The Death Knell for Disney Theme Parks?
Written: Nov 12 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: The memories.
Cons: Michael Eisner, budget cuts.
The Bottom Line: I'm more concerned than ever about the direction in which these Disney parks are heading.
|
|
|
| cactus_matt's Full Review: Walt Disney World |
About four months ago I wrote an article on Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and how I felt that the “magic” was slipping away. It was more or less an appeal for tradition and nostalgia, and I’d picked the Magic Kingdom because I felt it was the park in Florida that had the most to live up to. Somewhere along the lines I talked about how I still had hope for the future, that things might turn around and become better, if not conceivably as good as they once had been.
I’d recommend reading that article ahead of time. It helps to address a lot of things in detail that I won’t spend as much time on here. You can find it right here: http://www.epinions.com/content_31535828612
This time around, I’m somewhat less confident. It all seems more urgent now. Whereas I was formerly arguing for the preservation of particular rides, I’m now arguing for the preservation of Disney World in general.
Disney is in the dumps right now. There’s no question. Attendance and profits have been sagging considerably in the past few years, and the estimated drop in tourism caused by the September 11th attacks certainly hasn’t helped that fact. To understand the way Disney reacts to these financial setbacks, you have to understand the man in charge. Michael Eisner started out an accountant. When he gained control of the Disney Company in 1984, it must’ve only been natural to him to run it like a business: netting the highest possible profit with the least possible expenses. Cuttings corners if necessary. Leeching onto trends.
The problem was that running the place like a business went against what Walt Disney was all about. The thing that made Walt so great was that he always went the extra mile. When he envisioned Disneyland and eventually Disney World, he wanted something different from other mere “amusement” parks. Amusement parks were but a motley assortment of rides and vendors, while the Disney parks, “Theme” parks, were to be more like a beautifully painted picture. I could go into great detail describing how much effort was put forth to make these parks work, but anyone who visited before 1990 probably would have noticed it. To those only having recently paid their first visit, it might be futile to try and tell you what once had been.
Michael Eisner sees past the dropping attendance and generally decreased morale and decides that he has to fix the profit situation. Although he can kill two birds with one stone by spending a little to up the attendance and simultaneously increase profits, he instead chooses to simply cut spending. Shutting down a ride, firing employees, and trimming the budget is easy and absolutely free, and it produces a temporary solution to his problems. Eventually, however, it winds up just as bad as it started out. So he does the same thing again.
Sooner or later Eisner has no choice and decides to finally put money into the parks. He looks at what’s working for the competition: thrill rides and marketing machines. He figures that the same will work for him, as well. So Mike builds a thrill ride, tacks on a marketable license, and people are happy. The new ride doesn’t spell a dramatic increase in attendance, but it helps, and everyone flocks to the ride once inside the park.
There’s a problem here. You see, the Disney parks were originally designed to handle crowds by spreading them over a wide area. If the line was too long for an “E-Ticket” ride, there was always a lesser attraction nearby that a person could settle for. Unfortunately, when Eisner was trying to save face for profits, many of those lesser attractions got the axe. He was under the impression that he could do without them because they were less popular and didn’t seem necessary. As a result, all the E-Ticket rides become swamped and people are miserable. Including Eisner’s marketable new thrill ride. What comes of this is a limited park capacity, clogged areas, and attendance that eventually becomes even worse because no one wants to fight the crowds.
After September 11th, Eisner prepared for the worst and almost immediately made significant cuts. He claims that it’s just until tourism turns around. Am I the only one, however, who fears that tourism at the Disney parks will never get any better by offering less and less? And how is this supposed to help the economy? Only recently they kicked off an “100 Years of Magic Celebration” in honor of what would have been Walt Disney’s 100th birthday. How ironic to find it marked with the closing of rides, the canceling of parades, and a hiring freeze.
The situation will never improve at the current rate, that’s for certain. The Disney parks are on weak legs right now, something I’m sure that many of us felt we’d never live to see. Things need to be turned around before it’s too late.
