[Referring to "New Coke."] It's only the most glaring example of bad decision making we've seen in recent years
It surely was NOT a bad decision. It was a very good decision that had an unpredicted negative outcome. BIG difference!!! And, both good decisions that have such remarkable negative outcomes, as well as radically bad decisions, are remarkably rare among the decisions made by world-class companies.
I feel like I have to put in my two cents. Since Universal implemented a similar plan, I have never gone back. I refuse to spend the kind of money a vacation costs to be treated like a second-class citizen. If Disney goes forward with this plan, I will not go back. As simple as that. You can talk about Disney being a company and that it is unreasonable for them not to consider profit. However, the Disney Empire is built on customer satisfaction.
I think you're not giving Universal Studios enough credit. While Disney has traditionally beaten Universal Studios in many respects, the reality is that many times in the past, Universal Studios has read the market a little better with respect to certain things, like thrill rides. While many Disney afficiantos lauded Disney's reserve in going that route, the reality is that Disney misread the market and lost some significant ground by failing to capitalize on what customers are willing to pay for. Indeed, that's really a good parallel. Many folks were very critical of Disney when they started adding thrill rides, yet it is clear that every thrill ride the add gains them back more and more of the market share they've lost. The customers are voting with their wallets, without much deference to what we long-term Disney fans want.
This system will alienate a lot of people and in the long run it will have a negative impact on their business.
I think some of the implementations we've discussed, such as providing FastPasses to deluxe resort guests, will attract a lot of people, and will have a positive impact on their business.
There is no real right or wrong answer here.
In terms of what people like and don't like, you're absolutely correct. Each person's personal preference is the "right answer" for them. For a business, by definition, the right answer is, of course, whatever best serves long-term shareholder value. That really highlights the inherent conflict between the consumer perspective and the business perspective. They're often contrary to each other. And that's really a key aspect of discussions like this -- keeping a clear distinction in our minds between what we like and don't like, versus between what's a good business decision and what's a bad business decision.
I made the point early on that somebody staying in a value for 2 weeks annually would spend more at WDW than someone staying in a deluxe for 1 week every 6 years. Your argument makes no sense.
Only if you look at it too narrowly. Ask yourself: What it the probability of any specific value resort guest doing as you suggest? Pretty low. On the average, deluxe resort guests probably spend more money than value resort guests. We're both guessing (although, I admit, I'm not really guessing <grin>), but the fact is that the professionals at Disney actually
know... so they can make the best decision from a position of authority, with respect to the available information about the customer-base.
There is the proof that you can find trash even in a deluxe resort 
How dare they lump value guests into one walk of life 
