Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Well, I just got back from a wonderful week in Spain staying at a Marriott Vacation Club resort. Highly themed, fantastic service including a personal planner, 2000 sq ft luxury unit with everything you want and more, 3 pools, mini golf, private beach and so many amenities. The restaurant, while not V&A quality, was nearly California Grill quality. And although we got a free week as a deal for trading our Paris property for California last year, it is about $200 a night. And they are building a similar property to share the amenities of the Ritz and JW in Orlando. Now this means, if we ever go to the money sucking poor value swamplands again, we are likely to stay off site. Sorry folks, our week reminded me of the Disney quality from the 70's to early 90's - awesome, expectation beating experiences. It has been a while since Disney has offered that.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Great to hear about your time, Dave. But you're making a fundamentally flawed assumption if you think Disney cares about what kind of product they put out to the masses anymore. It is a completely bottom line business run by some very cold, arrogant people. Things may turn around some day, but right now I am not hopeful. It starts at the top and Bob Iger has made it pretty clear he doesn't really give a damn about the parks and resorts so long as the numbers make Wall Street happy (or now, he can use the economy as an excuse). Jay Rasulo has the warmth of an iceberg. I'm starting to miss Michael Eisner.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<It starts at the top and Bob Iger has made it pretty clear he doesn't really give a damn about the parks and resorts so long as the numbers make Wall Street happy (or now, he can use the economy as an excuse).>> As the global economy swirls down the toilet he had better start caring about offering a good product. The few who will still have money will be able to be very picky about where they spend the vacation dollars. Excuses won't matter if WDW becomes insolvent. I don't think they will have that problem at DLR, which they can keep packed by selling cheap SoCal APs.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Well I have come to realise Disney is not the company that it once was and I really fear it never will be. If this is the case, I am soon ready to walk away. With all the boneheaded decisions of late, especially in Paris, I think our May trip to DLP we will spend less time and money with Disney (we still will because our passes are still good from last year) than in real France or with Marriott). I do miss Eisner. Terribly.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Well I have come to realise Disney is not the company that it once was and I really fear it never will be. If this is the case, I am soon ready to walk away. With all the boneheaded decisions of late, especially in Paris, I think our May trip to DLP we will spend less time and money with Disney (we still will because our passes are still good from last year) than in real France or with Marriott). << I'll be joining you on that walk Dave.
