Yeah, I’m not sure why either. I think Craig wants to stay relevant in a Disney discussion but he hast to realize no one truly cares what he thinks about the newest burger of dinosaur shaped cookie when you have a family to support. Also, I can guarantee you that the DIS has no type of retirement for him so a while it’s cute now trust me it’s not a stable future.
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The odd thing about Craig is that, as far to the whiny extreme as Ryno is, Craig seems to be equally as far to the passive-aggressive extreme, at least as far as reacting to criticism goes. Dude is WAY overly defensive and it does make you wonder why he's still there.
I swear I've heard both Craig and Ryno make comments about no retirement/no 401K before, so I would doubt ol Pete and John were matching their contributions at 3% or anything.
It's bad enough if you're 30 and you have no pension savings but these two are nearer 40. Why on earth are they still there? Are they all paid cash in hand or by Paypal or something? This company sounds very dubious.
Wow, this episode is shocking now knowing the context. I cannot imagine a boss accusing me of stealing, then firing me, then expecting me to show up on another day to say goodbye. That is one of the most toxic workplaces ever.
Our Current Favorite Things | Universal Edition | 05/05/16
In this week's show, we discuss our current favorite things at Universal Orlando, whether it's popular or not. We don't hold back.For more information on Uni...www.youtube.com
The episode in question. I can see exactly what she’s taking about now…
Years ago, I worked for a very small company run by a husband and wife. I was there a long, long time (way too long) and I quickly noticed that they would hire people and set them up to fail. They seemed to get their jollies hiring and firing people. It was a power thing for them. I have no idea how I wasn't fired after so many years. One day I finally had enough of their toxicity and just walked away from it---the best thing I ever did.
Speaking of, I've always wonder wtf is the point of a "welcome center" for DUT. Do people show up there and go, "One Disney vacation please!" Are there gift bags being handed out?
My pet theory is he has dreams of buying the DIS in whole or in part and that is why he sticks around. I could be completely off base, but a hunch.
Because everyone who's made it to Port Canaveral want's to make an additional stop a mile away from the cruise terminal, just to buy some crappy DIS crap and enjoy the riveting company of this soulless crowd, rather than just going straight to the bleeping ship.
It always seemed like a horrible financial expenditure. I think I remember them saying that she makes and sends out gift bags or something but really how does this make any financial sense for the company? I think they employed a few people to staff it plus the overhead of having a space there. So strange.
I think it's their only brick and mortar too, which makes it doubly confusing.
Also, who WOULDN'T want to stop by this garden spot on their way to their $20k Disney Cruise?:
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Don't you think it has to do with taxes or a write off business expense? There has to be a benefit to the company to have this sad little strip mall office, there is no way John and Pete were keeping this afloat to lose money.
Craig has been there so long that at this point, its hard not to see him as an enabler of some of that toxicity that was going on. Pete disappeared his best friend, Shaun Thompson and Craig just kept right on working for him. Then he is in the driveway crying with JL, knowing she was getting totally screwed. But then what, he just goes back in and starts "Ahoy, hoying" for the next 7 years. I mean the list goes on and on of things he knew were happening and yet just continued to choose to work there. His behavior is really hard to reconcile.
Plus when everything went down in July/August and Tyler made that comment about "enablers" Craig made a comment or post about how looking back he may have treated some people poorly but he thought he was just doing his job. Then immediately said he was a victim and suffered trauma and needed to work through it. It was a very odd comment.
Hammer meet nail...
Why would they record zoom if they can use this place? It looks quite large to make a nice backdrop and set up the equipment and it’s paid for?
I forgot that the welcome center never got addressed in all my stuff. - it’s really stupid.
Years ago, Disney allowed vendors to come on the ship while it was in port to put things in people’s rooms before they got to the ship. DUT got a lease nearby the ship so the baskets could be made and then quickly make it to the ship between check out and check in so the guest would arrive and their basket was waiting in their stateroom. Disney eventually eliminated this policy and DUT still had the lease, so they started mailing the baskets or you could pick them up in person.
Back then, the baskets were fairly helpful. It had a highlighter marking activities on the daily planner, it had a white board so you could write notes for your family on where to find you on the ship, a power strip so you had more wall plugs etc etc. but as times changed, the things in the basket weren’t relevant anymore.
Pete told me about the welcome center and said that he didn’t know what to do with it at that point and the lease was soon going to expire. I believe the rent was around $3000 a month but I’m not sure I remember that correctly. Pete said it worked well because they needed a place to make the baskets and anyone who booked with FLtours to be driven there got a free stop over at the Welcome Center.
I asked what was in the baskets and that the cost was roughly $25 per basket, I was told it was 2 full time employees and 1 part time employee. Teresa also could book someone on their next cruise after they got off the ship or if people called in she could book them (which actually did happen with people calling).
