With all the closings and delayed openings... About This Page:

[Cruella]

...do you think that all of this is related to Disney's layoffs and hiring freeze? And what will this mean to them as they head into their busiest season of the year?

I've heard a few people who have recently come back say the current CMs have lost their magic due to stress and anxiety. Do you think this trend will continue?

Just curious about how y'all feel...

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Cruella ºoº
"...where the young at heart, of all ages, can laugh and play and learn, together!"

[Disnygirl]

Cruella,
I hope this is not true!! One of the best things about Disney are the CMs! They are part of what makes a trip to WDW so magical!
I sometimes wonder if Disney is getting too big for itself! I hope this is not the case as I am going there in July, one of the busiest times of the year!

Disnygirl

[dsny4me]

My two cents...

Yes, I think it is related to the Disney hiring freeze/layoffs. Closings and delayed openings achieve the same thing as layoffs would, decreased expenses. What will it mean to Disney as they head into their busiest season? Well, tourism is down this year so it might not have as big as an impact as it would have last year. The biggest impact will be on the guests as they encounter closed food stands and attractions. Not a very good impression. Disney will still get the people's money and since that is the bottom line, I don't think it will impact the Disney Company as much. For every guest that is disappointed enough to cut back on going again, there is a person just waiting to visit WDW.

I believe that the amount of magic that the CMs have is directly related to the amount of training they receive and how they are treated by their employer.

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remember, it all started with a mouse!

been there...
done that...
going back!

[Disneybound!]

Oh, I hope not!! We're planning our 1st trip there in Sept. and I'd like to think that the service we get will be the same as what all you Disney vets have experienced?!! I was raised to believe that you should always do your best no matter what the job or how much it pays! Hopefully, Disney cm's feel the same!

[debe]

Good question Cruella! Many years ago we were down there during a transportation slow down... not a strike but a slow down. We spent more time waiting for bus & tram transportation than we did in the parks. This trip we had to rely on Disney Transportation as we had a group of Boy Scouts and stayed in the group camping area in Ft. Wilderness.

The weather was perfect but the crowds were horrible. I think every school in NJ, NY, PA & CT were off that year in the 2nd week of Nov. This made the wait times even longer. The monorail service was running but at a SNAIL pace. I have gone down there many times since and haven't had a problem like we did then.

The cast members were friendly when spoken too, but didn't go out of their way to assist or to make you feel special (like they usually do). We did have several CM's at the time explain what was going on and that it was really disheartening to them. Shortly after our trip their contracts were signed and things apparently got back to normal.

I really do hope these cut backs won't cut into the magic of those who will be visiting the world. I also feel sorry for those CM's who maybe layed off or hours cut back to where they will have to seek other employment just to make ends meet.

I hope the magic remains!

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HAPPY PLANNING! &
"Remember the Magic!"
ºoº
Take Care, debe-nj

[BrerRabbit]

I've read on several other boards that this does indeed have to do with the reductions in staff and salary company-wide (trying to keep the stockholders happy), and KAG also pointed out to me the other day that attendance at the California Adventure so far hasn't been too stellar, which could also account for some of it.

Disney actually posted higher earnings for last month than they expected to, due to the success of Spy Kids and video sales of Remember the Titans. Yet I read another rumor that they also intend to move hundreds of animators out of the Sorcerer Hat building in California and put them in a warehouse across the street in an effort to scale down...

My take on all this is that its their own d*$& fault...both WDW and Disneyland have been expanding at an exponentially HUGE rate for the past 5 to 10 years. Both parks have had so much construction going on recently that I'm sure their profit margin evaporates fairly quickly; therefore, they can't weather a slowdown without cutting back on hours, salaries and employees. In my opinion, they need to SLOW DOWN!!! While I love the Animal Kingdom and Blizzard Beach and everything else that's been built in the past few years, would I still have enjoyed my Disney vacations without them? Yes, I think I would...

Yet Michael Eisner is, even now, in expansion mode...I just heard a rumor from the brother of a friend of mine who works at WDW that among other things now in the works is a Florida Adventure for WDW to mirror the California Adventure. Much as I'd like to see this, I'm afraid that it's rapidly becoming impossible to visit WDW without having the better part of a month set aside if you want to see everything...

Any thoughts?

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You can't run from trouble, Ain't no place that far.


[This message has been edited by BrerRabbit (edited 04-28-2001).]

[Kag]

I agree, there's been too much expansion. The animated hits have dried up and I think that has gone a long way toward hurting the company. A lot flows from those animated hits, all the mechandise and promotional tie-ins all the way to new rides in the parks. I think we've seen the over-marketing of the Pooh characters in the last few years because Disney didn't have any animated movie characters that were popular. They saw people liked Pooh and dove in head first.

Basically, the US economy and Disney's animated fortunes both took off during the early to mid 90's. That cycle appears to be over and things are changing.

The advent of always having a "celebration" at the parks about something is getting on my nerves too. It used to be just the anniversaries, then it was the Millenium and next up is Walt's 100th birthday celebration. While these are all certainly wonderful reasons to celebrate and I have enjoyed them, I think Disney corporate has gotten very used to the increased attendance and added revenue brought on by these 15 month festivals and will find some other excuse to "celebrate" something else after Walt's 100th is over.

I just think now would be a good time to pull back, stop building hotels and DVC villas and planning new parks/waterparks and concentrate on what already exists. Do something about Disney's Wide World of Sports and the Disney Institue. The Institue was a great idea, but who wants to take time out of their vacation to do that when Disney has built the AK, etc. Disney is competing against themselves sometimes, I think.

The prices are getting out of hand too. I think if the economy slows as it has been, Disney will rapidly reach the point where people will just say no because they can't afford it. The Disney hotel prices are clearly the worst, even worse than the admission. I can honestly say that at $40-45 a day for admission I am still getting my money's worth. But I cannot say that about spending $250-400/night at a WDW hotel, even my beloved Wilderness Lodge. There is just no value there at all.

Oh, and as long as I am ranting, one more thing: I DO NOT like the way Disney is now touting Fastpass with the tag line "...and best of all, it absolutely free!" Yeah, it better be!