4. Internet access
Probably the second most frequently stated complaint about a Disney visit these days is that too many people are on the phone. There’s no polite way to say this. That ship has sailed. An entire generation of consumers is indoctrinated in the lifestyle of instant communication across the world. They don’t just want to enjoy their Disneyland experience, but they also want to share pictures to brighten the days of their friends.
Smart devices are a critical part of life these days, and anyone who hangs out at Disneyland on a regular basis knows that their reception is comically inept. Whereas The Walt Disney Company enhanced the digital infrastructure at Walt Disney World in anticipation of MyMagic+, they’ve done little of note to boost internet capacity in Anaheim, California. The scary thought is that many people complain about the glacial download pace in Orlando, and that one makes Anaheim look like a 9600 baud modem.
Disney hasn’t felt the onus of improving internet at their theme parks yet, which demonstrates how slow they are to react to changing societal trends at times. Consider that Google was founded in 1998. So, the average 25-year-old only has a handful of memories from a time before the Internet not only existed but was easily searchable. These people not only expect but in fact need web access, yet Disneyland functionally blacks them out due to the demand on its scarce internet service. The fact that this issue hasn’t already been addressed worldwide is nothing but penny-pinching on the part of a Fortune 100 company. It’s inexcusable.
5. Website Issues
Points one, four, and five are tied together. Since so much planning is required and people need Internet to use MyDisneyExperience, the website has to work flawlessly. Like many Disney-owned sites, it’s better described as good, not great. As a DVC member and annual pass holder, I’m constantly surprised by the sheer volume of times I have to log in to the site. It times out quickly. Also, I get the Stitch graphic where he’s eaten the page all too often, which is Disney’s answer to a 404 entry.
The MyDisneyExperience website tries to do too much, and it frequently collapses under the pressure of the attempt. The end result is that making those desperately needed FastPass selections and Advanced Dinner Reservations takes much longer than it should. Also, the itinerary page takes forever to load, and setting up a trip with multiple parties on MDE is best described as Kafkaesque. On our last trip, my group didn’t verify everything until the day prior to leaving. We didn’t do anything wrong, either. It was just that hard to sync accounts across a large group of people.
6. Lack of standardized rules
Riddle me this. Why does the start time for Advanced Dinner Reservations occur at 7 A.M. EST while FastPass+ selections begin at midnight? Also, why is one a 180-day wait period while the other is 30 (or 60) days? Finally, while this one doesn’t apply to everyone, why is DVC’s reservation window seven months? Has Disney ever considered what this is like on the consumer side of the equation?
At some point, I became the go-to person among my family and friends for explaining this stuff, and I just shake my head when people ask about the madness of it. Why does Disney have three different windows for the same trip? It’s maddening. The company should allow people to line up all their plans at once if they’re going to require people to plan this far in advance. It’s just common sense.
So, these are my six big problems with the company’s theme parks handling. What do you think is the largest concern Disney must address and how would you fix it? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Comments
Soarin opened in 2005. Turtle talk with crush openings in 2004. Also- I think it would be inaccurate to say you haven't missed anything in Epcot if you haven't gone since 2003. There are new shows and new restaurants in world showcase, and I would say the restaurants and shows are a big part of why I go there.
#3 is a big one for my wife and I. While we enjoy the classics some of our favorite movies are the newer Big Hero 6 and Inside Out. Not seeing a huge selection of gift shop items or even characters in park, and with no news that any new attractions will be added in the near future I see Disney more and more falling behind on catching the wave of relevancy. In 18 months these movies and their associated products will not have the same draw nor the same consumption rate.
OK so here is my opinion. I have been to Disney World and Disneyland, Disneyland considerable less, I mean I went there maybe 4 times and Disney World bordering 400. This is subject I know that I am pretty well versed in, and yet have more to learn. Here we go. I to have had issues with MDE many more in the early stages then as of late. I was familiar with Stitch, but honestly haven’t seen him in a long while. Safe to say they are making great steps in that area. The WiFi is actually pretty good in Orlando, I didn’t really go on my phone in CA, the thing is I don’t expect to be getting 300mbs in the park. I know that there is thousands of people in the park all of which are connected to the same servers and that eats up a lot of the speed. Still I haven’t had many issues with the WiFi whilst in the parks in recent times. As for prior planning. It isn’t required to do prior planning of the trips. You can, I have, in fact I booked fast passes today for Tuesday. If you want to get ahead, then fine do it. But it isn’t required. Dining reservations can be a problem, everyone wants to eat in Beast’s castle, I mean why not the food is great, more inexpensive, for Disney prices, and the atmosphere is spectacular. However there are so many other dining options out there so that you need not plan ahead, including one the busiest restaurants in the country, located in Tomorrowland. They have many tasty options to please all pallets; vegetarian, carnivore, sweet tooth, kids, healthy and fattening, and not too mention a help yourself topping bar including all you eat hot cheese sauce (my personal favorite) No reservation needed. But alas, for those of you who come to Disney on a vacation and want the whole atmospheric appreciation you may need to funnel through the, truthfully, sometimes difficult process of finding a reservation like you would have to do in the outside world in a place that is in a very high demand. Next on the list the planning. Yes Disney over prepares, or in cases, i.e. Frozen rides, under prepares however I think that it is hard to really expect said fortune 500 company who has its named attached to many movies and to throw money towards premature plan. Saying that Disney should have had a frozen ride in the works already is only safe to say because it did become a worldwide billion dollar+ movie, however we don’t see people expecting a Wall-e ride, or Brave, or Bolt, Tangled, Big Hero 6, there is no way to really know which film is going to hit! Why Rent we making Marvel rides? We could have Whole parks based upon the multi billion dollar coloration that is Marvel, now owned by Disney, there is just too much out there to have a ride for everything. Dinosaur I think is successful because it is fun, yes, but also because it is about dinosaurs which has intrigued the minds of kids for ever, so why shouldn’t it be successful? Now the subject of Half-parks…this is a kind of touchy subject for me. I have had days where I rode the rides and was like now what. But there is a major thing that you have left out. There are a plethora of fantastic. Shows that can be seen throughout the day in every park! And ii m speaking aittle biased here. Because I am an actor who would LOVE to be in the shows there. Think about the Commercial success of The Lion King, to a point where it is still relevant now as one of the longest running shoes on Broadway. Has there ever been a Lion King ride? No! Although I not so secretly have dreamed of one for ever! But what they do/did have was shows! A Lion King show that I watched and cried at where Philharmagic sits now, Festival of the Lion King in Animal Kingdom, And for the educational purposes Circle of Life in Epcot. There are so many wonderful things to do in each park that if you really wanted to there would be no half parks. I do agree however that there is need for some new attractions. But if I can go there for 20+years nearly 400 times ridden every ride and still have fun, and feel a burst of childish excitement everytime I see the Disney World banks welcoming me then they. Ant really be doing that bad.
I don't mind the planning as I think it makes the actual trip more pleasant. Having just returned from Disney World I totally agree with you about Hollywood Studios. They should be ashamed to charge a full days admission with all they have closed there.
I also work for a very large publicly traded company and it seems the larger the company the slower to create and risk innovativness. These companies tend not to want to risk revenue on a new product, be that an attraction or a service depending on the industry, until either someone smaller does it and proves it or a history of something newer grows that says hey, we can get some instant return. I think in some ways Disney had grown into that trap the larger they get. It's that little curse of success. The larger you get, the more you become indentured to the stock holders, the less you are willing to risk money new innovations until it is proven elsewhere. Just one opinion and observation.