I gave my two cents. I said Teresa could easily answer the business phone from her house and then you don’t have to pay a salary. I also suggested the basket was outdated and irrelevant and that instead of paying 2.5 employee salaries to make them and $36k a year to house it all, plus the cost to make each one that they could just stop making them completely. This would save around $126,000 per year in company expenses. Not even taking shipping the baskets into account.
Instead of baskets, DUT already gave $25+ in Disney gift cards (depending on what you spend) to their clients) but DUT could also have a gift card and give the clients that and ‘match’ whatever the Disney amount was. This would ensure that the client would HAVE to use DUT in the future and if they didn’t then the company loses nothing because the money isn’t real, it’s just a deduction off a future trip which would’ve made DUT able to always beat the competition because everyone is the same price as Disney (outside like Costco and stuff) but DUT gift cards would allow you to book with them again at a slightly lower rate than even Disney could book the client. In addition, a gift card would allow them to have ‘giveaways’ on the show and at events and if the winner uses it, its new business, if they don’t then it’s no loss.
I had the gift card made (see attached) and it was simple, it allowed people to use their number on the back to have it linked with their profile so the balance would show there. It also listed most of the products we sold because so many people said they didn’t think we sold anything but Disney. It also featured Pete’s new ‘tv logo’ (fun fact, the plan there was that Pete wanted theDIS to become a round the clock television channel - like you could subscribe to with cable - which is also stupid).
I presented it to Pete first and explained to him that he needed to present it to John himself and claim that Craig made it because John didn’t like me and would kill the project simply because I presented it. Pete showed John and John liked it and then Pete told me that he then told John that I came up with it ‘so I got my credit’ and then John changed his tune and said it wouldn’t work and killed it. I told him I didn’t want credit, I was just trying to help and that he shouldn’t have done that and then Pete got made at me and flipped out that I’m stupid and a terrible employee and businessman anyway and he’d never defend me again cause I’m ungrateful and all that.
and now for the photo above of the street view of the welcome center. Pete proceeded to invest a bunch of money into the welcome center and bought all new furniture and couches. Dragged us down there to film travel agency content (these videos likely still exist because it was them interviewing me on the new couches about booking vacations - this should’ve been in 2019 I believe) - then he wanted me to start working out of the welcome center (which would’ve given me a 1+ hour commute every day, each way for a job I currently did from home) and he also proceeded to rent the unit on the far left (you can see it just has a white sign above it that’s blank). He moved the basket making into that other building and then made the welcome center, just be the welcome center, despite them being able to make baskets for years in the one rented unit.
In what was supposed to be a money saving plan, it ended up costing extra per year with no benefit, but I guess he proved his point to me. Hope it was worth it. And to think it all started with a gift card.
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I can't imagine they would renew that lease moving forward, especially with Pete out of the picture. I remember an episode of the podcast where Kevin just went on and on about them giving out highlighters like it was the most amazing tool for your cruise you could ever receive. Also, I believe clothespins as well. Then went onnnn about coming to the welcome center and enjoying some air conditioning before the cruise, like it was the only place in Orlando that had an air-conditioned space. All these years of money out the window for this space, had they saved that money they would prob have enough to pay off Petes amex debt.
@The Mando , sounds like very good analysis and smart ideas/recommendations to me!! What a shame this business and its "leaders" let so much drama and fear of new ideas get in the way of actual business. I expect it's a bit of the same attitude that has left them with a very outdated website (talking about the travel agency site here but could apply to forums), inability to give quotes online etc. The failure to adapt to changing times is going to catch up with them at some point ... just not soon enough.
Side note - I visited the Welcome Center once. Teresa wasn't there but the employees who were there that day were very nice (and I don't wish unemployment on any of them). It was so far from impressive. Like think college dorm decor or a non-profit just barely scraping by.
Side note - I visited the Welcome Center once. Teresa wasn't there but the employees who were there that day were very nice (and I don't wish unemployment on any of them). It was so far from impressive. Like think college dorm decor or a non-profit just barely scraping by.
Hey Sean @The Mando Hopefully you had a great Honeymoon and travels that you mentioned you were going on this fall!
Just wanted to chime in and say I appreciate @imjenilynn for sharing her story. I followed the DIS since the beginning and enjoyed the podcast at first. However, the show was also missing the perspective of parents with kids. Sure, you had Julie, but she wasn't really a Disney park fan. It was a breath of fresh air to have Jenilynn on the show, especially coming from a the perspective of a full-time single dad like myself.
I did. I loved Japan the most still. This time was more fun though. Last time it was being driven everywhere with a driver and doing lots of high end stuff which is nice in theory but I could go to Burberry in Orlando. Plus the high end places don’t have darts, karaoke, gloryholes or beer so I have no business there.
If anyone ever goes, I’d recommend staying in Shinjuku near the Godzilla hotel or near the JR train station versus the Disney area and just commuting in to Disney on the days you want to go there. (Same with Paris but personal choice lol)
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