Il n'y a pas qu'à DLP que les fans critiquent !

[tb06]

Trouvé ce soir, ce billet critique d'un fan sur Walt Disney World, qui pourrait être en parallèle avec les critiques que nous émettons quotidiennement au sujet de DLP (je vous conseille d'aller sur le site pour bénéficier des liens hypertextes) :

The big problems with Walt Disney World

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Matt

Forgive me this week, for this week's entry isn't just about Hollywood Studios. Rather, I'm looking big picture here and talking about Walt Disney World as a whole. Everyone has different things that Walt Disney World does that bothers them. Some are big issues, some are small personal problems but we all have something that irks us about our favorite place to vacation. It's perfectly natural to complain about something we love because we love it so much and don't want to see it going down the wrong path.

Today, I've decided to outline my biggest gripes that I have with the direction of Walt Disney World and really focus on the issues that I feel are detrimental to my future enjoyment of Disney World.

Too much outsourcing

It seems like today everything in Walt Disney World is outsourced, meaning Disney has an outside vendor/company do the things Disney used to do. When you take a moment to look at everything that is outsourced, I find myself shocked at where things have gone and also wonder what Disney actually does in house anymore. Here's a quick rundown of some things that I know are outsourced...

* Some restaurants across Walt Disney World property (Rainforest Cafe, Yak & Yeti, Via Napoli)
* Audio Animatronics
* Some attractions (Rock 'n Roller Coaster, Primevil Whirl)
* Magical Express (used to be run by Disney, now Bags Inc runs it)
* Strollers
* Beach chairs
* Merchandise (Dooney & Bourke bags, mostly everything in Downtown Disney)

To me, it seems like Disney outsources so much these days that there's very little that they do anymore on their own. I'm by no means advocating Disney do everything in house, but it shouldn't be to the level we see today. You may ask why outsourcing is a bad thing and the reason is because when you use third parties, the quality of the service or product does not live up to the "Disney standard" we've come to expect. After all, the reason I and so many others love coming to Disney World is for that "Disney Difference" and outsourcing completely compromises that level of quality.

High prices

At the end of the day, Disney World is a business and has to make profit. I get that, but it seems that the prices for nearly everything at Walt Disney World over the last 5-10 years have grown to become out of touch for what they ought to be. As I stated before, I like the "Disney Difference" and am willing to pay a premium for it over competitors, but the premium Disney has put on its tickets, resorts, merchandise, restaurants and more is now ridiculous. My colleague Jennifer wrote last week about the price of Disney World tickets versus the rate of inflation and that just scratches the surface of the problem.

I think the over-inflated prices are more of a problem with the food and resorts than with the park admission. Disney has really priced the resorts so far out there now, that it's reliant on discount deals to make the public feel like they can afford to go. Moreover, if you took many of the Disney World resorts and put them anywhere else, they would not command the price they enjoy. The moderate resorts, while nice, cost too much to justify $150-$200 per night. Let me put this in perspective, the brand new Waldorf Astoria that is on Disney World property has rooms starting at $199 per night and it's safe to say the quality of the room at the Waldorf blows Port Orleans rooms out of the water.

The prices for food at many Disney World restaurants is also too high for what you get. The classic examples are Nine Dragon and San Angel Inn in Epcot. These Chinese and Mexican restaurants charge about $20 for an entree. Chinese and Mexican food are among the most ubiquitous food in the United States after burgers and hot dogs. It's ridiculous that you pay $20 for Kung Pao Chicken or chicken and rice. Then you have the buffets, that can command anywhere from $30-40 per person and it's safe to say that the quality and selection of food does not warrant that kind of a price point.

Fantasmic! cut

I won't spend too much on this issue since it's been well documented on this site but if you've tried to see Fantasmic! at all since January 2009, then you've likely experienced the utter inconvenience of trying to get into the show. I hear routinely horror stories of crazy lines and aggrivation of trying to get into the show. Just the other week I was speaking to a friend who was on the border of tears, recalling how she tried in vain to see the show with her family. It's become a bigger problem than I had envisioned and its guests who have suffered.

The Fantasmic! cut has resulted in a tremendous inconvenience with no consolation for our troubles. It's not like admission prices are cheaper on non-Fantasmic! days and yet, Disney has ignored each every complaint made by guests about the schedule. It's another sign that saving a few dollars here and there is more important than a better guest experience.

Homogenization of merchandise

Do you remember when there used to be stuff in Disney World you wanted to buy? Resorts had unique merchandise for each resort and the parks and attractions had their own brand of merchandise that you could only get there. All these different options gave us good reason to buy Disney World merchandise because among all the various items, you'd find something that struck a chord with you. Today, that's all but gone. Now, merchandise at Walt Disney World also doubles as merchandise in Disneyland (check the tags, they say Disney World and Disneyland) and the amount of unique merchandise items is way down. Now you can find Pirates of the Caribbean or Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise everywhere (like in Hollywood Studios) and when you find the same stuff everywhere, there's less incentive to warrant spending the money on the items.

