FYI: More Cuts Coming

[rteetz]

That's what I heard too. And that's why I'm cautiously optimistic.

I guess in CA they just assume everyone has a smart phone.

They did start allowing you to use your phone as your AP.

 

[rteetz]

Not yet..

I don't think it will get that bad.

 

[mom2rtk]

They did start allowing you to use your phone as your AP.

And I could have had my Halloween party tickets on my phone last year.

 

[rteetz]

Which park though?

Because they said the cuts here were a result of cost overruns in Shanghai.

And MyMagic+ along with some avatar costs as icing on the cake.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Which park though?

Because they said the cuts here were a result of cost overruns in Shanghai.

It was poor planning financially that led to a holistic decline in funds. It's like setting a budget. Let's say every month you plan on spending $1,000 on rent, $50 on coffee, $200 on food, have $300 for going out or buying stuff and you put away, let's say, $800 profit. A total of $2,350. Now, let's say your TV goes. You need a new bright and shiny tv so you can continue to compete with your neighbor, Mr. Universal, who has been throwing some awesome super bowl parties. The TV costs $1,800. Suddenly, you can't afford to buy coffee every day or go out every weekend. You barely make rent. But... everyone wants to come to your house for the game. They offer to chip in a dollar or two every time they come over. Over time, you're gonna make that money back.

Not the best analogy, but I think it proves the point.

What Disney did was very stupid from a financial standpoint. They dipped into other parks because they planned this huge grandiose park and didn't have the money to spend on it. Maybe they should have taken a trip on Spaceship Earth to learn that Rome wasn't built in a day. What I meant by the parks was all the parks - eventually they'll make their money back - probably right in time for 2017/2018 or so. Or - Shanghai will be a huge failure and we'll see more cuts. Who really knows. I'd like to think things will work out.

 

[ArwenMarie]

One - The maid service was abysmal. Granted, this can happen at any resort, but our room was dirty most of the time. The rug was riddled with crumbs, the windowsill had dead bugs and most of the furniture was covered in dust. I tend to remember that maids only vacuum on your 4th day there (or something like that). We complained once and it was no better the next day. After 4 days there, we complained. The maid stormed into our room and was very nasty with us. Does that have to do anything with the cuts? Maybe, maybe not. The rooms being dirty could just be a bad maid, a bad day at the park, or an oversight. It may also be a result of less maids, meaning quicker turnover in rooms, meaning less attention to detail, which leads to dirtier rooms. I'd say the main thing pointing to this is the lack of towel animals. It used to be a given - you would get a towel animal almost every time. Now? No more. My only guess is that it takes too much time to do these animals and with a shortened staff, they cut the animals to cover more rooms.

I've stayed at many resorts on and offsite and offsite has better housekeeping, comparing similar levels of hotels. I don't think WDW is staffing housekeeping properly for the amount of rooms and occupancy they have at WDW. I see the bare minimum being done, bathrooms and sheets.

Now that you mention it, I've never seen or heard a real vacuum cleaner at any of the Disney resorts I have stayed at. I've seen those rolley things from the 70s that my mom used to use to pick up crumbs from the carpet.

 

[norjack]

Could they perhaps begin planning on saving money by cutting back on regional staff in the world pavillion? I'm not sure what they are doing this year, but I know Swedes and Danes that have worked in Norway. Maybe they will continue making changes here as well. I'm not sure about what they have done in the other countries, but I can confirm this.

Not saying necessarily this is a bad thing, but since they are really starting to phase out a few of the real things that were actually there, it would make sense to not go to great lengths to fully staff each pavillion with actual people from those countries, either. I am curious how Epcot will look in a few years. I knew they would start making changes, but I would hope there would be a common thread to them at least.

 

[larryz]

What Disney did was very stupid from a financial standpoint. They dipped into other parks because they planned this huge grandiose park and didn't have the money to spend on it.

And yet they found the money to give the CEO over $100 million in stock and bonuses over the last 5 years. Who knows how much other execs' bonuses siphoned out of the company...

Besides, I thought that's why they were doing the joint venture... to share the cost and risk...

