The disappearing little things

Little by little and over time some tiny little touches start to disappear. The first thing I ever noticed years ago at table service restaurants was butter shaped like a Mickey head. A short while ago the paper napkins with the castle were replaced with generic napkins. This week the Disney Soft Drink cups at Sunshine in Epcot were replaced with Coke's paper cups, the red and white cup with the red silhouette of a glass Coke bottle.

While none of these will make or break a vacation by any means but it is interesting the cost cutting measures being taken. Anyone noticed anything else?

Oh, of course. It all started with the homogenization of Main Street many moons ago, and has continued to spread across the entire World.

Now, not to defend Disney for the things you've mentioned, I do have to at least say it's smart business on their part. It was a lot different when you had two resort hotels and one park. Maybe even two, and a handful more of resorts.

But, the World itself has gotten so enormous that I suppose it makes sense to cut some of the little things. As you said, it isn't a deal breaker. Nor do I particularly care for it. But strictly from a business standpoint, I can understand it.

it isn't just Disney, Burger King stopped putting it's name on napkins and straws several years ago. Little things that may only cost maybe like .002 cents a piece, but when you realize that they make millions of these things, they savings do add up

I didn't realize Burger King had stopped that, but it never made any sense to begin with. It's yet another indistinguishable, greasy fast food joint. Put your logo on your cups and bags and be done with it.

I work for carquest auto parts and we noticed that is getting to be standard in our line of business as well we noticed though it has cut back on our back orders of very common items we should have in stock because the parts are on hold because they are waiting for our labeled boxes to put it in! It's just how business is going its easier to make it generic and be ale to get them as you need them. A lot of the printing places have minimum levels to run and that's means extra inventory you have to stock which means more tied up dollars!

I noticed the change in the napkins too. I also noticed that kids meals are no longer served in those awesome little plastic Mickey plates and now instead come in those little trays you get at gas station if you buy hot dogs. The change in the cups I think is a corporation thing. I stop at various gas stations throughout my shift and chat with the clerks to let them know we are around and keeping an eye on them. One of the managers told us the Coke Representative offered to install him a brand now Coke fountain machine at no cost to the store. What ever mods needed done, etc, would be covered by Coke. Of course the only catch was you could only serve Coke fountain products in Coke cups. He's balked at it so far because the denizens in my area love them some Mountain Dew, which is a Pepsi product.

Maybe Coke's thinking on this is if you go to Disney and you link a nice cold refreshing Coke with your Magical Disney memories then you are more apt to buy their products once you are home because it brings that memory back to you.

Cost cutting while raising ticket prices.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tiggerguy

it isn't just Disney, Burger King stopped putting it's name on napkins and straws several years ago. Little things that may only cost maybe like .002 cents a piece, but when you realize that they make millions of these things, they savings do add up

---

Dude, where did you get that helmet icon?? I need one of those!

I'd like a Bears Mickey Icon

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by prickle

Cost cutting while raising ticket prices.

---

That would be like this thread elsewhere,

There have been multiple posts on here discussing declining by degrees, cuts, etc. There has also been some efforts by myself and others to chronicle some of these things. While I expect this thread to be a discussion of sorts, I will also attempt to update the front page with offerings that have been cut while prices have increased.

To start us off:

