Spirited Spring Break News, Observations & Thoughts ...

[Nubs70]

Imagine that talking Mickey knew your name when you entered his backstage dressing room. Imagine your Test Track photo automatically uploaded itself to your PhotoPass account as you pulled into the unload station. Pretend you had a stress-free day knowing that you had reserved times for every single thing you wanted to do, but you also had the flexibility to change plans at a whim. Your Dole whip float will be ready at 3:48 pm.

Yes, that window in Fantasyland just recognized your presence and reacted as you walked by. Yep, the bartender at Epcot already knows your favorite cocktail from your last trip. Your phone is receiving personalized suggestions and tips throughout the day.

And all this convenience encourages you to buy more t-shirts and plastic wands.

That's a sliver of the original plan.

No, it's the sub plot of WALL-E.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Are you kidding me? I LOVE Once Upon A Time. Do you think that is a show for female demographics? Well maybe. But it is still my favorite series next to Justified and Criminal Minds

Largely it is, that doesn't mean I didn't binge watch it on Hulu though

I know a lot of people who really enjoy the show and they aren't all females. Haha

I was generalizing about ABC, they just know how to get that demo better than other demos, which has seemingly been the case since Michael fixed their daytime schedule prior to his time at Paramount and Disney.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Yeah, and I have had to talk to the showrunner/creator numerous times when all I can muster is a 'great work' and then turn the subject to anything else (including the weather, which always seems extremely hot when I am at industry functions with Matt).

I have tried. But it leaves me with the same feeling I got from ABC's Pan Am -- looks great, characters aren't compelling.

Binge watching is terrible. I did four and a half seasons of Breaking Bad in one month last summer before the final eight episodes because I had never watched and I KNEW how good it was. I also did the Netflix reboot of Arrested Development, which I hated. Couldn't believe it was the same show I loved for three seasons on FOX. I tried with House of Cards but the start of this season (and figuring out where it would end) just soured me on it and I gave up.

I know binging is popular now, but I really hope to never do it again.

BTW, I have to say I am thrilled 24 is coming back (even if I'll see it delayed since I'll be on holiday) and hope it more closely resembles its first few seasons of greatness and not the cartoony depths in ended in.

Funny you mention Pan Am, on a personal perspective I was really hoping that the show would take off (pun not intended). My grandfather worked for them for a very long time and loved the company. I wish he could have seen the show, bad or not, he would have been excited.

 

[WildcatDen]

Honestly, if the Brady Bunch got two episodes . . . and even King's Island

Ah, the classic Brady show at KI. That was back when KI was trying its best to be a theme park and not an amusement park. I suppose we could look at the (somewhat weak) parallel of how King's Island quality has gone down over the years but I really think KI just moved their vision and hence their focus. Gone is the identity of Rivertown and Octoberfest. Now, it is basically a thrill/amusement park. A good one, IMO but nothing more. Like those canoes they left the plans in, those are Lonnnggggg gong. In fact, a lot of the rides featured in that episode are pushing up daisies. Funny fact, KI still does promotions every so often with the Brady cast.

That being said, Modern Family is a really good show and I have to admit, I am looking forward to seeing the Heck's at WDW for the Middle.

 

[Darth Sidious]

People have different tastes. It is, obviously, hugely popular with audiences as well as critics and TV Academy membership. I love it. ... But I have tried Mad Men on five occasions and never gotten into it. I also don't watch shows like NCIS and Criminal Minds that are very popular.

Like I said, it's all taste ...

I think Criminal Minds is a great one off show. You don't have to watch every episode but each episode is compelling in its own right. Then you have the Mentalist that has a serialized arc and single episode arcs, which I also enjoy.

Care to suggest any new shows I should give a shot? Preferably one I can easily catch up on.

 

[WildcatDen]

I'm thinking of several, myself!

Any that would shock the masses?

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Ah, the classic Brady show at KI. That was back when KI was trying its best to be a theme park and not an amusement park. I suppose we could look at the (somewhat weak) parallel of how King's Island quality has gone down over the years but I really think KI just moved their vision and hence their focus. Gone is the identity of Rivertown and Octoberfest. Now, it is basically a thrill/amusement park. A good one, IMO but nothing more. Like those canoes they left the plans in, those are Lonnnggggg gong. In fact, a lot of the rides featured in that episode are pushing up daisies. Funny fact, KI still does promotions every so often with the Brady cast.

I think CF has done a marginally better job with KI than Paramount, and I'm willing to give Ouimet a few more years to really flesh out his vision for the chain of mismatched parks.

I think it's better to have lightly themed rides that make sense for the areas of the park they're in than heavily themed rides that make absolutely no sense for the areas of the park they're in.