 

[norjack]

People keep referring to the increased use of mobile phones, but in its current state that is a poor solution as well (security/battery). Here in Europe it is common that our banking, travel, and most commerce are completely online (no physical bank, travel agency, or for example electronics stores in my area, as many have all shut down in favor of wholly online websites.) with phones being used as the main conduit for conducting business and pleasure. Problem is, battery times are so poor, and there are so many with half-baked/protected OS that in its current state, it's not really a safe or feasible idea to use a mobile phone instead of a magic band. It would be a huge hassle in so many ways. I use my phone all the time, but there needs to be huge strides before I can use it like cash or a card. Yeah, I do use various apps for a few small things, but even they are prone to problems. I cannot imagine Disney IT trying to help everyone use their service with their various phones. Seems like a nightmare waiting to happen.

 

[JimmyV]

I get WS was positioned as a cultural exhibit. But that wasn't Walts original vision and it didn't work out.

I disagree with your foundational premise in bold. I agree that WS did not open up in a manner consistent with Walt's original vision. But I disagree that what they created "didn't work out." I simply don't see any evidence of that. Now, if you want to argue that Future World "didn't work out", you'd get far less resistance. But WS is immensely popular and seems to be growing in popularity rather than waning. And of all the pavilions that deserved a do over, Norway would have been toward the bottom of that list.....until Frozen Incorporated came along. Norway (along with Japan as you correctly noted), was one of the few pavilions that actually contained some semblance of history and culture. And add to that, it had a popular ride. A good argument could be made that the combination of the Stave Church, the Viking Ship, the ride, the store featuring gorgeous Helly Hansen clothing, and a popular restaurant made Norway the single best example of what the rest of WS should have strived to become. There is/was no other pavilion that had the critical combination of history, food, culture and a ride. It simply cannot be credibly argued that WS "didn't work out", or that Norway was at the bottom of the WS pack and was in dire need of being plowed under. Frankly, if Norway deserved that treatment, then each and every other pavilion should receive the same treatment with a Disney movie serving as the base for re-do. Can't wait for "Brother Bear Land" to take over Canada and "Mulan Land" to take over China.

 

[ParrotBill]

I don't get this. They've been pushing DVC, and we still hear talk of new buildings. And DVC clearly isn't for 1st time visitors.

Even DVC isn't immune... it is supposed to be self-funding and with long ROI on new resorts they have begun converting portions or doing add-ons with existing resorts instead. We've learned to expect new building to be like the Poly - rebuilds on existing infrastructure more than new structures.

I believe most timeshares let you go to other destinations. DVC works with RCI, and RCI has over 6000 resorts worldwide. That's a lot of timeshares all on the same exchange.

Disney, along with Marriott and one other that escapes me is credited with re-inventing timesharing. The rest of the industry was dying after high pressure sales and poor upkeep damaged the timeshare idea.

How, exactly, does eliminating FPs for Wishes and/or Illuminations save any money? And if it does save the company money, can it be enough of a savings to make any sort of difference? Are we talking about cutting back one hour each from the schedules of 10 employees who make $9/hour for a total of $90 per day, or is there some other significant savings that I am not seeing? I could see how eliminating Wishes would save tens of thousands of dollars per day, but I can't see how eliminating a FP for it saves anything that approaches $1,000. I must be missing something.

I think people are interpreting lack of FP availability as canceling this. Not sure any hard evidence has been produced. My interpretation is they have not decided on the schedule and are holding back from releasing FP until they decide. They don't want to have thousands of FP scheduled and then cancel some shows. Big customer service uproar because you cannot get "E ticket" replacements for these on short notice. Canceling shows saves a LOT of money - fireworks, actors, and crowd control labor hours. And in many cases you can cut the park's open hours back by canceling a show.

On the earlier discussion about how Disney markets - I agree the commercials all seem to be geared to the first timer - but they work on frequent visitors too because it turns on the Disney chemical in our brains and makes us go plan our next visit. I think Disney know the annual visitors are bread and butter - and they feel they don't need to market to them. I bet research shows marketing is a waste of money, we go back no matter what. Especially those of us with APs and in DVC.

Add me to the crowd now re-thinking if we will go in August as planned. We have to go in summer due to school - and it's always crowded. I rely on a late show to be available and EMH to reduce crowds. We have a short visit coming up in April and I may use that visit to see if it's noticeable.

