DEBATE: Did disney offer enough?????

[Bob O]

Last week Epcot was closed due to a fire that wasnt the fault of wdw. Due to the fire from the reports i have read wdw kept the other parks open for 1 hr extra. Do you think that was enough???
I know wdw wasnt obligated to do anything but i think all the parks shoul;d have been opended till at least midnight to compensate the guests due to Epcot being closed. The employee's could have been shuffled around to make up for this and it would have shwon that wdw truely values their guests IMHO.

[YoHo]

What's so Magical about midnight as compared to one extra hour for each park? Would that midnight closing include Animal Kingdom?

Seems to me that we are talking about something extremely arbitrary.

[TheLionKing]

More than enough.

[ralphd]

Think they also comped a free day at Epcot for everyone. Was at Epcot the next day and people were going to Guest Relations and getting a one day ticket. Some may have been getting a one day Park Hopper.
Think they did a good customer relations job from the remarks we heard on site.

ralphd
:D :D :D :D :D

[Walt's Frozen Head]

"Enough" is a moving target.

One shot of Jagermeister is "enough" to make Suzy a bit queasy, seven shots is "enough" to make me darned loopy, and four bottles is "enough" to make the whole party throw up off the back deck.

So how much Jagey is _really_ "enough" depends completely on the assumed "enough for _what_?"

Was Disney legally obligated to do more? No, and the fact they did anything at all was more than "enough."

Did Disney take an opportunity to turn "Fire closes EPCOT" headlines into "Mickey to the rescue" headlines? No, and in times like these, that's nowhere near "enough."

Everybody line up somewhere between those two extremes...

-WFH

[raidermatt]

I guess the proof is in how crowded the 3 remaining parks were that day. I don't know the answer to that, but if they weren't overly crowded, than 1 hr was probably enough.

Admittedly, as a guest, I would have like to have heard that the other three parks were adding more than an hour to closing, and even a 1/2 hour or hour to opening. (I realize extending the openings would have been logistically more difficult, but I doubt it would be impossible.)

[TheLionKing]

One Jagermeister is enough to make me puke.

[Bob O]

Was disney obligated to offer anything, legally no but from a pr perspective, yes.
And was i hr enough, IMHO no!!!!! Midnight was picked as it would have given the guests several hours extra and i also would have thrown in for good measure extra fireworks/parades at MK and MGM , this easily could have been communicated to onsite guests and too people who came to Epcot and were dissapointed the park was closed. It would have been a goodwill gesture and show that disney truely cares about their guests which has been greatly lacking as of late.
Being open till midnight used to be common so when one fourth of your parks are closed it isnt that much to offer to your guests!!!

[JeffH]

Get a grip, people...
Next you'll be saying that New York should have given all tourists free theatre tickets, when the twin towers collapsed.

I thought it was interesting that the one complaint that they published was the family who had 4 day hopper passes and had already been to the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom already and were so upset that Epcot was closed...what about MGM???
What a tragedy, Epcot's been open for a couple of decades, now, so it's not like it's new or anything.

This was not Disney's fault, they did not do it on purpose and I'm sure they didn't want to close the park (which also closed on 911 and during the hurricane threat a couple of years ago).

Saturday we park hopped from Epcot (after our Ice Cream Social), to MGM to specifically catch the parade and Fantasmic and BOTH were cancelled. Fantasmic made sense...it was raining, but the slight rain and thunder stopped by parade time and it stayed dry (while everyone waited patiently), until they cancelled it 25 minutes later. Whoever made THAT decision was an idiot.

[Eeyore1954]

Disney could have kept the other parks open until midnight and I believe people would have STILL complained that it was not enough! In this case, Disney was in a no-win situation. Regardless of what they did, some people would not be happy.

When we start thinking that because we are going to Disney for vacation that we are somehow entitled to have our desires and wishes fulfilled, we set ourselves up for disappointment.

My philosophy is to enjoy the magic that is there. I don't go expecting Disney to cater to my every whim or demand. And amazingly, I've never been disappointed. JMO

[wdhatter]

BTW, they did add an extra SpectroMagic that night at the Magic Kingdom due to Epcot's closing. There was a 9pm and an 11pm that night.

[Galahad]

Think they also comped a free day at Epcot for everyone

Wow! Way more than enough!

[ThumperThistle]

Originally posted by Bob O
[B]i also would have thrown in for good measure extra fireworks/parades at MK and MGM

MK stayed open until 11pm. Spectro magic was on at 9pm and an extra show at 11pm.

MGM open until 10pm. Fantasmic on at normal time of 9pm with an extra show at 10.30pm.

Our plans had been to go to Epcot that day but we went to MGM instead, no big deal just swapped days around.
Yes, MGM was busy but line times weren't too long.
Throughout the day I didn't hear anyone complain about Disney only adding 1hour to park times.

[YoHo]

Sorry BoB O, I can't agree with you. 1 hour appears to have been more then enough and they had extra parades and everything. (I might also suggest that jumping in and accusing Disney of not doing enough before we know what all they did isn't very useful.)
Midnight is completely and totally arbitrary. Sounds like Disney went to a great expense to make up for Epcot.

[Bob O]

Sounds to me like disney saved money by sending most of their employees home who worked at epcot.
Midnight used to be the normal closing in summer, should still be and while they were under no obligation to do anything extra the 1 hr seems to be very little but i will give them credit for adding parades, but as is the norm now for eisner they do as little to get by and to make the guests experience even more enjoyable.

[YoHo]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

BoB O, there are plenty of great arguments about Disney going down the tubes, but this just isn't one of them. Why not leave the parks open till 1? or 2? they used to do that too ya know.

[Galahad]

Sounds to me like they gave up two days of revenue from passes for EPCOT. (Plus the extra Spectro parade, longer hours, etc)That's a lot more than a day's wages at EPCOT.

[Sarangel]

Gentlebeings -

This is starting to become "yes, they did", "no, they didn't" kind of arguement. If you want to post a reasonable arguement about what they could have done more or less (based on $$, Guest experience, or some other criteria), go ahead.

But, if this becomes just a "yes" and "no" series of posts, BobO should change it to a poll or we should all just let it die a quiet death.

Sarangel

[wdhatter]

Disney also had Epcot Cast Members working elsewhere around the resort to add to the atmosphere. For example, the Voices of Liberty performed in Liberty Square. The acrobat children normally in China were in Tomorrowland. The German band were in Fantasyland playing. And so on....

It was all a VERY last minute thing that happened. What else do you want from them? They did pretty good I think considering they had only a couple of hours to make these decisions.

