A Spirited Perfect Ten

[PhotoDave219]

GM suffered from dilution of brand.

Let's take it's popular 7 seater SUV line based on it's Lambda platform. When first introduced, it was a God Send for certain nameplates. It was the GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, and then Saturn Outlook. It gave them something that wasn't shared with Caddy, Chevy or Pontiac. Olds had bit the dust already. It sold so well and at a more profitable price point at these nameplates Chevyy dealers whined to high heaven they didn't have a version, at least that's what I've heard. Saturn got axed, which was a good thing. But, Cheve got the Traverse based on this platform and boom, wham, there's the 27,000 dollar version in the car ads that undercut premium prices the other nameplates were getting. They seem to make the same mistake over and over. Sometimes, each arm can't have it's own version.

The one thing I wanted to see out the auto bailouts was to have seen Jeep torn from it's dead weight breather and Hummer salvaged from GM and merged together. Jeep being the everyman's line and Hummer being the high end but sharing the same bones. This could have made for some great dealership ops with an added in a line of like branded offroad products of ATVs and UTVs and accessories.

That had nothing to do with Disney.

Anywho, This is interesting
http://datatools.urban.org/features/mapping-americas-futures/#map

Shows the growth hotspots, Look at the Houston, San Antonio, Austin areas. Back to that Marvel Park
Outside of a Six Flags a Sea World and some small scale stuff, not much there. Way Underserved.

My home park is Silver Dollar City, as it's the close one being just under two hours away. It's poised to take advantage of the growth here in Northwest Arkansas and KC. Dollywood, perfectly wedged between Charlotte and Atlanta seems a huge winner as well. Disney should explore not full scale parks in these regions but mini resorts with Toystory Land like rides and water parks largely indoors within a resort with added features like stage shows and such. Nothing to compete with the large parks, but a taste to make one hungry for trips to the big dogs. Think Nick in Mall of America with Great Wolf Lodge water stuff only Disneyfied under one roof. Just a Thought.

Disney will suffer in the long run with so many properties. In twenty years, they'll get spun off either out of greed or necessity. I liken it to Sony. Look at it's electronics biz since it went into the media content biz.

On McDonald's, here's a reason

I guess the lesson to be learned is that when you stray from your core product in your core principles of quality in doing your product better than anybody else can… Then you're kind of screwed.

 

[Nubs70]

I mean "Dreams do come true in New Orleans"? Sounds like perfect marketing to me. Then again, I might be partial.

And she? had a huge Adams Apple.

 

[GoofGoof]

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

We've seen this hubris over and over again Kodak, GM and McDonalds are only the most recent examples, The executives looting the treasury are symptomatic,

Home Depot ALMOST went out because of this - Bob Nardelli's 220 million paycheck - in the year when HD Lost as I recall $300 million, Minus Bob's paycheck HD would shaved the loss by 2/3.

Once again - Companies performance seems to be inversely related to the size of the CEO's paycheck, Apple's Tim Cook gets 9.2 Million and they had a 18 Billion QUARTERLY PROFIT.

I'm all for Iger bashing, but Cook made over $100M last year including his stock vestings. The $9.2M is just salary.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

And I think that a family going to a Disney park would rather see Disney things, especially their old Disney favorites. That's why they go to A DISNEY PARK. Now, I've experienced Star Tours, and I think it's fun, especially after its recent refurb. But you know what? I've been on Toy Story Midway Mania exactly once, and that's because there's always an hour or more wait to ride the thing. Star Tours, however, has always been a walk-on. There have also always been big crowds for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid (the last time I saw it was 2 years ago, and the queue was packed like sardines). I'd be careful speculating, if I were you...

Maybe, just maybe, TSMM is so "popular" because they are targeting families with kids under 6 in their national media campaigns and yet they have one park that has exactly one ride for the demo they are pandering too.

 

[71jason]

I did take my wife on a surprise 3-day DCL cruise, and was impressed by the fact that it was NOT overly Disneyfied, and we really enjoyed the hell out of that trip.

