Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<I'm not sure there is anything to recover from except the wasted cost...It can't be just about trying to find new ways to squeeze money out of guests.>> Just with the recent track record to go on, these two things are why I say "recover". The company, especially in Florida, doesn't seem all that willing to dish out a lot of money. If their 1.5 billion pet project fails to rake in the cash, I see them tightening the purse strings for a good, long while.
Originally Posted By leemac One of the biggest concerns I have is WDW Co.'s (and WDP&R's) track record with IT projects. P&R has been notoriously slow to adopt useful new technology - stuff like inventory management, RFID tags etc. - and when it does roll them out they don't tend to work properly or as intended. I don't think there has been a larger IT project in Central Florida since the updated central reservation system - and that was a disaster when it was first rolled out. I guess it is all done to Accenture and their partners to make this puppy work.
Originally Posted By oc_dean 1.5 BILLION invested for speedier waits to old attractions .... vs. 1.5 Billion invested in NEW attractions. C3P0 has a good line..... Sometimes R2, I don't understand your logic at all!
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Kar2oonMan, now I understand why we yearn for 'the old days' Schedulizing a vacation? With this kind of detail? No thanks.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ I don't have an issue if folks want to plan out every single second of their vacation experience - the problem I have is that those folks will get a better in-park experience to the detriment to others. I shouldn't be penalized for not wanting that type of experience - but I will be as lines will be longer for everyone else.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Schedulizing a vacation? With this kind of detail? No thanks.<< I'll see ya down at the ol' fishin' hole, Jim.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I shouldn't be penalized for not wanting that type of experience - but I will be as lines will be longer for everyone else.<< Hear hear.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>1.5 BILLION invested for speedier waits to old attractions .... vs. 1.5 Billion invested in NEW attractions<< Right? Seems insane to me.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I don't have an issue if folks want to plan out every single second of their vacation experience - the problem I have is that those folks will get a better in-park experience to the detriment to others. >>> This reminds me of a shareholder question from the Annual Meeting a couple of years ago. The shareholder complained about how "free dining" at WDW had made it very difficult for those that don't plan in advance to have a good dining experience, as reservations for many of the desirable locations were snapped up 90 days in advance. I think it was Rasulo that answered the question, even though he had recently become CFO: his answer was that the company had "good news" on this front - the advance reservation window would soon expand to 180 days! Not only did the answer completely miss the point of the guy's question, it actually made the situation worse, not better. I couldn't get a sense of whether Rasulo was just responding with corporate-speak or whether he really didn't understand what the issue was.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Some of the executives who head up these projects seem to be clueless as to the actual experience of being in the parks, checking in at a hotel, getting a dining reservation or standing in a Stand By line. That's not good!
Originally Posted By hopemax I just wonder about the long term result of this is. If the only people that can really enjoy the parks with the new reality are resort guests, wouldn't pretty soon the only guests you have be resort guests? Can Disney afford to just turn off everyone else? I can only assume that in their profit calculations they are going to underestimate the people they will lose because of this, and over-estimate the number of people that will transition from off-site to on-site guests. And what if the unthinkable happens and we have another post 9-11 situation where the resort market evaporates overnight? Probably, not terrorist triggered, but the global financial situation is still a tricky place to maneuver as long as the Euro regions keep kicking the can down the road. When that finally blows up, will the European market to WDW still be there? And what about domino effects? I would have thought post 9/11 would have shown a need for diversifying your market base so you aren't so reliant on a specific type of guest, but Disney seems to want to go the other way.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >> Prioritizing resort guests to detriment of off-site and local guests by upselling to a "premium" experience that was previously free<< One more reason to not patronize the World
Originally Posted By Yookeroo " the problem I have is that those folks will get a better in-park experience to the detriment to others" I have no problem with this. They want to sell hotel rooms. Is it me, or is leemac starting to sound like Lutz did a decade or so ago? I generally like his posts, but the sky is starting to fall. This almost reads like a Mousechat thread. I get that people are wary about Fastpass+. But Fastpass+ sounds like the new "Pressler!!!!".
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<I have no problem with this. They want to sell hotel rooms. >> So it's okay to screw over the rest of your patrons? Yup, sounds like a great idea to me.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt ^^ I was thinking the same thing, not so much about Leemac in particular, but just the whole tone of this thread. Maybe this think will flop, maybe it won't. Not surprisingly there's a lot of complaining going on with few details on how this program will be implemented and what the long term plans are.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>I don't think there has been a larger IT project in Central Florida since the updated central reservation system - and that was a disaster when it was first rolled out.<< I wonder if this will turn out like the automated baggage handling system as Denver International Airport. They never got it to work right and eventually ripped it out. I think the only guys who are going to make money on this is Accenture. And I'm not impressed with them. I one met one of their recruiters, who insisted that anyone could be trained to be a software engineer.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<I have no problem with this. They want to sell hotel rooms. >> And I can always take my business elsewhere. I'm not going to pay even more to visit their dated and tired theme parks. This could be very good for Universal.
