Tikiman has been silenced.

[HairyChest]

Tikiman just posted on his facebook confirming Disney silenced him. And then he did something Id love to shake his hand for and bump chests with. He posted disneys current official information for polynesian construction to the guests which is completely wrong and shows the stupidity of Disneys dep. that handles guests/public information about the resort. I'm crackin up. One for the Ohana baby!

 

[andyman8]

Tikiman's full FB post from this morning:

I feel like the supporters of my web site and Facebook page deserve an explanation as to what happened last week. I have struggled through the weekend on how I go about explaining without explaining too much. I wrote up a long description of what happened and what has been going on for many years that lead to my decision to no longer post unofficial information. I could not think of a good way to explain what is happening behind the scenes at the resort that brought me to this decision. Every way I wrote the story would have had major ramifications for people at Disney. Some of those people are the ones that want me shut down. My sources are all over Disney including in positions higher than anyone at the resort. Ironically the people at Disney that still have the true Disney spirit and philosophy are the ones that unofficially tell me to keep doing what I am doing. They know that my page gets a lot of visibility and they know how many of you out there watch everything that goes on at the resort. My page has become a place for all this info to be shared but some don’t like us keeping such a close eye on things.

My intentions when sharing as much as I can is to keep the guests informed. There is much I don’t share because I am asked not to. Unfortunately there are some that are not happy with all that I share and I have made the decision to try and work towards a better relationship with those people. I am still going to give an honest opinion of things but I am going to let Disney tell you what is going to happen and when. Unfortunately we can see how inconsistent your answers from Disney are. I’ve always tried my best to take all the heads-up info I get and turn it into what I believe is going to happen but some staff at the Polynesian would like to be the ones to tell guests what the official answer is and for me to stop giving out information. I am willing to give that a try so that we can all get along better.

I still have my sources and they are welcome to continue to let me know what is going on but for now I will not be sharing that information publicly on my pages. I will continue to update my site with new history info and current details about the resort…at least for a couple more years.

If there are photos or observations you would like to share with my page you are welcome to post it or send it to me to post. If you ask me questions about what is coming or when something will be done I will not be answering any of those things publicly.

As of today (April 6, 2015) things that Disney has posted for construction at the Polynesian are:

Disney’s Web Site:
•The Lava Pool and slide – Closed now through spring 2015
•Great Ceremonial House – Under renovation now through early 2015

Disney’s letter to guests:
•The Polynesian East Pool will be closed for enhancement from Mid-April 2015 through early 2016. During this time, you will observe construction taking place and certain pathways and buildings may be unavailable. Noise may be overheard while this work is being completed, but please rest assured that construction will not begin until after 9:00am.

When Disney announces more I will be happy to share. If you have questions, comments or complaints you can call Disney.

If someone sends me photos of construction going on around the resort I will share it but not comment on what it is because officially its not happening.

Hopefully Disney and I can work together to help guests and give guests a better appreciation for what the Polynesian resort is. If I find that we can’t work together than I will reevaluate things. Maybe someday if I am done with the site it will make a good tell all book of how things work behind the scenes at one of Disney’s most iconic resorts. I guarantee it is a heck of a story.

Considering most of his information was very accurate (far more than anything that comes out of Jim Hill's mouth), it doesn't surprise me this happened, but this really speaks poorly of Disney and is yet another indicator of management issues.

 

[BellsFam]

Also, a above poster mentioned that they lost of a lot of money on this construction, how so? Fewer bookings maybe? You know that Disney is reading every post on this particular thread daily.

It's my opinion, but I would venture a safe guess that they didn't come close to expected revenue for the poly last summer due to the pool and very we'll lost money...

With Tiki in general making comments about the state of the resort and how he wouldn't stay there, which was really done with no malicious intent, it doesn't seem a surprise that people would have avoided it last year...

Yes I believe that there are Disney IT who follow this board, because when I called them about WL pool construction l/y the CM specifically said "don't believe the people on the DIS, they don't know what they are talking about"...

Turns out the DIS was right and the CM was wrong because they did close the WL pool for a bit!!!

 

[JohnDaleswife]

They most certainly are not.

Why? How do you know? They might just be.

 

[GrimGrinninGhost]

I haven't seen any information about a loss of revenue at any of the resorts last year. Overall it was a 6% increase in attendance and a 7% increase in 4th quarter revenue after a short stumble (believed to be from MyMagic+).

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Tikiman just posted on his facebook confirming Disney silenced him. And then he did something Id love to shake his hand for and bump chests with. He posted disneys current official information for polynesian construction to the guests which is completely wrong and shows the stupidity of Disneys dep. that handles guests/public information about the resort. I'm crackin up. One for the Ohana baby!

Good for him!

 

[JohnDaleswife]

It's my opinion, but I would venture a safe guess that they didn't come close to expected revenue for the poly last summer due to the pool and very we'll lost money...

With Tiki in general making comments about the state of the resort and how he wouldn't stay there, which was really done with no malicious intent, it doesn't seem a surprise that people would have avoided it last year...

