Now you're not even trying to respond to what I have written:
- Minimum wage is $8.05/hr, and at the low end Disney starts its people at 25% above that and includes a very very good benefits package. You can call that "slightly higher" if you like but it's still more generous than their competition.
- Can you provide a source where Disney has cried poverty (as you put it) to explain a decision to remove an attraction?
- A short while ago you were complaining that Disney was dropping the staff's hours to 32 hrs/week and now they are overworked? Which is it?
- I'm not going to accuse you of being a Universal Studios employee because it doesn't really matter one way or another, but I will point out that suggesting that Disney is being embarrassed by the stuff at US is tickling my gag reflex a bit. I mean, I liked the escape from Gringotts ride but in the end it was a wiggly seat in front of a movie screen. The transformers 3d ride was barely better than Megan Fox's acting. A decent roller coaster or two (WDW weak spot) but I live 2 hours from Cedar Point and most of the country lives closer to a real coaster park than they do to Universal.
- Your message has been, avoid Disney because they scrooge their employees, instead go to Universal Studios where they pay their employees even less and break every attempt to form a union.
- Universal is between 0 and 20 bucks cheaper for a 1 day ticket... unless you want to see both of the Harry Potter attractions ... then its between $30 and $50 more expensive.
- You want to paint this as ways to scrooge the little guy and put money into their own pockets, but their quarterly reports actually prove only modest growth in investor earnings and exponential growth in spending on improving the parks and labor costs.
You're obviously disenchanted with Disney and I don't mean to discount your feelings on that. It seems like it goes further, you talk as if you are angry and your actions are meant to punish Disney. All I've been trying to get across on this thread is that it's too easy to take corporate decisions personally, or to simplify extremely complex calculus into simplistic "it's a cash grab" conclusions. I don't like some of Disney's decisions. Some of them are attempts to give less and get more from me. Some are attempts to lose parts of the park I love and build something else that other people would like better. Sometimes they spend a ton of money developing mouse ears that glow with the show ...
If you don't like the parks, don't go. But if your reason for going is the feeling that Disney is some sort of cash-greedy monster (compared to sat 44 or 60 years ago) I would suggest that that sort of conclusion calls for more evidence than the commentary you have linked to so far.
In response to your bullet points above:
* Is that a living wage, given the cost of living? For all intents and purposes, I don't see much difference between a minimum wage job and one that pays 25% more. Disney is not some burger flipper joint. They charge premium prices to their guests, and are supposed to provide excellent customer service. Right now, their CMs are pretty miserable, and it shows. Just check out all the threads that mention surly CMs and examples of bad service.
* Remove an attraction? No. I'm talking about those times when they cut the budget for a new attraction, instead of making the investment that was needed to create something great. Some apologists on the message boards were talking as if Disney's hands were tied, because they couldn't do anything about "budget cuts." I had to point out that the budget was whatever Disney wanted it to be! In other words, they have sometimes been way too risk-averse for the theme park business.
* They've cut staff hours, and yes, the CMs are overworked. Less CM hours often mean that they have to do the same job that two people used to do-- while dealing with heavier crowds than in past years. If you have to run faster during every hour then you did before, then you are overworked.
* As I mentioned above, I am not on Universal's payroll. You say that doesn't matter, so why raise that ridiculous idea at all? Probably to undermine my credibility. For the record, in other threads, I've criticized Universal, too. For example I think they've added too many screen-based rides in recent years.
*As noted above, their quarterly reports show five consecutive years of record profits for the WDC. That's what you want to call modest increases?
You mention "extremely complex calculus" going into corporate decisions. If Disney just simplified things, and spent whatever it takes to create the best possible guest experience, the bottom line would take care of itself. By all appearances, that's the attitude that the OLC has taken when it comes to Tokyo Disney Resort. They just spend whatever it takes, and the place is wildly popular and successful. That's because they know that "if you build it, they will come." No cynical manipulations, no spread sheet/bean counter calculations about squeezing X dollars from Y guests. Just create an amazing product, and people will gladly give you their money. There would be jubilation on these boards, not grumbling and complaints.
