What is your line in the sand?

[robinb]

I can provide a good premise (evidence/reason) to show that they do care; they made it a point to make questions of trip quantities a part of every Disney survey I've taken after my most recent trips, including the one a few days ago. How many previous trips have you made, how many days total have you spent in the parks, do you plan to return, etc... If they didn't care about us, they wouldn't ask questions specifically designed to give them stats on returning guests, or even if those guests will return. Further, not caring about a substantial segment of your customer base would be a rookie mistake and hurt the bottom line needlessly.

Just because Disney does surveys doesn't mean that they are interested in the return visitor's opinion. Those same questions are constructed in such a way to single out the first-time visitor and asking those people if they want to return is a good indicator that Disney is doing things right in entertaining those people. Unless you or I work for Disney, we have no idea why Disney asks the questions they do.

A business like Disney isn't just out to make "plenty of money," it is out to make money in the long run against competitors. If that means spending more money, they'll do it, if it means making a small segment of their "fans" mad in order to make a larger segment happy, they'll do it. However, just because a small segment gets mad doesn't mean they don't care about the larger "class" that small segment is from. In essence they do care about people's "lines in the sand," but only when it becomes statistically significant.

Yes, that's why I said they didn't give a mouse's butt about the small segment of return visitors when their changes make the larger segment of once-in-a-lifetime visitors that much happier and willing to spend even more money. There is a significant supply of once-in-a-lifetime visitors ready to jump into the hot tub.

 

[Laketravis]

No, but you seem to be referring to home use and a lot of phone purchases are by businesses who buy them for their employees and they want the latest and greatest.

The retail personal consumer mobile market (cellular/paging) both domestic and abroad is what drove the majority of M's success. In fact, at one point commercial sales to the under-25 population dwarfed the land mobile enterprise division.

My point was that attributing Disney's success during exuberant economic times solely to their own efforts is similar to saying bottled water sales increased during a heat wave because it tastes better.

There are very few things Disney sells that people "need".

 

[sunshine1]

this year - alot of the regular disney fans on here seem to have gone off of disney.

the next year or two will be interesting to see if people really do decide to go on vacation somewhere else.

 

[Mome Rath]

Just because Disney does surveys doesn't mean that they are interested in the return visitor's opinion. Those same questions are constructed in such a way to single out the first-time visitor and asking those people if they want to return is a good indicator that Disney is doing things right in entertaining those people. Unless you or I work for Disney, we have no idea why Disney asks the questions they do.

It's a strange and silly company that asks questions on multiple surveys that they don't want to know the answers to. YMMV Anyone saying that Disney is not interested in returning customers is going to have to provide premises that back up that assertion, as a business they are interested in making money, and that definitely includes repeat customers. MDX and the bands are tailor made to track all relevant data.

Yes, that's why I said they didn't give a mouse's butt about the small segment of return visitors when their changes make the larger segment of once-in-a-lifetime visitors that much happier and willing to spend even more money. There is a significant supply of once-in-a-lifetime visitors ready to jump into the hot tub.

Disney is an extremely successful business, I'm absolutely sure they are indeed interested in the money that repeat customers bring, and as stated, around 69% of first timers return. I'm a capitalist, and I don't see capitalism as a bad thing, I don't see cash cows as a bad thing, even when they change something and I personally despise the change, that doesn't mean I think that they've made a bad business move, nor do I judge those that like the change as suffering from group think, ignorance, etc... And my point stands; Disney cares if they tick off a statistically significant portion of their customers in a way that decreased profit, they don't care (rightfully so) if they tick off Mome Rath. That's business. Do I think they care about individuals' lines in the sand? No. But I do think they care about the entire population, hence they will keep changing their randomized surveys to get a picture of satisfaction overall, and a specific picture of areas of potential concern.

 

[Laketravis]

I agree that companies don't survey their customers just to survey their customers. They spend the time and effort to do so because they are seeking answers to particular questions.

