Post here regarding WDW cutbacks, changes & Complaints

[TDC Nala]

>>I asked her if this has aything to do with a slowing economy - Yes I know this is a loaded question (She's a reservation agent not a CEO) She told me -NO this is what everyone told Michael Eisner they wanted. People told him that the only reason they use Early Entry is to see characters. <<

Really? Then what were they doing on the rides? Why have rides open early at all? And as far as I know, anybody can stroll down Main Street before official park opening and meet characters. Last time I was on Main Street before 9 they had a really good selection of characters greeting guests in front of the castle. Have they stopped opening Main Street before the rest of the park? I doubt it, because the shops are there.

I have taken those surveys. I'm sure they would never ask "Would you rather have Early Entry or characters at the resorts?" They probably asked "Do you use Early Entry?" (to which I would have truthfully said "No") and "Do you think it would be a good idea to have characters at the resorts?" (to which I would probably have replied "Why not?") without any hint that they are thinking of the two items as mutually exclusive choices.

 

[Eric Julie and Hailey]

From the Orlando Sentinel today...***sigh***

--------------------
Disney asks workers to cut hours to save money
--------------------

By Robert Johnson
Sentinel Staff Writer

October 23, 2001

Thousands of salaried workers at Walt Disney World were asked Monday to cut their work week to 32 hours as the company stepped up cost-cutting efforts.

The move will mean 20 percent less in their paychecks for 7,400 workers at Disney's parks, hotels and administrative offices.

Disney also trimmed the hours of some attractions and restaurants and fired an unspecified number of contract workers.

The company's higher-paid employees join the ranks of the attraction's 40,000 hourly workers, who have seen their work schedules sharply reduced since the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., that devastated the tourism industry.

Disney spokeswoman Marilyn Waters said the reduced workweek was a way to "save some jobs" and that employees would be able to keep insurance and retirement benefits.

Waters said the voluntary work reductions were "an opportunity" to employees "because some people would like to do that for lifestyle reasons."

However, she said, if there weren't enough takers it would not automatically mean that some jobs would be abolished.

But that possibility was clearly implied. About 1,000 salaried Disney World workers were laid off before Sept. 11. They were caught up in cutbacks that included Disneyland in California.

The Monday offer of voluntary reductions was made only to Orlando-area workers, an indication that Disney World has been harder hit than Disneyland by the fallout from the terrorism attacks.

Even before Sept. 11, Orlando's attractions were having a bad year compared with Disneyland. In the third quarter that ended June 30, revenue for the California attraction rose about $100 million from the same period a year earlier, while Disney World's numbers fell by about that amount.

The disparity has much to do with the demographic differences in the two parks' markets: Disneyland draws huge attendance from a steady supply of West Coast visitors who drive there. Disney World relies heavily on tourists who fly in from the North, Midwest and overseas. Reduced airline schedules have hit hard at Disney World's so-called "destination" trade.

Among the cost-cutting measures Disney World has adopted are eliminating some live stage shows on certain days, such as Disney-MGM Studios' Beauty and the Beast.

And Monday it went further. At Epcot, most of the Future World section at the front of the park will be open for three hours less each day. The hours were trimmed to 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., compared with 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

A handful of Future World attractions will remain open until 9 p.m.: the Spaceship Earth and Test Track rides, Honey I Shrunk the Kids show and Innoventions pavilion. One Future World restaurant, Coral Reef, will also remain open until 9 p.m.

Epcot's World Showcase section, which consists largely of restaurants and shops representing nations throughout the world, will open an hour later -- at noon -- and still close at its usual 9 p.m.

"We still have more entertainment than guests can experience in a day," Waters said.

Waters said Disney World's Yacht and Beach Club resort, near MGM Studios, has closed its Galley restaurant but still has three other restaurants.

Also Monday, Disney fired an unspecified number of highly paid contract workers in its technology segment. The company would not confirm the estimates by other Disney employees that about 40 contract workers, some at the attraction for as long as five years, were dismissed effective Oct. 19.

