Disney Calling...

[ellie05]

The audacity!

Somebody better get fired.

Yes please the idiot that came up with this brilliant idea to make cuts at WDW to support the parks overseas.

 

[cmash95]

ok ummm i know people got calls but really this makes little sense. Park hours and staffing levels for easter weeks are at normal levels for this time of year. but easter is very early this year and Disney is used to planning this for april and it could be that because colleges usually do spring breaks in march and easter comes in april they can space things out a bit better but this year they are getting a double whammy with college spring break and scool sprng breaks happeneing at the same time. but making calls to customers ( unless of course this is DVC doing this) makes little sense as it would just alientate your guests.

 

[prestoncaldwell]

I wouldn't believe for a second that Disney has been caught off guard by the date of Easter. They've been riding in this rodeo for a very long time, and have experienced two March Easters in the last 7 years, in 2008 it fell on March 23d, even earlier than this year.

They have an army of analysts whose only job on Earth is to consider all the market segments, like Easter travellers, college Spring Break, public school Spring Break in various areas, etc., and forecast expected volume by both summing these sectors and by examining past effects of coinciding events like the ones coming up. Additionally, they use predictive analytics to project expected attendance based on reservations at 6 months, 5 months, 4 months, etc. They have had a long time to see this coming.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

If Disney wants the flexibility to change things so close to trips, then they need to alter the booking windows accordingly and stop encouraging a culture of having to have everything booked 6 months in advance. They can't have both the flexibility to do what they want on their end AND also expect the customer to lock everything in 6 months out.

For sure! It suits their needs perfectly to have such a headstart on their expected guest levels and it makes us need to decide what time we will be hungry 6 months out. They have trained us to jump when they ask how high. So I think we, collectively, should stand our ground and see what happens.

 

[prestoncaldwell]

For sure! It suits their needs perfectly to have such a headstart on their expected guest levels and it makes us need to decide what time we will be hungry 6 months out. They have trained us to jump when they ask how high. So I think we, collectively, should stand our ground and see what happens.

And not just for ADR, their Park Open changes wreak havoc on plans. And they can't tell me the change is a recent decision when they open up 7:30 AM ADR 3 weeks before they change the Park Open to 8AM.

 

[Ds4angels]

I would love to know how they are selecting who to call? People who have been before. Like, "hey you've been here before, MK isn't brand new to you, so maybe it won't be a big deal to shift your days"?
Certain resort levels? " ok we'll call value resort people, since they are spending the least amount of money with us"

 

[mshanson3121]

ok ummm i know people got calls but really this makes little sense. Park hours and staffing levels for easter weeks are at normal levels for this time of year. but easter is very early this year and Disney is used to planning this for april and it could be that because colleges usually do spring breaks in march and easter comes in april they can space things out a bit better but this year they are getting a double whammy with college spring break and scool sprng breaks happeneing at the same time. but making calls to customers ( unless of course this is DVC doing this) makes little sense as it would just alientate your guests.

1. Not sure where you're getting this but all you have to do is read the numerous posts on this board to realize that hours and staffing are NOT at normal levels, for this time of year, or Easter.

2. No way was Disney caught unawares by Easter. They're a billion dollar industry that largely relies on tourism. They know when Easter is for the next 5 years, guarenteed.

 

[cmash95]

i am getting this from Cms that work the parks not the gossip posts. These people have worked at WDW for over 10 years and know what is going on and yes they were caught off guard when scheduling for easter. Usually easter is in april and that is the third quarter but this year it's way early and it coincides with college breaks as well so they have even more crowds to deal with. btw these particular people also are high enough in the company to know what they are talking about and they were the ones that told me that while there were trouble in the other parks, the so called cutbacks were in preparation for the raises just like the price increases and the increases in food, merchandise, and dining plans. and when you give people raises, you can afford to cut their hours as well

 

[mshanson3121]

i am getting this from Cms that work the parks not the gossip posts. These people have worked at WDW for over 10 years and know what is going on and yes they were caught off guard when scheduling for easter. Usually easter is in april and that is the third quarter but this year it's way early and it coincides with college breaks as well so they have even more crowds to deal with. btw these particular people also are high enough in the company to know what they are talking about and they were the ones that told me that while there were trouble in the other parks, the so called cutbacks were in preparation for the raises just like the price increases and the increases in food, merchandise, and dining plans. and when you give people raises, you can afford to cut their hours as well

