Hollywood Reporter: 'Worst is over' at Disney World

[Mop]

'Worst is over' at Disney World

Thanks,
Mop

 

[kozmo]

That is great news!Do you think they will have call backs and new hires?

 

[All Aboard]

Sounds great, so now we can expect:

1. Early Entry to return
2. Future World to return to 9 - 9 operating hours
3. World Showcase to open at 11
4. Animal Kingdom to open at 8
5. Port Orleans / Dixie Landings to reopen
6. The Downtown Disney boat to return to action
7. Beauty and the Beast to return to 7 days a week
8. Hunchback of Notre Dame to return to 7 days a week
9. Flights of Wonder to return to 7 days a week
10. Pocahontas and Friends to return to 7 days a week
11. The return of Alpine Trio
12. The return of Houzali
13. The return of Pipes of Scotland & Nova Scotia
14. The reopening of the Carousel of Progress
15. The reopening of Flame Tree Barbeque
16. Breakfast at Tony's

This is great news. Now that WDW is back on it's feet, let's see if all these changes will take place. Just like all those DIS'ers said whenever they flamed anyone that was complaining about cutbacks.

 

[pnelson]

Dont' forget my favorite meal:

17. Breakfast at Garden Grille.

 

[YoHo]

Actualy, I garuntee you won't see all of those returning. At least not right away (I can't quite tell how tongue and Cheek you were being) Since it would seem that some of those closures (I'm thinking Po-FQ specifically) seem to have been done for different reasons. Or CoP which we have been told repeatedly by Safari Steve and the like does not meet satisfactory attendence numbers.

 

[d-r]

I'd like a Sunday brunch at Spoodles please. I'll settle for breakfast at Bonfamille's.

Seriously, I think that you will see hours expand and restaurants reopen as traffic increases.

DR

 

[d-r]

from the article:

"Other highlights of the event were ... new attractions at the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Disney's Animal Kingdom."

Hey, did they get a new dumbo ride in Epcot too?

 

[Safari Steve]

Pipes of Nova Scotia haven't gone anywhere, as far as I know. And large corporations take a while to rebound completely. Recent increases, (which at this point is still very temporary and still not fully back to normal) have a long way to go before they reach the other end of the pipeline. We're still feeling the effects of the downturn that started last year. To assume that increased theme park attendance at a time that traditionally sees increased attendance spells the end of an industry wide downturn at a property that depends on many different business units (not just parks, but recreation, dining, shopping, and lodging) is, IMHO, very short-sighted.
If the increase continues, I do believe we will see many of the temporary displacements end, but I wouldn't expect them all back tomorrow. That's like having one gaining day in the stock market after a tremendous drop and expecting the dividend checks to start arriving in the afternoon post.

As far as new hires are concerned, we just filled 744 positions, but most of those were from a waiting list of potential CMs who had been interviewed just prior to or within the first couple of weeks of the freeze. When the freeze will be totally lifted is anyone's guess.

 

[All Aboard]

Steve, clearly you don't think that I believe (or would expect) that these cuts would immediately return on the first good news heard about attendance. YoHo recognized the tounge-in-cheek nature of my post. It was aimed primarily at the business saavy individuals on the Community Board that couldn't believe that anyone would criticize WDW for making so many cuts.

It was my contention from the start that WDW had overshot the mark with the cuts. At a time when they needed to ENcourage visitors to make the trip, they were doing things to DIScourage them. But, I guess I was wrong. Despite the cuts, attendance now seems to be rebounding quite nicely.

If that's the case, what message does it send to management? I've been in on enough high level budget meetings to know how that goes. They point to the trend in attendance and take a look at the expense performance. Those cuts go to the bottom line in the proforma without any adverse impact on projected revenue.

In this business climate, cuts have a way of making themselves rather permanent. Not all of them, but many of them.

 

[Safari Steve]

and, as usual, I was making my statements for the benefit of those who may not have seen the sarcasm (I generally assume that there's at least a little in each of your posts )
I'm sure you've noticed for quite some time that I tend to give as much factual information as I can just to make things clear for everyone (sometimes 'turning the coin over'). I can, from time to time, be as sarcastic as anyone else (something I'm sure that others can attest to), and I think I can tell the difference in the posts of other DISers (for the most part). Please don't surmise that I'm being stupid when I very well could be being Steve.

(some of you may be asking 'What's the difference?'.... well, I feel that way sometimes too.)

 

[pnelson]

I agree, Gcurling. If they see they can do well despite all the cuts they have made, they really have no incentive to bring them back. The thing with cuts-they are very subjective. Early morning didn't bother me, but other cuts did. Once they realize they can do well and survive without the things they have cut, they really don't have any reason to bring them back.

 

[All Aboard]

Please don't surmise that I surmised that you were being stupid. Or something like that. Am I really that sarcastic in general? Compared to some on this board...hmm..hrrmm..Pirate...hmmph I would grade out as being fairly straightforward.

btw, pnelson... precisely.

 

[airlarry!]

Two quick notes:

1. I can't believe COP is going to be open and I will miss it. It is the one show that on every recent trip, I kept saying, we'll catch it next time, and I was bummed that my kids would never see it. Hmm...time to start thinking about a quick trip....

2. I also can't believe that Pocahantas & Friends would be on the list of "WhyDidTheyCutThisOutI'mCancellingMyTrip!" My wife called it an inane waste of time, especially compared to the Lion King show right next door. 'Course it reminds me of the early poster who I thought was 100% correct when they intimated that one man's chagrin at a closing is another man's cheer for the same closing.