Disney Calling...

[ArwenMarie]

For the LIFE of me, I cannot figure out why they lifted the blackout dates on FL resident passes over the Easter break. All of a sudden people with tickets they bought knowing full well they would be blacked out for these dates are now able to go into the system and gobble up fastpasses. Meanwhile Disney is paying people to call other customers who bought tickets they knew would be good over Easter to try to get them to change their long ago planned fastpasses.

Can ANYONE help me explain this?

To me it sounds like two separate decisions made by two separate people who don't share a common boss. My other theory which I wrote somewhere on here already is that the calls are actually just a test and this will be something we may see more of in the future, maybe via email/MDE. But regardless, it makes no sense.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I also don't understand why more CMs would alleviate the crowd problems. Capacity is a finite number and it has to include the employees in that number - it's bodies not just guests. So if they have 1000 more CMs on duty, then 1000 fewer guests can come in. It must be a delicate balance to decide how many CMs should be scheduled. Now if it were me, I would avoid MK that day just like I would avoid it on any other holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc.). Whether there is a adequate number of CMs or not, with that many people there, I would not be excited about using the bathrooms

 

[Angel Ariel]

I don't understand why it isn't understandable that of rides aren't running at full capacity due to a lack of staff that that would in turn affect the lines? Rides aren't always running 100% of their ride vehicles..esp. during slower times. Proper staffing won't lessen the crowds themselves, but running a ride at full capacity would lessen the length of the line compared to not running the ride at full capacity.

 

[KateP85]

I 100% do not believe anyone was "caught off guard" by Easter being in March! I mean if no one in charge of park hours or scheduling thought to look up the date of Easter this year, there are much bigger problems going on at Disney than we thought!

 

[mom2rtk]

I appreciate everyone speculating along! LOL.

So here's my working theory. Resort bookings were down. They lifted the blackout dates on local 3 and 4 day tickets to try and get some people to book onsite. Once resorts got more bookings, they finally added more hours. But the extra bodies it took to get there has left Disney with the feeling they will be turning away a lot of money at the gates when they have to stop selling tickets so many days over that week. Time to break out the next payoff feature of MM+, the one that tells them in advance who is planning to be in which park, and see if they can be moved aside to make room for another paying body in the one park that still pulls them in.

I believe Disney was caught off guard, but not by when Easter fell this year. I believe they were caught off guard by resort bookings being down at such a critical time. I believe this was a series of reactions by Disney to information they have available to them but we obviously don't.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't understand why it isn't understandable that of rides aren't running at full capacity due to a lack of staff that that would in turn affect the lines? Rides aren't always running 100% of their ride vehicles..esp. during slower times. Proper staffing won't lessen the crowds themselves, but running a ride at full capacity would lessen the length of the line compared to not running the ride at full capacity.

Additionally, more CMs at restaurants and shops means that people don't have to wait in line as long.

More CMs can help better direct traffic in high crowd areas.

More CMs can clear tables in restaurants making for faster turnover.

And I also think that a certain number of guests will leave the parks sooner once they have accomplished what they came to do. Make that more efficient and it clears them out sooner.

 

[mom2rtk]

I 100% do not believe anyone was "caught off guard" by Easter being in March! I mean if no one in charge of park hours or scheduling thought to look up the date of Easter this year, there are much bigger problems going on at Disney than we thought!

Agreed. If that happened, then someone needs to be fired!

 

[bryanb]

Lots of speculation on this board, being stated as fact.

 

[mom2rtk]

Lots of speculation on this board, being stated as fact.

You'll notice that my post referred to it very specifically as speculation.

I appreciate everyone speculating along! LOL.

 

[bryanb]

You'll notice that my post referred to it very specifically as speculation.

Yes and I agree with you that it's speculation. And not specifically just your post. Although I don't agree that someone should go on unemployment.

 

[dsdeleon]

My initial theory of them testing out customer decisions would really need more data. I was thinking they were going to call some people, text some people, shove some extra FP in another park on MDE and see how customers made decisions in their favor when they changed variables.

Now it seems as though they are really just in a series of over and under-reactions. Just like PP said, overreaction such as a sudden "BLACKOUTS LIFTED" to the under-reaction of keeping MK hours dismal. I have my binder opened from an onsite stay last year Easter week we could have strolled into MK from 7AM to 1AM every single day. This year it is 8AM-12AM (except for 1 last night EMH until 2 but there was a late night EMH last year until 3AM). I think they are really trying to make a bottom line point by trimming off 2 hours in MK per day on the busiest week of the new year. This hours thing is a big cut that will be worse this summer and they are just not changing their minds!

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Additionally, more CMs at restaurants and shops means that people don't have to wait in line as long.

More CMs can help better direct traffic in high crowd areas.

More CMs can clear tables in restaurants making for faster turnover.

And I also think that a certain number of guests will leave the parks sooner once they have accomplished what they came to do. Make that more efficient and it clears them out sooner.

