DISNEY if you don't want the average Joe to stay at the parks just say so...

[boomgoesthemickey]

WDW and DL still have no true competitor. Sure you can take different vacations, but there are no theme parks equal to them. Even Universal doesn't directly compete because it's targeted towards a different demographic. It doesn't mean they can rest on their laurels and people will dump the Mouse if the quality goes down too low.

Lol, so much this right here, until the point in time that the hilton or the four seasons or some tropical 5 star carribean resort with white sandy beaches start having mickey and minnie and all there pals in their lobbies and giving out balloon animals Disney has me for better or worse. Last trip I got to take a picture with mexican donald duck with a yoda backpack and donald was pretending to use force lightning in the pic. When some other vacation can duplicate that get back to me.

 

[Ellwood970]

I can deal with the ticket price increases and the tiering and even paying extra for staying at a Disney resort hotel. But they do not need to increase the price of food and beverage while decreasing the quality. I can't deal with that.

 

[Bullseye]

On the comment about just not going to Disney, in order to send them a message. With all due respect, the only way they'll hear that message is if masses of people start cancelling their vacations all at once. And that's not going to happen.

Most of the posters here are bigger Disney fans than the typical vacationer. I don't know very many people just off the cuff who go as often as I do. If I stopped vacationing right now, and refused to go again until something changes, it would be a drop in the bucket, because the majority of trip takers are not folks like us. That being said, this is one of the few things in my life I look forward to besides football season So, will I quit going to Disney and give up my pleasant vacation time just so I can make some sort of statement they don't care about? No. I'll still be unhappy about the price increases, but will plan my trip accordingly-off season, and possibly off site, if need be.

This except replace football with hockey! In fact, watching Stanley Cup playoffs from my BC villa every year has become a tradition I look forward to!

The disboards represent such a minute fraction of visitors to Disney parks. Suggesting to boycott disney parks here is like when they tell everyone not to buy gasoline for a day to send a message to the oil companies. It doesn't happen or work. Every year we still have a great vacation despite whatever the current Disboard crisis is leading up to the trip. I don't always agree with every change Disney makes but most of them turn out to be negligible as far as affecting my time spent there. As an annual visitor I see construction walls in HS and AK as a good thing. I'll wait and see if service cuts actually affect upcoming vacation...much. Jedi Sith Kitty

 

[robpa]

What do you want? Dilapidated parks that never change? Street people walking down Main Street, so Disney can say they welcome everyone? Do you want WDW to be run like the government? Pretty soon, the only people going would be street people. Quit blaming Disney. They are a business and have to be run like a business. They have to compete with an ever increasing stiff competition. Disney's cost to keep up with the Jones's goes up every year. Yes, fewer and fewer people can afford to go. If you want to put the blame somewhere, put it where it belongs. Having a completely flat economy over the last 7 years. Blame the drop in average salaries in this country over the last 7 years. Blame for the first time in history, over 50% of Americans are considered below middle class. Blame the economy where kids are having to live at home longer, because they can't find jobs. Blame the fact that people are working fewer hours than ever before, because full time jobs are becoming harder and harder to find and the vast majority of new jobs created, are low wage and part time. The blame should rest on the American people 7-1/2 years ago.

So the CEO's don't have any blame in any of this?

 

[robpa]

Disney is raising prices BECAUSE their parks are full, not in spite of them being full. There is only so much space at the parks and more people want to go all of the time. If they are going to keep the experience of being there at all enjoyable they have to raise prices as a means of keeping the crowds reasonable. If Disney was less expensive you'd always be shoulder to shoulder with other guests in the park and lines for all of the rides would regularly be several hours.

If TWDC is in business to make money(and I'm sure we can all agree that it is) and maximize shareholder returns then why would they want less customers? They are simply trying to find out what the consumer breaking point is. They keep raising prices and more people are standing in line to get in so why wouldn't they keep charging more.

 

[MichellleH]

I'm thankful for Military discounts. Its still expensive even at half price and we don't even have to pay for our 2.5yr old. I can only imagine how much a family with 2 or 3 kids pays for WDW vacation at full price.

But it is a luxury, not a right. In a perfect world every parent would be able to take their children to WDW. Every child deserves it.

 

[bryanb]

I mean, it depends. Off-site requires a car, and being willing to give up EMH, and if the Disney bubble is a thing for you (which it is for many of us), staying off-site isn't going to work.

