Is anyone getting as turned off as I am?

[MakiraMarlena]

There was Miyuki (who left on her own volition), the Ziti Sisters (Italy will be getting a new act so there is a replacement, albeit late) and now Fife and Drum. I also understand the Jammitors are gone, although they were not in the World Showcase. Those are the only unreplaced acts I can think of other than various "filler" or "seasonal" acts. Unless you go waaay back to the first "Epcot entertainment purge" years ago.

 

[Angel Ariel]

There was Miyuki (who left on her own volition), the Ziti Sisters (Italy will be getting a new act so there is a replacement, albeit late) and now Fife and Drum. I also understand the Jammitors are gone, although they were not in the World Showcase. Those are the only unreplaced acts I can think of other than various "filler" or "seasonal" acts. Unless you go waaay back to the first "Epcot entertainment purge" years ago.

Weren't there Living Statues in Italy at one point?

I thought I also remember reading somewhere that while leaving may have been Miyuki's choice, it wasn't necessarily a willing choice. I could be wrong on that, but I thought I remembered there being more to it than she just wanted to leave.

 

[NancyIL]

There was Miyuki (who left on her own volition), the Ziti Sisters (Italy will be getting a new act so there is a replacement, albeit late) and now Fife and Drum. I also understand the Jammitors are gone, although they were not in the World Showcase. Those are the only unreplaced acts I can think of other than various "filler" or "seasonal" acts. Unless you go waaay back to the first "Epcot entertainment purge" years ago.

According to www.wdwent.com - the Jammitors are still performing in Future World.

Since Disney's excuse for retiring the 4 acts at Epcot is to bring in "fresh" new acts - I wish they would update the movie in France!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

It's all over the place about Miyuki's reasons for departing, from health issues to the fact that Disney had recently prohibited her from giving away her candy creatures. Don't know the truth, only she knows that for sure.

Living Statues weren't Equity, they later turned up as a contracted act in Downtown Disney.

 

[rebbyparker]

Change.

It can be handled many ways by a corporation. What has turned me off more than anything is how Disney has managed change and how poorly guests have been treated/informed during the changes.

For example, last Jan. we were all set up for a split stay: 4 nights at YC and 3 nights PBH at UO. Then, all the MB and FP+ implementation started for the Resorts - with no plan or info to the Guests.

Then, Tiering

Then, I saw what happened to the guests at Pop.... MB-only.... which went through the Holidays .... only for them

I cancelled our YC portion of the trip and extended the Uni portion. Very glad I did since YC went MB-only on the day we would have checked in. So sorry I missed that.....

Now, I'm planning our Jan trip back to PBH, hoping for a few days at WDW as an off-siter. And, what's happened while I'm trying to decide....?

The SB+ "test" at Soarin' and A&E (with no advanced notice to guests). Are they going to try that again? God forbid, implement it?

And Maelstrom - EPCOT's one of our top 2 Parks and one we would spend a day at in Jan. Is there a refurb? For how long? Will it be "Frozen" or not? Will we be fighting through hordes of little princesses just to get past Norway? Will I be getting nasty stares from their mothers while I order my re-branded Olaf Aquavit shots...?

I have been very disappointed in Disney's arrogant approach to guest management, guest information and guest service through all of this "Change".

Beyond all the "whys" and "hows" "whens" of all of this - that's my biggest issue...

This. THIS was my major complaint. While I was trying plan for our Christmas trip this past December, the information coming from Disney was non-existant. Luckily, we had the Hub, who was VERY helpful to us trying to navigate through the changes that Disney didn't even bother to announce. We had people changing resorts, then changing back the next week after another change, working around Dining plans, and completely reworking their vacations and some even cancelled (Mkrop, didn't you?) because Disney couldn't be bothered to let the incoming guests know what the situation would be when they arrived. The MyMagic system worked less than half of the time. I, personally, spent 5 hours on the phone because the system lost my scheduled FP+'s twice. Magic Bands! Three sets! This was the implementation of FP+. These are all MAJOR changes. And Disney didn't say a word. I think that right there, the whole mess we had last year, with Disney not announcing what the parameters were going to be so we knew what we should be doing, is the biggest change of all. Disney lost a LOT of respect last year. Not because they were trying to change something, be it for better or worse. But because they made so many drastic changes every week, and didn't let anyone know. I know there are a lot of complaints now, but it's nothing to what it was last year when they started this mess. The World lost us simply because of last year. DCL and Universal and DC (new discovered!) will take it's place.

 

[mom2rtk]

The SB+ "test" at Soarin' and A&E (with no advanced notice to guests). Are they going to try that again? God forbid, implement it?

They actually have implemented it for A/E at DLR. No 3 day test there. I haven't seen much complaint about it on the DLR board, but they're a different group. So many of them can just come back next week if they get there too late to get a return pass. The stakes are just different when your customer can't come back another day to make up what they miss today (as is the case for so many at WDW).

