Half the street shuttered – Now that’s MAGIC!!

[crusader]

Give the people everything they want?

Bull. Nobody wants the same thing anymore. Nobody wants to wait one minute longer than they "feel" they should for anything anymore. There is no consideration to your fellow man in this day and age. Exercising humility and patience just isn't fashionable. Instant gratification is the name of the game. So do we satisfy me or you? One of us is bound to lose.

I wonder what Walt would do to handle the barrage of mass indecisiveness and chronic complaining so ramped today? Short of holding counseling forums and distributing pharmaceuticals to the guests, he'd probably give away the store.

OK- that may have been a bit off topic. Since the closing of stores has no bearing on me I could give a rat's @$$. But since the closing of stores may impact someone else, by all means, give them what they want no matter the reason? We should all be entitled to have it all - oh and by the way, did I forget to mention that our overhead has tripled due to insurance, litigation and benefits? So you won't mind paying three times as much for your vacation to help us maintain all services at your full satisfaction.

Afterall - a disney vacation IS a premium vacation and only the elite should be priviledged enough to patronize this fine organization given its' vast array of extravagant indulgences.

 

[Pinnie]

A standing ovation to the Crusader!


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[EUROPA]

Originally posted by Pinnie
A standing ovation to the Crusader!


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OH please!!! This has nothing to do with customers wanting vastly different things. It has nothing to do with mass indecisiveness.

Disney's overhead has not tripled due to insurance, litigation and benefits? Do you have any proof of that at all. (Litigation - well maybe after the pooh settlement that is coming. Disney's own fault for trying to cheat those people)


What we do have proof is that the Parks for the most park have been increasing in profit percentage or staying the same. While the rest of Disney is in the ****ter. They are not closing the stores down to any of those reasons. They are closing them because ABC is in t he tank. Go.com lost millions. they paid half a billion for Fox Family. The parks are carrying the load for the whole crappy company right now and Disney just can't afford to have Fox Family and keep open stores and restaurants in the MK. So guess who gets the crap end of the stick? Well I can tell you one thing it's not going to be Eisner and his bonus.

 

[crusader]

Europa -

If you think overhead costs have not tripled you're wrong. The reason you continue to see favorable bottom line figures in the parks is because of all the cutbacks we keep hearing about.

Why would disney be the only corporate giant impervious to inflation? That's a false assumption. You see it - you feel it - you know it. You just don't like it.

They are closing them because ABC is in t he tank. Go.com lost millions. they paid half a billion for Fox Family. The parks are carrying the load for the whole crappy company right now and Disney just can't afford to have Fox Family and keep open stores and restaurants in the MK.

Last time I checked the parks only account for 25-30% of this company. They are not the only thing supporting it. Are they contributing to the failures - yes! - are they a lucrative segment - yes! But they are not Disney in its' entirety and they never were.

I doubt seriously the reason for the store closings is because of their television programming losses or the Go.com failure. There is more going on here.

 

[Pinnie]

I am still saying the closing of the few shops is due to the lack of staffing and they will reopen once staff is trained.

I can only go by what friends and family members who are CMs there tell me. I do know that one of my friends is starting her 7th straight day today at Frontierland, instead of her usual stint at the WL. She is "part time".

I do think that the company was caught short staffed and that issue needs to be addressed. They offered a package and the public jumped on it. Once staffing catches up to demand, things will reopen again.

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[EUROPA]

Originally posted by crusader
Europa -

If you think overhead costs have not tripled you're wrong. The reason you continue to see favorable bottom line figures in the parks is because of all the cutbacks we keep hearing about.

Why would disney be the only corporate giant impervious to inflation? That's a false assumption. You see it - you feel it - you know it. You just don't like it.

What dates are you using? 1970-Today? or are you talking about 1999-Today? You don't see other "corporate giants" doing this type of stuff. McDonalds is not closing down the Frnech Fryiers at 10:00 every night but keeping the coke machine open.

