Originally Posted By DAR <<and my total cash outlay in my last 30 visits prob combines to under 20 dollars and zero spent on merchandise..>> Well you've been there 30 visits. Someone like me who gets to go down every few years will spend money.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***my total cash outlay in my last 30 visits prob combines to under 20 dollars*** That's impressive. I can't remember the last time I walked into a Disney park and spend *less* than twenty bucks (let alone less than a dollar a visit!), mostly on refreshments alone (not to mention an occasional souvenir). You must pack sandwiches or something? And drinks?
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<You must pack sandwiches or something? And drinks?>> That's what I did when I was down there working full time. It's not easy to survive the amount of visits you have as a CM on a CM's salary unless you pack your own food/drinks.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Can CMs NOT on duty still go down to the employee cafeteria? That is how I spent my non-working visits to the park. The food quality was the same but a heck of a lot cheaper "downstairs". I'm not giving up on spending all together. I have planned trips for a weekend getaway in two weeks plus a 12 day vacation to Italy. (I guess Italy will get some of my "stimulus" money.) But, when I see peers who are out of work and struggling it does make me want to make sure my nest egg amounts to more than "available credit" on my Mastercard.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<Can CMs NOT on duty still go down to the employee cafeteria? That is how I spent my non-working visits to the park. The food quality was the same but a heck of a lot cheaper "downstairs".>> Yea, we're still allowed to go to the Mouse if we are off duty.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<As I said, a catch-22. I have to wonder, too, how much of this is due to the media bombarding people with "things are terrible!" 24/7...I mean, if you are doing okay and your job is relatively stable and things are not bad...why would you be worried about conserving your resources? Unless the news was telling you to. >> I hate hearing the excuse that the media is somehow responsible for people being 'afraid' of spending their money. They are no more responsible now than they were when we spent eight years living in fear of 'the evildoers' that W and pals never did manage to capture. People have every right to fear things and NOT spend even if they are doing relatively well. The government and Wall Street has perpetuated a giant lie/fraud on Americans that has cost us billions and ... no, trillions and sent us into one hell of a spiral (picture a toilet bowl as it flushes). Don't know about you, but my bank collapsed. Don't know about you, but I'm working far less than I was two years ago and have had friends lose jobs with nothing to replace them. Just when you don't think things can get worse, they do. I recently was in SW Fla and it truly looks like what you'd picture the 1930s being. Streets with 5-6-7 empty, foreclosed homes just falling apart. Strip centers that look like they belong in some bleak, post-apocalyptic landscape in a film. I honestly have no idea why anyone wouldn't be incredibly cautious and wanting to hold on to ever cent. No one is secure or relatively stable these days. And, if anything, I firmly believe the media is downplaying things. If they show tent cities of homeless folks or 10,000 people showing up for 800 jobs at a drugstore chain job fair ... well, people might get the funny idea that we were left in a depression. ~Our Economy is a Phase 4 ... DISASTER!~
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<If "passholders" weren't profitable customers for the Disney parks, they wouldn't sell the passes. >> Gee ... such an obvious point ... why do so many folks miss it. ~Where/When are Rose and Bernard?~
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Agreed... If you get max capacity with people who bring their own lunch or share a meal and don't buy anything you end up with either a loss or barely break even... So you respond and minimum staff, reduce capacity or otherwise lessen the gap of loss and it becomes a vicious circle... Its one thing to go to a crowded restaurant and have to wait because its crowded, yet you see that service is as maximized as possible (ie all registers open and operating and tables being cleared when empty etc) Its another when its crowded, only 1/2 the registers are open and some with untrained or newly trained help and tables are slow to be cleared as there are few to no people to clear.... and I hate to say it but I know which one is happening in park right now... >> Of course it is ... that's why you likely had phased closings in MK last week. There's nothing like a line out the door for food and seeing empty registers. Kinda reminds me of how the fast food outlets here work. You go to McD's now and you have 2-3 registers at most of them and only one person working ... as opposed to say one in Godless Communist China where you have 15 registers and someone working everyone of them. So, Em ... how busy has WDW been this week? ~Has the USA jumped the shark ... or just the Mouse?~
Originally Posted By DAR <<as opposed to say one in Godless Communist China where you have 15 registers and someone working everyone of them.>> Yeah but that's because they've been working those registers since birth. And if they didn't their entire family would be killed. I'm all for good service but.....
