Summer Guest Attendance Down? CM Hours Cut

[TriSeb°o°]

I am in the single digits happy dance and have been reading about the low crowds on just about every popular fan site including Josh. Of course, that has been music to my ears.

Today I read Len's post that starting this week Park and Resort cast member hours are being cut until the end of their fiscal year (Sept 30, 2017). Have any cast members here confirmed?

I take this as confirmation that attendance has been low and hit the bottom line so to show a profitable or balance operating cost this move had to be made. I had to make this move for my business last year so completely understand.

However, as a guest, I am wondering about the impacting from my park strategy to resort experience at the Poly. Do cuts occur across the board, or specific to operations? Fewer Cast Members at the merchandise stores seems would have minimal impact but if it's also dining or ride operations, then there's the rub.

Are fewer vehicles run? or is there less line management? Closing of the FP second scan point? How best to account for this situation?

 

[wildcatfan]

I don't think we ever scanned a second FP point when we were there in June and July. I could tell attendance was down.

 

[mesaboy2]

You're overthinking this. Just plan your days based on park hours or whatever else is important to you and carry on.

 

[Amelia :)]

I think you're looking into it a little too deeply, whilst it crowds are more evenly spread throughout the year, I still wouldn't expect low crowds at all. Almost everything will be open and there will be plenty of CM's.

 

[Micca]

My guess would be that the CM schedules change pretty regularly with the ebb & flow of park attendance. Chances are you won't notice any difference.

 

[robl45]

I think its clear the hours being cut are the night hours.

 

[CAS239]

I've NEVER been to Disney and thought they were lacking in transportation or short on CM's in shops or at rides. If hours are being cut, you won't notice it.

As far as the second FP point, that's been mainly gone for about a year or more now. You scan at the first but then the second one is either gone or covered. Guess they feel it's just not needed.

And as far as crowds, hopefully for you crowds are low. I go a few days about every 1.5 months and for at least the past 2 years I've never seen any park where I'd consider it low crowds. It's been years since I've been in a park and thought "wow all these rides are low waits. Where's all the crowds?" Disney isn't hurting for attendance from what I've experienced.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've NEVER been to Disney and thought they were lacking in transportation or short on CM's in shops or at rides. If hours are being cut, you won't notice it.

As far as the second FP point, that's been mainly gone for about a year or more now. You scan at the first but then the second one is either gone or covered. Guess they feel it's just not needed.

And as far as crowds, hopefully for you crowds are low. I go a few days about every 1.5 months and for at least the past 2 years I've never seen any park where I'd consider it low crowds. It's been years since I've been in a park and thought "wow all these rides are low waits. Where's all the crowds?" Disney isn't hurting for attendance from what I've experienced.

I guarantee there's a point at which the average guest will feel hour cuts. No idea if they've reached that level before, but it's possible.

As for the second FP point. They aren't cutting it because it's not needed. They cut it because they want to save money. I continue to hear anecdotal stories of people ducking under the divider from the standby line to the FP line. If an attraction has no place for cuts from one line to the other, then I agree it's not needed.

Crowds will never "feel" low. That's because with all the information they have through MM+, Disney stays one step ahead of it. If crowds are expected to be low, they staff down further and it "feels" the same to the average park goer. It essentially cashes out the benefit of lower crowds for the company's benefit instead of the guest.

 

[TriSeb°o°]

I think its clear the hours being cut are the night hours.

True. So, AK night plans can stay intact but can adjust for the lack of night time touring.

It's been years since I've been in a park and thought "wow all these rides are low waits. Where's all the crowds?" Disney isn't hurting for attendance from what I've experienced.

Thank you, for the info and yes, I should have put "low crowds" in quotes as this was meant to be a relative term.

I appreciate all feedback, I do lurk on the boards to read about the WDW minutiae (mostly)

 

[11290]

I guarantee there's a point at which the average guest will feel hour cuts. No idea if they've reached that level before, but it's possible.

As for the second FP point. They aren't cutting it because it's not needed. They cut it because they want to save money. I continue to hear anecdotal stories of people ducking under the divider from the standby line to the FP line. If an attraction has no place for cuts from one line to the other, then I agree it's not needed.

Saves no money as there is still a CM assignment at the "merge" (where standby and FP lines come together. At the attraction I work, it was closed just to save some time and expedite the guest flow at the merge by not having to open the rope and have the guest(s) scan the media a second time. Some attractions still use second scan and some do not. Where I work, the elimination of the second scan and the rope "blockoff" at that scan actually makes the work of the merge CM more difficult due to the configuration of the merge design.

 

[CAS239]

I guarantee there's a point at which the average guest will feel hour cuts. No idea if they've reached that level before, but it's possible.

