Spontaneity and ease need to somehow be brought back. I get the efficiency factor and being able to manage guest capacity much better, but one of my favorite things about Disney is the sheer volume of things to do/see/eat/visit and I shouldn't have to sit down and decide everything in advance - the magic is lost that way
Former cast member here, and my dad is a current cast member who has worked for the company for over 40 years. I agree with this and this is a very common complaint that we hear from guests all the time. It stresses people out that they have to be attracted to their phones all day just to get the most out of the parks, when it used to not be that way. People also feel nickel and dimed for having to pay for every little thing. People really miss the spontaneity, and free fast passes, and such.
I honestly miss the days when you didn't have to make reservations or wait 2+hrs in line to meet characters. They were just walking around the park and you can easily get an autograph in your autograph book and take a picture. I also miss the days when your phone was put away and you could just enjoy the day and the parks. Fast passes were free and you didn't have to spend the whole day on your phone trying to plan things. I know I'm not alone in this. As a former cast member and one who also has a parent who is a cast member and has been working for Disney for 40+ years, we hear this all the time from guests
Sadly those days have passed, disney sees so many visitors and is so laser-focused on money that they'd rather maximize 'efficiency' through an app designed to suck away more money. how I wish disney genie wasn't a thing!!!!!!!!
I love Iger vomiting out the word "creative" on a regular basis when talking about the movie divisions, and then they just continue churning out sequels, prequels, spinoffs and remakes. He's clearly using a broken thesaurus.
I worked retail for over 15 years for a couple of different major national department stores. It always felt weird how they stressed customer service over and over for front line workers. Yet, the corporate decisions on cutting costs always conflicted with our ability to provide that customer service. Sure drop everything to help a customer, but you have 10 other major tasks you're expected to complete each day. Disney is just like any other company. They want to make the most money with the least cost. So when it comes to their customer service division (Disney Parks) cost cutting hurts the service. Even though the front line CMs' jobs may be safe, I guarantee their responsibilities will increase with support staff being cut.
What sets Disney apart from other places is that when you enter the Disney property you exit from the world. That is what makes Disney so magical. Alot of these rules and regulations that were put in place nearly killed that. Disney started to feel more like a heavily themed Six Flags instead of an escape from the word. Some of the changes made since Iger's return have helped bring a touch of that back, but there is a long way to go still, which is fine. you can't overhaul everything all at once.
What we really need now is the Dining plan back or a similar system to replace it! I miss saving my snack credits to eat around the world at Epcot's food and wine festival 😢
The Dining Plan is making a return of sorts in 2024. I’ve just booked a Walt Disney World Holiday staying at Grand Floridian next December during which myself and my family will be receiving the equivalent of $70.00 per night of our stay along with a $200.00 gift card
The "return to office" is not just a Disney issue. It is an issue across the board with many large companies. No company wants their multi-million dollar properties to be empty. The park reservations are not going away. Disney loves having that data. It is instrumental in how they handle the parks.
Yeah but they can sell those office buildings or divide them up and rent out the space to smaller businesses. It would save them money in the long run to quit using them and fire middle management.
The sad truth is that Iger put Disney into debt hell and they can't afford to do much more than service the interest on their debt load right now. This is why everything is behind a pay wall and prices are rising faster than usual. Do yourself a favor and find another place to spend your time and discretionary income. IMO, Disney is no longer a value for either expenditure unless you enjoy long waits or paying for lightning lane to skip the line (and make someone else wait inordinately long for attractions as a result).
I just want to go back to not having to be on my phone all day. It was nice when you could make your 3 ride reservations before you went to Disney. We could always find rides in between and could schedule rides easily after the 3 ride reservations were used.
What I don't understand is why the wait times for rides is so unbelievably long!! If the reservation system allows for Disney to "adjust" to demand then there is no reason for wait times to be in excess of one hour during "low seasons"! We recently went to WDW during the first week of February and were astonished to find wait times of 90+ minutes for Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller. I understand the two new rides in the Star Wars expansion portion of the park garner a lot of interest and I wasn't surprised to see long wait times there. However, I should be able to ride Tower of Terror more than once per day.
I think it’s because with all the price increases, it has shifted the clientele from families who are just there to wander around and see characters to people who want to go on rides exclusively in order to make it worth the money. Just a theory but thats what I’ve noticed since the pandemic.
Hmmm. Do you think the Genie system could be creating the problem? Just thinking about it as logically as I can, they aren't creating any more non-capacity rides. Rides like the people mover and the mansion never stop. People get on, people get off, but the conveyor belt never stops moving. The newer rides all stop, load and safety check. It doesn't take that long to load a ride, but they can only load so many at one time. Which has never seemed like a problem before. Also, the capacity of the park is....the capacity of the park. They're only allowed so many people in that space, so it's not like there are more people in there to cause longer wait times. I haven't been to WDW in 25 years, and this whole thing is absolutely shocking! I think this reservation system for rides creates a kind of division between riders and its obviously creating an imbalance in how these rides get loaded. It looks to me like if you pay for the premium, you get loaded either at a scheduled time or perhaps right then. The line of people waiting would then just have to wait. And stand there for hours until there is a gap in the premium line.
Ok, chapek’s gutting of imagineers and creative department was seen as one of the worst moves. It caused things like cheaper looking park ideas, like the lion king water show budget being cut down to something not magical.
It's not the park pass system that is so annoying its the park hopping restriction. I lost money on my park hopper because I wasn't able to hop when I was done with the park I had to linger until 1pm. In one case half the rides in Hollywood were down so I ended up having to stay in a busted park til 1pm with next to nothing to get on. then at 1pm everything started working again, so we stayed to see it all meaning we couldn't hop to Epcot and still make it back for Fantasmic or our late afternoon ride reservation in Hollywood. It was a terrible and very cold day that we paid an arm and leg for, but only got an arm's worth.
Anyone who quits or resigns instead of returning to the office don’t get unemployment and the company will save money on labor costs. I fail to see why Disney wouldn’t accept their resignation.
People who think this do not understand business. Disney is huge and if they do not balance things out the company could collapse. Disney owes billions of dollars.... They have to reduce this....
So funny thing with the park reservation system actually gives the family from Denver less of a chance to get in. Let’s be clear, the park very rarely ever hit capacity to the point they turned people away. Maybe 1-2 days a year.
In FL it only hits capacity on July 4th regularly. Other than that it almost never happens because they can spread people out across the 4 parks (water parks not included) Disneyland hits "capacity" about 6-8 times a year but it is just for a few hours while they stop letting people in than resume in the later evening. Usually this happens in the summer.
Since reservations, I have found Disneyland more enjoyable. Prior to reservations, the park would be so packed, you could barely walk around. Kids would be getting stepped on because of the sheer amount of people. Waiting 2-3 hours per ride, limited the amount you were able to enjoy. It was a serious fire hazard, and I’m glad it’s not like that anymore.
If that is true, the family forom Denver would always be able to make a reservation except that one day a year. So it doesn't increase or lower their chances, but it does give them certainty
@@zjweele13 Many people form out of state (speaking about Disneyland in CA not Disney World) find the reservation system much harder to deal with. First they need to find a flight that meets their budget then a hotel, then buy a park ticket and lastly try and get a reservation that lines up with the first two. Even though you buy a ticket the slot you want might fill up before you hit confirm. For locals they like the reservation system (as Amber stated above) because it keeps capacity low and they do not have as many restrictions on travel or days in which to go.
