Do You think DISNEY has gone down hlll the last few years?

[Planogirl]

*
Yeah, I like to pack my meals such as sandwiches, yogurt and fruit. I can't believe the prices went up!! UGH!

I travel light usually so I can't do that. However we don't eat all that much and we keep it simple. I don't mind fountain water either.

 

[Suellen]

I'm a mean mommy ~ I made my 5 year old carry a back pack in july and we filled it with bottled water. nice huh? she wanted to buy and carry the stupid thing.... it should as least have something in it!! So she would carry two aqua pods for the girls, one regular sized water for me and a bottle of soda for dh. security probably got a kick out of her having to have a bag search while dh and i carried nothing.

i do refill the bottles with fountain water though.

 

[brunette8706]

Hey Girls!

I have to go to BED!!! LOL! Way past my bedtime.

Catch ya'll tomorrow I hope.

Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!

Night!

Brunette

 

[Glenn]

After reading this thread over several days I see its degenerated to a handfull of people going back at each other but i will still put my 2c in. My first visit was in 1986, Howard Johnson on hotel row by DTD. It wasnt cheap & only 2 parks but afterwards I thought expensive but what a value. I dont feel the value is anywhere the same, Lots of little cut backs, lower quality, much higher prices. Oh by the way free dining isnt free, you pay rack prices to get it.
Merchandise is expensive, boring & mundane. Just looking at all the neat stuff was part of the fun. Main St. was actually a main st. Now its just 1 long store. I dont buy anything at Disney anymore because of this. Just 2 CDs over the last 2 trips.
Food is way down hill. I mean mechanically seperated chicken hot dogs at Casey's & the same high price just how low can you go. Last trip it was cheaper for a bunch of us to take a cab & eat off site for dinner.
Then I hear the old if you dont like it dont go. Well, I had been going ever other yr for a long time. Didnt go this yr, maybe not next.
Im not the only 1, my cousin has 400 pts DVC. Last yr they ate most meals in room or made sandwiches. This yr he rented half his pts because he & the extended family just didnt want to go.
I do agree that disney doesnt care much for the repeat customer but they should kiss their you know what that they had that business after 9/11. I was there 10/01 & most of the folks I talked to were repeating visitors.
Disney is using every excuse in the book to raise prices & give you less & less. They will kill the goose that laid the golden egg if it keeps on. Just my 2c bases on 20+ yrs of visits.

 

[Art 1]

Actually, the world's largest McD's is on Sandlake Rd close to International Drive. It's quite a ways from WDW. We've passed the onsite McDonald's and I was wondering if it was still there too. It always looked nice from the outside.

That dining plan would be so not worth it for us. $92 per day for the two of us? We can eat for far less than that. I like to eat one FS and one QS per day and we do better overall paying out of pocket.

Both of those McD's are still around.

 

[GadgetRick]

Because it's a known fact that Vegas gives food away in order to get you into the casinos. They've been doing this for years - hotel rooms are pretty cheap too, and it's all done in order to get patrons spending lots of cash in the casinos. If you get cheap food and cheap rooms, you have more available cash to spend in the casinos, where most people then lose that money = major profits for the casinos!

Disney and Vegas are different in this respect, Tiger

Sorry, first, the casinos don't do this like they used to--ever since large corporations bought them.

More importantly, Disney is EXACTLY like the casinos. Spend more time in WDW and you'll spend more money there. You're just not throwing the dice (literally) to spend your money. It's the same business model...

 

[Tiger926]

Actually, the world's largest McD's is on Sandlake Rd close to International Drive. It's quite a ways from WDW. We've passed the onsite McDonald's and I was wondering if it was still there too. It always looked nice from the outside.

That dining plan would be so not worth it for us. $92 per day for the two of us? We can eat for far less than that. I like to eat one FS and one QS per day and we do better overall paying out of pocket.

Thanks for the clarification. Don't eat at McDonald's, but remember driving by them both in March...guess I confused myself, as I don't know where the other restaurant is near the Value resorts then?

