A Boring Dystopia

Yup. Another short sighted decision from Disney leadership.

I'm a former Disneyland cast member, for the most part the front of house cast members are trying to make everything a good experience and preserve the magic. But leadership decisions over the last decade or two have made it harder.

Tons of cast member benefits have been removed and moral is much lower. This has led to decreases in guest service and enthusiasm. Many of the cast stay on because they have grown up inspired by what this company has created and the environment for artistry, creativity, and excellence and want to spend each day trying to spread that happiness to others.

They have raised prices while providing fewer services. Things like the Disney Express, perks for staying in the hotels, fast passes, and tangible knick knacks that give an emotional touchstone for eliciting memories of good times with family.

They've turned what used to be free or included perks into additional charges. Things like fast passes which used to create a genuinely better experience in the parks are now extra surcharges. It gives the feeling that Disney is trying to hide the real price of the parks because if they added that to the normal ticket price they would receive a ton of bad press. Instead, even though you essentially need it to have a good time, they make you pay again. Same with food and drinks, they treat guests as a captive market. They know people will need to eat and drink while they are there so they charge as much as they can get away with.

Leadership has lowered standards and investments in creating and maintaining areas of the park. It reminds me of the Euro Disney and California Adventure launch era.

This leads me to technology and their over reliance on it. They have truly innovative engineers and incredibly creative designers. So it leads to wonderful creations like their new audio animatronics. Absolutely marvelous creations. But Disney is using them as a focal point for guests to watch and marvel at instead of to support and enhance an already great show. They aren't investing as much to build the environment that these audio animatronics are placed in so they feel out of place.

They have removed much guest interaction with their cast members and replaced with an app on your phone. Cast members are, in my opinion, Disney's greatest attraction. They are the ones who create the personalized, meaningful experiences. They are the personal touch that made people feel welcomed. They could reinforce happy memories and mitigate frustrating experiences. They could find novel ways to solve problems or partner with entirely different departments to create new and engaging magical moments. Moving as much as they could to an app takes the interactivity away. Guests experiences are looking at your phone for whatever attractions wait time is and going directly there. I believe that it leads to more disappointment seeing every attraction or restaurant you want to experience have high wait times.

The app also forces people to plan their day. Instead of being able to explore and experience the parks, it creates anxiety to plan and try and fit so much in that you leave unfulfilled if you miss something you wanted.

Show standards have dropped that maintenance on things like replacing worn carpets or repairing damaged and chipped paint in stores has been forgotten. It's a relatively small thing, but it's a detail that sets a strong impression for guests. For the prices they pay, the expectation promotional materials sets, and word of mouth they hear, people don't want to feel like they are in a rundown park.

They used to hide construction to "preserve the magic" and enhance the "show." However, as of late that only consists of mostly blank temporary construction walls mostly to prevent guests from entering a construction zone. They used to use scrims and painted/themed construction walls to entirely block sightlines. For instance, the videos showing how guests can look directly into working construction sites while riding the train.

Many times their actions feel almost hostile to consumers. They removed benches in areas to prevent crowds from congregating or lingering. They wanted more people in and out to buy overpriced merch and food. It reminds me of bars that make their stools just comfy enough for you to enjoy one or two drinks and leave.

Leadership has changed it's target audience from families to "Disney adults" while still promoting it as a family destination. Things like star wars land and avengers campus aren't for children. They've ages up the parks and rides to take advantage of the millennial nostalgia.

They've also tied everything into existing IP instead of creating new and exciting stories in their parks. People love Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and The Jungle Cruise not because they were a movie and then people could come "visit that world." But because they were unique, fleshed out, well told stories and experiences. They don't trust their guests to like a new attraction unless they can capitalize on an existing brand to lure people in. Hell, even quotes from Bob Iger have said their latest "original stories" have flopped and they will focus on sequels. Which is eerily reminiscent to the direct to VHS sequel era that almost destroyed the company.

In my opinion, so many of their recent original films showcase how they are writing a story by committee of executives. They force certain themes or messages into the story that it neuters the writers from creating a compelling story. They play it safe with their films. It feels like an exec said "we need a story about x" and then had someone write it.

Finally, in targeting "Disney adults" they aren't building the nostalgia and brand loyalty of the next generation. They are burning the good-will of people who grew up in Disney households and were raised on Disney films. They are putting themselves into a position where in 15-20 years at the latest the company will have a crisis trying to retain an audience that has only a fleeting emotional connection to a handful of films or memories of the parks.

I could go on for hours on my disappointment in Disney leadership, particularly in regards to the parks and resorts. Ultimately, it comes from the very top with Bob Iger. Under Iger we saw many of these issues and changes arise, implemented by Bob Chapek when he was head of Parks and Resorts, accelerated when Chapek became CEO, and then in spite of Bob Iger's public statement on changes Chapek had made, his lack of reverting those policies.