I agree, it's relatively subtle and tasteful outside of the main lobby statues and the kids clubs. But I'm talking the perception of potential guests. When I tell non-hard core Disney fans I've sailed DCL, the two questions I get are variations on (1) isn't it all Mickey and princesses? and (2) aren't you surrounded by kids all the time?

Until DCL convinces the general public those aren't the case, I think they have a limited market that will stay centered on Port Canaveral. (Not that they don't do very, very well there.)

 

[WDWFigment]

I agree, it's relatively subtle and tasteful outside of the main lobby statues and the kids clubs. But I'm talking the perception of potential guests. When I tell non-hard core Disney fans I've sailed DCL, the two questions I get are variations on (1) isn't it all Mickey and princesses? and (2) aren't you surrounded by kids all the time?

Until DCL convinces the general public those aren't the case, I think they have a limited market that will stay centered on Port Canaveral. (Not that they don't do very, very well there.)

Are those potential guests typically people with or without kids? We receive the same type of questioning from our friends, but they are all generally childless.

You're right in that it's still a limited market (and one that is missing out on some of the 'whales' of vacationing), but 'families' is still not quite as limited as 'fans of Disney.'

 

[Magenta Panther]

It's not the "Disney Difference" that's keeping WDW's attendance up. It's reliance on BRAND loyalty. It's nostalgia for a WDW that no longer exists.

Please keep in mind that despite hitting a rough patch, McDonald's still sells the most hamburgers in the world.

For decades, General Motors sold the most cars in the world.

Numbers do not make McDonald's the best hamburger or GM the best car.

McDonald's and GM were the leaders in their industries, the stars.

Both relied too much on BRAND (as The Spirit likes to call it) instead of taking care of the products that they sold.

For decades, consumers ran to McDonald's and GM because it was what they were most comfortable with. Both companies counted on brand loyalty. Both companies took the customer for granted.

Both focused on making their executives rich rather than making their customers happy.

Both lost their way.

At one point, both were kings of the world and no one could have imagined it going anywhere other than up.

There's a lesson to be learned, if only Disney executives were paying attention.

I'm not sure we disagree with each other on this. The Disney Difference is what generates brand loyalty, isn't it, as far as the parks are concerned? Even if that loyalty is blind loyalty, and that may be true, and that's a great shame, because, as I think you're saying, that lets TDO get away with a lot of penny-pinching that Walt would never have put up with. The thing is - the Disney magic still exists, but most of it lives on in the films Walt made, and that his predecessors made (at least those who understood his style of storytelling - the creators of the Silver Age films like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast). Those films are the entry point for those who visit Disney parks, and that's why, in my opinion, it's foolish for Iger to look beyond the studio for attraction concepts, stuff like Avatar and Star Wars - that's not what people are looking for in a Disney park. They want that Disney magic (why else would a dated dark ride like Peter Pan's Flight have such high attendance? It's certainly not due to its cutting-edge technology!) Is that what you meant when you said that the executives need to pay attention and learn? Because I agree. I'm just in despair that it will ever happen as long as Iger holds the reins.

 

[71jason]

Are those potential guests typically people with or without kids? We receive the same type of questioning from our friends, but they are all generally childless.

You're right in that it's still a limited market (and one that is missing out on some of the 'whales' of vacationing), but 'families' is still not quite as limited as 'fans of Disney.'

Mostly childless, but even a few with kids that just don't want to be inundated with other people's kids like they are at WDW.

And I think it's two separate things--shocking, I know, but there are families out there who just aren't that into Disney, at least when they think it will be overwhelming. I get a sense they think it's all character meals and the like. I don't know, hard to measure people's exact erroneous impressions.

 

[WDWFigment]

Mostly childless, but even a few with kids that just don't want to be inundated with other people's kids like they are at WDW.

And I think it's two separate things--shocking, I know, but there are families out there who just aren't that into Disney, at least when they think it will be overwhelming. I get a sense they think it's all character meals and the like. I don't know, hard to measure people's exact erroneous impressions.

