Is Disney at fault for disappointment?

[Mkrop]

I'm not saying it is the guest's fault or that they shouldn't be disappointed. But I get the impression that some feel as if they are trapped and have no choices, and that is not true.

It doesnt matter if it is true...if the guests feels that way, than that is a problem and WDW needs to work on making that not the perception.

 

[lizzi6692]

It doesnt matter if it is true...if the guests feels that way, than that is a problem and WDW needs to work on making that not the perception.

It is not Disney's responsibility to determine how someone perceives them. It is their responsibility to run their business and make money and obviously they're doing a good job at that. If they weren't they would change the way they operate, until they see a substantial decline in business they have no reason to do things any differently.

 

[Angel Ariel]

It is not Disney's responsibility to determine how someone perceives them

If businesses weren't invested in trying to affect how the public perceives them, they wouldn't have marketing departments.

 

[Mkrop]

It is not Disney's responsibility to determine how someone perceives them. It is their responsibility to run their business and make money and obviously they're doing a good job at that. If they weren't they would change the way they operate, until they see a substantial decline in business they have no reason to do things any differently.

If businesses weren't vested in trying to affect how the public perceives them, they wouldn't have marketing departments.

Umm no just like Angel said that is why they have Marketing and PR teams. Please, Disney totally cares how they are perceived as a company from their customers just like any other company does or should or they wont be in business for long



ETA: and if WDW did not care how they were perceived they would not have deleted all the negative comments from their Facebook page awhile back

 

[GPC0321]

It doesnt matter if it is true...if the guests feels that way, than that is a problem and WDW needs to work on making that not the perception.

Disney can't work miracles, and people can't have their cake and eat it too.
Flexible? Fine. But you can't expect flexibility AND doing/seeing exactly what you want exactly when you want to do/see it. There's a price to pay for flexibility because a lot of guests have planned their itineraries and are going to happily stick to their ADRs and FP+s. They will be the ones sitting down to meals at the popular restaurants and avoiding long waits at the popular attractions while the flexible folks search for supper and wait an hour to ride a five-minute ride.

 

[Mkrop]

Disney can't work miracles, and people can't have their cake and eat it too.
Flexible? Fine. But you can't expect flexibility AND doing/seeing exactly what you want exactly when you want to do/see it. There's a price to pay for flexibility because a lot of guests have planned their itineraries and are going to happily stick to their ADRs and FP+s. They will be the ones sitting down to meals at the popular restaurants and avoiding long waits at the popular attractions while the flexible folks search for supper and wait an hour to ride a five-minute ride.

Actually if you read my examples WDW did cater to those who wished to be flexible much more in the past before all this FP+, needing to schedule rides, and cancellation fees stuff.

 

[mom2rtk]

Actually if you read my examples WDW did cater to those who wished to be flexible much more in the past before all this FP+, needing to schedule rides, and cancellation fees stuff.

Plus Disney does a spectacular job with just that at DLR.

 

[GPC0321]

Well, my last trip was 17 years ago, and the three before that went back as far as my first trip 37 years ago. I'm expecting it to be a much different experience now than it was then. I've been enjoying the planning, am excited about the ADRs I have, and look forward to making FP+ reservations when the time comes. Maybe I'll get there and hate it, but I doubt it.

 

[jdrasin]

I'm not sure i like the whole concept of 'fault', but I am not at all surprised that many people are caught off guard by the logistics of a Disney vacation.

For what it's worth, I'm one of those newbies planning their first Disney vacation with my wife and kids (I was last there 15+ years ago). I can't even begin to describe how different (and less pleasant) planning this trip is compared to any other trip I've done (international travel, extended family cruises, etc...) I am a planner by nature and trade and my wife clued me into a lot of Disney information and obviously I read the forums here, so I feel I've learned a lot. We bought DVC points to secure our room (score), made our ADRs at 180days (at 6:01AM) and I'm sure at 12:01 60 days out will make the FP+s. But I can tell you, none of this is fun or puts me in the mood to go. I know for some the planning is almost part of the adventure, and I'm often in that camp, but this feels worse than work and it certainly has me in the one-and-done mood. We have friends who started to plan a Disney trip and just got overwhelmed and gave up.