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<If they show tent cities of homeless folks or 10,000 people showing up for 800 jobs at a drugstore chain job fair>> We had 2000 show up for 100 jobs at a new Embassy Suites. The local paper did cover it. <<... well, people might get the funny idea that we were left in a depression>> I think that most Joe 6 Packs are starting to understand this.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***I hate hearing the excuse that the media is somehow responsible for people being 'afraid' of spending their money.*** I don't know if I'd say "excuse" so much as "potential contributing factor". I mean, how else do you explain it when people who are otherwise pretty much unaffected by the downturn are changing their spending habits anyway? There's an element of fear to that, obviously. So, where is it coming from. And I'm not saying the media should gloss over anything (that's what they were doing 2 years ago when they should've been warning people), I'm just commenting on the 24/7 bombardment of "media coverage" we get these days that can make bad news sound much much worse when repeated over and over and over and over in a million different ways.
Originally Posted By Mr X Hadn't read your post in full before my comment, Spirit, but very good observations there in post 68. Still, I have to wonder about the media angle (in other words, I stand by what I wrote), as I haven't experienced ANY of that here and my job is secure and life is fine for me BUT..I find myself worried often. Why? Well, the only places I keep hearing about it are the media, and from friends (who hear about it from the media, none but two of them are directly effected yet either). Sorry to hear things are so dire down in good old Florida! I sure hope things pick up somewhat soon!
Originally Posted By hopemax You know what I've picked up reading posts from people on other boards...pack mentality behavior. People they know have to cut back, they feel guilty spending when friends can't, don't want their friends to be resentful, start thinking maybe there is something wrong with them, and that they should be spending less, so they spend less. It seems like the same phenomenon as when people would talk themselves into spending more, only in reverse. All the "cool kids" are spending less.
Originally Posted By -em >>Can CMs NOT on duty still go down to the employee cafeteria? That is how I spent my non-working visits to the park. The food quality was the same but a heck of a lot cheaper "downstairs"<< Its not that much cheaper... To eat a full meal youll still end up spending 5-8 dollars. If I forget to bring a water bottle I will stop back and get a coke (1.50 v 2.50) but thats rare... One day this week I had to get lunch/dinner (5 days of PB & J was too much) and a foot long veggie (1/2 for lunch 1/2 for dinner) and coke came to over 7 bucks... >>Glad you survived the Easter crunch -em.<< 63 hours for the week... Not bad when I was only scheduled 32... This week they've scaled back OT again so I only got 1 6 hr shift to make it 38 hrs (only scheduled 32 again) I will agree about the media thing for the "panic"- I think most of it is people who thought they or others they knew had "secure" jobs and are now un/under employed with no options... I think its a good lesson to learn about wants vs needs but the fact everyone is learning at once makes it bad for everyone... -em
Originally Posted By DAR Getting back real quick to when I visited in December. It was the most crowded I've seen the MK in my adult life. Of course when I was a kid it was only the MK and Epcot so it was going to be crowded. But I have to say that all the CM's were very helpful that day. They kept the lines moving and made it generally pleasing for people to be there.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<... well, people might get the funny idea that we were left in a depression>> <<I think that most Joe 6 Packs are starting to understand this.>> I dunno about that. They're the ones who got all lathered up by the rightwing nutjobs on FOX and were out having tea parties today (no Alice or White Rabbit either) because they don't want to see people a lot wealthier than they are paying a small amount more in taxes. It just convinces me moreso than ever that people are dumber than ever. ~Smarter every day!~
Originally Posted By brerroadrunner Spirit, There is a lot I would sure like to say about your last comment in post 79, but I will not even dignify it. It doesn't belong here. ~Smarter then the Spirit every day!~