I'm of the opinion that you should be able to go into the park, wander around, see an attraction you are interested in and get in line to experience it. I don't want to have to book every experience and meal months in advance. That is not relaxing at all. I believe that crowds should be reduced, but the only way to do that is to raise the prices.
I can absolutely relate to how you are feeling about how you look. And it doesn’t seem to matter if someone else tells you that you are beautiful or look amazing. It’s funny how one little voice in your head is so much louder than any number of other voices. I have fluctuated between being determined to feel better about myself and just giving up and believing I will never like myself so why bother. I hope that you are able to find the path to loving what you see when you look in the mirror, regardless of size or style. I will say that the beauty I see in you is so much more than what I see on the screen. Your inner beauty is such a gift to everyone that you share with. Both you and Benji are such genuinely good people that you have become a very enjoyable part of mine and my husband’s day when we watch a new video. Thank you for that. And big get well wishes for Benji. ❤
Love your videos and they have helped me be on the lookout for a lot of things whenever I go to the parks and be within the loop with everything else Disney Wise. Thank you for all you do!!
I think park reservations and the genie system are universally hated. It's not so much the money issue as it is a planning issue. People want to plan out their vacations, and that's been completely taken away. And at this price tag, that's unacceptable
I haven't used Genie yet but it seems to me that it's the complete opposite. You have to plan everything in advance (and pay for the privilege to boot). But i "grew up" with the Disney experience of just going to the park and getting a paper map that listed a few show times. LOL (And in fact, the first time my parents took me as a kid, they still had ticket books for where you had individual "tickets" for each ride that you pulled out of the book and presented. Wow, I'm older than I realize. LOL
@@blackfox1320 You used to NOT have to plan your vacation months in advance. You went into the park, wandered around, ate where you wanted and got in line for the rides you wanted. All without a reservation or a phone.
I grew up coming to Disney every few years during SPRING BREAK. I NEVER had an issue getting into any park on ANY day. So, no. The reservation system doesn’t help the guests. The statement that said, “the family from Denver used to get turned away at the gate” just isn’t true. Stop lying. Universal has 0 issues without reservations. Is Disney saying Disney is inferior to Universal’s ability to admit guests?
Odd, I have flown from Oregon to Orlando to visit Disney World with my family several times and have never been turned away from a park. I didn't even know that was a possibility.
They are definitely not though. While that might not make you like one over the other, they still are objectively different. Just take the response to the Reedy Creek situation as an example...or pricing increases. They are quite different in their approaches.
Iger is a smoother operator than Chapek, but a lot of the problems Disney is experiencing now began with decisions Iger made. Their biggest problem is on the entertainment front. None of their shows are performing particularly well at the box office (or on Disney Plus). I don’t feel confident Iger is able to fix this.
@Wemdoe Videos Except that isn't really true. The biggest movie release of the last few years by far is Avatar 2, owned by Disney from a studio bought by Igor and has one of the biggest box office totals ever. Then there is Disney plus, which went from zero to number two in streaming services in 3 years. Mando is also hugely successful. Far cry from they are all failing.
If the streaming services and theatrical media divisions are the ones that are the biggest losses for the company, additional costs cutbacks and restrictions for the customer base in the parks seems like a really bad way to balance the books. I know that I don't plan to visit a Disney park any time soon.
The Park Passes make absolutely no sense. Disney controls how many tickets they sell , therefore they know who is coming. you put a cap on your tickets, thats how you control you capacity.
@@danielthibodeau4316 it makes sense to me to cap the ticket sales, my travel agent told be about getting the park pass, which is free, when we went in June last summer, wasn't a big deal, but if there is a problem for those who buy tickets and don't get a park pass.
There’s so much he can do. He just got in and have to do a massive clean up. I applaud him for acquiring Pixar, marvel and star wars. He did major moves for Disney, hence them begging him to come back.
I just went to Disney World, and if you're not a planning enthusiast, you're not going to enjoy your trip. One factor no one talks about enough is the lack of rides. There aren't enough rides or attractions for the number of visitors.
Still way to difficult to go to the parks! If you used to have a park hopper ticket, the world was your oyster. Now everything has so much red tape it’s not even worth it!
No word as of yet. Disney has kept those snack credit symbols on menus even though the Dining Plan hasn't been active so unfortunately it doesn't help us predict when it may come back
Hi AJ (DFB) hiya Dale Disney Dining Plan is sort of coming back in 2024. I’m in England and today have just booked a Walt Disney World stay next December at Grand Floridian. Myself and my family will be receiving $70.00 per night of our stay stay for dining/ merchandise and a $200.00 gift card
The only thing about park pass reservations I would like to see changes is not requiring them all the time and only requiring them on the busiest times like Christmas Break,Spring Break and other most popular weeks of the year yes definitely required because of that’s the busiest time of the year
I’m sure all if us could give a long list of things that Disney needs to fix. A trend I’m seeing manifest in Disney’s movies is that if they have a political agenda worked into the story, people don’t want to see it. In the beginning it was nice to see a willingness to embrace change and feature a more diverse representation. However, it is beginning to feel like its being forced down our throats now. Spider-man No way home did as well as it did in the post-pandemic world because there was no political message to it. Top Gun and Mario, same deal. We watch movies to get away from reality, not have it dog us in every aspect there is. Tell a story that doesn’t have an alternative message behind it. It’s beginning to look like brainwashing.
MY make me Happy enough to return to the Parks list: :) Restore FREE Fastpass, restore any time to Park Hop, restore early AND late Park access for Resort guests, restore Night Parade, restore Magical Express ... need I go on? I'm absolutely fine staying home and watching it on RUclips, its much more fun and less stressful!! NO aggravation, NO stress of having to pre - planning and deal with UP-CHARGES for everything!! Footnote: I have been attending WDW frequently from N.J. since the 70's but refuse to go under present conditions as much as I want to. I attended the Parks November '22 and was stressed and disappointed for the first time EVER. A total mess and waste of money in my opinion. Folks that have nothing to compare what it was will continue to enjoy and that is who Disney now targets.
Disney has to get its priorities back to producing quality animation and film…that’s what got you here hello!!!! Wouldn’t hurt to have a few NEW ideas with some 2D animation again??
I’m a little worried. I’m coming to Orlando for a fortnight, hoping to stay on site. The trouble is, it will be a very late booking as I’m waiting on the selling of a property. I’m concerned that if I book about 3-4 weeks before the holiday, everything will be booked solid and I won’t be able to get park reservations or dinner reservations because they will all be booked by people 60 days before they arrive. Is it possible to not be able to get in any of the parks this late?
The only park that is booking solid right now is MK and that's only because of Easter and Tron happening simulaneously. Every other park is wide open and I suspect even MK crowds will back off a bit shortly. I wouldn't worry too much. As far as dinner goes, there will be lots of choices to choose from, just have a backup plan incase your first or second choice is booked up. Otherwise, you should have no problem getting a dining res somewhere on property. The key to booking last minute is be flexible. Have fun!
I’ve gotten lucky with dinner reservations. So many places were booked up within that 60 minutes window, but you gotta keep trying! I managed even to snag some a few on the same day by refreshing. Sometimes people will cancel. Reservations for dinner+shows are more difficult to get still.
