Pete talking about Conc lounge

[wdwowner]

I understand how you feel about the conc lounge being closed for a week. They should have told you about that when you upgraded to it.

But here is the reality today. I see stuff like that happening for some time to come. I don't think they want to do it or will cut it off for good. But if there are not enough rooms occupied to pay for it to be open, what else can they do? Just look at Pop Centry and how they stopped in mid construction after 9-11? No people to rent rooms, why add any.

If your bookings went down so much that there was not enough for all of your agents would you keep them all or let some go?

Everyone at my company has to take a week layoff by the end of March. It really sucks but at least I still have a job. Others in my company, in the mfg plants, have been working 2 weeks and layoff for 2 weeks.

There is a company in suburban Chicago that told their employees this week their pay is being reduced by 47% for the next 6 weeks, and 20% until the end of June, just so they make their number for Wall St. This way no one will loose their job and benefits.

It is just reality out here in the real world. People have stopped spending money, and until they start again this has become the norm.

 

[safetymom]

I am not Pete but my question would be why do they offer the concierge level if they can't afford to keep it open?

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

I am not Pete but my question would be why do they offer the concierge level if they can't afford to keep it open?

I dont get this either. How could they accepted the money for the upgrade when there was not an upgrade to be had. Kind of crazy the front desk didnt know the lounge was shut down.

 

[WebmasterPete]

I disagree - I think there are many things that Disney can do to avoid such closures. For example, offer an upgrade to concierge at a reduced price. Trust me, for what they're serving in the lounge it's not costing them $140 a day per room to provide. Businesses tend to get very myopic in recessions and most economists agree that it's important to keep the focus on the long term, and not overreact to the short term. This recession will end - it may take 12 to 18 months, but it will end. Yes, some cuts need to be made in extreme circumstances - I accept that - but you don't throw your brand out the window in a panic either, and that's the feeling I got while I was out there. My fear is that Disney will make this policy moving forward - long after the recession ends.

I remember after 9/11 many hotels here in Orlando dropped to their 'cost recovery' rate in an effort to fill the hotels. They knew they wouldn't make money, but they'd be able to keep their staff intact as well as their reputations and it worked brilliantly. In fact, many of those hotels weathered the storm of 9/11 far better than their counterparts who didn't.

I just can't shake the feeling that Disney is using the current economic conditions as a way to justify scaling back on services that they couldn't justify before this, and it will become standard operating procedure moving forward, regardless of the state of the economy.

Pete

 

[dpuck1998]

I disagree - I think there are many things that Disney can do to avoid such closures. For example, offer an upgrade to concierge at a reduced price. Trust me, for what they're serving in the lounge it's not costing them $140 a day per room to provide. Businesses tend to get very myopic in recessions and most economists agree that it's important to keep the focus on the long term, and not overreact to the short term. This recession will end - it may take 12 to 18 months, but it will end. Yes, some cuts need to be made in extreme circumstances - I accept that - but you don't throw your brand out the window in a panic either, and that's the feeling I got while I was out there. My fear is that Disney will make this policy moving forward - long after the recession ends.

I remember after 9/11 many hotels here in Orlando dropped to their 'cost recovery' rate in an effort to fill the hotels. They knew they wouldn't make money, but they'd be able to keep their staff intact as well as their reputations and it worked brilliantly. In fact, many of those hotels weathered the storm of 9/11 far better than their counterparts who didn't.

I just can't shake the feeling that Disney is using the current economic conditions as a way to justify scaling back on services that they couldn't justify before this, and it will become standard operating procedure moving forward, regardless of the state of the economy.

Pete

I agree with this whole heartily. Just like mentioned in the podcast, the airlines are doing the same thing. This charging for bags, to pick a seat, to get a good seat, for a pillow for god sake, is out of control. They used the oil prices as an excuse, but never dropped the fees (and never will) now that oil is back to and lower than before it started. Even places like McDonald, cutting the size and amounts of food they serve and keeping prices the same. Saying customers want smaller portions is fine, but the prices should drop with the smaller portions. Guess its all due to Customer Demand!

 

[challer]

Pete, I was in the Disneyland Hotel the same time as you (Feb 8-10). It did seem pretty quiet there - I guessed because of off-peak season and cold/wet weather.

Now, I didn't try to go concierge, so I didn't get your run-in. All went smoothly and I was happy with the hotel. It just seemed extremely quiet and not that much different than any other hotel except for the decor and the Disney service at the front desk. Now, I didn't go swimming because of the weather (also my key card to the pool area didn't work for some reason), and I didn't go to Steakhouse 55 because I'm on a strictly kosher diet (but I did have the kosher breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen). My first experience at the DLH convinced me that the DLH is a good place to stay at the Disneyland Resort, but it is in no way a must. I may very well stay on property again on another trip, but I will look into off-property a bit more. It just didn't have the same feeling I get from, say, the Wilderness Lodge, or other WDW resort properties.

I'm sorry we didn't cross paths. I actually thought I saw you guys in the SD Wild Animal Kingdom, but as I got closer, it turned into the "stunt doubles" scene in Spaceballs. (The "Pete" character had a big bushy moustache, for example.)