Now, can somebody PLEASE get rid of the smoking area in Tower Gardens???

 

[Bolna]

I don't think there will be any choice. It will be force fed down their throats. Disney holds the cards. And I am sure there are many financial benefits that WDP&R can reap by tossing some NGE costs over to Euro Disney.

Disney has decided it has to clean up the Paris mess. The French government is going to expect American dollars coming in that don't require direct payback, one would think. Disney can say, 'we're going to put XXX billion dollars into Euro Disney over a decade BUT ... we also expect that our new MAGIC Band tech will be integrated into the DLP Resort' ... I would count on that!

I really hope this is true that Disney is prepared to spend the money to get DLP back to its former glory!

I think part of NGE will be very popular here in Europe, especially the touch and go aspect of the RFID chips in the bands and cards. Considering that RFID in credit cards is getting vers popular here now and the fact that a number of public transport systems (including Paris and London) use it, people are used to it and will certainly see it as an improvement.

But the for whole datamining aspect of the system they will have to jump through many hoops set up by the EU and France - and sice the resort is operated by an French company, they won't be able to use the "ireland loophole" many American companies seem to favour. So the question will be whether it is worth it...

And for the poor CM there, I do hope that they don't implement the turnstile free entrances!!!

 

[flynnibus]

They're going to be playing real-world rollercoaster tycoon and seeing exactly what a crowd does in a theme park using actual data rather than surveys and people counters. They will know exactly who did what and when, how big was their group, etc. All sorts of data to help streamline labor hours and mazimize profits..... which I'll accept as long as its anonymous. Thats where I think the costs will be a benefit, but not enough for $1-2B to be recouped in under 10 years. Lets say its $2B. Then we need to somehow have MM+ save $200M a year in labor costs just to break even over 10 years, not even including operational costs or its own labor. Even $1B would be $100M over 10 and thats still unheard of.

But here's the thing.. it's not just hard labor costs. You can gain efficiency too, which is it's own return that is a bit more fluffy on what number you attach to it.

If you are able to optimize the park, you can in theory run more patrons through it... which in turn has it's own downstream gains of opportunities, revenue, etc.

It's like fixing the timing on traffic lights.. the short term benefit end-users see is 'less traffic backups!' - but the real long term purpose is 'the same capital investment of roads now can handle 30% more capacity before we need to add more...'. And that will apply to the theme park as well. They can "run more through the same fixed infrastructure". There is a lot of value in that optimization that also goes into an ROI discussion.

What I fear? That data of what I do, how I shop, where I eat being turned into targeted advertising and marketing. I fear that data being sold. Disney has been insanely less that transparent about the behind the scenes part of this. Selling people's personal information in an effort to recoup that $1-2B in a faster timeframe.

That is a concern - but I don't think Disney has been less than transparent, instead they have been very direct.. the data is not for sale. Where they have been vague is how DISNEY will use the data. There is always the concern Disney will change course in the future and how visible such a change would be... the risk is always in the 'power of the data' and how much you can trust the people that hold the keys to the data. Will they be corrupted by the power.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

What are the odds that a single interactive element (queue enhancement with personalization, character M&Gs where you are addressed by name etc) involving MM+ and Magic Bands will be online by the end of 2014? I know these were integral to the MM+ system, or at least in "selling it" to the guest.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

Imagine that talking Mickey knew your name when you entered his backstage dressing room. Imagine your Test Track photo automatically uploaded itself to your PhotoPass account as you pulled into the unload station. Pretend you had a stress-free day knowing that you had reserved times for every single thing you wanted to do, but you also had the flexibility to change plans at a whim. Your Dole whip float will be ready at 3:48 pm.

Yes, that window in Fantasyland just recognized your presence and reacted as you walked by. Yep, the bartender at Epcot already knows your favorite cocktail from your last trip. Your phone is receiving personalized suggestions and tips throughout the day.

And all this convenience encourages you to buy more t-shirts and plastic wands.

That's a sliver of the original plan.

Then I hope my phone enjoys it's vacation as it would be locked in the safe and not on me as I go through the parks.

I could see how some people who are uber connected and/or love social media would LOVE this personalization and crap talking to them and offering them goodies but I am not one of them. I'd prefer total strangers to NOT know my name, where I've previously stayed, what my favorite alcoholic beverages are. I don't like when a receptionist, who I don't know, tries to make small talk and uses my name over and over.

But hey, that's just me. I guess I'm not that into social media and 'sharing' because the thought of Mickey knowing who I am when I walk in a room highly creeps me out.

No, it's the sub plot of WALL-E.

Pretty much, this.

