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[Anthony]

Closing the park a day or 2 a week would be preferrable and save money.

No no, don't be silly! That would just be disastrous. You know what would work much better? Cancelling the (still) dire Stitch show in Discoveryland and running the attractions later instead.

EDDY raised a really good point up there - how is it for the other Disney parks? Anyone got recent experience?

They must be saving quite a bit of money this year what with Tarzan, Lion King and we musn't forget Ciné Folies/Shooting Live also cancelled. Makes you wonder if they're struggling and now just desperately trying to stay out of the red after last year's small profit.

[smurfy74]

Closing the park for a day or two would be financial armageddon as you cant just turn operations on and off without major planning and cost implications, food waste for one would be a huge cost. and is a flippant remark plus the rides that are closing aren't considered to be major attractions, im sorry HISTA and the Nautilus are not vitally important to overall enjoyment, major attractions such as BTM and SMM2 are, im sure guest flow for these attractions would bear it out. RNRC is closed when we go and although disappointing, not  a major reduction in the enjoyment im expecting my nephews to get. The issue as far as I see is they need to advertise these staggered openings ( they already do with the Nautilus ) I know what times Cinemagique, Stitch, Animagique and the stunt show are on so I can plan my trip to accommodate, we are told what time the different shows/attractions and parades are on and plan accordingly to see them. We dont expect these to be constant and as soon as one has finished there should be another, the expectations are set. Guest receipts are down and therefore costs must be curtailed, that is an easy conclusion to draw. For all we know this maybe a trial, another option may have been closing the park earlier, but my guess is if you asked people which they preferred, A - all rides open but the park closes earlier or B - the park open late but the crowd major pleasing rides open, then option B looks the more appealing and offers the perception of better value. I agree its not ideal, but to me seems the best of a bad lot of options, like i stated earlier, Im sure the management would love the money flowing in and then they can open everything all the time, but reality bites and at the moment its biting hard. I would rather have maintenance kept up ( which they seem to be doing well at the moment ) and early closures rather than keeping everything open. Id also like someone to donate a few billion € to wipe the debt off but i wont hold my breath. The current management seem to be doing a good job, I hope they keep doing the right thing for the long term success of the parks/ resort.

[davewasbaloo]

It was not a flippant remark at all. Disneyland in California used to be closed 2 days a week from park opening until the 80's. It does not take much to do this. Walt had an ethos that everything should be open (unless under maintenance), and Disney stuck to this until Michael Eisner came to the company.

As to how does the rest do - California and TDL do not have staggered openings and closing, WDW sadly does. And given the idiots cross polinate between WDW and DLP, it does not surprise me.

[davewasbaloo]

The current management seem to be doing a good job, I hope they keep doing the right thing for the long term success of the parks/ resort.

Thank you for giving me a laugh, I haven't laughed this hard in ages.

I agree the maintenance is better, and for that I am truly thankful. Also, the increase in custodial cast is very welcome.

But the staggered hours, the additions of things like Toy Story Playland, the entertainment offerings this year, the lack of merchandise, the decrease of menu choices, the work going on at Backlot/Blockbuster Cafe, the 1+ year old scaffolding on studio 1 are all very poor decisions. And frankly, they smell of the swamp waters of Florida, a resort that I hold in VERY low regard.

[smurfy74]

Delivering profits and increasing park revenue seem like a good job done to me. I might not agree with all the things that are done but they are doing a lot of things right. As for closing, if a park is set up for 365 opening then changing it would cost a fortune as opposed to the staggered opening of attractions, which im not in favour of, just I accept that its necessary. Bookings are taken upto a year in advance so changing things now would be a complete disaster financially and for guest relations, so the decision to reduce opening times on attractions makes more sense, gate receipts are down there is no getting away from that fact therefore costs need to be brought down. This is the easiest way to achieve this other than slashing other budgets which could make things more difficult in the future, ie maintenance - look what happened to the park before when there was little ongoing maintenance it is taking years to restore attractions to their former glory.

[bigrossco]

my opinon is the way they have it just now is fine, rather than restricting opening days / times etc

It makes more sense for the park to be open and just close an attraction to refurb etc like they do just now makes much more sense and a place like DLP would not be able to afford to be closed to be honest, everyday there is people going to the park, yes some days of the year are nto as busy but there is still people going to the park!

[EDDY]

Hey there,
so, we finally decided to go in August, because after all it's my 18th birthday trip and I really want to celebrate that at Disneyland =)

I really do understand that the management needs to save money. It's normal in times like that, but, I really can't understand, why it is sooo expensive to let some attractions open a lil longer!

We have Fantasyland and Adventureland disappearing at 10pm and after that, there should be the possibility to ride the complete rest of the park! There are still 1000s of people out in the park, even if they watch the parade etc...
Come on... 3 Attractions are nothing!

Is it really such an intense cost saving, if you shut down attractions 1-3 hours earlier with maybe 10 CM's on each? And the operating for 1-3 hours more, can't be that extensive that they have to shut down. or am I wrong? I maybe can't imagine how much this will cost but that money is peanuts for Disneyland or? Don't forget it's after all Disneyland we're talking about!!!!!