Yes I believe that there are Disney IT who follow this board, because when I called them about WL pool construction l/y the CM specifically said "don't believe the people on the DIS, they don't know what they are talking about"...

Turns out the DIS was right and the CM was wrong because they did close the WL pool for a bit!!!

Ya, I would probably agree with this. The greed in them wanting to charge rack rate for this hotel with all this going on. Unreal.

 

[Gillyrose779]

I feel like this move by Disney screams volumes for the poor state the Polynesian is in.

If projects were getting done in time, if quality was there, if CMs were well informed, and if DVC sales were on point Disney would not care the least about what Tikiman is saying.

I'm not sure if someone at Disney wants to place blame or just misdirecting their frustration. Either way it's just sad.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Remember the dude who gave the discount info early? I think he was known as black something. I just loved reading his scoops he had.

apparently another victim of "nothing is official until Disney says it is." from what has been posted here it seems like some posters took his early info as gospel and got angry when Disney released the discount info and it was different from what he had reported.

I don't recall the Tikiman site ever saying how horrible things were at the Polynesian so I assume it was something to do with info being posted too early and not being "official." If it's just a case of he had it right while Disney representatives had it wrong, that's on Disney.

I seriously have to wonder how much this comes from the posted pool hours sign that was on Tikimans's site. I mean seriously, people were calling and complaining about the hours on a Pool sign - for a pool that hasn't even opened. It's one thing to go and have issues and make a complaint, it's another to call and complain about a sign on a Pool that isn't complete for a trip you aren't taking for 6 months.

Then Disney should not have actually put up a sign that said the pool would close at 8, if they didn't want someone to take a photo of that sign and put it on the Internet.

Tikiman should tell Disney to go stuff it. No corporation has the right to stifle free speech.

Yes they do. The First Amendment applies to the government, not to corporations. Should Disney choose to, they can deny service to someone whom they feel has written information they don't like on a website (not that I think they want to do so here). They just can't have that person arrested.

 

[Magic Band Defender]

I enjoy the updates and photos there as much as anyone but seriously people Disney is a huge corporation you really think "Disney" told him not to share his opinion. We have one side of the story and he has not clarified the situation. Unless Disney the company sent him a cease and desist legal notification then No, Disney did not silence him. Did someone that works for Disney offer an opinion to him, possibly. Again we don't know. But yes if guests are calling Disney and complaining and during that complaint mention they are getting conflicting information about the Polynesian from him and his page and site, then you are not doing him any favors and certainly not endearing him to Disney.

It happens. IKEA, also a huge corporation, had similar issues with a few fansites last year (namely IKEA hackers and IKEA fans). It was slightly different in that those two sites used the corporations name as a part of their name. But IKEA had previously had a good relationship with those sites, knew about that, worked with them, etc. IKEA got some bad press for it and worked out a deal with IKEA hackers. I'm not sure what happened to IKEA fans.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I'm sorry about this because I really liked his work.

I think, IMHO, that if he had not partnered up with that vacation website/travel agency, this would not have happened. It went from being a "hobby" to being a "business".

Disney lost a lot of revenue on this construction venture and Tikimans advice and constant photos didn't help matters.

What you put out on the internet is out there forever, a good reason I don't have an fb page! A friend of mine was sued by a California based company because they have the same business name, he lost his shirt in that lawsuit all because he decided to join the FB revolution. Tikiman is lucky it didn't escalate to that...

Um - what?! Where in any of Steve's posts did he say that partnering with the travel agency is what caused him to silence himself? Did you read his FB explanation of the situation? Nowhere is the travel agency even mentioned. This is one of the most ridiculous comments I've seen on here. Why not just read Steve's post to discern what is going on instead of just making something up and blaming a travel agency for it? If it had to do with a sponsoring travel agency, then Disney would surely be pushing to shut down allears, Mousesavers and the DISBoards! Can we stop speculating now?

Also, you are talking about intellectual property law. That doesn't factor into this situation. Plus, where did you see Disney lost any revenue? Did you see their 2014, 4th quarter earnings? I'm going to venture the answer to that is no.

 

[BellsFam]

Um - what?! Where in any of Steve's posts did he say that partnering with the travel agency is what caused him to silence himself? Did you read his FB explanation of the situation? Nowhere is the travel agency even mentioned. This is one of the most ridiculous comments I've seen on here. Why not just read Steve's post to discern what is going on instead of just making something up and blaming a travel agency for it? If it had to do with a sponsoring travel agency, then Disney would surely be pushing to shut down allears, Mousesavers and the DISBoards! Can we stop speculating now?

Also, you are talking about intellectual property law. That doesn't factor into this situation. Plus, where did you see Disney lost any revenue? Did you see their 2014, 4th quarter earnings? I'm going to venture the answer to that is no.

WOW...that is a bit of an over-reaction to my post!

