Re: Jacobs family laments departure from Yosemite

Can't feel too sad for them, since they can now head over to Yellowstone each year instead of Yosemite.

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Jeez, that article practically made it sound like they were being banned from the park. Guess he'll just have to pay for his rooms at the Ahwahnee now. Poor baby. :-(

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But Jacobs family members say they worry about how well Aramark will care for the park because, they contend, sentiment takes a back seat to profits at large, publicly traded companies. “It’s like our baby is now being cared for by somebody who doesn’t quite have the same passion,” Jeremy Jacobs Jr. said.

...says the guy claiming he owns all the naming rights in the park and insists on being paid for them. That's precious coming from a guy who apparently doesn't know the definition of the word irony. LoL!

what a strange way to discover what is really a massive change in the park. how will this affect the deli, etc. opening times and so forth.
will it mean lower or higher prices in future???
only one thing is for certain: if it means the end to a $4 same-day price rise for a bag of lettuce at TM stores, then it can't be all bad.
can it?

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pines
what a strange way to discover what is really a massive change in the park.

The change was first reported in this forum on this thread: http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,80267

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Sorry but based on my last Ahwahnee experience what they wrote below is BS:


The close attention to Yosemite continues back in Buffalo. When a visitor sends a letter of praise, or complaint, that reaches the senior Jacobs’ desk at Delaware North, he reads the note.

“And then he sends it Lou and me, and then he sends it to everyone else. And then the next day he calls around to see what we’ve done about it,” Jeremy Jacobs Jr. said.

We like to spend our milestone anniversaries at the Ahwahnee and the last visit was a disaster from the start and the manager didn't take the initiative to see that the rest of the stay went well. It took a five page letter to list all that went wrong that weekend and I never got a response from anyone from DNC much less one of the Jacobs. And some of them were health code issues such as going to use the glasses in the room when we first got into the room only to find that there was partially dried beverages on insides of them. We refer to that trip as "Survivors: The Ahwahnee" since we had to make our own kindling for the fireplace using a hiking knife, there were no fireplace tools so we used sticks and no matches to light the fire. I tried for 15 years to get that specific cottage room and the experience was so disappointing.

And, sorry the names of the places do not below to DNC.

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parklover

We like to spend our milestone anniversaries at the Ahwahnee and the last visit was a disaster from the start and the manager didn't take the initiative to see that the rest of the stay went well. It took a five page letter to list all that went wrong that weekend and I never got a response from anyone from DNC much less one of the Jacobs.

If you still have a copy of that letter, I would recommend that you forward it directly to Jeremy M. Jacobs Sr. (with an additional note that you never received a response back.)

His business address is as follows:

Jeremy M. Jacobs Sr.
Delaware North Corporation
40 Fountain Plaza
Buffalo, NY 14202-2229

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Thank you for the address. However, when these things happen hotels/lodging companies usually will do a partial refund or comp you a night because they want to keep you as a customer but since they will be gone in March, they really don't have a reason to do anything at this point. The only thing it might do is open their eyes to the fact that what they are looking at how their corporation functions through rose colored glasses and the reality is that they dropped the ball with customer service in Yosemite. Since DNC took over, we seemed to have had an issue about 1 in 3 times we stayed there and they once did comp us a room for a night but at that time they really had a good general manager there who had since left. I even mentioned this when we had checked in for that last visit and you would have thought they would have been more careful. Funny thing is that when we stayed in Curry and the lodge, we never had issues and the Ahwahnee is rated a 4 star hotel and at those prices you would expect clean glasses, sheets, things not to be missing from the room, sticky tables and floors, getting only 1/2 or your room service meal and having to wait two hours to get the rest and I can go on and on about the rest but I won't. I would like to spend my 30th anniversary there but I will have to wait to see how the new concessionaire is.

I just got back from Zion and spoke to someone that had worked for Aramark and it doesn't sound too promising.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2015 10:42AM by parklover.

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parklover

I just got back from Zion and spoke to someone that had worked for Aramark and it doesn't would too promising.

