Sean Faulk?

[disneysteve]

ultimately we are doing a weekly show that probably can't justify it for a thousand show run.

Thank you Craig. I really appreciate your honesty here. I’m guessing this conversation has come up behind the scenes but maybe Best and Worst shouldn’t continue to be a weekly show but rather a periodic one when there’s actually a good solid topic worth doing. The Tuesday show works because there’s always new news to report on. The dining show works because there are literally hundreds of dining locations on property and new ones popping up from time to time.
But other stuff just doesn’t change that often to provide enough material for a rating-based show every week.

 

[TinkFan74]

The only person who's on our team that's in the parks the same amount of time or more than me is Steve and now Fiasco. I don't despise Disney. I'm honest about it. If I don't think you should spend your hard earned money on a subpar experience then I'm going to be honest with you and if you choose to ignore it and look past to have the vacation that you want then that is your choice. I don't hate WDW. I hate that it's not the experience it should be and I hate that they can get away with it, because people are addicted to Disney like it's a drug.

I have been going to Disney on a regular basis since I was a child and I have been bringing my daughter annually since 2000. This was not easy as I was a single mother and money was tight, but it was our escape from reality and, like everyone else in the parks, we were made to feel special. As my level of education and income increased I was able to spend more on our vacations and eventually bought DVC points in 2011, those first two years in Deluxe resorts were amazing, but somewhere around 2014 things started to deteriorate, parks were closing earlier, cast members seemed to care less, prices began to skyrocket, rides were breaking down more and random characters roaming the parks were gone, I am now starting to feel ripped off and yearn for the good old days. I still go annually, now bringing the kids of family or friends because every kid should go at least once, but Disney World no longer excites me like it used to. I am going again in May, but I have other planned vacations that I am looking forward to more, I am going to Tokyo Disneyland in June and since hearing Pete discuss this I am giddy with anticipation. You speak for me Craig, I appreciate your honesty and believe that I can trust your opinion. I think I am going to skip a couple of years at WDW after this next trip as there is so much of the world that I want to see and my money allocated for Disney would fund those trips, but if I ever hear you say that things are getting better, I will be on the next flight to Orlando.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Very eloquently stated, @TinkFan74, and pretty much how I've felt about WDW for the last almost-7 years, and have no plans to return anytime soon, with Galaxy's Edge opening this year. Makes me extremely sad, but just how it is. Especially as my mobility issues have increased, so I can no longer quickly skirt around crowds, and I have also unfortunately found people's manners have decreased, so getting around on a scooter was challenging 6 years ago, but I could leave it and walk if I needed to, which I could not longer do, and I can't even imagine how angry and depressed I'd be all the time. That was definitely starting to be the case during my last trip, and that's part of what made me decide to stop going annually, made me too sad to be so sad and angry. Was just not my Happy Place anymore, with all the stress, and especially not at those prices.

Before I get jumped on - I will say I still vicariously enjoy everyone else's experiences here, and am so happy when they have a great experience, so love to hear about it. That's part of what keeps me here, in a "Disney" community., despite having no current experience. But again - not for me - just vicariously. Was just talking to a longtime friend and Disney travel buddy that I am sentimental and VERY grateful for all the times and memories I share with her, and others, from the parks, and will cherish the memories tightly.

 

[NYDisGuy]

Thank you Craig. I really appreciate your honesty here. I’m guessing this conversation has come up behind the scenes but maybe Best and Worst shouldn’t continue to be a weekly show but rather a periodic one when there’s actually a good solid topic worth doing. The Tuesday show works because there’s always new news to report on. The dining show works because there are literally hundreds of dining locations on property and new ones popping up from time to time.
But other stuff just doesn’t change that often to provide enough material for a rating-based show every week.

Craig is obviously alot closer to this than anyone here but if you look at the Best/Worst shows and compare them to everything besides the weekly WDW discussion it trumps them in views. I can't see them scaling that content back when it's a huge draw to the channel.

 

[disneysteve]

Craig is obviously alot closer to this than anyone here but if you look at the Best/Worst shows and compare them to everything besides the weekly WDW discussion it trumps them in views. I can't see them scaling that content back when it's a huge draw to the channel.

