Post here regarding WDW cutbacks, changes & Complaints

[erica_mutterer]

Michael Richardson, an executive from the disney offices contacted me yesterday regarding my e-mail (sent from the disney.com sight) expressing my opinions on such things as no EE, COP, and some of the recent restaurants that have closed or no longer served breakfast....he was very personable and friendly but unfortunatly not as informative as I would have liked(did not give specific answers as to if any of these things would be back) I did appreciate the call though. he did say that they have received lots of e-mails on these things...especially EE....he did explained that their decision to take away early entry was that they felt not many people were using it...he said that in the responses they are receiving that many people do want that option available to them....The character Caravan came about due to numerous requests for easier character access....he said that every e-mail is looked at and taken into consideration......In my opinion it certanly does not hurt to voice your coments...good and bad...if they get enough responses maybe all changes will not be permenant...he did say that they hoped that at least EPCOT hrs would be back to normal around Christmas...worst case...the summer...depending on the number of visitors...he also said the same for posting of the hours on the web. I did give him both positive and negative feedback.


just wanted to pass on this info...have a magical day....as Mr. Richarson said to me.......

 

[issa]

Just got off the phone with a wonderfully polite lady.
( I had know idea why they wanted to speak to me as the reservations are in husbands name)

She stated that she received my letter regarding my disappointment over the loss of EE mornings and they she and management were very touched with my Disney experiences and how the lack of EE would effect us and many other guests. ( I had even forgotten I wrote the letter)

She stated that she did not know when or if it would be re-instated and with the increase of the crowds it was a possibility. That the best thing the guests could do was WRITE in. so they have it on paper and can document it for reports being generated. She also stated that my letter was going to be a "lead " in a report showing the thoughts of the guest because of how well I wrote about the Disney experience my family had and how the loss of EE effects that.

She said she would like to encourage all guests to write and that it does make a big difference and that she was calling to let me know that my letter was read and is being taken in account.



I think this is wonderful!!

 

[josierac]

That's great.

 

[STOFFER]

Maybe all the letters and e-mails will have an effect. Let's hope so.

 

[tlduckie]

They wanted to let me know that EE is not in effect but could be started back up just depends on the crowds and DEC may have e nights. Told me the message boards are good but there is lots of misinformation posted. sometimes even before it happens

 

[drusba]

Interesting their mentioning December may have e-nights since in the past it never has as instead of e-night there is the Mickey Christmas party after hours.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I got a phone call from the Executives Office and was told that a survey was done by guests and that EE was not used or important to the guests. He definitely implied to me that EE will not return anytime soon. He also said that the board is full of rumors and not to believe them all.

 

[8caliace]

Can you please post the address where you send these letters? I know I will take the time to express my feelings to Disney. Hopefully all of us who enjoyed the EE benefit will write in also. Thanks.

 

[T3trish]

Hi all,

I also recieved a call for a very polite CM regarding an e-mail we sent to them. The CM was polite,sweet, kind and also said EE are not coming back in the forseeable future. Sorry all--But once again. We went and had a wonderful trip without them.

 

[DawnL]

I received a call yesterday from a CM re: my e'mail on EE mornings. She was very nice - said that for now EE's were gone for good, but with their attendance getting better and with all of the letters and e'mails coming in, there was a possibility that they would continue again for the peak periods - no guarentee, but the letters and e'mails are being reviewed by their top people and they are having an impact. She said after September 11, Disney needed to come up with a quick way to reduce costs and discontinuing EE mornings was decided upon as a cost savings having the least impact on guests. I guess the best thing we can do is keep those letters and e'mails coming.

 

[Lucky4me]

I just read that they are closing MK on Dec.4 at 3pm due to a media event? That is totally ludicrous!!! An unsuspecting guest is going to pay $50 to get into a park for just a couple of hours? If I was going that day, I'd be writing letters to everyone and calling the Eisner office. There is no way they should short change their guests like that. Start the media event at 6 or 7pm! But 3? Ridiculous! Can you say National Lampoons Vacation? I can see Chevy Chases face right now.....

Disney is butchering those parks. Slowly but surely they are erasing the magic, everything that people loved about going there. If they keep it up they will be on par with Six Flags..... I think Disney believes they can get away with it. At this point I think they're right.

For the first time ever I'm glad I don't have a trip planned for the immediate future. Now that makes me sad.....