I don’t have all the answers, but I believe that I’ve got a pretty good idea of where to start. Here are some problems that exist and/or things that ought to be done.
1. Nullify the recent cuts.
Attendance will never improve when they constantly have less to offer. Period. Disney is pinching pennies in the theme park division badly enough as it is. It’s time to start looking elsewhere to make cuts.
Now, I won’t say that Walt never looked at the bottom line. Profits are absolutely necessary to stay afloat. But Walt utilized an aspect of business that Eisner seems to all but ignore: that you have to spend money to make money. The Disney parks never established their reputation by being the most budget-conscious parks in the world, they did so by making people happy and always offering them more than they’d get elsewhere.
2. Move towards ousting Michael Eisner.
I can’t name a single thing that Eisner has done to dramatically help the Disney parks. Not a single thing. It’s all been downhill ever since he showed up, so why is he still running things? Eisner often portrays himself to the public as a defender of the Disney heritage, but it’s impossible to ignore insurmountable evidence stating otherwise.
What they need is a visionary, and he definitely isn’t one. In fact, I’m sure you’d be able to talk to nearly any hourly employee at a Disney park and they’d not only have a better respect for what the place is all about, but they’d most likely have better ideas than Eisner ever did, too. Eisner asked all these hourly employees to take a voluntary pay deduction as part of his recent cuts, and expected that they’d have no problem doing so for the sake of the parks. Do you think Eisner took a cut in salary as well? Not a chance.
3. Reopen dormant rides and attractions and cancel plans to close other existing ones.
One of the biggest complaints addressed in my other article was that the Disney parks seem to be in a state of perpetual construction. There are rides that have been sitting closed for years with minimal effort to hide the fact that they’re still around. The primary example would be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at the Magic Kingdom, which hasn’t run since 1994. They threw up a pavilion outside as a place to meet costumed characters, but it does little to hide the huge lagoon behind it. Other examples of dormant rides include the Skyway, Mike Fink’s Keel Boats, and the Timekeeper at Disney World and the PeopleMover and the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland.
What does a first-time visitor to the Magic Kingdom think when they see this? It’s like walking through a high-class neighborhood only to find a number of the houses abandoned and boarded up. Disney has begun listing things like gardens, character greeting areas, stores, arcades, and restaurants as major attractions on guide maps just so the list doesn’t become too thin.
The sight of a closed ride is only becoming more and more common. Many have been on the chopping block just waiting for an excuse like the recent cuts to seal their fate. Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress was the latest victim, and will most likely never reopen again. However, I believe that an obvious step towards turning the parks around would be to start giving these rides back to the public. Nobody wants to pay to get into a park whose list of attractions is readily becoming sparser and sparser.
4. Start listening to the fans for once.
There seems to be a stubbornness that prevents management from noticing what visitors truly want. Disney can look at the marketability of a Winnie the Pooh attraction all they want, but when countless fans come out of the woodwork begging not to demolish Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, it might make sense to at least listen. They might be gaining attendance by opening a Pooh ride, but they’ll anger just as many into boycotting the place. Never consider any regular visitor an acceptable loss, because everyone counts. Work out a compromise, maybe.
This might actually be something that comes to fruition. When the redesigned Journey Into YOUR Imagination premiered, it received more complaints on opening day than any other ride in Disney history. Roughly two years later, they’ve closed it with promise to make it more like the original Journey Into Imagination. Whether they can carry through on that promise has yet to be seen, but it’s a step in the right direction. If record-breaking complaints are what’s necessary for management to take notice, however, then it might be a one-time occurrence.
Of course, this wouldn’t have been necessary had they just kept the ride how it was in the first place. I didn’t see anybody crying out for something new. If something’s not broken, then don’t try to fix it.
In conclusion, I could probably stand to mention numerous other things that I’d like to see fixed with the Disney parks, but I don’t wish this to seem too much of a selfish endeavor. I am, however, for the first time legitimately worried for the future of these great theme parks. I’d honestly like to hear everyone’s thoughts and ideas regarding the issue.
Thanks for reading.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
cactus_matt
|
|
Location: Florida
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 24 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.