Say goodbye to the entertainment at the Poly

[Marymouse2003]

I cld see a HUGE difference in Christmas decorations/entertainment, etc. going down the last few yrs. At 1 time MK was decorated with @ least 10,000 poincetia (sp?) plants, you can see thats not so any more. No more tree lighting ceremonies @ MK or Epcot. I heard ppl complaining about the MVMCP being so crowded and held so early in the yr and that most of the entertainment was available to you during the day.

I won't even go into CM/help @ resorts Where do they get these ppl??? And b4 ppl go nuts on me about CM, the good ones are far & few between. So, I make sure they get what's coming to them $$.

For the 1st time in my life, I don't feel like going back until things get better there. Why pay more for less?!?! My heart is broken!

Unfortunately, I think it will get WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse b4 it gets better. Disney is using the word "Economy" as an excuse.

With all this said, I do hope upper management gets their act 2gether!! I want the Old WDW back.
God bless all,

[hardingella]

Disney has decades of magic behind them, and we are all very nostagic about our memories of that Disney Magic. But as time goes on those magical memories will slowly be replaced with not so magical ones and we will compare now with vacations gone by. That i feel will rub off on our children.Then they will have problems.

So although i think Disney will be fine now, even in these uncertain times, i feel that its in years to come they may see a sustained downturn in their numbers,unless they bite the bullett and keep giving us that unique Disney magic.

[Ian]

I cld see a HUGE difference in Christmas decorations/entertainment, etc. going down the last few yrs. At 1 time MK was decorated with @ least 10,000 poincetia (sp?) plants, you can see thats not so any more. No more tree lighting ceremonies @ MK or Epcot. I heard ppl complaining about the MVMCP being so crowded and held so early in the yr and that most of the entertainment was available to you during the day.

We had this exact same experience in regards to the holiday celebrations this past year.

The amount of decorations they put up for Christmas has been seriously curtailed. I remember my very first Christmas trip (which I think was in 1999) the parks were just dripping with Christmas wreaths, garland, bows, ribbons ... it seemed like every empty inch of space had some sort of decoration draped on it.

This past year in Magic Kingdom, only Main Street had any decorations. The rest of the park, you'd really have no idea it was Christmas just from looking. I remember, for example, in Tomorrowland they used to decorate the metal palm trees ... none of that.

In fact, the difference was so striking I actually went back to my pictures from that trip to make sure I wasn't letting my imagination get the best of me. But nope ... I was right ... WAY more decorations.

[Dsnygirl]

We had this exact same experience in regards to the holiday celebrations this past year.

The amount of decorations they put up for Christmas has been seriously curtailed. I remember my very first Christmas trip (which I think was in 1999) the parks were just dripping with Christmas wreaths, garland, bows, ribbons ... it seemed like every empty inch of space had some sort of decoration draped on it.

This past year in Magic Kingdom, only Main Street had any decorations. The rest of the park, you'd really have no idea it was Christmas just from looking. I remember, for example, in Tomorrowland they used to decorate the metal palm trees ... none of that.

In fact, the difference was so striking I actually went back to my pictures from that trip to make sure I wasn't letting my imagination get the best of me. But nope ... I was right ... WAY more decorations.

I am glad to hear somebody else say this -- we went to Disney in December for the first time last year, and although I won't say we were underwhelmed -- after all, it was our first time for the holidays -- I will say it was nothing like what we'd expected. We'd heard such magnificent things, and seen so many beautiful pictures, and we honestly felt like it really wasn't up to Disney's normal standards. So, I guess I'm glad to know that we didn't just have expectations that were too high, and that it really was different for the folks who've been before at Christmas. I can honestly say that based on our experience this past December, we won't be back for the holidays anytime soon... we still found May and October to offer more "bang for the buck" in terms of beauty, weather and offerings -- and not much can beat MNSSHP... unfort., we just didn't feel like MVMCP was all that different than any other evening in MK.

[Ian]

Yeah, I agree. What's really sad is that I've been like 4 or 5 times at Christmas time since '99 and each year the decorations have been less and less, MVMCP offers less and less and costs more and more, and in general the entire period has just started to pale in comparison to the Flower & Garden Festival, MNSSHP, etc.

Although I will say I do still love the Holidays Around the World at Epcot.

[cgriff]

What's really sad is that I've been like 4 or 5 times at Christmas time since '99 and each year the decorations have been less and less...

Wow, so at one point Cinderella's Castle had *more* lights on it than it does now?

[Ian]

Wow, so at one point Cinderella's Castle had *more* lights on it than it does now?

If you add 10% decorations in one place and eliminate 50% decorations in another place, that's a net decoration loss of 40%.

Honestly, I think that's pretty obvious. Did they add something to the Castle? Yes. Did they cut back dramatically on just about everything else? Yes.

[big blue and hairy]

Moderator Alert

Let's keep the discussion about the entertainment cutbacks at the Poly. If people want to discuss the value of the 4 + 3 promotion, please start a new thread.

Thanks, let us now return to our regularly scheduled programming...

We seem to be off track again, so I'll quote myself

Well, lots of you may have had a premature coniption. According to Screamscape (with video), the torch lighting ceremony is back. It only stopped temporarily because one of the people in it left.

