I know some of the arguments here are that the attendance isn't as good. That is preposterous! There is NO WAY that June/July/August aren't the busiest months. When the kids are off, the park is busiest. Pointe finale. It is a crime to raise prices year on year, charge a premium at the MK for the summer, then close the park EARLIER AND EARLIER!
I think DVC may have changed this-from the threads here (and elsewhere) DVC is sold out for September-December. Along with F&W, Marathons, Halloween/Christmas parties, and more schools with fall breaks -+lower pricing = more crowds in fall and less in summer. By nearly every account parks in summer are NOT as crowded now as before. But Fall IS picking up-how many more hard ticket parties this year? How many more booths/days for Food and Wine? I'd seriously challenge the assumption that June/July/August are the busiest months.
I think that DIsney crossed the "sweet spot" line for more families than they anticipated.
along with decreased number of attractions/new things (other than Pandora this year)
I guarantee that things like EMH and Free Dining will eventually go away.
I think free dining and EMH are more to entice people to stay onsite as opposed to offsite
yes this is what "free Dining" is about-although they should change name to be "dining included" package. "Free" is a misnomer
but the more feedback they get, the more inclined they may be to make changes.
In my opinion they were probably making money, but they wanted a bigger return. IMO, in business sometimes it is better to have a lower profit at some times to maximize guest or customer satisfaction.
kinda like the towel animals etc went away? Agree that sometimes profit margin needs to be alot thinner in order to continue the brand excellence that got you where you are.
As for staffing and staff hours, I've heard from kids in the Disney College Program say that they get the worst hours, the ones the full time and part timers really don't want. Those I have talked to feel like they are a resource for Disney to try to give fewer of these horrible shifts to full and part timers. My nephew was in the program and it was pretty shocking sometimes how late he would work and they how early his next shift would be and how little sleep he would get, especially figuring in Disney transportation too (He got a car down there to get more sleep). He and others in the program used to joke that they were Disney's slave labor, yet all actually seemed to enjoy the experience. Then again, it was a limited time gig for them.
They-are- interns. Period. In no way should they expect they will get the "perks" of regular CM's. And I say this from the perspective of a former DCP (paid internship) and a professional (where I paid) internship, plus the parent of a kid about to start a DCP.
I was also a preceptor for interns in my field - and oh my word-the expectations that they had coming in (like being treated like CEO expectations).
$75 just to park hop? I think that is nuts especially when one of the parks (Studios) is under construction.
Studios will be down to 4-count 'em-4 rides after August 13th. They should just give that park free.
I was chatting with a bus driver about MK hours and he told me it was due to resources being funneled over to AK during the EEMH for Pandora.
(oh I hope you weren't serious about accurate info from a bus driver)
Remember -they took away SWW last year too- I'd bet that affected attendance-and therefore hours-even with Pandora included. Otherwise why wouldn't all of DAK be open for at least one of the EMH?
I will miss the regular open to midnight MK-along with 12-1am EMH this year too. Best night ever was with my girls closing down MK at 2 am!
ETA-corrected spelling LOL-
and to add
@mom2rtk you had me
at some of your responses!
I wonder if we can escape on the the new minnie van or hope Disney figures out something. This sounds bad.
