 9:30, but I hope you have lots of fun anyhow!

[HBK]

Originally posted by HorizonsFan
I just re-read. I didn't see where Steve called anyone's point of view ignorant.

Here's your point of reference

Oh, I think it's crummy, don't get me wrong. The whole "Eisner is intentionally trying to destroy the company" thing just always gets me riled up. How ignorant...

[livsea2]

And I'll say it again, when a business is doing poorly they INCREASE hours, REDUCE prices, and INCREASE the customers perceived value. A large corporations cuts costs because the name of the game is to accumulate wealth for the CEO by showing Wall st. you've reduced expenses when revenues are down. No consideration to running the business, only the advancement of the corporation. Disney will unload WDW in a heartbeat if the circumstances are right. Right Mr. Ei$ner?

[mktiggerman]

I put more blame for this on Pressler than Eisner