I wonder, though, about the army of iPad wielding Survey CM's that seem to be all over the parks (not at resorts or anywhere else, mind you - just the parks) and if their presence is reactive or proactive.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded! -- Yogi Berra.

 

[Mome Rath]

I agree that companies don't survey their customers just to survey their customers. They spend the time and effort to do so because they are seeking answers to particular questions.

I wonder, though, about the army of iPad wielding Survey CM's that seem to be all over the parks (not at resorts or anywhere else, mind you - just the parks) and if their presence is reactive or proactive.

I think that is a very interesting question. One time (before any of the MDE stuff, bands, etc... were out) they were focusing very specifically on questions about food and beverages, down to which restaurants people ate at, what was ordered, what you purchased at walk ups, what you thought about the coffee (nescafe at the time), and on and on. I would assume the timing of what surveys and questions are asked are meaningful, like when a food service contract may be up, when they've heard about a problem, etc...

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I usually go every year, sometimes twice a year, but I will not be going next year, entirely because of cost.
Whether I go in 2 years will depend on how all of the changes, especially fp+, shake out. This vacation was definitely more stressful, both in planning and executing. Even my husband mentioned how stressful it was and he did no pre planning - I did it all. Once we decided to throw everything out (originally starting with Wednesday, which turned out to be a disaster) but Thursday and Friday were a lot more enjoyable. We had lots of down time on Friday (28th) and Saturday, but it didn't really help because we were still stressing because of making it to our ADRs and fps. Only when we dropped all of our ADRs and fps did we relax. I even dropped BOG.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I agree that companies don't survey their customers just to survey their customers. They spend the time and effort to do so because they are seeking answers to particular questions.

I wonder, though, about the army of iPad wielding Survey CM's that seem to be all over the parks (not at resorts or anywhere else, mind you - just the parks) and if their presence is reactive or proactive.

Yeah, we got stopped by a few this trip and I am more than willing to help out, but when your survey takes 20 minutes..that's a bit much.

 

[robinb]

I don't recall an Ariel-based UTS in Tokyo.

Whoops! You're right. I was thinking of Sinbad's Storybook Voyage which is very similar.

 

[Laketravis]

Yeah, we got stopped by a few this trip and I am more than willing to help out, but when your survey takes 20 minutes..that's a bit much.

LOL! Then they must have had a bunch of feedback like yours because every time they stopped me and got my consent for a survey, they asked me for my email address so they could send me one. I was like, I'm here now - don't you want my immediate impression? Or do you want to see if I'm still pissed off about something several days or weeks later?

 

[Hokie2000]

The retail personal consumer mobile market (cellular/paging) both domestic and abroad is what drove the majority of M's success. In fact, at one point commercial sales to the under-25 population dwarfed the land mobile enterprise division.

My point was that attributing Disney's success during exuberant economic times solely to their own efforts is similar to saying bottled water sales increased during a heat wave because it tastes better.

There are very few things Disney sells that people "need".

Exuberant? We are in an economic recovery and things have been slowly getting better, but I'd hardly call these times exuberant.

Your comparison would make more sense if the themed or film entertainment industry were as new as the mobile phone industry. Theme parks are over 50 years old, the film industry is over 100 years old. Disney started when films were beginning to emerge, they managed to make it through what was surely a tumultuous time - the birth of a completely new product. Cell phones went from nonexistent to in the hands of almost every man, woman, and child in what? around 15 years? Is it surprising that some companies rocketed to success in the beginning and then lost market share to other companies (Apple) who took it farther and did a better job? Themed entertainment is hardly in its infancy, so rocketing to success by selling a brand new product in the very early stages doesn't apply to the Disney parks now, maybe in 1960?

We know a few things - Disney is spending money on WDW, there are construction walls up in AK and MK, and they just completed a large expansion of Fantasyland while implementing a very expensive new system, MM+. People may complain about these improvements and their timelines, but Disney is actively doing things/spending money to enhance guest experiences/help with crowds, such as the hub construction and re-theming of the backstage overflow path in MK.

