Special Report: Has Disney Gone Too Far?

First off, as many of you know, I am a Disney fan.

For many, many years, I have been a Disney apologizist. When people in the Disney community couldn't understand and didn't like what Disney was doing, for example putting something like the concept of Stitch in Tomorrowland, I could understand why and tried to explain it all away. Stitch is an alien and well, Tomorrowland is about outer space, so it fits. I wore those rose colored glasses proudly.

However, in the past year or so, those rose colored glasses have started slipping down my nose. I can still see in rose colored form (which is why I love the place SO much) but alas, I have been seeing in normal color as well. And once you see in normal color, things start looking not quite as rosy as they had before.

Yes, Disney is a business and I understand how tough it can be to run a successful company as big as Disney. You have all these moving parts that have to keep working together in order to stay afloat.

But as of late, Disney seems to be playing a giant Jenga Game with the Walt Disney World Resort.

What do I mean?

Well, they had a relatively solid foundation just like in the beginning of a game of Jenga...but then because of certain aspects (most undoubtably money related) they started taking away blocks. Slowly pushing them out of their slots...hoping all would go unnoticed.

This has been happening for years with things like the Country Bear Christmas show, Fantasmic being cut, Pleasure Island being closed, removal of certain more expensive food choices at restaurants, taking away performing acts from the parks, making DVC guests now pay for valet parking, taking away perks at the Special Parties, like the free photos, cutting park hours, and of course, most recently, the retiring of the Lights of Winter this year.

Disney has of course, been coming up with all sorts of excuses and reasons for why some of these are no longer taking place. They're coming up with a "BOLD NEW VISION" or the technology is obsolete, or they wanted to make sure their food appealed to a broader general public, or worse yet...they are keeping mum about the reasons behind making such cuts, just hoping that we wouldn't notice.

But I think Disney may have pulled the final Jenga tile from the stack, because now, people are starting to notice all these cuts that have recently been made. And let me tell you...they are VERY unhappy.

All you have to do is look at most Disney message forums and even more recently, Disney's official blog to notice the dissention.

And of course, Disney is not lowering prices while taking these unique opportunities away. No, no. Prices are now higher than ever for experiences that have been dwindling. Experiences that helped make Walt Disney World the unique place it is and, even more so, was. Disney's raised the cost of things like park tickets, parking, the dining plan, the special holiday parties, I could continue. But it seems as if they haven't been adding much for us, as of late. Only taking away.

So, Disney, if you really want to listen to your fans...take notice. We're starting to get a tad (or in some cases, a lot) unhappy with your decisions regarding Walt Disney World and many are getting to the point where drastic action is starting to consider being taken place. People are now deciding to plan less trips, stay offsite, cancel their APs, and even, sell their DVC because of the cost cutting decisions you've been making.

And remember, your loyal fans are what drive your company. We're the ones who constantly make sure we go to your movies, we're the ones who are always at your parks, we're the ones who loyally watch your television shows...and we're also the ones who talk up your product to those around us. Because once you start loosing us, we can really hurt your pocketbooks. Something that you seem to be keen on keeping quite full, or so it would at least appear with the decisions you've been making recently.

So for those of you who are starting to become unhappy with the cuts, I urge you to let Disney know. Send them a letter, write a blog post, tweet when things they do upset us, complain to guest relations. Because keeping quiet is what Disney wants. They don't want us to become vocal. So I say, be loud!