There's less merchandise overall and much of it is so generic that it's just not compelling enough to spend $35 for a t-shirt or $60 for a sweater. The prices are already expensive, but when you consider the merchandise isn't really that great overall, I've found myself buying less and less Disney merchandise in the parks over the last few years. It's time to expand what Disney can sell and give consumers lots of different options because the limited stuff we have today just isn't cutting it.

Homogenization of restaurant menus

Speaking of slimming down, menus across Disney World have been shrinking. It seems like today every sit down restaurant at Walt Disney World has the same general basis: a chicken dish, a beef dish, a fish dish and a vegetable dish and something else maybe. I could rattle off a half dozen restaurants in the parks and resorts that basically all have the same food. This problem is even more pronounced at the counter service locations, where it seems it's the same food almost everywhere. We routinely see restaurants change their menu, which results in a smaller menu and price increases for what's left.

The classic example is the hamburger. Burgers used to be different around Walt Disney World, but today they are almost all the same. A burger in Pecos Bills is the same as a burger in Backlot Express or Beaches n Cream or Restaurantasaurus. Disney has done this to once again save money. If you buy a thousand burgers, you can get a better deal per item from the distributor than if you bought 500 and Disney seems to have gone with that with a lot of items beyond just burgers.

Matt Hochberg

Source : http://www.studioscentral.com/column/studios-weekly/big-problems-walt-disney-world.

What are you thinking about this?

T.B.

[typhoon]

Je ne trouve pas que c'est à comparer avec les critiques que nous pouvons avoir sur DLP.

D'abord, critiquer le fait que des sociétés externes soient présentes sur le Resort, moi perso, cela ne me dérange pas et ce n'est pas nouveau. Pour remplir un village aussi immence que celui de Downtown Disney, cela ne pose pas de problème de voir d'autres enseignes tant qu'elles s'intègrent dans le concept (Rainforest, T-Rex, Planet Hollywood, Ghirardelli,...).

En ce qui concerne les prix qui augmentent sans cesse, vous connaissez beaucoup de choses qui diminuent? On sait très bien que passer un séjour dans un Resort Disney représente un certain budget et que c'est cher. Après, dans le cas de Orlando, il suffit de passer les portes du Resort pour revenir à des prix bien plus abordables pour se loger ou manger si on le veux vraiment.

Pour Fantasmic, je regrette aussi le temps ou ce spectacle était présenté tout les jours mais pas au point de trouver anormal de payer le même prix d'entrée un jour ou il n'est pas présenté. Pour info, il y a des spectacles nocturne 365jours par an à WDW et pas des moindres (Wishes, Illuminations, Spectromagic, Fantasmic). Si on organise son séjour, on peux facilement en voir au moins un tout les soirs!
Imaginez qu'on paie moins cher à DLP les jours ou il n'y a pas Fantillusion ou les Feux Enchantés! Ca serait les soldes sur le prix d'entrée au parc presque toute l'année à Paris

Pour les marchandises, c'est vrai que si on retrouve les mêmes produits dans toutes les boutiques et dans tout les parcs, ce n'est pas le top mais c'est malheureusement la tendance chez Disney. Il ne faut malgré tout pas exagérer car WDW offre quand même toujours une grande diversité et encore pas mal de boutiques spécifiques.

Pour les restaurants, je suis d'accord que la plupart proposent le même style de nourriture mais vu les centaines de restaurants que propose WDW, il y a moyen de diversifier sans problème!

Voila l'avis de Typhoon

[Picsou]

Je suis d'accord avec toi Typhoon, tout en ne blâmant ce guest pour les propos qu'il peut tenir.

De toute évidence, il s'agit là d'un fan atteint du syndrome "c'était mieux avant" et, dans une certaine mesure, il n'a pas tout à fait tort. Maintenant, il commet à mon sens deux impairs qui flinguent son argumentaire. Le premier est qu'il fait preuve d'une véritable méconnaissance des logiques sous-jacentes de rationalisation des coûts. Ne lui en déplaise, même le royaume de la magie© et la féérie® connaît des contraintes financières (exacerbées alors que les effets de la crise se font toujours ressentir sur le secteur d'activité touristique) et organisationnelles. Je ne pense définitivement pas que les problèmes qu'il pointe soient de nature à profondément altérer l'expérience des guests sur place d'autant que la plupart d'entre eux ne les ressentiront même pas. Que lui qui, en revanche, semble être un grand habitué des lieux, remarque ce genre de petits détails ne relève au final que de la pure logique, mais il n'est en aucun cas un guest représentatif. Quant à l'aspect purement pécuniaire, je ne perdrai même pas de temps à lui répondre tant cet argument me paraît partial et totalement idiot.