My husband and I are Annual holders and DVC owner, we live in Florida, anyways and have tried so many times to get a reservation and park hop, I hope they fix the reservation system for AP. My husband’s pass is paid monthly for the past 3 years and unable to access is something that needs changed for all that have similar issue.
Not buying the Denver family park reservations excuse. As an out-of-state visitor, I have NEVER had a problem getting into EITHER DL or WDW throughout the decades, including Christmas. Spare me that worn-out, overused lie. Out-of-state guests book hotels rooms and buy tickets in advance. When there was Fastpass+, Disney knew what parks we were visiting by our fastpass selections 60 days in advance. Out-of-staters aren't breezing into town without a plan. How did Disney survive all those decades BEFORE the park reservation system. Disney has decades of data to base staffing decisions on. As for food purchases/preparation, that information can be gleaned from ADRs.
Restructuring is not surprising. However, the big issue to me is the Outrageous pricing of park tickets, genie+, hotels, etc. Instead of layoffs why doesn't Iger take a salary cut. So as usually rich get richer and the hard workers at the company get laid off!! Also min wage to $18 an hour will help but is still short of a liveable wage. You know the increase of medical and other benefits will probably be passed down to the cast members which means the wage increase will end up being zero increase. I've said it before, NO ONE should have to take out a loan to go to WDW. Just my opinion...I won't go because affordability is non-existent. BTW, why should Florida and California get priority. Also there is NOTHING EASY about going to Disney!
@@luma4902 ok but 27 million annually is not a pay cut in my opinion. What we pay executives is INSANE in my opinion when the grocery store worker only makes $13.65 an hour in our state which doesn't even pay your rent.
Thanks AJ, informative, as always. My suggestions for Mr. Eiger, and all of Disney leadership: •Take away the park reservations, IMMEDIATELY. It takes away the spontaneity of deciding where to go each day of your vacation. •Stop making live action movies from those that were previously animated. As my kids say, "no one asked for this". • Use the brilliantly creative people at Disney to make new content instead of the tired sequels. With the exception of Toy Story, which really should have stopped after the 3rd one, and The Incredibles, sequels generally aren't good. • When you create new content, PROMOTE IT! Strange World may have found its audience if it had been marketed more broadly. Hardly anyone knew this film was out there. • Bring back free Fast Passes. After paying a bazillion dollars to get into the parks, being charged again for individual rides is just evil. • Restore the ability to Park Hop whenever you want to, not just after 2 when all of the virtual queues have been filled for the day. It's frustrating, which is not what you want to be after having spent so much money to get into the parks. • Stop raising the park entrance prices so drastically. We want to go to Disney, so please stop making it impossible for the average family to afford. As much as we want to go, it easily becomes cost prohibitive, requiring alternative vacation options to be considered. • Continue to add more rides to Disney World. While some of the rides are classic, and can be a lovely reprieve from the Florida sun, it is just not worth standing in line for hours to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh. That is all.😊
I agree about the remakes. They were fun at first, and we went to most of them. They were movies from 30 years ago, so it was a nice way to introduce them to some of these older characters since they hadn’t seen many of those films. But now they are doing Moana, which is from their childhood (they are pre-teens and teen agers now). It has the odd feeling of a snake eating it’s tale.
Undo what the prior CEO did because prior CEO and management team was absolute failure. Disney was no longer happiest place on earth but only for special interest.
I think Disney needs to revisit there interactive Walt Disney World explorer that hasn’t been touched since 1998 I could imagine a virtual world where you could visit the parks
The park pass reservations are terrible. If you paid for a ticket you should be able to go to any park you want. They need to put the fast pass system with park hopper back and just charge for it. I want to have the spontaneity back and not be on my phone all day or have to get up early on vacation. I’m begging PLEASE bring back the fast pass with park hopping and no reservations I’ll gladly pay extra for it to work the old way
The Disney brand always bounced back due to legacy. Iger was trying to make immediacy cover for long term decay. Disney movies/show/streaming should be worried about minor profits, but should act as advertisement for their parks, at least during boom times. Disney World and Land are the cash cows that need to sell immersion that the media sells. Barrier to entry will reach a critical mass, though, similar to what was seem during the early naughts when expense didn't meet attraction nor the end product.
D-med didn’t work, and was killing the film studios. The damage has yet to be undone. Though it seems like stretching out the release schedule might help. They need to balance big screen box office, digital release, and streaming calendar. The losses of Chapek needed to be addressed and the restructure has little to do with an upcoming recession. Metaverse is a dystopian pipe-dream of Zuckerberg that would require a social collapse due to a toxic environment to create. People do need to go back to the office, and folks should have expected a return. If they don’t want to, they need to resign. Too much reliance on existing contracts could be problematic, however the post Chapek talent contacts post Blackwidow litigation has created an environment that was more costly to Disney. Unfortunately, I don’t see an easy solution in the short term unless they go back to producing sequels with folks already on contract until talent gets the message that existing boilerplate requirements by talent agencies are a nonstarter. Park passes are not going away, but they need to be integrated with existing ticketing systems. Genie+ needs changing too, and needs to be integrated in ticketing as well. Magical Express actually may come back if Desantis actually follows through on establishing toll roads.
Exactly! Why would people think their remote jobs during the pandemic will be permanent? I do agree to keep the sequels that’s under contract but they need to come out with more original content instead of remaking the same characters entirely. I’m a person of color saying this.
OHHH AJ.... please don't say Iger is probably is not going to bring back Magical Express....If the mouse really wants those out of town dollars to come back in full force...bring back the magic of Magical Express
That’s why we will never go back to Disney as much as it saddens us the way it used to be. It is all about greed and lining their pockets, Iger and the higher ups could care less about the joy it brings families all they see is the almighty dollar!
AJ I beg to differ with you on one point. $18 an hour is not life-changing, it’s bare subsistence living in the most expensive city in the United States. Cast members will continue to struggle while trying to provide magical moments to an already disgruntled Fanbase.
Did you just state Orlando is the most expensive city in the US? While I agree $18/hr isn’t life changing in any major metropolitan city, Orlando doesn’t come close to the most expensive city in the US.
You are likely right. That said with that increase they pay more then any other park in their region. So it's a start. Perhaps a small one but a start and they are leading atm not following. Granted it took a fight to get even here.
No one told them to move to Orlando for to fulfill that “Disney” dream either did they? Everyone knows what the pay is going to be working for any theme park and it isn’t great! Every single person working for Disney knew what they paid before they (and more than likely moved there) pay for frontline work! If I was the CEO I’d fire the lot and bring in more foreign workers and then balance it out with those idiots who sign up for the college slavery program. No matter how little Disney chooses to pay there’s always going to be millions who’d happily work for free because it’s Disney!
I've dumped Disney. After experiencing a truly Luxe resort at Pebble Beach, I'll never return to the bloated, overly expensive Disney. For $750/night at the Inn at Spanish Bay, I received a far far better experience than I've EVER received at the Ripoff Railroad that is Disney. Good Riddance and Caveat Emptor.
Disney has become extremely bloated and are in danger of being surpassed by its immediate competitors, namely Universal and Illumination. I am excited for Epic Universe.
@Tiandis There is very little chance of that happening really. The attendance to the parks is not even close and studiowise it isn't close either overall. Even after Epic opens, universal property is dwarfed compared to WDW 22k acres.