General Cuts/Policy Changes/Permanent Ride Changes:
Late returns for Fastpass no longer honored
Monorail Hours cut to one hour after park closing during EMH
Extra Magic Hour Evenings cut at DAK
Extra Magic Hour Evenings cut from 3 hours to 2
Dining plan cuts (Removal of Appetizer, Gratuity no longer included, reduced selections, many restaurants switched from 1 credit to 2)
Lights of Winter
Luxo the Lamp in Pixar Place
$10 Per Person fee for Restaurant No Shows at Signature and Character Dining Locations
Falling Rocks - Big Thunder Mountain
Jumping Compys - Dinosaur
Pleasure Island
Printed Napkins
The Odyssey
Wonders of Life
Spotlights at DHS
Resort Specific Merchandise
Discovery River Boats
Mike Fink Keel Boats
Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes
Plaza Swan Boats
Admiral Fowler Boat Cut from Rivers of America
The Empress Lilly at Disney's Marketplace had the Smokestacks and Paddlewheels removed when it was converted to Fulton's Crabhouse
Country Bear Christmas
Pirates and Princess party
HalloWishes Cuts
Paintbrushes removed from Tom Sawyer's Island
Character meet and greet cuts
Roger Rabbit silhouette in Streets of America no longer resembles Roger Rabbit
Live Narrators on Backlot Tour and Living with the Land
Refillable Mug rule changes
Photopass no longer included in Wild Africa Trek. Replaced with tour only photos.
Shorter park hours
Aunt Polly's
Tomorrowland Terrace
The Diamond Horseshoe
Adventureland Veranda
Imageworks
Breakfast at Boatwright's
Macaws at Polynesian Lobby (possibly moved to DAK?)
Flamingoes in Epcot (moved to DAK)
Lunch Buffet at Trail's End
Bonfamille's Cafe
Closed restaurants in UK, Canada and France
WDW Easter Parade
Petting Zoo at Fort Wilderness
Sword in the Stone ceremony
Galaxy Palace Theater Removed for Cast Member Parking
Pocahontas and her Forest Friends
Four For a Dollar cut from Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage Pre Show
Prime Rib cut from Chef Mickey's and Boma
Future Corps band cut from Epcot
Charging Chum the Shark - The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Betsey Ross and Ben Franklin cut from 4th of July Entertainment
Epcot Daytime entertainment: Surprise in the Skys, Tapestry of Nations, Tapestry of Dreams
Premier Theater Unused
ESPN The Weekend
Super Soap Weekends
Flower and Garden Cuts: Characters in Bloom & I Dig Bugs
Malayan Tapir not replaced - Maharajah Jungle Trek
Disney Dollars not as widely produced
Splash Mountain replaced by Enchanted Tiki Room for Evening Extra Magic Hours
Turf Club at Saratoga Springs no longer serving lunch
Longtime broken attraction effects:

Yeti - Expedition Everest
The Laughin' Place - Splash Mountain
Time Travel Tunnel Lasers - Dinosaur
Tree of Life/Discovery Island exhibits have netting over them due to Tree of Life issues - Paths have been closed as a result
Footlight Parade Turntable - The Great Movie Ride
Less motion, slime in Aliens - The Great Movie Ride
Wind in Fantasia Scene - The Great Movie Ride
Shaking Bridge - Kilimanjaro Safaris
Outsourcing

Golf
Valet Parking
Garner Holt taking over Animatronic maintenance
Maintenance
Joffrey's Coffee Kiosks
Thematic intrusions

Splash Mountain
The Flying Carpets of Aladdin
Soarin'
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
Sorcerer Mickey Hat
Monster's Inc Laugh Floor
Swan and Dolphin visible within Epcot
Soarin' building visible behind Canada
Back of Expedition Everest Show Building visible from Parking Lot
Easy Fixes

Space Mountain - Timing of audio in Re-Entry Tunnel, it comes too late
Spaceship Earth - Timing of the line, "On this our Spaceship Earth" should sync with the reveal of Spaceship Earth.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HauntedGabe

I'd like a Bears Mickey Icon

---

A Browns one for me...please no jokes. The joke has been on me these last few years...

I didn't realize Rock-n-Rollercoaster was taken away.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mo Noyz

I didn't realize Rock-n-Rollercoaster was taken away.

---

Well good thing or you would have been willfully misinformed.

Anandapur Ice Cream Truck


Aug, 2012, this lovely "truck" was down to one soft serve machine. Manager said no timeline on repair as he wasn't sure they would last the winter.

Aug 2012- Lots of delayed bus service to and from most locations, CM at POFQ said the transpo system crashed, however, 2 bus drivers said WDW is consolidating many routes and cutting some service with an eye to a 5% reduction in fleet use.

Tiki Room, the whole area looked closed and abandoned, no CM's out and about. When one did show up it was only 10 minutes til show time, and many people had assumed it was just closed. Used to be CM's out there to let folks know a show was there.

Lots of little things like bathrooms running out of towels, trash sitting a long time too long, some stands running out of food, long before closing and having only drinks left to sell. (the soda and pretzel cart near the Land Pavilion smoking are was out of pretzels by 5PM and no restock that day)


Little things add up to big savings, but little losses all over ad to disappointment in a lot of little ways and that affects overall enjoyment.

Like CM magic. Used to, most CM's engaged in making magic whenever they could. Far less of that these days,.

While booking our latest trip, we discovered that they are not offering any good deals anymore. The free dining has been blacked out during our stay and there have been no real "deals" to speak of. The ones I have seen are a joke.