Epic Universe expected to have $2 billion economic impact in first year

hambone:

Do they consciously act on it? Prolly not. Does reducing wait times become a less urgent problem for the park when an alternative is offered? Absolutely yes.

If there's a suit at any of these parks actively making that choice, they should be immediately fired.

Increasing profits and increasing the experience are not mutually exclusive.

I think some parks suck at ride ops because they just suck at it. 😆

poor management, training and lack of money for more workers.

or all of the above…..

I think Matt Ouimet has alluded before that Fastpass was not originally designed with the intent to monetize it, though it was understood then that people not physically standing in line could be doing other things...including shopping or eating...thereby spending more money. The current decision makers have obviously seen the impact on per cap spending and are now milking it for all its worth.

I find it funny that this argument continues to rage yet everyone resigned themselves to parking fees long ago. I paid $30 to park at Epcot a couple of weeks ago and didn't think twice. In fact, people will spend $45-$55 for "preferred parking" yet the parking lot trams at Disney are extremely reliable and timely.

I don’t resign myself to parking fees, it’s a major issue I structure my yearly trips to have Season/Annual Passes, as a solo traveler parking is a major added expense.

hambone:

Absolutely yes.

I don't think this is necessarily true. There are two ways to increase the value of a FOL pass: decrease capacity, or increase demand. You can increase demand by giving more guests a good experience, encouraging repeat visits and word of mouth.

hambone:

nobody is twirling their mustache and saying "moo-hoo-hahaha, let's make the lines longer." That guy would get laughed out of the room pretty much anywhere.

Would they? Or would they make as much money for the business as possible until getting Luigied?

TheMillenniumRider:

Would they?

I worked for a global bank that had no qualms about making as much money as it could. In all my various roles including running a line of business, if anyone had suggested deliberately making customer service worse in order to ramp up revenue on premium products, it would not have gone over well.

And, we deliberately underpriced checking accounts (as the market demanded), and charged an f-ton for overdrafts. With the justification that people could always avoid them.

So yes, I don't think people choose to make customer experiences worse, but I do think perverse incentives can lead to pricing and behaviors that make customer experiences worse.

I by no means believe that all companies are inherently bad. Well let me rephrase that as people are not inherently bad, because corporation = people for the most part.

However, I do not believe that people are acting in good faith anymore, and there are many people who are excessively greedy, which leads to decisions made in bad faith. When the entire system is built on people assuming others are acting in good faith, this makes everything ripe for manipulation.

Lastly, there are inherently bad people, and inherently bad companies, they certainly exist.

TheMillenniumRider:

Or would they make as much money for the business as possible until getting Luigied?

Yes. Over theme park lines.

Seriously, you guys.

hambone:

if anyone had suggested deliberately making customer service worse in order to ramp up revenue on premium products, it would not have gone over well.

Hewlett Packard recently fessed up to automatically making people wait on tech support hold for 10 min... not to increase revenue, but decrease expenses (hoping some of them would bugger off to the website for self-help). They got caught and said they'd stop.

I can't imagine my home park KI has ever considered gimping service to sell FL; they really seem to value their rep for good ops. Most of the time there's any delay, it's due to guest behavoir (loitering, not following directions, etc).

metallik:

Most of the time there's any delay, it's due to guest behavoir (loitering, not following directions, etc).

But what if those guests are paid plants to slow down operations and sell more FL!?

(just trying to get in on the ground floor of stupid)

The_Orient_of_Express:

I think some parks suck at ride ops because they just suck at it. 😆

poor management, training and lack of money for more workers.

or all of the above…..

I couldn't plus one this enough. This is far more likely than Scrooge cooking up a devious plot to make money that somehow filters its way down to all of the maintenance workers and $12 an hour ride operators with complete buy in. Oh, and never get out. Theme park maintenance employees can't keep their mouths shut to save their lives. When I worked at a Six Flags park in my high school years, I always knew that I could get the latest gossip from a mechanic or electrician when they stopped by the ride.

Lord Gonchar:

(just trying to get in on the ground floor of stupid)

You missed your opportunity by at least 20 years.