NEW Carpool Poll (Feb 2002)

[raidermatt]

Its been over 7 months since gcurling posted the car pool poll that is at the top of this board. A lot has happened since then, both within and outside of Disney. If you all don't mind, I'd like to start a new poll with the same options to see if there has been a shift in the overall mood one way or the other.

No need to find new drivers, unless of course someone is in need of a break...

Remember, in keeping with the original post, this poll is for WDW ONLY. Now, if you feel that other areas of the company, such as animation, are making your stay at WDW either more or less enjoyable, it would make sense to factor that in.

Thanks...

 

[d-r]

I voted for var #2, because to be honest i have been dissapointed in a couple of things. But I also have seen a lot of examples of the magic being there, so I remain optimisitc.

dR

 

[Eeyore2U]

I was in Car #1 before and I still sit there now. Unless my trip in 10 days is horrific I dopn't see me changing my vehicle.

 

[DC7800]

I voted car #3, but I'm torn between Car Two and Car Three. The magic in so many respects is indeed in serious jeopardy, but that situation can be turned around. The magic is not going anywhere - it just desperately needs to be reawakened. I don't expect that to happen under current circumstances, however. Hence, I'm divided.

 

[CM Tinkerbell]

Well, I was previously in car number 1, but I have to admit that the demise of Early Entry has pushed me down to car number two. Also, the "optimism" is fading a bit. But still not enough to put me in car number 3. I still can't wait to go back!

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

ALL ABOARD!!! ALL ABOARD!!!

CAR #3 LEAVING THE STATION - LAST CALL

ALL ABOARD!!!!

 

[Planogirl]

Are you driving LandBaron? I would LOVE to ride in car #2 but I'm way too jittery about the way things are going lately. I keep hearing "bumper cars...bumper cars...bumper cars..." I also keep thinking about Mike sitting back and reaping the profits from the things done in the past. Then there's Pop Century...

Sigh.... I'll sit quietly in the back of car #3 and try to convince myself to switch to car #2.

 

[dragonflymanor]

For car #2, but alas, I find myself going for the bronze. That's right, I'm in #3.

Disappointed? You bet.

Here's why it's #3 for me:

Eisner's comment about sitting back and reaping the rewards of the past investments.

That's what it took to push me over the edge. #2 was a great car to be in while I felt that there was still going to be a chance that the cutting edge Disney, the imaginative Disney, the "if you aren't moving forward your moving backward" Disney, the Disney hunger, might still be there.

That's gone.

Now it's the play it safe Disney, the do the minimum Disney, the follower Disney. You see, I don't mind the idea that the goal of Disney is to separate as much of my money from my pockets as possible in as many ways as possible. They can only take what I give. Last time they turned me upside down and shook me, I was the one asking for the reservation. My love for Disney lies in the way they do things and the way that they were always looking for something better. Good enough seemed to be a failure, "Great" was always the goal. Now, good enough is all they seem to shoot for.

It seems to me that the Disney Decade was something that was necessary for the survival of the company. They had to expand in order to avoid getting swallowed up by a larger fish. So it seems a bit disingenuous to then say they were planning all along on sitting back on their butts while everyone threw money at there feet for the following 10 years.

Nope, at least as the parks are concerned, Disney's forgotten what got them there. Pushing more and more Pooh, (and more and more poo!) just isn't going to get the results. I again put it out there that the lack of initial success of Disneyland Paris switched Eisner from a visionary to an investment chicken. For those who look at the Infoseek purchase as an example to the contrary, I would say that buying a dot-com when buying dot-com's was cool isn't stepping out on a limb. But that's not the issue.

So, here I find myself in car #3, but it's not a bad thing. I'll share more when the time is right.

 

[DisDuck]

Hi folks,

Am I the new driver for car #1? Going the last week of June with nephew and 2 nieces. Will see if the kids are stilled 'wowed'. If so, then that is all that matters.

 

[Captain Crook]

Duck, you can drive if you'd like, I believe I've had too much grog with my excellent meal at Flying Fish and need a lift to my wonderful Savannah view room at the AKL and am a little tired from all the fun my family and I have had at the Parks!

I didn't see one CM stealing money from guests, didn't see Eisner, Pressler, Boris Badinoff or Snidley Whiplash planning any evil trickery nor did I see burned out lightbulbs, trash or dirty restooms. Oddly though, I did see many families enjoying themselves on all of the attractions, including Aladdin's Magic Carpet and Tricertops Spin...I wanted to scream at them "hey!!! don't you know this is just a crummy, cheap off the shelf, six flaggs quality ride that Michael Eisner has you fooled into thinking is a Disney ride..." But alas, most of them wouldn't even know Michael Eisner & they were all having fun, so really what is the point???

Car #1.


PS. While like most of my brothers and sisters in Car #1, I am not 100% behind some of the rumors, management decisions and 'what ifs?' that abound, but as of yet the Parks (at least WDW) are still pure, unadulterated fun...I'm with brother scoop in the opinion that 'Space', while not only the final frontier, also carries a very, very large piece of WDW future's puzzle.

 

[All Aboard]

Matt, I updated the poll to include a car between 2 & 3. It got lost down the stack sometime ago. I think alot of folks voted for that car that was labeled "the Magic has faded, and I'm concerned about it's return." Seems #2 was overly optimistic and #3 was overly pessimistic for many.

