... but _I'm_ the one who gets to determine whether or not a gratuity is "appropriate."
With acumen that cuts straight to the heart of the matter you have asked the singular question. It is paramount in our understanding of Walt's magic and philosophy. It is the very foundation upon which Snow White was made. And Disneyland. And WDW. You asked not just the "right" question. You asked the perfect question.
How pedestrian. How mundane. How ordinary. I can get 'every other hotel' in every other corner of the world! Every rotten city in the country has a 'big-buck' hotel that contains very little magic, or should we say magic at a very steep price. This is Disney!! This should be special. And extra (or "free") is VERY special magic indeed!!!
The big shots out there won't understand this at all. And maybe to really appreciate these benefits you have to come from a certain economic class. I'm sure there are people who see crystal chandeliers all the time. They could spot cut glass a mile away. So they don't see anything special about a hamburger joint having one. In fact, they kind of expect it. But I don't. I don't even have one of cut glass. And that is the something extra that Disney has always given me.
But in Disney you could. And that, my friend, is the famous "DISNEY TOUCH" that I'm always squawking about.
This isn't a profit center!! It is a magic center for those who use it!! A person who never uses the Resort water transportation could use the same argument!! Don't you see that? If we look at it from a purely bottom line perspective we could say that (or excuse the taking away) about any aspect of Disney 'magic'!!
So this is their answer!! You realize, of course, that it doesnt solve the problem at all. It merely limits options. You can still pay the six bucks, thus saving the remainder of the parking cost and still get the benefit of Resort transportation. Or, you can search the already overcrowded Resort lot and steal a spot from a registered guest. Kind of makes that situation worse, doesnt it? And it does nothing to curtail the abuse. What it does do is lessen the take of the CMs who do the valet parking and put a couple lousy bucks in Disneys pockets.
No!! Of course not! Thats just the point. They didnt discuss it at all. They didnt even consider it. Not that I would expect them to. It is simply a side effect of this measure. And Im quite sure a side effect they never even thought about. Would you if you were in their place? Would you think about a poor CM earning a two or three dollar tip, if youre making mega millions in bonus alone? Nope. And they didnt either.
Not at all!! But as Ive asked you time and time again, where do you draw the line. When does Disney cross over from what they have to do from what they CAN do. On the Debate Board the very auspicious and knowledgeable Beverly Lynn sums it up pretty well.
Sounds ridiculous doesnt it? But its all where you draw the line, my friend, in the vast shade of gray that Disney has become. I think, cavalierly disregarding their CMs income and total contempt for their guest and taking away a benefit that they used to provide and spinning it all in the name of cutting out abuse (which it cannot do), clearly crosses the line. Evidently it doesnt cross yours. So sad.
I could not disagree any stronger with that statement without coming to blows!!
Captain, it is just by providing a product so magnificent, so grand, so...Disney that we all fell in love with it in the first place. It is exactly this type of management philosophy that shot it to stellar success way back in 1955. It was the WOW factor. Exceeding expectations. That is why it has been able to survive so long under such inept care recently. All the extras and doing it so magnificent, so grand, so...Disney in the first place. Cant you see that? Without those Disney Touches youd have Six Flags. A very nice place to visit. But no Disney. Not by a long shot.AGAIN!!! Most strongly disagree!! It is the attention to detail, the crystal chandelier, the Mickey head butter, and the lush plant life in the lobby of the poly as opposed to a giant baseball bat that set the company apart from the rest of the world. Maybe one out of ten (or even 100) really notice all these things. But we all notice some of the little things. And we all notice more than we are cognizant of, on a subconscious level. This is a bicker argument. "If it doesnt directly effect a certain percentage of people, do away with it." That is diametrically opposed to the principle upon which the company was founded. And strangely the same argument could be used about your precious Resort launches. I think the Poly would still sell out without them. So, to me, its good business sense to throw them away. Dont you agree. Think of the savings!!! And at very little consequence to the bottom line. Sure youll lose a few guests. But those losses would be more than offset by the savings in the Resort Launch operations, both equipment and personnel. How about it Captain? Have we crossed your line yet?
Well, I just honestly don't know. Where would you draw the line? The Company has to be profitable and show constant growth in order to stay in business. Lately, this (growth) has been getting in the way of doing things "Disney" and Eisner says he has "seen the light." But profitability & growth still needs to be achieved.
Do you really? I sure see it as a much tougher sell, but if you're right and their occupancy rate wouldn't suffer then yes, they should dump 'em...I wouldn't stay there again, but I'd obviously be part a small minority in your opinion. I still contend that parking your car is just that and bicker's agruments in these matters make perfect sense to me...
Yeah and if a pig could fly it'd be a bird...There is still so much Disney at Disney that it will take a total breakdown to back up to the competetion...And to this Disney has to be mindful, I grant you, because where once there was precious little competetion there now is much more and top that off with a general populas that doesn't care about quality and you have the ability for Disney as we know it to cease to exist. Therefore I say it's up to Mike to make it profitable, please the masses and be true to Walt...In that order.
Hmmm...Maybe, maybe not, but that philosophy is directly in line with succesful business philosophy in the year 2001...
Well, I suppose so. But isnt that looking at it a little backwards? We do know for an absolute fact what did work. What packed em in. What made it a national success. What carried it forward for forty years without him. Walts philosophy did. And we can look to DCA and see what NOT to do. Ei$ners philosophy. So you may be right. Perhaps Walt overdid it. But I, like Walt, would rather err on the side of the guest as opposed to the sharp-pencil-guy. How about you?
Oh, I dont doubt OWTS at all. I firmly believe that what he told us is the official corporate line. And I further believe that there are some managers and minor executives within the Disney organization that really do believe in the official corporate line. They believe it will reduce abuse. Of course they havent quite thought it through though, have they? It just doesnt hold up to any real scrutiny. It is just spin.
You know, Captain. Maybe Ive been wrong. Maybe Ive taken too hard a line. Are you surprised? Well, before you start jumping to conclusions, you should wait to hear what I was wrong about. Maybe I was wrong about lists. Yeah, you heard me: lists. You know, the kind that states in the middle of some esoteric ramblings just what is good about Disney. Ive always contended that these lists only confuse the issue. Basically they are undeniable. And we could ALL make up our own list. So they add little to the conversation (except to stop it for a moment to reply yes, thats a nice list). But Im having second thoughts as related to your statement. Perhaps we should indulge in this exercise just to refresh our memories AND see how different these lists would be. Not a list of rides or big-ticket items. Theyd be pretty much the same. No, I mean the little things that brought us to the dance in the first place. The small, seemingly insignificant trivial things that we were just amazed Disney did. Something that made us say, as airlarry said so beautifully, Only at Disney. Or, Thats what makes Disney, Disney!! I really think the lists would be quite different. What was totally unimportant to you may have tipped in in for me. And Ill bet there are hundreds of things that just endeared Disney to some that I have never even noticed. Thats why the bicker argument fails. He personalizes it. Or he trusts some lame-brained Disney middle management guy to personalize it for him. And he doesnt understand the basic Walt philosophy. He doesnt get it. Time for a quote. This one from page 59:
If Walt had not had this philosophy we wouldnt be here today. Oh, Disneyland may still have been a moderate success, but people wouldnt have fallen in love with it. It would be a business for Gods sake. Nothing more. And who in their right mind, falls in love and spends countless hours discussing, an ordinary business? Not me.
I wonder if that is what the animation fans were saying last year?
First let me say welcome!!! It was a wonderful post. Please keep it up. Before you know it youll have over nine hundred and wonder how it is youre wasting your life like this!!!