Yeah, those people may have been caught off guard. But I guarantee you Disney corp, the heads of parks? No. They were not. And "gossip" happens just as much among employees.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

i am getting this from Cms that work the parks not the gossip posts. These people have worked at WDW for over 10 years and know what is going on and yes they were caught off guard when scheduling for easter. Usually easter is in april and that is the third quarter but this year it's way early and it coincides with college breaks as well so they have even more crowds to deal with. btw these particular people also are high enough in the company to know what they are talking about and they were the ones that told me that while there were trouble in the other parks, the so called cutbacks were in preparation for the raises just like the price increases and the increases in food, merchandise, and dining plans. and when you give people raises, you can afford to cut their hours as well

Send them this link. You'll be a hero.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_for_Easter

 

[jenseib]

where are you seeing the hours posted? I just opened the TA site and it STILL says the hours were last update in February.

Yes, ALL of this mostly has to do with the loses in Paris and the major cost overruns in China. We, who like 99.9% most likely never ever see those parks, have to pay for it. how magnical..

Mindy, I looked at Touring plans and they are updated. Guess they don't intend to tell everyone they changed hours. LOL

 

[buffettgirl]

i am getting this from Cms that work the parks not the gossip posts. These people have worked at WDW for over 10 years and know what is going on and yes they were caught off guard when scheduling for easter. Usually easter is in april and that is the third quarter but this year it's way early and it coincides with college breaks as well so they have even more crowds to deal with. btw these particular people also are high enough in the company to know what they are talking about and they were the ones that told me that while there were trouble in the other parks, the so called cutbacks were in preparation for the raises just like the price increases and the increases in food, merchandise, and dining plans. and when you give people raises, you can afford to cut their hours as well

Easter happens in March roughly 20% of the time. This is such a silly thing to think, that they were caught off guard.

 

[Pemeberly]

I sort of am confused how extending hours would help with crowd capacity, though? Can someone explain it to me because I feel dumb, haha.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

I sort of am confused how extending hours would help with crowd capacity, though? Can someone explain it to me because I feel dumb, haha.

It just helps spread the day's attendance over more hours. If people see the park is open later they may choose to arrive later. If it's open earlier, they may leave earlier.

 

[cmash95]

you have new management at disneyparks level and when they started budgeting they were thinking quarterly budgets. easter is Usually in the 3rd quarter. really the error was caught by management at WDW and hours and staffing were adjusted accordingly.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

you have new management at disneyparks level and when they started budgeting they were thinking quarterly budgets. easter is Usually in the 3rd quarter. really the error was caught by management at WDW and hours and staffing were adjusted accordingly.

Maybe I should rethink this. The degree of incompetence you're describing is consistent with other actions.

 

[buffettgirl]

you have new management at disneyparks level and when they started budgeting they were thinking quarterly budgets. easter is Usually in the 3rd quarter. really the error was caught by management at WDW and hours and staffing were adjusted accordingly.

You make it sound like they're literally forecasting staffing levels a few months in advance. This has to be one of the funniest things I've ever heard suggested. Sure, maybe they're highly incompetent, but I really doubt that. There is no way in hell that a major company, one that literally thrives on travel over major holidays, was unaware of when a major spring holiday was happening. The more you try to imply that you know what you're talking about, the less credible it sounds.

 

[cmash95]

staffing levels are figured by quarters and yes they do figure it months out. thats why they start hiring for summer months in march. and we arent talking about the whole company we are talking about resorts here. and whether you beileve it or not because easter changes each year and again new management things fell through the cracks. lots going on on both coasts and yeah it happens.

 

[EricInPA]

Hanlon's razor strikes again.

I find this to be totally believable corporate behavior.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

Hours are not up. They have increased to normal pre-cut hours, which means that most part time cm's are getting now, during Easter, the same amount of hours they would have gotten on a normal, non- holiday period. So in a sense their hours have increased, but they are nowhere near what they would have been in previous years. Which means that MK, at least, is very understaffed compared to the amount of anticipated guests.