Thursday, January 08, 2015

Is the magic slip-sliding away?

This recent article in the Huffington post reporter Christy Heitger-Ewing describes her "vacation" to Walt Disney World.  For many reasons described by Christy and, frankly, experienced by many others lately, the stress levels at WDW are climbing and the fun is slipping away.The bottom line...
It's simply gotten too big, too commercial, too regimented.
The article goes into specific examples of the things causing high stress.  Frantically running around trying to meet the Fastpass+ schedule and trying to keep hungry kids happy is one example.  Large, no make that huge, crowds, and taking the enjoyment out of shows, stressing facilities and increasing the chances of getting sick - which is defnitely not a minor problem anymore.
I miss the days when I could go to Disney World, get up in the morning, and consult with the family about where and how to spend the day. We could make decisions based on mood, weather, and majority vote. But the "fly by the seat of your pants" approach simply can't be done anymore at Disney. Now you must plan out your every movement--from parks to rides to meals--and you must do so several months in advance.
So this is an example of a large company turning their back on repeat, loyal customers who are now finding it much more difficult to do the things they used to do.  Maybe Disney thinks there is an endless supply of first time visitors who are willing to submit a detailed project plan in order to have fun.  Many others do not find this fun.

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