[Eeyore2U]

Originally posted by Bob O
Was disney obligated to offer anything, legally no but from a pr perspective, yes.
And was i hr enough, IMHO no!!!!! Midnight was picked as it would have given the guests several hours extra and i also would have thrown in for good measure extra fireworks/parades at MK and MGM , this easily could have been communicated to onsite guests and too people who came to Epcot and were dissapointed the park was closed. It would have been a goodwill gesture and show that disney truely cares about their guests which has been greatly lacking as of late.
Being open till midnight used to be common so when one fourth of your parks are closed it isnt that much to offer to your guests!!!

Bob,

Anything they did was more then enough. I remember being there and the same thing happened at MK and we got nothing.

I'm not sure logistically what more could have been done. I don't think people sit at home waiting for a call to come to work.

I think you need to enter the new millenium and realize that 1:00am closes have gone the way of Mr Toad. I wonder why you want to live in the past.

[JeffH]

but as is the norm now for eisner they do as little to get by and to make the guests experience even more enjoyable
Not from what I see and experience.
Character meals are everywhere, as are characters.
Parades at all the parks (2 at the Magic Kingdom).
Animal Kingdom was one of the most researched and detailed park ever built, although short on attractions (like MGM was) when it opened.
The landscaping remains pristine, and the live show are everywhere.

[Bob O]

Sarangel If i wanted a poll i would have started one, but since i didnt want a poll i didnt start one.
eyeor2u, so this is a new century so we should expect less for our money???? Their is no reason at all that the parks shouldnt be open as long as they were in the past. The only thing that has changed is disney wants there guests out of the parks(unless of course you will pay extra for EE when offered) and spending money on other parts of there property. The guest experience takes a back seat to there attempts to wring more money out of people's wallets. And this is all a slippery slope and as long as people blindly accept all these cuts more will surely follow. Will everybody be happy if they decide to close the parks at 800pm in summer i mean its a new century so it must be ok right???
Jeffh character meals make the parks big money and are done for the parks benefit and not the guests or they would have more places like when the Odyssey Rest was open and the characters would sing/dance several times a day and then come out for pictures/autographs without charging any additional money and you could just sit and wtach the show and not eat and enjoy the experience. I find less characters in the parks, escpecailly in the countries of Epcot and they arent available during ee like they were since they eliminated it. Now to see the characters you have to wait in lines rather than having more spontaneous meetingswith them like i used to experience in the past.
AK"may"have been the most researched park but was opened with a big lack of attractions and still suffers from a lack of attractions and still has nt put in BK which was suppossed to be a big part of the park when it was announced. So for how many years are people supposed to pay full price for a park that doesnt offer a full days worth of activites or offer nighttime hours???

To me it gets down to expectations and as long as people excuse disney's cutbacks and additions like DR we will only get more of the same as its ch eaper to do it that way if people will accept it.

[Eeyore2U]

eyeor2u, so this is a new century so we should expect less for our money???? Their is no reason at all that the parks shouldnt be open as long as they were in the past. The only thing that has changed is disney wants there guests out of the parks(unless of course you will pay extra for EE when offered) and spending money on other parts of there property. The guest experience takes a back seat to there attempts to wring more money out of people's wallets. And this is all a slippery slope and as long as people blindly accept all these cuts more will surely follow. Will everybody be happy if they decide to close the parks at 800pm in summer i mean its a new century so it must be ok right???

Bob,

I enjoy what's there. I guess the hours offseason haven't changed and I don't go in the summer. My experience has not impacted at all.

Do you support the *insert any pro sports team*? If you do, why? Do you get more for less?

Does your favorite eating spot charge the same as 5 years ago? Why do you still go? But you are getting more for less.



I think so.

[Galahad]

Isn't the demographic for EPCOT older that the other parks? Maybe keeping other parks open until midnight wouldn't help anyway because all of the displaced guests would be asleep. :jester:

[HorizonsFan]

Sounds to me like disney saved money by sending most of their employees home who worked at epcot.
Not entirely accurate. CMs who had showed up early were re-assigned to other parts of the resort. CMs who hadn't come in yet were told not to report. Some were probably caught in transition and had to go back home, but certainly not "most".
Disney did enough to satisfy most guests. Some guests can NEVER be satisfied...
:rolleyes:

[YoHo]

Bob, now you're switching up the argument from the Specific (did Disney do enough to compensate for Epcot's closing) to the General.

I'm all for debating the General, we do it all the time, but you're stated logic for this thread seems to have been refuted.
Disney left all three other parks open for an extra hour, they comped a day at Epcot, they reassigned Epcot's entertainment to other parts of the World so people could still expireance it, they ran extra parades. They even let the employees already on site work at other locations. (which likely offset many congestion headaches with guests)
Am I to understand that if the MK were open till midnight instead of 11 you would have been satisfied?

That still seems like too slippery a slope for me.

[ztbz]

I can tell you that Some Cast Members had to Report to work at Epcot, In my Dept Epcot Cast Menbers were sent to the other parks, because had Disney told them not to come to work, Disney would have to do the same for all the rest of the Cast Members that work in my area at the other parks. So it depended on the area that Cast Members work at, My Dept is a Property Wide Department so that why. but at least everybody get paid that did work.

Also Cast Members that work in Entertainment, Tickets, Parking were also assigned to other parks and Disney Resorts.

:confused:

[jafox]

I was there last week and noticed that it was little more crowded but not too bad. I guess if I was planning on going to Epcot that day and it was my last day I would have been disappointed but probably would have gone back to the hotel and enjoyed so time at the pool.

Josh

[AllisonG]

Sounds like Bob O isn't a Disney fan at all. Why bother Bob O? If you dislike WDW so much, why are you here?
and why do you keep changing the subject?

:confused:

[Bob O]

AllisonG- Im as much a disney fan as anybody. I just believe they need to be held to higher standards than some people do. Ive been going to wdw since 1982 and IMHO i have found things slipping be it park hours/all rides not opened when the park is/opening incomplete parks while charging full price as a couple of examples. Too me every minute the park is open less is a reduction in magic and the value you receive in your admission price. I havent changed my subject, but was responding to other posts.
Yoho i would have kept the MGM/MK parks open longer than midnight as compensation, probably till 100am like it was the last time i went too mvmcp. But keeping the parks open till midnight IMHO would have given the guests more time to enjoy the parks which would have been busier due to the unforeseen problems at Epcot. The extra parades were a great gesture,i just would have went further to spread good will and too exceed the guests expectations. I went off topic in responding to other posts on this thread.
eeyore2 I dont support any pro sports team with my money and watch very little of it but if i did and didnt feel the value was worth it i would stop. I also dont eat anywhere if i dont get what i feel is value for the money spent. But as for disney the prices have gone up in the last 5 yrs while park hours have been reduced.

