Interview with Chairman Disney Parks, Experiences and Products - Your thoughts?

[dwg]

The link below is to an interesting article from 5/8/22 that is geared toward investors regarding all the improvements to the Disney Parks that have been made recently as well as upcoming improvements.

A couple of points in the article:

• Upgraded experiences
• Consumers spend more using mobile app to make purchases instead of credit cards
• Genie is described as a kind of digital concierge that creates a custom itinerary for guests
• For $15 a day per ticket Genie+/Lightning Lane allows visitors to bypass the main line
• The adoption rates of Genie+/Lightning Lane has exceeded expectations.

My take from the article is that love it or hate it, the recent changes are not going away anytime soon.

Link to article:
https://cnb.cx/3kQGi9L

 

[Marionnette]

The link below is to an interesting article from 5/8/22 that is geared toward investors regarding all the improvements to the Disney Parks that have been made recently as well as upcoming improvements.

A couple of points in the article:

• Upgraded experiences
• Consumers spend more using mobile app to make purchases instead of credit cards
• Genie is described as a kind of digital concierge that creates a custom itinerary for guests
• For $15 a day per ticket Genie+/Lightning Lane allows visitors to bypass the main line
• The adoption rates of Genie+/Lightning Lane has exceeded expectations.

My take from the article is that love it or hate it, the recent changes are not going away anytime soon.

Link to article:
https://cnb.cx/3kQGi9L

Sounds like a lot of spin, especially when you start by labeling all of the changes as "improvements".

 

[OKW Lover]

My take from the article is that love it or hate it, the recent changes are not going away anytime soon.

Agree. They seem to be fully committed to their current path.

 

[k5xs]

The link below is to an interesting article from 5/8/22 that is geared toward investors regarding all the improvements to the Disney Parks that have been made recently as well as upcoming improvements.

A couple of points in the article:

• Upgraded experiences
• Consumers spend more using mobile app to make purchases instead of credit cards
• Genie is described as a kind of digital concierge that creates a custom itinerary for guests
• For $15 a day per ticket Genie+/Lightning Lane allows visitors to bypass the main line
• The adoption rates of Genie+/Lightning Lane has exceeded expectations.

My take from the article is that love it or hate it, the recent changes are not going away anytime soon.

Link to article:
https://cnb.cx/3kQGi9L

The article was interesting. Thanks for posting it.

I think missing from it is any mention of the perceived or real downsides to so many of the technological changes, much less how glitchy Disney IT has been. Guests are now essentially forced to live with noses in phones. ILL reservations demand that guests be up at 6:55am if they have any hope of getting on a popular attraction. And while it gives brief mention to the fact that FP+ has been replaced with "a paid version," I think the reporter misses how disappointing that is to many.

I did enjoy this line, LOL: "Already, Epcot has expanded its French pavilion to include Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, a trackless ride that takes guests through a Pixar version of France." WE love RRA, but hardly consider it "a Pixar version of France."

 

[dwg]

Sounds like a lot of spin, especially when you start by labeling all of the changes as "improvements".

Yes, That was my take. I would have thought that someone from Disney reads all the comments on these boards considering how valuable the feedback is or they are just trying to paint a rosy picture for the investors. which makes you wonder how much they really think about the customers that are visiting the parks. I know of a couple of people who recently visited the parks and will not go back. They gave their DVC membership to their adult children.

 

[Ermise]

I love this "key point" from the top of the article: "Tech innovations have made the theme park experience and operations smoother for guests and cast members."
I can't speak for cast members, but I know a lot of guests that might disagree!

 

[dagored]

I go every couple of weeks. If it’s such a success, why do I see the standby lines so long?? Why are so many people in line?

 

[_19disnA]

The article sounds like a lot of PR-speak you might expect from most corporate executives........"Everything is wonderful/amazing and we expect revenue to keep growing"................or something like that. Seems his comments would have had more credibility if he also addressed some of the problems and what's being done to resolve them. The person doing the interview didn't seem particularly prepared to ask about any of the issues that are common knowledge of anyone who goes to Disney.