 

[MakiraMarlena]

They actually have implemented it for A/E at DLR. No 3 day test there. I haven't seen much complaint about it on the DLR board, but they're a different group. So many of them can just come back next week if they get there too late to get a return pass. The stakes are just different when your customer can't come back another day to make up what they miss today (as is the case for so many at WDW).

It's also been used at Be Our Guest for lunch, which has gotten a lot of flack here.

 

[mom2rtk]

It's also been used at Be Our Guest for lunch, which has gotten a lot of flack here.

I'm not a fan of the concept, even though it will benefit us when we visit DLR in December. It just changes the rules so much that a family could walk in the gate an hour after opening and be completely shut out of an experience they were looking forward to.

 

[Disneychick75]

For the past month, I've been planning a last minute trip. I've found flights and WDW resort rooms available. In the past, I would have not have hesitated to book one day and leave the next but we didn't love the changes when we were there in April.

 

[surferdave]

One thing that never changes that I wish would change is people telling me that I just don't like change when I don't like a specific change. Can we change that, or do you just not like change?

 

[Goofy4WDW1964]

One thing that never changes that I wish would change is people telling me that I just don't like change when I don't like a specific change. Can we change that, or do you just not like change?

 

[mom2rtk]

One thing that never changes that I wish would change is people telling me that I just don't like change when I don't like a specific change. Can we change that, or do you just not like change?

 

[Disneychick75]

One thing that never changes that I wish would change is people telling me that I just don't like change when I don't like a specific change. Can we change that, or do you just not like change?

Specific changes off the top of my head:

FP+- doesn't work for us.

CM's attitude-if you can't handle the job, work somewhere else.

WL was not up to par. Halls had food trays when we left in the morning and they were still there when we returned. The carpet was squishy in the hall leading to rooms across from The Mercantile. I told the CMs at the check in desk and nothing had been done by that evening-no signs warning of wet floors and the dampness had spread. The next morning a fan had been put in the hall. Floors still soaking wet.

My DD and I have APs. We were sent to Will Call to have them activated while those in our party with regular tickets were allowed into the park. It took a ridiculous amount of time. After 45 minutes, CMs were finally sent to assist people waiting in line to have APs activated. People were angry.

 

[MouseClubMama]

Maybe you missed that the expanded the Magic Kingdom? And are planning Avitar Land? They are working on the more attraction thing.

When it comes to Disney I don't miss a beat. It is all well and good if you are satisfied with the new FL, and the promise of Avatar Land. The reality of the situation is that the FL improvements have done little to satisfy the majority of Disney's customer base who are weary of paying more and getting less. The MK is screaming for major new attractions, and the 7DMT is clearly not in this category, and don't even get me started on EPCOT. It will take a considerable amount of time before we see Avatar or Star Wars attractions, and I have serious reservations about the whole Avatar idea .

 

[Mkrop]

This. THIS was my major complaint. While I was trying plan for our Christmas trip this past December, the information coming from Disney was non-existant. Luckily, we had the Hub, who was VERY helpful to us trying to navigate through the changes that Disney didn't even bother to announce. We had people changing resorts, then changing back the next week after another change, working around Dining plans, and completely reworking their vacations and some even cancelled (Mkrop, didn't you?) because Disney couldn't be bothered to let the incoming guests know what the situation would be when they arrived. The MyMagic system worked less than half of the time. I, personally, spent 5 hours on the phone because the system lost my scheduled FP+'s twice. Magic Bands! Three sets! This was the implementation of FP+. These are all MAJOR changes. And Disney didn't say a word. I think that right there, the whole mess we had last year, with Disney not announcing what the parameters were going to be so we knew what we should be doing, is the biggest change of all. Disney lost a LOT of respect last year. Not because they were trying to change something, be it for better or worse. But because they made so many drastic changes every week, and didn't let anyone know. I know there are a lot of complaints now, but it's nothing to what it was last year when they started this mess. The World lost us simply because of last year. DCL and Universal and DC (new discovered!) will take it's place.

We did not cancel but it was nerve wracking coming on here everyday to see what changes WDW was going to surprise us with. It made the upcoming trip stressful until we got there. I had read all the stories of MB nightmares, thank goodness we did not have that mess, since we had plenty from other sources...a delayed flight, a delayed ME, then no buses showed at AKL to get us to the MVMCP so our dinner got delayed, luckily we did not get charged for that one, then no buses came to MK to get us when other resorts were coming, and when a bus finally came, we were packed in like sardines, and then held hostage on the bus when AKL had a planned power outage that they did not tell us about and would not let us in the gate and the driver would not say a word to us, radio for help, or let us off the bus until things got ugly.

If our MBs had been messed up, I dont think we would have ever set foot in WDW again.

We also got in before the tiering and we were worried about changing FPs at all bc people were reporting losing FPs. We did try to change on for TSMM when we overslept bc we could not set alarms, wakeup calls, or recharge our phones, bc of the mess outlined above. Everything was gone by 9:30. Our FP was for 9:50. We were trying to change it on the bus bc we were worried about being late and none were available. We made it luckily. But once again, stress for no reason.