So in my opinion, Fantasyland and Adventureland are allowed to close at 9:30pm or 10 pm or whatever... But the rest should remain open...
Discoveryland and Frontierland have to be accessible in full until 11pm.
I really think that should be possible! or ?  :roll:

[bigrossco]

Hey there,
so, we finally decided to go in August, because after all it's my 18th birthday trip and I really want to celebrate that at Disneyland =)

I really do understand that the management needs to save money. It's normal in times like that, but, I really can't understand, why it is sooo expensive to let some attractions open a lil longer!

We have Fantasyland and Adventureland disappearing at 10pm and after that, there should be the possibility to ride the complete rest of the park! There are still 1000s of people out in the park, even if they watch the parade etc...
Come on... 3 Attractions are nothing!

Is it really such an intense cost saving, if you shut down attractions 1-3 hours earlier with maybe 10 CM's on each? And the operating for 1-3 hours more, can't be that extensive that they have to shut down. or am I wrong? I maybe can't imagine how much this will cost but that money is peanuts for Disneyland or? Don't forget it's after all Disneyland we're talking about!!!!!

So in my opinion, Fantasyland and Adventureland are allowed to close at 9:30pm or 10 pm or whatever... But the rest should remain open...
Discoveryland and Frontierland have to be accessible in full until 11pm.
I really think that should be possible! or ?  :roll:

I fully agree with this and think it would be possible, but then would cost more money for disney to open later paying CM's, etc

[smurfy74]

Youre right bigrossco about more CM etc, some basic maths by me

20 euro per cast member per hour inc employers taxes
10 cast members per attraction

200 euro labour cost per hour per atraction
10 attractions closed earlier by 2hours

4000 euro saved
30 days in the month

120,000 euro saved
12 months in a year

1,440,000 euro saved

So thats nearly 1 and half million euro saved and thats without any power costs etc
thats the equivalent of 30000 guest spending 50 euro each going through the gates. Easy saving , not ideal, but were not in an ideal situation.

[EDDY]

20 euro per cast member per hour inc employers taxes
10 cast members per attraction

200 euro labour cost per hour per atraction
10 attractions closed earlier by 2hours

4000 euro saved
30 days in the month

120,000 euro saved
12 months in a year

1,440,000 euro saved

Well done

But at the moment I'm talking about the High Season! July and August!
so these are around 240 000 €uro. But just think about...it's Disneyland and loads of people paid much money for the entrance. If I would be a normal "one Day" visitor, I would be really disappointed, especially if I had paid 62 Euro to access!!!!!

[smurfy74]

I completely agree with you Eddy, I would be miffed too, I think they need to advertise these times well, like they do at the Nautilus, seeing as they have decided to do it.

[davewasbaloo]

Pretty solid business case Smurfy. However, for the first time in 10 years we will not be renewing our APs - family of 4 - €189 = €756, average expenditure on food and souvenirs at DLP in a year for us €3000. We tend to also stay on site some of those trips (€1000). So that's €4756 less euros from us.

Only 303 families of 4 would have to adopt this approach for the same net effect. Or less than one family a day.

The likelyhood is economic impact, the difference to the bottom line is negligable. However, in terms of brand loyalty and reputation, the situation becomes tarnished. It would be better to simply close the park earlier IMHO.

My parents refuse to ever go back because of the staggered openings. My mom is disabled, it was too much effort and frustration to get to an attraction to find it closed for operational cost savings.

And it is ironic, because it was my mom that made me the obsessive Disney freak I am today.

[davewasbaloo]

Disney trades on it's family friendly, over the top image. this year I have not encountered one family that has no complaints about their trip. In fact I frequently ride a train from St Pancras when the DLP train gets in. I often talk to passengers about what they think, and many claim they will not go back, or not for a long while, and some of the veterans I talk to say the experience is lacking from what it used to.

Heck, even seasoned fans go in July and August because despite the crowds, the long hours and entertainment used to make up for it. Not so much now. and a lot of these people paid a long time ago too.

this is a rediculous decision. Perhaps if disney offered quality merchandise, and a better range of prices and menus for dining, they would be in a better position.

Imagine what they would save if they did not build Toy Storyland or convert the Blockbuster Cafe? These are hardly improvements, but they are things that cost money (with what I will imagine will be very little return on investment)

[Krollok]

I think ther´s also an other point, If you can´t get on the rides you have to spend your time at the shops and restaurants to wait for the firework and parade. It can be quite an amount of money even if everybody spends only 2€ more a day. :-k

[smurfy74]

@ krollock - i agree with you on that one

@ davewasballoo - I agree with you about the merchandise and some of the food quality, I wonder though if they have seen a fall in guest spending on merchandise as sales seem to be brisk and most people arent aware that the range is pretty static as they dont visit as often. Also im not too fussed about the food quality - its the speed that gets to me, you seem more into your table dining so you are better equipped than me to comment on the quality aspect; we witnessed people waiting 30 minutes at victorias becasue there was one woman serving but dozens of people in the deli not serving anyone - although at hakuna matata service has always been efficient. I travel quite a bit on the eurostar and have also had people say that they will be booking again soon, we travel from Ashford and they tend to seat a lot of the Ashford travel together, so maybe its because we are closer???

The one area we probably agree is that isnt an ideal situation, the rest we will have to beg to differ I feel