Do You think DISNEY has gone down hlll the last few years?

[LuluLovesDisney]

To topic title:

Nope ~ I think expectations have gone up.

I think there is too much:

"Why would Disney let it rain? Don't they know this is my vacation?"
"Do you know how much I paid for this vacation?"
"For what I paid to be here I should get 'X'"
"Why does that family get to do that? MY family should get that"
"Why are the rides so run down?"
"Why are the rides closed for refurbishment while I am there?"
"Disney should give 'X' away for free!"
"Disney should lower prices and give more free stuff!"

I guess for us ~ Disney is just as magical as we allow it to be while there.

It's about making the magic work for you.

But, except for the rides being in disrepair, not one of those complaints is a complain brought up by posters on this thread. This is a straw man argument, making it easier to knock down than our real argument.

I don't want anything free. I don't want more than another family. I want Disney to maintain the standards IT set for ITSELF.

How can Disney teach marketing classes to other company executives on customer service anymore? When I was a former CM in Traditions we learned things like if a piece of garbage was on the ground, the CM in that vicinity should pick it up immediately and there were so many custodial CMs that you never saw a mess for a long period of time and never overflowing garbage cans. This was even parodied on the WDW episode of Roseanne, where she tossed popcorn to see how fast the still-smiling CM could sweep it up. Since 1983 I never saw overflowing garbage cans until 2009. It is a change for the worse.

When I was a CM, I would often see the CMs we called Super Greeters. They walked around just to offer directions, give a little advice, make sure guests were happy. We used to have Guest Service Recovery cards. If someone dropped their popcorn or ice cream, they would have a new one for free and we would clean it up asap.

I haven't seen a SuperGreeter anywhere in the parks during my last 3 trips.

The "honey" smell on Winnie the Pooh is gone.
Resort specific merchandise is gone.
The Epcot Christmas lights and tree lighting ceremony are gone.
Prime rib and other items on the buffet that were widely enjoyed are gone.
Benches are being removed.
Portions are being reduced.
Holiday decorations are being reduced.

etc, etc.

I don't want to be family of the day or get anything for free. I just do not want Disney to take anything ELSE away. I mean at what point does it become impossible to ignore. If they decide that EMH is not profitable and they cut it out, is that ok? What if they got rid of the Dapper Dans? What if they reduced the parades to two days a week only? Or got rid of them entirely? What if they decided to close one of the four parks one day a week each to save money? What if they decided to remove the entertainment from 'Ohana to save money? What if they decided to charge extra for meeting Mickey and Minnie and autographs like some baseball players do? Is that ok? Business ethics and all? Is Disney still as magical as YOU make it?

NO. When Walt Disney said we need people to make that dream a reality he was talking about CAST MEMBERS not guests! Guests are there to enjoy the show.

All this talk about saving money is understandable given the economy, but we need to remember that this is not the heart of what made Disney great.

Quoted from http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/collection/insidestory/inside_1946c.html

Walt equipped the property with a red barn (modeled after his family's barn back in Marceline) with woodworking and machine tools. He also enlisted the aid of studio staffers like Roger Broggie, who had established the Disney Studio machine shop (and whose son is author Michael Broggie). He decided that it would be more exciting if the tunnel were shaped like an S -- so that riders wouldn't be able to see the light at the end when they entered it. One worker advised Walt that it would be cheaper to build the tunnel straight. "No," said Walt, in a classic Disney response, "it's cheaper not to do it at all."

and that doesn't mean I think they should save money by removing the railroad, either.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Wouldn't it be neat to see Mr. Iger and other brass at Disney do the show 'Undercover Boss' ? They might just learn a thing or two about the empire they manage.

My dad and I said this the first time we saw the show. I would LOVE that.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I don't want anything free. I don't want more than another family. I want Disney to maintain the standards IT set for ITSELF.


NO. When Walt Disney said we need people to make that dream a reality he was talking about CAST MEMBERS not guests! Guests are there to enjoy the show.

All this talk about saving money is understandable given the economy, but we need to remember that this is not the heart of what made Disney great.

Lulu..You're entire post was spot on, but I especially loved these comments!

 

[luckyprincess]

*
Isn't that what Disney is all about? Heck, how bout they just don't decorate at all for the holidays, especially Christmas! Boy, they can save a lot of CASH! Your rebutal is ludicrous at best. Disney is known for their holiday decorations. Christmas is their highest attendance crowd, why wouldn't they not put the lights of winter up at EPCOT? What, to save money to pay workers to erect the lights? Your argument makes no sense at all! Disney is MAGICAL right? They have raised the bar years ago!

