I used to be a Disney fanboy.
Emphasis on “used to be”. Disney as a corporation has made some pretty bad decisions over the past few years – Heck, filming a movie near a prison camp in China and then thanking the warders in the credits of said film is enough to turn ones’ stomach. When it comes to the IP they own, what they have done to the Star Wars “brand” is a rant for another day… And they look to be doing something similar (ruination-wise) with their Marvel IP.
But what has made me into an ex-fanboy is how they have mismanaged the theme park experience.
I previously raved about the exemplary immersive experience you would receive at a Disney Theme Park. I even spoke at conferences touting Walt Disney as “The World’s First User Experience Designer.” I was an unpaid promoter of the Disney Parks, on social media and in person.
Not anymore.
First was the Disney Fast Pass + “Upgrade” of a few years back. I ranted about how it damaged the experience, taking away all spontaneity. Then was the continuous “nickel and diming” of the park experience. Anything “special” beyond the basics costs more. After-hour events started popping up more and more… Closing the parks for hours at night, requiring a separate ticket charge to get in (and yes, I spent that extra money, repeatedly – I enabled their cash-grabbing decisions).
But I put up with it, complaining on social media.
Then a global pandemic hit.
Movie theatres shut down. Theme parks around the world shut down for months… Heck, Disneyland is just NOW in the process of reopening in California (more about that later).
I live just northeast of Atlanta, so my number one destination for vacations is Orlando. It’s eight hours by car, and little more than an hour flight. I’ve gone there with my family more times than I can remember. I used to go to Walt Disney World almost exclusively, and occasionally visited Universal’s parks there as well.
Both parks in Orlando reopened at about the same time, late last summer. One park did it right. The other… Didn’t.
It’s all about money.
No Plan B
Disney used to be flush with cash. Movie ticket sales from billion dollar movies, combined with a steady stream of cash from the theme parks, allowed them to go crazy buying other companies. This buying spree culminated with the acquisition of 20th Century Fox less than two years ago, with Disney spending over 71 BILLION for the studio. What could go wrong?
Ahem. Remember that global pandemic thing I mentioned earlier.
As opposed to Disney, Comcast (the owner of Universal) had multiple diverse sources of revenue. Heck, they are a HUGE Internet and cable provider, the one thing that almost EVERYONE needed while they were stuck at home during lockdowns. So Comcast did OK… Disney, however, stopped getting that revenue they used to get. They tried to “pivot” more to streaming, but there is a ceiling. One billion dollar hit not happening is a hard hole to climb out of, no matter how many subscribers your streaming service has.
Reopening, badly
Disney was already cutting costs and reducing experiences. The folks behind Touring Plans, a company that monitors wait times, strongly suggested in their podcast that Disney was cutting cats member hours… Which resulted in lower capacity for rides… Which resulted in longer lines.
When the parks were shut down due to the Pandemic, Disney decided to basically fire all their college interns, interns that were effectively low-paid slave labor for the parks. And then they decided to basically cancel the Annual Passholder program. Sorry, most loyal customers! Here’s a refund for the “unused” time.
In reopening, Disney has taken more away. Now, post-COVID, they have not even “turned back on” Fastpass +. So a billion dollar investment sits, unused.
Disney has halted construction on their two new roller coasters in Orlando for Walt Disney World. WDWPro, an insider who posts on a few message boards, says it’s all about one thing: Money. Disney is cash poor right now.
You have to wear masks, everywhere. You can’t even take your masks down when you sit down to eat. You have taken a bite or a drink, then IMMEDIATELY cover your face. Otherwise the Disney Cast Member will (sometimes literally) yell at you.
And the icing on the cake is how Disney reopening Walt Disney World… And is reopening Disneyland. You have to reserve the day you want to come on a website. And what park. That’s right, Disney is taking ALL spontaneity away. The result of all this is people are… Not going. What they are doing is going to the OTHER Orlando theme park.
How Universal did it (mostly) right
While both parks have limited capacity, Universal has not setup any online “gate” you have to reserve a day with. When you sit down to eat, you can take your mask off.
They have also optimized food ordering. While both parks offer remote ordering, Universal has effectively made almost all of its permanent restaurants “remote order friendly”. You sit down at a table, you order on your phone, you enter the number of the table you are at, they bring you food. It’s is a great experience that reduces crowds and queues.
Disney halted construction of their two new coasters, and Universal Studios has just finished work on a new “Velocicoaster” – And are bragging in their press releases that they will open the “only new roller coaster in Orlando in 2021”. HARSH BURN.
While Disney took away Annual Passes, Universal will (as Disney used to) HAPPILY sell you an AP, or upgrade your tickets. Early this year I stayed at one of their value resorts, and asked how much it would cost to upgrade our tickets. She did the math, and the response? $150, each.
When a one-day ticket costs $120, the upgrade was a no-brainer.
Universal has also offered DEEP discounts to get people to stay at their hotels and it has been working… I personally have stayed at two different Universal properties the last quarter (motivated in part by that annual pass).
All in all, Universal has done it’s best to provide as close to a “normal” experience as possible to its guests. Which is what people want when they go on vacation.
The Disneyland reopening debacle
Disney recently released the reservation system for the Disneyland park reopening. It was limited only to California locals, and it was a train wreck. This article covers the reaction pretty well:
“What (users found) was a first-come, first-served system that seemed designed by the infuriating and haphazard Mr. Toad. Instructions were muddled. Information on one’s place in line was vague. Wait times were preposterous, even by theme park standards.”
And that is the historically Disney-FRIENDLY LA Times.
This could have been a very simple and (dare I say it?) a “magical” experience. If I was figuring out what to do and how to setup things, it would have gone a little something like this…
If you are the Disney Parks team you have a database of your California-based annual passholders (former and present). You presumably also have a sense of their average daily ‘spend’. Disney has historically tracked such information, and when Annual Passholders hand over their ID card to get a discount, you bet that Disney has captured that data somewhere.
Take the top N number of people off that list (sorted by spend), and send an email to these folk. Offer them a ‘Golden Ticket’ opportunity to reserve a spot on the first week of Disneyland’s reopening. Target 3X the number you need per day.
Repeat, until you have enough folks to exceed limited capacity by ~5% over (because there will be no-shows in any reservation system, even if money/deposits are involved). Tell the world you are excited about opening the park to EVERYONE but you want to reward their biggest fans for their loyalty.
How hard is that? Too hard for Disney Parks, I guess.
The bungling of Disneyland’s reopening is the icing on the cake: Demonstrating that modern Disney doesn’t care about their customers or their experience.
Only their money.
But hey, I’m just a user experience guy who used to work for Microsoft. What do I know?
Corporate Fanboys
We are living in some pretty interesting times. And even in the throes of a global pandemic, people still have time to cheer-lead for their favorite corporation. So I am sure my criticism of Disney will be met in some circles with contempt and anger. “You try and do better,” a Disney fanboy may respond to this missive, and I get it. I am not running a multibillion dollar corporation. I just design stuff.
BUT… Disney has lost sight of what made their park experience so successful. It was an immersive exciting and joyful escape from reality. It was worth whatever price one would pay.
Those days are gone. Once the masks are no longer required, people will remember how they were treated. What they read online. And they will not go back.
I also used to be an Apple fanboy. And I still ike the company, but, like Disney, both companies are great at generation of brand loyalty. But the past decade both corporations have failed repeatedly at rewarding such loyalty.
Let’s see what happens.