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Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway (DHS)

I personally don’t listen to him/ his podcast. I’m just communicating what I’ve been told by people who have some connection to
the project. I’ve been told that Disney is genuinely struggling finding people to work on these projects because they have so many going on at once (and continuing to add more) and the recruitment process is relatively rigorous.

The issue with budgets in major companies like Disney is that they aren’t flexible. They can’t just pay recruit new people and pay them more money, because Disney has to consider how that factors in with the previous workers. If everyone is making roughly 14.78 an hour and you suddenly bump pay up to 17.00 an hour you’ve just bumped your labor budget up 14% and accounting will have a coronary, especially when, to accounting, it’s an unnecessary cost. That doesn’t even bring up the union (which to my knowledge is still involved in projects), which throws the idea of working around the clock to get the project done out of the realm of possibility (I believe that’s why it took so long to get Pandora out as the attractions were in test and adjust in early June of 2016, I believe there was a sundown rule.) There are a lot of project management issues within Disney in general, but supply of labor is genuinely a problem at the moment.

In addition, Disney is unwilling because while MMRR will be an enjoyable attraction, it lacks a dedicated revenue stream. It’s purely a sunk cost that will have no actual return so going over budget on a project like this is a much bigger sin than going over budget on something like GE whose merch sales will be unlike anything we’ve seen on property.

I don't know if Disney does their own EPC or not, if they do, these problems would be the contractors, NOT Disney, and Disney likely wouldn't' care, unless the contractor gave up money for missing mechanical completion. If Disney does their own EPC, and they really want to open, a few more million is NOTHING. Their stock value gains in a minute last week will more than cover it.
 
Everyone I know in attractions at Disney was drug tested. I even know someone who worked in F&B at Disney that was drug tested.
I only worked at Disney briefly (which was more than enough for me) while on the DCP back in 2015, so maybe things have changed, but I do know that I wasn’t tested lol.
 
Disney tests everyone in Transportation as a DOT requirement, as does SeaWorld and Universal. If you drive a vehicle you are subject to drug testing when you are hired and random drug testing at any time. SeaWorld used to drug test all applicants, and they did hair samples and not just pee testing.

While I've often heard that smoking pot is rampant in the building trades, I think making that statement about Florida in comparison to California is WAY OFF BASE. Since medical marijuana became legal in CA there are clouds of pot smoke everywhere while it seems much rarer here in Orlando.

I do believe that at this time the construction resources of Central Florida are really stretched to their limits. There is just construction EVERYWHERE here, and I have no idea where they are getting all the equipment and man power. I'm guessing that this all contributes to the delays in SWGE, Runaway Railway, and just about everything else.
 
The “not enough construction workers” excuse is a bunch of bull. If Disney or Uni wanted the projects done, they would have no problem finding the people they needed

Everyone I know in attractions at Disney was drug tested. I even know someone who worked in F&B at Disney that was drug tested.

This would be a fairly new policy. Needless to say a lot of the people I worked with would not have been working with me otherwise
 
Maybe they are at a point in the process that they need skilled or experienced workers in a specific field and not just guys who can lay block or swing a hammer. Those can be harder to find, especially when theres as many projects going on at the same time as there are.

And when you start looking for "anyone" with construction experience, pot isn't the drug you are dealing with. Meth, heroin, etc abusers are what you start running into. It is a known issue in the construction trades nationwide. It's not just passing a piss test you have to worry about. It's things getting stole off job sites, things being done wrong, people not showing up or showing up high. High end trades can usually weed those people out, but when you get into general construction or semi-skilled trades you are going to see it.
 
Disney tests everyone in Transportation as a DOT requirement, as does SeaWorld and Universal. If you drive a vehicle you are subject to drug testing when you are hired and random drug testing at any time. SeaWorld used to drug test all applicants, and they did hair samples and not just pee testing.

While I've often heard that smoking pot is rampant in the building trades, I think making that statement about Florida in comparison to California is WAY OFF BASE. Since medical marijuana became legal in CA there are clouds of pot smoke everywhere while it seems much rarer here in Orlando.

I do believe that at this time the construction resources of Central Florida are really stretched to their limits. There is just construction EVERYWHERE here, and I have no idea where they are getting all the equipment and man power. I'm guessing that this all contributes to the delays in SWGE, Runaway Railway, and just about everything else.
Now that you mention it, I remember the hair samples when I worked at Adventure Island during college.

As you say though, there’s just a crazy amount of construction going on in Central Florida and that’s mostly all that needs to be said. It’s the downside to D23 and why Universal doesn’t announce opening timelines/dates until they’re absolutely sure they can hit it (even though it drives us crazy).
 
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The “not enough construction workers” excuse is a bunch of bull. If Disney or Uni wanted the projects done, they would have no problem finding the people they needed



This would be a fairly new policy. Needless to say a lot of the people I worked with would not have been working with me otherwise

Most companies do it to scare employees. If they ever fire someone because of it, sooner or later a positive test comes back on someone they REALLY don't want to fire. Be that for them being awesome, or filling lots of EEOC slots. If they don't fire them, then the lawsuits start. Not to mention the prickly HIPPA issues.

Beyond prescreening, it is mostly a waste of money. CEO's can get drunk as hell on a Saturday night, and drive home drunk. But some rando employee goes to a house party with a fog of pot smoke, two weeks ago on a Saturday, and they get fired.