 

[JimmyV]

I think people are interpreting lack of FP availability as canceling this.

I don't think this is true at all. Everyone (at least here) seems well in tune with the fact that FPs are no longer available for certain Parades and Fireworks shows, and that the total number of fireworks shows have been reduced. As stated in the article that kicked this all off:

Entertainment cuts are coming as well, such as the removal of the 2nd Fantasmic! show on evenings until Easter week and only one nightly performance of the Main Street Electrical Parade through the entire month

 

[ParrotBill]

I don't think this is true at all. Everyone (at least here) seems well in tune with the fact that FPs are no longer available for certain Parades and Fireworks shows, and that the total number of fireworks shows have been reduced. As stated in the article that kicked this all off:

No no, I am speaking to idea that FP+ was cut from shows; not that the shows are being cut. FP availability is often held back. I have often made my FP for a trip finding that I could not schedule FP for shows and parades until just 1 or 2 months prior to the date so I had to rearrange things. Nowhere do we have an actual confirmation that FP+ has been eliminated as a service from shows and parades. It could be happening but we'll need to see people on the ground confirm that it has been eliminated in the coming months.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I don't think it will get that bad.

We've visited regularly for 36 years. I never thought it would get this bad and the hits keep coming.. The difference is unbelievable. The cuts, increases, etc. have enticed us to vacation elsewhere, especially Europe. It's cheaper and get way more bang for my buck.

 

[Robo]

We've visited regularly for 36 years. I never thought it would get this bad and the hits keep coming.. The difference is unbelievable.

Sadly, I have to agree.

Why are they making every effort on the planet to TRASH their TREASURES?

In psychoanalytical terms, this would be a classic case of the patient becoming increasingly self-destructive.

 

[jbharr1]

Disney's been sliding from theme park to amusement park for a while....thanks to Iger.

must not have been around for the Ei$ner years....

here's a sample from 2001 where the boards were predicting the demise of WDW because summer hours were being cut and by cut they mean MK not open until midnight every day.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/rumored-park-hours.2289/
and
http://www.disboards.com/threads/ok-here-is-the-park-hour-comparison-june-2001-v-june-2000.26120/

Go back and read some of the threads on the rumors boards from that time. I remember lots of consternation about cuts to park hours and the failures of DCA and AK. WDW was dying while USF was charging.

anyway, point is that while cuts are never easy, this isn't unique. and certainly not an Iger thing. Doesn't anyone remember the save disney campaign back in 2003, 2004?

 

[Robo]

must not have been around for the Ei$ner years....

here's a sample from 2001 where the boards were predicting the demise of WDW because summer hours were being cut and by cut they mean MK not open until midnight every day.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/rumored-park-hours.2289/
and
http://www.disboards.com/threads/ok-here-is-the-park-hour-comparison-june-2001-v-june-2000.26120/

Go back and read some of the threads on the rumors boards from that time. I remember lots of consternation about cuts to park hours and the failures of DCA and AK. WDW was dying while USF was charging.

anyway, point is that while cuts are never easy, this isn't unique. and certainly not an Iger thing. Doesn't anyone remember the save disney campaign back in 2003, 2004?

Things are far worse now.
The point is that when they were complaining that things were getting bad back then,
they were RIGHT.
With the exception of the reworking of DCA, park conditions continue to get worse and worse,

 

[TLSnell1981]

must not have been around for the Ei$ner years....

here's a sample from 2001 where the boards were predicting the demise of WDW because summer hours were being cut and by cut they mean MK not open until midnight every day.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/rumored-park-hours.2289/
and
http://www.disboards.com/threads/ok-here-is-the-park-hour-comparison-june-2001-v-june-2000.26120/

Go back and read some of the threads on the rumors boards from that time. I remember lots of consternation about cuts to park hours and the failures of DCA and AK. WDW was dying while USF was charging.

anyway, point is that while cuts are never easy, this isn't unique. and certainly not an Iger thing. Doesn't anyone remember the save disney campaign back in 2003, 2004?

I was around and wasn't thrilled with Eisner, but Iger makes him look like a Saint! And, dining improved immensely under Eisner.

