We were on the first revised Australia trip this summer (almost done with a trip report - just fighting photos right now) and we had an ABD exec along for the entire trip. She is one of the trip planners, designers. She did politely ask that we not quote her. She had been involved in the "refreshing" of the Australia trip. She took part in everything (and helped out when needed) so that she could see the trip and our interactions from our point of view. Whoops, sorry, she never called them trips. They are "experiences."
She advised that their problem with Tasmania was that it was just too cold during our summertime (their wintertime) for lots of activities, and flights were a huge problem. The same applies to New Zealand, as does group hotels and transport unless you just spend a lot of time on a bus. New Zealand's South Island is where the cool stuff is, but they get unpredictable and enormous amounts of snow in July...but she said there is still interest there. On Japan, she agreed there has been a lot of longstanding interest and that they are working on it. While Japan is not on our family's list, I have heard on the boards of an unrelenting interest, and she agreed and said to tell folks (not a quote) to be patient and expect to be surprised. She did not say it, but it sounded like they are also looking at some more flexible versions of trips, perhaps deliberately smaller. You may remember before the Great Recession they had some trips that were premium over the usual experience. They appear to continue to explore options. She repeatedly said that insiders should be patient...there is more to come. From the sense we got from her throughout the event, they appear to really want to steer these to "experiences" that are unique, available regardless of the weather (at least as to our summer season), and that provide a balance for families as well as adults. They really do work to honor the original Disney philosophy of giving a family an experience. So while a lot of adults only trips are out there, they still are based upon the family theme. At least that was the general impression we were left with in talking to her.
She indicated the increased "free time" on our Australia experience was a direct result of input from people, as was the creation of the Iceland experience. So yes, they are listening and do care and listen to what people say.
She gave insight to their trip process. The trip must be able to tell a unique story, and they try to weave this into the foundation of the entire trip. She would not say it was themed, but that each trip has a storyline and the little details are what they use to try to pull it together. She was fascinating listening to her talk about how they build these things, to rule out as much as possible things going awry, and how they balance what they see a group engaging in versus what one or two people who happen to be vocal have to say. The organization appears very deliberative in every aspect of the experience, as I guess we all knew, but tend to take for granted.
As she has been at this for some time, I had to ask her what her favorite trips were. She said without hesitation it would be the new Iceland trip, the revised Australia trip and she was "enraptured" with Norway as her absolute favorite. That trip, she said, was where they were able to work logistics where it should not be possible. After listening to her, I expect (if the DW agrees) that next year that will be the experience we choose.