Robert Johnson can be contacted at rwjohnson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5664.



Copyright (c) 2001, Orlando Sentinel

Visit OrlandoSentinel.com

 

[Manthra]

I recently sent this email off to <A href="mailto:wdw.guest.communications@disney.com">Guest Relations at Disney</a> concerning my families upcoming trip.

To Whom It May Concern:

I, and my family are long time Disney supporters who have been coming to
your parks religiously since 1967. Starting in 1974 I have been going at a
pace around three times a year.

For the first time I am bringing a group of people, most of whom have never
been before, to visit your parks this coming November 4th - 10th. I am very
distraught to see that you have pulled the schedule and are considering
changing park hours and operating procedures during this time.

I booked my vacation (13 people in all) back last May, and everyone has been
getting more excited with each passing week. We booked lunch, dinner, shows
and golf reservations as early as we could and based it off the calendar you
provided on your website, and the hours we were given when I called
407-WDisney.

Sunday, November 4th we are planning on visiting the Magic Kingdom, we have
reservations for my neighbors family (first timers) for lunch at the Castle.
I was hoping that my In-Laws would be able to watch the fireworks with their
Grandchildren this night as we will probably never be able to convince them
to take this trip again. According to your calendar you were going to have
fireworks this night. Your operating hours were supposed to be 9 am to 7 pm,
and we all know that some of the most magical time at the Magic Kingdom is
at night with all the lights.

Monday, November 5th we are planning to visit Disney MGM Studios. I made
reservations for all of us to have lunch at the Sci-Fi Diner and have gone
on and on about what a great show Fantasmic is to see. Your website listed
the park hours to be 9 am to 7pm with Fantasmic at 7 pm. The three twelve
year olds in the group are hoping to ride the Tower of Terror after dark.

Tuesday, November 6th we are expecting to visit EPCOT center. My In-Laws and
neighbors are very excited to see all the countries and sample the flavors
at the International Food and Wine Celebration. My parents want to take
their youngest grandchildren (1 and 2 years old) to see The Living Seas
(which I hear you shut the ride part down). I have shown pictures/video and
talked about how grand Illuminations is at night to see all the countries
lit up. According to your original calendar your park hours were to be 9 am
to 9 pm with the countries opening up around 11 am. My son (12) wants to
take both his grandfathers on Test Track.

Wednesday, November 7th we have booked a character breakfast for the group
at Port Orleans because my two youngest and the neighbors 11 year old
daughter love Tigger. Then around 2 pm I have booked a tee time on one of
your fine golf courses for my father, neighbor, his wife and I. My
Father-In-Law is to take my 12 year old son out on the speedboats, and my
wife and the two grandmothers are taking the babies to the petting zoo in
the campground. At 9 pm I booked the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue for my In-Laws, and
my wife's Aunt and Uncle who will be driving over from near Daytona, and my
folks are going to watch the kids while my neighbors, my wife, and I go to
Pleasure Island for the evening. I have told them how incredible it is to be
there when the clock strikes midnight.

Thursday, November 8th my In-Laws are going to Daytona with my wife's Aunt
and Uncle to visit for the rest of the week, so any chance to see any of the
shows you might cancel will be gone. The rest of us are planning on visiting
your Animal Kingdom park (originally scheduled to be open 9am to 5pm).
Afterwards we were going to cook out at our campsites (my neighbors are
renting a cabin, my folks have a motorhome, and we have a trailer) and then
my neighbor and I were planning on taking the older children to DisneyQuest
for the rest of the evening.

Friday, November 9th we are planning on returning to the Magic Kingdom to
try and catch any attractions we might have missed on Sunday. I have also
gotten everyone very excited about SpectroMagic. If I remember correctly
your hours of operation were 9am to 9pm with the parade at 8pm and fireworks
as well.

Saturday, November 10th my neighbors will be returning to Michigan with my
12 year old son. The rest of us will take a day of rest before heading out
on Sunday.