 

[jpeden]

So, I sent this email to a whole host of Disney execs this morning:

Good Morning,

I want to start this email out by saying that both my wife and I love Walt Disney World. In fact, we went to Walt Disney World three times last year, spending a total of ten days in all four of the theme parks. We spent our anniversary last year at Animal Kingdom Lodge and for our Christmas present to each other, we took a trip the week after Thanksgiving to Walt Disney World to see the Osborne Lights one last time, where we stayed at the Polynesian. I say this to show that I am no novice when it comes to visiting the Walt Disney World Resort.

While over the years there have been a number of exciting things that have happened to improve guest experiences at Walt Disney World (including the additions in New Fantsyland, the expansion of the Food and Wine Festival, and My Magic Plus), it has come to the attention of not only myself, but also of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of other Disney fans that recently Parks and Resorts has decided to implement massive staff reductions, layoffs, and a significant reduction in entertainment options in the theme parks in Florida. The removal of characters such as Chip and Dale, Pooh and Tigger, and Aurora in EPCOT was a shock to many people. And while they're rumored to be replaced with other characters, these are timeless, classic Disney standards that people expect to see when they visit. On top of that, we have seen the removal of the Wicked Stepmother in the Magic Kingdom, and a large reduction in front-of-the-line staff throughout the resorts and the park itself. On top of all of this, we have seen a reduction in the number of Main Street Electrical Parades that are to be run this spring and summer in the parks, along with the elimination for the time being of the 2nd showing of Fantasmic! All of this at a time when the Walt Disney Company has recorded record profits, and has had substantial growth in revenue and profit in the Parks and Resorts Division.

It is disheartening to see that the executives of Disney believe that as guests, we should continually pay more and receive less service. For example, on our trip in November, we had an issue where a package that was supposed to be delivered to our resort did not arrive on time. Due to the fact that we were scheduled to depart the next morning, the manager on duty at the Polynesian said that they would have the package sent to our room. When we arrived back from the Christmas Party that night, the package was not there. I spent the next hour (well past 1:00AM) discussing this with the front desk staff at the Polynesian. When I asked to speak with the manager on duty, I was told that there was no night manager on duty - a fact that I know to be not true, because I turned around and called Guest Services. The wonderful Cast Member at Guest Services offered to call the hotel and have the night manager come speak with me, but at that point I just wanted to go to bed. We did discuss this issue at length with the manager on duty the next morning before we left, but in no way would I ever have been expected to be told that I could not speak to a manager about an issue at a Disney Resort.

The reality of the matter is that as repeat visitors of Walt Disney World, we have come to feel not valued by the Walt Disney Company. Sure, our hard-earned vacation money goes into your company's bottom line and onto the P&L sheets, but the reality is that we are no longer the demographic that you concern yourselves with - as repeat customers, you know we will most likely come back. Disney is now focused on the "one-and-done" or "once-in-a-lifetime" customer who comes once, has a great time, and never comes again. These types of guest don't know or notice that a parade has been cut from the Magic Kingdom, or that the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios used to have daily parades. This guest doesn't realize when the bathrooms in the park are not as clean as they used to be, because Disney has reduced custodial staff. They don't know that gift shops used to open when the park opened, allowing guests to have a quieter and more relaxed time to shop and send items back to their hotel. They don't realize that we wait longer in lines, pay more for food and tickets, and get less and less service and "magic" from staying on property - because they have no baseline to compare their stay with.

These staffing reductions and entertainment cuts have concerned me and my family so much, that we have decided that we will not be visiting Walt Disney World this year, and we cancelled our planning for a vacation to Disney in the first quarter of 2017. In all honesty, I am not comfortable in expending my hard earned capital, just so that Disney can keep more of theirs and provide me with a lesser experience. All of this coming on (and I emphasize this again, even though you are all aware of the fact) that The Walt Disney Company (including Parks and Resorts) broke record revenue and profit margins last year, while CEO Bob Iger received $44.9 Million in 2015, with a $22.3 Million dollar bonus. Let me be clear, I do not begrudge Mr. Iger or his compensation package - as a free market fundamentalist, I believe that if the market demands he get paid that, then so be it. He has a highly complicated and stressful job. But, that is not the point. The point to be made is a company that can afford a $22.3 million dollar bonus (whether in cash, or stock options, or a mix of those and any other benefits) can afford to not cut labor by 20% when most of those are making close to minimum wage in Central Florida. Meanwhile, Mr. Iger, with total combined compensation, brings home over $860,000.00 - a week.

