Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Without taking a formal survey it is impossible to determine if crowds are low because of WDW shortcomings. Based on this board and ones like it, you might say there is a valid argument that the attendance has been impacted by guest perception of quality.>> Yes. And that's one survey Disney will never give guests. A real one.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I am sure these boards are read by the management. In my business, I make it a point to gauge reactions to my products, and message boards are free market intelligence (although I sometime wonder ;-)>> Yes. And Disney does use sites like this as FREE CONSULTING, which is why I've taken to not offering solutions to their problems.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Awe, now Spirit. If you don't share your vision, how can they resolve your concerns? Psyonics?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Live entertainment hard to come by in my area..so it is appreciated>> Yes, but painting the 'If You Believe in Magic, You Belong' slogan on the front of the house was a bit much, doncha think? ;-)
Originally Posted By vbdad55 the neighbors are more upset with the 'wand' I erected next to my house - the giant hat I put in front of the door, and this crapola playground I erected in my yard.. that took me about 10 minutes of work...but it stopped the leakage of water into my basement utilidors and all the neighborhood 30 something parents drop their kids off here so they can get a break .....
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Awe, now Spirit. If you don't share your vision, how can they resolve your concerns? Psyonics?>> Dave, my friend, they know exactly where I am and how to contact me. ... They want the good stuff, the stuff I'm holding back, they can stick a nice contract in front of me. Otherwise, no can do. I've had enough 'intellectual property' stolen from me over the years to know better than to hand it over for free.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<the neighbors are more upset with the 'wand' I erected next to my house - the giant hat I put in front of the door, and this crapola playground I erected in my yard.. that took me about 10 minutes of work...but it stopped the leakage of water into my basement utilidors and all the neighborhood 30 something parents drop their kids off here so they can get a break .....>> The playground is definitely a problem, but Mrs. VBDAD said something about you having difficulty keeping your 'wand' up ;-)
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys >Yes. And Disney does use sites like this as FREE CONSULTING, which is why I've taken to not offering solutions to their problems.< If what you say is true, then we are giving Disney a free pass to mediocrity because they don't want a solution to your their problems. Why? They don't need any solutions. While on one hand we are telling Disney that we are unhappy with the current conditions of the parks, on the other we are all telling them we will accept them, since not one of us has said that we would not go back to WDW until things get better. We can complain all we want here at LP, at the parks and in writing (I have done all three) and nothing will happen as long as the turnstiles keep turning.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Thats not exactly true. Some people on LP are opting to stay off property. There are others that are stradling the fence and after reading some of the posts here either decide to stay on property or off property. Some may have decided on a resort and others here on LP convince them to upscale their accomidations or downscale their accomidations. What gets posted here certainly has an impact on Disney. Maybe not a major impact, but its happening.
Originally Posted By danyoung >I actually dined at three places I had never been before on this trip and I GREATLY enjoyed all of them. But, frankly, I don't want to write about them and why I liked them because I would hate to see them drop the quality and raise the prices -- and that SADLY is how Disney uses people like us as unpaid consultants.< I see you've further clarified your stand in a couple of posts above. But it seems to me that if you want something done you state a solution, not just the problem. So they use your info and don't pay you. So what? If you and all of us get a better Disney, what's the down side?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I see you've further clarified your stand in a couple of posts above. But it seems to me that if you want something done you state a solution, not just the problem. So they use your info and don't pay you. So what? If you and all of us get a better Disney, what's the down side?>> Dan, while I think my response above explains my position quite well, I'll expand just a bit. It's not my job to tell TWDC how to fix its businesses, many of which they themselves broke by paying millions of dollars to clueless consultants (and until we meet and you buy me a few drinks, you're just going to have to either give me the benefit of the doubt or not here, but there are some stories that I could tell you that would amaze you more than any E-Ticket regarding Disney and its business practices since the mid-90s). But suffice to say or as the Spirit's mom would say simply 'No more freebies.' If Disney can throw away millions (actually more like hundreds of millions, over the time) to have consultants tell them how to break their business, why would I ever want to tell them how to fix it for free? I may love the parks and amazing creative legacy started by Walt and Roy and passed on to many, many others, but I'm not stupid or naive (like many others here). I've been told by Disney execs that they monitor these forums and certain posters (I wonder who) here. I have many solutions for what ails Disney, and not just in Parks and Resorts, but I won't be an unpaid consultant. And I won't have ideas stolen from me ... BTW, I am 99% sure that Disney 'borrowed the idea' of FastPass from someone from another Disney forum many years ago ... that's not going to be me. So, I'll rip them when I see that's what they deserve, and I'll praise them if they make a good move. But I won't work for them for free. They do know how to reach me. Trust me on that one
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 And to further clarify the above, I will sometimes offer 'advice' here on things like the Disney Dining fiasco and safety issues because to me they're just common sense. But anything beyond that? Nope. Not gonna happen. And my advice to anyone here would be to do likewise.