Yes, I made a "speculation", just like everyone before me had done! Yes, I believe that after he posted to his blog about his new partnership MAY have played a FACTOR in what happened! WOW... never once did I BLAME the travel agency! I just meant that what was once a BLOG is now, no longer a blog and partnering up with a business through your blog makes you more susceptible to the powers that be. I've witnessed first-hand that this can happen. Again... it COULD have been a FACTOR in what ultimately ended up happening...

AND... my post was written before I read his FB response to everyone, and like the PP's before me, a best guess!

I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW! I was talking about the revenue Disney projected the Poly to receive last year...and yes, I think many would agree with me that the POLY specifically did not take in what it was expected to take in for revenue.

What a way to take an innocent comment of MY PERSONAL OPINION!!! Your response to my post is one of the most ridiculous comments I've seen on here!!! Why don't you go back and read the last 7 pages of comments and comment on some other peoples speculations too!

 

[margaret07013]

@BellsFam - I tend to agree with you that once he crossed the "hobby vs business" line - it was a matter of time and not if. Add some resort unhappy managers, add some jealous "Poly" lovers who have issues with his info or style or whatever --- and it created a perfect storm. I simply dont believe that "now" a few days before the pool re-opening Disney decided enough is enough. why not a year ago but now? now when Poly needs good PR to sell DVCs? now when they need guests back at the resort?

I really like his FB page and site but please go over his info in the last 12 months and most of the time it was AFTER other sites posted same info ( for example food menu changes at O'hana ), he always defended Poly stuff and even asked to support them during construction.

If something is not clear - follow the money.

 

[Sammie]

Um - what?! Where in any of Steve's posts did he say that partnering with the travel agency is what caused him to silence himself? Did you read his FB explanation of the situation? Nowhere is the travel agency even mentioned. This is one of the most ridiculous comments I've seen on here. Why not just read Steve's post to discern what is going on instead of just making something up and blaming a travel agency for it? If it had to do with a sponsoring travel agency, then Disney would surely be pushing to shut down allears, Mousesavers and the DISBoards! Can we stop speculating now?

Also, you are talking about intellectual property law. That doesn't factor into this situation. Plus, where did you see Disney lost any revenue? Did you see their 2014, 4th quarter earnings? I'm going to venture the answer to that is no.

Those earnings were for the total Disney corporation. I am sure the Polynesian resort did lose revenue during this time period. Personally I don't think the FB explanation explained much of anything and that is certainly his right.

 

[MouseMum]

Opinions people...this is a forum for opinions. We have people who are new to the forums, new to Disney planning for that matter, and then we have Disney veterans. We have people who visit Disney once a year, once a week, once a decade! As a community of sorts, shouldn't "we" be a little more tolerant of the opinions of others? Granted, there are those of "us" who are more informed than others. But to bash or be intimidating toward the opinions of those posting is just wrong!

 

[Angel Ariel]

Thanks to all those who supported me since 1999. I want to thank the DIS for being the place to inspire me to create my site. Let’s see if the DIS cannot go downhill like other message forums and get back to sharing info and being kind to one another. I will keep the history and details about the resort going for as long as I feel I can do a good job.
I will leave the inside info to other sites from now on and maybe the CMs can focus their anger towards them.

Aloha Cousins

Thank you for everything you have always done for fans of the Poly, Tikiman. Your dedication is very much appreciated by many people. Aloha

 

[buzznina]

Those earnings were for the total Disney corporation. I am sure the Polynesian resort did lose revenue during this time period. Personally I don't think the FB explanation explained much of anything and that is certainly his right.

If POLY lost $$, I believe it had a LOT more to do with the fact that Disney still tried charging the normal rates for rooms. With all the construction going on the rates should have been a lot less.

 

[kbelle8995]

If POLY lost $$, I believe it had a LOT more to do with the fact that Disney still tried charging the normal rates for rooms. With all the construction going on the rates should have been a lot less.

Agreed. That rate was a lot of money to stay in what was technically a construction site.

 

[jcjen519]

Agreed. That rate was a lot of money to stay in what was technically a construction site.

I agree. I could see how they could try to get away with that when they first started the bungalows but as things progressed it was a joke. I remember last summer when the lobby was all walled off. we were staying at the GF and when we went by on the monorail we were all very glad we weren't staying there. we've all seen the pictures, those prices should have been substantially lower. Unless of course they filled the resort that way? I'm not really convinced of that though.

 

[Belle61513]

Most recent update from Facebook:

It was mentioned to me that in all the speculation of why im not sharing unofficial info has something to do with the links to DVCMagicresales.comor **********************.com creating a problem for me. I can assure you that they have nothing to do with any of this. I have them as part if my site because they bring a knowledge of things I can't help my readers with. I am not good at questions about booking or the best discounts available. I also don't know much about DVC so I try and work with people that can help my site visitors. That is also why I have Touring Plans and Duane Lingle on my page to help answer questions I cannot.

One thing it would be nice if people could learn is not to speculate when you have little or no facts. Ive seen comments about what happened with me that could not be farther from the truth.