GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
Oh it absolutely is effecting attendance at DLR and WDW. What makes the execs dumb is that they did not foresee this, like any normal person would have.
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News Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge - Historical Construction/Impressions
- Thread starter BrianLo
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Oh it absolutely is effecting attendance at DLR and WDW. What makes the execs dumb is that they did not foresee this, like any normal person would have.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Oh gotcha! I misinterpreted what you wrote.
nevol
Well-Known Member
Attendance has skyrocketed at USH, USF, and Disneyland Resort in the past decade. At walt disney world? not so much. Flat and slight declines when attendance grows by percentage points industry-wide. So when does Disney finally take the blinders off and see for themselves that My Magic + has caused a steep decline in WDW's attractiveness as a vacation destination?
In the past decade, attendance at WDW increased 19%.
Attendance at DL increased 23%. Not much of a difference.
As for USx's growth, it's easy to post high percentage increases when you start small.
USH increased 93%, and yet, DHS still beats them in numbers.
nevol
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I suppose I have only been looking at the TEA numbers for the most recent years.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
I'm just curious, so I'm honestly asking this question, why do you believe MM+ is the cause for attendance declines at WDW?
nevol
Well-Known Member
I think it has several cumulative effects on the resort over that course of time.
1.The money Disney spent to develop my magic plus and magic bands, billions, was not spent developing/opening other attractions, creating other value at the theme parks that would have driven attendance.
2. While Disney was spending billions on this infrastructure, Universal was spending money on more visible and valuable attractions in their parks that drove attendance.
3. The My Magic Plus experience has taken a lot of sponteneity out of the theme park experience, rewarding frequent WDW visitors at the expense of first time visitors, which could result in the alienation of first time visitors rather than hooking them as repeat guests/families/vacationers. Isn't it obvious that first-time guests to the resort who aren't getting fastpasses for their prioritized attractions, or dinner reservations, while having to wait 2-3 hours in line for the newest attraction, won't feel like they are getting the most value out of a trip to walt disney world, and probably be less likely to feel confident spending in money and time there the future? Imagine an extended family on vacation, learning about mm+ the hard way. One or two family members might feel confident in some new competencies regarding the scheduling/reservation system, and feel they can handle reservations for the entire family. However, can we guarantee that the rest of the members of this party will be as eager to return?
Just revisited disneyworld's website, which I don't do often because I'm on the west coast, just to make sure I wasn't missing something. Namely, that everybody is getting ample communication about my magic + and magic bands during the pre-planning process, before arriving, so that everybody benefits/uses the service/ has time to ensure the highest satisfaction from their park experiences. But, that isn't what I found. Homepage, Theme Parks, parks and tickets. Major landing pages in their website have zero mention of either magic bands or mm+. More prominently displayed is the play disney parks app. Only in the bottom of the page, where every section and subsection is listed, is there some links to unspectacular pages for mm+ and magic bands. Based on the low priority these programs are given on their website, people visiting for the first time might think that these services are not important to their success on property. There will obviously be opportunities to buy magic bands at the resort, but the mm+ reservation and dining system will be of little use.
The third is purely my observations, but it should (and probably has been) seriously considered; whether the people helped by My Magic Plus oughtweigh and outspend and revisit more often and at a more positive rate of growth than the people who don't use the service or don't use it well. I would be curious to see a comparison between revisitation rates of first-time guests before mm+ and after, or some segmentation of the market in the present to rule out other variables. How frequently, overall, do wdw guests visit/revisit the resort, as a resort constantly gaining attractions, or as one without new attractions but service like mm+/magic bands. If they aren't increasing the frequency of visits they must not actually be enhancing guest experience.
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Disney Irish
Premium Member
Its an interesting thought. I don't agree with it, especially the alienated first time visitors that want to be spontaneous, but its an interesting thought.
The part that will agree with though is they could have spent the money elsewhere like attractions. But that is what fans want right, we always want them to spend money on more attractions but never think about the other aspects of the business. So they took a risk, and risks usually end up costing money.
nevol
Well-Known Member
Yea. One idea I came back to add, the cumulative one, is this, which it seems like you just addressed. Related to my first point. How would different investments have affected the parks, guest experience, attendance, and guest spending? The next few years might give us some opportunities to measure that. How did my magic plus/magic bands affect the above questions, versus how do new rides and attractions? Everything from pandora, toy story land, star wars, and the epcot additions, to HEA and new nighttime entertainment. If, hypothetically, simply building more attractions and entertainment draw in more attendance and profits than mm+/magic bands do, then they should follow the money and invest in more growth. If attendance is flat after these new additions (which it wasn't at DAK and won't be at the studios next year) then we can rule out #1 as being a reason to knock mm+/magic bands and what it was built at the expense of.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
Six Flags regularly adds new attractions to all of their parks every year.
SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
Exactly. Six Flags relies on a new attraction annually to draw visitors, Disneyland doesn't.