For the size of company Disney is, their IT is a complete disaster. Hopefully, the top-level people have some knowledge of that. Parks are over-crowded and ride lines too long. When they opened that new Star Wars ride it was sold out daily within a few minutes of the park opening. How they could have planned so poorly for the necessary capacity baffles me. Will any of the rides soon to open be any better?

 

[hildarumpole]

I love this "key point" from the top of the article: "Tech innovations have made the theme park experience and operations smoother for guests and cast members."
I can't speak for cast members, but I know a lot of guests that might disagree!

Has he recently or ever experienced the parks like a normal person? As a guest last week the MDE app was the most frustrating part of the trip. It did not function well, plus it's clunky and cluttered. Front desk at the resort contacted Tech Support for me when the app kept crashing while trying to mobile order, which was the only was to get food from the food court at that time. They fixed the mobile order part, but then I could no longer see My Plans, Bus Times or ADR mobile check-in, which worked previously. The Tip Board is useless and defaults to MK no matter where you are. We didn't even bother with Genie+. The potential glitches for a paid service was not worth the hassle on vacation. Every cast member I talked with agreed the app sucks. We decided to use TP to generate a plan for each park and check wait times. It worked like a charm. Simple to use, no random crashes, glitches or weak connection issues.

 

[NickC]

I really hope it is just 'spin' and PR talk. Otherwise, that would mean that they really believe the new changes are better, won't address the issues, and, even worse, continue to implement more "improvements." We usually start planning our next trip the day we get home, but we got back last month and haven't bothered to discuss returning.
There were a lot of high points of the trip, and we still had a great time, but it was a completely different experience.

 

[4Ds4Diz]

I love this "key point" from the top of the article: "Tech innovations have made the theme park experience and operations smoother for guests and cast members."
I can't speak for cast members, but I know a lot of guests that might disagree!

I know during our trip a month ago, the cast members found much of the new tech to be a major headache. You just had to start the conversation and they let you know!

 

[_19disnA]

Has he recently or ever experienced the parks like a normal person?

My guess is probably not. Too many top executives of large companies are so insulated from reality they have no idea what is actually going on. Lower level people tend to filter out any bad news and only pass good news up the ladder. I seriously doubt the head of Disney IT would admit what a disaster his department has been. Would be a good idea if the top people would just dress like normal park visitors and periodically go to the parks to see what it is actually like for themselves without all of the filtering from their handler people.

 

[gharter]

My take from the article is that love it or hate it, the recent changes are not going away anytime soon.

Absolutely. They are making more money by people paying for less than what used to be free. And more people are using it then expected.
There is no reason for them to change.

I would have thought that someone from Disney reads all the comments on these boards

You need to remember, the people on this board are a very small fraction of the people who go to Disney (any park). We may be more informed and vocal.
There are still a large number of people who go not realizing you should plan ahead if there are things you really want to do.

 

[4Ds4Diz]

Absolutely. They are making more money by people paying for less than what used to be free. And more people are using it then expected.
There is no reason for them to change.


You need to remember, the people on this board are a very small fraction of the people who go to Disney (any park). We may be more informed and vocal.
There are still a large number of people who go not realizing you should plan ahead if there are things you really want to do.

Time will tell. I was talking to some one the other day. She is taking her family next month. Booked through a travel agent it seemed. I told her we just came back. She asked me how I liked using Genie +. I told her I didn't use it, only 1 park this trip. She wanted to know because she has heard very mixed reviews. So you have some going that hasnt been in 30 years, since she was a little kid and she already hears its not great. The word might be getting out.

 

[gharter]

Time will tell. I was talking to some one the other day. She is taking her family next month. Booked through a travel agent it seemed. I told her we just came back. She asked me how I liked using Genie +. I told her I didn't use it, only 1 park this trip. She wanted to know because she has heard very mixed reviews. So you have some going that hasnt been in 30 years, since she was a little kid and she already hears its not great. The word might be getting out.

It will be interesting as more return guests come back since Genie+ was released.
When it rolled out, there were mixed reviews and yet sales "exceeded expectations" (whatever that level was).
I still question how many are really using it as the standby lines have still been really long when we were there.