Why don't they just sell only a limited number of park tickets per day, per park and be done with it? They can reserve a set number of slots for park hopper and park pass holders to reserve before 1 pm also. In addition they need to let people just Que for the damn rides.. get rid of reservations it's baloney. They can always hold regular special access events that guests can pay extra for. Early/Extra park hours could be premium for a smaller group (say 10pm to 1am is extra), they have tech, just have it where guests after hours scan into rides with their bands or a card they get.
I miss classic Disney movies. I feel like they’re trying to hard to change up what they’re doing and it’s getting too far out of the ball park. Elemental looks super cute and reminds me of inside out. But still. I want a classic hero movie or animal movie 😢
I can't believe pay extortionate prices for Disney parks and even return again... To me that seems unfathomable why hard earned money would be wasted so readily? There's no fanatical fans for the franchise's they hold anymore. A dodgem ride or log flume is precisely the same thing, a mouse at the entrance or a picture isn't going to improve the experience. There are other parks and other activities, so why do people pay through the nose for Disney?
Translation “I’m old and out of touch, bet your butt back onto the office!” And “We paid money on these offices, use them!” Oh, and “Screw your originality, give me more sequels and live action remakes.”
It's not complicated. Just fire Kathleen Kennedy(replace with Jon Fav & Filoni) and Star Wars will go back to making a Billion dollars for every movie.
When Disney bought Star Wars, I bought Disney stock. I was super excited to see what they would do with it. Now that I've seen what they did with it (trash it), I dumped my stock and wouldn't watch Disney Plus or go to a park if you paid me to. I'm a little nobody, so I'm sure that doesn't matter, but there are many little nobodies like me who are fed up with Disney.
Can we figure out why NO ONE is allowed to make reservations for 2024 yet?! It only lets us go to the first week of January 2024. We used to be able to book 11/12 months in advance 😏😏😏😏😏
I was also surprised. I wanted to start planning on a trip for next year, but it would not let me look past December! I thought they used to let you book well before that so I was shocked.
With a hiring freeze still in place and an already overburdened cast, considering front line and Imagineering as examples, we shan’t be getting ANYthing we really desire anytime soon imho Edit to add - the park enervations Iger quotes are hilarious. Before the system was in place, there were maybe 3-5 days in the year where park entry might be “cut off,” namely the 4th, Xmas, NYE - in those cases, family from Denver ARE actually more likely to get in than AP because IIRC phase closures cut off day tix, AP, CMs, those groups that can “come anytime.” And resort guests, as families from afar are likely to be, were still allowed in. And even if delayed, I never saw it extend past like 12noon, which is 🤔 still earlier than the 2p hopping restriction. But carry on
Once upon a time Roy's vision, Disney cared about a family friendly environment. Roy has probably screamed at the top of his haunting lungs. Disney is incredibly pushing social norms in the name of the all mighty dollars. Their program that includes wokeness is garbage and adds zero to the story. Families want good entertainment, not culture wars. At the parks. You pay a lot for parking, pay a lot for food, pay a lot for trying to skip a line bc you were stuck by some perfectly timed parade or street performance. If the past under Roy was so wrong, why did it thrive then and now that Disney is struggling? My opinion is price hikes for lower quality products.
I’ve had an Infinity Pass for Disneyland Paris since 2017, but I won’t bother renewing it. It’s not so much the cost, but the limits put on it. If I have the right to visit the parks whenever I want, 365 days a year, how come I can only book 3 park pass days at a time? It means I can’t stay in the parks for more than 3 days on any given visit, I have to plan well in advance so my dates aren’t taken and often I’ve just had to buy sated tickets on top of my pass.
They have done it all to themselves and most of it stems from greed, poor PR, and being out of touch with average middle class families. They allowed DEI to control things that should have been left up to creatives and imagineers. They were arrogant in thinking that people will blindly follow. They mismanaged Star Wars by allowing poor writing and selfish directors to mess up already established world building and beloved characters. They stopped taking care of their parks and thought we wouldn't notice. They put virtual signaling into their movies instead of focusing on what they are known for...excellent storytelling. They are not looking at the future and adjusting accordingly. Universal Epic Universe is going to absolutely squish WDW park attendance. They have nothing that will match or respond to it. Sure they may have "limited" park attendance with the reservation system but at this same time they had less cast members to manage crowds and lower ride capacity. People will pay a lot of hard earned money for a great product. When the product loses value people will find other ways to spend their money. But what do I know?
Spontaneity and ease need to somehow be brought back. I get the efficiency factor and being able to manage guest capacity much better, but one of my favorite things about Disney is the sheer volume of things to do/see/eat/visit and I shouldn't have to sit down and decide everything in advance - the magic is lost that way
I agree!
Agree
Not to mention stressful & defeats the fun & joy in your vacation!
Former cast member here, and my dad is a current cast member who has worked for the company for over 40 years. I agree with this and this is a very common complaint that we hear from guests all the time. It stresses people out that they have to be attracted to their phones all day just to get the most out of the parks, when it used to not be that way. People also feel nickel and dimed for having to pay for every little thing. People really miss the spontaneity, and free fast passes, and such.
that's a really really good point
I honestly miss the days when you didn't have to make reservations or wait 2+hrs in line to meet characters. They were just walking around the park and you can easily get an autograph in your autograph book and take a picture. I also miss the days when your phone was put away and you could just enjoy the day and the parks. Fast passes were free and you didn't have to spend the whole day on your phone trying to plan things. I know I'm not alone in this. As a former cast member and one who also has a parent who is a cast member and has been working for Disney for 40+ years, we hear this all the time from guests
You are singing my tune! Thank you for putting this down. I think you should get 1,000 likes.
Sadly those days have passed, disney sees so many visitors and is so laser-focused on money that they'd rather maximize 'efficiency' through an app designed to suck away more money. how I wish disney genie wasn't a thing!!!!!!!!
I love Iger vomiting out the word "creative" on a regular basis when talking about the movie divisions, and then they just continue churning out sequels, prequels, spinoffs and remakes. He's clearly using a broken thesaurus.
I worked retail for over 15 years for a couple of different major national department stores. It always felt weird how they stressed customer service over and over for front line workers. Yet, the corporate decisions on cutting costs always conflicted with our ability to provide that customer service. Sure drop everything to help a customer, but you have 10 other major tasks you're expected to complete each day. Disney is just like any other company. They want to make the most money with the least cost. So when it comes to their customer service division (Disney Parks) cost cutting hurts the service. Even though the front line CMs' jobs may be safe, I guarantee their responsibilities will increase with support staff being cut.
100%! It’s the same at my work
What sets Disney apart from other places is that when you enter the Disney property you exit from the world. That is what makes Disney so magical. Alot of these rules and regulations that were put in place nearly killed that. Disney started to feel more like a heavily themed Six Flags instead of an escape from the word. Some of the changes made since Iger's return have helped bring a touch of that back, but there is a long way to go still, which is fine. you can't overhaul everything all at once.
Any place that requires you to be connected to ur black mirror for not a great but acceptable experience has lost all its magic
Overhaul which that you broke? Where is that logic?
