MDE/FP+ Poll Results

[JimmyV]

You, like most people, are in the "yes, it works fine, it could be better, it could be worse, but overall, it's fine -- it does what it was designed to do" category.

I guess you did not read the actual poll choice. It wasn't: "yes, it works fine, it could be better, it could be worse, but overall, it's fine -- it does what it was designed to do". It was: "It could be good, but it needs work". There is no way to interpret "It could be good" as being the same as "It works fine". "It could be good" can just as easily mean: "It currently is not good". That is how I read the choice when I voted. If a significant number of people who chose the middle option did likewise, then the poll results are far from 90%-10%. I don't pretend to know the answer. I raise the issue for discussion. I am surprised that you are so sure of the intent of the 39%.

 

[HopperFan]

Honestly just based on what I read here I don’t think the poll has any meaningful result to the bigger picture. Poll participants would obviously be hardcore Disney World fans, big enough fans to follow a Disney World podcaster. These fans (and I would consider myself one) are in no way even close to the average Disney World guest or even the guest that Disney is marketing to. Based on all the complaints regarding MDE/FP+ I honestly would have thought this demographic “likes” would have been lower …. so in that respect I find the results interesting. It would point to a "hater" minority. For the most part pointless, just a way for the podcast to generate interaction.

JimmyV, the one thing that you say caused me a mental response. I am at WDW 5-6 weeks a year, about 60-40 onsite and offsite lodging. I have never had an issue with Disney resort guests getting extra perks such as EMH or +10 on dining reservations. On trips that I would like those perks, I stay onsite. You said “While Disney has every right to reward people for staying on site with a perk, I personally don't like that feature and would like to see a change whereby FP+ is linked to park admission only.” I would say that in this instance this is not a reward to onsite guests but rather a punishment to offsite guests. EMH, Room Charging, Magical Express, Resort Package Delivery, Dining Plan .... none of those things are going to affect my vacation as an offsite guest. I travel based on regular park hours, I carry my credit card, I provide my own transportation, I pick up my packages at the front of the park and I pay for my meals in the same restaurants as DDP guests. BUT even though I pay the same as all guests for my park tickets I am not allowed to book with onsite guests. This is not a reward for them, it's a punishment for me because I am not staying onsite.

I like FP+ but I don't like that my park ticket has less value than on onsite park ticket based on where I am sleeping even though I paid the same for it. That might put me in the 39% if I let that factor in to my pick but if I had to go like or dislike FP+ - I would go like.

 

[JimmyV]

BUT even though I pay the same as all guests for my park tickets I am not allowed to book with onsite guests. This is not a reward for them, it's a punishment for me because I am not staying onsite.

I like FP+ but I don't like that my park ticket has less value than on onsite park ticket based on where I am sleeping even though I paid the same for it. That might put me in the 39% if I let that factor in to my pick but if I had to go like or dislike FP+ - I would go like.

Fair points.
Especially your last sentence. It more or less gets to the heart of this. One can be in the 39% and when pushed, go "like", and one can be in the 39% and when pushed, go "dislike". That is really all I am saying. The idea that these poll results reveal a 90%-10% positive reaction to MDE/FP+ is as unwarranted as is the conclusion that these results reveal a 51%-49% positive reaction. It is virtually impossible for either to be true.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I can't believe a comparison is being made to bathroom blowers.

I haven't started to read this thread yet, but this statement alone tells me it must be interesting!!!

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I guess you did not read the actual poll choice. It wasn't: "yes, it works fine, it could be better, it could be worse, but overall, it's fine -- it does what it was designed to do". It was: "It could be good, but it needs work". There is no way to interpret "It could be good" as being the same as "It works fine". "It could be good" can just as easily mean: "It currently is not good". That is how I read the choice when I voted. If a significant number of people who chose the middle option did likewise, then the poll results are far from 90%-10%. I don't pretend to know the answer. I raise the issue for discussion. I am surprised that you are so sure of the intent of the 39%.

I would have had a hard time answering the poll, personally. My experiences with FP compared to FP+ have been negative. I don't care for it. And, if only comparing FP to FP+, I'd say I hate it. I don't mind MDE too much, but the Disney IT department is terrible. It can't seem to created a website that can handle the amount of traffic it is going to receive. So, for that alone I can't really say that I love it or I hate it. And, even if we are just talking about FP+, yes, I hate it, but I can certainly see ways it could be improved upon. Having it be available from my phone or computer the day-of rather than 60 days before would be a great start. Having the ability to book a fourth FP+ from my phone would also be an improvement. So basically, I hat FP+ but can see how it has the potential to be good. MDE is perfectly fine as long as it is working. I guess that means I would have been in the 39%, but don't mistake that for me meaning that it is an acceptable or good product right now. I am very dissatisfied with what they have rolled out.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I guess you did not read the actual poll choice. It wasn't: "yes, it works fine, it could be better, it could be worse, but overall, it's fine -- it does what it was designed to do". It was: "It could be good, but it needs work". There is no way to interpret "It could be good" as being the same as "It works fine". "It could be good" can just as easily mean: "It currently is not good". That is how I read the choice when I voted. If a significant number of people who chose the middle option did likewise, then the poll results are far from 90%-10%. I don't pretend to know the answer. I raise the issue for discussion. I am surprised that you are so sure of the intent of the 39%.

