Lesverts
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2014
- Messages
- 1,665
Watching the podcast today and the fiery debate between the 3 of you and the others was both entertaining and troubling. It is nice to see passion but none of you came up with a significant justification for being against monetizing everything at Disney. Well here is the justification against expanded monetization of Walt Disney World.
It will cause tremendous harm to the vast majority of guests that do not have the disposable funds to pay for extra hours, extra experiences, or done the road even the basic experiences of the attractions and meet and greets. Disney was, for the longest time, an egalitarian place within the confines of the Parks. Everyone (but a small group of people that paid VIP pricing) had equal access to everything in the Parks. Planning and strategy created differences in how successful people were in touring the parks. If Disney continues down this path, the parks will no longer be that place. It will be a place where you have to grease the palm of Disney to get an experience that 2 years ago just needed some brains, planning and time to execute. Blocking off the entire FP+ area for Wishes, which is a significant stake of real estate, for paying guests will not only eliminate good viewing spots that everyone once had access to, but create a system of inequality that has never before been experienced in the Parks.
This is a fundamental change in how Disney would treats their guests. This would harm the majority for the benefit of the minority. Something that is not the case if someone refused to use Magic Bands, My Disney Experience or FastPass+. Those choices only impact you.
It is sad that a place that bills itself as the Most Magical (or Happiest) Place On Earth will lower themselves to be this desperate for returns and profits. They will sacrifice the experience of the 'Once in a Lifetime' guests (who often bring back their own families) for the desires of the few that are willing to splash out ridiculous sums of money for experiences that they feel more entitled to. The culture of entitlement that Pete always goes on about goes both ways. And now Disney is going to swing that culture so far in the other direction to accommodate guests that feel more entitled to the better experiences because they can pay for them within the Parks.
I am completely fine with Disney offering special, paid experiences like Dessert Parties, After Hours Parties, Club Villain etc. They do not fundamentally impact the quality of experience for other park guests. Closing off sections of the Parks for people that paid more to see fireworks shows, parades, front-of-the-line access, extra FP does change the guest experience for others. It does alter how Disney interacts with their guests at a deeper level. It creates another arena were people without 6 figure salaries are treated as lesser.
Disney should be, and always has been a place were the vast majority of families have the same access, the same chances at experiencing those special moments. Take that away and what is left of Disney but another place to show that people are not equal. Disney is a business, but they have always been in the business of bringing people and families together. All this will serve to do is create classes of guests and classes of experiences.
How would you feel if you were told that you couldn't ride 7 Dwarfs Mine Train because you didn't have the VIP ticket? How would you feel when you looked at your daughter and said you couldn't afford the ticket required to meet Anna and Elsa? Because that is the rabbit hole that these changes are leading to. And that will be a step too far for many.
Within the Parks (and their normal operating hours) all should be equal. All should pay the same price to be able to have the same experiences.
Aside: VIP tours are not significant enough in number to negatively impact other guests because of their limited scale. Whereas closing parks early for 150+ paid events, closing off 'public' areas within the park to charge a fee etc. will because Disney is Disney and like FP for Wishes, they will stuff as many people as possible in those areas.
It will cause tremendous harm to the vast majority of guests that do not have the disposable funds to pay for extra hours, extra experiences, or done the road even the basic experiences of the attractions and meet and greets. Disney was, for the longest time, an egalitarian place within the confines of the Parks. Everyone (but a small group of people that paid VIP pricing) had equal access to everything in the Parks. Planning and strategy created differences in how successful people were in touring the parks. If Disney continues down this path, the parks will no longer be that place. It will be a place where you have to grease the palm of Disney to get an experience that 2 years ago just needed some brains, planning and time to execute. Blocking off the entire FP+ area for Wishes, which is a significant stake of real estate, for paying guests will not only eliminate good viewing spots that everyone once had access to, but create a system of inequality that has never before been experienced in the Parks.
This is a fundamental change in how Disney would treats their guests. This would harm the majority for the benefit of the minority. Something that is not the case if someone refused to use Magic Bands, My Disney Experience or FastPass+. Those choices only impact you.
It is sad that a place that bills itself as the Most Magical (or Happiest) Place On Earth will lower themselves to be this desperate for returns and profits. They will sacrifice the experience of the 'Once in a Lifetime' guests (who often bring back their own families) for the desires of the few that are willing to splash out ridiculous sums of money for experiences that they feel more entitled to. The culture of entitlement that Pete always goes on about goes both ways. And now Disney is going to swing that culture so far in the other direction to accommodate guests that feel more entitled to the better experiences because they can pay for them within the Parks.
I am completely fine with Disney offering special, paid experiences like Dessert Parties, After Hours Parties, Club Villain etc. They do not fundamentally impact the quality of experience for other park guests. Closing off sections of the Parks for people that paid more to see fireworks shows, parades, front-of-the-line access, extra FP does change the guest experience for others. It does alter how Disney interacts with their guests at a deeper level. It creates another arena were people without 6 figure salaries are treated as lesser.
Disney should be, and always has been a place were the vast majority of families have the same access, the same chances at experiencing those special moments. Take that away and what is left of Disney but another place to show that people are not equal. Disney is a business, but they have always been in the business of bringing people and families together. All this will serve to do is create classes of guests and classes of experiences.
How would you feel if you were told that you couldn't ride 7 Dwarfs Mine Train because you didn't have the VIP ticket? How would you feel when you looked at your daughter and said you couldn't afford the ticket required to meet Anna and Elsa? Because that is the rabbit hole that these changes are leading to. And that will be a step too far for many.
Within the Parks (and their normal operating hours) all should be equal. All should pay the same price to be able to have the same experiences.
Aside: VIP tours are not significant enough in number to negatively impact other guests because of their limited scale. Whereas closing parks early for 150+ paid events, closing off 'public' areas within the park to charge a fee etc. will because Disney is Disney and like FP for Wishes, they will stuff as many people as possible in those areas.
