wyattsdaddy2
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2008
- Messages
- 19
Dear Annual Passholders, let me begin by saying I love Disneyland, heart and soul, been going to both parks for over 40 years.... Is anyone but me fed up with the "false" lines created by Disneyland in low season when they run fewer cars, have fewer cast members working an attraction, closing registers in even Main Street shops at closing time when the stores are more crowded than any other time? Here's an example of what I mean, my little boy and I go weekly, always at night as the crowds are smaller and it's cooler. We always run over to Autopia during the fireworks because we know the lines are so short. It's Sunday night, say around 9:30, park's closing at 11 and we get in line, and while we're cuing up with about just 50 people, they close the 3rd of 4 tracks leaving just one open? Now I'm a businessman who clearly understands how labor cost goes, but to me this is unconscionable! The staff was loping about, a few appeared to be performing their closing duties, but most of them were just waltzing about, chatting with one another and paying no attention to the guests. The sole employee who stages you to the car # was frazzled and had trouble keeping up with which position each of us would take, all her co-workers were acting like they were on break, but even if she had the needed help, there was a large enough line to have at least 2 of the 4 lanes operating, defitinely not one! With a virtually empty attraction we still waited 20 minutes to ride. My question if you're listening Disneyland is why? Do you have any idea how frustrating this is? Once again you raised the rates for the season ticket holders and the service is getting worse. The only reason you can even pay the bills in January and February is AP Holders, why are we treated to fake lines and inattentive service because the crowds are thinner? Time was my son and I used to hurry blissfully from ride to ride in the last 2 hours, it's the only time of year we could do this and we so looked forward to it, made us feel like we owned the park, unlike the summer when you're lucky to hit 4 rides in an evening. Upon our exit, we stopped off to get some ice cream at Carnation and went to get some fudge at the shop next door, one of the 2 registers was closed, there were still 3 employees behind the counter working off one drawer, but that's almost no faster than having one. I run $8 million a year restaurants and I wouldn't dare start pulling drawers and running reports with a full house, I'd be unemployed by morning! Disneyland, listen up, don't save your labor on our dime, do you charge us less in the off-season? NO! We pay just like everyone else does and we're far more valuable to your P&L than the Smiths from Wisconsin who only come once every 3 years, once a week we're buying the $9 burgers and $5 popcorn buckets, without us the park would have to shut down through March! Stop upping the ticket prices and taking away good service, creating cues by closing ride cars or lanes or whatever just so you can cut three $9 an hour employees an hour early. Is saving $27 labor dollars really worth upsetting your clientele? I know for a fact I'm not the only person who feels this way, I listen to guests grumbling in line at every attraction once a week when I go. True story, my 4 year old son will be in line during the "dark hours" and he'll spout off "can you say understaffed?" He heard another guest say it once and everyone laughed so now even my 4 year old can tell when Disneyland has deemed it the appropriate time to stop caring about it's guests. Take it from a restaurateur of 30 years, the appropriate time is when the doors are locked. We don't want to see drawers being pulled on Main Street when we're tired and standing in a 15 minute line to buy our weekly supply of Candy Apples and Rice Krispy Treats. Last week we saw the usual nonsense when we stopped in on our way out and I got to break a tradition I've done with him since I began it when he was 13 months old, 4 years without ever missing this and now it looks like I'll have to buy the candy elsewhere. My son was very disappointed, and I felt like crap for doing it to him, isn't tradition what Disney is all about? If any of you feel like this, if you've experienced any of what I'm describing (and I know you have, I've heard you) then sound off, I would love to do something to stem the tide of Disneyland's burgeoning disinterest in it's most valuable commodity, the Annual Passholder! COME ON, MAKE SOME NOISE AND MAYBE ONE PERSON AT CORPORATE WHO STILL BELIEVES IN CUSTOMER SERVICE WILL VISIT THE PARK AT 930-11 OR 12 AND SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING! Thanks for letting me rant