There have been a number of rumors floated that these cuts are due to budget overruns at Shanghai Disneyland and due to the loss of money because of the closing of Disneyland Paris after the attacks in Paris earlier this year, along with attempts to re-coup some of the estimated $2 billion + spent on My Magic Plus (which by the way, is pretty awesome - kudos to you guys for coming up with that one - seriously). Regardless of the reasons, it plays out with longtime Disney loyalist as nothing more than corporate greed. It is hard to justify these extreme measures to guests when Disney has made record profits, along with consistent price increases. For example, a four-day park hopper in 1995 when I first visited as a child would have cost my parents $137.00 for each adult. Adjusted for inflation, that ticket would now cost $212.98. In 2016, a four-day park hopper for an adult now costs $392.99 - which is almost double the rate of inflation. While we may not be the target audience for Disney World vacations anymore, we notice these type of things, and we do not feel as if Disney cares anymore.

I have gone on in this email for long enough, and I could continue but I believe that I have tried to explain my concerns in a respectful, but firm tone. While I'm not expecting a response or any action to occur from this email, I would be greatly appreciative if a response was received. Until we see how all of these new actions by Disney level out, we most likely will not be returning to the parks. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Walt Disney, which I think this company needs to take to heart more often:

"I knew if this business was ever to get anywhere, if this business was ever to grow, it could never do it by having to answer to someone unsympathetic to its possibilities, by having to answer to someone with only one thought or interest, namely profits. For my idea of how to make profits has differed greatly from those who generally control businesses such as ours. I have blind faith in the policy that quality, tempered with good judgment and showmanship, will win against all odds."

Sincerely,
Jared

While I don't know what will come of it, I've already received a phone call (and voice-mail) from George Kalogridis' assistant. I plan on calling her back in a few minutes. I'll be interested to see what she has to say. I was honestly shocked that I received a response, much less a phone call within five hours of sending that email.

 

[rteetz]

So, I sent this email to a whole host of Disney execs this morning:

Good Morning,

I want to start this email out by saying that both my wife and I love Walt Disney World. In fact, we went to Walt Disney World three times last year, spending a total of ten days in all four of the theme parks. We spent our anniversary last year at Animal Kingdom Lodge and for our Christmas present to each other, we took a trip the week after Thanksgiving to Walt Disney World to see the Osborne Lights one last time, where we stayed at the Polynesian. I say this to show that I am no novice when it comes to visiting the Walt Disney World Resort.

While over the years there have been a number of exciting things that have happened to improve guest experiences at Walt Disney World (including the additions in New Fantsyland, the expansion of the Food and Wine Festival, and My Magic Plus), it has come to the attention of not only myself, but also of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of other Disney fans that recently Parks and Resorts has decided to implement massive staff reductions, layoffs, and a significant reduction in entertainment options in the theme parks in Florida. The removal of characters such as Chip and Dale, Pooh and Tigger, and Aurora in EPCOT was a shock to many people. And while they're rumored to be replaced with other characters, these are timeless, classic Disney standards that people expect to see when they visit. On top of that, we have seen the removal of the Wicked Stepmother in the Magic Kingdom, and a large reduction in front-of-the-line staff throughout the resorts and the park itself. On top of all of this, we have seen a reduction in the number of Main Street Electrical Parades that are to be run this spring and summer in the parks, along with the elimination for the time being of the 2nd showing of Fantasmic! All of this at a time when the Walt Disney Company has recorded record profits, and has had substantial growth in revenue and profit in the Parks and Resorts Division.

It is disheartening to see that the executives of Disney believe that as guests, we should continually pay more and receive less service. For example, on our trip in November, we had an issue where a package that was supposed to be delivered to our resort did not arrive on time. Due to the fact that we were scheduled to depart the next morning, the manager on duty at the Polynesian said that they would have the package sent to our room. When we arrived back from the Christmas Party that night, the package was not there. I spent the next hour (well past 1:00AM) discussing this with the front desk staff at the Polynesian. When I asked to speak with the manager on duty, I was told that there was no night manager on duty - a fact that I know to be not true, because I turned around and called Guest Services. The wonderful Cast Member at Guest Services offered to call the hotel and have the night manager come speak with me, but at that point I just wanted to go to bed. We did discuss this issue at length with the manager on duty the next morning before we left, but in no way would I ever have been expected to be told that I could not speak to a manager about an issue at a Disney Resort.