I've only experienced Aramark as a food service provider at sports arenas like the SAP Center in San Jose. Compared to other concessionaires that service sports arenas and stadiums like Centerplate (AT&T Park and Levi's Stadium) and Levy's Restaurants (Oracle Arena), the food served by them at the SAP Center is more reasonably priced and more consistent (in a good way) in taste.

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I do hope that there is an improvement in food in Yosemite when they take over, especially in the quality of food you get with the prices so high. It always worries me when a concessionaire is picked that does not have any or much experience being in a national park. I think that is one of the things that caused issues with DNC especially in the beginning. Running food concessions in sports arenas and stadiums is different than running a concession in a park.

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plawrence

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parklover

I just got back from Zion and spoke to someone that had worked for Aramark and it doesn't would too promising.

I've only experienced Aramark as a food service provider at sports arenas like the SAP Center in San Jose. Compared to other concessionaires that service sports arenas and stadiums like Centerplate (AT&T Park and Levi's Stadium) and Levy's Restaurants (Oracle Arena), the food served by them at the SAP Center is more reasonably priced and more consistent (in a good way) in taste.

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They were at the Oakland Coliseum (stadium) but I'm not sure who's running the show now. However, that was kind of a different operation, where basically their name was on the beer cups, but otherwise it was the local employees who you got to know and trust. They also had several independents operators, and Levy's operated the clubs. Not sure how it works now.

I have experienced Aramark at Olympic National Park but never any of their food service. We went to Sold Duc Lodge for the hot spring pools. They had a mixed contract there, with Aramark operating several places and Forever Resorts one other. Not quite sure who had the contracts now.

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y_p_w

They were at the Oakland Coliseum (stadium) but I'm not sure who's running the show now. However, that was kind of a different operation, where basically their name was on the beer cups, but otherwise it was the local employees who you got to know and trust.

I suspect that the longterm employees of DNC will be offered jobs with Aramark just as the longterm employees of Curry & Co. were offered jobs with DNC. There will probably be some changes in the management positions (we can only hope), but my guess is that many of the frontline concession employees at Yosemite will remain the same.

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I hope so because I know many people that work for DNC and some that have been there before DNC took over.

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plawrence

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y_p_w

They were at the Oakland Coliseum (stadium) but I'm not sure who's running the show now. However, that was kind of a different operation, where basically their name was on the beer cups, but otherwise it was the local employees who you got to know and trust.

I suspect that the longterm employees of DNC will be offered jobs with Aramark just as the longterm employees of Curry & Co. were offered jobs with DNC. There will probably be some changes in the management positions (we can only hope), but my guess is that many of the frontline concession employees at Yosemite will remain the same.

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Stadium and arena concessions are kind of a strange thing. I looked it up, and O.co Coliseum (hate the name but I need to be clear) is now served by Ovations. It used to be the combination of Aramark and Levy's that I previously mentioned.

The employees are of course part timers for the most part. Or at least seasonal. I sometimes take the train home from work, and I'd see various employees coming home from work during the week at Levi's Stadium. They literally have to do a week's worth of prep work before an event. I think mostly it's Centerplate, but Michael Mina's place is independent of the main contractor. One of the hardest working guys is a walk-around vendor who I've literally seen at all the pro sports venues in the Bay Area. Once I went to a baseball game during the day and someone gave me tickets to an Arena League game in San Jose, and he worked both venues on the same day.

As far as Delaware North goes, I'm not sure they can claim or disclaim the good people they might have working and who love the job. I met one semi-retired waiter from Florida at the Canyon Soda Fountain at Yellowstone. Yellowstone General Stores is operated by Delaware North. This guy was fun-loving and said he came every summer. I doubt he would be any different regardless of who he worked for.

Oh - and has anyone seen the new Delaware North logo?

HERE'S A GOOD ONE (question): what chance the new concessionaires keeping TM stores fully stocked right up until the minute they close for summer? it can't be that difficult to pile everything that's left unsold into a truck and transfer it to Yosemite valley? or am I being a dumb cluck?