I realize that Disney is a pretty successful company and has put a lot of thought into what levers to pull, but I can't see how this is sustainable. That being said, most public companies focus on the short-term and that often hurts them long-term.

Joseph

 

[Mkrop]

Well, my last trip was 17 years ago, and the three before that went back as far as my first trip 37 years ago. I'm expecting it to be a much different experience now than it was then. I've been enjoying the planning, am excited about the ADRs I have, and look forward to making FP+ reservations when the time comes. Maybe I'll get there and hate it, but I doubt it.

I am sure you will and I hope you do

But then you cant compare what it was just a few short years ago to what this new system has changed things, I like some things about it, like the magicbands and I dont really have issues with even booking ADRs, although I think 180 days is ridiculous. But the new FP+ and the cancellation fee I will say again, do not lend itself to flexibility in my experience.

Think about how excited you are, everything is planned to perfection, then something comes up, a bad weather day, a sick kid, etc and now all that hard work, all those perfect plans are out the window, and it will be much harder (although maybe not impossible) to recreate that day on a different day when the weather is better or the kiddo is feeling better. We have quite a few trips and these scenarios have happen but we in the past were always able to just switch up our days. We tried to do that recently on a trip with the FP+ when we were all sick and needed a sleep in day, and we could not get TSMM FP+ again for our entire trip. It was quite the bummer as that is a family fave. And we had other things scheduled so trying to go over at rope drop was not possible. And as much as I love WDW, I not standing in uber long lines...it aint happening. And in the past we would have just readjusted and went to DHS and pulled a FP- or rode rope dropped then hopped somewhere else. We could not do that without risking other things. And just trying to change things on the fly, like is advertised as being a breeze by WDW was not our experience at all, there was nothing available that we wanted.

So once again I am not seeing the flexibility that once was, I think WDW was quite adaptable to the laid back guest and the uber planner and those that fall in between like us, now it seems like being the uber planner is a must. And for me that is sad

 

[lizzi6692]

If businesses weren't invested in trying to affect how the public perceives them, they wouldn't have marketing departments.

Umm no just like Angel said that is why they have Marketing and PR teams. Please, Disney totally cares how they are perceived as a company from their customers just like any other company does or should or they wont be in business for long



ETA: and if WDW did not care how they were perceived they would not have deleted all the negative comments from their Facebook page awhile back

Marketing is mainly to bring in new customers, like I posted on the previous page Disney is focused on bringing in one time visitors. They know that the Disney experience is good enough that a good portion will return and the ones that don't are no big deal, there will always be more. Yes they care about the perception of people who have never actually been to Disney but they don't care and don't need to care about the perception of people who have already been and spent money unless and until it affects their bottom line.

 

[mom2rtk]

Marketing is mainly to bring in new customers, like I posted on the previous page Disney is focused on bringing in one time visitors. They know that the Disney experience is good enough that a good portion will return and the ones that don't are no big deal, there will always be more. Yes they care about the perception of people who have never actually been to Disney but they don't care and don't need to care about the perception of people who have already been and spent money unless and until it affects their bottom line.

Disney wants the new business AND the repeat business. They're good, but they're not good enough to be willingly giving up on a portion of their customers when parks are not at capacity nearly every day of the year.

 

[lizzi6692]

Disney wants the new business AND the repeat business. They're good, but they're not good enough to be willingly giving up on a portion of their customers when parks are not at capacity nearly every day of the year.

They don't need the parks to be at capacity every day of the year, if they did they wouldn't have raised the AP prices as much as they just did.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I'm not sure i like the whole concept of 'fault', but I am not at all surprised that many people are caught off guard by the logistics of a Disney vacation.