The reality of the matter is that as repeat visitors of Walt Disney World, we have come to feel not valued by the Walt Disney Company. Sure, our hard-earned vacation money goes into your company's bottom line and onto the P&L sheets, but the reality is that we are no longer the demographic that you concern yourselves with - as repeat customers, you know we will most likely come back. Disney is now focused on the "one-and-done" or "once-in-a-lifetime" customer who comes once, has a great time, and never comes again. These types of guest don't know or notice that a parade has been cut from the Magic Kingdom, or that the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios used to have daily parades. This guest doesn't realize when the bathrooms in the park are not as clean as they used to be, because Disney has reduced custodial staff. They don't know that gift shops used to open when the park opened, allowing guests to have a quieter and more relaxed time to shop and send items back to their hotel. They don't realize that we wait longer in lines, pay more for food and tickets, and get less and less service and "magic" from staying on property - because they have no baseline to compare their stay with.

These staffing reductions and entertainment cuts have concerned me and my family so much, that we have decided that we will not be visiting Walt Disney World this year, and we cancelled our planning for a vacation to Disney in the first quarter of 2017. In all honesty, I am not comfortable in expending my hard earned capital, just so that Disney can keep more of theirs and provide me with a lesser experience. All of this coming on (and I emphasize this again, even though you are all aware of the fact) that The Walt Disney Company (including Parks and Resorts) broke record revenue and profit margins last year, while CEO Bob Iger received $44.9 Million in 2015, with a $22.3 Million dollar bonus. Let me be clear, I do not begrudge Mr. Iger or his compensation package - as a free market fundamentalist, I believe that if the market demands he get paid that, then so be it. He has a highly complicated and stressful job. But, that is not the point. The point to be made is a company that can afford a $22.3 million dollar bonus (whether in cash, or stock options, or a mix of those and any other benefits) can afford to not cut labor by 20% when most of those are making close to minimum wage in Central Florida. Meanwhile, Mr. Iger, with total combined compensation, brings home over $860,000.00 - a week.

There have been a number of rumors floated that these cuts are due to budget overruns at Shanghai Disneyland and due to the loss of money because of the closing of Disneyland Paris after the attacks in Paris earlier this year, along with attempts to re-coup some of the estimated $2 billion + spent on My Magic Plus (which by the way, is pretty awesome - kudos to you guys for coming up with that one - seriously). Regardless of the reasons, it plays out with longtime Disney loyalist as nothing more than corporate greed. It is hard to justify these extreme measures to guests when Disney has made record profits, along with consistent price increases. For example, a four-day park hopper in 1995 when I first visited as a child would have cost my parents $137.00 for each adult. Adjusted for inflation, that ticket would now cost $212.98. In 2016, a four-day park hopper for an adult now costs $392.99 - which is almost double the rate of inflation. While we may not be the target audience for Disney World vacations anymore, we notice these type of things, and we do not feel as if Disney cares anymore.

I have gone on in this email for long enough, and I could continue but I believe that I have tried to explain my concerns in a respectful, but firm tone. While I'm not expecting a response or any action to occur from this email, I would be greatly appreciative if a response was received. Until we see how all of these new actions by Disney level out, we most likely will not be returning to the parks. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Walt Disney, which I think this company needs to take to heart more often:

"I knew if this business was ever to get anywhere, if this business was ever to grow, it could never do it by having to answer to someone unsympathetic to its possibilities, by having to answer to someone with only one thought or interest, namely profits. For my idea of how to make profits has differed greatly from those who generally control businesses such as ours. I have blind faith in the policy that quality, tempered with good judgment and showmanship, will win against all odds."

Sincerely,
Jared

While I don't know what will come of it, I've already received a phone call (and voice-mail) from George Kalogridis' assistant. I plan on calling her back in a few minutes. I'll be interested to see what she has to say. I was honestly shocked that I received a response, much less a phone call within five hours of sending that email.

Nice work! Let us know what they say!