Post here regarding WDW cutbacks, changes & Complaints

[Eeyore2U]

cforza,

raidermatt hit on the key points I was going to respond to. I'll try not to be redundant.

I've seen more comments on the resort, theme park and DVC boards saying EE was at nice but not important.

I said the the majority of people didn't use EE. It's an opinion based on what I have read here about other touring strategies. As it is your opinion that you know who is upset about it.

I don't buy the more for less argument. Matt has shown how hours are not significantly reduced.


I think Disney offers great customer service by balancing the need of masses vs the bottom line. It makes no sense to bankrupt the company, offering somethign that is used by what seems to be a targeted audience.

 

[Leigh123]

Just thought I would share the standard response I got back after emailing my concerns about EE being gone.....

Dear Mrs. Harding,

Thank you for writing to the Walt Disney World® Resort.

We appreciate the time you took to contact us. We wanted to let you know
that we have received your comments, and are reviewing them with the areas
concerned. You can expect to hear from one of our correspondents within the
next few weeks.

Sincerely,

Executive Offices
Walt Disney World® Resort

 

[Laz]

We must have talked about 30 minutes! I expressed two main points to the caller: 1) Over the past 9 years, I, along with many others, have clearly noticed a decline in services and quality at WDW. Everything from cleanliness, to using soap dispensers in the showers, as well as the bus transportation system (For a resort area that has the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, they are still using a form of transportation that was designed in the early part of the LAST century!). Removal of EE was a MAJOR reduction in sevice. If thier surveys showed vistors do not use it, they must have used the wrong sample, inadequate sample size, or leading questions. I told him to check the DIS! 2) It is getting very difficult to find reasons to stay in the WDW Resort. While WDW is taking away perks, non WDW hotels are offering more at a cheaper price! Especially in a recession, you need to show VALUE for the dollar spent. I don't know if my comments will go any where, but at least I tried.

 

[Baxie8]

As someone who is scheduled to go to WDW April 13th-18th, there are additional concerns. In addition to EE elimination, park hours are considerably shorter, with only one night(my arrival date which I didn't want to use for a whole day park admittance) for fireworks and Spectromagic at MK. Yet, this period is still peak for price, with resort discounts beginning on the 21st. I think it would be reasonable to honor that discount for that week of considerably reduced park hours. Anyone else going this week with thoughts on this?

 

[MICOL]

I agree with Baxie8, the hours for the April 14th week are sad!!!!!
How can they charge full peak price and have short hours!!! We do not use EE so the Character Caravan will be fun. We will get there Tues the 16th and there are No MK fireworks during our stay. Glad we love Fantasmic and Illuminations.

 

[lodgelady]

I agree. Thanks for speaking up!

 

[punkin]

When I cancelled my CR ressie I was asked why and I said because without EE it makes no sense to stay onsite. Instead of $200 per night to stay on the monorail, I'm paying $45 to stay 3 miles away. Think of all the things I could do with the difference. Sorry, taking away EE tipped the scales away from a Disney resort for me.

 

[TinkHappy]

I too received the exact "form" email from WDW. For the first time in 11 years, we are staying off-site and I am actually very excited about it. So what if I have to pay to park, that is nothing if I am saving over $100.00 a night and the room is bigger. The transportation at WDW resorts has a lot to be desired and without EE I see no "real" reason to stay in a Disney resort.

 

[cforza]

Just wanted to respond to a couple of points, raidermatt when I said I loved the fact that there were no lines, what I meant was, I didn't have to wait in the lines with FOTL. There were definitely lines, and lots of people waiting in them, but since I had the on-site perk of FOTL, I didn't have to wait in the lines.

And Eeyore2U, nowhere in my post did I claim to know who or how many are upset by no EE. I stated that YOU did not know who is upset by it's removal. There is a difference. You claim that the majority of people are not upset by it's removal. How on earth would you know what the majority of Disney guests or potential guests think? Perhaps there are many, many people who aren't even choosing to visit Disney (or these boards) , because of cutbacks. We'll never know what those statistics are.

I am no Disney expert and have no intention of making a career out of researching or debating their business tactics, so I'll just amuse myself by browsing this thread and refrain from responding from now on. Remember the Enron stockholders felt that Enron was doing everything in their best business interest too.