Sorry, first, the casinos don't do this like they used to--ever since large corporations bought them.

More importantly, Disney is EXACTLY like the casinos. Spend more time in WDW and you'll spend more money there. You're just not throwing the dice (literally) to spend your money. It's the same business model...

I guess the documentary was wrong. LOL! It did discuss how the casinos have changed since the corporations have taken over, but the heavy food discounting, such as buffets for $7.00/pp are still there.

I do see some similarities between Vegas and Disney, but there are differences too. I live where there are a ton of casinos, and so I have friends/family who work at them, and some of the stories they tell about staffing and discounting are similar, but there are many differences between Disney and the casinos as well. The whole comping thing is different from Disney - Disney doesn't give anything away for free. Free Dining is actually free in terms of not being charged for the food portion of the package, but you must pay full price for your rooms. My friends who are comped (they are comped all of the time because they spend so much there), get free food, drinks, hotel rooms and entertainment allof the time. I can't believe the free stuff that some of my friends get - granted it cost them a ton, but psychologically, they think they are being rewarded, and they eat it up, and spend more, so in this case, you make a great case that Free Dining is similar, and I will agree there. Disney doesn't reward anyone for spending so much at Disney though - if they did, us DVCers would be making out like bandits!

Tiger

 

[GadgetRick]

(**

Thanks for posting Tiger!

The prices are RIDICULOUS! But people will pay them I'm sure!

More importantly, some people will actually rationalize the prices...

 

[GadgetRick]

That dining plan would be so not worth it for us. $92 per day for the two of us? We can eat for far less than that. I like to eat one FS and one QS per day and we do better overall paying out of pocket.

Not if you plan on eating on the property and paying Disney prices...

 

[Tiger926]

Not if you plan on eating on the property and paying Disney prices...

You can get a TIW card with AP, or use DVC or AP discounts, and you will save money. We pay out of pocket, eat at least 1 TS meal per day, sometimes 2, a few CS meals, at least 1 snack per day per person (3-4), and we come out for less than the regular Dining Plan, with more TS meals, thanks to our TIW card.

Now, of course, guests have to qualify for this card, but for those of us who do, it works out great.

Regular guests though, depending upon eating habits, can also do better without the DP, if they don't fall into the overeating or overordering trap. The DP by its very nature, encourages overeating and waste, so many guests eat or drink more than they would if paying OOP. This then inflates the value of the plan.

But, since Disney is in charge of setting menu prices, you are right, that it's a difficult cycle to manage, as they will keep raising prices, in order to overvalue the DP. When it first started, you could save 40%, now Disney advertises 20%. Not only that...you get less food, have to pay for tips out of pocket, and the food is of subpar quality. Talk about going downhill...

Tiger

 

[GadgetRick]

I guess the documentary was wrong. LOL! It did discuss how the casinos have changed since the corporations have taken over, but the heavy food discounting, such as buffets for $7.00/pp are still there.

I do see some similarities between Vegas and Disney, but there are differences too. I live where there are a ton of casinos, and so I have friends/family who work at them, and some of the stories they tell about staffing and discounting are similar, but there are many differences between Disney and the casinos as well. The whole comping thing is different from Disney - Disney doesn't give anything away for free. Free Dining is actually free in terms of not being charged for the food portion of the package, but you must pay full price for your rooms. My friends who are comped (they are comped all of the time because they spend so much there), get free food, drinks, hotel rooms and entertainment all of the time. Disney doesn't reward anyone for spending so much at Disney - if they did, us DVCers would be making out like bandits!

Tiger

Don't know the documentary you speak of, however, I've been to Vegas many times (before and after big business took over). I can assure you, they don't discount anything like they used to. There are various things discounted, however--much like the, "free," dining at Disney, etc).

My whole point is, the business model for WDW is exactly the same as it is in Vegas--get people there, keep them from leaving during their stay, they will spend more money on WDW as a whole. That's the whole reason for the DDP to begin with. Ditto with the cheap add-on days to passes and other things. The more time you spend in WDW, the more money you will spend there...period. The more time you spend in Vegas, the more money you will spend there...period.

