A Spirited 15 Rounds ...

[wannabeBelle]

Marie

 

[disney1023]

You don't hate doing this. You are probably employed by Tom or actually might be Tom again using fake account like before. And your watermark explanation couldn't be more wrong.

Tom got a fake account once? I'm sorry to say, but I am not Tom Corless or any girlfriend I doubt he has (I watch his live Wednesday shows, but that is about it). I am no troll (personally, I hate them), and I much rather be talking about Epcot's 35th anniversary more than anything. Speaking of which, do you have any info on that, Spirit?

(P.S. You can look at my older posts, that should prove the whole Tom thing.)

 

[wannabeBelle]

Me on a very similar looking bridge, This was on the Wild Africa Trek tour in DAK. Marie

 

[britain]

X. Atencio Has Passed Away
https://d23.com/legendary-disney-an...io-passes-away-age-98/?share_token=21428f813f

Oh man First Marty, now X!

 

[AEfx]

What's taking Universal so long with their Nintendo announcement?

Universal doesn't make it a habit to announce stuff a half-decade before it actually opens like Disney does. The only reason we even know about Nintendo & Universal is because it was part of a public business deal. Cripes, construction sites are often already having work done before we know what's going there. If I recall, that's what happened with Transformers - and it was almost exactly a year from the day we found out and that people were walking into the queue of the finished ride.

 

[GoofGoof]

Universal doesn't make it a habit to announce stuff a half-decade before it actually opens like Disney does. The only reason we even know about Nintendo & Universal is because it was part of a public business deal. Cripes, construction sites are often already having work done before we know what's going there. If I recall, that's what happened with Transformers - and it was almost exactly a year from the day we found out and that people were walking into the queue of the finished ride.

This is 100% true. Just like the deal Disney made for Avatar, once the contract is signed with a 3rd party it gets disclosed publicly. The clock doesn't begin for me until ground breaking. My guess is Nintendo will take less time than the standard 3 years for a Disney project but longer than Transformers since that was a clone in a relatively simple show building.

 

[DisneyFan18]

@WDW1974, I read that Disneyland Shanghai is recieving a free digital fastpass service, could this somehow mean that there have been changes regarding charging guests for them in some way? or are they still planning on going forward with that?

BTW, it's great to hear that you're alright, luckily where I live I have never experienced a Hurricane, nevertheless from the videos I've seen and the news I read I can tell that it is an awful experience. So I'm just glad that you and your family are alright.

 

[ford91exploder]

I do admire Disney's 'can do' attitude in getting WDW open so quickly and wonder how the closure might impact FQ4 2017 results. Summer wasn't good for the second year in a row, despite opening Pandora in the prior quarter.

Now, you have had a lousy quarter at the box office. And a bad quarter for broadcast networks. And in parks ... well, WDW wasn't hitting on many cylinders heading into this month. There was a reason TDO scheduled THREE Halloween Parties before Labor Day as well as starting The Fall Food and Booze Fest in August (yeah, I do recall when both events were October events). Disney lost two hard ticket nights (one NoJ, one Halloween party). Who knows what they lost on cancelled trips? And they'll say they took a loss on those $15 buffets. And we have DCL ... they cut two voyages short (refunding money) and then cancelled three cruises entirely. I don't have to tell you how profitable those are.

And how many people had to cancel, postpone or shorten trips either last week or this one?

Yeah, I think it's going to be as ugly as the typical Disney Blogger.

Sadly that means yet more cuts at WDW and the stock buyback machine pushed to 'Ludicrous Speed' to keep that shiny stock price dangled before Wall St analyst eyes so no one looks too deeply at the deteriorating fundamentals and more importantly Iger meets his bonus targets.

 

[IanDLBZF]

Disney lost two hard ticket nights (one NoJ, one Halloween party). Who knows what they lost on cancelled trips?

Same issue last year with Matthew (WDW lost TWO MNSSHP nights, and the parks were closed for one day and reopened the day after the storm (October 8).

 

[The Empress Lilly]

X. Atencio Has Passed Away
https://d23.com/legendary-disney-an...io-passes-away-age-98/?share_token=21428f813f

For Walt Disney World, he contributed to If You Had Wings and Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, as well as Spaceship Earth, World of Motion, and the Mexico pavilion at Epcot. Throughout his career, X always said that his reward, as it was in the days of Pinocchio, “is still the audience’s reactions.”​

Five of my favs, not even counting his contribution to Pirates (the Yo-Ho lyrics!) and the Mansion, and the Primeval dinosaurs that inspired Energy. What a track record!​

 

[MisterPenguin]

Same issue last year with Matthew (WDW lost TWO MNSSHP nights, and the parks were closed for one day and reopened the day after the storm (October 8).