[wdhatter]

I still ask, with less than 24 hours notice, what more than what I and others have listed do you expect? As it was, Cast Members were forceablely (is that a word? LOL) extended to work the extra hour later without being asked. Many people were not happy about that at all. Yes, most CM's care that people didn't get to go to Epcot, but being forced to stay does not make one happy when you are told that day when you get to work. Also, many have child baby sitting issues. Being forced to work even later with no notice at all is NOT a fun thing. And don't say that they could have had the Epcot PM shift of people work the other parks' later shifts. That doesn't fly for many reasons...they aren't trained in the other parks, their schedules had them off earlier at Epcot as well, so they too would be forced to extend past their normal shift with no notice.

In a perfect world, a later close would have been nice, but again, I say that with less than 24 hours notice (even less than that really!), they did the best they could.

[mistermouse]

Just the smell of jagermeister....

Disney's repsonse was fair given the circumstances. It really is a huge logistics issue to do more than was done. Park hours were extended, employees shuffled, parades/shows added, park passes given out to disgruntled guests.

I certainly imagine the closure was frustrating/disappointing for many guests at the time, but fortunately not everyone feels victimized by these types of events. It seems more and more folks exhibit a me/victim attitude each day. While feedback is crucial, the kinda of attitudes some folks can display in these situations would seem to ruin a vacation much more readily than the actual event. (Not suggesting that Bob O is in such a group)

Relax, WDW is not going to throw a clutch and come to a grinding halt. The resort has always treated it's guests way above any norm and continues to do so. Part of the problem is with skewed expectations or perhaps has more to do with an increasingly spoiled rotten adult population. Disney should be given credit for it's response to the Epcot fire/closing.

[YoHo]

Okay, Bob, I'll grant you that you were responding to other posts, but It still sounds like sour grapes. Should Eisner have gone to each hotel room with mickey and personally appolgized? It sounds to me like given thier current Schdule, midnight and later was not something that was feasible on such short notice. I just can't understand what is so magical about Midnight? even in the 70's and 80's they sometimes weren't open till midnight. Even in the summer.

[DisneyKidds]

http://www.btinternet.com/~tonyrichardson/horse.gif

[Bob O]

wdhatter-Employee's having to work extra hours is part of everyday life in the real world and while they may not like it, so be it. Several times a week when it is slow and almost daily when its busy i work longer hours without any notice at all so i have no sympathy for anybody who may have to work extra hours on any given day. When i have to work extra im not asked at all and no concern is shown in the least so why that argument may be copmpelling to some its not to me. I would think people who work in Rest/Stores/general laborer's could easily work in both parks and they could find employee's to run attractions if they wanted to. And with a stagnant economy i would bet alot of people would like to make a little extra money as their will be less hours once summer is done and things slow down.
Yoho I dont think einser should gone to every room(it might have been a nice gesture, escpecially if he had visited with dvc Landbaron LOL). Midnight is magical because i was at the parks in the past at midnight as part of normal daily hours and always had a great time when the parks were open later at night. When you left you truely knew you got your money's worth and werent being paraded out of the park early so they could re-open it and let in more paying guests or being flushed out into downtown disney or a mintiaure golf course as the expense of visiting the parks.
Its not sour grapes as i wasnt at the parks and didnt suffer anything as a result of what took place but believe while disney did do alot to make up for a probelm that wasnt there fault i believe they could have done more and is just what i percieve to be the midset of the current regime when it comes to the guests experience, they are content not too excedd expectations.

[Eeyore2U]

Originally posted by DisneyKidds
http://www.btinternet.com/~tonyrichardson/horse.gif

DK,

Did you see my tag?????

;)

[YoHo]

See Bob, the way I see it, sure they could have done more. Walt COULD have done more too.
They exceeded guest expectations, because they exceeded what the Corporate Heads in Burbank would have liked. They exceeded expectations, because the proceeded in a Walt like way in the face of Burbank's ever present Sharp pencil. They exceeded despite their limitations.

It's a PR triumph for everyone at the WDW resort.

All that being said I cannot wait forMr. Landbaron's report, because he tends to disagree with these kind of things and has an explination that I simply never would have thought of.

[Bob O]

Yoho Im sure they exceeded some guests expectations and didnt exceed others and i agree that DVC should have a different take on it than we will and a first hand one at that.
Maybe the parks are slower now then when i used to go in the summer, but in years past when i went in the summer it was very busy and the closing of Epcot would have increased the wait times and business of the other parks greatly. And thats why i always loved EE and late closings as it gave you a chance to get away from the masses of humanity.

[wdhatter]

Bob, no offense, but you just don't know. Not everyone in this world who is an hourly worker is made to work extra hours at a last minute notice. Salary workers....yes. Hourly...no. If they are asked to stay, they are asked and not usually forced to stay. Disney pretty much forces you to stay.

Also, just because you are trained in an attraction in one park doesn't mean you can run an attraction in another park. At Disney that is a HUGE safety NO-NO.

I know I'm probably sounding rude. I'm not meaning to be. But I just think that there are too many factors that outweigh that the parks needed to be open until midnight. On such short notice, you are expecting too much considering the MANY variable factors involved.

I'm done and not going to add anymore to this subject. :D

[manning]

If Disney is exceeding expectation, Why has attendance been falling prior to 9/11??

[Eeyore2U]

I think a tanking economy has more to do with decreasing attendance then anything else. Can you say Enron, Adelphia, WorldCom and AOL TimeWarner.

[JeffH]

Attendance was falling because of 2 reasons:
The slowing economy, which effected EVERYTHING/EVERYWHERE
and
The fact that the attendance figures that people compare 2001 against where those posted during 1999-2000 during the highly successful Millenium Celebration. There were no special promotions in 2001...even if the economy hadn't gone sour, the attendance figures could never have matched those of the new Millenium.

[Bob O]

wdhatter In the real world, maybe not wdw, people who work hourly are asked or as part of their contracts if unionized required to work extra hours if needed, its part of life and you deal with it. Everyone in the world, no ,but a majority i would easily say yes. The factors you mentioned IMHO just sound like excuses for not doing something or are we unable to think on our feet anymore and overcome minor problems. The main factor was money and disney's unwillingness to put the guests first!!! And this explains most of their actions lately.
Didnt Walts birthday start right after the Millenuim party ended?? Disney always has some type of hyped promotion that lasts about 18 months it seems.

