WDW Cuts and Upcharges

[Mad Dog]

Hearing a huge new round of layoffs are coming soon to the parks and resorts...

A probable 3 straight losing quarters at WDW becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Cuts in staff, entertainment, food, services & higher prices trigger attendance losses. Subsequent attendance losses due to the afore mentioned, trigger more staffing & service cuts. And the cycle keeps perpetuating itself.....But they do have a brand new spanking park in Shanghai that's really huge, though a dearth in attractions for it's size. And attractions that keep breaking down.

 

[Nick]

A probable 3 straight losing quarters at WDW becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Cuts in staff, entertainment, food, services & higher prices trigger attendance losses. Subsequent attendance losses due to the afore mentioned, trigger more staffing & service cuts. And the cycle keeps perpetuating itself.....But they do have a brand new spanking park in Shanghai that's really huge, though a dearth in attractions for it's size. And attractions that keep breaking down.

Well with MSEP heading to DL, JB: AwM ending, and virtually all of Innoventions closing, that's a lot of CMs just right there in closed attractions. Pop Century is undergoing full room refurbishments starting this fall, which will take a lot of rooms out of service (on top of those out of service across the resort already) to make the quarterly numbers look better.I'm sure they'll find ways to cut staff as slim as possible in all areas in operations, too.

Not exactly sure what you mean by cuts in food though. If anything that's been something Disney has been pretty consistent about adding lately. Skipper Canteen, Tiffins, Abracadabar, Jock Lindsey, D-Luxe Burger are all Disney owned/operated plus all the non-Disney restaurants at Disney Springs.

 

[Mad Dog]

Well with MSEP heading to DL, JB: AwM ending, and virtually all of Innoventions closing, that's a lot of CMs just right there in closed attractions. Pop Century is undergoing full room refurbishments starting this fall, which will take a lot of rooms out of service (on top of those out of service across the resort already) to make the quarterly numbers look better.I'm sure they'll find ways to cut staff as slim as possible in all areas in operations, too.

Not exactly sure what you mean by cuts in food though. If anything that's been something Disney has been pretty consistent about adding lately. Skipper Canteen, Tiffins, Abracadabar, Jock Lindsey, D-Luxe Burger are all Disney owned/operated plus all the non-Disney restaurants at Disney Springs.

I was referring to the purported cuts in food portions at many restaurants, a subject they were talking about on Magic....Yes, Disney's often been in the habit of shutting down hotel areas to keep their room occupancy percentage up. Example: One of the times I was at CBBR, they had three of the Aruba buildings completely shut down during my vacation, even though they weren't doing any renovating.

 

[Nick]

I was referring to the purported cuts in food portions at many restaurants, a subject they were talking about on Magic....Yes, Disney's often been in the habit of shutting down hotel areas to keep their room occupancy percentage up. Example: One of the times I was at CBBR, they had three of the Aruba buildings completely shut down during my vacation, even though they weren't doing any renovating.

Hmmm... i'll have to look into the food portions thing. The biggest change I noticed recently was at The Plaza, but it was more the different menu/raised prices than skimped portions.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Maybe they should hire this guy to help with budget-cutting.

 

[Donald Razorduck]

You can't line item bribes, extortion, ect.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

You can't line item bribes, extortion, ect.

Or as they like to call it in China, the cost of doing business.

 

[GAcoaster]

Disney CEO Bob Iger Begins Second Job at Publix After Losing Hours at Work – The Main Street Journal

 

[IzzyB]

Hmmm... i'll have to look into the food portions thing. The biggest change I noticed recently was at The Plaza, but it was more the different menu/raised prices than skimped portions.

I noticed menu changes and prices going up. But I haven't noticed smaller portions. I never can eat all the food given to me at Disney and that hasn't changed.

 

[GadgetGuru]

The scariest part is that these are all relatively small budget cuts. Cutting food portions at one restaurant doesn't register a blip on the budget. Cutting the food portions on half-a-dozen restaurants might register a ridiculously small blip. Closing down some hotel rooms - I mean, the hotel rooms make money. Unless the costs are way higher than I'd think, they're just doing that to keep occupancy rates high.

But, put all of these things together, and now you can save some real money. And that's where we're at - doing all of the smallest things possible to save a quick buck.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

New rumor is Disney will start up charging for the monorail.

 

[Teebin]

^ If so, then that certainly takes the cake!

 

[Mad Dog]

Next steps. Upcharges if you wear sunglasses, have tennis shoes on, wear shorts, or breath Disney air.

 

[sparky]

New rumor is Disney will start up charging for the monorail.

You are, ofcourse, kidding us.

 

[OLSinFLA]

New rumor is Disney will start up charging for the monorail.

Monorail used to have its own charge. You could just buy a monorail ticket (there used to be ticket takers right there at the TTC). Your park pass had a note saying "includes transportation surcharge"

 

[GAcoaster]

No, there will be no charge for the monorail or any other Disney transportation. The infrastructure is not there to do it unless they spend millions for infrastructure upgrades.

They may be restricting the Resort line to resort guests only for security reasons as part of pushing the bag check back to the TTC at some point in the future, but aside from that the $20 parking fee is supposed to cover transportation to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Monorail used to have its own charge. You could just buy a monorail ticket (there used to be ticket takers right there at the TTC). Your park pass had a note saying "includes transportation surcharge"

Wait, really? I'm going to reconfirm with parents and family friends who've been going since the 70s.

No, there will be no charge for the monorail or any other Disney transportation. The infrastructure is not there to do it unless they spend millions for infrastructure upgrades.

They may be restricting the Resort line to resort guests only for security reasons as part of pushing the bag check back to the TTC at some point in the future, but aside from that the $20 parking fee is supposed to cover transportation to the Magic Kingdom.

There might not be, but things are bad right now that they're looking at many options and changes to bring back profitability. Consider this like the "ToT quick service alcohol location" rumor (for now).

 

[GAcoaster]

Monorail used to have its own charge. You could just buy a monorail ticket (there used to be ticket takers right there at the TTC). Your park pass had a note saying "includes transportation surcharge"

Yep, it used to be each ticket got one trip to and one trip from the MK on either a ferry boat or monorail. You couldn't just ride around. You weren't aloud to board without one. That's why there's the "crossover" ramp from the Resort side to the EPCOT monorail, so hotel guests wouldn't have to show their hotel cards/keys again.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Well, I worked there before Epcot, but thats why there's that huge fence behind the ticket booths with the gates. You used to have a ticket to get past that area to board the monorails and ferryboats (I've often wondered why they never took it down, doesn't really serve a purpose anymore)

 

[bob albert]

I'm cool with a park that has a low price to get you in the door even when the up-charges are high, but when you market yourself and charge like a premium product and then expect to up-charge like a cheap product, that really grinds my gears.