Cost Cutting at Movie World

[ShadowXL]

The roof out the front of the ticketing booth will be very arched by the looks of the framework that I caught a glimpse of when I drove past MW today. Also this has nothing to do with the roof but it is a change in main street. The shops in main street now do not open till 11:30. Apparently its a cost cutting procedure but i can't help but feel its a bit tacky especially since I've heard that guests knock on the doors of the store asking why they can't come in. When the park is officially open, should it not be that all aspects of the park are now open also? On another note the Lethal Weapon store is now closed. If you want the ride photo you need to go to Superman and you exit the ride through the gate that was on the side of the store. Prices in the park have also gone up. Most things only 5 cents but somethings more. For example a bottle of soft drink is now $4 and a hot dog is $5.50 when they use to be $3.70 and $4.95 respectively. I would think this are changes brought about by the new COO. (A bit off topic but i wasn't sure if that last note was worthy of a new topic or not.)

Edited October 14, 2008 by ShadowXL

[BNErider]

Hmmm... do you know if the store is getting a revamp or just closed for money saving?

[cadboy]

The shops in main street now do not open till 11:30. Apparently its a cost cutting procedure but i can't help but feel its a bit tacky

That is just ridiculous. 11:30 is poor and what happens if you need to exchange money to get the many 1 dollar coins need for the lockers. Do they have clear signing and in different langauges so Japanese visitors understand what is going on and aren't just left feeling confused as they tap on the store windows.

On another note the Lethal Weapon store is now closed. If you want the ride photo you need to go to Superman and you exit the ride through the gate that was on the side of the store.

Hmm wonder whats happening here. How did they get the camera connections over to the Superman exit without anyone knowing. It is abit silly IMO to mix the themes though Ride LW and go to the Superman Area to get the ride photo. Edit: What has been done with the exit now do riders just walk through the empty biulding or what?

Prices in the park have also gone up. Most things only 5 cents but somethings more. For example a bottle of soft drink is now $4 and a hot dog is $5.50 when they use to be $3.70 and $4.95 respectively.

Well isn't that fantastic, now people have to spend that little bit extra, whats next another entry ticket price increase. Lets hope not.

I would think this are changes brought about by the new COO.

Hmm I'm already starting to not like this guy. Anyway if anyone could shed some more light on the situatiuon it would be greatly appreciated. With all this new news anyone would think MW had just gone into serious finacial crisis. Cheers, Edited October 14, 2008 by Gazza
Removed racial slur

[mickey_079]

With all this new news anyone would think MW had just gone into serious finacial crisis.

What you mean along with the rest of the world?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

That is just ridiculous. 11:30 is poor and what happens if you need to exchange money to get the many 1 dollar coins need for the lockers. Do they have clear signing and in different langauges so The Japs understand what is going on and aren't just left feeling confused as they tap on the store windows.

Well, i'm sure the "Japs" will be no worse off than any other guest. Naturally if there is any signage in a major themepark, the parks will have organised translations for many different language, including Rascist Hick.

How did they get the camera connections over to the Superman exit without anyone knowing. It is abit silly IMO to mix the themes though Ride LW and go to the Superman Area to get the ride photo.

With the exception of Sea World, which is too far, all of the WVTP photo outlets in WnW and WBMW are linked to a central server wirelessly. You can get a photo from any attraction at any other kiosk. On my last visit to WnW, we accidentally got a photo from SE wet (it was in our day pack). We were able to get the photo re-printed at WnW's photo kiosk. The only reason we discovered this was when we were ordering a photo from WnW, there was a template there for scooby, and the attendant showed us how he could log into any of the attractions in MW.

What has been done with the exit now do riders just walk through the empty biulding or what?

On another note the Lethal Weapon store is now closed. If you want the ride photo you need to go to Superman and you exit the ride through the gate that was on the side of the store.

I'm sure that answers that.

[ShadowXL]

With the exception of Sea World, which is too far, all of the WVTP photo outlets in WnW and WBMW are linked to a central server wirelessly. You can get a photo from any attraction at any other kiosk.

You can get the Sea World photos at MW and WnW now too. Also thanks to who ever split this into a new topic Edited October 14, 2008 by ShadowXL

[sonic123488]

I would say this is clearly a response to the recent Economic crisis. However not opening the stores at the normal opening times seems just a bit slack on movieworld's part.

[Gazza]

Would the stores that are closed be under performing ones? I mean the LW for instance is out of the way at the end of an alley, on a ride that photos would probably be less popular one (Who wants a photo of themselves in pain?) Is it all the shops that are closed...Surley the WB department store would be open at that time? I'd probably imagine that the shops don't do much trade early in the day given people are probably too busy getting the rides done at that point, but yeah, I can't help but think it is a bit tacky.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Gazza

[MickeyD]

One would also assume that with the weakening of the Australian dollar, we should see a significant increase in Domestic Tourism and therefore an upturn in Theme Park patronage over the coming months (if anything)... BAD FORM MOVIEWORLD!!! Something like this happened about 4 years ago when they decided to operate attractions sharing alternate cycles throughout the day. This was not at all well received by the guests & before too long got back to the media. They immediatly changed things back the way they were. I am assuming Gazza is correct and they have only closed certain quieter stores during the low seasons. IMO MW Management should continue working more toward attracting locals to bolster the Park numbers, at least until Domestic tourism picks up. Blatant increases in prices and shuttering stores is obvious cost cutting and not very clever either when it becomes so obvious to the guests in the park. Look at what accountants have done to Stella properties throughout Australia? They have turned successful Resorts and Hotels into lean, mean money making machines.. IF MW management go down this road it will again only be a matter of time that Patrons respond negatively to the changes in the form of Guest surveys and Guest Services complaints