Wait, Lake can paraphrase that, based on the poll, 49% of respondents find WDW's level of FP+ service to be unacceptable (I didn't see that word anywhere in the poll, did you?), but Fuzzy can't paraphrase the results to say that 90% of the respondents found that, despite room for improvement, FP+ worked well enough for them that they didn't hate it?

Chances are the 39% would probably split into choice 1 or 3. As most of the respondents (given the audience) are likely going back to WDW I could speculate that more might go to like than hate. If you split the baby you are at 70/30? Not ideal, but not a scathing indictment either......and it is a work in progress.

There are people good at digging out old posts, it will be interesting to pull these discussions out and view them in the light of a 2022 day!

 

[JimmyV]

I guess that means I would have been in the 39%, but don't mistake that for me meaning that it is an acceptable or good product right now. I am very dissatisfied with what they have rolled out.

BAM!! There it is. THAT is the viewpoint that was missing in the podcast discussion yesterday. And that is all I was trying to say. Frankly, I don't find the point to be all that controversial, or even debatable.

 

[Laketravis]

Wait, Lake can paraphrase that, based on the poll, 49% of respondents find WDW's level of FP+ service to be unacceptable (I didn't see that word anywhere in the poll, did you?), but Fuzzy can't paraphrase the results to say that 90% of the respondents found that, despite room for improvement, FP+ worked well enough for them that they didn't hate it?

Let's be clear - what I am saying is that 51% of the responses were acceptable without caveat. I am not inferring what the other 49% meant and agree with Jimmy that it's definitely subject to interpretation.

Are you not agreeing that 51% of the responses were, at minimum, acceptable without qualification?

 

[JimmyV]

Wait, Lake can paraphrase that, based on the poll, 49% of respondents find WDW's level of FP+ service to be unacceptable (I didn't see that word anywhere in the poll, did you?), but Fuzzy can't paraphrase the results to say that 90% of the respondents found that, despite room for improvement, FP+ worked well enough for them that they didn't hate it?

I didn't read Lake's post to suggest that 49% found it to be unacceptable. Maybe I misread it, but I thought he was saying that when a new product rolls out, a company would like to see far more than 51% enthusiastically embrace it. I think it is a nuanced difference. In any event, I said that:

The idea that these poll results reveal a 90%-10% positive reaction to MDE/FP+ is as unwarranted as is the conclusion that these results reveal a 51%-49% positive reaction. It is virtually impossible for either to be true.

I think that that comports with what you say below:

Chances are the 39% would probably split into choice 1 or 3.

 

[DisneyKidds]

49% of customers not rating your services as "acceptable" or better without caveat would be a real issue for any company, and would fail KPI standards for any customer survey.

I may not have the best grasp on the English language, but wouldn't 'not rating it acceptable' be the same as rating it 'unacceptable'? Or is there a way the 39% can be saying......'while it is not acceptable, I do not find it to be unacceptable'?

 

[DisneyKidds]

Sorry, I'm not going to participate in a new round of our favorite game show.......The Clarification Game!

 

[MrInfinity]

Wait, Lake can paraphrase that, based on the poll, 49% of respondents find WDW's level of FP+ service to be unacceptable (I didn't see that word anywhere in the poll, did you?), but Fuzzy can't paraphrase the results to say that 90% of the respondents found that, despite room for improvement, FP+ worked well enough for them that they didn't hate it?

Yeah, I don't even respond to most of Lake's posts. I mean...

49% of customers not rating your services as "acceptable" or better without caveat would be a real issue for any company, and would fail KPI standards for any customer survey.

Is just a random thing to say, and is wrong. There was no mention at all that 49% of the customers rated the experience below acceptable.

Jimmy even called it out. The "middle group" was not like, dislike, acceptable, below acceptable, it was more of a non-applicable 3rd choice, kind of like I don't completely like it but I don't completely dislike it so I'll pick the 3rd option which is sort of "neither".

51% OUTRIGHT LIKED it. Not found it barely above acceptable. Only 10% actually disliked it. The other 39% were some combination of like, dislike, waiting to see if it would get better, or having ideas on how to make it better.

There is still clearly more than 5X like to dislike, and 39% some "other" who are ppl like Jimmy and Jennaisis who say they could grow to like it given some changes they would implement, and will still go to WDW.

The poll results clearly show FP+ is getting definitively positive likes, even among the uber-fan crowd which is likely to watch or respond to a podcast.

I didn't read Lake's post to suggest that 49% found it to be unacceptable. Maybe I misread it, but I thought he was saying that when a new product rolls out, a company would like to see far more than 51% enthusiastically embrace it.