Yes, people go to Vegas and Disney for two very different reasons but, in the end, the business model is EXACTLY the same.

 

[Tiger926]

Don't know the documentary you speak of, however, I've been to Vegas many times (before and after big business took over). I can assure you, they don't discount anything like they used to. There are various things discounted, however--much like the, "free," dining at Disney, etc).

My whole point is, the business model for WDW is exactly the same as it is in Vegas--get people there, keep them from leaving during their stay, they will spend more money on WDW as a whole. That's the whole reason for the DDP to begin with. Ditto with the cheap add-on days to passes and other things. The more time you spend in WDW, the more money you will spend there...period. The more time you spend in Vegas, the more money you will spend there...period.

Yes, people go to Vegas and Disney for two very different reasons but, in the end, the business model is EXACTLY the same.

It was a travel channel/news documentary, but cannot remember the name. Interesting to see how Vegas has evolved.

I'll give you that the business model has similarities in terms of getting people there to spend money, for sure there are similarities between Vegas and WDW. But, like I said, I have friends and family who are comped thousands of dollars a year in free casino stuff. Sometimes, they are also comped to go out of town to other casinos - how is Disney similar in this respect?

Tiger

 

[ntsammy5]

OMG! And they stopped serving Harp in the UK! What next?

 

[flicx]

After reading this thread over several days I see its degenerated to a handfull of people going back at each other but i will still put my 2c in. My first visit was in 1986, Howard Johnson on hotel row by DTD. It wasnt cheap & only 2 parks but afterwards I thought expensive but what a value. I dont feel the value is anywhere the same, Lots of little cut backs, lower quality, much higher prices. Oh by the way free dining isnt free, you pay rack prices to get it.
Merchandise is expensive, boring & mundane. Just looking at all the neat stuff was part of the fun. Main St. was actually a main st. Now its just 1 long store. I dont buy anything at Disney anymore because of this. Just 2 CDs over the last 2 trips.
Food is way down hill. I mean mechanically seperated chicken hot dogs at Casey's & the same high price just how low can you go. Last trip it was cheaper for a bunch of us to take a cab & eat off site for dinner.
Then I hear the old if you dont like it dont go. Well, I had been going ever other yr for a long time. Didnt go this yr, maybe not next.
Im not the only 1, my cousin has 400 pts DVC. Last yr they ate most meals in room or made sandwiches. This yr he rented half his pts because he & the extended family just didnt want to go.
I do agree that disney doesnt care much for the repeat customer but they should kiss their you know what that they had that business after 9/11. I was there 10/01 & most of the folks I talked to were repeating visitors.
Disney is using every excuse in the book to raise prices & give you less & less. They will kill the goose that laid the golden egg if it keeps on. Just my 2c bases on 20+ yrs of visits.

Good post here you hit alot of the problems many of us are finding with disney now! I also read on other posts that they are closing fast pass machines down and trams from the parking lot down on certain days.I think here are two more examples of the cutbacks having an effect on everyday things guests are used to.

 

[flicx]

McDonald's and Disney ended their multi-year contract within the whole company, so it wasn't just to get rid of the Downtown Disney restaurant. They had to get rid of all McDonald's foods on property (AK and Epcot also sold products), as well as no more merchandise/movie/food tie-ins at the restaurants such as: free glasses or toys with Happy Meals.

Tiger

This must not be totally accurate tiger if the one poster is right.Apparently the McDonalds by the value resorts is still there.I really think the downtown disney closure is about taking out a value place to eat now!The cheaper buffets are harder to find in vegas now too.You have to go off the main strip to find them,however even the ones on the strip are $10.00 less than disney.They are quite frankly for the most part way better too!

 

[Tiger926]

This must not be totally accurate tiger if the one poster is right.Apparently the McDonalds by the value resorts is still there.I really think the downtown disney closure is about taking out a value place to eat now!The cheaper buffets are harder to find in vegas now too.You have to go off the main strip to find them,however even the ones on the strip are $10.00 less than disney.They are quite frankly for the most part way better too!