It is very dis-heartening to me to think that my long laid out plans for a
magical trip to your fantastic parks are going for naught. I can't even
juggle my schedule around for fear we might not get some of our
reservations. I also feel like I am beign slighted because you are still
charging us full price to visit your parks at reduced hours.

Just rounding out our expenses for this group I am figuring on:

Tickets: $2,500.00
Lodging: $2,200.00
Shows/Golf/Non-Park Entertainment: $1,200.00
Food in Park: $500.00
Air Fare: $1,500.00
Gas: $400.00
Total (before purchasing keep-sakes): $8,300.00

This is not even including the food we bring, film, and other essentials.
Our families have been putting away money since January looking forward to
this trip.

I noticed on your website you are offering a free day on any park hopper
bought at DisneyLand.

Have you thought about doing this for those of us traveling to Florida?

I have spent months agonizing over trying to make what I feel is the perfect
trip for all of us, especially those of us who have never been before, and
very well may never make it again. My neighbors figure this is their
once-in-a-lifetime blowout trip (which is evidenced by them spending $180
per night on one of your cabins to stay near us in Fort Wilderness).

Again, I am worried that my best-laid plans are futile now, and part of the
magic for me is ruined. I lament finding out that you are cutting my groups
time in your parks rather then coming up with a way to boost attendance by
giving incentives.

I look forward to hearing from you with positive news about park hours
during our trip. Please do not close the Hall of Presidents, The Country
Bear Jamboree, or The Carousel of Progress as my In-Laws are really looking
forward to seeing these fine attractions.

Cordially yours,

Michael S. Ewles
michaels@ewles.com

 

[CuZbCuz]

Folks, I love WDW, but enough is enough. There are alot of wonderful things our family can do with our limited (!) vacation dollars.

Other posts have tried to keep up a level of enthusiam about trips many of us have planned ( We are leaving Saturday) but I cant paste a smile to my face.

Our reservations have been messed up 2x by Disney Club. USAir cancelled both of our non-stop flights, giving us instead lousy flights with long layovers that themselves, because of later departures going down and an earliewr flight home, cost us almost an entire day worth of vacation. Now we lose EE and Enights, Then the parks are opening a hour earlier and closing an hour later?!

I already sent my e-mail to Eisner & co. But what goo will it do? None for our trip. Too late to cancel with out big $ losses ( and broken hearted kids!!!)

We had a reservation for another trip, this one the fancy-hotel, long-stay dream vacation we had been promisimg ourselves for years. For the same dollars we had at first considered about a 10 day Carribean cruise with a few days in Aruba to boot!

We picked 6 nights at GF instead, with some fancy meal ressie's.

Well, WDW is out & the cruise is in.

Folks, the only real power we have over the bean counters who are spoiling the magic is to vote with our $. There is a whole world outside of 'the world'.

 

[DisneyHog]

I am broken hearted with all this terrible news! We are leaving Nov. 9 and have been so looking forward to this trip! Does anyone know if there will be any performances of Spectromagic in Nov? I read the rumor that it will not run at all. What nights has it run in the last few weeks. Thanks for any info. Spectromagic is truly the one of the "magical" parts of a WDW trip and it will be so sad to miss it because of the horrible events of 9-11.

God Bless America, Disneyhog

 

[MissinDis]

My family and I were at WDW Sept 11. For starters, I have to say that I was extremely impressed with the way Disney handled the horrific situation!! They quietly informed small groups that the parks would be closing, so there was no hysteria. We were to leave the next morning so assumed that this was our last day and we had to leave early. That was a disappointment. But all the guests that we encountered had a good, supportive attitude. And then Disney gave us all an extra day to enjoy in the parks to make up for the time we lost Sept 11.

Remember that sometimes while there it rains (pours is more like it!!) Sometimes the parks are open for shorter hours. Sometimes you simply can't get into a show because it is full or doesn't fit your schedule. But none of these - or even all of these things combined - doesn't ruin your vacation. We stayed on Disney property and I will do so again, whether there are perks or not. It is just more convenient and makes you feel like you are part of something.