What we really need now is the Dining plan back or a similar system to replace it! I miss saving my snack credits to eat around the world at Epcot's food and wine festival 😢
The Dining Plan is making a return of sorts in 2024. I’ve just booked a Walt Disney World Holiday staying at Grand Floridian next December during which myself and my family will be receiving the equivalent of $70.00 per night of our stay along with a $200.00 gift card
Facts and bus from airport to hotel
@@benjamindavies485 that's nothing. $70 a night? That's just one restaurant for 2 people no alcohol.
@@jonasrichfield ok then pay more lmfao tf?
The "return to office" is not just a Disney issue. It is an issue across the board with many large companies. No company wants their multi-million dollar properties to be empty. The park reservations are not going away. Disney loves having that data. It is instrumental in how they handle the parks.
Yeah but they can sell those office buildings or divide them up and rent out the space to smaller businesses. It would save them money in the long run to quit using them and fire middle management.
Hopefully they will start cleaning up the parks again and fixing the falling the apart rides.
The sad truth is that Iger put Disney into debt hell and they can't afford to do much more than service the interest on their debt load right now. This is why everything is behind a pay wall and prices are rising faster than usual. Do yourself a favor and find another place to spend your time and discretionary income. IMO, Disney is no longer a value for either expenditure unless you enjoy long waits or paying for lightning lane to skip the line (and make someone else wait inordinately long for attractions as a result).
I just want to go back to not having to be on my phone all day. It was nice when you could make your 3 ride reservations before you went to Disney. We could always find rides in between and could schedule rides easily after the 3 ride reservations were used.
What I don't understand is why the wait times for rides is so unbelievably long!! If the reservation system allows for Disney to "adjust" to demand then there is no reason for wait times to be in excess of one hour during "low seasons"! We recently went to WDW during the first week of February and were astonished to find wait times of 90+ minutes for Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller. I understand the two new rides in the Star Wars expansion portion of the park garner a lot of interest and I wasn't surprised to see long wait times there. However, I should be able to ride Tower of Terror more than once per day.
I said the same thing.
I think it’s because with all the price increases, it has shifted the clientele from families who are just there to wander around and see characters to people who want to go on rides exclusively in order to make it worth the money. Just a theory but thats what I’ve noticed since the pandemic.
they need to build new, simple, fun rides with high capacity (like Mansion). stop replacing old rides and put the money into nee things to do
I think they lie often to push the sales of geannie plus
Hmmm. Do you think the Genie system could be creating the problem? Just thinking about it as logically as I can, they aren't creating any more non-capacity rides. Rides like the people mover and the mansion never stop. People get on, people get off, but the conveyor belt never stops moving. The newer rides all stop, load and safety check. It doesn't take that long to load a ride, but they can only load so many at one time. Which has never seemed like a problem before.
Also, the capacity of the park is....the capacity of the park. They're only allowed so many people in that space, so it's not like there are more people in there to cause longer wait times.
I haven't been to WDW in 25 years, and this whole thing is absolutely shocking! I think this reservation system for rides creates a kind of division between riders and its obviously creating an imbalance in how these rides get loaded. It looks to me like if you pay for the premium, you get loaded either at a scheduled time or perhaps right then. The line of people waiting would then just have to wait. And stand there for hours until there is a gap in the premium line.
Ok, chapek’s gutting of imagineers and creative department was seen as one of the worst moves. It caused things like cheaper looking park ideas, like the lion king water show budget being cut down to something not magical.
It's not the park pass system that is so annoying its the park hopping restriction. I lost money on my park hopper because I wasn't able to hop when I was done with the park I had to linger until 1pm. In one case half the rides in Hollywood were down so I ended up having to stay in a busted park til 1pm with next to nothing to get on. then at 1pm everything started working again, so we stayed to see it all meaning we couldn't hop to Epcot and still make it back for Fantasmic or our late afternoon ride reservation in Hollywood. It was a terrible and very cold day that we paid an arm and leg for, but only got an arm's worth.
It use to be 2 pm your lucky
@@carol2girls I say 1pm because that’s about the time you have to start heading out to travel to the next park. It’s still 2pm
You got it! I didn't purchase park hoppers because of this. It's ridiculous.
I feel like alot of companies watched Ready Player One and went "Yes"
Restructures are very common in large companies, so not super surprising. This is especially true when a new C level executive comes in.
Yeah I think we need to give it a little more time to let things settle down more before we judge too harshly.
they show the vison of the new CEO or similar.
Anyone who quits or resigns instead of returning to the office don’t get unemployment and the company will save money on labor costs. I fail to see why Disney wouldn’t accept their resignation.
Some people viewed Iger as a magical being that would "fix" everything that was "broken" under Chapek.
Iger was the one who damaged the brand and implemented the mistakes in the first place Chapek stuck to that plan cause he was the fall guy.
Smiles to you face while hiding the sledgehammer.
People who think this do not understand business. Disney is huge and if they do not balance things out the company could collapse. Disney owes billions of dollars.... They have to reduce this....
@@kboostmobile6580 how much do you think the little mermxid will bring in ?
Same people who think prices are going to go back down across the board, or that all the things that have been taken away will return without a doubt.
So funny thing with the park reservation system actually gives the family from Denver less of a chance to get in. Let’s be clear, the park very rarely ever hit capacity to the point they turned people away. Maybe 1-2 days a year.
In FL it only hits capacity on July 4th regularly. Other than that it almost never happens because they can spread people out across the 4 parks (water parks not included) Disneyland hits "capacity" about 6-8 times a year but it is just for a few hours while they stop letting people in than resume in the later evening. Usually this happens in the summer.
Since reservations, I have found Disneyland more enjoyable. Prior to reservations, the park would be so packed, you could barely walk around. Kids would be getting stepped on because of the sheer amount of people. Waiting 2-3 hours per ride, limited the amount you were able to enjoy. It was a serious fire hazard, and I’m glad it’s not like that anymore.
If that is true, the family forom Denver would always be able to make a reservation except that one day a year. So it doesn't increase or lower their chances, but it does give them certainty
@@zjweele13 Many people form out of state (speaking about Disneyland in CA not Disney World) find the reservation system much harder to deal with. First they need to find a flight that meets their budget then a hotel, then buy a park ticket and lastly try and get a reservation that lines up with the first two. Even though you buy a ticket the slot you want might fill up before you hit confirm. For locals they like the reservation system (as Amber stated above) because it keeps capacity low and they do not have as many restrictions on travel or days in which to go.
I'm of the opinion that you should be able to go into the park, wander around, see an attraction you are interested in and get in line to experience it. I don't want to have to book every experience and meal months in advance. That is not relaxing at all. I believe that crowds should be reduced, but the only way to do that is to raise the prices.
I can absolutely relate to how you are feeling about how you look. And it doesn’t seem to matter if someone else tells you that you are beautiful or look amazing. It’s funny how one little voice in your head is so much louder than any number of other voices. I have fluctuated between being determined to feel better about myself and just giving up and believing I will never like myself so why bother. I hope that you are able to find the path to loving what you see when you look in the mirror, regardless of size or style. I will say that the beauty I see in you is so much more than what I see on the screen. Your inner beauty is such a gift to everyone that you share with.
Both you and Benji are such genuinely good people that you have become a very enjoyable part of mine and my husband’s day when we watch a new video. Thank you for that. And big get well wishes for Benji. ❤
Thanks for all the hard work! Great content.
Love your videos and they have helped me be on the lookout for a lot of things whenever I go to the parks and be within the loop with everything else Disney Wise. Thank you for all you do!!