In any event, I'll put myself in car number 2 1/4. "The Magic has faded, I'm very concerned about recent management decisions. I fear that reduced operating hours (like precedent has shown) are permanent. I am angry over the loss of EE, am disappointed that overseas locations are getting far better new parks than we are here in the US and am upset by the bad show created by shutting down CoP during Walt's celebration. But, I am given hope by the description of PhilharMagic, the response to the JIYI troubles, and the prospects for Beastly Kingdom."

 

[Lesley]

Car 3...there is still a lot of good...a lot of magic at WDW...but the current management seems determined to slowly strip that away. I didn't see any broken lightbulbs or trash...but a lot of cm's who seemed less than thrilled to be there. The excellent cm's have become more the exception than the rule (though still better than anywhere else, I'll admit)

I still want to be in car 1, but can't ignore what's been happening....

 

[Captain Crook]

gcurling, I don't believe it! I know you miss EE but I can't believe you're having less than magical visits at the Parks. We'll hash this out at the meet (or maybe sooner )...

Lesley, I can't believe you've found less than stirling CM's. I encounter what I would call great CM's 40% of the time, good CM's 50%, average 10% and poor in a miniscule range not even totalling 1%...Where do you encounter such poor castmembering??? Note: I'm not including bus drivers in my CM percentages. I think the # of disgruntled drivers out number the grunted ones, so to speak!

 

[Lesley]

The cm's seem to be divided by what jobs they do...

Most of the great ones are waiting tables at sit down restaurants....some of the others are in areas like bell services, or ride operators.

Most of the "less than Disney" cm's I encountered were in the stores and in counter service restaurants...and I saw quite a bit of the kind of stuff that's common out here in the "real world".... making private jokes to one another while ignoring guests, just simply saying "I don't know" to a question and making no effort to help find the answer, acting like guests are being a pain just by wanting them to do their job or by <gasp> actually trying to engage in polite conversation, or they just plain had no clue how to do their job. I overheard several conversations of complaints about how management has been handling things since the cutbacks....I blame management for this, yet its not really "good show" to be discussing it in front of guests either. And I'm quite sure it has nothing to do with my own approach.... I love being at WDW and generally walk around with a smile on my face and a friendly "hello" and approach to all cm's (because I think it helps them stay upbeat...I know friendly faces always made things better for me when I worked in service jobs!) I wasn't looking for problems. And there were only a few who were really terrible.....but I'd say about half of the cm's we encountered were not as "Disney" as they used to be.

Of course I encountered good and bad in all areas...this is just a generalization. There is a huge difference from when we visited in the early 90's and I could only remember one cm who was less than enthusiastic and friendly...and even that cm wasn't really "bad" just not as great as the others.

And Captain Crook...I do find 50% unacceptable. It used to be that at least 90% could be defined as "good". I'd say 10% excelllent, 15% very good, 25% good, 20% average, 20% less than average and 10% poor. Average is less than the former Disney standard. And some more "gruntled" bus drivers would be nice too! We had some interesting ones this trip....a speed demon and one who almost took out one of the gate thingies and ran over several curbs!

The reason I'm in car 3 is that there is way too much encroachment of the real world upon the magic...there was a higher standard in the past that has not been upheld in a long time.

I won't even go into all the maintenance that was being done in broad daylight, in full view of guests...didn't there used to be a rule about that?

 

[larworth]

Recent events have not changed my outlook, either way.

While I question the business acumen behind some of the cuts, the post 9-11 environment was so dramatic a change, I expected them to batten down the hatches. Eisner’s profit taking comment didn’t upset me, because of the context. They are coming off a big investment hump in new parks and they should expect them to start generating some return.

However, I’ve also not seen anything that makes me any more optimistic. As dragonflymanor put it “good enough” still seems like the current mantra. The one thing I am a little more worried about is an even greater need to "rob peter to pay paul". ABC is losing money, the studios are stuck at break-even, the Disney stores are in direction limbo, and we have these licensing storm clouds on the horizon. A very condusive environment for them to invest long-term into the parks, hey.

I’m still stuck in car 2 1/2. Plenty of magic still there. Past actions and current thinking has me very worried about the future. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Unfortunately there has been an overall drop in the quality of our College Program cast members. For the last 4 seasons they have gotten worse each time. I am quite disgruntled with my own generations attitudes and outlooks on life and career choices. The most common places to find these cast members are in merchandise and quick service. However we constantly strive to "shape them up" so don't hold their behavior against the rest of us. BTW as a note our last group of CPs (college program) included five students, during the course of their program two of them got terminated, one quit, and one was a non Disney quality CM. We had only one excellent (read normal in disney speak) CM in the group.

 

[Lesley]

Perhaps the college program needs to scale back and be more selective. And maybe they need a "seniors" program. I can see it now...recruiting visits to senior centers and retirement homes. It might be quite successful.

 

[All Aboard]

I can't believe you're having less than magical visits at the Parks.

Now you've gone an added a word. Take out the word "than" and the statement is true. My experiences are still very Magical. Just somewhat less Magical.

 

[Captain Crook]

Oh Greg, you know I can't take out that word!

 

[raidermatt]

Car #1 here...

Admittedly, I have only been to WDW once, for one week in 9/00, but I was fortunate enough to go to DL several times as a child, teen and young adult, so I think I have a pretty good "Magic base" to compare WDW too.

Like some of the other occupants of #1, I have some concerns about some of the rumors and info floating around. And while I understand and agree with the reasoning behind the cuts in hours, I expect to see hours lengthened when attendance returns. But, until some of these negative things come to fruition, I am firmly strapped into car #1.

We are heading to the World for 2 weeks in May/June, and I fully expect to reaffirm my car #1 status at that time.