But passion can fuel more than just joyful enthusiasm. On its flip side, passion enflames fans to turn against their love when they sense something's gone wrong. And that seems to be happening a lot lately among Disney fans. Whether it's due to the annual price increases, long development times for new theme park attractions, or changes fans just don't like, Disney's been eliciting harsh reactions from many of its most loyal fans.
Is that kind of anger healthy for theme park fans? Here's the thing — as a multi-billion dollar company that welcomes more than 130 million fans to its theme parks around the world each year, Disney's not going to let a bunch of fans ripping it online affect the ways it does business. Disney's not some neighborhood shop, monitoring its Yelp reviews and making changes in an attempt to keep all the feedback positive. Disney's small army of business analysts are looking at a much wider range of metrics, with its bottom line of profit being the big one.
So long as enough fans keep coming to the parks and spending enough money to keep Disney's profits healthy, no one in the company is going to lose a moment of sleep at night over angry fans blowing up comment threads online. The only people losing sleep are those Disney fans — whose passion riles them into pointless fury.
It doesn't have to be this way. As I said at the start of this post, vacations are supposed to be fun. I don't care you plan obsessively or wing it every time. I don't care whether you rope drop the park or sleep in 'til noon. Or whether you book all your Fastpasses in advance or wait standby for everything you do. If you're having fun on your vacation, you're doing it right.
But if your vacation passion is making you angry, it's time to step back.
I'm not saying to let go of your passion. No way. Passion animates life. Embrace it. But let's recognize, as the cliche now tells us, the opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference.
Anger is a toxic emotion. Name 100 stupid, harmful things that people have done in your life, and I'll bet you that anger fueled the majority. Why invite more of that into your life?
Avoiding anger doesn't mean you let Disney — or anyone or anything else — off for doing something you didn't like. But instead of getting angry, why not try indifference instead?
Remember those business analysts, ignoring all the online rants to look only at the bottom line? If you want to get their attention, don't let your passion for theme parks lead you into anger. Allow your passion for theme parks to lead you to a competitor, instead. When the attendance and spending data start to slip over to another company, believe me, that gets a business' attention in ways that an endless online flame war never will.
Don't like the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror closing at Disney California Adventure? Don't waste your time, and your mental health, getting angry online. Just get in the car and spend your money up the 5, visiting Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter, instead. Or make the short drive over to Buena Park and enjoy all the recent upgrades over at Knott's Berry Farm. Take the kids down to Carlsbad and turn 'em loose to play at Legoland California. You've got options — options enjoyed by millions of other, equally passionate theme park fans. Use them.
Listen, I get it. Much of the passion that Disney theme park fans feel is for Disney, not just for theme parks. It's tough to switch gears and move from the passionate devotion to something you've loved to feeling an empty indifference toward it. So don't. As I said before, Disney's a huge company. Keep your passion for everything it does that you continue to love. And for elements that you don't? Instead of getting angry, accept the more accurate description of what you're feeling.
Disappointment.
Don't let your passion enflame that disappointment into anger. Just let it be what it is. Eventually that disappointment might fade into sadness on its way to indifference. That's fine.
Just remember that you are in charge. Your passions are yours. They don't belong to any some brand — Disney or otherwise. So long as those brands deliver what you love, embrace them and let your passion flow. But don't let your passion tie you to some big brand, company, or team so tightly that you feel yourself getting angry when they do you wrong. This isn't a marriage — a one-on-one meeting of two equal individuals who pledge to find ways to make it work, for better or worse. It's you being a fan of something.
If ain't working for you anymore, don't get angry. Just take your passion elsewhere.
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http://themeparkuniversity.com/disney/has-disney-lost-their-sense-of-humor/
"By now you’ve heard the story of David Swindler, the man who was on vacation with his family over the Labor Day Weekend 2015 at the Pop Century Resort at Walt Disney World. According to several news reports, Swindler was on hold with the front desk for a long period of time looking to get a question answered. Frustrated with waiting, he called back and jokingly stated that he could have built a meth lab during the time he was on hold.
This joke was taken seriously and the next thing you know, Orange County Deputies began searching Swindler’s Pop Century hotel room for any indications of a meth lab. Good news: no meth lab found. Bad news: Swindler is escorted from Pop Century and given a trespass notice not to return to Walt Disney World property."
I've seen many instances of issues being addressed in the parks, not long after complaints showed up on the message boards. How about the social media backlash against the original plans for New Fantasyland? If that backlash had never occurred, we never would have gotten 7DMT.
