Stupid Guest Tricks

From: OCRegister.com

[quote]It's a late summer morning at Disneyland, and Matt Ouimet makes one of his frequent strolls down Main Street.

He greets employees, stoops to pick up stray pieces of trash and searches for any detail that will illuminate the weekly surveys of guest satisfaction that he uses as his gauge for the park's success.

Are visitors moving easily through the walkways? Is guest relations doing a good job in its expanded area? Is shade in all the right places?

A photographer invites the Disneyland Resort president to stand near Mickey Mouse, who is greeting children. Ouimet hesitates, concerned that he may interrupt the "guest experience."

As a result of Ouimet's campaigning for more attractions, Walt Disney Imagineers will begin "testing the waters" at Submarine Lagoon, exploring how the ride might be revived after a six-year hiatus. If it reopens, the theme is expected to be from "Finding Nemo," the hit movie from Disney-Pixar.

And last spring, when Disney altered its policy on special-assistance passes for guests with disabilities, Ouimet sat on a bench in the office where guests applied for the pass. He wanted to listen to their concerns.

Ouimet also got a good, long taste of what it's like to be a guest at a Disney hotel when he lived at the Grand Californian for his first six months on the job. He waited to move into a new house until his family arrived from Florida, at the end of the school year.[/quote]
Edited by CujoSR: Shortened URL

I think Matt is doing a good job. He is even pushing to get us new costumes at the Main Entrance so we don't look like fast food workers anymore. If only he would take care of our little Annual pass center problem, we need a good place. Anyway with Eisner on his way out maybe in two years Matt will be the CEO.

lilyVPatDLR wrote:I think Matt is doing a good job. He is even pushing to get us new costumes at the Main Entrance so we don't look like fast food workers anymore. If only he would take care of our little Annual pass center problem, we need a good place. Anyway with Eisner on his way out maybe in two years Matt will be the CEO.

new costumes and Ouimat as CEO would bring in a new age for Disney, one that i'm sure Roy would be a part of (keep in mind i keep my nose out of disney ploitics, unless it affects me directly, my job at disney is to make magic, not run the show.) i'm fairly new, however from what i've heard, he's doing an awesome job, and from what i see vs. previous years in the park as s guest (also keeping out of ploitics then, my job was to make sandwiches, and have fun) tomorrowland definalty needs some TLC, and so far it looks like it's getting it, all we really need it to get rid of that thing on top of the astro orbiter!

He's taking care of the guests and the park first, for without the guest or the park, you have no need for employees. He'll get around to taking care of the employees sometime, but probably not before Eisner retires. Unfortunately, Eisner is all about HIS show, the profits from the parks, the profit from the movies, the profit from all the holdings are directly related to improving HIS show, regardless of whether they improve the show in any holdings. Profit and HIS profit have been the most important things to him since he took over and it shows, right down to his preference of Disneyworld over Disneyland, after all, Disneyworld is bigger and since it is bigger it brings in more money, so he spends more money there than at Disneyland.

Two things are contributing to Matt getting the money to make park improvements:

1. BTMRR accident. This was the first multi person injury with a fatality. Aside from the Columbia incident (which was none the less tragic, just not as memerable) that no one rider or any rider for that matter can be blamed. It just could no longer be swept under the rug that the proof was in the pudding that Disneyland was becoming increasingly more dangerous because of a lack of maintenance and funds. HE HAD TO RELEASE THE FUNDS or HIS show became BAD show for him.

2. The 50th Anniversary. Eisner had to release funds to renovate Disneyland and add some token attractions for this BIG event. And it is a BIG event. It was the first theme park for Walt Disney, it was the GOLD standard for theme parks. And now it is having its GOLD anniversary. The past management had to do something TOKEN for Disneyland because it was the first, but, wait, Eisner loves the bigger parks, so lets give the bigger parks the bigger celebration and lets leave Disneyland a little bit non-plussed. After all, the only people who will be there will be the hoards of annual passholders and they really aren't paying the bills, now are they. If they raise a stink about the condition and lack of celebration, then they are just being whining passholes.

But, wait, someone else is noticing the lack of respect for the park, the PRESS. And now, the park has become Eisner's BAD show and since it is all about Eisner, its all about him.

It is quite obvious that Matt gets the show concept and that he is working towards restoring the Disney concept and the Disney magic. I hope he continues reducing the benefits of the lower annual passes and improves benefits of the premium and deluxe passes along with modest increases. You see he respects the passholes. He recognizes that in down times, they come, they eat and they buy. Which is better, a passhole who gets in free on a slow day and buys, eats, and plays or a guest who doesn't show up. Who keeps the park running on slow days, that's right, the passhole. You may have 10,000 guests on a slow day, 7,000 may be paying customer, 3,000 are passholes. Well, on that day, this passhole is going to be spending money on food and merchandise. The park still has operating expenses based on its staffing, they still have "x" amount of food coming in, the fact that the passholder doesn't pay for his admission for that day is irrelevant, he is not causing more money to be expended because of his presence.

And as soon as Eisner leaves, and we hope and pray that someone clear on the concept of Disney magic and the Disney experience will be named successor, the conditions will improve for cast members. You see Disney believed in a never ending cycle. Happy guests make for happy cast members, happy cast members make for happy guests. Its a symbiotic cycle. They live off of each other. So Disney did two things to assure a great park: First, he built a great park. He made it so families could enjoy a day playing together, he simply wasn't trying to please one segment. He knew that he needed to have somethings to appease the thrill ride lovers and some things to appease little children and in the balance he developed a park everyone would enjoy. He focused on cleanliness and the show. Secondly, he was very particular about who he hired. They had to be the best at providing the best service. They had to have high grooming standards and high work ethics. They had to be loyal, they had to be friendly and he rewarded their contribution to the show with good pay and good benefits. Everyone wanted to work at Disneyland because of this. But only the best were hired. It was a priviledge to be hired. And many stayed and made it a career. The cycle was complete, guests, staff and a committment to quality made Disneyland the place it was designed to be.

