Has Disney dropped the magic ball?

[mom2rtk]

if these were the main reasons for getting ride of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you'd think they would have gotten rid of it at DLR as well but it's alive and well there (Nemo themed, but alive)

Not only is it alive and well, but was brought back after being closed for some time.

 

[danny1649]

Fellow Dis board members this thread has become a case of beating a dead horse. Some posts have nothing to do with OP post. We try to give you as much freedom to express yourself and have on this thread. Some replies are talking about things that have nothing to do with topic.If this thread continues down this path. I will move thread to our Community Board. Please read OP post and reply to it. Many replies are repeating same information as others. Thanks Danny

 

[Davey Jones II]

I always try to give credit where credit is due. Running theme parks is obviously very demanding, and, IMO, Disney is still the best in the business.

However, why do they seem to fall short in some areas, as compared to their performance in the past? I think the difference is pride. Disney management takes less pride in doing an exceptional job and keeping their parks in pristine condition. In this context, I would define pride as a desire to perform at a high level for its own sake, not just for the almighty dollar.

With Disney, it seems that the only reason they won't let their parks go to pot is because they know it would impact the bottom line, i.e. they would lose customers. We are far removed from a man like Walt, who was known to pick up litter himself when he was in Disneyland.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

I always try to give credit where credit is due. Running theme parks is obviously very demanding, and, IMO, Disney is still the best in the business.

However, why do they seem to fall short in some areas, as compared to their performance in the past? I think the difference is pride. Disney management takes less pride in doing an exceptional job and keeping their parks in pristine condition. In this context, I would define pride as a desire to perform at a high level for its own sake, not just for the almighty dollar.

With Disney, it seems that the only reason they won't let their parks go to pot is because they know it would impact the bottom line, i.e. they would lose customers. We are far removed from a man like Walt, who was known to pick up litter himself when he was in Disneyland.

That's a good point. I wonder when the last time any of the decision makers entered the parks as a guest and not for a ceremony or planned out visit.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

I always try to give credit where credit is due. Running theme parks is obviously very demanding, and, IMO, Disney is still the best in the business.

I always try to give credit where credit is due. Running theme parks is obviously very demanding, and, IMO, Disney is still the best in the business.

However, why do they seem to fall short in some areas, as compared to their performance in the past? I think the difference is pride. Disney management takes less pride in doing an exceptional job and keeping their parks in pristine condition. In this context, I would define pride as a desire to perform at a high level for its own sake, not just for the almighty dollar.

With Disney, it seems that the only reason they won't let their parks go to pot is because they know it would impact the bottom line, i.e. they would lose customers. We are far removed from a man like Walt, who was known to pick up litter himself when he was in Disneyland.

It's interesting that so often other parks are used as the baseline of quality, rather than Disney in its brighter years.

 

[Davey Jones II]

That's a good point. I wonder when the last time any of the decision makers entered the parks as a guest and not for a ceremony or planned out visit.

From what I've read, maybe Matt Ouimet (former President of Disneyland) was the last one who actually did that.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

From what I've read, maybe Matt Ouimet (former President of Disneyland) was the last one who actually did that.

If it's really been 10 years since any major executive just visited as a guest that explains a lot about where the magic has gone.

 

[ThatGuyOnce]

We just got back and hadn't noticed anything like slacking magic. We weren't expecting towel animals, but mousekeeping left an autographed picture of Mickey Mouse for DW because they saw the birthday/celebrating pins in our room. We paid for a pool view room at POFQ, but got pixie dusted up to river view to give us the 3rd floor corner room I requested during online check-in. I'm amazed the place is as clean as it is given the amount of people. I've been to hippie music festivals with more trash on the ground. Some CMs in the ride lines were less enthusiastic than others, but in 94 degree weather not everybody is going to be at their best. I give a literal hat tip to the CMs who found my hat and got it back to me when I left it on IASW. (I think the rest of my family was disappointed by that one.)

 

[ThatGuyOnce]

From what I've read, maybe Matt Ouimet (former President of Disneyland) was the last one who actually did that.

If it's really been 10 years since any major executive just visited as a guest that explains a lot about where the magic has gone.

Undercover Boss: Disney would be good TV.

 

[LOL!]

I blame it on the bean counters having too much influence. The more refined the accounting systems at Disney become, the more data the bean counters have to analyze. The more data they have to analyze, the more costs they can find to cut, the more margins they can find to widen, the more prices they can justify raising.

They present their scenarios to C-level, win approval, and the mandate goes out to the field to reduce this by 10% or that by 15% and then raise this by 5%.

In that regard Disney is no different than any other large corporation where the bean counters are really good at what they do. Sadly, there is no magic in debits and credits.

 

[Elodia]

Yup, the customer service isn't as great as it once was. I wish they'd restore the Traditions training to what it once was.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

It's hard to smile and be chipper all the time when you don't earn enough to feed your family.

 

[mom2rtk]

It's hard to smile and be chipper all the time when you don't earn enough to feed your family.

So I guess I shouldn't expect smiling or chipper at McDonalds next time I go?

 

[eskimoinparadise]

So I guess I shouldn't expect smiling or chipper at McDonalds next time I go?

Probably not, but then that rarely happened anyway. But then not smiling at McDonald's isn't likely to get you fired either.

 

[TheBacklot]

I blame it on the bean counters having too much influence. The more refined the accounting systems at Disney become, the more data the bean counters have to analyze. The more data they have to analyze, the more costs they can find to cut, the more margins they can find to widen, the more prices they can justify raising.

Maybe, but I'd also say that Senior Level Management has a lot to do with the reason the parks have deteriorated. How many managers have you known over the course of your career that don't come out of their office, visit with line level employees, etc? Probably a few. They get their blinders on and don't actually interact with the product, and then they wind up not holding those that can affect change accountable (say custodial management and supervisors since restrooms were mentioned). It's a situation where they don't have their finger on the pulse of what makes their product great. Boardroom meetings and reviewing reports are the majority of their work, instead of standing in the middle of it all and looking at real-time guest reactions.

 

[VandVsmama]

Pete made a good suggestion on this week's DIS Unplugged Disney World edition podcast...to send a tweet on Twitter to @wdwtoday to complain about the bad state of WDW bathrooms when you encounter them. I thought it was a good idea. We go to Disneyland since we are, geographically speaking, much closer to DL than WDW (i.e., 6.5 hour car ride vs all day plan trip) and I'm going to look up the DL equivalent of that Twitter account prior to our next trip.

Y'all could always come out west and rediscover Walt's original park! I've always found the bathrooms at DL to be in tip top shape. We've never encountered overflowing bathrooms and on the times we've been at DL, the park is spotless. It's a big reason why I love going to Disneyland. It's not like going to a Six Flags park or other theme parks, where that sort of thing can be hit or miss sometimes.