[ralphd]

Originally posted by Bob O
Sounds to me like disney saved money by sending most of their employees home who worked at epcot..

It was announced on the news in Orlando that all Epcot employees received a full days pay. So there was a cost for Disney, not a savings.

ralphd:) :) :) :) :)

[JeffH]

"The main factor was money and disney's unwillingness to put the guests first!!! And this explains most of their actions lately. "

The facts brought up in this discussion support the conclusion that Disney went WAY out of their way to put the guest 1st, but no matter what facts are brought up you'll never realize that. Then you try to despute the facts, no matter how correct they are to try as hard as you can to try make Disney out to be the bad guy here even though there was a FIRE (disaster) on the property, which any other company would have simply closed down and addressed the problem. I'm sure that Disney lost a lot of money on this.

"Didnt Walts birthday start right after the Millenuim party ended??"

NO it didn't, not even if you say it did. The Millenium celebration ended (ironically) on day 1 of the true beginning of the Millenium, Jan 1, 2001 (which began 18 months earlier on Oct 1, 1999). Walt's Birthday celebration didn't begin until October 1st, 2001 (and which I think will go 18 months) .

"Disney always has some type of hyped promotion that lasts about 18 months it seems."

Which is a good thing...not a gimmick. We enjoy going to WDW during special events, whether it is the Flower and Garden Festival, Food and Wine, Christmas, Halloween, Star Wars days, Soaps Weekend, Donald's birthday, Mickey's birthday, Goofy's birthday, Groundhog day, Meat day, Turd day...it doesn't matter it only adds to the party/fun/enjoyment.

[wdhatter]

Thanks JeffH.

I'm now tired of this subject.

[C.Ann]

Yes - they did enough..

[doombuggy]

I agree w/jeffh and wdhatter. I work at one of the sotre and when we had to close early due to snow last winter, I was paid for my entire shift, even though I did not work the entire shift.
I have been going to WDW since 1974 and have never been disapointed in a trip. I always feel that I get what I pay for and don't feel I am owed something. Many people are afraid to fly (not me, I flew to FLA on Sept 25, 2001), which is a result of last Sepember's events (don't forget the Pentagon or PA) and the bad economy. People are going by car, bus and train. Theya re going b/c they want to. Inevatably, somebody was probably disappointed.
You have a 100% right to your opinion, regardless. I am sorry that you feel the way you do. :earsgirl:

[mktiggerman]

Originally posted by Bob O
Last week Epcot was closed due to a fire that wasnt the fault of wdw. Due to the fire from the reports i have read wdw kept the other parks open for 1 hr extra. Do you think that was enough???
I know wdw wasnt obligated to do anything but i think all the parks shoul;d have been opended till at least midnight to compensate the guests due to Epcot being closed. The employee's could have been shuffled around to make up for this and it would have shwon that wdw truely values their guests IMHO.

they did all they could, within the WDW labor contract. It states that WDW CM's can only be kept 2 hours after their shift ends, in emergency situations only.

So keeping the park open an extra hour would be the most they could do, because it would require an hour after plark close to make sure everything is... well, closed.

They could make the attempt, but with how low morale is w/ most WDW CM's, I feel that very few would be willing to stay after, regardless of the extra pay.

I feel that there is more they could have done, aside from open the parks later, but given the fact that this has never happened before, and they more than likely weren't expecting anything like this to happen, they did a bang up job.

[mktiggerman]

Originally posted by Bob O
Sounds to me like disney saved money by sending most of their employees home who worked at epcot.

nope.. with less than 24 hours notice, the CM's are going to be getting paid. The contract states that w/ less than 24 hours notice of a shift change (9/11 was the most widespread test of this policy at WDW) a CM must either be paid, or given an alternative assignment to "earn their keep." Most were probably just paid to stay home.

[mktiggerman]

Originally posted by Bob O
wdhatter-Employee's having to work extra hours is part of everyday life in the real world and while they may not like it, so be it. Several times a week when it is slow and almost daily when its busy i work longer hours without any notice at all so i have no sympathy for anybody who may have to work extra hours on any given day. When i have to work extra im not asked at all and no concern is shown in the least so why that argument may be copmpelling to some its not to me.

alright then... in the "fake world" of WDW, we have a contract which WDW must abide by... which states 24 hours notice for any shift change... and in emergency situations we can be forced to extend. Maybe WDW CM's are spoiled, or maybe you're getting less than you deserve by your boss.

[mktiggerman]

Originally posted by Bob O
wdhatter In the real world, maybe not wdw, people who work hourly are asked or as part of their contracts if unionized required to work extra hours if needed, its part of life and you deal with it.


bob o...

it has taken every ounce of restraint in my body to keep any of my replies to your nonsense posts from turning ugly...

and I've been doing a bang up job thus far.

However... remember... to more than 50,000 people, WDW is a job. It is the real world to a lot of us. So don't call it otherwise. WDW is a highly unionized environment, w/ more than 30,000 of us working under the same contract. Maybe we got a better contract than you. Ours leaves us w/ the possibility of being kept an extra 2 hours after our shift, and no more. Maybe rather than bashing the WDW labor contract, you should work on making yours as "nice" as ours.

Originally posted by Bob O
The main factor was money and disney's unwillingness to put the guests first!!! And this explains most of their actions lately.

if you're going to start a thread about the Epcot fire, and Disney's response, don't bring up things from the past. IMO, it makes you sound childish and bitter.

If you're going to start a "Disney is going down the Tubes" thread, do that, and don't try to mask it as something else

[DaveO]

mktiggerman,

Thanks for some usefull REAL info.

Dave O.

[YoHo]

Thanks mktiggerman. It would seem that Walt Disney World did an amayzing Job with this and While I would like to here it, we don't much need input from Landbaron, because there's not much left to be said.

All employees were payed a full days wage
park hours were extended to the extent that the Employee contract would allow. shows were added and epcot entertainment shuffled to the other parks.

I say way to go Disney!

[DVC-Landbaron]

and While I would like to here it, we don't much need input from Landbaron, because there's not much left to be said.HEY!!! How did I get drug into this!?!?! I haven't even posted on this thread... until now!! ;)

BTW, Disney did just fine that day. I WAS THERE!!!

[YoHo]

Landbaron, we were waiting with baited breath for your opinion, but so many people have given so much positive evidence, that your very important opinion became in many ways moot.

[Jasmine13]

I have 2 people to address, and then I am done with this nonsence.

1st, great posts Tiggerman, and fine use of restraint!

