A Spirited 15 Rounds ...

[Rteetz]

That’s the problem here, she’s doing what was put in place by Burbank years ago. Some of it, like the refurbs, are good, but the other problems, like the second gate and the shift towards branding instead of substance, should give folks pause I don’t see in fan spaces. Take, guest experience for exampl. You mention the dining hours and it’s like, does anyone realize how inconvenient it is for guests to try and find a place to eat in the park? Do you really want to drive guests out to McDonalds, Earl and Five Guys for decent QSR? With the money going into reskins and clones for WDSP, where’s the money to expand DLP’s capacity and bring some of your most popular characters like Jungle Book and the Ducks into attractions and lands? (That last one is nuts, it’s like **** Nunis screaming for a flume ride obvious)

Cathy’s packed her bags for SoCal and the Burbank vision for resort will continue. Where are we going after all these refurbs and Brand projects? How will DLRP, now free from debt, develop the crucial skills it needs to advocate for its own self interest? I guess they’ll find someone Chapek likes and/or someone from Consumer Products to run the ship for a year or two.

Personally I have yet to go to DLP but follow things there closely. Food has seemed to be a problem there for a while. In terms of the parks themselves it was their goal to get Disneyland Parc back up to Disney standards for the 25th. Studios of course is the focus of the future. They know they still have a long way to go and Catherine Powell has certainly helped. I believe she is the one that called for the refurb of Phantom Manor for example. She hasn't left quite yet either. She just was there for the press event for the Marvel event and of course FanDaze. Disney Village is set to undergo major work and the Disneyland Hotel will get a major renovation after Hotel New York. They have come a long way but yes still have a long way to go.

 

[Disorbust]

It is real on a terrible level with the "fake news" wait times. We got into line at mine train at 9pm on a night MK closed at eleven. The CM at the entrance asked use if we are sure we want to get in line because the wait is well over an hour and it will be the last thing we can do that night. We were done in 20 minutes. I don't know if it was his personal agenda to discourage guests, or an intitiative from Disney, but if left us with a really crappy feeling. It's one thing for the posted wait times to be off but for a CM to actively discourage you from the attraction was on a completely different level of sliminess. It left me feeling like I just visited a used car dealership.

 

[MinnieM123]

I was at Epcot yesterday (6/11), and witnessed a father helping his son try to land coins on the track just right at the German miniature railroad display, so that the train might hit it and "derail". This was the father's (you know, the mature adult / guardian) idea.

Of course, I'm just as guilty for not speaking up on how idiotic this was. I was just in bewilderment that such attempts at minor mishappery would be considered entertainment for some (allegedly) civilized folk.

Oh, I completely understand your bewilderment. Sometimes when I see ridiculous behavior, I'm so stunned, that I can't figure out what to do. It's the type of situation that, after the fact, I'd probably think of something I could have said. Or, more likely, I would have sought out a CM, who could come over to the model train area, to ask them to stop throwing coins.

 

[Cesar R M]

“One thing for sure, our profit margins are going to be a lot thinner.”

"so lets us cost cut by firing thousands of employees because our expectations were grossly exaggerated by some financial moron"

 

[Cesar R M]

There’s another Transformers?

BUmblebee looks like WHAT transformers should have been after the first.

No BS from Mr. Michael "Unneeded explosions everywhere" Bay

 

[Cesar R M]

I just realized that the reviews are coming out really early?? Like, this doesn’t come out in America for another 2 1/2 weeks, right? Is it coming out earlier in another country?

I would have expected more fanfare for this trailer being dropped, especially after how good the first one was (ditto with Lego Batman, never saw Ninjago)

I think it has to do with the failure of Ninjago despite the success of Batman Lego.

I like the idea of the movie, but the low-framerate animation is annoying. I guess low framerates are to be expected with Sony products.

I think they are imitating the style of "comic to video".

The entire thing looks beautifully done like they are alive renders of comics (some characters have gradients, brush paints, etc..)

 

[Cesar R M]

I was NOT expecting Spider-Gwen!!!!!!

I actually wonder if they will have the weird mixture of spiderman and deadpool of one of these deadshots. Since these two are more mixed than usual.

Or for Disney in general. With this Fox deal, can it really be called The Walt Disney Company anymore?