Edited October 15, 2008 by MickeyD

[Spotty]

Yes, I think that would have been Movie World's "Dark Period" that they went through. I also remember the strikes with the Looney Tunes characters. I just find it odd that they are cost cutting like this when I know for a fact that staff just up the road at Dreamworld get paid ALOT more money for doing the same job than WVTP (If your under 21 that is, as Dreamworld doesn't pay Jr. Rates)

[Spotty]

Yes, I think that would have been Movie World's "Dark Period" that they went through. I also remember the strikes with the Looney Tunes characters. I just find it odd that they are cost cutting like this when I know for a fact that staff just up the road at Dreamworld get paid ALOT more money for doing the same job than WVTP (If your under 21 that is, as Dreamworld doesn't pay Jr. Rates) I really hope that this isn't a indicator of what is to come...

Edited October 15, 2008 by Spotty

[sonic123488]

Nothing wrong with a dark period, but it probably could have been used better making some more batman rides. But who knows with all this cost cutting, other than weathering the financial problems, MW could be saving up for something big.

[S.W24]

Sonic123488 could be right in the fact that WVTP is know for cost cutting before something big is about to hit the park or parks. But i would have to say opening shops at 11:30 is a bit stupid in the fact that most guest's have a look in the shops when they first get to the park and when they leave. I remember back about 7 years ago this same thing happened at Movieworld and it ended up being canned 2 weeks into it after guest complaints about the park only haveing its rides open at 10. It will be interesting to see how long it will acctually last for.

[Swanny]

How much money, approximately, would they actually be saving by opening the shops later? I know this is probably hard for people to say, but some employees may know. I wouldn't think that it would be a very worthwhile strategy for them to be implementing.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

By my count, there is roughly 18 stores in WBMW. If you figure a few are ride stores that have to be open, bring it down to say - 13. Now, some of these run on 1 staff, some on multiple, so overall, lets say an average of 20 staff across the board. Opening 90 minutes after park open (and i think some stores opened before 10:00 to get business before they drop the rope??) means they save 90 minutes in wages per day, 364 days per year. Average wage of those staff would be about $15 per hour. $22.50 per staff per day x 20 staff per day x 364 days per year = $163,800 per year saved. This is the budget to be able to afford another 4 full time staff per year. This doesn't take into account the other costs associated with the operation of the stores - electrical (which would be minimal) consumables such as light globes, etc (small but it does add up - just like cutting employee hours by 90 mins per day). Sure they miss out on 90 minutes of revenue, but with the exception of pre-opening stores that hold the guests before the rides open, the first 90 minutes of any park operation - and nobody is thinking about shops - they all run for their first few rides of the day before the queues get busy. The advice i've seen numerous members of this forum give people asking advice about visiting parks has always been to hit the big rides that have lower capacity or higher demand early.... noone is going to a shop that early in the morning unless it is an unusual need. Its a smart decision, anyway you look at it - shops at parks have a lunchtime rush, and a closing time rush - theres never an opening time rush - thats reserved for the rides.

[gauge]

[22.50 per staff per day x 20 staff per day x 364 days per year = $163,800 per year saved. This is the budget to be able to afford another 4 full time staff per year. Lets not forget to add the 9% Super and approx 3% workcover levy on top of that...

[Gazza]

To clarify on the situation, the department store, shrek, the photo center, plus all the food outlets were open prior to 11am when I was there. It seemed it was only small shops like Harry Potter and Daily Planet that were shut. I didn't take any notice of the ones at the top of the 'T', only the ones on the straight part of Main St.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Lets not forget to add the 9% Super and approx 3% workcover levy on top of that...

Well no, I wasn't forgetting that, but if you're saving the Super and Workcover levies on that amount of staff, you're going to have enough money to front it up - its all on percentages. If you reduce the staffs working hours by 15%, you're saving 15% off the other costs such as super and workcover. So with 15% saved off 20 staff, gives you 300%, or full priced super and workcover for THREE staff. While the savings are very unlikely to be used towards hiring new staff, meaning that not having the savings to cover the 4th person's super and workcover, at the end of the day I was just trying to demonstrate that while most people viewed the 1 hour closure as being pointless, it does in fact save the park quite a lot of money, which in turn can be used for other things. Again, if you're cutting staff hours, you're unlikely to be hiring more staff, but I used the "4 full time staff" example as it is a reasonably understandable figure for most people to comprehend, because "a years wages" makes sense to most people.

[Gazza]

Increasing poncho prices might lead to a turn down in sales

But demand for ponchos is fairly inelastic, so you can increase prices a fair bit and demand wont drop much at all. My view on these sorts of measures is that rooting out obvious inefficiencies is fine, but when you start impacting upon the guest experience then you are going the wrong way about increasing profits. A better method IMO is just to try and make the park more popular.

[cadboy]

By adding new attractions not replacing others so the park has more to offer and can accommodate more people, pretty obvious really.

Edited November 10, 2008 by cadboy

[mickey_079]

But Cadboy can the park afford to operate more rides? Remember there isn't just one lump sum for the ride than that's it, just like any mechanical machinery you need to spend money to make it last.