Well, that's up to you. I save money by staying offsite, I know exactly what I'm going to get, and know I can't have it both ways. Some people cannot stand losing the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed. I will take the public bus from the Sherwton LBV to the TTC (there's a bus stop right across the street) and still feel excited and grateful to be at Disney and better off than most people in this country and world.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I watched the 1994 planing video last night for a good laugh and quite honestly.I thought the 1994 version of the parks looked more fun than what we have now. Sure the technology is infinitely better but the vibe I got the from the video was completely different. They seemed to impress on the potential guest that there was something for every wallet size and you didnt need a ton of extras. Now a days everything is premium and there seems to more emphasis on the deluxe resorts. Sure there are still basic experiences but it seems like everything is a money grab. I got the vibe from the 90's video that it was more about pleasing the guest than shaking them down for every last penny in their wallet.

That's how they built the loyalty. Now they're busy squandering a lot of that goodwill.

 

[MamaJinji]

I can honestly see both sides of this. I know and accept that a vacation to Disney World is an expensive thing. Even maximizing discounts and balancing food and hotel charges, it remains very hard to do. I feel lucky that I have been able to go as many times as I have, which is far more than most of my friends and family. So every time I do get to go, it feels amazing, and the memories I have of the World are (almost) all good. I can't wait to go back next year and share it with my husband, who's never been, and my son, who was just a toddler last time. Being fair, I've never paid for a Disney vacation by myself - last two times I shared the cost with my dad and my older sister, and before that my parents paid the whole thing. This next time will be the most I've ever had to pay out, because I'll be paying for my room and tickets myself, as my husband is a stay-at-home dad for our special kid.

But Disney really is price-gauging, knowing people keep coming back for more regardless. Every year the rates go up, higher than the national pay average. Every year is another fee. Seems like every time I hear about Disney in the news, it's about yet another price hike. I do see them adding more expansions to the parks and more innovations to the general atmosphere, like the Magic Band system and the Avatar section at Animal Kingdom and the complete rebranding of Downtown Disney into Disney Springs, so on and so forth. But their record-breaking profits aren't covering all that? I don't know. As much as I'm looking forward to my trip, I don't know how I'm going to afford going again.

 

[MamaJinji]

Double post. Oops. >.>;

 

[hookedonears]

So the CEO's don't have any blame in any of this?

CEO, Board of Directors, Principal Officers, as a team determine the direction of the corporation. They understand the return on investment and growth required by its stockholders. The expected return on investment is projected by the company quarterly and Wall Street Analyst monitor the company's vital signs to make sure those projections are going to be met. Hitting or missing those projections means Billions of dollars to the company and stockholders. That's why having the right CEO is vital, and that's why they're paid so well and deserve every penny.

 

[parkluvr]

This except replace football with hockey! In fact, watching Stanley Cup playoffs from my BC villa every year has become a tradition I look forward to!

The disboards represent such a minute fraction of visitors to Disney parks. Suggesting to boycott disney parks here is like when they tell everyone not to buy gasoline for a day to send a message to the oil companies. It doesn't happen or work. Every year we still have a great vacation despite whatever the current Disboard crisis is leading up to the trip. I don't always agree with every change Disney makes but most of them turn out to be negligible as far as affecting my time spent there. As an annual visitor I see construction walls in HS and AK as a good thing. I'll wait and see if service cuts actually affect upcoming vacation...much. Jedi Sith Kitty

It's not really a matter of people on the disboards boycotting WDW. It's a matter of people who really love Disney and enjoy WDW, taking enough of a stand to let Disney know that their guests actually matter. Right now, the Disney executives are only worrying about their bottom line. Whatever they do, people just suck it up and continue to visit the complex. You can't really blame them, because if they can offer an inferior product that is significantly cheaper and all of the minions continue to come, why not? I've been going to WDW since 1972 when I visited for the first time in a stroller. I've seen a lot of progress in that time frame, but overall, I would say that the product in general has not improved at all. The park back then was immaculately clean. Food was higher quality. CM's seemed to enjoy their jobs and wanted to make guests happy. If I want to go to a so so amusement park I can drive 3 hours from my home and go to Six Flags a lot cheaper.

 

[cabanafrau]

That's how they built the loyalty. Now they're busy squandering a lot of that goodwill.

I suspect that's exactly what's going to bite them. Will be incredibly interesting to watch those executives who are so "worth every penny" strategize their way out when the tide finally turns. If WDW gets caught in the perfect storm of a wide economic crisis, high gas prices and their loyal clientele are no longer willing to make a sacrifice to visit it won't be pretty.