Stevek
Well-Known Member
So I picked up the Solo 4K from Target today and one of their exclusives (via movies anywhere only) is a Millennium Falcon doc that talks about the falcon and leads into the ride development. Apparently, the falcon cockpit has been “modified” by Hondo which is why there will be extra seats. It does not appear you can crash the Falcon and end the ride but you can earn credits from or owe credits to Hondo depending on how you do. Characters can then interact with you throughout the land based on how you did...fly bad and the bartender will comment that you are that pilot that did bad. How they are doing to do this? Not sure. Perhaps each guest will receive some type of card that they use during the ride which stores your results and can then be scanned throughout the land. Will be interesting.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Especially interesting with 25,000 riders per day, and 25,000 other paying customers per day who couldn't get on the ride but wanted to get into the land and at least see it and interact with it.
This concept sounds like a cute idea when performed in a controlled lab on the hipster Imagineering campus with a hundred employees paid to be there.
Hipster WDI Creative #1: "Hi guys, wanna help me with my Star Wars Land interactive project tomorrow?"
Hipster WDI Creative #2: "Ooh, fun! Can I pretend to be one of those smelly customers who have to wait in line for stuff?"
Hipster WDI Creative #3: "I'll help, my Marvel Land E Ticket got cancelled by TDA again because it's hourly capacity is still only one half of Pirates of the Caribbean, so I'm trying to make myself look busy. Those Anaheim schmucks have no vision!"
Hipster WDI Creative #1: "I knew I could count on you guys! Starbucks?"
But now try this cutesy interactive project on a mass scale with thousands of paying customers per hour on a hot summer's day at Disneyland, and I don't know how you scale that up successfully. It sounds like the idea came from someone who has never worked in a theme park before.
Meanwhile, at Disneyland...
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Phroobar
Well-Known Member
Isn't that iamsally over at Laughingplace?Especially interesting with 25,000 riders per day, and 25,000 other paying customers per day who couldn't get on the ride but wanted to get into the land and at least see it and interact with it.
This concept sounds like a cute idea when performed in a controlled lab on the hipster Imagineering campus with a hundred employees paid to be there.
Hipster WDI Creative #1: "Hi guys, wanna help me with my Star Wars Land interactive project tomorrow?"
Hipster WDI Creative #2: "Ooh, fun! Can I pretend to be one of those smelly customers who have to wait in line for stuff?"
Hipster WDI Creative #3: "I'll help, my Marvel Land E Ticket got cancelled by TDA again because it's hourly capacity is still only one half of Pirates of the Caribbean, so I'm trying to make myself look busy. Those Anaheim schmucks have no vision!"
Hipster WDI Creative #1: "I knew I could count on you guys! Starbucks?"
But now try this cutesy interactive project on a mass scale with thousands of paying customers per hour on a hot summer's day at Disneyland, and I don't know how you scale that up successfully. It sounds like the idea came from someone who has never worked in a theme park before.
Meanwhile, at Disneyland...
Stevek
Well-Known Member
Especially interesting with 25,000 riders per day, and 25,000 other paying customers per day who couldn't get on the ride but wanted to get into the land and at least see it and interact with it.
This concept sounds like a cute idea when performed in a controlled lab on the hipster Imagineering campus with a hundred employees paid to be there.
Hipster WDI Creative #1: "Hi guys, wanna help me with my Star Wars Land interactive project tomorrow?"
Hipster WDI Creative #2: "Ooh, fun! Can I pretend to be one of those smelly customers who have to wait in line for stuff?"
Hipster WDI Creative #3: "I'll help, my Marvel Land E Ticket got cancelled by TDA again because it's hourly capacity is still only one half of Pirates of the Caribbean, so I'm trying to make myself look busy. Those Anaheim schmucks have no vision!"
Hipster WDI Creative #1: "I knew I could count on you guys! Starbucks?"
But now try this cutesy interactive project on a mass scale with thousands of paying customers per hour on a hot summer's day at Disneyland, and I don't know how you scale that up successfully. It sounds like the idea came from someone who has never worked in a theme park before.
Well, in the video feature I mentioned, the millennium falcom show producer does look like she's too you to drink from Ooga's cantina so you could very well be on to something. I think this is just a prime example of what current Disneyland/DCA leadership is concerned about...flashy, expensive rides with limited daily capacity. I think they were just too far down the rabbit hole on this one to make any changes and quite honestly, they may be willing to live with it given the sheer number of people this addition will bring to Disneyland...even if those people may not get to experience and leave a bit unhappier than when they showed up.
Stevek
Well-Known Member
it looks more like <insert any disney lifestylers name here>
THE Monorail Lime
Well-Known Member
WHY do people hate this!?? SWGE is going to be immersive and fun. 
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
We are in the hate phase of Disney ride development. The first is excitement when announced. Then it's yuck phase when concept art is presented. Then it's hate as the construction is underway. Finally it's love when it opens. Two weeks after opening is "this place sucks" in the case of MB & PP along with record breaking lines for over a year.WHY do people hate this!?? SWGE is going to be immersive and fun.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Unless it’s MB of course. Then it’s just a permanent Hate phase.