What is the product that customers feel they are buying from Disney?

[doombuggy]

Walt created Disneyland because he wanted a place that parents could take their children to have a fun afternoon, and the parents could have fun too. I have only been to DL twice (in '98 & '99), but I think he accomplished his goal. My grandparents moved to Tampa in 1974 when I was 6 and I started going down to visit them every summer. We always went to WDW for a day every year. I have always loved amusement parks, and let me tell you, I have been to a lot. Some are still around (both Busch Gardens, Great Adventure, Astro World, Sea World) and some are not (anyone remember Circus World in Orlando?). DL was created to be different from the "carneys." I go back to WDW not to escape but to remember - the times I went there with my grandparents (who are both deceased) and why Walt created his style of theme park - to enjoy myself. If I didn't enjoy going there, I wouldn't be working at a DS part-time - I would be working somewhere else, making more $.

 

[RamVA]

I'm a little late coming to this discussion, but after reading all the posts, and giving this question careful thought, have to agree(once again!) with Landbaron. It seems like the easy way out to agree with someone else's words, rather than come up with your own, but if someone expresses your opinion better than you might yourself, well, then, that's the deal!

I am buying the "Show"; and I want "THE Show"; I want the production to be everywhere! I want it in my resort grounds and facilities and my room; I want it in my restaurants-structure, menu, waitstaff; I want it in my souvenirs and in my "souvenir shops"; I want it in the parks--the rides, the architecture, the grounds, the street entertainment, the "snack foods", the cast members. I want and EXPECT to be immersed in it from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep--I want to drown in it. Drowning in "the show" is what produces the MAGIC! A lot of people define the "magic" as the product--but without "the show", you will have NO MAGIC. Every detail, (and I mean EVERY), that takes a cut because of money, cheapens "the show", and thereby diminishes the magic!

9 years ago I made a decision to invest approx. $15k in the Disney Vacation Club (plus thousands since then in dues)sight unseen. I did that because I had experienced "THE SHOW", and knew I wanted to continue to have that experience for the rest of my life; I did not invest that money just so I would have a "nice" resort to vacation at every year!! AND I had the faith in Disney to believe that they would continue to provide me with that show for the next 50 years (the life span of DVC at the time I bought). Do I still get the product I bought? Well, I still see "a show", and it's a GREAT show--but I'm very sad to say it's not "THE SHOW" I paid for.

 

[Bob O]

From Disney's movies i want good quality entertainment. From their theme parks i want a escape from the real world, the everyday world. And i find that i get that from nowhere else but wdw. The place is clean and very safe and i have found the cast members to be very nice and polite, a escape from what you usually find. As a example i stayed at the portifino which was great but while at the hotel i could hear sirens from police/ambulances which i never while inside wdw property. The outside world didnt seem to infringe on wdw which to me is a great escape from my everyday life and i look to wdw as a escape from that reality, it might not last long enough but it was there and its always special to be there and i havent found that feeling anywhere else. You can find a good show in alot of places like on broadway but nowhere else are all the elements combined together like at wdw.