And, that's not realistic. DeWalt rolls out a new drill. It's a tool. I buy it, I use it. Do I enthusiastically embrace it as making my life materially better? No that's silly. It's just a drill. It screws in screws for me, fine. There are things I'd do differently. I would make the batteries last longer. I don't know what goes into making a battery, but I'd do that if I was in charge. Even tho I know DeWalt has surely studied battery tech much more than me, and they know a lot more about making a drill.

If asked if this drill made me happier and my life materially better, or if it made me disappointed and my life worse off, or somewhere in between, I'd have to say I'd pick either happy or somewhere in between -- even tho for what it is... it works just fine, and I'll use it and be content w it, battery life and all.

Even in the blower example. 100 guests would "like" 100 different blowers. If you asked them to communally agree on the best one, it would not happen. And that is just a blower. FP+ is a massive system that affects millions of people! The fact that 51% outright like it is incredible, 39% have some sort of mixed feelings, and only 10% say they don't like it. That is awesome.

 

[DisneyKidds]

For these reasons and more from a much bigger picture, more than 51% need to find it "acceptable" or there will be irreparable long term harm.

At least Lake's clarification is useful in evaluating this statement, lifted from another thread. As Lake isn't saying the 49% find it "unacceptable", more than 51% must find it "acceptable"! Glad we don't have to worry about that irreparable long term harm.

Now, I know that isn't fair! Bottom line is, we don't know who finds what "acceptable", and can't take anything meaningful away from the poll......

 

[Laketravis]

Both of you are dwelling on your own twisted version of my words.

The fact is that 49% of the responses were NOT "acceptable without caveat"

Here is the basis for that fact:

If 39% say it could be good with changes, that's a caveat.

If 10% say they hate it, they hate it. Take them off the table.

We are then left with 51% who found it to be at the very least "acceptable" with no caveat.

My saying that "49% did not find it acceptable without caveat" is a correct statement.

 

[JimmyV]

The only challenges I would make to your post are...

There is still clearly more than 5X like to dislike, ...

It was actually, 5X more "like" to "hate". I am not sure if the word choice would make a difference in the overall result, but were I drafting the poll, I would not have placed "like" at one end and "hate" on the other. I do wonder what percentage of people retreated to the middle position simply because "hate" was too strong a word.

And...

And, that's not realistic.

I don't work in marketing, so I have no idea what the goals are when rolling out a new product. But 51% "like" and 49% "hate" or "other" does seem a bit underwhelming, but we just don't know unless and until there is follow-up on the 39%. If it is 51% "like", 39% "kind of like" and 10% "dislike", that wouldn't be bad at all. Indeed, that would be great. But 51% "like" and 49% "dislike or hate", that would seem to be a problem.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Mince.....tap dance.....tiptoe......yeah, we get it.

 

[Laketravis]

51% OUTRIGHT LIKED it.

Hold that thought.....

The fact that 51% outright like it is incredible, 39% have some sort of mixed feelings, and only 10% say they don't like it. That is awesome.

By who's standards? Certainly not any product roll-out that I'm aware of.

Bottom line is, we don't know who finds what "acceptable", and can't take anything meaningful away from the poll......

Sounds like you should be making your point with Fuzzy, not me. ("Mince.....tap dance.....tiptoe......").

 

[JimmyV]

Bottom line is, we don't know who finds what "acceptable", and can't take anything meaningful away from the poll......

100% agree. And that was the jumping off point of all of this. The point is not to try to dissect the data and declare a winner. The point was, (and I apologize if I obscured it), was that Pete was "shocked" at the results because only 10% of people didn't like MDE/FP+, yet the number of negative posts on the Boards belied a percentage that was much greater. I submit that he is looking at the poll results one way, and there is yet another way to look at them, and you have hit the nail on the head with your statement above. The negative posts on the Boards could be coming from the 10%, the 49%, or some percentage in between. Logic dictates, (even if it is "fuzzy"), that it has to be some number between 10% and 49%. The closer the real number is to 10%, the more legitimate the "shock" is. The closer the real number is to 49%, then the number of posts becomes far less shocking. And we will never know.

 

[DisneyKidds]

100% agree. And that was the jumping off point of all of this. The point is not to try to dissect the data and declare a winner. The point was, (and I apologize if I obscured it), was that Pete was "shocked" at the results because only 10% of people didn't like MDE/FP+, yet the number of negative posts on the Boards belied a percentage that was much greater. I submit that he is looking at the poll results one way, and there is yet another way to look at them, and you have hit the nail on the head with your statement above. The negative posts on the Boards could be coming from the 10%, the 49%, or some percentage in between. Logic dictates, (even if it is "fuzzy"), that it has to be some number between 10% and 49%. The closer the real number is to 10%, the more legitimate the "shock" is. The closer the real number is to 49%, then the number of posts becomes far less shocking. And we will never know.

True dat!

BTW LT, thanks for he classic redirect, wouldn't be a 'discussion' without it!

 

[WillAustin]

51% outright approval isn't a good number except in elections where somehow it's always a mandate.