I think park reservations and the genie system are universally hated. It's not so much the money issue as it is a planning issue. People want to plan out their vacations, and that's been completely taken away. And at this price tag, that's unacceptable
I haven't used Genie yet but it seems to me that it's the complete opposite. You have to plan everything in advance (and pay for the privilege to boot). But i "grew up" with the Disney experience of just going to the park and getting a paper map that listed a few show times. LOL (And in fact, the first time my parents took me as a kid, they still had ticket books for where you had individual "tickets" for each ride that you pulled out of the book and presented. Wow, I'm older than I realize. LOL
@Hoodat Whatzit you used to be able to plan your vacation months in advance and have no worries. Now it's get up at 0700 and 🤞
@@blackfox1320 You used to NOT have to plan your vacation months in advance. You went into the park, wandered around, ate where you wanted and got in line for the rides you wanted. All without a reservation or a phone.
@@dandiehm8414 that's fine too. It should be one or the other. Not this mutant hybrid abomination they created.
@@blackfox1320 Agreed.
I feel like Disney missed a big opportunity not making Pizza Planet the first big restaurant in Toy Story land
Prices were up, people complained and parks were sold out all through 2022 😂
I’ve been with the company for almost 30 years. Seen it all, nothing surprises me
I’d be happy to take one of those “hard to fill roles” and go into the office to do work.
I grew up coming to Disney every few years during SPRING BREAK. I NEVER had an issue getting into any park on ANY day. So, no. The reservation system doesn’t help the guests. The statement that said, “the family from Denver used to get turned away at the gate” just isn’t true. Stop lying. Universal has 0 issues without reservations. Is Disney saying Disney is inferior to Universal’s ability to admit guests?
Love you guys so much!! I watch every video ❤
Love these varied topics in the videos.
Odd, I have flown from Oregon to Orlando to visit Disney World with my family several times and have never been turned away from a park. I didn't even know that was a possibility.
It’s already been an interesting year! 😂
Happy Wednesday, ya’ll!! 🖤🎩🥂
it's time to seriously consider the reality that chapek and iger are two heads of the same dragon and realistically are just figureheads 🤷♀️
They are definitely not though. While that might not make you like one over the other, they still are objectively different. Just take the response to the Reedy Creek situation as an example...or pricing increases. They are quite different in their approaches.
Iger is a smoother operator than Chapek, but a lot of the problems Disney is experiencing now began with decisions Iger made. Their biggest problem is on the entertainment front. None of their shows are performing particularly well at the box office (or on Disney Plus). I don’t feel confident Iger is able to fix this.
@Wemdoe Videos Except that isn't really true. The biggest movie release of the last few years by far is Avatar 2, owned by Disney from a studio bought by Igor and has one of the biggest box office totals ever. Then there is Disney plus, which went from zero to number two in streaming services in 3 years. Mando is also hugely successful. Far cry from they are all failing.
Great content per usual. Thanks for sharing this topic!
Glad you enjoyed it!
If the streaming services and theatrical media divisions are the ones that are the biggest losses for the company, additional costs cutbacks and restrictions for the customer base in the parks seems like a really bad way to balance the books. I know that I don't plan to visit a Disney park any time soon.
I’m so excited I’m going back to magic kingdom April 17
The Park Passes make absolutely no sense. Disney controls how many tickets they sell , therefore they know who is coming. you put a cap on your tickets, thats how you control you capacity.
Surprisingly this is the first time I’ve seen this argument 👏👏👏
@@danielthibodeau4316 it makes sense to me to cap the ticket sales, my travel agent told be about getting the park pass, which is free, when we went in June last summer, wasn't a big deal, but if there is a problem for those who buy tickets and don't get a park pass.
One silver lining to me: They used the job cuts to kick out Perlmutter. And there was much rejoicing
There’s so much he can do. He just got in and have to do a massive clean up. I applaud him for acquiring Pixar, marvel and star wars. He did major moves for Disney, hence them begging him to come back.
How about giving fast passes when any guest loses park time when your rides break down like you used to, Iger!
I just went to Disney World, and if you're not a planning enthusiast, you're not going to enjoy your trip. One factor no one talks about enough is the lack of rides. There aren't enough rides or attractions for the number of visitors.
Still way to difficult to go to the parks! If you used to have a park hopper ticket, the world was your oyster. Now everything has so much red tape it’s not even worth it!
Any idea if the Dining plan will come back this year? I see more and more food signs having snack credits mentioned
No word as of yet. Disney has kept those snack credit symbols on menus even though the Dining Plan hasn't been active so unfortunately it doesn't help us predict when it may come back
Hi AJ (DFB) hiya Dale Disney Dining Plan is sort of coming back in 2024.
I’m in England and today have just booked a Walt Disney World stay next December at Grand Floridian. Myself and my family will be receiving $70.00 per night of our stay stay for dining/ merchandise and a $200.00 gift card
The only thing about park pass reservations I would like to see changes is not requiring them all the time and only requiring them on the busiest times like Christmas Break,Spring Break and other most popular weeks of the year yes definitely required because of that’s the busiest time of the year
This is the problem: disney used to be all about the guest and it was amazing. Now its all about the greed and they will continue to lose...
I’m sure all if us could give a long list of things that Disney needs to fix. A trend I’m seeing manifest in Disney’s movies is that if they have a political agenda worked into the story, people don’t want to see it. In the beginning it was nice to see a willingness to embrace change and feature a more diverse representation. However, it is beginning to feel like its being forced down our throats now.
Spider-man No way home did as well as it did in the post-pandemic world because there was no political message to it. Top Gun and Mario, same deal. We watch movies to get away from reality, not have it dog us in every aspect there is. Tell a story that doesn’t have an alternative message behind it. It’s beginning to look like brainwashing.
I will never use anything that has to do with the Meta Verse!
More like meta scam lol 😆
Well done DFB! Great report!
MY make me Happy enough to return to the Parks list: :) Restore FREE Fastpass, restore any time to Park Hop, restore early AND late Park access for Resort guests, restore Night Parade, restore Magical Express ... need I go on? I'm absolutely fine staying home and watching it on RUclips, its much more fun and less stressful!! NO aggravation, NO stress of having to pre - planning and deal with UP-CHARGES for everything!! Footnote: I have been attending WDW frequently from N.J. since the 70's but refuse to go under present conditions as much as I want to. I attended the Parks November '22 and was stressed and disappointed for the first time EVER. A total mess and waste of money in my opinion. Folks that have nothing to compare what it was will continue to enjoy and that is who Disney now targets.
I agree.
Disney has to get its priorities back to producing quality animation and film…that’s what got you here hello!!!! Wouldn’t hurt to have a few NEW ideas with some 2D animation again??
I’m a little worried. I’m coming to Orlando for a fortnight, hoping to stay on site. The trouble is, it will be a very late booking as I’m waiting on the selling of a property. I’m concerned that if I book about 3-4 weeks before the holiday, everything will be booked solid and I won’t be able to get park reservations or dinner reservations because they will all be booked by people 60 days before they arrive. Is it possible to not be able to get in any of the parks this late?
The only park that is booking solid right now is MK and that's only because of Easter and Tron happening simulaneously. Every other park is wide open and I suspect even MK crowds will back off a bit shortly. I wouldn't worry too much. As far as dinner goes, there will be lots of choices to choose from, just have a backup plan incase your first or second choice is booked up. Otherwise, you should have no problem getting a dining res somewhere on property. The key to booking last minute is be flexible. Have fun!
