One Last Rant on the State of WDW

[k5xs]

Disney lost A LOT of money during Covid, and even when they reopened I read they were still losing money as a whole, but they were losing less being open than closed. For that reason, I think it was very understandable to reduce expenses, and that includes dropping some of the training and attention to detail to differentiate themselves, and then when they saw people were still willing to pay, they didn't have a lot of incentive to raise their costs, even if it would improve the park experience for guests and they could now afford to do so.

For the quarter ending January 1, 2022, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products revenue grew from $3.5 billion in 2021 to $7.2 billion in 2022.

Profits increased from a loss of $0.1 billion in 2021 to a profit of $2.4 billion in 2022.;

$2.4 billion profit. With a "b."

 

[TeamRiley]

This is how I see it. When I was a kid, Disneyland was awesome - but not because of the rides. It was because of the entire Theme/Bubble that had been created. The most exciting ride was the Matterhorn. When Space Mountain came out people went crazy. No one really expected the rides at Disney to be the best rides in the nation.

These days, most people want to experience the very best attractions. Along with building and maintaining the Theme/Bubble Disney has to make sure their rides are also the very best available. The amount of money needed to do this is insane - as is the amount of money they charge their visitors.

With the general attitude of people today, Disney could not stay viable using the same attitudes from the 60s and 70s. Yes, it was great fun then. Yes, it is still great fun now - but different. Life moves on and we need to as well.

Everyone remembers all the great stuff from the past, but never the crappy stuff. Anyone remember trying to meet up with your group again after splitting off three ways? "We will meet by the Walt Statue at 3pm." That usually wasted about 90 minutes. Now it is a text and 90 seconds. If you want to take advantage of all the awesome changes, then you have to deal with some potential downsides as well.

 

[k5xs]

This is how I see it. When I was a kid, Disneyland was awesome - but not because of the rides. It was because of the entire Theme/Bubble that had been created. The most exciting ride was the Matterhorn. When Space Mountain came out people went crazy. No one really expected the rides at Disney to be the best rides in the nation.

These days, most people want to experience the very best attractions. Along with building and maintaining the Theme/Bubble Disney has to make sure their rides are also the very best available. The amount of money needed to do this is insane - as is the amount of money they charge their visitors.

With the general attitude of people today, Disney could not stay viable using the same attitudes from the 60s and 70s. Yes, it was great fun then. Yes, it is still great fun now - but different. Life moves on and we need to as well.

Everyone remembers all the great stuff from the past, but never the crappy stuff. Anyone remember trying to meet up with your group again after splitting off three ways? "We will meet by the Walt Statue at 3pm." That usually wasted about 90 minutes. Now it is a text and 90 seconds. If you want to take advantage of all the awesome changes, then you have to deal with some potential downsides as well.

If I believed that the 2022 gouging-level prices for lodging, food & beverage, tickets, after-hours events, ancillary events, and merchandise, along with fees for what was formerly complimentary (DME, resort parking, and FP+ come to mind), were so WDC could re-capitalize parks, I'd be fine with it.

But the business and pricing plan that gave us Soarin' ($3.5 million), (Mission Space ($100 million), ToT ($140 million), World of Avatar ($500 million), and Galaxy's Edge ($1 billion) seemed to have enough cash flow to do wonderful things, without need for opportunistic pricing.

No. WDC under Bob Chapek has decided --as many corporations do--to not "leave money on the table" and to instead charge whatever the market will bear. And that's certainly their prerogative. They have seemingly endless supplies of willing customers and a limited supply of services, so why not?

Well, I'll offer a likely inconsequential (to them anyway) "Why not": Any feelings that I had developed over the past 30+ years that my relationship with them was somehow "special" is being drastically eroded.

I'm a "guest"? Nope. I'm now just another customer engaged in a series of transactions with an organization that values me exactly as much as I am willing to spend.

"Happiest Place on Earth"? Only if I'm now willing to (as someone else here brilliantly observed) "play in a Genie+ wargame" trying to plan and experience a Disney vacation. What used to be relaxing is now inordinately stressful.

I have no illusions. Out of necessity it has been largely about the money ever since WDW opened. But now it seems it is ALL about the money.

Magic? About gone.

 

[tmg4612]

Maybe Josh Humphrey from EasyWDW said it best: "And that is probably what draws so many of us back to Walt Disney World time and time again. It’s not about the concrete castle or a 30-cent price increase on soda or pork glop platters. It’s about returning to a place that makes us happy where we’ve shared so many memories with the people that we love and cherish. And you never know where exactly you’re going to make those memories. It could be biting into your first Jalapeno Cheese Pretzel at Epcot just before the 4th of July Fireworks erupt overhead or hearing Mickey Mouse greet your kids for the first time inside Town Square Theater. But whatever and wherever it is, it’s something so special and so rare that there is no substitute. And so we return."

Except that it's all changed too much too fast and many of us will not return.