Being a Frasier fan, I also refer to this as a Bulldog moment.

[Goofster]

That's the truth. I just don't get how people go nuts over the word "free". "Free" dining has sent the world is tizzy, even though I never saw any real value in the plan. Getting 3 nights for free when you're paying an overpriced rack rate that's never really an actual going rate, just doesn't make any sense either.

I've been going often for over ten years now, more often than not at least 3 trips a year. The value of a Disney vacation has definitely declined. It has been a fairly steady decline since about 2000-2001 or so. Sadly, many folks one go for the once in a lifetime type trips and just don't see it. It's unfortunate, I used to use TWDC as an example of how a company should be run, with a focus on service and quality; a leader in their industry. Now they do just enough to keep up with everyone else and hope the Disney brand is enough to get them by.

I agree...as much as I love Disney (as I'm sure you do too) its hard not to think that over the last 10-years of vacations at Disney I am now paying more and getting less than what I did 10-years ago - closed attractions, closed restaurants, shorter operating hours, okay customer service, and cut backs on all the small things. When you're dropping three grand on a week vacation when that dollar amount could go a lot further elsewhere...you start to think about the alternatives.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Aloha to favored amenities.
2) Aloha to cost reductions.

- You figure which Aloha is welcome and which is goodbye.

[tikiman]

1) Aloha to favored amenities.
2) Aloha to cost reductions.

- You figure which Aloha is welcome and which is goodbye.

That's a tough one

[tikiman]

Well, lots of you may have had a premature coniption. According to Screamscape (with video), the torch lighting ceremony is back. It only stopped temporarily because one of the people in it left.

Being a Frasier fan, I also refer to this as a Bulldog moment.

Actually no one left, more than one person was laid off and they were planning on stopping the torch lighting ceremony but with all the complaints they reconsidered starting it back up and did.

[Goes4FastPass]

1) Aloha to favored amenities.
2) Aloha to cost reductions.

- You figure which Aloha is welcome and which is goodbye.

Everyone knows there's a 5 letter word that starts with "M" that's the thing that makes WDW happen. That's right, "Money". At WDW money talks. It says "aloha". Guess which one?

[DryCreek]

Everyone knows there's a 5 letter word that starts with "M" that's the thing that makes WDW happen. That's right, "Money". At WDW money talks. It says "aloha". Guess which one?

My guess - the nice staff greets you with Aloha! (Welcome!)

Your money says Aloha! (good by).

Doin' the world is fun - but it ain't cheap!

[big blue and hairy]

Polynesian Torch Lighting Returns:

Frequent contributor and site partner Denise from MouseSteps was at the first Polynesian Torch Lighting Ceremony tonight since it was stopped a few weeks ago due to Kaleo leaving.

This is the story from JeffLangeDVD.com

[tikiman]

This is the story from JeffLangeDVD.com

Both Jeff and Denise have great stuff. I think it is just worded incorrectly. They both know what happened at the Polynesian. Jeff and I have been in communication since the ceremony stopped because he gave me some great photos of the show and of Kaleo. He knows as well as I do that Kaleo was let go and it was not what Kaleo wanted. Also he was not the only person involved in the layoffs. The Torch lighting ceremony did not stop because he decided to leave. It was in an email written by Polynesian management that this was part of a cutback to reduce cost.

I have also discussed this with some of the Polynesian staff who know Kaleo well and they are all upset he was let go. If he had left it would have been a different situation. Also he was never the only one to do the torch lighting ceremony. Infact only one time out of all the ceremonies I have seen was Kaleo part of it.

[princessgirls]

Completely agree. Because if this weren't the case, then ppl would go stay at POP, AllStars, or Port Orleans, to get the same thing for less for the vacationer, and in the end it was no different. It absolutely is one of the things that sets each resort apart from the other. And if you dont have that, that little bit of more personality then whats the difference (besides maybe a bigger room) to stay at Poly (for example) get less for more, or stay at PO and get the same thing for less? Makes no sense, hopefully after this whole economic slow down, money saving things they are pulling, will pick up and in my dreams hoping that then they will explode and get better than before. But thats me dreaming as always lol

This is our train of thought. We stay at the PO because it's cheaper, and our family likes to do 2 fairly big vacations per year. When pricing out trips, we just always say, it's another week away, do we really NEED to stay first-class.
Now, if money were no object....
Julie

[grumpydude]

If they keep on cutting back this way then it will not be as much fun and exciting to stay on property, it's the little extras here and there that keep you coming back. That not only goes for Disney, but for anyplace.

[flomerella]

Has anyone been to the Poly recently to confirm? I was looking forward to the torch lighting ceremony after reading about it (can't remember where though)

[magic4ever]

Polynesian Torch Lighting Returns: Dec.26,2008

"Frequent contributor and site partner Denise from MouseSteps was at the first Polynesian Torch Lighting Ceremony tonight since it was stopped a few weeks ago due to Kaleo leaving."

I found this on a website JeffLangeDVD.com. Hope this is true!! We are headed to the Poly in August for our first stay there....