As for the second FP point. They aren't cutting it because it's not needed. They cut it because they want to save money. I continue to hear anecdotal stories of people ducking under the divider from the standby line to the FP line. If an attraction has no place for cuts from one line to the other, then I agree it's not needed.

Crowds will never "feel" low. That's because with all the information they have through MM+, Disney stays one step ahead of it. If crowds are expected to be low, they staff down further and it "feels" the same to the average park goer. It essentially cashes out the benefit of lower crowds for the company's benefit instead of the guest.

How much money is really being saved by not utilizing a second post in the ground to read tickets/mbs? I can't even remember how long ago I've actually scanned at a second FP point.

It's a business so makes perfect sense to cut certain things to save money, but I just can't chalk up everything Disney does away with to budget cuts and low attendance

 

[FastPasser.]

Have any cast members here confirmed??

I am absolutely not able to confirm any cutbacks in my department or any other department that I work with. In fact, just the opposite.

 

[JerseyJanice]

My opinion FWIW is that cutting park hours will drive attendance even lower. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. People aren't coming in droves, cut the hours people can enjoy the parks, and even less people come.

I can't help but think that foreign attendance has to be down based on current events. I've been reading in local papers that New York City tourism has taken a hit this summer. Hard to imagine that the same thing hasn't happened in Orlando.

 

[Dakota731]

Doesn't seem to be down for December where no rooms or ADRs can be had! I guess August then would be a great time to visit.

 

[TriSeb°o°]

I am absolutely not able to confirm any cutbacks in my department or any other department that I work with. In fact, just the opposite.

Wow, thank you very much.

 

[hiroMYhero]

I am absolutely not able to confirm any cutbacks in my department or any other department that I work with. In fact, just the opposite.

In the Spring, Summer College Program Entertainment applicants who had been accepted to begin in May were notified they were "unaccepted" unless they wanted roles in Merchandise, Housekeeping, or Custodial.

Guests haven't felt these cutbacks because full-time, part-time, and seasonal Entertainment CMs have been working 60-70 hour work weeks. I'm not sure how Disney saves money within Entertainment when CMs are receiving daily overtime and double-time pay.

 

[disneyvoice]

Crowds will never "feel" low. That's because with all the information they have through MM+, Disney stays one step ahead of it. If crowds are expected to be low, they staff down further and it "feels" the same to the average park goer. It essentially cashes out the benefit of lower crowds for the company's benefit instead of the guest.

We just got back last night from 8 days at WDW. My DH and I commented MANY times throughout our trip that the crowds did, in fact, feel low. To me, no amount of up or down staffing can affect how the park itself feels. We go to WDW multiple times a year, during times that have traditionally low, high, and moderate crowds. Our past two trips (had another trip the end of June) we noticed that areas that tend to be bottlenecked at each of the parks - simply weren't. We also felt that EMHs were much sparser than past trips, and we were able to accomplish much more in every park within the first two hours after official opening.

 

[FastPasser.]

In the Spring, Summer College Program Entertainment applicants who had been accepted to begin in May were notified they were "unaccepted" unless they wanted roles in Merchandise, Housekeeping, or Custodial.

I don't know about entertainment as we don't really work directly with them. They show up, do their thing and leave. I don't think I ever spoken with a friend of a character. Maybe you can change that.

There are certain positions where CPs and even Seasonal candidates are not the CM of choice. My previous position has phased out all Seasonal CMs. CPs are not eligible. And my current department, they are becoming fewer and fewer. Both departments require a lot of training and OTJT, so that by the time a CM is ready, they've lost one or two months of work time. In both departments hiring has not stopped though.

 

[cindyfan]

You're overthinking this. Just plan your days based on park hours or whatever else is important to you and carry on.

Totally agree with this statement!!! Just carry on!! Honestly, the attendance would have to PLUMMET for anyone to really feel any difference!! There a so many factors that go into crowd control..... so... is attendance down? or just WDW doing a better job at spreading out the crowds with things like Pandora opening?
Everyone has an opinion...... I try to ignore it... and just move on!

 

[mountdew1]

Guests haven't felt these cutbacks because full-time, part-time, and seasonal Entertainment CMs have been working 60-70 hour work weeks. I'm not sure how Disney saves money within Entertainment when CMs are receiving daily overtime and double-time pay.

Sometimes it is cheaper to pay someone 1 1/2 or even double time than it is to get another full time hire and have to provide them benefits. In other instances, management has decreed that no new head count increases will be approved, so the only way to get around it to meet demand is to hire temps through a temp agency (and thus not true hires) which I don't think will really work for WDW or pay over time. No idea if these are the case here, I just know that both are true at many companies due to management stubbornness/shortsightedness. I know that we have some guys who work in our plants who are making more in OT/DT each week than they do in normal take home pay, just because mgmt won't approve more hires.