Your original post was spot on. I’ve always been able to reserve the things we’ve wanted to do on our trip - through persistence months beforehand. Now you can only hope to wake up at 7am and try to snag something faster than anyone else. Everyone glued to looking at their phones throughout the day. My niece was in the DCP, she was worked to death, asked to extend her service dates, then not allowed to leave when burnt out. Fear of being blackballed in industry. Disney has some serious problems post COVID, Chapek needs to spread his wealth down the line.

 

[Canadisney Fly]

I feel that excommunicating Disney in the midst of a pandemic (and yes, it's not over) is rather harsh. I'm not sure how well your collective locales have been riding the storm, but here in Vancouver (Canada), I walked deserted streets of Whistler during spring break, windows filled with "help wanted" signs; movie theatre - closed mid-week, one showing on the weekends; museum - closed mid-week; grocery store - shut down because the freezer broke and there isn't enough business to warrant having the repair person rush up from the city; stores that are usually filled with end-of-season sales - nada. Supply chain issues mean they have little stock, and no one is trying to "make room" for next year's product. And this is one of the continent's premier ski resorts during one of the busiest weeks of the year. First world problems - the world is hurting in ways that we can't see. I don't know how much Disney relies on foreign labour, but that pool dried up during the pandemic. Most companies trimmed staff, beginning with the most experienced (i.e., highest salaries), and worked their way down, to survive. Everywhere - restaurants, businesses, airlines, etc. are being (under) staffed with less experienced, overworked, and often disenfranchised employees who have all had their own struggles, living through the last few years of challenges.

So no, I'm not apologizing for Disney - (we need more than three wishes to make the whole Genie+ fiasco go away), and oh my - the prices! But I am saying that very little will be up to the standards we experienced just two years ago. Anywhere.

My frustration with Disney and concern for the future is more about systemic issues and poor decisions (dissolution of the FastPass sytem, the systematic decimation of the Imagineers and forced transfers to Florida, etc) but I'm going in with eyes wide open. And the bar set low. There hasn't been a lot of magic for us over the last few years, we lost our matriarch and patriarch to COVID, but with some kindness and compassion, and a few well-placed "thanks for doing your job so well", I hope to find a bit of magic left in the rubble.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

WDW has the problem of having to deal with us older folks who have been going for years and have good memories of days gone by and new folks coming in who want the newest and brightest and are in a hurry. Hard to balance between those of us who walked to school up hill both ways barefoot in the snow and those who have cell phones and cars that start themselves and internet.

Well said!

 

[LPnerd]

You express frustration at the fact that there’s a labor shortage of people willing to work really demanding, potentially unsafe, and definitely low-paying jobs and then trash the CM and desk attendant who are working but not to your standards. Maybe the two are related?

so now it's ok, but until covid hit cast members were fired for not treating guests well. so, how is that ok now? Also, they are all tired and over worked because they can't find workers. College kids got tired of being used and abused is my guess, and when covid hit, many people got educated, and took jobs online, or opened their own businesses. NO One is going to work for crap pay and a cut in perks too? Stop thinking it's ok to save for a few years to afford to take your kids to WDW, and when you get there, it's one disappointment after another. It's excuse makers that will enable this awful service to continue.

 

[Bruggok]

Just because of covid pandemic, it doesn’t mean it’s ok to overcharge guests, provide bad service, and act like this is normal.

I have had many restaurants take a long time to bring food out, or suddenly shut down drive thru. I told them it’s ok I understand, take your time. The key is they communicated the problem and apologized. They didn’t pretend that all is fine, take my money, and put out shoddy product. A manager even took out her business card, wrote a note in the back, and gave it to me saying come back when we are properly staffed I’ll take good care of you personally, so sorry we failed you today. I’ve also had ones who didn’t communicate and apologize; guess where I no longer frequent and who I am giving my $ to?

These aren’t even $5-10k vacations but regular drive thru, sit down restaurants, grocery stores, or car rental places. If they can do it, why is WDW charging full price then failing to deliver its famously high quality services we paid for? None of these businesses I’ve dealt with ever had the famous Disney training, but their managers and workers had common sense to communicate when things went south. Disney needs to get back to the basics or they have no business charging $100+/guest/day.

 

[Miffy]

I read through a lot of this thread and agree with some of the comments on both sides of the issue--the two sides being (1) WDW is still magical and wonderful and (2) WDW has become a money sink for its guests and a bonanza for the Disney C-suite.

Here's where I stand: As long as I can still afford a relatively nice vacation at WDW--last time we stayed at POFQ even though we've stayed only at AKL for years--I'm going to keep going.

Yes, the CMs aren't trained as well as they were in the past, which is totally obvious, yet I'd say that 98% of the CMs I had contact with on my last trip were fantastic, caring, attentive, kind, Disney-loving people, even if they didn't have all the knowledge they might have had.

We stayed at AKL in December '21 at an exorbitant (although discounted) rate and were not happy with the lack of housekeeping. But, that being said, we had a fabulous savanna view, which we used a lot, and we love being that close to DAK, where we try to go every day. It made up for 2 trips we didn't take because of the pandemic.