 

[Sandy Fisher]

We arrived at CBR on Sat. Nov. 10 and the lobby was standing full of people checking in. It took over an hour to get checked in. We caught a bus to MK around 3 and there were only 5 people including us on the bus. I was a little concerned. Got to the park and security check went fast because not many coming in. Parade was already started yet we could easily have watched from the train platform. Walked along Main St. on the sidewalks without any problem. Around Crystal Palace and then watched rest of parade. By the time we got to Frontierland there was a 45-min. wait posted on Splash and Big Thunder. Went to HM and 45 minute posted there also. FP being used on all of them. Park was crowded but not overbearing.

Next day at Epcot it was a pain because literally "EVERYONE" arrived at the same time. Huge crowd waiting to go through security. We got there before 10 and they were leaving people through the turnstiles to ropes beside Sp. Earth. Line for Sp. Earth began moving through the chutes at 10 til 10 and by 10 they were boarding people on that ride. Rest of the day wasn't bad as far as crowds. Test Track showed 60 min. wait on the info board but turns out they weren't using FP and said they won't for the rest of this year.

By Monday the crowds were down a little and by Tuesday you could walk on most anything. We don't have small children so we don't do much in Fantasyland and not at all in Toon Town, so I can't speak for them.

Buses were full at park closings. We stayed til closing all but one night. MK was open til 10 Sat. the 10th and that was nice. 2 parades and fireworks in between. ToD at WS was nice but I like ToN better. We saw it numerous times and not crowded at all. Even the Illuminations crowd wasn't like we've experienced in the fall before.

Had a great time but really dislike everyone arriving at the same time for park opening. That's one thing that EE did, it spread out the arrivals a little better. Security checks at AK were really slow for some reason but park wasn't crowded. That was Mon. a.m. Got on Safaris quickly but they were running the vehicles too close together and too fast. Bounced you all over the place and hard to take pics. All in all a great trip but some drawbacks due to hours!

 

[SgtBigG]

According to the posted schedule, MGM is closing early on 12/5 (4:00) for the media event. Where did you hear about MK? Don't tell me that one more thing is going to change.

 

[kalamazoo]

I'm sorry but this is too many cutbacks too fast. Most people go to WDW to spend the whole day and are willing to pay accordingly, but in reducing the hours plus no EE or E-nights plus all the other changes, it seems to me, they are risking losing a lot of business.

1) They are alienating their loyal customers by doing all this stuff on the sly and taking away most of the perks for staying on-site. 2) By reducing hours they are removing that many more customers from their restaurants, stores and concession stands. 3) On top of it all, they are severely risking losing future business to other vacation spots who will bend over backwards to get people to visit or at the very least, for those who just can not stay away from Disney, they are risking that guests will book with them for shorter vacations and maybe head off to the beach for the rest of their Florida stay.

I can't believe that they are hurting so bad that they had to make all these cuts and make them all at once. I realize the 9-11 tragedy was very destructive to the tourist industry, but , frankly, I suspect that Disney is using it as an excuse to do things that they wouldn't dare do in a normal recession period. I'm sure they are counting on the fact that we are all so much more thankful for what we have now that we have seen a glimpse of how horrible things can be to try and gloss over all the cutbacks.

The Disney Corporation is a business and the steps they have taken are not unheard of in the business world, but, they are a business that depends heavily on good PR and in this respect I think they are doing miserably these days. Everybody knows that it is not good PR to take things away without giving a little something back. Okay, they're doing the character caravan - that's a step in the right direction - but there must be other things (relatively inexpensive things) they can do to lessen the blow, especially for those who are staying on-site. For example, what if those refillable cups could be used for drinks in the parks - maybe not unlimited drinks, but how about 2 or 3 refills a day. How much could THAT set them back?? Or how about a free character breakfast if you stay a certain length of time at one of the resorts? Or how about free Disney Dollars if you spend a certain amount in the stores it the park?

All this being said, inspite of all the changes, our tickets were purchased a long time ago and we need a vacation so we will be off to WDW and expect to enjoy ourselves - still debating, though, whether to cancel 1st- time on-site reservations and stay somewhere cheaper and bigger and just as nice (if not nicer) off-site. I'm just not sure if there is enough "magic" at the resorts to justify their high prices (even at the reduced rate). I think that nowadays there are a lot of off-site resorts that provide major competition for the Disney resorts and Disney's days of sitting on their laurels in this respect are numbered.

We have been returning to WDW year after year and encouraging others to go too, but whether this trend will continue will depend a lot on Disney's behaviour now and in the future. There are lots of other nice places to visit.

