Discuss what Disney is doing wrong part II

[kaytieeldr]

I still think one major problem is there is too many dining options. The problem we're facing right now is proof of it. Either have the regular dining plans or the free dining. Both is just flooding the system..

I'm confused. Aren't these the exact same thing except that at some times of the year Disney charges for it and at other times they offer it as a free promotion?

The one big thing I'd like for Disney to change is the 1-800 Number thing. They should really offer one!!

Toll-free numbers cost the company, per call. In Disney's case, that would add a LOT to their expenses - and since there are a variety of ways to obtain information and make reservations, and because thousands of people call every day anyway, there's no need for this added expense.

I dont like that Sept thru Dec is nothing but the parties so everyone else has to cut their park days short.

Magic Kingdom's basic operating hours are 9 AM to 7 PM. Any hours beyond those which the park is open to all attendees are extended hours. It may seem that non-party-attendees park day is being cut short, but it's not.

I do not think Disney even reads this thread

I've been told by Cast Members that Disney does check these and other forums.

And, what I think Disney is doing wrong? Getting rid of some of the designated smoking areas, notably the one outside Mouse Gears facing the fountain.

 

[seadd67]

Disney doing wrong?,trying to please every one! I love Disney for what It Is,Its wrongs and rights,Its what makes Disney well Disney. I think your always going to find something they can do better. I am just glad I can go there and make that oppion to my self. I beleve they read these borads and take In our oppion,but I also think If they did change to please all of us,I do not think we would love Disney like we do.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Disagree with you there. My six year old doesn't care to watch any of the "afternoon" Disney Channel programming (which now starts at 10am, so we pretty much turn off DC for the summer). She's not allowed to watch Hannah Montana or iCarly, has never asked to see HSM, turns off Suite Life and the others. (Same for my 3 year old.)

The young kids I know who are into these shows all seem to have sassy mouths and bratty attitudes and I'm not having that in my house.

I agree. There isn't any reason to push young children into copying rude adolescent behavior.

 

[scarlet_ibis]

Arghhhh! NO!!!!! PLEASE don't feed the wildlife!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eh, I have three kids 6 and under. Any outdoor eating is going to feed some sort of wildlife. That's why we have cats at home.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I feel the biggest mistake they are making right now is in downgrading service, food etc. I know the economy is not great but how many folk will go at this time and not want to return, not having known what a special place it can be. For us vets who know our way around we might notice the changes more though.

BTW, my youngest grandson is hooked on the Disney Channel and we watch it together and I find the shows to have good lessons to them. He will argue with me about things but I like that. I like independent thinkers and I am the one who taught him to "question authority' in the first place. I do not like Bevis, Rugrats and such though.

Slightly Goofy

 

[scarlet_ibis]

I'm confused. Aren't these the exact same thing except that at some times of the year Disney charges for it and at other times they offer it as a free promotion?

Not really, because not every package qualifies for free dining. But back to the point, I don't know what difference it makes to intermingle free diners with paid dining plan participants.

Toll-free numbers cost the company, per call. In Disney's case, that would add a LOT to their expenses - and since there are a variety of ways to obtain information and make reservations, and because thousands of people call every day anyway, there's no need for this added expense.

True, and with how slow it is to do some things, like make a week's worth of ADRs, that would be very expensive. And there are so many types of calling options that don't incur toll charges right now that I don't think it would make financial sense to put in a toll-free number. I haven't paid a toll charge in years, between using the included minutes on my cell plan and having a toll-included plan on my home phone. There's also VOIP. Still, I agree that not having a toll-free number is glaring for the size of the company, but I can completely understand why they don't do it.

Magic Kingdom's basic operating hours are 9 AM to 7 PM. Any hours beyond those which the park is open to all attendees are extended hours. It may seem that non-party-attendees park day is being cut short, but it's not.

Not so sure on this. It doesn't close before 9pm any day on our upcoming trip. In fact, 4 of those days, it closes at 10pm or midnight (although that's EMH in the case of the midnight). If they can stay open til midnight on special party nights, there's no need to close at 7 other nights.

I've been told by Cast Members that Disney does check these and other forums.

They'd be remiss not to. My DH works for a major retailer and they check forums, send around reports. Customers are their best feedback as to whether their job is getting done correctly and whether something needs to be fixed.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Many cuts were made after 9-11 and some of them never came back. Some did. One that comes to mind is the character breakfast at WL. I'm sure there are others, but that is the one my feeble brain remembers. My F! theory is that eventually the crowds will fall off because it is such a nightmare. Then Disney will use the excuse that the guest demand did not justify continuing the show.