For what it's worth, I'm one of those newbies planning their first Disney vacation with my wife and kids (I was last there 15+ years ago). I can't even begin to describe how different (and less pleasant) planning this trip is compared to any other trip I've done (international travel, extended family cruises, etc...) I am a planner by nature and trade and my wife clued me into a lot of Disney information and obviously I read the forums here, so I feel I've learned a lot. We bought DVC points to secure our room (score), made our ADRs at 180days (at 6:01AM) and I'm sure at 12:01 60 days out will make the FP+s. But I can tell you, none of this is fun or puts me in the mood to go. I know for some the planning is almost part of the adventure, and I'm often in that camp, but this feels worse than work and it certainly has me in the one-and-done mood. We have friends who started to plan a Disney trip and just got overwhelmed and gave up.

I realize that Disney is a pretty successful company and has put a lot of thought into what levers to pull, but I can't see how this is sustainable. That being said, most public companies focus on the short-term and that often hurts them long-term.

Joseph

This is how I feel. I did that on my last trip and my family was miserable. We are going again but staying offsite, no hoppers and only 4 day tickets so we can do other things. We're going to minimal reserve, wing the rest and see how it goes. We may be unhappy because we're not uber planning, but we're also unhappy when we are. If this doesn't work we may have to bite the bullet and just give it up.

 

[kathy884]

Disney doesn't want disappointed guest, and I would speculate that over time they will refine their advice and recommendations to their guests. This whole new system is a pretty massive change, and I don't think they have all their ducks in a row yet. // The bottom line though is that visitors have to take ownership for their own vacation. With minimal research and planning most places you go you can still have a decent time, but in most cases have a better experience with more knowledge and planning. Disney is no different. // I guess where Disney may be different than some places is that many people probably have extremely high expectations and may feel it's a little like an all inclusive vacation where planning can be pretty minimal.

My last visit to Orlando (December last year before Christmas was great). But even me a major planner, someone who loves Disney, some one who has been over 30 times, and someone who researches things to death found myself disappointed in MVMCP (high crowds, longer lines than I was expecting, and mediocre cookies and hot chocolate lol). I'm not blaming anyone. It just didn't meet my expectations, and most likely I won't do the party again. And except for visiting the Disney resorts, that was my only Disney theme park day. I did two days and SeaWorld (OMG -- their Christmas celebration was amazing and exceeded by expectations big time) and one at Universal (it was interesting to see the new HP stuff).

 

[mom2rtk]

They don't need the parks to be at capacity every day of the year, if they did they wouldn't have raised the AP prices as much as they just did.

No, they don't need the parks to be at capacity. But as long as they aren't at capacity they are in search of more paying customers. That's why they run promotions. It's why they run advertisements. It's why they pay a marketing staff.

 

[Mkrop]

Marketing is mainly to bring in new customers, like I posted on the previous page Disney is focused on bringing in one time visitors. They know that the Disney experience is good enough that a good portion will return and the ones that don't are no big deal, there will always be more. Yes they care about the perception of people who have never actually been to Disney but they don't care and don't need to care about the perception of people who have already been and spent money unless and until it affects their bottom line.

Getting new business is only a portion of a marketing dept, there is also retention. Disney would not have invested so much in DVC and continue to do so if they did not want/care about repeat business. I would not have a mailbox filled with WDW ads if they did not care about repeat business. They would not create a magazine highlighting all the resort things for DVC members if they did not care about repeat business. They would save the money if they didnt think it worked or redirect to that one time customer but they dont.

 

[anniemae]

I am sure you will and I hope you do

But then you cant compare what it was just a few short years ago to what this new system has changed things, I like some things about it, like the magicbands and I dont really have issues with even booking ADRs, although I think 180 days is ridiculous. But the new FP+ and the cancellation fee I will say again, do not lend itself to flexibility in my experience.