The park closed at 5 PM on Thursday, Oct 6.

Then it was closed a full day for the storm on Friday, Oct 7, though, by that evening DS was partly opened.

The park reopened Saturday, Oct 8.

But yes, two Halloween Nights were cancelled.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/sever...osing-at-5pm-today,-closed-all-day-friday.htm

 

[TiggerDad]

I found a Disney park that wasn't affected by the hurricane. Ratatouille was cute but Crush's Coaster is much better. We got the wrong ride from WDSP. Hyperspace Mountain is a sad attempt at a partial overlay that in no way fits the steampunk exterior. The stop at the end banged my head pretty bad. Headed to Thunder after lunch.

 

[asianway]

Oh sure. It's in no way a justification of a blogger's behavior to say, "hey...maybe 'low life scum' is a little strong".

There's no reason for a blogger to book a room at a Disney resort so they can "report" on what is going on for their dozens of followers if that is their primary reason for doing so. With that said, leveling the same rhetoric that usually reserved for folks that are actually committing crimes seems excessive.

Many bloggers have done things that merit being called lowlifes, but seeking shelter in a hurricane is far from the worst offense. At a minimum, huge swathes of FL are still without power, at worst, no one knows what type of dwelling any of these people reside it - it may well have been a safety issue.

 

[ford91exploder]

If youve read my posts, I feel that team actually does a good job, but it is way too large. Not going to name names, but there are a few that could easily be snipped. And you know that most of them have ops people ghost writing their articles.

And I think they do such a good job, there is no need to feed freebies to the blogger-sphere which by and large parrots their releases.

Disney uses the blogosphere to create the false impression that all these bloggers are just enthusiasts writing about their amazing experiences at WDW rather than the paid media shills we know them to be. How many of the 'tame' bloggers note on their sites that Disney provided admissions/dining/accomodations etc. Yes there is a microscopic sliver who do but the majority does not and Disney LIKES it that way.

 

[ford91exploder]

During union negotiations? What kind of message is that going to send?

Higher minimum wages lead to unemployment, but the reverse isn't true.

That you union guys shut up and take what we give you or we'll sack more of you.

 

[ford91exploder]

I don't think it's the storm - it seems to have been planned well before last week.

IIRC, @ParentsOf4's data shows solid per-cap guest spending, so I don't think it's that.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's some combination of:

1. Avatar drove little to no new guests visits
2. Higher prices reducing demand
3. Lower than expected numbers at ESPN and from movies (Hollywood is going through its worst domestic box office performance in decades)

Just the usual story at American companies, The division which makes money is not the CEO's favorite so it takes all the hits when it's time to 'Make The Numbers'

 

[ford91exploder]

Word on the street is that layoffs in the thousands will be announced for Parks & Resorts in the next few weeks.

THE BUYBACKS MUST FLOW

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney uses the blogosphere to create the false impression that all these bloggers are just enthusiasts writing about their amazing experiences at WDW rather than the paid media shills we know them to be.

You're just a paid shill of Universal whose job it is to discredit Disney on a Disney fan site.

My proof? Same as yours.

 

[21stamps]

Just to be clear, yet again, I stand by what was posted yesterday.

There is no good excuse for people conducting themselves in the way in which many did. This wasn't about one person, no matter how large his ego and how delusional he is about being a Disney reporter or journalist or what have you. His behavior over the years is totally indefensible and the idea that Disney toyed with giving him credibility shows how low their standards have fallen (basically, you can have done anything, say anything, act anyway and so long as you tow the company line and influence people then Dr. Blondie and Co say you're in!)

I know this is where I am supposed to say how great it is that WDW is reopening tomorrow and things will be back to 'normal' but for many Floridians normal is a very long way away. For some, normal will never return.

No, that doesn't mean people should stop visiting WDW or having fun. WDW is the largest economic generator for the state (why their wage inequality is so important because they set the standards for what companies in FL can get away with ... I can say that ... right? Not too political. I didn't mention Trump. Didn't hurt any snowflake rightwinger's feelings.) And fun and a return to normalcy is needed for people. The thing is, for many, this was a whole lot more than a 48-hour inconvenience at a resort.

This is the first time that I agree with you. Not all of your post, but some of it.

 

[Mike S]

X. Atencio Has Passed Away
https://d23.com/legendary-disney-an...io-passes-away-age-98/?share_token=21428f813f

Noooooooo!!!!