It's how developers justify cutting down magnificent oak trees here. They put up a little orange "barrier" around the tree, begin digging up everything around it, then pile dirt INSIDE the barrier, which kills the roots and then the tree.

By the time they're done creating the strip mall, there's just a dead tree in the middle which, of course, they have to cut down...

It's amazing how this behavior is applied to so many things.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

It's how developers justify cutting down magnificent oak trees here. They put up a little orange "barrier" around the tree, begin digging up everything around it, then pile dirt INSIDE the barrier, which kills the roots and then the tree.

By the time they're done creating the strip mall, there's just a dead tree in the middle which, of course, they have to cut down...

It's amazing how this behavior is applied to so many things.

How horrid! There is nothing like a good tree!

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

In order to injoy Disney you must rembember it is a corporation. And as a corporation it has stockholders who want to see a profit. Its not like one person makes any one decision. Its whole purpose is to make money.

Once you are willing to understand that your dollars are someone elses profit or retirement fund then the prices make sense.

You are there to enjoy your self, but to make money for Disney.

The prices and the private parties keep the stockholders happy.

Just spend your money wisely and thanks for the dividends.

Just an FYI from the inside. Don't worry about our $$$ going toward retirement contributions.....some (not all) of Disney's retirement funds are grossly underfunded at the moment. Luckily, my DH's is not one of them.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

You're quoting DISNEY profits, right? Not theme park profits. And you've also got "gross" there, not "net." Doesn't make any difference how much Disney took in. It's what's left over after they pay all their bills that matters. And, just becuase the company has profits, doesn't mean the theme parks have more money to spend.

You are right....leading up to 2009 the parks and resorts budgets have been cut for years. 2009 lead to a series of massive employee cuts in the first quarter.

I remember talking to a Guest Services Manager 4 years ago about the lack of maintenance throughout the resort (the subtle signs of early neglect). He was the first to tell us about the budget cutbacks for resorts.

They are making a profit - but that doesn't mean the budget cuts are corrected.

Don't forget, at the end of 2008 Bob Iger took a pretty little $38 million year end bonus. 2 weeks later they fired 10% of Disney corporation staff worldwide because of poor earnings. (the bigger layoffs came later in the quarter).

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Sooo... back to our regularly scheduled program...

After lurking on both threads I had to chime in. Just because I feel while some of the cuts and changes may appear to help Disney financially in the short term they may not be great decisions in the long run.

Ex - standardized resort mugs. I have 2 of the former versions of these babies (CBR & BC) and was REALLY looking forward to adding 2 more (resort specific mugs) during my stay in July. And since we were a group of 5, I wouldn't buy for me without buying for the family as well. And we didn't need the refillable option at all because we stayed club level at both resorts and had sodas and juices available 24/7.

IMHO this was easy money made on a collectible/souvenir. And now it's easy money lost as I would have spent $130 (before tax) but chose not to because the mugs just weren't particularly interesting or unique to me.

I also thought my retail options were limited. I used to enjoy going into MouseGear for special things I wouldn't find elsewhere in the world. But I didn't bother to go this time because I could find the same shirts, etc everywhere. Why not just buy it all in DTD where I can use my AP discount?

And no F! dinner package for me this year. What was the point when it made more sense to attend the 2nd show on the 2nd night (which was still scary crowded with lines down to the villains store 45 min prior) and all early reports indicated that you had to be there an hour ahead even with the package. Nope - we just chose to cancel our ADR's and hang out in the lounge for evening appetizers and then have a smoothie in line if we were feeling peckish instead of spending $155 (pre tax and tip) on table service for five adults (really 2 adults and 3 girls aged 10, 12, and 13 who eat very little).

Three instances where I would have spent more, but didn't due to cutbacks at standardization. I'd bet there are more examples out there...

I could have written this, it so exactly matches with our experience.

 

[scousemouse09]

Are you kidding? You must not have kids right now. Disney knows EXACTLY what they are doing w/ thier programming. My 3yr old DSS "Troy" for Halloween last year and DSD (at age 5) year before that was "Gabrella". My 3yr old wants to grow his hair out like Troy. They had HSM themed bday parties this year (yes both of them), DSD has her room decked out in it at our house and I think at her other house too. Our children plus neices/nephews and every child I know under 10 can name every disney channel charector on HSM, Hannah, Wizards, Suite Life and ICarly. They can pick them out of a lineup and give you thier personal stats. Disney has his the sweet spot w/ thier programming and merchandising they are getting kids addicted like never before, I doubt we will ever see a rise of cartoons in our lifetime again that gets kids wrapped up in them like this.

ok back on Topic, sorry had to add my $.02

I agree that Disney knows what it is doing, but I don't necessarily see these shows as appropriate for little kids. I'm a teacher, I know what kids are watching! When HSM3 came out, it was billed as the "tweenie" movie, letting youg teenagers get a glimplse of the perfect high school life. Entirely age appropriate for kids over the age of 11, I'm not sure I'd be letting my six year old watch it (when I have kids). In comparison to the cartoons I watched at the age of six - Rescue Rangers, Duck Tales, Talespin, Gummi Bears etc - I don't rate the current offerings at all.