Le second, c'est qu'il parle en absolu et jamais en relatif. Peut-être me trompe-je, mais je ne serais pas surpris que ce guest n'ait jamais expérimenté que WDW comme tout parc Disney. Parce qu'en toute logique, et toute bonne foi, comment pourrait-il tenir ce même langage en connaissant la misère relative des autres parcs dans le monde? En n'ayant pris l'habitude de ne consommer que le meilleur de ce que Disney a à offrir, il en a justement oublié qu'il s'agissait du meilleur! Comportement absolument logique assimilable à la routine, mais la vérité c'est que ce guest est victime d'une illusion.

C'est grave docteur? Assurément non, ces symptômes sont fréquents et bien identifiés. Mais, dans le cas qui nous intéresse, et pour éviter toute rechute désastreuse, je prescrirais à ce guest un séjour de 3 jours dans les parcs français. Nul doute qu'il réviserait alors, ne serait-ce que partiellement, son jugement envers WDW...

[tb06]

Un nouveau billet de blog de fan un peu exigeant… quand on compare ses récriminations avec ce que nous voyons dans nos parcs français !

Epcot used to mean something

I feel strongly about Horizons, obviously, but when I started this project I knew that I wanted to focus on a positive message – a respectful and nostalgic tribute to a wonderful and beloved work of lost art. I didn’t want this to become a place to dwell on the bitterness caused by Horizon’s destruction, or lament the overall changes that Epcot has experienced since it’s golden age in the 80s. As George Harrison once put it, all things must pass. So we can all remember the good about things we once loved but are now gone, and forget about later indignities, right? You know… like we do with Micheal Jackson.

Then news was announced about pixie hollow being installed in Epcot, and I can’t hold my tongue. Tinker bell and her direct-to-DVD low-quality CGI buddies have no place in Epcot. What happened to brand standards? Epcot is about technology, the future, human achievement, and the rich cultures we’ve developed around the world. It is NOT about mythological creatures! If only there were a land that was themed specifically to fantasy… Oh yeah, it’s called Fantasy Land.

I’m sure to non-Disney nerds, this is an absurd fan-boy thing to be upset about; akin to a rant about how JarJar Binks ruined Star Wars (which he did). But my gripes aren’t simply about creative continuity or keeping a theme park in stasis because that’s simply the way I prefer it to be. It’s about much more than that.

Epcot used to mean something. Far more than a theme park, Epcot Center had more in common with the World’s Fairs that it was inspired from and the national museums and monuments we all treasure. It was a place that moved beyond the superficial goal of making guests forget about their troubles and transcended to a much more nobel ambition. Namely: to inspire.

Guests were introduced to and reminded of real world wonders. They explored science and imagination and all the things that make humanity special. They visited far off lands, not as an exercise in white-washed fantasy travel but as a way to appreciate and experience the diversity of our planet. On my first trip to Epcot, I left with the hair on the back of my neck standing up, contemplating how unimaginably lucky I was to be alive at that moment, on the brink of such exciting things to come. And I wanted to play a part in those things.

Now, guests go home the same way they would from a carnival – queezy with a cheap stuffed bear.

Again, don’t misunderstand me: I am not saying Epcot should have remained as it once was, but it certainly should have held
true to its original ideals. How does Mission:Space inspire people to learn more about cosmology and space exploration? (is it a training mission, or are we really going to mars? And I can SEE YOU reading the cue cards Gary Sinise) For that matter, how does a boring rollercoaster with no hills or loops inspire me to learn more about transportation, or an aquarium (where the real fish are just part of the background) inspire me to protect and preserve our oceans? And don’t get me started on Imagination…

The whole thing just seems so condescending. (“Nice work, pal.” – “Think of it as the world’s first backup system.”) Sure, Disneys attendance and profits are up, and I’ve seen some people use this to say that obviously Disney knows what they’re doing and they’re just giving people “what they want.” And that may very well be true – but it doesn’t make them artists, or make their work important. In a world where “Transformers” movies make hundreds of millions of dollars, I for one think it’s clear that quality can’t be measured by commercial success alone.

I hope that Disney corporate will allow the fantastic creative team at imagineering to restore Epcot to it’s original principles, but I’m not holding my breath. I personally think it will take someone new, under different circumstances to once again inspire people to dream of an idealic future and fight to bring it into existence. Until then, I’ll remember epcot and Horizons fondly as they once were, and silently grit my teeth as pixies parade through futureworld.

Rant complete. I appologize, and won’t let it happen again.

Source : http://horizonsresurrected.com/2011/02/23/epcot-used-to-mean-something, page consultée le 24 février 2011.

T.B.

[Picsou]

Excellent billet d'humeur qui, toutes proportions gardées, reprend exactement les mêmes canevas de ce que nous sommes plusieurs à dénoncer quant au sacrifice de l'esprit originel de DiscoveryLand sur l'autel des profits faciles...

[Skyvador]

Je suis quand même d'accord avec lui sur les prix pharaoniques de la nourriture au sein de WDW surtout pour une qualité pas tip top.