Good point. I have no idea what the audience size is but if it is attracting people, keep on doing it.

 

[KingLlama]

"Best and Worst DisBoards Comments About the 'Best and Worst' Shows"

 

[jcdean]

They aren't being phoned in, but there's a finite amount of topics that we can talk about before we are just repeating ourselves blindly and we hit that point a year ago. We tried with topics we thought were different and interesting, like the smells episodes, and the feedback was that we were phoning it in. We can't handle dining topics because the Disney Dining Show does that. The hotels haven't changed. The attractions have changed and we are now going to start repeating topics around them, but ultimately we are doing a weekly show that probably can't justify it for a thousand show run.

Could the show expand to "The Best and Worst of Orlando"? Cover some Universal and SeaWorld topics, compare across the parks (best water slide, worst restroom, most unfortunate place to be forced to listen to obnoxously loud K-pop while waiting for your ice cream) and venture out of the parks to discuss local nightlife, events, shopping, etc...

Also, The Dining Show generally only covers table service. There are plenty of counter service, snack and beverage topics that could be covered without duplicating content.

 

[ChrisFL]

There's another problem that's more about youtube viewership figures. For example the best and worst shows could be more elaborate and they could spend 20-30 minutes per episode, however they'll get less viewership that way, because I believe people mostly like to watch videos that are around 10 minutes or less. Danged if you do, danged if you don't

Maybe having guests from other channels might be an option? I don't know if that is just against policy to do that, but it might be cool to see people from other channels featured or interviewed?

 

[disneysteve]

I have been going to Disney on a regular basis since I was a child and I have been bringing my daughter annually since 2000. This was not easy as I was a single mother and money was tight, but it was our escape from reality and, like everyone else in the parks, we were made to feel special. As my level of education and income increased I was able to spend more on our vacations and eventually bought DVC points in 2011, those first two years in Deluxe resorts were amazing, but somewhere around 2014 things started to deteriorate, parks were closing earlier, cast members seemed to care less, prices began to skyrocket, rides were breaking down more and random characters roaming the parks were gone, I am now starting to feel ripped off and yearn for the good old days. I still go annually, now bringing the kids of family or friends because every kid should go at least once, but Disney World no longer excites me like it used to. I am going again in May, but I have other planned vacations that I am looking forward to more, I am going to Tokyo Disneyland in June and since hearing Pete discuss this I am giddy with anticipation. You speak for me Craig, I appreciate your honesty and believe that I can trust your opinion. I think I am going to skip a couple of years at WDW after this next trip as there is so much of the world that I want to see and my money allocated for Disney would fund those trips, but if I ever hear you say that things are getting better, I will be on the next flight to Orlando.

We haven't yet hit the point where we're going to stop going but I did say after our last trip in November that I actually enjoyed the time we spent outside of the parks a lot more than the time in the parks, which was kind of sad to me. The #1 thing that sucks the joy out of it for me is the crowds. We like strolling through the parks and taking our time and appreciating the details and you just can't do that anymore. Last trip was our first time seeing Toy Story Land. We entered the land, pushed our way through the hoard of people to look at each new spot, turned around, and walked out. As we left the land, my wife said, "Well that's something I never need to do again."

I really don't know what Disney can do about that short of capping attendance and selling dated tickets which won't ever happen. Raising prices over and over clearly hasn't done anything to deter guests from coming as it's busier than ever. They have made the APs much less attractive so that might help a little. We aren't renewing this year as they've priced us out finally.

We also aren't planners. We don't book ADRs and FPs in advance. That's not how we like to travel. So the growing need to pre-plan every moment of every day months in advance is a turn off too.

Sorry to go so far off topic. We were talking about Sean I think. I hope he's doing great with Dreams.

 

[disneysteve]

"Best and Worst DisBoards Comments About the 'Best and Worst' Shows"

And also "Best and Worst of our Best and Worst shows"

 

[TheMaxRebo]

And also "Best and Worst of our Best and Worst shows"

That actually could be a fun and sort of meta one-off episode

Or now that they have some new members, like Fiasco, maybe revisit topics from when the show first started and see if what they thought was the Best back then, is still the Best, etc.

