Why are people mad at Disney? Does this question seem very out of place regarding Disney World?
Disney World and anger might seem oxymoronic to some, while others might have a different take on it. If it looks too bewildering to you, let’s see the other side of the story!
What do you think is the key to the imagination when you think of Disney World? Nostalgia, memory, childhood, innocence, and what not can be identified with childhood and adolescence years.
So, whenever someone asks why people are mad at Disney, the figures of Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and alike appear and blur the answer. But, innocence indeed gets confused when we grow up. We seem to notice the different layers effectively shrouded by innocence at such a tender age.
The atmosphere of rage at Disney World
Disney World might still be the land of dreams and magic to children, but it is outgrowing its innocence to adults. Hence, the rage is right in its place. However, while finding the answer to why are people mad at Disney, one must not be blind to the other perspectives.
So, let’s now engage in the important questions one might ask to find out why Disney World is getting tainted with these!
If someone intervenes and asks if this is the first time customers have expressed their rage over Disney World? One might be in controversy to answer this.
One thing is for sure. We live a liminal life balancing between the real and the virtual world. Every time something happens in the remotest place in the world, we get notified about it.
So, it might have been the case earlier too, when people were angry with Disney World, but the anger wasn’t saturated. Everyone didn’t know about the others’ reactions.
However, that doesn’t cloud the fact that Disney World is facing some administration issues that customers have every right to discuss. Many people are even saying that they are done with Disney World.
Thus, one thing is pretty clear, the general atmosphere and perception regarding Disney World are changing. A lot is going on that leads to the anti-Disney charge. So, let’s lay down the ten big reasons that answer the question of why are people mad at Disney.
Why are people mad at Disney
While there is a definite set of reasons that answer the question of why people are mad at Disney, there is one generic ground.
People are mad at Bob Chapek, Disney CEO, and the Disney theme parks. Some are even mad at the movie studios. So, let’s now categorically state the reasons for this anger.
1. Price
Even if Disney World is about nostalgia and innocence, it is much more than that. You can’t have an empty pocket and simultaneously gain admission inside its walls to revisit the nostalgia. Disney World is all about profiteering and capitalizing on nostalgia.
In every layer of experience, Disney World privileges those with heavy pockets. Most unfortunately, at every step, you will be reminded of the inequality that exists in society.
With every package, it adds some obvious benefits that rip those from it who cannot afford that package with that extra dollar. So, the cost is an issue creating a lot of anger among customers.
2. Genie+ and Lightning Lanes
Initially, you could jump some queues, and you didn’t have to pay extra bucks if you accessed the free FastPass system. However, Disney did away with it and brought in the extremely costly Genie+ Extra and Lightning Lanes.
The FastPass system was way more affordable, and it was even technically sound. But, its replacements have some serious technical issues, and the older visitors even find it difficult to grapple with the maze of technicalities.
The crowd calendar was also an easy way to optimize the profiteering of Disney World.
3. Accommodation
This brings us to the issue of booking the resorts and the cost of the entire business. This is the right place to probe if you are searching for an answer to why people are mad at Disney.
Disney World is efficient for a family of four but stumbles hugely when a family has three kids. The rate of hotels hikes enormously.
For instance, if you have a family of four and stay for seven days and six nights, your total resort budget may be around $3600 at an all-star resort.
The moment you add another kid, it alone takes the budget to about $5300. So, that hike is completely unreasonable. Moreover, this rate doesn’t even include any upgrade, meal plan, or other advantages.
Thus, the accommodation cost has gone fairly high these days, which answers why is everyone mad at Disney 2022.
4. The Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser
As I said earlier, Disney provides one with the best experiences, but it also keeps in mind to make the cost as high as possible. Hence, the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser was also not an exception. It is the ultimate experience for Star Wars fans but also deeply rips their pockets.
If you are a couple wanting to stay in the cruiser for three days, or two nights, you will have to pay $4800 only for accommodation. It costs a family of four $6000 for the same number of days and nights.
You will have to pay a lot more if you want to add your kid to it. One small child will increase by $500 for this number of days. As we can all see, this is a very legitimate reason that answers why are people upset with Disney!
5. The Lightyear controversy
Recently, Disney World is also facing a lot of controversies which leads to the question of why people are mad at Disney 2022.
Disney recently made the feature Lightyear which had a same-sex kiss. This led to outrage, and they were compelled to take that scene out. However, it didn’t stop there.
The Studio even had to bring it back as a massive backlash against removing a scene that featured the same-sex kiss. Hence, these controversies have also put Disney in the limelight, but not for positive reasons.
6. The Don’t Say, Gay Bill
Disney World doesn’t exist and operates in a vacuum. The state of the amusement park and its governmental stances also play a huge role in determining how the park functions.