I’ve gotten lucky with dinner reservations. So many places were booked up within that 60 minutes window, but you gotta keep trying! I managed even to snag some a few on the same day by refreshing. Sometimes people will cancel. Reservations for dinner+shows are more difficult to get still.
Thanks aj. As always great info
My husband and I are Annual holders and DVC owner, we live in Florida, anyways and have tried so many times to get a reservation and park hop, I hope they fix the reservation system for AP. My husband’s pass is paid monthly for the past 3 years and unable to access is something that needs changed for all that have similar issue.
Not buying the Denver family park reservations excuse. As an out-of-state visitor, I have NEVER had a problem getting into EITHER DL or WDW throughout the decades, including Christmas. Spare me that worn-out, overused lie.
Out-of-state guests book hotels rooms and buy tickets in advance. When there was Fastpass+, Disney knew what parks we were visiting by our fastpass selections 60 days in advance. Out-of-staters aren't breezing into town without a plan. How did Disney survive all those decades BEFORE the park reservation system.
Disney has decades of data to base staffing decisions on. As for food purchases/preparation, that information can be gleaned from ADRs.
Do you see them adding more after hours dates at magic kingdom ?
Restructuring is not surprising. However, the big issue to me is the Outrageous pricing of park tickets, genie+, hotels, etc. Instead of layoffs why doesn't Iger take a salary cut. So as usually rich get richer and the hard workers at the company get laid off!! Also min wage to $18 an hour will help but is still short of a liveable wage. You know the increase of medical and other benefits will probably be passed down to the cast members which means the wage increase will end up being zero increase. I've said it before, NO ONE should have to take out a loan to go to WDW. Just my opinion...I won't go because affordability is non-existent. BTW, why should Florida and California get priority. Also there is NOTHING EASY about going to Disney!
I agree but to be fair he took a salary cut in this new contract
@@luma4902 ok but 27 million annually is not a pay cut in my opinion. What we pay executives is INSANE in my opinion when the grocery store worker only makes $13.65 an hour in our state which doesn't even pay your rent.
the cast members of Orlando DESERVED the 18 dollars an hour!!! I mean ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!
I don’t know where Disney gets these poor CEO’s at! 😂😂😂
Thanks AJ, informative, as always. My suggestions for Mr. Eiger, and all of Disney leadership:
•Take away the park reservations, IMMEDIATELY. It takes away the spontaneity of deciding where to go each day of your vacation.
•Stop making live action movies from those that were previously animated. As my kids say, "no one asked for this".
• Use the brilliantly creative people at Disney to make new content instead of the tired sequels. With the exception of Toy Story, which really should have stopped after the 3rd one, and The Incredibles, sequels generally aren't good.
• When you create new content, PROMOTE IT! Strange World may have found its audience if it had been marketed more broadly. Hardly anyone knew this film was out there.
• Bring back free Fast Passes. After paying a bazillion dollars to get into the parks, being charged again for individual rides is just evil.
• Restore the ability to Park Hop whenever you want to, not just after 2 when all of the virtual queues have been filled for the day. It's frustrating, which is not what you want to be after having spent so much money to get into the parks.
• Stop raising the park entrance prices so drastically. We want to go to Disney, so please stop making it impossible for the average family to afford. As much as we want to go, it easily becomes cost prohibitive, requiring alternative vacation options to be considered.
• Continue to add more rides to Disney World. While some of the rides are classic, and can be a lovely reprieve from the Florida sun, it is just not worth standing in line for hours to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh.
That is all.😊
I agree about the remakes. They were fun at first, and we went to most of them. They were movies from 30 years ago, so it was a nice way to introduce them to some of these older characters since they hadn’t seen many of those films. But now they are doing Moana, which is from their childhood (they are pre-teens and teen agers now). It has the odd feeling of a snake eating it’s tale.
Undo what the prior CEO did because prior CEO and management team was absolute failure. Disney was no longer happiest place on earth but only for special interest.
I’m an annual pass holder and it seems like April 18 is still a long ways away.
I think Disney needs to revisit there interactive Walt Disney World explorer that hasn’t been touched since 1998 I could imagine a virtual world where you could visit the parks
"Highly beneficial for guests!?!" Yeah right!!
The park pass reservations are terrible. If you paid for a ticket you should be able to go to any park you want. They need to put the fast pass system with park hopper back and just charge for it. I want to have the spontaneity back and not be on my phone all day or have to get up early on vacation. I’m begging PLEASE bring back the fast pass with park hopping and no reservations I’ll gladly pay extra for it to work the old way
I'm so over Disney
The Disney brand always bounced back due to legacy. Iger was trying to make immediacy cover for long term decay.
Disney movies/show/streaming should be worried about minor profits, but should act as advertisement for their parks, at least during boom times. Disney World and Land are the cash cows that need to sell immersion that the media sells. Barrier to entry will reach a critical mass, though, similar to what was seem during the early naughts when expense didn't meet attraction nor the end product.
D-med didn’t work, and was killing the film studios. The damage has yet to be undone. Though it seems like stretching out the release schedule might help. They need to balance big screen box office, digital release, and streaming calendar. The losses of Chapek needed to be addressed and the restructure has little to do with an upcoming recession. Metaverse is a dystopian pipe-dream of Zuckerberg that would require a social collapse due to a toxic environment to create. People do need to go back to the office, and folks should have expected a return. If they don’t want to, they need to resign. Too much reliance on existing contracts could be problematic, however the post Chapek talent contacts post Blackwidow litigation has created an environment that was more costly to Disney. Unfortunately, I don’t see an easy solution in the short term unless they go back to producing sequels with folks already on contract until talent gets the message that existing boilerplate requirements by talent agencies are a nonstarter. Park passes are not going away, but they need to be integrated with existing ticketing systems. Genie+ needs changing too, and needs to be integrated in ticketing as well. Magical Express actually may come back if Desantis actually follows through on establishing toll roads.
Exactly! Why would people think their remote jobs during the pandemic will be permanent? I do agree to keep the sequels that’s under contract but they need to come out with more original content instead of remaking the same characters entirely. I’m a person of color saying this.
What about the food program. My fam used it every time we went. Makes food planning easier.
Chapek single handedly killed Disney Magic. Hopefully Iger will bring it back!
Is the after 2pm entrance only for WDW or is that for DLR also?
love your videos
OHHH AJ.... please don't say Iger is probably is not going to bring back Magical Express....If the mouse really wants those out of town dollars to come back in full force...bring back the magic of Magical Express
I just wish they’d make it affordable again
That’s why we will never go back to Disney as much as it saddens us the way it used to be. It is all about greed and lining their pockets, Iger and the higher ups could care less about the joy it brings families all they see is the almighty dollar!
2:06 I almost heard that wrong 💀
AJ I beg to differ with you on one point. $18 an hour is not life-changing, it’s bare subsistence living in the most expensive city in the United States. Cast members will continue to struggle while trying to provide magical moments to an already disgruntled Fanbase.
Did you just state Orlando is the most expensive city in the US? While I agree $18/hr isn’t life changing in any major metropolitan city, Orlando doesn’t come close to the most expensive city in the US.