 

[disneysteve]

Or now that they have some new members, like Fiasco, maybe revisit topics from when the show first started and see if what they thought was the Best back then, is still the Best, etc.

The show is entirely subjective, so repeating topics with different people would likely yield different results.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The show is entirely subjective, so repeating topics with different people would likely yield different results.

yeah, guess I meant, maybe the new people could chime in with their thoughts and those still there (Ryno, etc.) could add in if their views have changed

 

[disneysteve]

yeah, guess I meant, maybe the new people could chime in with their thoughts and those still there (Ryno, etc.) could add in if their views have changed

That too.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

My biggest problem with Craig, John, Craig, Kevin, Craig, Pete and Craig is that they come across as hating WDW. Not "There's room for improvement." Not "It's nice, but it used to be better." I mean "Walt Disney World and everyone besides us who goes there is complete trash and I'd rather be shot than spend another day at the parks." They legit make me wonder why they continue to do this for a living, because they seem to despise it. Watching them is really making me worry whether things have changed so much in the 4 years since my last trip that I should've spent my $2200 on something else instead of Dinsey World.

Now that you brought my name into I feel I must respond.

What you've posted is a complete and total mischaracterization of who we are and what occurs on the shows. We share our honest opinions of what we experience both now and in the past. We have always done that and will continue to do so for as long as we can, probably long after everyone stops watching and listening knowing us

No one has every said "Walt Disney World and everyone besides us who goes there is complete trash and I'd rather be shot than spend another day at the parks." That is something you're hearing through your own filter.

To extrapolate on your comment on 'why would we do it because we despise it' I could say the same to you - why do you continue to watch/listen to our podcast if you despise us? See what it's like to have someone who knows nothing about you make broad assumptions.

I think you are hearing what you want and interpreting it your own way.

 

[ChrisFL]

Agreed, it's possible to love what WDW and Disney as a whole stands for, and it's also important to call Disney out on things that we disagree with.

WDW is interesting and probably moreso than the other resorts, there always seems to be a mixture of things that are brilliant, and things that are head-shaking decisions....BUT it does keep the resort interesting for those of us who follow and watch the weekly shows.

Having everything perfect all the time might be boring

 

[disneysteve]

there always seems to be a mixture of things that are brilliant, and things that are head-shaking decisions.

A friend and former CM just got back from WDW. One story she shared was going to one of the pretty popular bars onsite one night. The CM making the drinks was NOT a bartender. He had no clue what he was doing and freely admitted it. His drinks were terrible. Why anybody at Disney thought it was a good idea to put him there that night just because maybe they were short a bartender is one of those head-shaking decisions. And it's just something that never would have happened years ago. Disney used to care about customer service and good show and time after time, they just don't seem to anymore.

 

[ChrisFL]

A friend and former CM just got back from WDW. One story she shared was going to one of the pretty popular bars onsite one night. The CM making the drinks was NOT a bartender. He had no clue what he was doing and freely admitted it. His drinks were terrible. Why anybody at Disney thought it was a good idea to put him there that night just because maybe they were short a bartender is one of those head-shaking decisions. And it's just something that never would have happened years ago. Disney used to care about customer service and good show and time after time, they just don't seem to anymore.

is it 55,000 or 60,000 employees that WDW has on property....an astounding amount...things are bound to happen sometimes with that many. I know some younger CM's who are still 100% in the Disney spirit of things and try to bring the magic to everyone they encounter....as long as they still have faith, so do I

 

[disneysteve]

things are bound to happen sometimes with that many

Sure, but you can't deny that there are far more issues today than there used to be. Part of the problem is the crowds. Part of the problem is Disney shortened CM training years ago. Part of the problem is the growth of the college program. Part of the problem is the internet and cell phones. Part of the problem is guests have changed and are less well behaved and more demanding. I've been going since the 70s and the level of service and attention to detail today is a fraction of what it used to be. I still go regularly and still enjoy it but it definitely isn't the same as it once was.

 

[Spencer Wright]

.....Sorry to go so far off topic. We were talking about Sean I think. I hope he's doing great with Dreams.

Yes! I imagine with different discounts and SWGE opening earlier than anticipated its an exciting but exhausting time to be in the biz!