Do I like G+? That's a hard no. I do not. But I use it.

The fun of Disney, for me, is the experience of sort of living inside a fictional place. I love fiction and Disney does it right. They will have to go a long way away from where they are now before I sense the magic having disappeared. The magic is the theming, the stories and backstories, the decor, the costumes, the architecture, the plantings, the ambience. That's why I love Disney. All that is still there.

And I predict a lot of discounts in the not-distant future, once the urge to travel dies down. Wait for it. It's coming.

 

[Judique]

Unless my memory is faulty, every Disney resort used to have resort themed bedspreads or duvets. They also had themed carpeting in the rooms. Refurbishments have eliminated that theming across the resorts, making theme feel sterile. Undoubtedly this was a cost-cutting measure. You can be fine with it, that's OK. I'm simply saying that lots of those little touches that differentiated Disney from other resorts are the things that softened the blow of paying more to stay on property. Taking those touches away makes the prices harder to swallow. Again, it's simply an observation. If you like it, good for you. I find it particularly unimaginative and not Disney.

Although I'm big on theming, I'll take it without carpet and bedspreads that went unwashed between guests. Customers across all hotel chains started to notice the bedspread thing, and the hotel industry responded with clean bedding. I'm grateful for that.

I recently stayed overnight in a newer hotel with carpet on the floor. Great reviews, open only 6 months or so. I got my clean socks dirty by walking in them on the carpet. I'll thick a hard surface floor any day, although it also needs to be cleaned.

I would actually at this point be more open to just staying at a Disney resort like AKL and skipping the parks entirely, but I can't see myself making a special trip to FL just to do that .

Family just got off a Disney Cruise and I met them here at the Polynesian for a few nights. I have tickets but they don't so it turned into a resort only stay. I haven't been in a WDW resort since February 2020, but I have to say that here at the Polynesian I've felt well taken care of. Front desk staff took care of a technical issue with our room very promptly. Throughout the resort, the cast members have been responsive, friendly and helpful - above and beyond helpful.

Perhaps if I had gone to the parks and had to deal with genie and whatever, I'd feel differently and maybe a cloud would hang over these tropical nights.

TBH, I don't want to be bothered with any of that stuff. So my next scheduled trip is November and maybe I'll just book every morning at (insert park here) and then roam/hop to some other later in the evening if I so desire. That's what's good about being and getting up in years - you've seen and done most of it and the new stuff is just something different.

 

[Fastpassminus]

I am too sad, and upset about the losses and cutbacks. In fact I had one REALLY bad experience in Epcot that I had to write a letter to Guest Services about. However I had a WHOLE bunch of new and honestly really fun and refreshing experiences this trip that made it an overall enjoyable experience.

Feb 2022 ( 1st time back since pandemic)

1) CAVALCADES - Wow these are great. A pop of JOY and fun mid day you don't have to wait for or save a spot for. AMAZING. The kids loved it and so did the grown ups

2) Kite Tales - Okay MAYBE just because my party had 2 HARD CORE Kite enthusiasts in it but WOW, the skills of the performers using STUNT KITES on the back of JET SKIS. Their arms must be RIPPED! It was so silly and fun.

3) DVC Housekeeping Rules- Before the pandemic if you needed soft goods you literally had to BEG with your life, be +charged or " Steal" them off the cart and leave a few dollars so the housekeeper wouldn't care. NOW they literally bring towels almost every day and are always willing to bring more. I got so many towels! It's the little things

4) The Walk Up list on the app for dining & TAKE OUT from some restaurants. THIS IS AMAZING! Grabbing a meal to go from Ale & Compass to eat at Storm Along Bay or in the room, FANTASTIC. Being able to go on the app and see it's a 50 min wait for 50s PT & hopping on the list while I am in Galaxy's Edge? PRICELESS. These little tweaks made my trip so much easier.

5) OMG the SKYLINER. My last trip was while they were building it, so I never got to ride pre pandemic but WOW, it seems like this solves so many issues. It cuts down on bus wait times and traffic and streamlines the whole process of getting from here to there PLUS it looks darn cool too.

I know it's a BUMMER to pay for things like Genie Plus & Transportation. But paying for those two things, DID make me look at my choices more carefully. I got more out of the parks because I had the sunken cost of Genie Plus & KNEW which rides were a must for that day. It allowed me to do rides I never did before because of time that I really enjoyed too ( Naavi and Dinosaur). In terms of transportation I got a private van for my party of 6. It cost less than the " Direct" Mears and was totally Private & included a grocery stop. SCORE.

Now- How did I accommodate for those expenses. I cut back sit down dining ( not a problem since lots of the experiences aren't the same & I didnt want to pay a lesser meal/ experience. ) I cut back on souvenirs and purchases ( the merch just wasn't that good IMO this trip. I usually get a few ornaments for the tree, but came back with only one. etc)

In fact I came home with OVER 1k in spending money I had earmarked for this trip. I ended up saving on my budget even with the extra costs & had a really good time ( besides the " incident" )