The park hours had already been shortened the week we were there - even before Sept 11. And we still had plenty of time to do everything we wanted to. We hadn't planned on attending the parades because it seems like a lot of work to try to coax a 4 yr old to stand still for an hour waiting for a parade. So whether there are parades or not, there is still so much other great, fun stuff to do!!

And if the parks close earlier than you want, just go to Downtown Disney. So much fun and we had some great meals there!!

We felt that, while you definitely feel the price of admission, it is not a rip-off. Just think about how much you would pay to take your family to a live show. Or your local county fair, paying extra for each ride. And at WDW you get that and more.

We certainly can't complain about the service that we got. Everyone was great!!

There were no E-Nights when we were there. The only one scheduled was Sept 11, and of course, no one was able to attend that night. But, I didn't hear anyone complaining.

We did use EE and it was so nice to be early to the parks, I must say. But it felt pretty rushed. It would have been nice to sleep in some mornings, have a leisurely breakfast and then go at a slower pace. Everyone has their own priorities.

Just remember all the good things that are still available. This is just a temporary situation!! All businesses in America - probably the world - are having to make decisions to help them stay in business during this time.

I live where the economy is completely dependent on tourism and we saw a huge slump following 9/11, however, everyone is trying to pitch in and support the economy the best they can until things pick up again. If we all boycotted, the economy would never rally!!

Just my thoughts.

 

[eeyore0062]

Well said MisinDis... what a ray of sunshine after such doom and gloom.

Just remember folks, the more people who cancel out of protest, the more cuts will be made in the parks, restaurants, etc. The only way to get back the things they cut is to GO, and once you get there, I am sure you will find out that things are not as dismal as they sound on this board! The more you dwell on negativity, the more negative your outlook.

Smiles are contageous

 

[Keith]

You can copy this over on a new topic on theme park board, and then delete your first post here.

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

I'm annoyed and need to vent. Bear with me here..lol.

I've been planning my trip to WDW for over a year now. It started with 4 of us going...then it got narrowed down to 2 people going...recently, it was narrowed down to just me. I thought long and hard about going alone and I realized that this would be the perfect oppurtunity for me to be able to see the different things I have always wanted to see but haven't been able to. EE being cancelled is no big deal to me because I'm really not an early riser. Things to do on my list included Fantasmic, Spectromagic, Illuminations, among other things. When Disney decided to slash the park hours considerably (and yet still charge the same price as the folks who visit during peak seasons and have up to 6 hours more in the parks), I was again disheartened but kept reminding myself that with lower than usual crowds, I could get alot accomplished in a short period of time.


Tonight, I read "rumors" that Spectromagic was going to be cancelled all together and Fantasmic would be running at a reduced schedule as well. These rumors aggravated me a great deal. Not only have they decided to slash park hours tremendously, close rides all together and reduce hours on a lot of others, but they are apparently preparing to cancel some of the most magical aspects of WDW. Personally, this is unacceptable.

To get people to come to their parks, Disney needs to give people a reason to be there in the first place. Anyone can go to an amusement park, but Disney was something more than an amusement park. It was a sight to behold, unbelievably, Disney has decided to shudder these sights.

It amazes me that Disney can rip off their loyal guests in Florida while, at the same time, frivulously spending millions upon millions of dollars on yet another media outlet like Fox Family!
Walt Disney was a man who was willing to take major risks in order to achieve success. He took a major risk with Snow White and the building of Disneyland and they paid dividends for him. It's a shame to see that the company he worked so hard for, the company that was dedicated to giving a family their dollar's worth at it's theme park has now turned to ripping off families by reducing its hours, closing its shows and attractions while at the same time charging them full price.

What a shame andwhat a way to say "Happy 100th, Uncle Walt".

 

[PrincessAli]

Disney lowered their Ticket prices and reduced the Resort rates ..do you think that might help bring people back to the parks?? Then just maybe all that has been taken away will be returned and eventually things will be back to normal?

