goodvibes) I mean my vacations are usually split between BWV and BLT. Both of which have walkways to the parks as well as boat/bus transportation. Also the monorails will run an hour after park close making it possible to catch one of the last runs if you leave EMH early... Again i would love to see the runs extended but who knows this could just be for maintenance or some sort of test... i guess only time shall tell.
No change regarding the merchandise, but a big change regarding food and accommodation. I guess what I'm trying to say is I want to have reasons to spend money at Disney, and they're making it harder and harder to justify. First the declining merchandise, then food: and I never thought the day would come where I'd be willing to spend 7 nights in Lake Buena Vista at a non-Disney resort.
I doubt it will have much impact on park attendance.
"Group Two" guests are not taking ME. I guarantee it.
Perfectly understandable! I could imagine a whole bunch of things they could do that would change things up for us - things that probably wouldn't impact you at all. And earlier this week I remember folks discussing the whole first-timer versus returning visitor scenario: Even though I don't see Disney actually making the change in direct that some folks are trying to make it sound like they're making, that doesn't mean that if they chose to do so that it wouldn't be a viable business model. There are examples within the consumer service marketplace today where the right thing to do is mainly focus on getting new customers - i.e., markets where there is too small of a return on investment in retaining existing customers for most of the existing customer retention measures. It doesn't feel good, though, being on the short-end of that stick.
Disney's been about value for a long time; I suspect a lot of the difference is in your perception of it, stemming from how far along that path you personally are.
I remember things being different in the 90's, with bigger emphasis on fine dining by adding places like California Grill and Citricos. Even Coral Reef was still considered fine dining then. The tickets weren't as customizable (all were park hopper - you couldn't get a base ticket), the dining plans weren't marketed as heavily (I remember a plan where you could use wishes on other things such as marina rentals), there wasn't magical express, there weren't nearly as many discounts, etc. Of course, the value resorts were being added at the same time, and by 2005 the dining plan and magic your way and DME were rolled out, free dining started soon after, and so on, so it's all happened pretty quickly. But I don't remember the cutbacks and reduced merchandise and dining (at least at most of the 1-credit table service restaurants) and amenities being as bad as they are now, which makes it harder to accept.
:nod:
Just look at the competition. There is a misconception that Disney needs to be a better value than the competition, or of higher quality. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Ritz Carlton was always a better hotel. There have always been steakhouses better than the best Disney-owned steakhouse. There have always been better roller coasters, better animal viewing experiences, better flumes. Disney's excellence is in their storytelling. They're still the best - better than all the rest. Though they work to be darned good with all the rest, they don't need to be in order to still be Disney.
And that raises the questions: (1) How big is that group, really? (2) How likely is it that they would have chosen to go off-site, anyway? (3) How much would it really cost to placate Group 2 to lock-in their patronage? (4) How does that compare to how much extra profit Disney earns by placating Group 2 rather than letting them go?
I remember climbing Mt. Pemigewasset in the 90's. Time passes. We all change - everything changes.
There is no question that Disney invested a lot in creating a relatively large array of fine dining. No one has ever proven that that was a smart move. It was a calculated risk, and my guess is that within six or seven years it became clear that that simply wasn't going to be the best use of the available resources. I don't even thing 9/11 played into it much. My wife and I were roped in by this strategy, enjoyed it for years, and then fell into a "been there done that" malaise long before Disney's strategy changed.
You say that as if it is a bad thing. That is a vast improvement and the fact that you see it the opposite way indicates something important.
Yup I had that plan. It was expensive. And while I personally don't care for the DDP, I won't seek to nullify the perspective of many other Disney guests that this more affordable plan is an enhancement over the plans that you and I remember and used in the 1990s.
I've already clearly labeled DME as a big improvement.
I don't know what you mean. There were discounts. They were just organized differently.
Then your memory is too short. There have always been complaints. I remember online discussions going back 25 years, with a group of folks I lovingly referred to as the Doom-and-Gloomers.
So now, instead of connecting bus-to-monorail or monorail-to-bus, you'll be connecting bus-to-bus (or boat-to-bus or bus-to-boat). It'll still be easier than what most guests without cars do; you'll be able to connect at the open park at an 'off' time, one when hordes of people aren't leaving. Most of us have in your position have to do the dreaded Downtown Disney connectionYup, just inconvenience for me. When we'll be there in Dec, out of 8 nights, there is only 1 of them that the official park hours aren't closing at 7 (5 nights) or 8 (2 nights). With the shorter park hours we were planning on later dinners to maximize park time. Since 6 of those nights have EEMH or MVMCP, we were counting on the monorail being running so we could get back to our resort more easily. Sure, we could rent a car for the week and drive, but that would mean one of us has to skip drinks with dinner.
I guess, we've been unlucky in our choices. I didn't know, the Safari was open that late. We've traveled with little ones lately, and wanted characters and animals. Wow, thanks for the list!
