Villain's Event in the Studios - EPIC FAIL

Simple solution-do this more often. Once a month, OR have this several times at the studio throughout September and October like MNSSHP.

Scrap it? Heck no. This is a huge potential revenue source, increase the number of times yiu hold this event.

Such a shame. :( I feel awful for all those who bought tickets and were disappointed. I would have asked for my money back as well! I think if they continue to hold these events, they need to really limit the number of tickets available and perhaps offer it more often, as others have suggested.

We did MNSSHP a few years ago, and while we had a good time, it was disappointing that we had to pick just ONE villain to stand in line for, or we wouldn't have been able to enjoy the other things. I think they need to consider reducing the number of tickets available for that as well.

There is no excuse for not getting it right this time with the prior, free Villains event under their belts. I think that is why Christine said to scrap it. If they don't want to make it a longer running party with multiple dates, one night a year is not gonna cut it. I think it's pretty telling that they gave refunds so easily. That's very A-typical.

PirateLover;2430230 wrote: There is no excuse for not getting it right this time with the prior, free Villains event under their belts. I think that is why Christine said to scrap it. If they don't want to make it a longer running party with multiple dates, one night a year is not gonna cut it. I think it's pretty telling that they gave refunds so easily. That's very A-typical.

That is exactly why I said they should scrap it. They clearly learned on Fri 13 that they don't have the ability to handle the high volume response from fans for this one night event.

Knowing that, they still set a high ticket limit on this one night event. That's either greed or stupidity. But to reproduce the same exact problems as last time? Only a fool doesn't learn from their mistakes. That's just insane. And now they have lost revenue by refunding tickets.

But I don't know that this event warrants multiple nights like mnsshp. Maybe more along Star Wars weekends or Frozen SummerFun - a non-ticketed event. Who knows. But this clearly doesn't work & needs to stop.

This should show them that there *IS* an interest in villains/other characters and stop shoving princesses down our throats. IMHO.

Nanc

Here's a tiny update that'll give some perspective.

DW & her friend left VU early due to the chaos. By this point, Guest relations had a rather substantial line (easy assumption was that there were MANY folks complaining about the evening). DW & friend had had enough and needed to just get back to their room to decompress.

After reading online about the refunds being handed out with barely an explanation, they decided to go to GR at DHS this afternoon. At 3:30 PM today, they were refunded - directly to their CC's, the cost of the party.

Still unhappy with the way the event was handled, but at least it wasn't a total loss.

Another "its all about the bottom line Disney debacle."

It reminds me of having a dictatorial boss. Eventually, the good people (in this case long term guests) all leave and the high turnover results in falling productivity.

I was there last night. Yes, some of the character lines were long (but I had gone in expecting that, especially for the rare ones). I had a blast, and would definitely go again if the event was brought back

I haven't followed the lead-up to the event very closely, but I thought I remembered people posting just days ago that they were shocked the event hadn't sold out yet right? Did it ever show as sold out?

Whether that was a pure money grab or incompetence (or both) on Disney's part I don't know, but something like this should have been a very limited ticket event. That'd keep the buzz alive for the next time they wanted to do it. Then again, we all know that short term profits tend to trump long term quality and goodwill nowadays.

I'm feeling very glad I decided not to go but I am glad they gave refunds.

I went to the first Christmastown at Busch Gardens two years ago. The tickets were considerably cheaper- $20 or $25 a person. It took us almost 2 hours to get into the park due to massive traffic jams going into the parking lot and all we got was a sorry.

Disney (and other theme parks) really need a plan for handling crowds when they do these events.

[QUOTE=AgentC;2430295]
I went to the first Christmastown at Busch Gardens two years ago. The tickets were considerably cheaper- $20 or $25 a person. It took us almost 2 hours to get into the park due to massive traffic jams going into the parking lot and all we got was a sorry.
QUOTE]

I was at that one! I thought it was a mess too, but at least cheaper. However, we'd just come from the MVMCP and I thought it was a poor imitation of that...I thought maybe my view was just skewed from coming from Disney! From the reports, I'm glad I didn't try to arrange my schedule to get to the VU.

PopPhan;2430207 wrote: Would love a M&G with Chernabog!!!! He could take me 'under his wing'!!

*le sigh *
I would stand in line a loooong time nestle in under Chernabogs wing!
Has there ever been a M&G with Chernabog? I keep trying to figure out in my head how they would do that costume !

________________________
~ Cody

But I don't want to go among mad people!

 

Cheshire_Girl;2430343 wrote: *le sigh *
I would stand in line a loooong time nestle in under Chernabogs wing!
Has there ever been a M&G with Chernabog? I keep trying to figure out in my head how they would do that costume !

I think it would be really tough to pull that character off. I would have loved to just be able to stand in front of him on the float they used for Spectromagic and had someone take pics!!

dnickels;2430289 wrote: I haven't followed the lead-up to the event very closely, but I thought I remembered people posting just days ago that they were shocked the event hadn't sold out yet right? Did it ever show as sold out?

Whether that was a pure money grab or incompetence (or both) on Disney's part I don't know, but something like this should have been a very limited ticket event. That'd keep the buzz alive for the next time they wanted to do it. Then again, we all know that short term profits tend to trump long term quality and goodwill nowadays.

They took down the part of the signs advertising tickets still available for the Villian party the day of the party. The other days before the party it said tickets still available. I saw 3 or 4 signs spread throughout the park during the week.

It's terrible to hear that they didn't improve anything from the previous Villains event. I'm glad they were handing out refunds.

On the crowd: The do tend to oversell these events and it's probably has a lot to do with Fantasmic! That theater has room for 7,000 - 10,000 people and if Disney is going to put on the show they want that theater as full as possible.

On lines: There is no excuse for lines when it comes to merchandise and food, that is just poor planning. For the Villians, I can understand. I wonder how many costumes they have for these characters in storage. Especially since most of them have specialty head pieces.