A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Lee]

I'm, yet again, going to pimp the Memphis Zoo. Can't wait for the new Zambezi area.

Yep.
Those hippos are long overdue for a new home.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

Does it have corn in it or is that extra?

OMG! I laughed so hard I got tears in my eyes. Wonder if candy corn would work.

 

[Tod&BigMamaOdie]

Who wants a Brownie?

Thanks to Wesley Snyder from Twitter for the pic.

Wowsa, that's guest immersion to the next level!
Maybe they can add some candy flies or gnats....
I prefer mine with some (pea) nuts please.

 

[AEfx]

It may morph into taking your kids to Orlando itself, rather than just WDW.

I still think Disney will be a destination, and I'd still take my kids there. But I'd also want to take them to Uni as well. Kennedy Space Center only 60 miles away, Sea World, etc.

The difference today is that WDW has structured their entire business to make the above extremely unattractive to the average guest.

What you are describing is what a traditional Orlando Vacation was, circa 1990.

Since then Disney started doing everything they could to take over your entire week. Quality at the parks declined, prices greatly increased, park hours decreased, WDW has done everything possible to tell you that if you aren't staying on property, you aren't having a true Disney experience, and everything from MYW pricing to DME is directed toward making you captive on WDW property. Disney basically insulated itself from the greater Orlando market in attempt to capture every dime a customer was spending from touchdown to takeoff.

They have in fact insulated themselves so well, it is difficult to make sense financially or otherwise to break up a week that way that includes WDW and Universal. When WDW was perceived as the only real destination in Orlando for the past decade or so, this led to record profits. Things have mightily changed - "Potter" wasn't the game-changer, it was just the first step in the game-change where Universal just keeps building amazing attractions that, well, attract folks, LOL.

Basically, when you run the numbers (varying depending on how many in your party of course) for example, if you price it out a "Orlando theme park vacation" runs $3K, a WDW vacation $4K, and to do both is like $5K. And even if money isn't a factor to a guest - six theme parks in one week is just a whole lot when people are on "vacation".

That's the pickle Disney has gotten itself into in Orlando - they have set everything up to be "all or none" back when they had the unquestionable superior product, but now - it's going to slowly have the opposite effect as it's just not cost effective to spend only a few days at WDW. Guests are increasingly going to choose one over the other, and since WDW is so stagnant and Universal constantly developing, I think you'll find that Disney becomes more "one and done" while Universal is constantly changing.

Does this spell the end of WDW? Of course not. But they are missing out on the new audience coming to Orlando, and it's a monster of their own making.

 

[BrerJon]

I wonder what the driver behind that is?

Magic Kingdom has been insanely busy, so I imagine many guests will spend an extra day there. With Star Wars Weekends, DHS has also been really busy, so between the two, it's probably Epcot that's taking the hit if people are on limited vacation time. It could also be a sign that some guests are starting to spend one day less at Disney than they used to.

 

[Skyway]

This is golden.

Disney creates a way for those who can't afford their overpriced resort to irresponsibly "invest" in a vacation savings account...and then drains their meager bank accounts.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-disney-vacation-account-glitches-20150618-story.html

 

[englanddg]

Just got back from Inside Out. My review is here.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/pixar-inside-out-2015.871711/page-3#post-6755138

 

[BrerJon]

Who wants a Brownie?

Thanks to Wesley Snyder from Twitter for the pic.

It's good to see Disney doing their bit for recycling and waste management.

 

[BrerJon]

Or perhaps they are just so creatively busted, that feces actually sounded like a good idea.

I've had worse at Cosmic Ray's before now.

 

[AEfx]

This is golden.

Disney creates a way for those who can't afford their overpriced resort to irresponsibly "invest" in a vacation savings account...and then drains their meager bank accounts.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-disney-vacation-account-glitches-20150618-story.html

To be fair, first, that's a technical glitch that happens all the time with ACH payments. My bank double-drafted every debit transaction for two days last year. They take a couple of days to sort out, and the responsible party takes care of any fees incurred. It's just making news because, Disney.

Second, I disagree with the notion that it's "irresponsible" to save up for a vacation. In general, it's actually the responsible way - instead of throwing it on a credit card and having to pay it off, with interest. Some people may be irresponsible using it if they can't afford it anyway, but that's like anything. There is nothing inherently bad about this, and if one instead opened a savings account for it they would make a few cents of interest, and run the risk of so many fees banks charge on small savings accounts.