 

[kristikae]

What annoys me most is the people who keep saying, "Don't cancel...it will only make it worse." Why should we be responsible for Disney's bad decisions? As others have said when business is down you run sales etc to try to get more business in. You don't give your customers less value for their money and expect them to buy more. Any business class will tell you that as will common sense. Why should it be up to me to take care of Disney. I am the customer. Disney should be fighting for my money. I've worked 80 hour work weeks all year to save the money to take my kids to Disney. I was willing to pay the extra to stay at a Disney resort so we could take advantage of early entry and get as much time as possible in the parks. Now that it is gone I refuse to pay $1820 for lodging for the week when I can have a 4 bedroom house for $800. It just doesn't make sense. Disney needs to remember that they only exist because of the customers...not the other way around.

 

[*Fantasia*]

I'm not so much worried about cutting the hours (open an hour late, close an hour early). But it will concern me if they start closing down some of the rides. I can deal with one show or/and one parade a day, but if they start closing some of my favorite rides because they can't afford someone to watch the area, then I will definitely be mad, I have a problem with that.

I could just see Disney putting all the bus on schedule instead of running the service continuiously just to save on gas. It could happen. So let's see what's next.

 

[Figaro30]

I know this goes along with all the cutback discussions....but I thought a poll deserved it's own thread. I am very curious to see how many of these angry people are canceling their trip because of no more EE, cutback hours, shows, etc.

 

[Figaro30]

Guess I'll vote first. Although I am quite mad we are still going because too much has gone into planning this extensive trip with my parents in 29 days. Have been waiting since January for this trip and it's almost here. HOpefully it will continue to be a great trip for us all! Keeping fingers crossed!!!!

 

[kristikae]

You need to add another choice on voting...Cancelling stay at Disney resort but still going on trip. I have cancelled my resort stay but we will still be going.

 

[CatOne]

How about an alternative to all of the above...switched dates. We switched from Dec. to May. I am hoping things will be better by then, but we could have jumped form the fire to the frying pan....so to speak. I hope you have a wonderful time and find that things at Disney are much better in person than they appear to be on paper right now. We really decided to switch more because of our own personal situation than Disney's cutbacks but I guess that was the straw that broke the camel's back. We were really stretching it to make this trip and after we saw all the cutbacks we just decided we would be better off to wait. I am still very jealous of all of you who get to go with all the terrific decorations and beautiful Christmas atmosphere!! I'd rather be in WDW than here, even with shorter hours.


CatOne

 

[fholdred]

Another choice--Not mad, but disappointed and still going.

 

[eeyore0062]

Sorry to annoy you, but Disney will keep taking things away in the way of hours, restaurants, less shows, etc unless there are people there to take advantage of them--- like any other business, why are they going to pay to run the parks as though they are full capacity, when they aren't--- that doesn't make good business sense. Yes, I can imagine there are many disappointed people, but no one said that this would be permanent... it is in response, not only to the Sept 11th event, but also to a slowing economy. They are offering great discounts on their resorts right now, so in that way, they are offering incentives. There is so much to do at Disney, even without the little extras. Most of those little extras did not even exist a decade ago!

 

[jodyb]

Yes, I am not exactly "mad", but I am very very disappointed. Yet I'm still going and still trying to be excited. I was disappointed but not depressed when they canceled E-nights and EE, but I was still ok. The kicker for me is the now rumored cancellation of Spectromagic. If that happens I truly will be depressed and VERY disappointed - maybe then it will verge on angry... but for now, as I said... sadder but still going....

 

[livsea2]

because I couldn't get any answers from the CM's I talked to regarding MVMCP 12-2 and CP dinner tickets parades ,firework shows etc. In my email I stated I refuse to wait until 7 days prior to decide wether or not to cancel. The CM confirmed that the CP for which I have reservations may be cancelled and offered to change reservations but as I explained "TO WHEN?" " what dates do you guarantee?" (answer none) I'm still waiting for a reply a couple more days and I'll have to cancel. Disney has to be nuts for expecting people to pay thousands of $$$ on a maybe we'll have some of our scheduled events, but some of the posters on this board with the mouse shaped heads will support them no ?s asked. Not me.