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys ^^ Call me stupid then because nothing is better to me than staying at either the Yacht/ Beach Club or the BW, waking up in the morning and walking to either Epcot ( with the great entrance to the countries) or MGM/ Disney Studios (whatever), rather than stay off property and have to worry about driving in or shuttling in. Even better , when Illuminations is over at night, the walk back to the resort is waaay better than the walk to the front of the park for the pleasure of having to jump on a monorail to get to the transportation center and drive out.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>^^ Call me stupid then because nothing is better to me than staying at either the Yacht/ Beach Club or the BW, waking up in the morning and walking to either Epcot ( with the great entrance to the countries) or MGM/ Disney Studios (whatever), rather than stay off property and have to worry about driving in or shuttling in.<< I won't call you stupid because you *know* you are paying more for the benefits of walking to/from the parks to your hotels or for sleeping on Disney's soil... yet then again... sooner or later you DO have to take one of their ghetto busses to get to the other parks... so one thing equals the other.
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys Funny you should say that because my wife and I have debated splitting up our trips by staying at the Contemporary (take the walkway)or Poly for a few days for MK access, AKL for another couple and then spend the rest at the YC/BC in order to avoid ever taking a bus. I'll let you know if it ever happens. There is nothing more painful to me than having to wait in line and then sit, (usually stand) on a bus.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<sooner or later you DO have to take one of their ghetto busses to get to the other parks..>> Come on TDLFAN. The buses are perfectly fine. I would much rather ride a Disney bus than a bus elsewhere. That would be like telling someone who is going to San Fran not to ride a cable car because they are public transportation. The bus drivers are absolutely some of the friendlyest and funniest Cast Members on property! They definately keeped you entertained along the brief few minute trip to your destination on property. During my last trip I will never forget the memorable drive on a Disney bus between Animal Kingdom Park and the Wilderness Lodge. The Cast Member who was driving the bus is knows as "Roger the Old Coger". He is so funny. Everyone on the bus was laughing and laughing. He was advising everyone to try Downtown Disney after the parks closed as well as Boardwalk at night with all its shops. He claimed Boardwalk at night is Disney's best kept secret. I typically visit WDW with friends. One member of my party works for New Jersey Transportation Authority and drives buses and trains around Philly( he switches between the two several times a year ). Every member of my party looks forward to riding Disney's multitude of transportation vechicles. We have been know to just ride the Monorail for hours while calling family and friends ( Oh we're on the monorail riding between EPCOT and the Magic Kingdom ). We always look forward to riding the buses, boats, train, blue line and monorail on property.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>Come on TDLFAN. The buses are perfectly fine.<< No one is arguing the busses do their job of transporting guests from one end of the property to another. However, they are as ordinary as any bus service in AnyCity USA. Not really a reflection of an innovative future as WDW (and EPCOT in particular) was to showcase. If at least those busses were pretty or at least heavily redesigned to be different and very unique to Disney (take a look at TDR's Cruiser busses) and I am not just talking about a different paintjob on them... But the whole kabob!
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I've never had any complaints about the busses. I suppose Disney could blow $100 million or more to expand the monorail line but I can't help to think that money could be better spent.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN True. For one, it will take that much money to update and upgrade the MK offerings, maintenance and technological aspects of rides just to match it with the standards found in the other 4 DL parks around the World, so yes, I much rather see the ghetto busses shuffling tourists around if the moeny was allocated to helping the MK become the pretty swan it deserves to be.