DL this summer was a breath of fresh air, new attractions that were well done and the old FP system!

One thing that never changes that I wish would change is people telling me that I just don't like change when I don't like a specific change. Can we change that, or do you just not like change?

I like change I do but if you are going to change something have it work, or explain to me how it works. WDW rarely does this. I will use my new car for example. It has a lot of techy gadgets. Some are really cool...see I like change! Others are why the need for this when it worked fine in the old model. And some gadgets I have to pull out the manual and they still dont seem to do what they set out to do. So I like the changes that are for the best and actually work...same at WDW

 

[Planogirl]

One thing that never changes that I wish would change is people telling me that I just don't like change when I don't like a specific change. Can we change that, or do you just not like change?

Perfect.

 

[Acorn827]

Searching for ADR's well past the 180 mark...annoying.

 

[Davey Jones II]

When it comes to Disney I don't miss a beat. It is all well and good if you are satisfied with the new FL, and the promise of Avatar Land. The reality of the situation is that the FL improvements have done little to satisfy the majority of Disney's customer base who are weary of paying more and getting less. The MK is screaming for major new attractions, and the 7DMT is clearly not in this category, and don't even get me started on EPCOT. It will take a considerable amount of time before we see Avatar or Star Wars attractions, and I have serious reservations about the whole Avatar idea .

I have yet to experience NFL (that will be next month!), and I'm looking forward to that, as well as the new parade. Besides that, the only new offering at WDW, since our last visit in 2011, will be the revamped Test Track. Is that enough new stuff for a three year gap? I don't know. Universal does seem to be adding to their parks at a faster clip (Diagon Alley, Transformers, Despicable Me, and the new Simpsons stuff all opened since 2011).

It seems that Comcast/Universal is taking a "build it and they will come" philosophy on faith, whereas Disney is taking a cold, calculating "let's do a careful cost/benefit analysis before greenlighting anything" approach. And Disney pulled the trigger on MM/MB/FP+, when that billion+ (is it closer to $2 billion by now?) could have bought a bunch of great new E Tickets. That was their priority, because this new system allows them to track our preferences, and treat the parks even more like giant malls.

When it comes to adding to park infrastructure, this company seems to consistently do the minimum they think they can get away with. Even the massive DCA expansion was practically forced on them -- we never would have gotten Cars Land if DCA had been a hit right out of the box (which they inexplicably seemed to expect at the time).

Speaking of Cars Land, that is an example of what they're capable of, when they finally decide to commit the resources necessary to create something great. Yes they add to their parks, but it all seems to be so grudging, so gradual, and never matches the blistering pace of new DVCs, new hard ticket events, and new hotels.

I'm not one to criticize everything Disney does; they have done some things right. But competition is biting at their heels, their most loyal fans are grumbling, and it's time for more forward, long term thinking from this company. Time to tune out the bean counters and the hotshot MBA grads spouting the latest corporate buzzwords.

Disney, start listening to your fans and guests. When it comes to what we want, and what we are willing to pay for, we're the real experts.

 

[mom2rtk]

I have yet to experience NFL (that will be next month!), and I'm looking forward to that, as well as the new parade. Besides that, the only new offering at WDW, since our last visit in 2011, will be the revamped Test Track. Is that enough new stuff for a three year gap? I don't know.

My biggest frustration is that so much of what Disney does these days seems to be replacing something else. Maybe that's so they can maintain their labor costs? I don't know. But they keep packing the crowds into the parks, but move like molasses at adding net new capacity. NFL is nice, but only has 1 net new ride. Test Track adding no new capacity. I hear the new parade is nice, but once again no net new capacity.

FP+ and its tiering really highlighted their attraction capacity issues. Yet they don't seem to want to address that.

 

[maxiesmom]

My biggest frustration is that so much of what Disney does these days seems to be replacing something else. Maybe that's so they can maintain their labor costs? I don't know. But they keep packing the crowds into the parks, but move like molasses at adding net new capacity. NFL is nice, but only has 1 net new ride. Test Track adding no new capacity. I hear the new parade is nice, but once again no net new capacity.

FP+ and its tiering really highlighted their attraction capacity issues. Yet they don't seem to want to address that.

Are you saying the additions to Fantasyland didn't add capacity? New rides, new restaurants, new shops?

All this seems to boil down yet again to the fact that while some people want change, they only want the change they deem necessary. And never are people going to agree 100% on what that change should be. And some people just abhor any change.

I don't like some of the changes Disney has made or is about to make. But it would be very arrogant for me to think that I know better than the people that run the company. I don't have access to their facts and figures and all of the numbers that go into making those sorts of decisions.

It is easy to run a company from the outside. (And I in no way directing this at Mom2rk. It is not meant as a personal attack on you, just to be clear! Only the part about capacity.)