 

[Tiger926]

But, except for the rides being in disrepair, not one of those complaints is a complain brought up by posters on this thread. This is a straw man argument, making it easier to knock down than our real argument.

I don't want anything free. I don't want more than another family. I want Disney to maintain the standards IT set for ITSELF.

How can Disney teach marketing classes to other company executives on customer service anymore? When I was a former CM in Traditions we learned things like if a piece of garbage was on the ground, the CM in that vicinity should pick it up immediately and there were so many custodial CMs that you never saw a mess for a long period of time and never overflowing garbage cans. This was even parodied on the WDW episode of Roseanne, where she tossed popcorn to see how fast the still-smiling CM could sweep it up. Since 1983 I never saw overflowing garbage cans until 2009. It is a change for the worse.

When I was a CM, I would often see the CMs we called Super Greeters. They walked around just to offer directions, give a little advice, make sure guests were happy. We used to have Guest Service Recovery cards. If someone dropped their popcorn or ice cream, they would have a new one for free and we would clean it up asap.

I haven't seen a SuperGreeter anywhere in the parks during my last 3 trips.

The "honey" smell on Winnie the Pooh is gone.
Resort specific merchandise is gone.
The Epcot Christmas lights and tree lighting ceremony are gone.
Prime rib and other items on the buffet that were widely enjoyed are gone.
Benches are being removed.
Portions are being reduced.
Holiday decorations are being reduced.

etc, etc.

I don't want to be family of the day or get anything for free. I just do not want Disney to take anything ELSE away. I mean at what point does it become impossible to ignore. If they decide that EMH is not profitable and they cut it out, is that ok? What if they got rid of the Dapper Dans? What if they reduced the parades to two days a week only? Or got rid of them entirely? What if they decided to close one of the four parks one day a week each to save money? What if they decided to remove the entertainment from 'Ohana to save money? What if they decided to charge extra for meeting Mickey and Minnie and autographs like some baseball players do? Is that ok? Business ethics and all? Is Disney still as magical as YOU make it?

NO. When Walt Disney said we need people to make that dream a reality he was talking about CAST MEMBERS not guests! Guests are there to enjoy the show.

All this talk about saving money is understandable given the economy, but we need to remember that this is not the heart of what made Disney great.

Quoted from http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/collection/insidestory/inside_1946c.html

Walt equipped the property with a red barn (modeled after his family's barn back in Marceline) with woodworking and machine tools. He also enlisted the aid of studio staffers like Roger Broggie, who had established the Disney Studio machine shop (and whose son is author Michael Broggie). He decided that it would be more exciting if the tunnel were shaped like an S -- so that riders wouldn't be able to see the light at the end when they entered it. One worker advised Walt that it would be cheaper to build the tunnel straight. "No," said Walt, in a classic Disney response, "it's cheaper not to do it at all."

and that doesn't mean I think they should save money by removing the railroad, either.

Excellent post! Tiger

 

[Suellen]

What I am saying is THAT kind of attitude is ALL around at Disney. Hearing those complaints is the only thing that takes magic away for me. For the most part I fluff it off ~ but it is annoying to hear over and over while we are enjoying ourselves.

All of the things you mention are missing that USED to be there costs money.

With all the discounts Disney is offering to get people through the door ~ "some" of the money is not there to be spent on those things.

Free dining? Room discounts? Free Gift Cards? Who books a trip without one of those things anymore? No one. At least no one with 1/2 a clue.

IMHO they should do away with these gimmicks and have straight pricing.

As far as super greeters ~ I have not heard that term before BTW ~ we see them all the time. We have been asked if we need help finding anything, had someone escort us down to First Aid when my daughter scraped her knee, phone call to the room by management after check in to make sure the room is okay, a CM help us pick the perfect firework spot, run up for get my daughters "autograph". Just to name a few things.

 

[brunette8706]

But, except for the rides being in disrepair, not one of those complaints is a complain brought up by posters on this thread. This is a straw man argument, making it easier to knock down than our real argument.

I don't want anything free. I don't want more than another family. I want Disney to maintain the standards IT set for ITSELF.

How can Disney teach marketing classes to other company executives on customer service anymore? When I was a former CM in Traditions we learned things like if a piece of garbage was on the ground, the CM in that vicinity should pick it up immediately and there were so many custodial CMs that you never saw a mess for a long period of time and never overflowing garbage cans. This was even parodied on the WDW episode of Roseanne, where she tossed popcorn to see how fast the still-smiling CM could sweep it up. Since 1983 I never saw overflowing garbage cans until 2009. It is a change for the worse.