It's actually one of the notions that has seemingly been lost in the past few decades. Christmas Clubs, savings plans, lay-away etc. used to be quite common before everyone was just "charge it" on plastic.

All that said, Disney should be doing a better job communicating with folks - my guess is, they were unprepared for a situation like this, which definitely means some folks on the inside didn't quite understand what they were getting into while offering this program.

 

[englanddg]

It seems that the average gen X-er views Disney as an expensive obligation for their kids if they can afford it once in their life. Jim Gaffigan does a routine that sums up the attitude quite well.
For more misleading criticisms of WDW by the ignorant, see The Simpsons in which they go to EFCOT (Special Edna) and lampoon EPCOT Center, as it was at its peak, or when they go to Diz-Nee-Land (The Man Who Came to be Dinner) and lampoon the atmosphere of a castle park.

Anyways, it's still unknown how millennials will view the park- we could either be a generation of predominant Pixie Dusters, one that again views Disney as a parental obligation, or one that views it as another campy, boring way to enjoy the time of yesteryear, where grandparents take their grandkids in a futile attempt to morph the mindset of the "kids these days."

As far as millennials, I think Pixie Dusters. My ex is Gen Y (I'm late Gen X) and she is all about the Disney. Those younger than her even more so.

The reason being, unlike the Gen X group, Gen Y and the millennials literally GREW UP on these movies in a way that Gen X, for the most part, did not...thanks to Home Video options.

 

[BrerJon]

The reason being, unlike the Gen X group, Gen Y and the millennials literally GREW UP on these movies in a way that Gen X, for the most part, did not.

I think the big difference is that for the most part (excepting us theme park geeks!) most millenials don't have much concept of, or loyalty to, Walt Disney, and what the Disney company was in the 80s and 90s. What they do have, however, is a love for the characters and movies of the last 25 years, and that will keep them coming, *not* the company culture or the Disney difference that attracted generations in the past.

In the past Disney movies were only so-so popular, but the parks were attractive because the rides were better, everything was maintained well, there was no litter on the streets etc... now Disney movies are super popular, and it's the lure of meeting characters and nostalgia for the films that will keep people bringing their kids, regardless of whether the in-park culture and small details that appealed to previous generations are still there or not.

 

[Mike S]

I think the big difference is that for the most part (excepting us theme park geeks!) most millenials don't have much concept of, or loyalty to, Walt Disney, and what the Disney company was in the 80s and 90s. What they do have, however, is a love for the characters and movies of the last 25 years, and that will keep them coming, *not* the company culture or the Disney difference that attracted generations in the past.

In the past Disney movies were only so-so popular, but the parks were attractive because the rides were better, everything was maintained well, there was no litter on the streets etc... now Disney movies are super popular, and it's the lure of meeting characters and nostalgia for the films that will keep people bringing their kids, regardless of whether the in-park culture and small details that appealed to previous generations are still there or not.

I think you just nailed it.

 

[englanddg]

I think the big difference is that for the most part (excepting us theme park geeks!) most millenials don't have much concept of, or loyalty to, Walt Disney, and what the Disney company was in the 80s and 90s. What they do have, however, is a love for the characters and movies of the last 25 years, and that will keep them coming, *not* the company culture or the Disney difference that attracted generations in the past.

In the past Disney movies were only so-so popular, but the parks were attractive because the rides were better, everything was maintained well, there was no litter on the streets etc... now Disney movies are super popular, and it's the lure of meeting characters and nostalgia for the films that will keep people bringing their kids, regardless of whether the in-park culture and small details that appealed to previous generations are still there or not.

I agree. Very much agree.

 

[Shaman]

To be fair, first, that's a technical glitch that happens all the time with ACH payments. My bank double-drafted every debit transaction for two days last year. They take a couple of days to sort out, and the responsible party takes care of any fees incurred. It's just making news because, Disney.

Second, I disagree with the notion that it's "irresponsible" to save up for a vacation. In general, it's actually the responsible way - instead of throwing it on a credit card and having to pay it off, with interest. Some people may be irresponsible using it if they can't afford it anyway, but that's like anything. There is nothing inherently bad about this, and if one instead opened a savings account for it they would make a few cents of interest, and run the risk of so many fees banks charge on small savings accounts.