You are likely right. That said with that increase they pay more then any other park in their region. So it's a start. Perhaps a small one but a start and they are leading atm not following. Granted it took a fight to get even here.
No one told them to move to Orlando for to fulfill that “Disney” dream either did they? Everyone knows what the pay is going to be working for any theme park and it isn’t great! Every single person working for Disney knew what they paid before they (and more than likely moved there) pay for frontline work! If I was the CEO I’d fire the lot and bring in more foreign workers and then balance it out with those idiots who sign up for the college slavery program. No matter how little Disney chooses to pay there’s always going to be millions who’d happily work for free because it’s Disney!
I've dumped Disney. After experiencing a truly Luxe resort at Pebble Beach, I'll never return to the bloated, overly expensive Disney. For $750/night at the Inn at Spanish Bay, I received a far far better experience than I've EVER received at the Ripoff Railroad that is Disney. Good Riddance and Caveat Emptor.
Cool story. Lol
My wife sent me for my Birthday. I played Pebble and had a golf clinic and dinner with Mark O'Meara. Was amazing
Disney has become extremely bloated and are in danger of being surpassed by its immediate competitors, namely Universal and Illumination. I am excited for Epic Universe.
@Tiandis There is very little chance of that happening really. The attendance to the parks is not even close and studiowise it isn't close either overall. Even after Epic opens, universal property is dwarfed compared to WDW 22k acres.
@John P. That's great. Glad to hear you had a good birthday. Not really related to this video at all though.
A lot of the changes implemented under Chapek were already planned by Iger.
Unpopular opinion but I do like park pass reservations. But it's def too strict and needs to be more flexible
Why don't they just sell only a limited number of park tickets per day, per park and be done with it? They can reserve a set number of slots for park hopper and park pass holders to reserve before 1 pm also. In addition they need to let people just Que for the damn rides.. get rid of reservations it's baloney. They can always hold regular special access events that guests can pay extra for. Early/Extra park hours could be premium for a smaller group (say 10pm to 1am is extra), they have tech, just have it where guests after hours scan into rides with their bands or a card they get.
I miss classic Disney movies. I feel like they’re trying to hard to change up what they’re doing and it’s getting too far out of the ball park. Elemental looks super cute and reminds me of inside out. But still. I want a classic hero movie or animal movie 😢
Not same company, Magic is gone….. 😢
It's really not but you do you I guess.
Agree
I can't believe pay extortionate prices for Disney parks and even return again... To me that seems unfathomable why hard earned money would be wasted so readily?
There's no fanatical fans for the franchise's they hold anymore. A dodgem ride or log flume is precisely the same thing, a mouse at the entrance or a picture isn't going to improve the experience. There are other parks and other activities, so why do people pay through the nose for Disney?
He hates Song of the South, because he wants Splash Mountain to be rethemed into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure! 😡
Translation “I’m old and out of touch, bet your butt back onto the office!” And “We paid money on these offices, use them!” Oh, and “Screw your originality, give me more sequels and live action remakes.”
It's not complicated. Just fire Kathleen Kennedy(replace with Jon Fav & Filoni) and Star Wars will go back to making a Billion dollars for every movie.
When Disney bought Star Wars, I bought Disney stock. I was super excited to see what they would do with it. Now that I've seen what they did with it (trash it), I dumped my stock and wouldn't watch Disney Plus or go to a park if you paid me to. I'm a little nobody, so I'm sure that doesn't matter, but there are many little nobodies like me who are fed up with Disney.
@Elainehill5931 Yeah actually, I do. Look at his own words or read any biography about him. Not that hard to do.
Can we figure out why NO ONE is allowed to make reservations for 2024 yet?! It only lets us go to the first week of January 2024. We used to be able to book 11/12 months in advance 😏😏😏😏😏
They changed that a couple of months ahead of time so people will not be able to have the chance to book that far ahead
I hear speculation that 2024 dates will open up in June.
@@loracaro4427 that sucks though!! That’s the one way most people are able to go and save up for Disney 🫠 I see universal is doing the same thing too!
I was also surprised. I wanted to start planning on a trip for next year, but it would not let me look past December! I thought they used to let you book well before that so I was shocked.
I get to start planning my 2024 trip in June so, it really doesn't feel much different.
The reedy creek stuff happened under iger
Not seeing how any of these could be considered controversial as this all seems to be day-to-day, common sense business decisions.
Maybe Toy Story 5 will be a prequel dealing with the life of Jessie?
Years of financial hardship under Bob Iger's leadership
and yes I left as a cast member THEY NEED TO DO MORE WITH THEIR RELATIONSHIPS!!
I’m sorry but I hope you found greener pastures after leaving Disney
I would much rather visit a number of many other local and state amusement parks. Disney is a joke pay all that money just to stand in line.
With a hiring freeze still in place and an already overburdened cast, considering front line and Imagineering as examples, we shan’t be getting ANYthing we really desire anytime soon imho
Edit to add - the park enervations Iger quotes are hilarious. Before the system was in place, there were maybe 3-5 days in the year where park entry might be “cut off,” namely the 4th, Xmas, NYE - in those cases, family from Denver ARE actually more likely to get in than AP because IIRC phase closures cut off day tix, AP, CMs, those groups that can “come anytime.” And resort guests, as families from afar are likely to be, were still allowed in. And even if delayed, I never saw it extend past like 12noon, which is 🤔 still earlier than the 2p hopping restriction. But carry on
I just want to know if Disney is going to bring back the dining plan!!
Once upon a time Roy's vision, Disney cared about a family friendly environment. Roy has probably screamed at the top of his haunting lungs. Disney is incredibly pushing social norms in the name of the all mighty dollars. Their program that includes wokeness is garbage and adds zero to the story. Families want good entertainment, not culture wars. At the parks. You pay a lot for parking, pay a lot for food, pay a lot for trying to skip a line bc you were stuck by some perfectly timed parade or street performance. If the past under Roy was so wrong, why did it thrive then and now that Disney is struggling? My opinion is price hikes for lower quality products.
I’ve had an Infinity Pass for Disneyland Paris since 2017, but I won’t bother renewing it. It’s not so much the cost, but the limits put on it. If I have the right to visit the parks whenever I want, 365 days a year, how come I can only book 3 park pass days at a time? It means I can’t stay in the parks for more than 3 days on any given visit, I have to plan well in advance so my dates aren’t taken and often I’ve just had to buy sated tickets on top of my pass.
They have done it all to themselves and most of it stems from greed, poor PR, and being out of touch with average middle class families. They allowed DEI to control things that should have been left up to creatives and imagineers. They were arrogant in thinking that people will blindly follow. They mismanaged Star Wars by allowing poor writing and selfish directors to mess up already established world building and beloved characters. They stopped taking care of their parks and thought we wouldn't notice. They put virtual signaling into their movies instead of focusing on what they are known for...excellent storytelling. They are not looking at the future and adjusting accordingly. Universal Epic Universe is going to absolutely squish WDW park attendance. They have nothing that will match or respond to it. Sure they may have "limited" park attendance with the reservation system but at this same time they had less cast members to manage crowds and lower ride capacity. People will pay a lot of hard earned money for a great product. When the product loses value people will find other ways to spend their money.
But what do I know?
If the company refuses to listen to the consumers then they will continue to lose money. People want stories not political agendas.
Having people who are different from you in movies is not actually a political agenda.