Think about how excited you are, everything is planned to perfection, then something comes up, a bad weather day, a sick kid, etc and now all that hard work, all those perfect plans are out the window, and it will be much harder (although maybe not impossible) to recreate that day on a different day when the weather is better or the kiddo is feeling better. We have quite a few trips and these scenarios have happen but we in the past were always able to just switch up our days. We tried to do that recently on a trip with the FP+ when we were all sick and needed a sleep in day, and we could not get TSMM FP+ again for our entire trip. It was quite the bummer as that is a family fave. And we had other things scheduled so trying to go over at rope drop was not possible. And as much as I love WDW, I not standing in uber long lines...it aint happening. And in the past we would have just readjusted and went to DHS and pulled a FP- or rode rope dropped then hopped somewhere else. We could not do that without risking other things. And just trying to change things on the fly, like is advertised as being a breeze by WDW was not our experience at all, there was nothing available that we wanted.

So once again I am not seeing the flexibility that once was, I think WDW was quite adaptable to the laid back guest and the uber planner and those that fall in between like us, now it seems like being the uber planner is a must. And for me that is sad

Last summer we had an ADR for the restaurant in Italy at Epcot. We had been at MK all day and took a break back at the resort. We were waiting at the bus stop and were all just so tired, hot, dehydrated, cranky etc. I looked at DH and said, "there is no way we are making this dinner, we can all barely stand up. How are we going to walk from the bus stop all the way to Italy?" We decided to cancel, but knew we would be facing almost $50 to do so. We pleaded with a CM that we could not make it, we were just too worn out and needed to rest. He acted like he was doing us a huge favor, but did waive the fee. Now this was a dinner we were really looking forward to, had planned months in advance etc. I could not reschedule it because we only had a few days left and we already had stuff booked. So the best plans can go up in smoke and you are either charged a fee or unable to easily switch things around.

 

[Mkrop]

Last summer we had an ADR for the restaurant in Italy at Epcot. We had been at MK all day and took a break back at the resort. We were waiting at the bus stop and were all just so tired, hot, dehydrated, cranky etc. I looked at DH and said, "there is no way we are making this dinner, we can all barely stand up. How are we going to walk from the bus stop all the way to Italy?" We decided to cancel, but knew we would be facing almost $50 to do so. We pleaded with a CM that we could not make it, we were just too worn out and needed to rest. He acted like he was doing us a huge favor, but did waive the fee. Now this was a dinner we were really looking forward to, had planned months in advance etc. I could not reschedule it because we only had a few days left and we already had stuff booked. So the best plans can go up in smoke and you are either charged a fee or unable to easily switch things around.

Been there done that! And good customer service would understand that, and understand they need to REST on vacation. I am glad he cancelled it for you without the fee

 

[Angel Ariel]

Marketing is mainly to bring in new customers, like I posted on the previous page Disney is focused on bringing in one time visitors. They know that the Disney experience is good enough that a good portion will return and the ones that don't are no big deal, there will always be more. Yes they care about the perception of people who have never actually been to Disney but they don't care and don't need to care about the perception of people who have already been and spent money unless and until it affects their bottom line.

For a company who supposedly doesn't care about whether I repeat business with them, I certainly get a lot of PIN codes - both via e-mail and mail - to come back and stay with them again, with discounts designed to entice me to come back. They must have recently figured out (likely from ADRs) that we're going to DLR, because I just got an e-mail yesterday for discounts to stay at the Grand Californian or PPH.

We didn't used to get PIN codes at all, back when we hadn't been to WDW as often as we have lately. Now we get them pretty much all the time. They've already gotten my money, yes, but it seems like they'd be quite happy if I came and spent more and they are doing everything they can to convince me to do so. That is the purpose of marketing. From the perspective Disney has created for me, due to their contact with me, they certainly do want repeat visitors.