I remember a day when if there was a single spec of tattoo visible on you, you would never get a decent job. And I'm not THAT old.
 
Now that you mention it, I remember the hair samples when I worked at Adventure Island during college.

As you say though, there’s just a crazy amount of construction going on in Central Florida and that’s mostly all that needs to be said. It’s the downside to D23 and why Universal doesn’t announce opening timelines/dates until they’re absolutely sure they can hit it (even though it drives us crazy).

I'd bet a pile of money that hair was not tested.
 
Mods, can you guys add "(WDW)" or "(DHS)" to the thread title to avoid confusion with Disneyland's version? Just a suggestion.
 
1. The GMR redo was a $100+ million proposal. The attraction needed an entirely new ride system and operating system, multiple scenes replaced, and the remaining scenes would have needed upgrades.

2. There really was little chance of a ROI because marketing an upgrade to a 30 year old ride is difficult.

3. And many lament the loss of the parks thesis attraction forgetting that the parks theme is moving away from "The Golden Age of Film Making" to WDW's IPark3.

Not to mention that the average park guests loathed the ride. One of the lowest GSATS at WDW. And the top brass felt that upgrades to the existing attraction would have done little to change that. An assessment that I agree with, btw.
 
1. The GMR redo was a $100+ million proposal. The attraction needed an entirely new ride system and operating system, multiple scenes replaced, and the remaining scenes would have needed upgrades.

2. There really was little chance of a ROI because marketing an upgrade to a 30 year old ride is difficult.

3. And many lament the loss of the parks thesis attraction forgetting that the parks theme is moving away from "The Golden Age of Film Making" to WDW's IPark3.

Not to mention that the average park guests loathed the ride. One of the lowest GSATS at WDW. And the top brass felt that upgrades to the existing attraction would have done little to change that. An assessment that I agree with, btw.

Yeah, even upgrading the scenes would still end with a very slow moving ride past dioramas, with lots of space between the vehicles and the "action". Not up to today's standards. And I'd assume GMR's lack of a line was the only reason many people rode it. The problem isn't GMR being replaced, it's Motors being replaced, backlot being replaced. Nothing being ADDED. The overall capacity of rides will be lower when SWGE opens than in perhaps the last 20 years , up until when everything was shut down to build MMRR and GMR. That's unacceptable.

And in that time, park attendance has probably gone up 50% or more. Again, Disney created mess with decades of not caring about guest satisfaction.
 
1. The GMR redo was a $100+ million proposal. The attraction needed an entirely new ride system and operating system, multiple scenes replaced, and the remaining scenes would have needed upgrades.

2. There really was little chance of a ROI because marketing an upgrade to a 30 year old ride is difficult.

3. And many lament the loss of the parks thesis attraction forgetting that the parks theme is moving away from "The Golden Age of Film Making" to WDW's IPark3.

Not to mention that the average park guests loathed the ride. One of the lowest GSATS at WDW. And the top brass felt that upgrades to the existing attraction would have done little to change that. An assessment that I agree with, btw.
I do agree that it would’ve been all sunken costs. And let’s not forget Disney wasn’t even rumored to be buying FOX yet when MMRR was announced so we can look at it and say they have a great catalog for a new GMR now with movies they fully own, but they had no idea at the time.
 
That’s an exact quote from Jim Hill on a recent Disney Dish podcast. Personally I find it offensive. Real generality, negative stereotype, and even if there was some truth to it, I’m sure there’s a better way to say it.

If Disney really needed extra help to complete a project, I’m sure they could find it. And if you have to offer more money to pursuade skilled workers to help them rather than work on other projects, I’m sure they could. It would just take the desire to get it done.

I don’t claim to know how Disney works, but I’m sure there were a lot more factors at play besides finding workers that can pass a drug test to finish their Mickey Mouse ride. That has to be an oversimplification.

So here is another angle I can share. The cost of insurance and the building legal requirements of contractors have caused the available / eligible contractors to dwindle. In order to work on a Disney job you need extremely high insurance credentials, and these policies are getting harder and higher priced to find. Add the lack of skilled workers in the market place, and you have a recipe for disaster.

I’m not saying this is what’s causing the delay, but it’s highly
Possible that their could be a severe shortage of approved contractors , especially with all the work that’s being done currently.
 
So here is another angle I can share. The cost of insurance and the building legal requirements of contractors have caused the available / eligible contractors to dwindle. In order to work on a Disney job you need extremely high insurance credentials, and these policies are getting harder and higher priced to find. Add the lack of skilled workers in the market place, and you have a recipe for disaster.

I’m not saying this is what’s causing the delay, but it’s highly
Possible that their could be a severe shortage of approved contractors , especially with all the work that’s being done currently.
That’s a much better way of saying it, for sure. Thank you.

I personally feel that Disney has specific people/groups/contractors that they work with, and they’re happy with them.

They probably could’ve moved people around to get this done sooner, but they have their own priorities. Epcot projects, hotels, parking lot changes and security booths at three parks now, and other projects, all going on at once.

So, they chose to put this off. Star Wars is obviously the priority. And we’re getting it sooner than anyone expected. Soooo, sorry Mickey.
 
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