It's actually one of the notions that has seemingly been lost in the past few decades. Christmas Clubs, savings plans, lay-away etc. used to be quite common before everyone was just "charge it" on plastic.

All that said, Disney should be doing a better job communicating with folks - my guess is, they were unprepared for a situation like this, which definitely means some folks on the inside didn't quite understand what they were getting into while offering this program.

I agree. But if your account gets wiped after a double charge of $305 (dude from Vegas in the article) then the last thing you should be spending money on is a Disney vacation.

The timing of all this is a bit suspicious as well. This is most likely human error, not "glitches", but it makes me wonder...I.T. Layoffs...on then off...axes to grind?

 

[AEfx]

I agree. But if your account gets wiped after a double charge of $305 (dude from Vegas in the article) then the last thing you should be spending money on is a Disney vacation.

Sure, as I said - folks may not all be using it responsibly, but that's not an inherent issue with the program.

Of course, this is surely lazy 2015 journalism to begin with - scan a few Facebook posts to get "quotes" and those are your "sources".

 

[Shaman]

Sure, as I said - folks may not all be using it responsibly, but that's not an inherent issue with the program.

Of course, this is surely lazy 2015 journalism to begin with - scan a few Facebook posts to get "quotes" and those are your "sources".

Those quotes are ridiculous. The Business page apparently lacks writers who know about how these transactions work...bank errors...disputes....pretty basic stuff. Of course, if it's true Disney didn't reach out to those affected in a timely manner...well they only have themselves to blame.

I didn't even know these accounts existed. Are they accounts at a bank/credit union?

 

[AEfx]

Those quotes are ridiculous. The Business page apparently lacks writers who know about how these transactions work...bank errors...disputes....pretty basic stuff. Of course, if it's true Disney didn't reach out to those affected in a timely manner...well they only have themselves to blame.

I didn't even know these accounts existed. Are they accounts at a bank/credit union?

I just looked into it as much as I could with the site down, and yes, they are put in a non-interest bearing account with a financial institution. They also allow you to take out the money at any time, etc. - so you aren't just giving them money you'll never see again if your plans change.

Agreed, though - they didn't seem prepared for this. They do take a few days to sort out just by the very nature of an ACH product, but Disney should have had a plan for this. It's pretty common. My guess is, it's stuck with the lawyers right now - because they didn't have pre-planned communications for something like this, I'm sure they are scrambling to vette the communications for legal issues/liability concerns.

Hopefully they will get it resolved soon, and they will have learned their lesson.

 

[Prog]

As far as millennials, I think Pixie Dusters. My ex is Gen Y (I'm late Gen X) and she is all about the Disney. Those younger than her even more so.

The reason being, unlike the Gen X group, Gen Y and the millennials literally GREW UP on these movies in a way that Gen X, for the most part, did not...thanks to Home Video options.

I think the big difference is that for the most part (excepting us theme park geeks!) most millenials don't have much concept of, or loyalty to, Walt Disney, and what the Disney company was in the 80s and 90s. What they do have, however, is a love for the characters and movies of the last 25 years, and that will keep them coming, *not* the company culture or the Disney difference that attracted generations in the past.

In the past Disney movies were only so-so popular, but the parks were attractive because the rides were better, everything was maintained well, there was no litter on the streets etc... now Disney movies are super popular, and it's the lure of meeting characters and nostalgia for the films that will keep people bringing their kids, regardless of whether the in-park culture and small details that appealed to previous generations are still there or not.

I just found out that I am actually gen Z. Yuck.
I could tell you that most of my peers seem to be either way into a Disney vacation (these are generally people that have been multiple times and once rather recently) or totally apathetic. But it's really hard to tell because my circle of friends is rather niche.

 

[khale1970]

Yep.
Those hippos are long overdue for a new home.

I was a volunteer worker at the Memphis Zoo in the mid 80s when the cats were behind bars and they sold peanuts and carrots to throw to the bears. The hippos are about the last to get a good habitat that isn't like a prison. Amazing how it's changed and shows what a few visionary souls can accomplish.