Ha, I've also encountered plenty of families that aren't exactly into being inundated by Disney. Whether that be staying in a 'Disneyfied' hotel room or even eating on site. A big part of that mis-impression is the result of Disney's own marketing efforts, reflecting places wherein you'll always be holding hands with Mickey and dancin' with the Seven Dwarfs...

 

[Smiddimizer]

25 minutes!

 

[ParentsOf4]

I'm not sure we disagree with each other on this. The Disney Difference is what generates brand loyalty, isn't it, as far as the parks are concerned?

Putting aside what it's morphed into today, the Disney Difference was an uncompromising commitment to Guest service, to doing what was necessary to exceed Guest expectations. Before "Be Our Guest" became just a song, it actually meant something.

Many suggest that DCL still delivers the Disney Difference but, most certainly, WDW does not.

Those of us old enough to remember how we were treated at WDW in the 1970s and 1980s see nothing of that Disney Difference at today's WDW.

 

[StageFrenzy]

25 minutes!

?

 

[Smiddimizer]

?

Disneyland Diamond Anniversary shindig.

 

[ford91exploder]

I'm all for Iger bashing, but Cook made over $100M last year including his stock vestings. The $9.2M is just salary.

Actually not this is from AAPL's SEC filing

Tim Cook
Chief Executive Officer
2014

Salary 1,748,462
Bonus 0
Stock Awards 0
Incentive Plan 6,700,000
other compensation 774,176

Total 9,222,638

Tim Cook DOES have considerable stock holdings from prior years, But this is the OFFICIAL filing with the SEC

 

[StageFrenzy]

Disneyland Diamond Anniversary shindig.

Thanks

 

[GoofGoof]

Actually not this is from AAPL's SEC filing

Tim Cook
Chief Executive Officer
2014

Salary 1,748,462
Bonus 0
Stock Awards 0
Incentive Plan 6,700,000
other compensation 774,176

Total 9,222,638

Tim Cook DOES have considerable stock holdings from prior years, But this is the OFFICIAL filing with the SEC

The proxy statement doesn't include vesting of stock options.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tim-cooks-total-pay-2014-131040368.html;_ylt=A0LEVz.ns8lUzSEANQPBGOd_

Tech companies tend to skew executive compensation a lot more towards equity than traditional businesses.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Actually not this is from AAPL's SEC filing

Tim Cook
Chief Executive Officer
2014

Salary 1,748,462
Bonus 0
Stock Awards 0
Incentive Plan 6,700,000
other compensation 774,176

Total 9,222,638

Tim Cook DOES have considerable stock holdings from prior years, But this is the OFFICIAL filing with the SEC

That's still SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than Bob's compensation package and Tim is personally more invested in Apple than his Teflon pal in Burbank is in Disney.

 

[culturenthrills]

I'm sure there's a nugget of truth to this, as TL probably barely made it into the black (if at all). However, it wasn't the high-cost bombs that Carter and Ranger were, and arguably had more factors going against it than the other films (chief among them, being a sequel to a 30 year-old, high concept niche sci-fi film).

Reportedly the 3rd film is still in the works, with the script going through rewrites. As another poster pointed out, I don't believe the company builds a major attraction without plans to use it again at some point.

I just want another Tron movie so we get to see Olivia Wilde as Quorra again. She was the best thing about the movie. I thought the ending was great with her crossing over to the real world. It really set up a lot of possibilities.

 

[Phil12]

Maybe, just maybe, TSMM is so "popular" because they are targeting families with kids under 6 in their national media campaigns and yet they have one park that has exactly one ride for the demo they are pandering too.

I think the reason why TSMM is so popular is because it's a shooter game where you aim and shoot at targets. Just imagine if you could shoot at Dr. Nigel Channing in Imagination or if you could shoot at the prairie dogs in The Land. Those rides would be popular too. We'd most likely still have Horizons if they had turned it into a shooting game.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Disneyland Diamond Celebration Sleeping Beauty Castle and Carthay Circle Theater decoration concept art