P.S.: The CM on the phone, in that "meth lab" incident, had to be a moron. How can you possibly take a joke like that seriously??
And there's a huge difference between sending some low-level PR person to Tweet non-apologies to distressed customers and allowing social media posts to influence your core operations. Trust me, until complaints start to move revenue, no big business cares what anyone says.
As for message boards, I've been reading and posting on them for years. Lots of insiders anonymously post on them as well as read them. And like I said, there are numerous instances of people pointing out things like broken effects in the parks, and the problem was quickly addressed.
No major e-ticket attraction in any of the parks for over a decade in Orlando, and only now we have a sprinkling of one or two new attractions.
What's not to get angry about?
I think most (older generation) love Walt Disney (as I do), the founder of handdrawn full feature films and a stunning new generation of theme parks. The passion for his company was not only the money. If that was the case he would have listen to everyone who called him an idiot for making bad business decisions. Building a theme park for so much money was just not done, just like the cost for an animated full length feature film. But Disney was right, succesfull and it made him a ton of money while doing it.
The current company that still bares his name isn't the same anymore. Their priorities and way they think of running the business are very different of how Walt and his brother Roy ran the business. It's a tough pill to swallow but the Disney company will only feel the need to reinvent itself again when the cash flow dries up.
I keep following that company but stopped visiting. I can't overlook the flaws and don't like the changes but I hope the company one day will change. That will be the day I'll buy a ticket again. I haven't stop loving, it's just on hold.
What is the price if this "joke" is ignored? If it is indeed nothing, then it is nothing, but crying "fire" in a crowded theater is exactly what this person did. If the joke is true and later found out, the penalty for the Disney worker is most severe. You just don't make jokes like this today. You might get away with it 10 to 20 years ago.
Best thing to do if you don't like Disney is just not go. Disney will react when there is downturn in attendance.
All the haters are still going to Disney anyway, so why should they really care that you think the monorail cabins are gross?
If you really want to elicit change, you have to just stop going....
It's ironic that we are facing a similar issue this election year...if you hate both candidates, why vote for either one? A two party system will never change unless the collective American people change.
So ya'll can go ahead and love to hate Disney, but as for me...I sometimes hate that I love it (*lights candle near Alien Encounter memorial), but (for the most part), love Trumps hate.
I didn't think I had to explain why the CM was a moron. But I guess I do...
Just a few reasons: a) who would be crazy enough to set up a meth lab in a freakin' hotel room?
b) who would be crazier enough to tell someone about it?
c) it's impossible to set up a meth lab in the short time that you're on hold on the phone. Even given lots and lots to time, it's practically impossible to do so in a hotel room without lots of people getting suspicious.
d) he didn't even say he did it. He said he could have done it, as a way of expressing that he had been on the phone too long. It's so obviously a joke that the CM, yes, was a total moron. Case closed.
As a society (I'm Canadian, but the same goes for my country) we have become so knee jerk paranoid about so many things that rationality has been chucked out the window. A tiny bit of rationality and thinking will mean that people won't be victimized for making a silly joke. These days, someone could say something like "that movie was a bomb", but if he happens to say it in an airport or on a plane, he could end up in handcuffs. Come on, now. That makes sense?
Disney theme parks have security screening like the airports so he thought a joke like that is harmless. Maybe try it at home on your local school. Oh wait.
As far as prices go, I have been leaning towards getting an annual pass but even the FL Resident tickets are way too much for a family of 4 adults. I might go for the Epcot after 4 ticket but would only really use it for Food & Wine. It's just getting to the point that it's too expensive for a family to go especially with Orlando wages so we have tended to go a lot less than in the past.
I'm sorry but it is kind of silly for people to think that on-line fan communities actually influence company policy. I think the in-park complaints, benefit-cost ratio and in-house/internal preferences have far greater influences. Which is why I completely accept the Staggs story over any other.
I'll jump into it... sounds to me like the hotel employee was a bit of a thicky as well. But it obviously went on to their superior and they didn't seem to be much better. Sure Disney World (and to a lesser degree Disneyland) are full of idiotic guests. But take a control-freak supervisor and a front desk clerk with poor listening skills and/or no sense of humor and this is what you get. I currently have three relatives working at Disney- one in the Valley and two out in Florida. The one's at WDW are intelligent but a bit on the Asperger's scale and really do not get irony or sarcasm. They would totally be the one's kicking this poor guy and his family out.
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