If anyone has been thoroughly depressed or angered by reading all these vents, go to the Trip Reports Board to see that there is still fun to be had at WDW.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

We just returned from DW and I cannot add a lot to the informed and intelligent statements made by you all.

Just a couple of comments on our experiences. As a retired couple it was not as bad on us as it would be for younger people with more energy to get out and about. I felt for the first timers and young families who were forced to sit around in the mornings and evenings or extend t heir budget and pay for other entertainment.

The reason the parks seemed full at times is cause everyone was converged at the same time IMHO. During the week was much easier.

A Cm told me that he is required to work at more than one attraction. While his show is running he is to go next door to another attraction at that time. Saying that he had to run off and leave us to run the elevator ourselves and find the theater.

Because of the late m ornings and early evenings we found ourselves going off site and spending a large amount of money there rather than on property.

Evey family has different situations and decisions to make and they are all valid. As for us, I am glad we made the 4 trips this year cause next year we will be exploring other options.

Slightly Goofy

 

[Glenn]

I leave for WDW in about 2 wks. From the postings it seems that
attendance is getting to be around normal for this time of yr. In the past I had short lines except for the major rides in Nov & Dec. With attendance up why not go back to normal winter hours? I can under stand not going back to EE mornings but why still short the hours, parades ect. Im not happy with getting less for the same price. Ill go because it would cost me money to cancel. I wont be buying any trinkets and will be eating in the park alot less. The magic seems to be much dimmer than my first of many trips 15 yrs ago. Yes a company has to watch costs to stay in business but when you destroy your good will it will destroy a company. No smilies this yr.

 

[lisapooh]

Originally posted by eeyore0062
Osbourne Family Specticle of Lights is still planned for December, as are all but 3 showings of the Candlelight Processional, the parades will all be there, the MVMCP will stilll be in progress, as scheduled... and if you are really lucky, and they are busy, you might even get a real "Surprise" morning. If you go at Christmas time, or at anytime, you will not be disappointed!

Yes but there were people who had already paid for packages to attend those shows and they are literally getting the shaft. Oh we cancelled the show. We can't get you in to another that day. Too bad you are out of luck. Or the restaurant you already scheduled is booked and there is no alternate time we can seat you. People are supposed to graciously accept that because business is bad. I don't think so. Of course people are angry and upset and rightly so.
For us it was a matter of giving up CP or MVMCP. The only day we could go was Dec 18. I know you will say we could go on different days but then you are assuming that all of us are fully hearing. I'm not and use a ASL interpreter and Tuesday was the only night during our stay that CP was interpreted and the last night and only night we could go to MVMCP.
We are fortunate though because we were able to add a 1 day trip next week to see Marlee Matlin narrate CP with interpreting as well. I am sure this is not the case for most Disney visitors. And yes I am driving up on the day we see CP and driving back the next morning because I have class Mon and Wed and I can't miss the class.

 

[KFISCHER]

You haven't even gotten down there yet.
Wait till you do before you jump to any conclusion that the magic and smiles are gone.

Don't get taken in by all these gloomy posts from people who haven't been down there to see what it's really like. I was there for 9 days recently. It's still an awesome time!.

So don't let anyone get you down.

 

[CrazyBoutDisney]

My DH and I are quite upset over the loss of the EEs. It seemed to be the only time we could get into Fantasyland and ride Dumbo!!! We are big kids at heart and love even the little kids stuff -- EE made it so much easier.

And Disney is not the only ones having an effect on our vacation. Our 6:45AM Delta flight has been cancelled and now we don't leave till 8 -- that's gonna cut into our park time too. Hertz better have our car ready, that's all I can say!!

We're still looking forward to our week with the Mouse, however curtailed it may be. At least there will still be fireworks!!!! and with all the people cancelling their reservations, we were able to change ours to the resort we originally wanted that HAD been all booked up! See, our lemons made lemonade!

God Bless You All


3 days and a wake up!!!

 

[86cammie]

I received a phone call yesterday froma Disney Rep. in response to my email about my disappointment of the removal of early entry. He told me that Disney in only trialing the Character Caravans. What I understood was that if people send comments about early entry, they will reconsider bringing it back. The focus of the message, though, should not be on getting to rides first. My letter focused on the quiet magical times of early opening: we could see more of the subtle things becasue you did not have to worry about being trampled on.

If people want to bring back Early Entry, think of what you enjoy (besides the rides), and let Disney know!