This past week Disney announced restructuring and layoffs.
In its press release, Disney claimed that what guests want more than
anything is a “One Disney” experience, a relief from the multiple
reservation systems and support infrastructures that each park sports
today, but presumably, will not sport tomorrow. To accomplish this,
they’re going to consolidate many parallel park operations under one
roof.
I don’t know enough to say whether the consolidation makes sense;
on paper, it very well may. But here’s what I do know: the idea that
Disney guests desire a “one Disney” experience is silly, at least for
the 99.5% of Disney park guests that visit only the park nearest to
them. Most guests couldn’t care less about whether the way they book
their Disney World reservation is similar or not to how they book their
Disneyland reservation. It just doesn’t come up for normal folks that
visit a Disney park once every couple of years. Disney, if you’re
consolidating because it’s more cost-efficient, just say that. Don’t
blame your customers.
I just finished booking a trip to Disneyland. (March 22-25, if
anyone wants to drop by and say hello.) If Disney really wanted to make
vacations pleasant, what they could do is simplify the guest booking
experience. I was inundated with offers for packages, dining plans,
discount coupons, and the like. It’s all presented under the guise of
making things convenient for me, but having to consider all of those
options isn’t convenient; it’s stressful. I just want to book a simple
vacation for my family: what I get from Disney is akin in complexity to
buying life insurance.
I’m certain all of these packages make money for Disney, but that’s
not a good enough reason to have them. Disney: just satisfy your
customers, the money will follow. (They knows this; I’m sure their
PowerPoint presentations say it up-and-down.) Don’t act so paranoid
about getting every last dollar from me. Make me happy and I’ll give it
to you willingly.