Has the DIS UNPLUGGED podcast gone sour?

[SorcererHeidi]

Some people's avatar pictures are perfectly suited for them.

This is a random thought I just had, not tied to any particular post or poster. Completely random and arbitrary.

I never even TRY to guess what evil lurks in Ole Bob's mind!! ROTFL

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I never even TRY to guess what evil lurks in Ole Bob's mind!! ROTFL

Oh - and I, for one, would be DELIRIOUS if I were HALF as cute as my avatar!

 

[Alicenwonderment]

Some people's avatar pictures are perfectly suited for them.

This is a random thought I just had, not tied to any particular post or poster. Completely random and arbitrary.

Including yours. Lol Love your sense of humor KingLlama!!

 

[Daniel MacQueen]

Ok, new bloke here so my opinion probably doesn't matter but long-time podcast watcher.

I don't personally see anything wrong with the podcast as it is. I think the only negativity lately has been because as long term regular Disney visitors the team has a clearer image of declining standards at Disney over the years.
For reasons too complicated and boring to go into I'm unable to visit Florida and as a Disney fan I watch a lot of Disney related podcasts to try to get a bit of the magic I'm unable to get in person. There are podcasts that are overly saccharine coated where Disney can do no wrong and they only discuss positive points. I much prefer Dis for its unfiltered honesty, I don't think they get negative just for the sake of being negative, I love that they call out Disney for their failings.
I think they simply want a first-time visitor today to get the same magical experience that they had when they first started going to the parks and are right to bring up anything that could lessen that magic. I think it's more about their disappointment in falling standards and rising prices than about being negative.

I do think the shows cast could use a bit of a shake up, but short of going out and grabbing people off the street they can only work with who they have. If they don't have any young women with families applying to work on the show then there's not going to be that viewpoint on the show.

I do miss the opinions of JLs about going to the parks with young children but that's also an area that Julie has experience in.
One area that I do think the show is lacking.
A lot of watchers are probably from outside the US and Oliver was able to discuss his experiences as a foreigner visiting the parks. Most of the discussions are from an American perspective of only being able to visit Orlando for a few days or a week at a time whereas a lot of the time us foreigners spend about two weeks and can spread our park time out a bit more.

 

[KingLlama]

^I clicked "like" on that post because he used the word "bloke".

I didn't even read the rest of it. But I'm sure it was good.

 

[disneysteve]

Ok, new bloke here so my opinion probably doesn't matter but long-time podcast watcher.

Welcome to the boards!

I think this was very well-stated and I agree completely, as I've said previously. It isn't that the DIS has suddenly gotten more negative. It's that Disney has made a lot of changes that have degraded the experience they offer and the DIS is just calling it like they see it.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

Ok, new bloke here so my opinion probably doesn't matter but long-time podcast watcher.

I don't personally see anything wrong with the podcast as it is. I think the only negativity lately has been because as long term regular Disney visitors the team has a clearer image of declining standards at Disney over the years.
For reasons too complicated and boring to go into I'm unable to visit Florida and as a Disney fan I watch a lot of Disney related podcasts to try to get a bit of the magic I'm unable to get in person. There are podcasts that are overly saccharine coated where Disney can do no wrong and they only discuss positive points. I much prefer Dis for its unfiltered honesty, I don't think they get negative just for the sake of being negative, I love that they call out Disney for their failings.
I think they simply want a first-time visitor today to get the same magical experience that they had when they first started going to the parks and are right to bring up anything that could lessen that magic. I think it's more about their disappointment in falling standards and rising prices than about being negative.

I do think the shows cast could use a bit of a shake up, but short of going out and grabbing people off the street they can only work with who they have. If they don't have any young women with families applying to work on the show then there's not going to be that viewpoint on the show.

I do miss the opinions of JLs about going to the parks with young children but that's also an area that Julie has experience in.
One area that I do think the show is lacking.
A lot of watchers are probably from outside the US and Oliver was able to discuss his experiences as a foreigner visiting the parks. Most of the discussions are from an American perspective of only being able to visit Orlando for a few days or a week at a time whereas a lot of the time us foreigners spend about two weeks and can spread our park time out a bit more.

@Daniel MacQueen - Welcome, hope you'll stick around, and even if you are "new" here, your opinion still matters as much as anybody else's! I still say/think that even when I don't agree - but I certainly do agree with your thoughts/feelings, and found them thoughtfully and very eloquently stated!

 

[Polybound]

Welcome to the boards!

I think this was very well-stated and I agree completely, as I've said previously. It isn't that the DIS has suddenly gotten more negative. It's that Disney has made a lot of changes that have degraded the experience they offer and the DIS is just calling it like they see it.