 

[cabanafrau]

CEO, Board of Directors, Principal Officers, as a team determine the direction of the corporation. They understand the return on investment and growth required by its stockholders. The expected return on investment is projected by the company quarterly and Wall Street Analyst monitor the company's vital signs to make sure those projections are going to be met. Hitting or missing those projections means Billions of dollars to the company and stockholders. That's why having the right CEO is vital, and that's why they're paid so well and deserve every penny.

How about the frontline CMs who have made the magic happen daily for guests over years and years? Are they worth so little that their hours should be cut to insure the exec compensation is preserved?

 

[hookedonears]

But Disney really is price-gauging, knowing people keep coming back for more regardless. Every year the rates go up, higher than the national pay average. Every year is another fee. Seems like every time I hear about Disney in the news, it's about yet another price hike. I do see them adding more expansions to the parks and more innovations to the general atmosphere, like the Magic Band system and the Avatar section at Animal Kingdom and the complete rebranding of Downtown Disney into Disney Springs, so on and so forth. But their record-breaking profits aren't covering all that? I don't know. As much as I'm looking forward to my trip, I don't know how I'm going to afford going again.[/QUOTE]

Where do you think the money comes from for new Fantacyland, Avatarland, Starwarsland, Pixarland, the additional theater for Soarin, the new track for TSM, the new Frozen attraction and all of the other updates that have occurred around the parks the last several years? 5 major places; they borrow it, sell corporate bonds, sales of new stock (which I don't think there's been any), cash on hand and increases in prices/fees. Also, expansions cost additional for maintenance, upkeep and also require additional labor. Running a major corporation is an expensive operation and the stockholders require a certain return for their investment. Without them, Disney would not exist.

 

[hookedonears]

How about the frontline CMs who have made the magic happen daily for guests over years and years? Are they worth so little that their hours should be cut to insure the exec compensation is preserved?

Frontline CM's are the face of the Corporation. If the Board didn't hire a good CEO, the CEO didn't hire a good Principal Officer team, the Principal Officer team didn't hire good Front line VP's, the Front line VP's didn't hire good Managers, the Managers didn't hire good Frontline CM's, the company would fall apart. They all work hand and hand and it all starts with the Board and CEO. It's a juggling act on putting x number of dollars into Labor training etc. All of the numbers have to work.

 

[cabanafrau]

Frontline CM's are the face of the Corporation. If the Board didn't hire a good CEO, the CEO didn't hire a good Principal Officer team, the Principal Officer team didn't hire good Front line VP's, the Front line VP's didn't hire good Managers, the Managers didn't hire good Frontline CM's, the company would fall apart. They all work hand and hand and it all starts with the Board and CEO. It's a juggling act on putting x number of dollars into Labor training etc. All of the numbers have to work.

Let's just say it suspends disbelief to suggest that the numbers always work in favor of executive compensation. No matter how you slice it, that's not going to be possible 100-percent of the time. And apparently right now is exhibit A if they're calling guests to ask them to move their FPs during the Easter week because capacity in the shorter than normal hours for one of the busiest weeks of year doesn't match up to projected demand. That's not a front line problem, but that's where the headaches will be.

 

[hookedonears]

Let's just say it suspends disbelief to suggest that the numbers always work in favor of executive compensation. No matter how you slice it, that's not going to be possible 100-percent of the time. And apparently right now is exhibit A if they're calling guests to ask them to move their FPs during the Easter week because capacity in the shorter than normal hours for one of the busiest weeks of year doesn't match up to projected demand. That's not a front line problem, but that's where the headaches will be.

I knew it. Doing very little research, I believe Disney employs around 185,000 employees world wide. A large number of those are part time, so it's hard to quantify the number of hours worked annually, though if they all worked an average of 37.5 hours per week x 52 weeks, that would be 360,750,000 hours worked per year. I believe the total executive compensation packages are worth around $106,000,000 per year. Lets say we cut the exec. pay in half., assuming they wouldn't all leave the next day. They'd have an extra $53,000,000 to pay the other employees. So $53,000,000 / 185,000 employees. Hay! we could give each employee $286.49 per year, or a 14.69 cents per hour raise. Take taxes and benefits out of that and the net is less and they wouldn't have any executives, because they'd all leave.