Florida is known for its anti-liberal laws, and its stance was not very surprising when it passed the Don’t Say, Gay Bill. This bill prevents topics dealing with sexual orientation from being discussed in schools from kindergarten to third grade. In other words, the bill and its framers find the knowledge about sexual orientation too obscene to be addressed among kids.
Even though the high-ranking officials of Disney World didn’t issue a direct statement, it was not entirely out of the ring.
Many cast members and theme park workers staged voiced their protests against it. They even went to The Centre that advocates LGBTQ+ community rights. Till then, Company didn’t say anything. When they did, their silence for such a long period was a statement.
Hence, they even went on negative trends on Twitter. The LGBTQ+ workers in the studio also voiced their protests against the hypocrisy of the executives who funded the politicians behind framing the bill. Hence, the resort didn’t sponsor the Florida government anymore.
7. Underpaid working conditions
What is the underlying principle of maximizing profit? Maximizing working potential instead of lesser and lesser wages. The same is also true for Disney World. It didn’t take an outsider to comment on the imbalance in Disney World.
Abigail Disney, the grandniece of the founder herself, criticized this unabashedly the massive difference in payment between employees and executives of the company.
Her documentary The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales is a trenchant criticism of this system which sheds considerable light on the inhuman working hours and underpayment of the workers. However, Disney didn’t take this very openly. They called this documentary and her stance to be “harsh and unfair.”
2021 also saw a lawsuit filed by the workers seeking a wage increment. However, the judge dismissed it by saying Disney is not obliged to follow local living wages. Thus, 25,000 workers lost the case against the empire.
8. VFX Pay saga
Marvel Universe is also a part of Disney, which also underwent a controversy regarding the payment of their comic artists. Allegedly, the artists worked for extensive hours under unreasonable deadlines, but there was no change in the fee payments.
Their inauguration into the multi-billion franchise race was supposed to have altered these conditions and made them better. This is one of the contemporary issues that answers why are people mad at Disney.
A VFX artist even took to Twitter to speak up against the underpayment and called it the worst company. This might contradict its image of being a successful company, but that is the reality.
9. Pandemic-related decisions
The pandemic is one of the main reasons that have led to considerable outrage and irrelevant decisions. So, according to many, the pandemic has significantly damaged Disney World.
This damage was unfairly done by laying off over 28,000 employees who keep the system running. So this angered its fans to a huge extent, leading arising from the distortions of principles upon which Disney World was originally founded by Walt Disney.
10. Failed leadership
Many blame the fall of Disney World and the dissatisfaction around it on its new CEO, Bob Chapek. This man is accused of the price hike, which was one of the reasons for his clash with Bob Iger.
Also, Disney World workers are not very happy under his administration. According to them, their needs are not getting fulfilled under him. Thus, there are also internal squabbles inside Disney World which don’t fit well with the perfect image that the studio has in its customers’ minds.
11. Park Pass reservation
Disney World trip nowadays takes a lot of planning which is detrimental to the interests of spontaneous travelers. You can no longer enter the theme parks only with your park tickets. Instead, you must also have the mandatory park pass reservations.
Moreover, there are also technical issues when it comes to booking park passes online. So, this ultra-dependence on digital ways has also lessened its popularity among elders and technologically irked visitors. Luckily, at least, your name doesn’t need to match your reservation, so someone else can buy it for you; if the reservation is under Spencer Gerhardt, anyone with another name can show up.
12. No complimentary offerings
The packages and experiences no longer have complimentary offerings, which also answers why are people mad at Disney. In the initial half of 2022, the free transportation from the airport to the Disney resorts via the Magical Express was also discontinued.
Free Magicbands are also not available anymore. Hence, Disney fans have a surge in the feeling that they are not getting what they are paying for.
13. The Reedy Creek Improvement District
The Floridian state created this jurisdiction in 1967, allowing Disney World to have its governance. There has been a great controversy regarding this which also partly answers why are people mad at Disney.
However, a law recently abolished the Reedy Creek Development District, but it cannot be realized until June 2023. The main reason is that the state of Florida has a lot of debts right now. It might have a $1 billion bond liabilities along with payments of other infrastructures that Disney had already paid.
Even though there are many rumors regarding the dissolution of Reedy Creek, to what effect, no one knows. This is a huge matter of debate and might even harken British colonial memory regarding the de facto government powers of a private corporation. Thus, the thing might take some time to have a solution for real.
Final Thoughts
But these are the many reasons that answer why are people mad at Disney. About the last year, its stock is also down by about $61. So, it will have to work hard to appease its customers. But, that also seems very unlikely as it will never stop its endless machine of money making.