No, it's correct. I'll find you the articles - they were in NY Times and a bunch of other papers. It was also all over these boards as well. If I remember correctly, they said they would keep a few open (the one near the Value resorts perhaps fits this - franchise issues, perhaps?) on a case by case basis. I think there are several issues at play for this decision: Disney wanting to offer healthier foods in the parks, and the ending of their corporate marketing relationship. So, it was probably not that difficult, especially since the partnership was over 10 years old, if I remember correctly.

Here are some articles for you:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/zap-disneymcdonaldsendhappymeals,0,3643009.story

http://www.apepenpublishing.com/Fast_Food_Dilemma_at_Disneys_Theme_Parks_.html

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/02/mcdonalds-at-downtown-disney-is-closing/

When hubby asked about the absence of McFlurry, the CM supervisor who was in attendance, told us that the parks wouldn't be carrying any McDonald's food products any longer as they didn't renew their contract. Again, not sure how the other Value Resort restaurant fits into this (the other one is located off of Disney property anyway)?

Tiger

 

[brunette8706]

Good post here you hit alot of the problems many of us are finding with disney now! I also read on other posts that they are closing fast pass machines down and trams from the parking lot down on certain days.I think here are two more examples of the cutbacks having an effect on everyday things guests are used to.

*
Really? Why are they closing the fast pass machines though? How would that be cost effective for them? Just curious. Also, I didn't realize the issue with the trams? WOW!

 

[Tiger926]

*
Really? Why are they closing the fast pass machines though? How would that be cost effective for them? Just curious. Also, I didn't realize the issue with the trams? WOW!

Hey, Brunette. Happy Friday!

Fastpass machines take an additional CM/s to be stationed there to handle issues; therefore, if it's a slow day, then no Fastpasses are necessary, as walk ups are relatively short, and no additional CM is needed in that location.

The Fastpass in question was at Kali River Rapids - many of us WDW regulars let the OP know that KRR's FP machine has been turned off on majorly busy periods like July 4th and Christmas, so there seems to be an issue with that location, in terms of it not being in use many times throughout the year.

Have never encountered trams not being utilized either - not sure what to make of that?

I was going to link that thread over here, as there are many similar issues, but this is your thread, and so I wasn't sure? A few of us have already been involved in that discussion.

The OP has had a few bad glitches this week with her trip, and so that isn't cool.

Tiger

 

[flicx]

No, it's correct. I'll find you the articles - they were in NY Times and a bunch of other papers. It was also all over these boards as well. If I remember correctly, they said they would keep a few open (the one near the Value resorts perhaps fits this - franchise issues, perhaps?) on a case by case basis. I think there are several issues at play for this decision: Disney wanting to offer healthier foods in the parks, and the ending of their corporate marketing relationship. So, it was probably not that difficult, especially since the partnership was over 10 years old, if I remember correctly.

Here are some articles for you:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/zap-disneymcdonaldsendhappymeals,0,3643009.story

http://www.apepenpublishing.com/Fast_Food_Dilemma_at_Disneys_Theme_Parks_.html

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/02/mcdonalds-at-downtown-disney-is-closing/

When hubby asked about the absence of McFlurry, the CM supervisor who was in attendance, told us that the parks wouldn't be carrying any McDonald's food products any longer as they didn't renew their contract. Again, not sure how the other Value Resort restaurant fits into this (the other one is located off of Disney property anyway)?

Tiger

The one by the values is on property I'm 99% sure of it. It is right by the value resorts.That is why I am perplexed as to the reason they closed the one in DTD.

 

[flicx]

*
Really? Why are they closing the fast pass machines though? How would that be cost effective for them? Just curious. Also, I didn't realize the issue with the trams? WOW!

I really think this reflects the cutback issues we have been talking about on here.The poster claimed the one day at epcot they paid the $14.00 parking fee to find you had to walk to the front of the park because disney said it was going to be a slow day/ie no trams.I also think there was an issue with the fast passes at EE being closed in addition to Kali.