2nd, BobO...were you there? did it affect you personally? No? Well then what are you complaining about?

[Bob O]

If all the employee's were paid it made no sense at all to just have them stay home and not have them work somewhere on the grounds, be it at Epcot or somewhere else on there property.
Well if Jeffh is going to call this a disaster than a disaster would require a emergency response, and part of that response would be too extend the hours of all the parks beyond the 2hr contract limit!!
The facts show disney made a good faith attempt to make up for a problem they couldnt control, but that they went way out of their way NO!!!!!
I wasnt sure when the promotions started/ended thats why i asked Didint Walts birthday start after the other promo, i wasnt certain of the start/end dates. And what is Turd day??? I havent seen any promo for that yet???
Jasmine13 if you read the post your question would be answered!!!
mktiggerman since Jeffh called the fire a disaster woudlnt the company have been able to claim a emergency response was needed to respond to this??? And in the real world people cant be held to the restriction of only being allowed to work 2 hrs if the job requires more than that. If i wanted to start a post about disney going down the tubes i would have and even though i disagree with some points you have made i wont resort to belittling you or your comments!! I have found your comments informative and enlightening and its bad that morale is low. Everybody's job is different but some jobs you dont have the ability to stop working because of a time clock or union contract language.

[ralphd]

Great response mktiggerman. The CM's do an outstanding job of representing themselves and Disney each and every day.
We have never had an unpleasant experience at WDW. Sure there have been CM's who were rushed or tired at times, but that is to be expected. Generally the CM's have gone out of their way to answer a question or to help us.
We were in WDW on 9/11 and were impressed with the way Disney and the CM's handled the situation.
We arrived at WDW the day of the Epcot power loss and did not hear any real complaints in the way Disney and the CM's handled that problem.
If you have nothing better to do than try to find fault with something, go ahead and bum yourself out.

ralphd:) :) :) :) :)

[mickey4ver]

turd day....wouldn't that be the day before Friday??;)

[rasvar]

BobO, what part of the "real world" is a labor contract?? That is about as real as it gets. The 2 hours mandatory is for emergency situations if I understand what has been stated. Plus, I don't know if you have ever tried to mobilize and schedule work hours for thousands of people. You can't just take person A, who works at Spaceship Earth and throw him/her into running Space Mountain. You can take some food and beverage and transfer; but not all. Each restuarant is different. The attractions are harder to staff. Plus, CM's are "employees" not "slaves." Just because something unexpected happens, they may not be able to change their plans. You have to start paying folks a higher wage to expect "on-call" service. This was an unexpected incident. Disney did the best job they could. I am also willing to bet that there were plenty of CM's who did extend beyond what was expected to help. These folks probably got little more then an atta-boy and a few extra bucks in the check. This was one of those "freak" occurences. Now they can go back and look at what happened and see if adjustments need to be made. It seems, to me, they di as much as they could.

[eeyore0062]

Originally posted by Jasmine 13 2nd, BobO...were you there? did it affect you personally? No? Well then what are you complaining about?

I don't think she was asking you a question, Bob O. She was simply stating that since you weren't obviously there (yes, I have read the entire thread), then why are you complaining? It didn't affect you.


originally posted by Bob O that response would be too extend the hours of all the parks beyond the 2hr contract limit!!

Yes, and they did extend 2 hours, as MKTiggerman so accurately described.

originally posted by MKTiggerman So keeping the park open an extra hour would be the most they could do, because it would require an hour after park close to make sure everything is... well, closed.

That explains it... it doesn't go beyond a 2 hour limit, but only UP TO a 2 hour limit, and ONLY in emergency situations.

Since the fire wasn't discovered until after midnight, that only gave WDW officials about 6-8 hours to decide and prepare for alternatives. Given that small amount of time, I think that the guests were adequately, if not extrodinarily, compensated.

[mktiggerman]

Hey BobO,

here's an idea:

Why don't you write a letter to WDW Guest Communications about how you feel. The way they've been lately, you may get something out of it other than an apology...


thanks to everyone else for supporting me... it takes a LOT to pull me out of the CM forums, but this definitely did it.

[WDWHound]

For an unexpected circumstance that was mostly beyond their control, yes, it sounds like they did enough.

[Bob O]

mktiggerman-If i had been at wdw on the date the fire took place and thought my vacation was adversely affected i would consider writing a letter but i wouldnt write a letter trying to scam the company when i wasnt affected by what occurred.
eeyore0062-Well since someone on this post mentioned that the incident was a disaster then it should have been/could have considered a emergency which would have allowed the company to the company to have the workers work longer than the 2hr limit in the contract.
rasvar-Im sure most CM 's went above and beyond the call of duty and my comments are directed toward upper management and not the CM who makes the experience magical. I also havent had ANY negative dealings at all with the CM's who do a great job but do believe that managment has alot less concern for the guest experience than in the past and look at the theme parks as a cash cow to milk for all the lousy business decisions made by einser and his lackies. Ride operators cant be interchanged as easily or at all as compared to store employee's as example but if management felt this was a emergency and went to the union things can be worked out if they wanted it to be.
And real world in regards to life and death situations as in the miners who almost died while at work and the hundreds of thousands of people who put their life on the line everyday in this country, be it the military/fireman/nurses etc.

[mktiggerman]

Originally posted by Bob O
mktiggerman-If i had been at wdw on the date the fire took place and thought my vacation was adversely affected i would consider writing a letter but i wouldnt write a letter trying to scam the company when i wasnt affected by what occurred.

I didn't tell you to scam them. I said, send them a letter stating how you feel... there is nothing wrong with that... in fact, you may get more than a reply out of it... you may get another free vacation planning video (that was part of an inside joke, which I was referring to in the previous post... i'll be more clear next time)


Originally posted by Bob O
eeyore0062-Well since someone on this post mentioned that the incident was a disaster then it should have been/could have considered a emergency which would have allowed the company to the company to have the

actually, you misread what I posted. I said that management could only exercise the 2 hour extension during an emergency, and anything after 2 hours would be voluntary. Please re-read it.


Originally posted by Bob O
rasvar-Im sure most CM 's went above and beyond the call of duty and my comments are directed toward upper management and not the CM who makes the experience magical. I also havent had ANY negative dealings at all with the CM's who do a great job but do believe that managment has alot less concern for the guest experience than in the past and look at the theme parks as a cash cow to milk for all the lousy business decisions made by einser and his lackies. Ride operators cant be interchanged as easily or at all as compared to store employee's as example but if management felt this was a emergency and went to the union things can be worked out if they wanted it to be.

