Budget cuts at Walt Disney World

[rteetz]

The bathrooms were cut? That one surprises me the most.

I know but probably an easy thing to shave off to save a few bucks without sacrificing the attractions more.

 

[Planogirl]

I know but probably an easy thing to shave off to save a few bucks without sacrificing the attractions more.

I can't help thinking about all of those little kids and their constant need to go to the bathroom though. Besides it sounds like the primary attraction is sacrificing an awful lot too.

 

[rteetz]

I can't thinking about all of those little kids and their constant need to go to the bathroom though. Besides it sounds like the primary attraction is sacrificing an awful lot too.

Yep. This is going to be interesting to see play out. Hopefully nothing more is cut.

 

[Eoghann]

I can't help thinking about all of those little kids and their constant need to go to the bathroom though. Besides it sounds like the primary attraction is sacrificing an awful lot too.

It's a stupid thing to skimp on. They don't need to be million dollar Tangled style restrooms, but kids need to pee!

 

[Planogirl]

It's a stupid thing to skimp on. They don't need to be million dollar Tangled style restrooms, but kids need to pee!

Almost constantly. Plus if the crowds increase because of the new area that only gets worse. Yes, stupid indeed.

 

[mom2rtk]

The bathrooms were cut? That one surprises me the most.

.......... especially in a new land geared toward little kids. That's just nuts.

This really is getting dire.

 

[Josh Hendy]

This isn't trimming fat or luxury extras off the projects either. DHS costs every cent as much as the MK to visit but has only a very small handful of attractions ... maybe 1/4 of the rides and shows of MK. Any cutbacks that they make to their "big expansion" are going to be held up to a very harsh light by bloggers, dedicated fans, industry commentators, financial analysts and the media in general.

If rteetz's latest info is right ... this is a company that doesn't know what it has, where it's been or where it's going.

 

[Eoghann]

This isn't trimming fat or luxury extras off the projects either. DHS costs every cent as much as the MK to visit but has only a very small handful of attractions ... maybe 1/4 of the rides and shows of MK. Any cutbacks that they make to their "big expansion" are going to be held up to a very harsh light by bloggers, dedicated fans, industry commentators, financial analysts and the media in general.

If rteetz's latest info is right ... this is a company that doesn't know what it has, where it's been or where it's going.

So the speculation over on WDW Magic is that this is fallout from WDI going consistently over budget both in Shanghai but also on Animal Kingdom. That the pricing on Toy Story was considered ridiculous and when the new guy was put in charge he was told to get it under control. Unfortunately it seems that instead of fixing their budget problems by actually cutting costs they took the easy route and just cut stuff.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Maybe WDI has been sucked into believing "official inflation" when they're budgeting for cost increases over multi-year projects. Just like everyone else who is seeing their paycheck's and savings' spending power slaughtered every year, while being constantly told, "inflation is under control".

Just my $0.01 cents worth (after adjusting for real inflation)

 

[Madteaparty001]

I was really hoping they would avoid the lipstick on a pig route, cutting bathrooms, I mean really? I love the new tangled bathrooms, not because of themeing or location, but because they were big enough that I could get my kid and myself into the same stall and still have room to turn around. The older bathrooms are horrible for taking small kids in with you, just so small.

 

[manning]

It's a stupid thing to skimp on. They don't need to be million dollar Tangled style restrooms, but kids need to pee!

Heck I'm old and need to pee.

 

[Ellwood970]

i can see them start to sell land off in the future.

 

[ChipnDale79]

The bathrooms from TSL were cut. The slinky dog coaster was significantly changed. No more big lift hill, two launches instead of one, trenches with theming gone. Phase 3 is not looking good based on this. You can never have much faith in Disney unfortunately.

This is the crap i'm tired of, i think all of us knew that when Disney announced all of this stuff, there was no way it was going to be built the way it was. You raise my prices, charge me the same to go into DHS, and because you've under budgeted the funds and have screwed up in another park, you cut the budget for the new expansion. Screw that.

They have to be over the top on Star Wars, if they cut the budget there, people will be able to tell and will be highly upset. They simply CAN NOT get it wrong.

Heads need to roll for what they have allowed DHS to become. Fix it, and fix it right.

 

[LSLS]

This should really upset me, but honestly I can't stop laughing. They are cutting bathrooms? That's not really a luxury, is it? I'm hoping they just mean the toy story theme from the bathroom, and not the whole bathroom. If it's the whole bathroom, they have officially lost all touch with anything to do with a guest experience.

Cutting the ride, as was mentioned in other threads, Universal is upping their game on themed areas/rides, so it could be a huge mistake if Disney feels they can start cutting. The details are the single biggest reason we choose Disney over Universal.

 

[TwoMisfits]

So, can Universal build well, build in budget, and build in deadlines b/c they do NOT slowroll and/or cut every CapEx investment, so companies looking to do the build work know they will get to perform all the work in a set time and make all their profit without worries of stop work orders, cut work orders, etc? IE - is Universal's last 10 years of building so good (and yet not bankrupting their budgets) b/c they commit to the building and so the best builders flock to them?

And after all the price increases of the last 3 months, I find it laughable if Disney is actually cutting Toy Story Land stuff in a park in which they've already closed 30% of their attractions in 18 months...they really are gonna kill the golden goose at some point...

 

[rteetz]

i can see them start to sell land off in the future.

Disney is constantly buying and selling land.

 

[PlutoPony]

This is the crap i'm tired of, i think all of us knew that when Disney announced all of this stuff, there was no way it was going to be built the way it was.

Lurker chiming in.... the key question imho is how solid were the original budgets for these projects? Were they adequately scoped (and a company like Disney should be able to do that with their eyes closed) or did they rush to put a budget together anticipating they could adjust upward on the fly? Any chance they threw a bunch of contingency / extras in there knowing that down the road they'd have to cut? Or - my worst fear - were they closer to bare bones budget from the outset? It does seem clear that project management was lacking which surprises me, especially given the LONG timelines Disney uses for construction - especially when compared to other companies (Universal obviously comes to mind). This whole thing reads like a company that was gobsmacked by cost overruns and is rushing to adjust.... and well managed projects/companies don't have surprises like this.

 

[jtwibih]

Or it also seems like a bunch of people throwing poorly planned ideas together in an attempt to show they are doing something to please the fans. I have zero faith in the current decision makers' abilities to truly understand how the Disney theme park experience is supposed to play out. The Frozen pavilion in World Showcase as well as Avatar both seem to fit that line of thinking. I bet Avatarland will be stunning but I still don't like the fit and didn't give a **** about the movie.

 

[umichigan10]

I'm so sick of having to compensate for overseas parks sucking. Shanghai's overrun with costs? Oh well you gross billions of dollars a year I think you can handle it. This is why although I understand why he did it the biggest mistake Walt Disney made was making his company public

 

[adam.adbe]

OK, are we actually sure they're cutting the bathrooms? I read that and think "ok, so no Tangled style party bathrooms." I find it unlikely that, unless there are underused bathrooms extremely close by[1], Disney would decide to forgo building a necessary restroom.

[1] I hate DHS, so my knowledge of the parks' geography is zero.