They are also increasing shareholder dividends. To me, these actions do not spell out the doom and gloom of a company in demise.

 

[Hokie2000]

Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded! -- Yogi Berra.

You don't know how many times I've thought about posting this quote, on sooooo many threads!

 

[Laketravis]

Exuberant? We are in an economic recovery and things have been slowly getting better, but I'd hardly call these times exuberant.....

I'm actually glad to hear you say that, because a secular bull market can only continue as long as some people still remain relatively pessimistic. And I'm counting on this one lasting a few more years

 

[mesaboy2]

Whoops! You're right. I was thinking of Sinbad's Storybook Voyage which is very similar.

Loved SSV, one of only two attractions I made a point of riding a second time during my short time there. I think of it more as a cross between IaSW and PotC though. Ariel UTS never crossed my mind...maybe it was the boats and water.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

We loved that attraction. Very cool technology.

You liked Jack Sparrow at DHS? Really? It was a horrible attraction IMO. Under the Sea, OTOH, is cute.I liked the ride in Toyko much better though.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

LOL'd at this! Well done!

Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded! -- Yogi Berra.

You don't know how many times I've thought about posting this quote, on sooooo many threads!

 

[AquaDame]

Our line in the sand is wait times followed by money. If they raise prices we'd go less often, but if we can't hop around from ride to ride anymore then it won't be worth it at any price. We're comfortable waiting 20 minutes or so for anything consistently, once everything is 30 or more then we get antsy. More than a half hour and we won't wait - usually at that point its crowded and we start talking about taking a break or going somewhere else.


I don't see the point of paying a bunch of money to waste most of our time in lines, so its absolutely my line in the sand, and three guaranteed experiences per day with minimal waits aren't enough to change that.

We have and do vacation places other than WDW - in a couple weeks we're going to Hawaii again, and are heading the Europe this fall instead of WDW. We are doing a long weekend at DLR in January.

 

[Suvadoo]

Exuberant? We are in an economic recovery and things have been slowly getting better, but I'd hardly call these times exuberant.

Your comparison would make more sense if the themed or film entertainment industry were as new as the mobile phone industry. Theme parks are over 50 years old, the film industry is over 100 years old. Disney started when films were beginning to emerge, they managed to make it through what was surely a tumultuous time - the birth of a completely new product. Cell phones went from nonexistent to in the hands of almost every man, woman, and child in what? around 15 years? Is it surprising that some companies rocketed to success in the beginning and then lost market share to other companies (Apple) who took it farther and did a better job? Themed entertainment is hardly in its infancy, so rocketing to success by selling a brand new product in the very early stages doesn't apply to the Disney parks now, maybe in 1960?

We know a few things - Disney is spending money on WDW, there are construction walls up in AK and MK, and they just completed a large expansion of Fantasyland while implementing a very expensive new system, MM+. People may complain about these improvements and their timelines, but Disney is actively doing things/spending money to enhance guest experiences/help with crowds, such as the hub construction and re-theming of the backstage overflow path in MK.

They are also increasing shareholder dividends. To me, these actions do not spell out the doom and gloom of a company in demise.

I really think "enhancing the guest experience" is the furthest thin from disney's mind. The reason for the hub construction and the backstage access is so that Disney can cram more people into the park. It was the same reason for the Fantasyland expansion.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I really think "enhancing the guest experience" is the furthest thin from disney's mind. The reason for the hub construction and the backstage access is so that Disney can cram more people into the park. It was the same reason for the Fantasyland expansion.

I believe Disney's goal is to get guests to drastically reduce the hours per day spent in the parks & increase the number of days per trip each guest takes. They don't want you to have 5 full days & go home. They'd prefer you do 10 1/2 days - all the while staying in their resorts, of course.

The current FP+ strategy (including adding FP to rides that shouldn't need FP) fits in perfectly. It makes it easy to do a handful of rides per day, but makes it more difficult than before to ride a LOT of rides in the same day.

If everyone reduces the # of hours per day they are in the parks, they can cram more people per day in too.