Disney budgets a net income for the parks each year and meeting the projected goal is number one on their priority list by far. Projections for revenues and expenses are the driving forces behind ticket pricing. Given the projections of future revenues and future expenses, they nearly always raise the prices to a point that they feel the market can bare. If that price increase isn't adequate to meet the revenue needs to offset projected increases expenses, they have to cut expenses. Management works tirelessly finding ways to cut expenses that will do the least harm to the overall customer experience. Many on the Podcast team like to belly ache about the overall experience being degraded by one thing or another, but the only option is to raise ticket prices more than they already do and I know Disney doesn't want to do that.

 

[disneysteve]

Disney budgets a net income for the parks each year and meeting the projected goal is number one on their priority list by far. Projections for revenues and expenses are the driving forces behind ticket pricing. Given the projections of future revenues and future expenses, they nearly always raise the prices to a point that they feel the market can bare. If that price increase isn't adequate to meet the revenue needs to offset projected increases expenses, they have to cut expenses. Management works tirelessly finding ways to cut expenses that will do the least harm to the overall customer experience. Many on the Podcast team like to belly ache about the overall experience being degraded by one thing or another, but the only option is to raise ticket prices more than they already do and I know Disney doesn't want to do that.

I understand the economics, but when guests see higher and higher prices coupled with lower and lower service, folks are going to complain, whether they happen to host a popular podcast or not.

Personally, it isn't the price hikes that bother me. I happily pay what they're asking. What bothers me is that the experience I'm getting isn't nearly as good as it used to be. The crowds are nuts and the service just isn't there any more. I can't say I've experienced everything they've complained about on the show but I've experienced quite enough of it to know that they aren't just belly aching. They are reporting very accurate and legitimate information. It's sad that there is so much negative stuff to report on, but I'm glad they are presenting honest and up to date information.

 

[Polybound]

I understand the economics, but when guests see higher and higher prices coupled with lower and lower service, folks are going to complain, whether they happen to host a popular podcast or not.

Personally, it isn't the price hikes that bother me. I happily pay what they're asking. What bothers me is that the experience I'm getting isn't nearly as good as it used to be. The crowds are nuts and the service just isn't there any more. I can't say I've experienced everything they've complained about on the show but I've experienced quite enough of it to know that they aren't just belly aching. They are reporting very accurate and legitimate information. It's sad that there is so much negative stuff to report on, but I'm glad they are presenting honest and up to date information.

As Pete always says, I quit complaining about the price increases because there are enough people willing to pay'em. I agree the crowds are out of control, especially at the MK. I blame construction and lack of entertainment at the other parks and also FP+ which seems to have brought more and more locals to the parks more frequently. Yes the Podcast team does report accurately. My problem is when the line between unbiased discussion and promotion gets blurred.

 

[disneysteve]

Yes the Podcast team does report accurately. My problem is when the line between unbiased discussion and promotion gets blurred.

What do you mean here? Considering that Pete and company run a large Disney-centric travel agency, that would suggest that reporting negative stuff about Disney would be bad for business. Still, they talk about the problems so they clearly feel that's the right thing to do even if it might mean some potential customers decide not to book trips.

 

[Polybound]

What do you mean here? Considering that Pete and company run a large Disney-centric travel agency, that would suggest that reporting negative stuff about Disney would be bad for business. Still, they talk about the problems so they clearly feel that's the right thing to do even if it might mean some potential customers decide not to book trips.

Got to report negatives. Everything can't be rosie, then too many people would view it as nothing but a promotion show.

 

[disneysteve]

Got to report negatives. Everything can't be rosie, then it really would be nothing but a promotion show.

Okay. I thought you were saying the DIS blurred the line. Gotcha.

 

[SusanBaird]

This point is really interesting. At the Dis 20th many fans where able to meet up with these guys and discuss their thoughts face to face. Kevin and John where both very positive and uplifting even regarding the negative aspects of WDW. Ryno was funny as ever and described his change of heart since working in the parks so often. Its easy to see beyond the Disney glitter and glamour when your in the parks weekly. With that being said Disney World used to blow our minds with new attractions yet as of late there are few that really live up to the hype. Avatar world is a great example. Its beautiful, great dinning and Flight of Passage is a game changed but the river attraction was a joke. Another example was the Frozen ride in Epcot. It didn't live up to the over the top hype.

I honestly think Disney World has changed drastically over the last 15 years. Customer serves is the most obvious but there are other real issues, park cleanliness, food quality, cost of and vacation. Remember when one park a week would stay open until 3:00 AM? No longer.