I'm sure they did too.. but however, short of an apology, and a refund, Disney was not obligated in any way to do anything else to rectify what happened at Epcot. They did what they did, and for no other reason than to avoid bad press. There I said it.


Originally posted by Bob O
And real world in regards to life and death situations as in the miners who almost died while at work and the hundreds of thousands of people who put their life on the line everyday in this country, be it the military/fireman/nurses etc.

I can see the validity of this statement, but comparing WDW, which isn't a national resource, to these other things, seems very unfair. This is a Disney discussion board, not a national emergency forum... so how can this relate to the story. If Disney did nothing to rectify closing epcot, no one would die or be injured. No one.

[Bob O]

mktiggerman- Somebody else made the reference to this being a disaster and not you. I never said disney was obligated to do anything. Legally speaking they didnt have to do anything, but for pr purposes/morally they felt they had to do something for their guests and the thrust of the post was did they offer enough to the guests who were at the parks. Well if someone was unaware of Epcot's closure and they died enroute(major hypothetical situation to be sure) you know some lawyer somewhere would file a suit blaming disney so if could be a life and death situation.(major stretch to be certain but i have no legit reponse. Obviously we have different viewpoints on the matter but it is always good to have a discussion on any issue!!

[epcotfan]

Originally posted by Bob O
The employee's could have been shuffled around to make up for this and it would have shwon that wdw truely values their guests IMHO.

Not necessarily. I think it would be a complete disaster moving a whole parks worth of employees around. It would probably cause more confusion that do good. Its nice an all to say yeah keep the parks open until midnight but what about the employees? That would be a schedule nightmare. Especially for those that absolutely cannot stay that long (those with kids, other jobs, etc...)

[mattjs]

Hate to break up a good fight but....

So far every single person I've seen post on this subject in various threads around the various message boards, who was actually there on the day in question, has stated that Disney was very gracious and did more than enough to make up for any inconvenience.

If you can't produce even one person who was there and feels that they were slighted in some way by Disney, then where are ya goin with this?

Is your argument then that all those people who were there are just too foolish to know what's good for them and BobO will inform them when they are to be satisfied and unsatisfied?

Produce a disgruntled guest or maybe just let it go.

[Bob O]

epcotfan-Any company has contingency plans to move employee's around to handle any type of situation. Might it have been confusing yes, but you deal with it. And the empoyees would just have to deal with it. I do so at my job all the time and they could do so also.
thedscoop i said that i was stretching things to the absurd as i had no legit response. But i am on vacation so i hope to imbibe in some Jeam Beam but not ruin my liver in the process.
mattjs Im sure if i scoured the web i could find some unhappy person somewhere but my intent was to throw the topic out for discussion and it will die its natural death as a topic.

[YoHo]

Heck Bob, not even Landbaron is on your side here. I think it's time to let the thread die. IT was a shining Disney moment, not an example of Greed and corruption.

[mktiggerman]

Originally posted by Bob O
mktiggerman- Somebody else made the reference to this being a disaster and not you. I never said disney was obligated to do anything. Legally speaking they didnt have to do anything, but for pr purposes/morally they felt they had to do something for their guests and the thrust of the post was did they offer enough to the guests who were at the parks. Well if someone was unaware of Epcot's closure and they died enroute(major hypothetical situation to be sure) you know some lawyer somewhere would file a suit blaming disney so if could be a life and death situation.(major stretch to be certain but i have no legit reponse. Obviously we have different viewpoints on the matter but it is always good to have a discussion on any issue!!


They did enough, and you are the only person who seems to disagree with mine (and apparently everyone elses) opinion on the matter. Disney did what they could have with the little time they had to plan. If all 4 parks had been closed, I can assure you they would have done more, since they had more cast to send to the resorts across WDW (like 9/11), but being that Epcot was the park that closed (which, BTW- Epcot has the least number of CM's of the 4 parks). The only cast they could've sent to the other locations were the Futureworld cast, since the WS Cast has Visas prohibiting them from working outside their location. So they had just under half the cast at Epcot that could be used, then factor in potential call-ins, and people who were off, I wouldn't be surprised if they had less than 500 CM's to pull from. Even though 500 may sound like a lot, remember, it takes more people to run a WDW attraction than a small company.

A for the liability, if someone died enroute to Epcot, they would have died whether the park was open or closed, thus dismissing any liability Disney may have had (in regard to the park being open/closed... if Disney was responsible for the death under a different circumstance -ie car accident - then they could be held liable).

[epcotfan]

Originally posted by Bob O
epcotfan-Any company has contingency plans to move employee's around to handle any type of situation. Might it have been confusing yes, but you deal with it. And the empoyees would just have to deal with it. I do so at my job all the time and they could do so also.

That entirely depends on how many staff are cross trained for certain attractions, fast food restaurants, etc... I could see being easily swapped generic jobs like ticket taking. (Same practice at every park) However for some attractions not everyone is going to be familiar with ride procedures. Some jobs require specific training for each location. I also don't see any point to moving all the employees around for one day only. Different if the park was to be shut down for longer. Not worth the scheduling and disorganization for one day.

[Bob O]

So then use the 500 and utilize them to the fullest to keep as many rests./attractions running as possible, way too many excuses of why things cant be done, or have we lost the can-do american spirit that has made this a great country???
I cant see how having a fire on your property forcing a park to get closed which gets nationwide attention is a shining moment for any company. The only thing that got attention in my neck of the woods was the fire and not the response. So would a even greater shining moment be having 2 parks closed by fires???(lol)

[DVC-Landbaron]

IT was a shining Disney moment, not an example of Greed and corruption.Hmmm. I almost missed this one. Mr. YoHo, not quite. While I do agree it is not an example of greed and corruption, I also do not think it was a “shining moment”! They did what I would have minimally expected. They didn’t exceed my expectations at all. But they didn’t disappoint either. They took the safe, corporate route. Give them a little, spin it and tomorrow it will all go away. It was the comfortable answer for a company like Disney. As Mr. Head pointed out it was indeed an opportunity for the company to shine! They took a pass at that greatness and played it safe instead. How Ei$nerish!!!

