nigel-bigel
I know I'm backing up a bit here, but you've got me curious. Please oh please, do tell us about the caste system Disney encourages!
I'll try. But I'm not very good at conveying this message. I have years and years of Ei$ner 'spin' to overcome.
Picture if you will
a vacation destination that was unlike any other in the world. A place that was built on one simple and elegant foundation. That of
quality. They built a theme park that was unequalled (with the exception of the original that it was modeled after). And they built resorts unlike any others in the world. They were elegantly themed. They were exotic. They were, in the very least, different.
These resorts set their own standards. It seemed as though they didn't even look at the rest of the industry. They just went on their own way, setting new standards in some areas, and disregarding other amenities that the 'industry' considered their standard.
Most important to remember about these resorts was the price. Cheap and expensive are very subjective terms. So while I would be hard pressed to call these resorts 'inexpensive' it should be noted that the 'industry' laughed at them for 'giving away the store' and as soon as Ei$ner & crew took over
significant price increases took place. On another thread YoHo ran the numbers and found that (if I'm not mistaken) the Poly in 1972 should be roughly the cost of the moderates (maybe a bit more) with inflation taken into account.
So! The question that comes to mind immediately is - Why! Why didn't they put up a tiered system to begin with? A quick look at the 'official' five year plan (not some obscure map that has a hastily written 'motel' on it) called for 'more of the same' only! One class of resort!! One type of service!! One price!! The only difference was theme. Again - why!?!?
Simple. They had only one standard. The 'Disney' standard. Nothing else mattered. It didn't matter what swanky New York Hotels were offering. It didn't matter what Marriott was doing. It didn't matter Motel 6 did or did not do. All that mattered was that it lived up to 'Disney' standards. I suppose a secondary consideration was that they didn't actually 'lose' money. But that was it!
Then Ei$ner took over. At a glance he saw lost potential. They were giving high end amenities at middle class prices! And the entire lower income group was totally excluded. His mission was to make it seem like a natural occurrence. What did he do? He threw out the 'original' plan. Then, over the next few years, he raised prices at the two WDW resorts to the point that it cut out most of the middle class! But wait!! They savior of the company came to the rescue!! He gave us the Caribbean Beach, for about the same cost that people had been paying for the Poly and Contemporary only a couple years before. And the people of the middle classed rejoiced!! ALL HAIL THE SAVIOR OF THE COMPANY!!
The Caribbean Beach. A very nice resort. I have stayed there. Very nice indeed. But wait! Is it really Disney? Where are the bell hops that drive you to your room? Where is the nice themed table service restaurant? Where are all those little, elegant Disney Touches? Ahhhh! I see! Those are now for a different class of people. And so the 'STANDARD' slips a little. But only a little.
A few years latter, again after steady price hikes slightly more than inflation, they introduced their economy version of Disney. Giant icons and bright paint took the place of a genuine theme. 'Lively' decorations replaced elegant Disney subtleties. And the Disney 'standard' takes yet another hit.
And if you still think that it wasn't a marketing strategy, a forced caste system, one more example. Remember how the Caribbean Beach had no table service restaurant and had only a food court? It was the first one built and the caste system that was to be hadn't been completely formulated. As typical with Ei$ner, he was shooting too low. That left him with very little room at the bottom to capture another market. So at the same time that the All Stars was being built, a table service restaurant was slipped into the Caribbean. There! That fixed it! A little more definition to clearly depict the differences within the caste system that he initiated.
Who stayed in the moderates? Couples who didn't want to spend a fortune, Retirees, honeymooners on a budget, middle income small families, and college students.
That previous quote from Baileymouse caught my eye. I ask you to change that first sentence to "Who stayed in Disney in 1972?" The rest of the paragraph can remain intact. Pretty cool, isn't it? Of course were talking about a time when Disney actually cared about their standards and didn't use them as a marketing ploy only. Or when forced to with their backs against the wall.
Gcurling writes:
My opinion is that WDW now offers on-site options to a wider variety of families.
I cannot deny that a certain segment of the population was excluded from Disney resorts as they were back in 1972. But!! But, I think were coming at this from two, mutually exclusive, points of view. The absolute, most important thing about Disney, to me, is the philosophy of the concept. The SHOW. The 'Standard'. And since Walt was forced into capitalism (I mean who doesn't like to eat?) he couldn't give it away.
I guess I look at it this way. One day Walt (or one of his Imagineers) thought up a concept. Be it CoP or Pirates or Tiki Birds the concept came first. Next he designed and built it according to what
he liked. And then he said, "People! I have built a new ride. It cost us a lot of money to build this thing, but it is really good. It has everything I wanted to see in it. I think you will like it too. But it is not free. It will cost you 90 cents (the cost of an e-ticket in the mid 1970's) to see it. Some of you may have been willing to pay much more, for even more things in it. And some of you may not be able to afford what we charge and would have liked us to build a lesser ride. But I couldn't build a lesser ride. This is what
I wanted. It is what
I liked. It is built to
my standards. And the price, I promise you, while not inexpensive, does not gouge you. Have fun!!"
The same could be said about the resorts. Walt would say, "I have built a resort! I think you will like it. It has all the things in it that are important to me. And I have taken great pains to price it a low as possible and
not what the market will bear. Everyone may not be able to afford it, but again, it is what
I like in a resort. It has all the amenities that
I think are important. It has
my name on it and that means that it will live up to the traditional standard that that name represents. Again, have fun!!!"
Had they stuck to the Deluxe-or-nothing plan, they'd have created a "haves v the havenots" system, which is much worse in my opinion.
Greg!! We still have that!! Believe it or not there are people in the world and in our own country that simply
cannot afford a stay in Disney, even in the economies. The only way to eliminate this problem is to make it free!! And we might have to provide travel as well!! Think what that would do to our stock prices!!!
Hey Nicole. Still love this stuff?
for quite some time on the concept of the "caste-system". My opinion is that WDW now offers on-site options to a wider variety of families. Had they stuck to the Deluxe-or-nothing plan, they'd have created a "haves v the havenots" system, which is much worse in my opinion.