The second most important Cast Member is the CFO. To meet the projected return on investment and growth goals, he has to manage the corporation's debt, cash, revenues and expenses. Those are the major determining factors for stock price. People are complaining that the cost are going up and Disney is cutting back on services and quality. Example, number of characters in the parks are being reduced, or the restrooms are not as clean as they use to be. Yes these cuts do affect the overall guest experience in the parks, but Disney is banking that it wont reduce the number of guest visiting. Also, if Disney wasn't making these cuts, they'd have to either increase the debt, or increase the prices of everything, even more than they already have, and that really would reduce the number people coming. It's all a balancing act done by highly paid statisticians, accountants and economist within the long range planning division of the Corporation.

 

[momimouse27]

I am the one who posted the comment about cancelling my summer reservation and not making more until things change. I do not believe in any way that me cancelling my reservation will make any difference to Disney. The issue to me is not about price increases it's about price increases coupled with a degraded product. Right now, Disney believes that they can close whatever they want, lessen their staffing and entertainment offerings, and lower their product quality, all while raising their prices and decreasing their discount offerings. The fact of the matter is with guests like you they are 100% correct. I mean no disrespect to you with that statement, I too have a bad case of "Disneyitis". The point is that if everybody thinks like you and tells themselves that they are not happy with what's going on but they can't do anything about it, Disney will just continue to tighten that screw more and more to make their bottom line better. If you truly like Disney as it is, don't just sit there thinking you can't do anything, because things will only get worse. I'm sure that Disney has teams of people who continually monitor different trends. If Disney makes an announcement such as decreasing staff and other services, if enough of us "drops" step forward and say we've had enough the powers that be will start to see that their decisions actually do affect their bottom line.

I appreciate what you are saying, I really do and I don't totally disagree with it. My situation may be a bit different from yours or many others. I have a son, who is 13 and has autism. His favorite place in the entire world is Walt Disney World. There is a lot he is challenged with on a daily basis, and a lot I am challenged with. For myself, it is an escape from stress. For him, it's a little happiness he can't get anywhere else. The ticket price alone is worth the smile it puts on his face, so this is an important factor that plays into my perspective, that's why I bring it up.

That being said, if I am asked or a survey is given to me, I will make my feelings known. Personally, I am reserving judgement on how I feel until some of the improved areas of the park open up. My biggest disappointment is the cutting of CM's. This should not be happening, especially if they're staying at capacity during busy times AND raising prices. We will be there September, for a football game, but our trip will be 3 days and not a week as usual.

 

[cabanafrau]

I knew it. Doing very little research, I believe Disney employs around 185,000 workers world wide. A large number of those are part time, so it's hard to quantify the number of hours worked annually, though if they all worked an average of 37.5 hours per week x 52 weeks, that would be 360,750,000 hours worked per year. I believe the total executive compensation packages are worth around $106,000,000 per year. Lets say we cut the exec. pay in half., assuming they wouldn't all leave the next day. They'd have an extra $53,000,000 to pay the other employees. So $53,000,000 / 185,000 employees. Hay! we could give each employee $286.49 per year, or a 14.69 cents per hour raise. Take taxes and benefits out of that and the net is less and they wouldn't have any executives, because they'd all leave.

The second most important Cast Member is the CFO. To meet the projected return on investment and growth goals, he has to manage the corporation's debt, cash, revenues and expenses. Those are the major determining factors for stock price. People are complaining that the cost are going up and Disney is cutting back on services and quality. Example, number of characters in the parks are being reduced, or the restrooms are not as clean as they use to be. Yes these cuts do affect the overall guest experience in the parks, but Disney is banking that it wont reduce the number of guest visiting. Also, if Disney wasn't making these cuts, they'd have to either increase the debt of the corporation or increase the prices on everything even more, and that would stop people from coming. It's all a balancing act done by highly paid statisticians, accountants and economist within the long range planning division of the Corporation.

Despite it being back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, once upon a time I was a business management major in college and therefore am capable of understanding the statistics and accounting functions used in making management decisions. What I am suggesting is that, no matter what the forces pushing on the bottom line, it's only the bottom rungs of the ladder that are expected to take the hits, not the rocket scientists up at the top who have managed the circus into this farce where year after year of increasing attendance levels and price increases don't provide the revenue flow necessary to keep the front line CMs paid. You're welcome to explain away why this should be so. Don't expect me to line up, ready to take my spoonful of pixie dust and accept it.