I suspect that they quality of vacation they all have now experienced at Disneyland has made them resent WDW that much more. WDW has become its own worse enemy. They have done such a great job pulling in customers that now they are over ran and the infrastructure cant support this level of service. If you don't believe me take a ride on the monorail and breath in the quaint smell of failure. Make sure you hold on tight you never know when a door might pop open.

Ha, thats so funny,
We went to Disneyland recently and had such a bad bad time I was laughing and saying Disneyworld ruined me for Disneyland.
It's all about the lens you view things through. We didn't have an ABD tour or a plaid with us though so maybe that's why.

 

[DLgal]

Ha, thats so funny,
We went to Disneyland recently and had such a bad bad time I was laughing and saying Disneyworld ruined me for Disneyland.
It's all about the lens you view things through. We didn't have an ABD tour or a plaid with us though so maybe that's why.

I can speak to this. I'm a Disneyland local. I am there an embarrassing amount of time. Disneyland is wonderful. I love it there, but I would be a lying liar if I said EVERY SINGLE visit to the parks was sunshine and rainbows. (Okay, the sunshine part is like 99% true, but that's neither here nor there.) Some days, I have a terrible time at Disneyland. Some days it's absolutely magical. Most of the time, it's a fun time, and way better than doing housework at home. I have seen Disneyland at various places on the spectrum of amazingness.

The single driving factor in whether I have an enjoyable day at Disneyland is the crowd level. The crowd level affects EVERYTHING ELSE. It affects how clean the park is, how often rides are breaking down, how long the lines are, the CM attitudes, etc.

The thing is, though, I go SO often that I can write off these negative days as "flukes" because in my experience, they are. Disneyland is probably full on magical awesomeness about 85% of the time. You can bet I feel badly on those crappy days thinking about all the people there for the first time or on their one trip every year. I'm sorry that your experience seems to have lined up with a bad day or week at the parks and I promise, it's not always bad. Truly, I don't sense a systemic issue at Disneyland related to cut backs. I just don't experience enough negative things to justify that. It does seem though, that Disneyland is not as motivated to cut costs as WDW. Park hours are routinely 8am-midnight. Staff levels seem appropriate most of the time, and CMs are generally friendly knowledgeable, and stick around long term. There are less College Program cast here, which makes a difference in overall service.

In fairness, I have never had an overwhelmingly negative day at WDW that wasn't the fault of my own children and their behavioral issues. It's always a good time for us and I don't notice all these things the podcast team sees. I went with a newbie in 2017 and he had an amazing time, and we had so many magical moments that I could not have asked for a better first trip for this person. So, I hear all this grumbling and just shrug and go "eh...I never experienced that."

 

[disneysteve]

The single driving factor in whether I have an enjoyable day at Disneyland is the crowd level. The crowd level affects EVERYTHING ELSE. It affects how clean the park is, how often rides are breaking down, how long the lines are, the CM attitudes, etc.

So true, and I'd say the exact same thing about WDW. The overriding issue behind almost all of the guest complaints is the crowding. Not strictly the wait times but the crowding itself.

 

[Tink-osophy]

I just listened to the section on the latest podcast about company restructuring and the "new" parking charge and I found it refreshingly honest.

If there's more negativity about Disney on the podcast lately, I think you have to hold Disney themselves responsible for that.

When you hear this kind of disillusionment from so many big, longtime lovers of Disney, it's not just a change in attitude. There's cause! IMO.

 

[sunshine1]

I could listen to Pete Werner rant all day.

I love it.

He knows what time it is.

 

[Clare Voince]

I am not a regular listener to the podcast for just this reason. When I'm desperate for some Disney info, I listen to it, but after awhile, I get turned off by the negativity. I like their news stories, and when I'm annoyed by something Disney did, it's cathartic to hear Pete rant about it. But I can only take so much of it. This week was the first time that I listened to the show in months, and I probably won't again for awhile. I've switched to vlogs, like The Tim Tracker and Resort TV1. I want my Disney content to give me some of that Disney magic at home, not ruin Disney for me. Sometimes I wonder if the DIS team even like Disney, because they sure don't seem to much of the time.

 

[disneysteve]

Sometimes I wonder if the DIS team even like Disney, because they sure don't seem to much of the time.

I think what they do shows just the opposite. They are lifelong passionate Disney fans. That's why they care so deeply about what they see happening to the company and the product. If they didn't like Disney, they wouldn't spend their lives and their careers entrenched in it and they wouldn't give a darn what happened to it, good or bad.

The casual Disney fan who maybe takes a family trip there once every few years probably doesn't even notice the stuff that we all obsess about. It's the people who are totally into it that are the most critical because we notice every little change and we see the pattern over time.