Just my $.02!

 

[WDSearcher]

RE: Disney Channel shows. I don't see Hannah Montana or Suite Life to be any different, really, than something like I Love Lucy. The plots are just as silly, the dialogue just as basic, the gags just as slapstick. What did we get in Lucy? A bawling, yelling, dingbat of a wife who was always making trouble for her husband and getting herself in ridiculous situations. Remind you of anything? Like ... oh ... I don't know ... Hannah Montana? You could literally lift entire episodes of Lucy and stage them with Miley Cyrus & Co. and they'd fit right in. If the DC was showing I Love Lucy reruns, folks wouldn't have any problem with them. But the same gags on Hannah Montana are criticized as being stupid and not worth watching. Just sayin ....



PS. I realize that there will be the inevitable response of "But Lucille Ball was a comic genius, unlike Miley Cyrus!" True. But the plots and writing are the same. If you're criticizing the show because of the inane storylines and over-the-top characters, well ... then we're right back at I Love Lucy.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

The target audience for I Love Lucy was adults, though. Not tweens, which parents stretch to 5 and 6 year olds.

 

[WDSearcher]

The target audience for I Love Lucy was adults, though. Not tweens, which parents stretch to 5 and 6 year olds.

Sure ... but I still watched it as a kid. It was on early, so families could watch together. And there was nothing in it that kids couldn't see. Same with Hannah Montana and Suite Life. They're just slapstick comedies where the kids always come up on top and adults look silly. Pretty standard stuff!

 

[rt2dz]

The target audience for I Love Lucy was adults, though. Not tweens, which parents stretch to 5 and 6 year olds.

Yup. I wouldn't (don't, since it is still on) allow my 4 & 5 year olds to watch I Love Lucy. I don't like my kids watching HM, Drake & Josh, or any other of the tween shows. OK, I allow my just-entering-the-tween-age to watch them, but I don't like it. I think kids should be, um, KIDS. It's not appropriate to have them dressing that way, saying the things they say, and acting like them. There are some pretty "adult" situations in some of those episodes. JMO.

What I get a kick out of is when they watch Boomerang. My youngest belly laughs at Banana Splits, Bugs Bunny, and other various "older" cartoons. My kids don't watch a lot of TV, but when they do, it darn well better be age appropriate and not dealing with sex. We have several DVDs of the old Disney cartoons, and those are some of their favorites--not even the new Disney cartoons.

 

[rt2dz]

No, you did not say that. I was being sarcastic. I am on your side and agreed with and liked your post. I was saying I am looking for the "Discuss What Disney is Doing Right" thread, but all I found was "discuss what Disney is doing wrong" thread. It's sad that there isn't a companion thread to this saying "Discuss What Disney is Doing Right." Make sense?

I'm not trying to be snotty here, but if you'd like a "Discuss What Disney is Doing Right" thread, start one. I'm sure you'd get posts, including from the people on here.

 

[Mallow]

I'm not trying to be snotty here, but if you'd like a "Discuss What Disney is Doing Right" thread, start one. I'm sure you'd get posts, including from the people on here.

ITA! I restarted this thread just because I enjoy hearing differing opinions on a topic I really love. Yes, if a doing right thread was started I would have a lot to say on that one too.

 

[BayouMickey]

I'm confused. Aren't these the exact same thing except that at some times of the year Disney charges for it and at other times they offer it as a free promotion?

Depends.. Say you're staying at a value but want DXDP, you'll have to pay..
DVC there is no free dining I don't believe so we have to pay..
So the two overlap. They make it seem like the same thing but it treated totally as different entities.

And, what I think Disney is doing wrong? Getting rid of some of the designated smoking areas, notably the one outside Mouse Gears facing the fountain.

Well I recently quit smoking, so smoking areas don't relate to me anymore, but I don't think it's a good idea to get RID of the areas, maybe move them but not get rid of. I understand the "right to breathe clean air" thing, honestly I do. but smokers have just as much as right to live their lives too.

 

[KellyNY]

I'm not trying to be snotty here, but if you'd like a "Discuss What Disney is Doing Right" thread, start one. I'm sure you'd get posts, including from the people on here.

I just started "what Disney does right" thread