[minnie56]

I am only speaking from a personal perspective...but we recently had an 'incident' at WDW and I am most impressed by the manner in which Disney settled our dispute.It kind of 'restored' my faith in a major corporation!!
They went above and beyond to take car of us!:D

[mktiggerman]

Originally posted by Bob O
So then use the 500 and utilize them to the fullest to keep as many rests./attractions running as possible, way too many excuses of why things cant be done, or have we lost the can-do american spirit that has made this a great country???
I cant see how having a fire on your property forcing a park to get closed which gets nationwide attention is a shining moment for any company. The only thing that got attention in my neck of the woods was the fire and not the response. So would a even greater shining moment be having 2 parks closed by fires???(lol)

when you run, or work for a company w/ over 100,000 employees, I'll listen to your arguments. Till then, i'm out of this one

[Bob O]

Im not critizing the CM's and i havent seen anybody on this thread complain about the job they did. Ive only had great treatment form the CM's. My comments are directed toward management and it would be naive to think that eisner wasnt alerted that a fire had taken place and wasnt involved somehow in the decison to offer what they did and why the offer wasnt bad, they could have done more if they cared too. And i believe years ago under different managment they would have and if the work rules are so out of whack to prevent it that is the companies fault for agreein to the work rule's in the first place.
I work for a government agency that has far less than 100,00 emplyoee's. But from the latest report on the disney company its not shown that current managment has any idea what they are doing either. Be it from the upcoming pooh lawsuit or the katzenberg debacle/ovitz firing/internet portal debacle/abc purchse etc there is a long list of reasons to doubt current mangaments ability to run the company. And as a stockholder i have ever right to comment when my share price goes south!!!

[DVC-Landbaron]

Frankly, I'm about certain that WDW could not have done enough to satisfy you or bobo.Do you lie awake at night and think up those cute titles or do they just roll off your keyboard in an off hand way? Bobo!?!? Really Scoop. It’s beneath you!

And if you’d take the time to actually read my posts within this thread instead of skimming for seemingly easily targeted quotes you would have discovered I was quite satisfied with Disney’s response. What I objected to was YoHo assumption that it was, “…a shining Disney moment”. I disagreed. They did what they had to do. What I expected them to do. Nothing more. (I don’t even know if there is anything more that could have been done.)

Please read the post before you respond. Especially if you’re going to do it with a knee jerk reaction.

:confused:

ps: I noticed that I really just regurgitated what Mr. Head said way back on page one or two. Why not the huge reaction then? Or was it the way I shove a noun next to a verb that upsets you so? :confused:

[DVC-Landbaron]

Baron, WDW's response that day was brilliant from both the numerous guests and CMs I've talked to about that day.Well, maybe you should talk to some guests as well! Like the one family in our party that didn’t know EPCOT was closed (AND SHE”S STAYING AT OLD KEY WEST!!!) until she was already in that rather unruly line of cars, waiting to… ahhh… be turned away!!!

You know how I found out about it? In Old Key West, right next to Olivia’s, by the phones, waiting for my lunch date with Mr. Show, ON THESE BOARDS!!! I’m in my room all morning long, and not a word! It happened at three in the morning. The decision was made not to open well before nine o’clock. But here it is at 11:30; me staying on the grounds and I have to find out from the Rumors Board!! WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE!!!!!

But the next day they were very, very efficient in telling us it was opened again (come back and spend). The entire WDW got a message on their phones telling them (us) as much. You’d think, just for a moment, that they would have placed a greater emphasis on the cancellation rather than the re-opening. But, that’s just my un-Ei$nerish opinion!!

My mother and father were staying at the Beach Club Villas, you know the one where the power was out, and she never got a call either. Never so much as an I'm sorry, for the clocks going out!!

Shining!?!? Fair, acceptable, what they had to do. But not "shining"!!!

now of course, if you also threaten to one day eat my liver with a spoon, well, I shall fear you too...Awe heck!! If that were all it’d take I would have threatened you a long, long time ago!! ;)

[raidermatt]

If I may step in for a moment (and hopefully not get decapitated in the process)...

It might help if you guys differentiated between CM performance and overall policy. Similar to the "exceeding expectations" post...

Scoop, most of your examples were of CMs doing everything they could, and most probably did.

But from an overall operations standpoint, there were some pretty glaring holes.

Certainly a voicemail and/or flyer under the door could have been put out. And an explanation to the Beach Club guests would have been in order, even if it came a day later.

These are not goofs by the front-line CMs, but they are goofs by WDW operationally. If the structure does not exist to get this kind of basic communication out, that's a problem. If it does exist, but wasn't properly utilized, that's a problem as well. SOMEBODY has to be asking what do we need to do FIRST for our guests, and how do we get it done. The mass voicemail is not that difficult to do, and it wouldn't have taken much to get word to the resorts to print up some quick flyers to slide under doors.

I would consider these to be significant "learning opportunities" should my team have made those omissions.

That's not to say there weren't plenty of examples of CMs providing shining service.

[Walt's Frozen Head]

threaten to one day eat my liver with a spoon Hey, stop making up crap. I never said nothing about no spoon...

-WFH

[Bob O]

Despite Disparaging comments from thedscoop aside i never made negative comments about any CM's or how they handled things, just managements response to things and if more could have been done. And to gather people's thoughts on the issue.

[mktiggerman]

ok, to heck with my silence.


I have 1 more fact to inject into this thread. The electrical fire at Epcot was in no way Disney's fault.

At about 3am, Orlando was cutting off the power it sent to WDW, and the town of Windermere was taking over. However, Orlando never shut it off, and 'BAM!'.... overload and fire.

There was no way to anticipate this.

The first batch of front line Epcot CM's were scheduled into work in less than 4 hours, meaning that in 3 hours, most of them would be on their way to work.


No one in the company, not even Eisner, could have done more, short of violating the contract and expect the potential lawsuit from the Service Trades Council, to have enhanced the experience. Bobo, I'm sorry that you refuse to believe that, but those are the facts. If this hasn't changed your opinion, then you have truly lived up to your name, bobo

[Bob O]

mktiggerman-Where did anybody say the fire was wdw's fault???
I have never said it was their fault and didnt see where anybody else did!!
Now that would have been a true shining moment for the disney company"Eisner bucks Union to enhance the guests experience at wdw" "Eisner fights the union so the vacationer can have a more magical time at wdw" He may have come off as a hero!!
Disney has a large team of lawyers and the fight with the union would have taken a long time to settle while the company would have been praised for trying to do anything they could to make the experince the best possible for their guests. And if morale is low as you say it is then this just would have upset a already disgruntled bunch.
And even though we may disagree i feel no need to disparage you or your name and like hearing your opinions!!

[Eeyore2U]

Now that would have been a true shining moment for the disney company"Eisner bucks Union to enhance the guests experience at wdw" "Eisner fights the union so the vacationer can have a more magical time at wdw" He may have come off as a hero!!