When I was a CM, I would often see the CMs we called Super Greeters. They walked around just to offer directions, give a little advice, make sure guests were happy. We used to have Guest Service Recovery cards. If someone dropped their popcorn or ice cream, they would have a new one for free and we would clean it up asap.

I haven't seen a SuperGreeter anywhere in the parks during my last 3 trips.

The "honey" smell on Winnie the Pooh is gone.
Resort specific merchandise is gone.
The Epcot Christmas lights and tree lighting ceremony are gone.
Prime rib and other items on the buffet that were widely enjoyed are gone.
Benches are being removed.
Portions are being reduced.
Holiday decorations are being reduced.

etc, etc.

I don't want to be family of the day or get anything for free. I just do not want Disney to take anything ELSE away. I mean at what point does it become impossible to ignore. If they decide that EMH is not profitable and they cut it out, is that ok? What if they got rid of the Dapper Dans? What if they reduced the parades to two days a week only? Or got rid of them entirely? What if they decided to close one of the four parks one day a week each to save money? What if they decided to remove the entertainment from 'Ohana to save money? What if they decided to charge extra for meeting Mickey and Minnie and autographs like some baseball players do? Is that ok? Business ethics and all? Is Disney still as magical as YOU make it?

NO. When Walt Disney said we need people to make that dream a reality he was talking about CAST MEMBERS not guests! Guests are there to enjoy the show.

All this talk about saving money is understandable given the economy, but we need to remember that this is not the heart of what made Disney great.

Quoted from http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/collection/insidestory/inside_1946c.html

Walt equipped the property with a red barn (modeled after his family's barn back in Marceline) with woodworking and machine tools. He also enlisted the aid of studio staffers like Roger Broggie, who had established the Disney Studio machine shop (and whose son is author Michael Broggie). He decided that it would be more exciting if the tunnel were shaped like an S -- so that riders wouldn't be able to see the light at the end when they entered it. One worker advised Walt that it would be cheaper to build the tunnel straight. "No," said Walt, in a classic Disney response, [B]"it's cheaper not to do it at all.[/B]"and that doesn't mean I think they should save money by removing the railroad, either.

**
HI! GREAT POST~ I especially liked your comment in RED!

 

[KellyNY]

When Walt Disney said we need people to make that dream a reality he was talking about CAST MEMBERS not guests! Guests are there to enjoy the show.

Love it.

 

[si-am]

It seems to me that no one is really saying that Disney has lost its magic. Yes, Disney is still magical. It's still an awesome and fun place to vacation. If it weren't, none of us would still be going.

What we are saying is that cutbacks are starting to be noticeable. No one can deny the cutbacks.

So for those of us who HAVE been going for years, it's just not the same magic as before and it seems like we're paying more and more money for less and less magic.

 

[brunette8706]

It seems to me that no one is really saying that Disney has lost its magic. Yes, Disney is still magical. It's still an awesome and fun place to vacation. If it weren't, none of us would still be going.

What we are saying is that cutbacks are starting to be noticeable. No one can deny the cutbacks.

So for those of us who HAVE been going for years, it's just not the same magic as before and it seems like we're paying more and more money for less and less magic.

*
Very simplistic and well stated! You're EXACTLY RIGHT!


brunette

 

[Planogirl]

Not true. Every time Disney raised its prices, Universal raised as well. Not every category changes every year -- some years only AP rates increase, sometimes it's only one-day tickets. But there has never been a year where Disney raised a price that Universal didn't counter. It costs exactly the same for a single day at Universal as it does for a single day at Disney. If Universal wasn't raising prices to keep pace, it would cost less to visit Universal. The two parks have kept pace with each other all along.

I beg to differ. Up to this year I enjoyed the $99 for 7 days that Universal offered on a regular basis. It's been a while since Disney offered anything similar.

But again, that's irrelevant IMO. Disney shouldn't ever worry about what others do but take care of their own standards.

 

[brunette8706]

**
Hi! Haven't seen ya in a while! Glad you popped in again!

Brunette

 

[brunette8706]

I beg to differ. Up to this year I enjoyed the $99 for 7 days that Universal offered on a regular basis. It's been a while since Disney offered anything similar.