They just need to buy walmart and Exxon and it will be "Buy N Large" as per the movie Wall-E

 

[Cesar R M]

As a numbers guru, any thoughts? There is just no way DHS has the attendance they claim, but I have been saying this for years. It was the only park I visited this spring (both March and April) and found it to be relatively empty when you consider wait times and how tiny the park's current footprint actually is. It felt so empty and wait times were absolutely inflated, and still lower than what one would expect (Star Tours a walk on listed as 15 minutes, RnRC a 15-minute wait listed at 40 etc.)

With EPCOT you can never get a real idea when it is Festival season because people do come in to get drunk and while FW is three quarters dead space, all of those festival booths and temporary exhibits make things seem more crowded.

The only parks that legitimately feel busy are MK and DAK.

Haven't been out west in 2018, so no idea what is going on there. But with prices, parking and Pixar, one might guess that locals are basically saying it just isn't worth it. But that is a guess ...

Makes you wonder if these inflated times posted are actually some sort of placebo effect.
Like claim the wait time is 30 minutes, and the guy enters at 15 minutes (which is the real wait time) so the dude waiting suddenly feels "he got a good lucky".

These kind of manipulations are pretty real.

Everytime I think about the whole John Lasseter thing I get so depressed. Ok yes that is an exaggeration but I hate so much how many women he hurt and besides that I am a huge Pixar fan and it just kills me that JL had to turn out to be such a sleazebag and ruin so much goodness for so many people both in and outside of the studio. I’m glad he’s out but worried that it will be a very long time before Pixar will get their house back in order.

I'm scratching my head here.. did Lesseter really harass sexually people?
I ask because with the current climate, a man or woman who is very affectionate to people and that is usual in some cultures, would be instantly labeled as a serial sexual harasser in the USA.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

New Dumbo sneak peak

 

[Bairstow]

Makes you wonder if these inflated times posted are actually some sort of placebo effect.
Like claim the wait time is 30 minutes, and the guy enters at 15 minutes (which is the real wait time) so the dude waiting suddenly feels "he got a good lucky".

These kind of manipulations are pretty real.

Oh absolutely. Advertised wait times are almost always inflated.

The last thing Disney wants to do is underestimate the wait times guests have to deal with.

 

[Cesar R M]

Oh absolutely. Advertised wait times are almost always inflated.

The last thing Disney wants to do is underestimate the wait times guests have to deal with.

Because the soccermom and "may I talk to the manager" crowds would be blasting CMs more than Usual I guess?

 

[Bairstow]

Because the soccermom and "may I talk to the manager" crowds would be blasting CMs more than Usual I guess?

Well that and guest satisfaction in general.
Any smart business aims to under-promise and over-deliver.

 

[BrianLo]

BTW, anyone find it odd that the only resort/park in the world with no projects being built right now and absolutely nothing announced yet is SDL?

BTW, want to be clear, I am NOT saying the park is failing. It is a huge success. ... It just continues to have issues.

But still it could be worse. It could be the (what do the cool kids call it?) dumpster fire that UNI-Beijing is right now.

Please tell us more!

And yes, I've noticed the lack of project movement at SDL. I went again this past March... attendance is not the issue at that park. The merch that does move is those bubble wands. I'm not kidding, bubble wands are Shanghai's Duffy or Potter wands.

As per Beijing, is the menu plan as dismal as it sounds? I know the fanbois are all riled up with the budget increase, but I assume that is like Shanghai's 800mil increase, a bunch of lip service for major cost overruns.

 

[BrianLo]

With the money going into reskins and clones for WDSP, where’s the money to expand DLP’s capacity and bring some of your most popular characters like Jungle Book and the Ducks into attractions and lands? (That last one is nuts, it’s like **** Nunis screaming for a flume ride obvious)

You are being awfully critical of the DLRP plans. They are not perfect... yes Jungle book and Ducks need to be there eventually and I agree unique is better than clones 9 times out of 10...

The lagoon show, one land rebuild with a major new addition and two other power house franchise lands (Frozen and Star Wars) is not a lack of substance. In fact that sounds far, far bigger than DHS and certainly a bit more than the DCA redo.

Despite how popular Jungle Book and Ducks are to Germany; Frozen, Star Wars and Marvel are still bigger. They are unfortunately the technical correct first line choice in the goal to make WDSP way more marketable. I still would like to see those franchises ultimately represented. As per Disneyland it still sounds like Indy is coming out first. Is that the right call?

The parks and resort still have a long way to go, but they've also come a long way from the 2012 nadir dumpster fire. WDSP also needs wayyyy more places to eat, can't agree more.