A very novel thought. It's a bit Fantasylandish. I think that in a power struggle, the union is stronger.

[Walt's Frozen Head]

The electrical fire at Epcot was in no way Disney's fault. Actually, I heard a rumor that Eisner and Pressler had snuck back there for a smoke break, and the stock certificates and California Adventure one-day tickets they were using to light their cigars were never properly extinguished...

-WFH

[DVC-Landbaron]

Scoop, where do you get this non-sense!! Do you just make it up or is there someone out there that is pulling your chain?Apparently, the idea of a phone call to each room was tossed around but two main problems with that: First, you'd probably be disturbing alot of guests early in the morning who were not going to Epcot or even any park (remember WDW knows alot about guests but doesn't know each park they will head to in the morning) Scoop!! Please!!! I think I remember you saying that you’ve stayed on the grounds before. There’s hardly a day that goes by that “Management” doesn’t send us a message of some sort or another. Whether it’s to pick up packages or hawking the newest fishing excursion it’s a daily thing. And remember scoop, how the phone doesn’t ring? It just sits there, as silent as the night. One minute the message light is off and the next moment it’s on. That’s the way they did it to tell us that EPCOT was re-opened. How cone they couldn’t do it in the first place?

Second, such an effort would have taken a huge amount of manpower. With a finite number of workers even at WDW, that would have disportionately taken workers away from other more immediate problems like increased staffing at the remaining parks.And if they would have brought in just ONE of the workers they told to stay home they could have had it covered. Just ONE!!! He/she would have spent an hour or two calling the resorts and giving them instructions that a ‘silent’ message be broadcast to all guests, simply stating that EPCOT would be closed for the day. JUST ONE GUY!!!!

Come on, Scoop, who’s pulling your leg with this BS?!?!? Bet he’s having a real good laugh!! I just hope it ain’t the same guy that told you the end was near for Ei$ner!! ;)

[DVC-Landbaron]

Whatever, Jeff, I would prefer the LandBaron moniker, or simply jerk. There’s a certain anonymity that we ALL enjoy on the boards. Save the familiar stuff for PMs or in person. Did it ever occur to you why AV is so mysterious or why Mr. Head became frozen? Besides, there are too many Jeff’s to keep track of! ;)go on with your cynical moaning ways.I will go on with the truth!! I suggest you do the same.You're like that know it all in school who always had a smart-a answer.Again, if the truth sounds like a smart-answer, so be it!!There is no point in discussing or debating with you because no matter what someone says...the Baron always knows better.Just telling the truth, my good man!I take the time to make some calls and send some emails in the hope of getting some more info to share and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well. That’s nice. But I think you may have forgotten that I WAS THERE!!!! and I was there for a week and a half after the episode. I talked to hundreds of CMs!!! I had lunch with one while the thing was going on and he agreed 100%, that a ‘silent’ message should have been sent!! Talk about someone on his high horse!! How can you breath without an oxygen tank!! Come on down with the rest of us!!Frankly, I think the track record of my friend’s info has been as good as many peoples. And quite frankly when you (or he tells you) that they feared waking people up… that doesn’t smack of misinformation, it smacks of non-information!! Maybe you ought to get another source.

[mktiggerman]

Originally posted by Bob O
mktiggerman-Where did anybody say the fire was wdw's fault???

nobody, but the way you carried on , it made it seem like WDW had lots and lots of time to plan this. I just injected some more fact into this.. nothing more

[Bob O]

What is done is done, my hope is that wdw management has learned from this and the next time something unexpected comes up similiar to this and they alert all the guests in the manner DVC mentioned. It seems they were more than willing to let everyone know when Epcot was opended but less willing to do so when it was closed.
If they had wanted to contact every room they could have. Even with a finite amount of employee's it doesnt take much to print out a form letter and put it under every door.
Walts frozen head-They also could have been using the plans for BK to light their cigars!!!

[eeyore0062]

Seems to me that they had a little more time in which to let guests know that the park had reopened. As it was, they didn't decide not to open Epcot until around 6 am, and that only gave them 3 hours. The fact that they put in on the TV's and had CM's notifying people, in my estimation, was enough.

I am truly sorry for those who were inconvenienced, but I think that the measures that WDW management took to turn it into a positive were more than enough. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and that it what WDW did.

[DVC-Landbaron]

Eeyore0062

As it was, they didn't decide not to open Epcot until around 6 am, and that only gave them 3 hours.Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. I stayed in my room until roughly 11:30. I then went to Olivia’s to meet Mr. Show for lunch. He is a CM. I had a couple of minutes to kill and being fairly addicted to this board I logged on. It was the thread at the top of the page. When I saw the title I knew some nefarious somebody was pulling our collective leg. I read the first few posts and saw it was not a joke and something weird was really going on! But how can that be, I wondered. I’m here!! How is that someone NOT here could have this news quicker than I had it? I read further and finally believed it. I signed off and made calls to my room and the rooms of the others who were staying there, including my parents who was staying at the Beach Club Villas and had no power and no explanation as to why! I would later find out that the only one that did know the situation was one other family that was stuck in traffic trying to get to EPCOT. They have Annual passes so the one-day deal really didn’t do them any good.

Shortly thereafter Mr. Show, who lives on the property and works on the property arrived. It is now closer to twelve o’clock and he didn’t know anything about it either!!!

Sorry, Eeyore0062!! Disney dropped the ball as far as the notifications go. There’s no doubt in my mind on that one!!!

[raidermatt]

...from what I have been told, the final decision to close Epcot was not made until between 5 and 6 am in order to see if things could be fixed by then. When it became absolutely clear that they would need the entire day, WDW went to work as fast as possible to notify guests.

Don't get me wrong, I don't see this as a complete failure. However, I've been through quite a few operations crisis's, and getting this communication out was not impossible.

WDW is on some sort of voicemail system, and that system should have the capability to leave a mass voicemail for all guests, at least at the resort level.

An "under the door" flyer could have been drafted fairly quickly. It would just need to be approved and emailed to each resort for immediate printing and distribution.

These are also things that could have been prepared prior to 6am, and just put in a holding pattern until the decision was made. Sure, this was in the wee hours of the morning, but that's why certain folks carry pagers and cell phones.

But again, this is not to say this was a mass screw-up by WDW. Its just something that could have been done better, and should be done better next time.

(Of course, it has crossed my mind that communication was intentionally witheld out of a concern that guests first thoughts would go to terrorism. Why worry all of your guests when probably 85-90% of them weren't going to go near Epcot that day anyway... Not sure I'd agree with this approach, but it is a legitimate possibility.)