I was pretty upset to see it go myself, but I understand the maneuver from a business perspective. On top of that I always remind myself that Walt did not want the parks to become museums and you shouldn't get in the way of progress. With that understanding it becomes a lot more palatable when they do make a maneuver (at least for me)
I think that's unlikely. The only other company that comes close to this experience is Universal. And, they do a very good job. But it not as though the Disney parks will start to look like Dollywood, let alone Cedar Fair/Six Flags.
I was 7 when I first rode GMT, shortly after the park opened. I did not see most of the movies until I was in college and took film class. And that was 25 years ago. GMR was still enjoyable, but it’s not hard for me to understand why it was so unpopular with younger people. The films they’re watching in film class today.. are probably the ones I grew up with.
I agree with you primarily, i just wouldn't say they're becoming another theme park. The amount of theming and storytelling is still going strong, it's possible people don't like the stories being told (par for the course lately) but compared to your run of the mill theme parks it's far superior
Yes! And more staff that actually WANTS to be there. We have run into more surly front line staff in the last few years than the prior few decades!
I agree about the staffing, the problem is that Florida minimum wage is $14.00 ($8.46 in 2019 which is roughly a 40% increase) so Disney has to drive up their rate of pay to actually entice people to work for them. This puts a wrench in hiring levels as they'd have to increase prices to bring in the same number of workers they had pre-pandemic which ultimately leads to people complaining that they are paying way more for at best the same value they used to get. Ultimately this isn't just a pandemic issue but became an issue because of the pandemic for sure.
I actually think the cast members are like that because they are dealing with a more and more demanding and angry public every day. Part of the extra demands placed on them by having a low staff to guest ratio means they are spread a little thin. The rising prices make guests feel more entitled and it makes guests feel justified about their bad behavior when things aren’t completely magical.
I think entitlement this day age is way more than a Disney issue, i wouldn't associate it with price it's more tightly woven into todays culture then ever before. I do agree that people are too demanding, and that Disney always (at least to me) had an unspoken contract with it's guests that everyone needed to pitch in to create that magic including guests, it just feels like today there's a lot of "dance puppet" in the parks aka people not treating cast members like people.
Most jobs at WDW are union and will pay at least $24 by next October. That’s pretty remarkable in Florida, which has long been known to have weak wages, especially in professional gigs. WDW employees will likely earn more than their DLR counterparts in the early years of their next contract.
I think these guests are just pure clowns and would bark at a one penny increase. No one is entitled to treat others badly no matter how much they pay.
Disney sets a labor budget, the unions can pressure them by raising wages. But for every action......
