Sadly, I think Disney likes to create the hysteria of a disappearing option. … .
It appears you are right. But it was much darker than that.
I’ve been thinking about this whole fiasco and the emotional damage and human carnage it left behind. The way Disney handled this was way beyond insensitive or callous. It was low class and disgusting. It was like a rich man throwing pennies on the ground before starving kids.
If Disney wants to limit the number of passholders, fine. That is certainly their prerogative and they can do it for any reason they choose. But they were clearly aware of the huge, overwhelming demand that resuming sales would generate. For Disney to handle sales in such a manner that was dehumanizing, extremely disrespectful of their most loyal customers, personally insulting, with no notice, disruptive of our personal time, schedules, access and treasure and then to be so cavalier when hearing the human stories is just slimy behavior.
Somebody compared this to a Black Friday sale. Similar yes, but two important differences that make Disney accountable for this. First, Disney knew how high the demand would be compared to the number of items for sale. It was not a surprise. They gave no advance notice. They warned that getting in the queue would not guarantee a purchase opportunity. They knew people would panic and spend 12 hours in a queue. Second, Disney had unilateral control of how, when and where it would happen. It was deliberate on their part, like starving a pack of dogs to make money on gambling on a race. Unethical. By the way, gambling is addictive. This CEO, in Walt’s family focused company, thinks facilitating and profiting on gambling (that has the potential to destroy families and children’s childhoods) is a good idea just for the profits. What’s next? Disney branded cigarettes?
Disney violated human decency in the way they conducted this. That responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of one person; the CEO. He should have been a leader and demanded that his staff come up with a different way to handle this so the transactions and interface of the company and their customer could be a dignified and pleasant experience. I don’t blame people for seething and other raw reactions. Any backlash is well deserved. I hope the Board thinks about this and responds to protect their loyal customers, their passholder.