 

[Disney Analyst]

New Dumbo sneak peak

I'm actually excited.... Gave me chills.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

WDSP also needs wayyyy more places to eat, can't agree more.

Besides food carts, I think only 3 are open on a regular basis: the food court in Studio 1, Remy's and Buffet des Stars. The rest are only open on super busy days. This is the main reason IMO why the park needs a Hollywood Blvd.

 

[pwnbeaver]

No, he'd rather talk about if SDL was such a smashing success and Bob 'Darth' Iger such a genius ... oh, and Chappie the Guru of Merch too ... why is it that since March the Disney outlet stores in FL have been full (my local store is probably a good 60% SDL merchandise, 25% Star Wars and 15% everything else) of SDL Grand Opening merchandise at prices up to 80% off? Two years later? So much product that even after all the bloggers and eBay sellers have come in and taken boxes out, it just keeps coming. Plush, pins, pens, stamp sets, mugs, back packs, drinking bottles, notebooks, stationary, tote bags, umbrellas, key chains etc. Seems like someone(s) grossly misjudged the amount of Disney crap the average Mainlander was going to buy. BTW, these stores have basically never had product from Paris or Hong Kong. I do recall one set of vinyls from TDR's TSM attraction winding up there a few years ago, but that was it. ... This stuff is made in China for the Chinese. It costs Disney so much to ship this stuff to the USA ... and even here, it isn't selling.
.

I can chime in on this point based on my experience living in China. If Disney expected merch to sell anywhere near the level it does anywhere else, they were incredibly unprepared for the Chinese market. The Chinese do not have space in their homes for "stuff" like people do in America. Plush isn't going to sell, toys aren't going to sell, items that are larger than hand-sized are not going to sell. The Chinese might buy key-chains, phone cases, or some other small thing they can keep on their person (this is why the bubble wands are huge). Even then, you have to keep up with the current trend or nobody will buy your product because it isn't "popular." Likewise, the average Chinese consumer is not going to buy your Disney clothing. Almost every Chinese person I know refuses to even look at clothes unless it has a famous logo or brand on it. Throw an Adidas or Nike logo on your Disney merch, charge an extra forty dollars, and it will start selling. This is a unique and foreign market that can't be considered in the same way as any other market on Earth.

 

[smile]

Because the soccermom and "may I talk to the manager" crowds would be blasting CMs more than Usual I guess?

Well that and guest satisfaction in general.
Any smart business aims to under-promise and over-deliver.

that almost sounds as if it's pure of heart

Oh absolutely. Advertised wait times are almost always inflated.

The last thing Disney wants to do is underestimate the wait times guests have to deal with maximum return

consider, in this hyper-schedulized + era, that the average guest is more likely to peruse the local wares after having found they've gained 20 mins of day because their 40 min wait was supposed to be 60
- and there's absolutely no reason one should ever feel the need to rush towards their next scheduled attraction when there are so many lovely shops and stalls along the way

while use in dispersal has merit if it's battling hordes, it also has a tendency to mask flaws instead of addressing them

so, yeah, generally not a fan of this particular layer of manipulation - queue times, which are now down to a science, should be reported as accurately as practical.

 

[Bairstow]

that almost sounds as if it's pure of heart




consider, in this hyper-schedulized + era, that the average guest is more likely to peruse the local wares after having found they've gained 20 mins of day because their 40 min wait was supposed to be 60
- and there's absolutely no reason one should ever feel the need to rush towards their next scheduled attraction when there are so many lovely shops and stalls along the way

while use in dispersal has merit if it's battling hordes, it also has a tendency to mask flaws instead of addressing them

so, yeah, generally not a fan of this particular layer of manipulation - queue times, which are now down to a science, should be reported as accurately as practical.

Disney can indeed accurately predict the likely queue time based on crowd size and FP reservations, but they cannot predict when a ride is going to have temporary mechanical problems or need to be e-stopped for several minutes due to guest behavior. In this "hyper-schedulized era" it behooves Disney to build in a time cushion for guests hoping to fit a walk-on attraction in between their own FP return times and restaurant reservations.

 

[smile]

Disney can indeed accurately predict the likely queue time based on crowd size and FP reservations, but they cannot predict when a ride is going to have temporary mechanical problems or need to be e-stopped for several minutes due to guest behavior. In this "hyper-schedulized era" it behooves Disney to build in a time cushion for guests hoping to fit a walk-on attraction in between their own FP return times and restaurant reservations.

120 min posted vs. 75 actual?
no, sir