I still don’t understand what it is that is wrong with park operations. What exactly aren’t they able to do that they should be able to do? In what specific ways is it causing issues with guest satisfaction?
I still don’t understand what it is that is wrong with park operations. What exactly aren’t they able to do that they should be able to do? In what specific ways is it causing issues with guest satisfaction?
I'll just talk about my experience last week when I was there:
-Parking attendants either non existent or not even bothering to direct cars where to park
-Long lines at counter service restaurants running at 1/2 capacity registers
-Indifferent guest relations cast members on two different occasions
-At HHN there was 1 person working at Moe's and 2 severely overmatched TMs at Duff Gardens, leading to long lines and ridiculous waits just to get a beer.
Uni's Ops aren't terrible, but they sloppy and far too often disinterested. It isn't fitting for the world class resort they are
At Disney, guests are treated like individuals. There's as much emphasis placed on making small magical moments as there is on a ride throughput or standard operating procedures.
Examples:
Cast Members stop to chat to guests often.
Cast Members are encouraged to make spontaneous magical moments.
Cast Members are proactive in handling guest situations.
At Universal, guests are defined as a population. The focus is always around what do to with the mass of people, rather than providing individual attention to the paying customer.
Examples:
Universal often uses a guilty until proven innocent approach with their security team. "We see (x) trend happening in our parks, therefore we will take action on everybody rather than identifying the problem"
Team Members are more focused on ride throughput and operational efficiencies rather than focusing on the guest experience as a whole (funny because they still can't get it right)
... Just stated my experience and I go a damn lot.That's great, and I'm happy for you, but just because you had a good time and think that everything is fine doesn't mean you can dismiss people that call out the resort for their less than stellar experiences.
See, I don't agree with this at all. "Magical moments" are cutesy pie BS that come off as so fake.
Universal does fine with the "magical moments" stuff. They've glommed that off Disney just fine. What they lack is the ability to grasp their newly garnered crowds.
I didn’t realize that there was an issue with park ops.
Overall Ops issues (in both front and back of house) are the main reason I stopped going. I have a lot of theories on the why, but it’ll take a while for the cultural change that’s necessary in the parks to take effect.
I still don’t understand what it is that is wrong with park operations. What exactly aren’t they able to do that they should be able to do? In what specific ways is it causing issues with guest satisfaction?
No, magical moments at Disney are when a cast member gets a specific assignment (task) from the CSD system to spend the next 15 minutes of their day finding a family and making them feel special. It's pre-planned in their labor forecasting tools. Ride Ops can do this by back-dooring people directly onto their attractions/whereas park services do this through their water art on the guest pathways. It's not always a voluntary action (although that's also encouraged).
It's purely operational.
Departing from Ops- which I don't personally see as a problem- mine is on the infrastructure stance. Everyone can knock magic bands- but Disney has it right. Even when they had a key to the world - it was just one card that did everything - they did it right. Universal is working on years now having more cards than one can hold- although they've finally got Express Passes on room keys- yet tickets are still separate. And if you aren't on-property, you cant charge to your room key (obviously). I long for a unified system and a day where an annoying lanyard is no longer necessary. Oh, and Wifi.
See, I don't agree with this at all. "Magical moments" are cutesy pie BS that come off as so fake.
I was a Disney CM. I know how it works.
As it should be.
Having "behind the curtain" firsthand knowledge skews your opinion though. You see "Magical moments" as cutesy pie BS that comes off as fake- because you know it's fake and you know it's, as @P@n!K_Sw1tC# said, it is a preplanned task in their labor forecasting tools. It's as fake as it could possibly be. That's your opinion because that's your experience.
For the Millions upon Millions annually who don't share that experience, they don't see it as cutesy pie fake BS. And that's who they are impressing. Not former CMs who are familiar with the game.
Which means everything for your experience and absolutely nothing for everyone else's...I was also a guest before I was a CM though. I never liked the incessant "Have a magical day!" every CM threw out like a robot
Cool, so you have no problem with Universal running their operations like the TSA checkpoint at the airport. Got it, glad you're not in charge.