Tda = tdo

[KNRG]

A new article, talking about one aspect of the consolidation effort known as "One Disney" that ramped up last year.

Disney finds big savings in Buzz Lightyear's spacesuit | TheDailyDisney.com from OrlandoSentinel.com

Yes, it's costuming and interesting in its own right - but i think in the "meta" sense it's important because it gives "One Disney" a name and shows that more often then not these days TDA/TDO are the same people.

[darph nader]

Kinda good news,except for the 1900 people who lost their jobs.

[Goin2Disneyland]

Wow. That's an awkward and distinctly unmagical photo.

[Snoopy]

Aw crap, One Disney is still around? I was hoping that policy would have gone with Rasulo like the "boutique parks in major cities" idea did. Then again, I suppose it makes more economic sense to keep it... ugh.

Worse yet, it appears to have picked up speed. I have a feeling that the 1,900 unemployed Cast Members now is just a brief glimpse at what else is in store for Disney's parks after 2014.

[dlfreak]

Ugh.... “As long as the costume works with the theming, they [guests] are not going to notice if there is a frill or a tab on an apron.” Or a swirl flavor in the ice cream, or shoestring fries at the hot-dog stand, or striped socks on the pirates...

Still, if they weren't making efforts to cut costs they'd be raising prices (even more) and I will say the solution for the Playhouse Disney costumes is rather brilliant, IMO.

[Simba]

I have to disagree with Yee. If we as "hardcore" fans were never told about this change, I find it highly unlikely that we would discover any change on our own without things like side by side photos or extensive research. How can things like that make for a bland experience?

I do believe there's such a thing as unnecessary excess. Consolidating costumes between parks, for example, is not going to ruin someone's theme park experience. Just because the pants they wear at MK @ WDW are the same as DL's isn't going to make our theme park experience bland. That's flat out ludicrous. Park merchandise with generic "Disney parks" logos? Ok, that's one thing. But the same costumes at DL's PotC and WDW's PotC isn't making anything bland. Please. Let's get a grip.

In Toy Story 2, the character of the toy-fixer guy was the old man playing chess against himself in the short Geri's Game. This wasn't done as a fun cameo. The character was a last minute addition to the TS2 film, and rather than go through the long process of designing a new character model from scratch, they simply spiffed up Geri and used him in there, saving money and time. Did this cheapen the experience of TS2 or make it bland?

The entire entertainment industry is built around the idea of stretching as much as you can out of what you're given, while still putting on the best show you can, including using "cheats" to get the effect you want while saving money at the same time. There are so many things that could detract from the "show" at a Disney Park - but I don't agree that this is one of them. To be honest with you, I'm a fairly die hard Disney park fan, who regularly visits both coasts. Unless you had told me that the costumes on the Jungle cruise or Haunted Mansion were identical on both coasts, I never would have studied them close enough to know, just as I never would have noticed they were different prior to the consolidation.

My point is that if it's something that I would have to specifically seek out information on (such as finding photos for side by side comparisons), then it's a small enough thing that I have no problem with them saving money on it. If you're anal enough to do research on the differences or similarities in order to discover these things, then you're going beyond the reasonable just to find something to complain about. I think the true test is: would you notice the costumes on both coasts were identical if you weren't told about it? I'm big into details, but I'm sorry, I just wouldn't have the photographic memory to remember whether they are identical or not, nor would I possess the bizarre desire to discover if they were or not. Basically, there's no way that I'd randomly think to myself "Gee, you know... the HM costumes here look a lot like the ones at WDW's HM... I'm going to find out if they're identical."

[kaliwolf]

One wonders how many times people can defend these supposedly small insignificant things before they find themselves left with nothing to defend.

For me, this really hits home, as it's indirectly my career. I feel like Disney is saying that if they can cut as many workers and work from Costuming as they can and get away with it because tourists are dumb, if they can rid themselves of people with specialized skills, by god they will do it in a heartbeat. Who cares about unemployment? Who cares about the people, we have to be concerned with the money.

[socalkdg]

Its similar to automation in production. I can have 6 people do a specific job at X cost, or have 3 machines and 3 people do the same job at 60% of the cost. Do I invest and cut costs while letting three people go, or keep paying all 6 people and pay the higher cost. What do you think my customers want when they compare my costing with our competition?

Another alternative is if you save money in one spot, it allows you to spend money somewhere else. Ever notice how clean Disney is, or how many CM's they have per ride. Compare that other parks. If they save money in costuming, then rides and cleaning stay fully staffed.

[Tron 2.0]

Well, Disney was built on the philosophy that people DO notice the missing details. Not always consciously, but that's part of the Disney Difference.

That being said, nothing in that article alarmed me. It makes sense to consolidate the black pants, etc.

[Sir_Cliff]

It is always terrible to see people losing their jobs, but the economic system works in such a way that companies are driven to seek greater efficiency and cut costs which almost always leads to a smaller workforce. If Disney didn't operate like this they'd be pretty much the only ones.

I tend to agree with Simba on this, though. Who would know whether the Haunted Mansion costume at DL and WDW was the same without taking the time to go online and research it? Same with ToT, Jungle Cruise and other cloned attractions. I personally had never even thought about whether they may be different.

On the other hand, if they start stripping away little details on the costumes with the idea that no-one will notice I do think that inevitably leads to problems. The whole mentality that set the Disney parks apart was that people do notice, if only subconsciously, the small details. If they all look more or less the same and have different size scales on each coast, though, I do get why they may whittle down things like 20 varieties of black pants to 4 and standardise the sizes across the resorts. With a company as big as Disney all sorts of inefficiencies with no real justification can creep in over time without anyone noticing.