 

[PirateFrank]

On the @HTF situation, Universal doesn’t seem to know what to do with social media, OU and all that entails. HTF and the folks at OU were able to acquire a great deal of information on various Universal projects and one can see how that would make Uni nervous. Uni’s answer to information getting out was to clamp down and bring out the big guns. Universal while doing tremendous work in the parks still sucks at PR and guest communication. The OU crew while slightly roguish has a passion for their parks and Uni was focused on deconstructing their update pipeline. But then maybe they don’t like social media and already has some sort of relationship with Robert Niles and TPI.

Ok, Like most of us here, I follow spirit's threads fairly closely.....but I must've been asleep at the wheel - because i have no idea with what happened with HTF. What happened? Did uni take legal action against him for a leak?

 

[DocMcHulk]

Just a note on nothing of interest except to my personal friends here: I just set foot in an Ikea ... I was looking at furniture.

No, I didn't buy a damn thing because ... well, y'all know why!

Try 1%ers would NEVER even walk into an IKEA. I am calling BS on your "I am a 1%er" persona.

 

[ChrisFL]

I loved Tokyo. Can't wait to return. But live there? ... Um ... I don't eat seafood, don't like earthquakes, don't speak any of the language, don't like being crowded, don't really think much of the climate ... oh, and since I have friends there, I know how suicide is a huge problem. It's not all Duffy, Hello Kitty and TDR.

Not that anyone cares, but I am seriously considering moving to Tokyo. The standard profession for "gaijin" is to teach english, which I would really enjoy. I love sushi, ramen, and lots of other japanese foods.

Yes, it is definitely not all kawaii, but there is a very diverse and interesting society that I would love to study some more.

 

[71jason]

On the @HTF situation, Universal doesn’t seem to know what to do with social media, OU and all that entails. HTF and the folks at OU were able to acquire a great deal of information on various Universal projects and one can see how that would make Uni nervous. Uni’s answer to information getting out was to clamp down and bring out the big guns. Universal while doing tremendous work in the parks still sucks at PR and guest communication. The OU crew while slightly roguish has a passion for their parks and Uni was focused on deconstructing their update pipeline. But then maybe they don’t like social media and already has some sort of relationship with Robert Niles and TPI.

I don't get the crack down on @HTF or OU. We're talking a very small subset of Universal guests who, generally, are so pro-Universal they make Jimmy Thick look unbiased. HTF's teased hints just hyped the hardcore fanbase up even more, made being a Universal fan feel like being part of an exclusive club.

I suspect it comes back to 2010, when (anecdotally) AP sales dropped 50% between the announcement and opening of WWoHP. Corporate always fights the last war, and I don't know that the higher-ups realize in 2014 Hogsmeade, Despicable Me and Transformers will continue to pull people in no matter what they announce they're building next.

 

[truecoat]

What I fear? That data of what I do, how I shop, where I eat being turned into targeted advertising and marketing. I fear that data being sold. Disney has been insanely less that transparent about the behind the scenes part of this. Selling people's personal information in an effort to recoup that $1-2B in a faster timeframe.

Selling the magic band merch might break even. Might. It certainly wont put a dent in the negatives in the balance sheet.

IMO of course.

The key will be to see what is marketed to you in the six months after a trip using a magic band. Receiving some direct marketing that you can only link back to your trip at Disney World.

 

[bhg469]

Agreed. At least you didnt mention Big Bang Theory which seems to be nothing but making fun of a guy who seems to be "On The Spectrum" ... so to speak.

He did earlier.. And he likes it... People have their own opinions but, To me big bang is just so tiresome and people think because I'm a geek, that I should love it.. I guess I'm not geeky enough and I don't think Jonny galecki can act outside of his actual dirty hipster existence.

 

[Rogue21]

Care to suggest any new shows I should give a shot? Preferably one I can easily catch up on.

Off topic . . .

Mind if I suggest a couple? Elementary, Grimm, White Collar and the sadly gone Psych. I tend to enjoy shows that are a bit different than the usual "procedurals" (although I do enjoy a few of them too).

 

[Swfewrmco]

Maybe some of these folks should take up blogging/tweeting.

http://news.yahoo.com/disneys-shadow-homeless-families-struggle-041537170.html

 

[PhotoDave219]

That is a concern - but I don't think Disney has been less than transparent, instead they have been very direct.. the data is not for sale. Where they have been vague is how DISNEY will use the data. There is always the concern Disney will change course in the future and how visible such a change would be... the risk is always in the 'power of the data' and how much you can trust the people that hold the keys to the data. Will they be corrupted by the power.

I think theyre going to look at ROI and see how they can get it paid for faster.... they may change their minds.