But again, that's irrelevant IMO. Disney shouldn't ever worry about what others do but take care of their own standards.

**
Exactly! That's what I was trying to convey. Universal always had great ticket specials!

 

[Planogirl]

I've been told by a few people who supposedly understand business that complaints are taken quite seriously for several reasons. One, it is assumed that a few verbal complaints usually indicate many more that feel the same way since most people don't say anything. Also, word of mouth is powerful particularly in the Internet age. Finally, Disney has the reputation of making people happy and even a small group being unhappy about things flies in the face of that.

Personally, I like WDW. I don't like it as much as I once did but I still like it. It's worth less to me so we stay offsite and just enjoy the parks. That's only my view but it's just as relevant as anyone else's IMO.

 

[Donut23]

Different departments were definitely affected in different ways. I'm sorry your husband's seemed to have taken more of a hit.

Thank you. It was not just salaried jobs.

DH has seen a great deal of change, good and bad, in 32 years!

 

[luckyprincess]

**
Hi! Haven't seen ya in a while! Glad you popped in again!

Brunette

Hi! I've been lurking I am so tired of the 'Disney can do whatever they want, don't buy a ticket if you don't like it' nonsense drivel - not just in this thread, either! Some people have seriously drank some Kool-Aid and it gets a little silly sometimes.
Anyway.....I leave in 3 days and am sooo excited!!

 

[Donut23]

"Perception is one's own reality". It depends on the view. A front-line CM will often disagree with the opinion of management... both may have valid points.

You are absolutely right. Perception IS often different betwen the "boots on the ground people....paws on the ground when it comes to Tigger and Chip".......and management. That problem is not exclusive to Disney...it's corporation wide, sadly.


...but we were discussing layoffs. That is not perception, that is an actual number.

 

[Donut23]

Here's my personal breakdown:

IMO cast member friendliness/effort is as good as it used to be. Personally I haven't had a single bad cast member interaction in several trips, and many go out of their way to help you have a good time.

Park and resort cleanliness seem ok to me.

Personally I've had a lot of trouble with Disney transportation the past couple trips. I feel like wait times for buses have gotten much longer. Of course, if this is true I'm sure it's due to the state of the U.S. economy, and I can't fault Disney too much for that.

My one (very) personal gripe about Disney over the past few years is that I feel the quality of new rides/attractions has gone downhill (with some notable exceptions). I may be alone in this, but they just don't seem to capture the same kind of 'magic' that they used to. Toy Story Mania just feels like being carted in front of a bunch of flat-screen TVs to me, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor uses some cool technology but seems rushed, Aladdin's Carpets are a Dumbo knock-off, the new Figment feels sort of bare. To me, a good Disney attraction really immerses you into everything (ie: Pirates of the Carribean, the original Journey into Imaginion, heck even Maelstrom). I feel like a lot of that's been sacrificed in order to cut costs.

Still, if I'm alone in thinking that then no, Disney hasn't gone too downhill in my opinion.

I have a few examples in my back pocket but I need only list one example for you.

Betty, the Yeti, centerpiece of a great ride. For those of us who got to take a SWING at Betty....we still miss her and all of her PMS vs. new Stepford-Disco Betty.

 

[Donut23]

It seems to me that no one is really saying that Disney has lost its magic. Yes, Disney is still magical. It's still an awesome and fun place to vacation. If it weren't, none of us would still be going.

What we are saying is that cutbacks are starting to be noticeable. No one can deny the cutbacks.

So for those of us who HAVE been going for years, it's just not the same magic as before and it seems like we're paying more and more money for less and less magic.

Bravo!

You have taken 60+ pages of discussion, cut through some name calling, long rambling posts (OK, that's ME) and said in 7 sentances what we have been trying to explain.

Thank you!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

It seems to me that no one is really saying that Disney has lost its magic. Yes, Disney is still magical. It's still an awesome and fun place to vacation. If it weren't, none of us would still be going.

What we are saying is that cutbacks are starting to be noticeable. No one can deny the cutbacks.

So for those of us who HAVE been going for years, it's just not the same magic as before and it seems like we're paying more and more money for less and less magic.

But you appear to be speaking for everyone who has been going for years. You discount many of us who have been going nearly yearly or more for 24 years. What right do you have to assume how anyone but a handful of dissers feel? I am fine and dandy with the magic. Thanks. Do things cost more? Yep. Here there, and everywhere.

As for koolaid, that is such a stupid saying. I don't put my faith in anyone or any company on this planet, and that is what the koolaid was all about.