GM is not only supplying 3 tires with every new car.


Has your cost of living tripled in the last 3 years? If not, then Inflation has not tripled in the last three years. As there is a direct correlation between inflation and cost of living.

It's stimple the Theme parks are paying for Eisner's mistakes.

 

[crusader]

I'm talking since reagonomics. You feel these things today because there is no longer a surge of cash flowing in to help mitigate the excess brought on by corporate greed from every single type of industry. Insurance - professional fees - salaries -benefits- litigation - are the biggest contributors to this mess but just about every supplier is charging 3x more for the same thing.

Just because Disney covered this stuff without you personally feeling it doesn't mean they weren't absorbing the increases all along. Once the attendance dropped, they could no longer afford to maintain status quo so the only options were to cut costs and try to gain more patrons.

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by crusader
I'm talking since reagonomics. You feel these things today because there is no longer a surge of cash flowing in to help mitigate the excess brought on by corporate greed from every single type of industry. Insurance - professional fees - salaries -benefits- litigation - are the biggest contributors to this mess but just about every supplier is charging 3x more for the same thing.

Just because Disney covered this stuff without you personally feeling it doesn't mean they weren't absorbing the increases all along. Once the attendance dropped, they could no longer afford to maintain status quo so the only options were to cut costs and try to gain more patrons.

If every supplier is charging 3x more without cutting services or the number of tires they include with a new car. Then what is different about Disney? What makes Disney so special that MCDonalds can just increase prices to match inflation and not have to cut services in the current ecommy? Well I tell you what it is....ABC,GO.com, Sports Teams, Fox Family, Mike Ovitz and so on. That is the difference.



Shorthanded- HA! There is a report on RAPD that they are laying off people in Engineering Services(Maintenance) until the end of the Summer season. Which conincides with a new budget year. Strage uh?

 

[Pinnie]

Europa,

If you think the car companies are not charging more for less....you need to look in the trunk of a new car! I can remember when you used to buy a new car and get 5 tires!!! Now that "spare" is good only for 50 miles!

I can remember a few weeks ago when Disney raised the prices on a park ticket and the moaning and groaning that accompanied that thread!


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[KNWVIKING]

"GM is not only supplying 3 tires with every new car.


Has your cost of living tripled in the last 3 years? If not, then Inflation has not tripled in the last three years. As there is a direct correlation between inflation and cost of living."

Has my personal COL tripled-no. But for the company I work for just health ins. alone has increased tremendously. 2001= $450.00 per month for just the worker. 2003= $750.00. It's even higher for employees with spouses and families. Every year SUI climbs in NJ climbs at a rate higher then the CPI. In general, business expenses escalate at a higher rate then personal ones.

Now, as for GM, well their answer is simple. We sell $45,000.00 pickup trucks.

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by Pinnie
Europa,

If you think the car companies are not charging more for less....you need to look in the trunk of a new car! I can remember when you used to buy a new car and get 5 tires!!! Now that "spare" is good only for 50 miles!

I can remember a few weeks ago when Disney raised the prices on a park ticket and the moaning and groaning that accompanied that thread!


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I've bought 4 cars in the last 6 years and they have all came with a full size spare. Many cars in the 80's-90's carried "the donut". That is nothing new that you can blame on the current Economy.

People complained because Disney continues to take away while increasing prices. A very valid complaint!

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
Has my personal COL tripled-no. But for the company I work for just health ins. alone has increased tremendously. 2001= $450.00 per month for just the worker. 2003= $750.00. It's even higher for employees with spouses and families. Every year SUI climbs in NJ climbs at a rate higher then the CPI. In general, business expenses escalate at a higher rate then personal ones.

You need to move south! My Family insurance has not tripled. I work for a software company. Computers are cheaper and more powerful then they were 3 years ago. Pens still cost about the same..they have not tripled...paper still cost the same. Electricity has not tripled. Water bills have not tripled. Airline tickets have not tripled( they do go up and down) It still cost about the same to rent a car whereever I go.

