A Spirited Dirty Dozen ...

[WDW1974]

Not till there is a real drop in attendance and PRGS. But attendance is falling already and the combination of bad press by diminished experiences and word of mouth about lines and poor ly done resort and dining experiences is going to reinforce that trend

Expect Disney to slow construction remember spirit has already said to expect SWL in DL now 2020-21 instead of 2019. And of course stock repurchases will probably go up as well to keep EPS shiny. Then Iger will float off on his golden parachute leaving an unfixable mess for the next team...

Nope. I still expect SWL to be ready in Anaheim in late 2018 or early 2019 as scheduled. ... WDW has only an internal date that I don't have. But all points say 2020 at the absolute earliest and 2021 much more likely.

 

[ford91exploder]

Nope. I still expect SWL to be ready in Anaheim in late 2018 or early 2019 as scheduled. ... WDW has only an internal date that I don't have. But all points say 2020 at the absolute earliest and 2021 much more likely.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[ford91exploder]

I never had a personal phone as a child, we had a family phone. I was allowed to use it 15 minutes a day. As we all shared it. It was also a party line. If you picked up the phone, and you heard someone talking on it. You politely hung it up and waited for your turn to use it. That's just the way things were in the "dark" ages. Unless you were affluent, then you had a private line.

I had a party line as well growing up in a farming town (where I still live) and it did not change over to a private line till my 20's as the capacity was not there in the switch.

 

[ford91exploder]

I don't know a single attraction in any theme park in any place that -- alone -- is worth traveling for.

TDS, and indeed the entire TDR, is worth visiting for the entire package. From unique attractions and seasonal entertainment to amazing show quality to great CMs to well ... just about everything except merchandise (which is now all Duffy and cutesy crap) all of that is why you go to Tokyo. You go not just for Hunny Hunt, but because every attraction surrounding it (even 1983-era dark rides) look like they just opened yesterday.

I can't imagine visiting any park for one thing. Nothing is THAT good. ... But I'd like to live in TDS!

Japan is after all the land of cute, It's where we get 'Hello Kitty' from...

 

[WDW1974]

Studio output is stellar. They have something like 25% market share for 2016 box office.

OK, so what?

I see Disney fanbois crowing about this often like it is tied to their self worth. I don't get it.

Disney has a well-oiled machine right now with each Studio producing huge successful tentpoles. To the point that even if 1-2 bomb completely every year, it won't make a difference.

The question really is how much is too much? When will fans decide they really don't want another Marvel film that was just like the 16 before? When will they think they've seen enough real life (if real life were CGI) redos of animated classics? When will putting a 2 ...3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6 at the end of a film be too much?

I don't see that for the next 3-4 years ... but again, so what? I care about being entertained when I see a new film. The box office results don't effect me one way or the other.

 

[WDW1974]

Mismanaged how? There have been tons of refurbs over the last 5 years, and now major additions to at least 2 parks, and who knows what more will be coming soon. Did he pump money into it during his first few years as CEO? Nope, because some have speculated that other parts of TWDC needed a lot of money to fix their divisions first. Now that it is on a better footing, tons of money is flowing into WDW.

And please don't forget that literally billions of dollars has gone into road improvements, IT improvements, new hotels, etc.

Oh please. WDW stagnated for most of Iger's tenure as CEO. In what world is it acceptable to let a huge asset sit and rot for year after year before finally getting a tiny bit of what is needed?

Look, I get why Wall Street gets hot and bothered for Bob because of Disney's financials. But as chief manager of WDW his tenure has been an utter disaster across the board. The fact that "things are going to be built" or "Hey, the mall redo is almost done" in no way make up for this ...

 

[Disney Analyst]

@WDW1974

Do you know, with the skyway chalet finally being demolished at Disneyland... any word what is happening in that space? An entrance for SWL? Fantasyland expansion area?

 

[Mike S]

Nope. I still expect SWL to be ready in Anaheim in late 2018 or early 2019 as scheduled. ... WDW has only an internal date that I don't have. But all points say 2020 at the absolute earliest and 2021 much more likely.

Unbelievable. DHS is hurting hard right now and needs this expansion ASAP. Are they betting on TSL to pick up the slack here? When is that opening anyway?

Recently I was leaving World Showcase after IllumiNations and heard a Guest ask a CM how to get back to the Boardwalk, the CM had the audacity to tell him, "I have no clue". I was appalled. I quickly caught up with the Guest and directed them to the proper direction. Are you freaking kidding me? So yes, I agree with everything above. And note, I don't think it's bad if a CM doesn't know every single piece of information, but for the love of God, if you don't, make an effort to find out ASAP. It helps all parties involved.

Isn't the proper procedure to find another CM that does know for said guest and to never say "I don't know"? That's what happened to me in Disneyland on Main Street. Very polite CMs over there.

 

[Nubs70]

Grading isn't fair. It's a reflection of how much they student has learned.

And how well the teacher has taught.