 

[CarolAnnC]

This is a reminder that this thread is here for those who want to relay their experiences and feedback from WDW on the cutback, changes and complaints. It is not the Debate Board. If you want to debate the issues, please feel free to visit the DIS Debate Board where you may start a thread to do so. Thank you all for your cooperation.

 

[disneyholic family]

is the early entrance gone forever?...
or are they talking about bringing it back during the summer? (when it's hotter than hades and getting an early start can help avoid heat prostration).....
anyone know?....rumors?

if they don't bring it back, we've decided to stay off property this year for the first time in 10 years.....i'd say it was a penny wise - pound foolish decision on their part

 

[WDW2002]

I haven't heard anything about them bringing it back. I wouldn't count on it though. Disneyland has also done away with Early Entry. And they didn't even add the "perk" of character caravan for resort guests.

 

[disneyholic family]

sounds like WDW is going the way of Universal (bad service for lots of money)...
the only reason left to say on site are e ticket nights....
and in the summer those are so late my daughter is too tired anyway....
hubby said that for all he cares, he'll rent a room in the cheap seats (all star whatever) just so that he can take my son to e ticket night.....that is, we'll stay off property in a $400/night villa and just take an all star room for e ticket night.....
WDW would get the $400 dollars/night for a room is they were more responsive to what the consumers want...
as i said, penny wise and pound foolish...
i'm starting to talk myself out of this vacation...
maybe i can still talk my kids into somewhere else this summer...

 

[Pin Wizard]

I think our last trip is the final one for the 4-day, 3-night package. We end up getting about 3 days out of it. Living in Florida, we leave at a reasonable time of morning after dropping the dog off at the boarders. Get there around 1:30 or 2:00. Then on the final day we prefer to get up and leave in the morning for the drive back. Once we stayed until about noon or 1, again anticipating picking up the dog before they close for the day. The last trip we said forget it! Just left first thing in the morning. Of course I emailed Disney on this and we received tickets for one day to be used at any time. We've planned a trip to Univ. for a few days and will spend one night at WDW to use those tickets! Thank goodness for Florida resident rates for the room right now.

 

[Babblin'Boo]

If more people contacted Disney about their feelings rather than leaving it on the hands of others, we'd see changes and maybe the return of EE mornings soon.

wdw.guest.communications@wda.disney.com

 

[welovemickey]

Just sent a letter to WDW - hope to hear a response.

 

[bjakmom]

I e-mailed disney about two weeks ago through link on a post here and received an e-mail back last week stating that they had received my e-mail and if I would send my phone # they would like to contact me by phone to discuss it. The e-mail was signed with the name of a supervisor - still no phone call - but at least I know they are reading our e-mails about this - keep sending them in - I will really miss EE - I'm an early in, out for lunch and pool - return late afternoon lover and it's the biggest reason I pay to stay on-site ! Just hoping this is temporary from 9/11 and the economy slow down - if that's the case, I can be patient for it's return - hope to be visiting WDW for many years to come!

 

[spruce]

I sent one too but I think EE will be back for high summer season....spruce

 

[wld]

Just emailed WDW about this. Got a flyer in our reservation envelope that said EE was cancelled d/t low interest and people wanting more character interaction. Don't know who all those people were that were there with us during EE then. Or maybe they just showed up the week we were there. And characters are a dime a dozen anymore with lots of fixed locations and character breakfasts. Being a mom of older kids we don't need to see characters every 5 minutes. On our first trip in 1994 coming up on characters by suprise was exciting. We're not into standing in line at a set location for a set character. For those that are I know there are spots especially in MK. I guess it does encourage us to stay in our hotel rather than hit the parks in the morning. With limited hours in the winter, early entry let us spend more time in the parks which is what we came for. For those of you with small children I'm sure the character caravan will be great!! The rest of us will have to find something else to do.

 

[disneyholic family]

boy....look at all the typos in my earlier response....
anyway...
does anyone know the email address to write WDW about this?..
i'd be happy to write, as would my kids (doubt hubby cares one way or the other....he just goes along for the ride.....is happy to be wherever we are, whether it's WDW or the far side of the moon)....