 

[mickey2001]

I love reading this board and thread! Only wish Disney did.

 

[crusader]

Thinking that a company simply raised prices in an inflationary environment without cutting their product or service costs supports the philosophy that you can successfully fool the average consumer.

Manufacturers can substitute raw materials to absorb costs. Food distributors can decrease the size of a product or use chemicals, etc. to replace real ingredients.

Look around you - there is no such thing as a durable good anymore.

Nothing is the way that it was.

Disney is also not the way it was. It may never be as pure as it once was but it can still be a great vacation destination. Selling cheaply made products and charging exorbitant billing rates are predominantly what's being offered in the country and Disney has the same menu we do to choose from.

 

[KNWVIKING]

"What makes Disney so special that MCDonalds can just increase prices to match inflation and not have to cut services in the current ecommy? "

I like MickeyDee's but this makes me laugh. Not only have they raised prices, they've found a way shave a normal sized burger into enough slices to feed a family of twelve. I think the ketchup stain is actually thicker then the burger.

 

[mickey2001]

.

 

[Pinnie]

Hmm, Europa, you must be talking about a few "high end" cars because I just checked the trunk of my 2003 PT Cruiser and sure enough, it has a "compact tire" aka 50 mile spare!

THAT car came out way after the 80s and 90s.

Same arguement goes for potato chips. Go try and find a bag that is 16 oz! They went to a 14 oz bag at the same price. Now it is 12.5 ounces and guess what? It is now more expensive.

As much as eveyone would love to throw pixie dust around here, and think that the company exists for the sheer JOY of everyone that walks through their gates...it IS a business, pure and simple that has a bottom line to answer and real costs to do business.

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[EUROPA]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
I like MickeyDee's but this makes me laugh. Not only have they raised prices, they've found a way shave a normal sized burger into enough slices to feed a family of twelve. I think the ketchup stain is actually thicker then the burger.

Well not that I really go to McDonalds a lot...just an example however I do recall the Cheeseburger now being .69 cent when just a few years ago they were .89. Maybe they have gotten smaller to match that price as well. I do know they hae gone from premaking them and letting them sit in a heated shoot to making them when you order.


You see Disney was not always "Just a Business" that is how it is ran by Eisner. When Walt was running the place it was for the sheer Entertainment of his guest..and the place made money hand over fist.

Hmm, Europa, you must be talking about a few "high end" cars because I just checked the trunk of my 2003 PT Cruiser and sure enough, it has a "compact tire" aka 50 mile spare!

THAT car came out way after the 80s and 90s.

You missing my point some cars depending on their price point have always came with a full size tire. Or more appointments. That is nothing new to the current economy as your trying to make it seem.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't recall reading ANYTHING official regarding shop closing, only a rumor on Screamscape. If they're short staffed I'd rather they close some of the gift shops that are less crowded later in the day so they can properly staff the ones that are open. Makes sense not to take PS if they are considering closing some restaurants early. A lot easier to extend hours than to cancel existing PS.

I think Disney is getting "better" with closing things when the crowds are lighter. Think of the Gallery restaurant in YC, resort buildings (and even entire resorts). Some of it makes sense, why keep a resort open in the off season if bookings are less than 30%?

About a year ago in I was in MK and in the late afternoon they scheduled a 2nd Spectromatic (park was more crowded than expected).

One of the reasons that car makers went to donuts is to give more trunk space (as they shrunk cars). A donut is much easier to put on a car (particularly in the rain).

 

[KNWVIKING]

"You see Disney was not always "Just a Business" that is how it is ran by Eisner. When Walt was running the place it was for the sheer Entertainment of his guest..and the place made money hand over fist."

Fifty years ago at DL is a different situation then now at WDW. We can only speculate as to what Walt would have been able to accomplish in todays business world.