Testing is a feedback mechanism for not only the student, but also, for the teacher.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

Without getting into a long debate (who knows that could lie ahead on page 75?) I'll simply state that Little Mermaid is an unambitious little dark ride that shows its cheapness around every corner. If it had been built right after the 1989 film came out, then no one would be ripping it. But when that ride opens in 2011 in Anaheim and 2012 in O-Town, it is rather embarrassing. You use new technologies and showmanship to build an attraction in today's world. It is incredibly underwhelming and embarrassingly bad in spots. And people were hyping this as an E-Ticket ... the thing is a C-Ticket based only on its ride system and length. Largely, it's a bad ride. I said as much last year, but thought I was going to make Larry Nikolai cry so I backed off ...

I'll agree to disagree with you. I've already made my case for my opinion and you're certainly entitled to yours.

 

[WDW1974]

I was done with this site for the night, but just read this piece of PR from Robert Niles and all I can do is wonder if he is angling for a social media job with Disney. I can understand being excited by the opening of a new park because I am. But instead of writing about the park, he is puking forth fanboi links and adding no meaningful commentary. I do not get his deal at all.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/shanghai-716477-disneyland-ride.html

 

[SJN1279]

This is on Disney and simpler Guests.

If I had asked to wait 15 minutes to meet Mickey on my first trip, my parents would have firmly told me 'No, we're here to see the shows and ride the rides and Mickey will always be here.' Of course, back then ... you wouldn't have to wait that long to ever get a pic with The Mouse.

.

Back then you could walk around the park all day and not see Mickey at all. It was one of the biggest complaints of theme park guests in the 1980s.

 

[brb1006]

I don't know a single attraction in any theme park in any place that -- alone -- is worth traveling for.

TDS, and indeed the entire TDR, is worth visiting for the entire package. From unique attractions and seasonal entertainment to amazing show quality to great CMs to well ... just about everything except merchandise (which is now all Duffy and cutesy crap) all of that is why you go to Tokyo. You go not just for Hunny Hunt, but because every attraction surrounding it (even 1983-era dark rides) look like they just opened yesterday.

I can't imagine visiting any park for one thing. Nothing is THAT good. ... But I'd like to live in TDS!

The statement about cutesy stuff and Duffy could be considered a case of a term I learned called "Americans Hate Tingle" where a certain character or franchise is popular in one country or two isn't well-liked or popular in another country. To be fair, Japan has a long history with cuteness which is very acceptable in that country unlike the US.

 

[brb1006]

You've heard it all before. Tokyo Disney Sea is the most impressive theme park I've ever visited. Every area takes the best components of theming you'd find in the stateside parks. It is virtually flawless.

The attraction lineup is very good, but I don't think Journey to the Center of the Earth or Pooh's Hunny Hunt (at Disneyland) are worth the trip alone, it really is the entire experience that's plused, and that's especially true at Disney Sea.

What about the parades?

 

[brb1006]

Back then you could walk around the park all day and not see Mickey at all. It was one of the biggest complaints of theme park guests in the 1980s.

That's strange for Disney fans to imagine. This must have been back when characters were still able to wander around the park and a guest would make a random encounter with them and Mickey must have been one of them.

 

[brb1006]

Part of me is saying, "let's wait and see." The other part is saying, "if it's not baroque, don't fix it."

The music gave me chills.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

Oh no, not even close.

Talk to CMs who have been there for years or even decades. People who truly know.

Most CMs are beyond clueless. They make up answers when questioned. They have no power to correct anything that is wrong. They don't even know anything about the park or area they work in. I know people who deal with this daily. People who work on Main Street and don't know there is a barber shop on it. People who work at a resort and don't know what the names are of the restaurants, bars and shops at it.

There are endless stories ... I've had friends pick up extra shifts at locations and no one had a clue what they were doing and had nowhere to look for help. I've had to tell Guests that the information they just were given by a CM was wrong and would kill hours of a day to follow (most times, they choose to follow the CMs bad advice).

Disney's customer service in O-Town is largely abysmal ... sure, you may get smiling happy people (although long ago they gave up on forcing CMs to make eye contact with every Guest and smile and say hello) ... and if you are really lucky, then that CM may actually know their job and how to help you. Mostly, though, they won't.

You have a validly informed point here. Those clueless bus driver jokes don't come from nowhere. But my point was that with my personal experience, they've mostly been kind and courteous rather than surly and rude.

 

[ford91exploder]

The statement about cutesy stuff and Duffy could be considered a case of a term I learned called "Americans Hate Tingle" where a certain character or franchise is popular in one country or two isn't well-liked or popular in another country. To be fair, Japan has a long history with cuteness which is very acceptable in that country unlike the US.

Look at the Kawaii culture in Japan for cuteness

 

[Nemo14]

Back then you could walk around the park all day and not see Mickey at all. It was one of the biggest complaints of theme park guests in the 1980s.

Gee, where did all those photos of my kids with Mickey come from then?

 

[ford91exploder]

Gee, where did all those photos of my kids with Mickey come from then?

You airbrushed Mickey in it's the ONLY answer...