This makes a lot of sense. When I hear high crowd levels, I get a mental image of throngs of people on Main Street bumping into each other and that is enough to send me in another direction. I almost can't get past that image to even think about trying to get on rides or to find a table to eat. For those who plan to go during this time, god bless ya.

 

[mom2rtk]

Lots of speculation on this board, being stated as fact.

And I'm not wishing unemployment on anyone. That's because I think the likelihood that someone did indeed get caught offguard by where Easter hit on the calendar is quite low.

 

[lpereira]

If it was anyone but Josh reporting this I would have scoffed at the report.

Quite frankly, if Josh were to do tours of WDW I'd be all over it. The various rants on restaurants, price increases and staffing cutbacks alone would be priceless.

Are you kidding me?! I'd pay good money to be in on that tour!

 

[ktlm]

I think this is a test. I don't think they can call enough people to make a difference in crowd levels.

Maybe this is something they are thinking of automating with emails using MDE. They might be trying to find out what percentage of customers will change when asked or do you have to throw them a bone (maybe an extra FP) to get them to change. That kind of thing.

I was wondering too if this was some kind of strange test. Doing the math, MK had a capacity of about 92,000 before the new Fantasyland, and isn't it over 100,000 (seems like 112,000 is in the back of my mind somewhere) since the new Fantasyland opened? It would seem like the number of phone calls which would have to be made to actually make a difference in the feel of the crowd level would be huge if it really has anything to do with staffing inside the park- for the staffing to make that number of phone calls (assuming each one takes 3 minutes, that would be 20 an hour per person), might as well staff the park. Could be it is not a test and that they are trying to keep it to a capacity crowd to avoid having to turn people away with FP+, or as they seem to be calling people with later FP+, maybe they are just calling people that have FP+ booked that they think are likely to show up at a time that they will be turned away from MK based on capacity and they really are trying to do something nice for the customer- I would like to think that it is case, but with all the recent changes at WDW and DL that take things away from the customer unfortunately, I am finding that a little harder to believe at this point in time. Now, 5 years ago maybe I would have been more inclined to believe that one.

 

[Slapshot1188]

I appreciate everyone speculating along! LOL.

So here's my working theory. Resort bookings were down. They lifted the blackout dates on local 3 and 4 day tickets to try and get some people to book onsite. Once resorts got more bookings, they finally added more hours. But the extra bodies it took to get there has left Disney with the feeling they will be turning away a lot of money at the gates when they have to stop selling tickets so many days over that week. Time to break out the next payoff feature of MM+, the one that tells them in advance who is planning to be in which park, and see if they can be moved aside to make room for another paying body in the one park that still pulls them in.

I believe Disney was caught off guard, but not by when Easter fell this year. I believe they were caught off guard by resort bookings being down at such a critical time. I believe this was a series of reactions by Disney to information they have available to them but we obviously don't.

That is exactly what I believe happened. I think you are starting to see some of the price increase affect patterns. People still booked Disney but maybe off site to save a few bucks. They made the Resident tickets valid, locals looked and saw they could book rooms, and did so. Hard for someone who needs to book airfare etc to suddenly add a few unplanned days in Disney, but fairly easy for a Resident.

What Disney really needs to do is to add CAPACITY... and lots of it. Adding one or two extra rides through all 4 parks each year is not going to keep pace. Maybe it's time to revisit the Villains Park concept...

 

[KateP85]

And I'm not wishing unemployment on anyone. That's because I think the likelihood that someone did indeed get caught offguard by where Easter hit on the calendar is quite low.

I actually agreed with you the first time. If the people in charge of coordinating hours for a major holiday forgot to check when the actual holiday was, they might be more useful in a different position.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I was wondering too if this was some kind of strange test. Doing the math, MK had a capacity of about 92,000 before the new Fantasyland, and isn't it over 100,000 (seems like 112,000 is in the back of my mind somewhere) since the new Fantasyland opened? It would seem like the number of phone calls which would have to be made to actually make a difference in the feel of the crowd level would be huge if it really has anything to do with staffing inside the park- for the staffing to make that number of phone calls (assuming each one takes 3 minutes, that would be 20 an hour per person), might as well staff the park. Could be it is not a test and that they are trying to keep it to a capacity crowd to avoid having to turn people away with FP+, or as they seem to be calling people with later FP+, maybe they are just calling people that have FP+ booked that they think are likely to show up at a time that they will be turned away from MK based on capacity and they really are trying to do something nice for the customer- I would like to think that it is case, but with all the recent changes at WDW and DL that take things away from the customer unfortunately, I am finding that a little harder to believe at this point in time. Now, 5 years ago maybe I would have been more inclined to believe that one.

When you see the numbers, it really doesn't make sense that they are calling people about this.

 

[Livvie]

When you see the numbers, it really doesn't make sense that they are calling people about this.

It is the proverbial drop in the bucket.

 

[ArwenMarie]

It is the proverbial drop in the bucket.

Exactly. Something else is up.