So, be patient, Matt has the right idea and he's working towards recreating the disney magic, but with current management, he's got to work on the show first, soon, he will be able to work on the employee conditions, but Eisner will have to go for that to become a reality.

JMHO

Excellent post PoohBunny. I completely agree with you. Without guests we couldn't make the magic. (I wanna put on a job resame someday as part of my job description at DL "Making Magic") I think Matt is doing some wonderful things for Disneyland. Getting rid of the SAP was great. The GAC is confusing...but it works well for cast member. I find it so helpful help assist guests with special needs. I know it would cost a lot of money but I think all our queues need to be wheelchair accessable (My grandmother who has needed a Wheelchair in the past thinks its a good idea). I also think Matt is the man we need to help get Disneyland back to the way it was. The Disneyland I fondly remember from the late 80s and early 90s.

I remember the 60's and 70's and as a full time wheelchair bound patron, I appreciated the SAP. I don't remind waiting, but the more tired I become and even sitting in a chair can be exhausting, the more unstable I am, greatly reducing my ability to transfer with assistance or stand, even with assistance. With the removal of the SAP, I am completely unable to attend DL on my own, which I did quite frequently as a diversion from the serious health issues I have. And yes, even with a premium annual pass, I spend around a hundred a pop between merchandise and food each and every visit. When my husband comes, its even more. So, DIsney more than makes up in profit than it loses in my admissions. I would never spend $47 plus $100 and if I went as often as I do, I wouldn't be able to do that. It is definately a win-win situation with this passhole.

I wish that they would have kept the SAP and require documentation for benefits as all the other parks do. When the program is not being abused, the impact on other guests is minimal and not having to wait for extended periods of time is of a great benefit to those who have a fatigue element to their medical concerns (I'm not talking lazy lard asses here). Yes, with the GAC, I am given an alternate entrance, except in DCA, which really sucks since the only thing I can ride is Soarin and if waiting over an hour for the ride, right there is half my maximum visit to the park, and for the most part, I get pretty immediate boarding, except you run into the occassional cm who decides because I am in an ECV and fluffy, that I am faking it and makes me wait, and wait and wait, even with empty seats going by. While to the regular guest, it may seem fair that I be made wait longer than they, but they get to be there all day, they are capable of being there all day, I have two- three hours tops and then I'm done. That's it, no more, my body quits. And if I stress it father than I should, then hubby going to have BIG time trouble getting me out of the chair and into the car, even more so than he does now.

The old SAP was dreadfully abused, but the new GAC doesn't quite meet all the requirements for a great program. And, I am all for fully wheelchair accessible ques. Certainly a broken leg doesn't need immediate boarding and being pregnant or unable to stand doesn't need immediate boarding, so wheelchair accessible ques are great! However, there are some wheelchair accessible situations such as mine where speed is of the essence and the longer the wait, the less I can do. Where is the equal experience in that? It isn't. The regular guest (paying or AP) can spend the whole day, I can't. So, if by installing a GAC and not providing me with one because I am in a wheelchair, then the experience is not equal. Am I clear or muddy?

But first things first, break the passholes of the entitlement of priviledge so that those who really need the GAC are getting it, including those who are fully wheelchair bound and do need a seperate entrance. If I were walking with a cane(faker or not), I could get a GAC for alternate entrance on Soarin, but since I am in a chair, I cannot. Go figure that logic.

well at indy we try and get the chairs in as fast as possible, and through the most accesable routes. un fourtunatly our station can't hold much more than three or four charis, and that's REALLY pushing it. so if you ever are being held at rotunda before the safety film, just know that it's not because we want to make you wait, it's because we simply cannot accomdate, i hate it when i have a line backed up to the exit queue, and i hate being film 1 when i can't let chairs in. I don't know that you'd be able to, but sometimes it's easier just to walk on, and we'll hide your chair some place. If you have any friends that are chair bound, encourage them to walk from rotunda if they can, if i'm there i'll even put you/them down the wheelchair or the VIP line so that you're/they're not on the feets too long.

you've got a great cm attitude and i would kill to be able 2 do indy, but my spine is too fragile to ride something as wonderful as indy....

PoohBunniesHutch, I wouldn't call you a passhole because you are an educated ap. At WDW it seems like the system is slightly more favorable to somebody in your situation. I generally don't like to make my guests in wheelchairs wait too long either, but sometimes with the way loading goes I cannot load them as fast as I would like to. But at the Movie Ride the maximum that most guests in wheelchairs have to wait is 15 mins. But when demand is high we've had the same problems that DLR had with all the SAP abuse, and that is just for the alternate entrance.

PoohBunniesHutch wrote:you've got a great cm attitude and i would kill to be able 2 do indy, but my spine is too fragile to ride something as wonderful as indy....

i'm glad that you at least know your limits... i see so many people come through the line that don't look like they should ride, even i sometimes come off it with a sore back. Matterhorn does it to me everytime, mostly because no one will sit on my lap and i get pretty well jostled around. i usually have to go ride the train or something when i get off.