A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Mike S]

Fair question. I think part of the problem is that the parks feel too crammed with attractions. (Imagine if we said that about Disney!). There are only a small handful of quiet spots because anywhere you may be, a major attraction is right next door. (Yes, I realise how stupid it sounds that I'm spinning this as a negative...) More pointedly, the food stalls etc seem to target a much lower-brow market than Disney.

Many of those criticisms don't apply to tWWoHP or DA, but those areas are way too busy to be enjoyable as somewhere to relax (and make no mistake, I do enjoy them for their theming). That leaves (for me...) NY/SFO as the "well balanced" areas of USF, and Lost Continent (and the lagoon bay) as the "well balanced" area of IOA. But ultimately, without wanting to sound like a snake-oil salesman, less is more.

More hotels provide lots of opportunity for tranquility, but I personally think tranquil experiences need to be mixed in amongst the theme parks. This balance is one thing that Disney does really well (in all its parks, WDW included). And it really would take a miracle to make the CityWalk a palatable place to spend time. I can totally see how UOR grew this way, but in a perfect world, having the 3rd Park (which is clearly just a matter of time given the proportional increase in hotels and water parks) earlier and spreading out the attractions more would have made the place much more enjoyable. Not only that, but it would have been much more of an 'elephant in the room' for Disney, as presently it can be dismissed as "a couple of parks... WDW has four" - whereas three parks with a show quality differential that big, and extensive landscaping between attractions... well, WDW would either have to build a 5th park, or (more sensibly) work on restoring the detail and show quality it has shown itself capable of.

Have you been to Disneyland? It's way more packed with attractions than any of the parks at UOR but I wouldn't hold that against it. I consider it a huge positive.

 

[Nmoody1]

So I feel like looking at Studios numbers for a minute... since it looks like the BOD is gonna make it rain on DHS like it was dancing on a stage....

We have 8 days left in the quarter, I feel relatively comfortable enough to look at trends.

2015 is very similar to 2013 in the above average/below average distributions covering Q3FY13 and Q3FY15. Off peak crowds are better (now) and Peak crowds are up as well.

Numbers are up huge over the first six months of 2014 because the first six months of 2014 was an epic disaster. Jan-March was nearly identical in the above/below average distribution but 2015 showed more peak crowds and less average crowds.

The biggest change is in the quarter we're finishing up. April-June 2014 was indescribably bad, 2015 looks great by comparison. In reality, they're basically returning to 2013, only shifted slightly upwards. When the Studios were busy this year, they've been really really busy. They are growing in peak crowds from 2013. (I dont wanna put percentages/numbers out there because if DHS pulls 8 straight peak crowds, it will throw the numbers) You may thank Star Wars for 11 out of the 41 peak crowds at the Studios, YTD. Keeping Frozen seems to have stopped the bleeding.

Studios as a whole is still running below the park average. Overall, there may be some incremental growth but after looking at how the numbers from last year correlated to attendance numbers from TEA (hint: it didnt), we just dont have that data. Best I can as as an overall is that its very similar to 2013. There's a chance that there could be growth over 2013, clearly there is growth over 2014 but thats because of how far it fell.

Honestly, you can probably thank the show writers at DHS who came up with that sing-a-long over a weekend for saving the Studio's collective ***. (Maybe someone should give Michael Roddy a giant bonus in stock for this?)

Things are stablized for the moment. Hopefully the Board will do right by the park and grow it.

I'll be really curious to see what effect frozen has on the studios this year. It appears to have almost reached saturation. Interestingly my friend who teaches young kids said the girls they have interviewed for the new term (kindergarten) don't know what frozen is or aren't interested... I'm sure interest will peak when the new ride opens, but I think even frozen summer fun won't help the studios this year. Some kids are over it, adults definitely are.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'll be really curious to see what effect frozen has on the studios this year. It appears to have almost reached saturation. Interestingly my friend who teaches young kids said the girls they have interviewed for the new term (kindergarten) don't know what frozen is or aren't interested... I'm sure interest will peak when the new ride opens, but I think even frozen summer fun won't help the studios this year. Some kids are over it, adults definitely are.

I'm curious as well but we essentially need to wait another three months before we can answer that question…

My feeling is that it will mimic the numbers we saw last summer.

The biggest thing to remember here is the context. I think Studios capacity is right around what Magic Kingdom pulls on average.

 

[cdd89]

Have you been to Disneyland? It's way more packed with attractions than any of the parks at UOR but I wouldn't hold that against it. I consider it a huge positive.

Yep, but only one 2.5-day visit, quite a while ago and on Crowd Level 10 days. I definitely don't consider myself even nearly experienced enough to comment on it, especially not on attraction balance since on a first visit, commando touring is the priority! That said, I am planning to revisit this October with more time, and I guess I may come back with a changed opinion on the whole thing - though I'd hate to commit sacrilege by describing it as my least favourite Disney resort

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

So I feel like looking at Studios numbers for a minute... since it looks like the BOD is gonna make it rain on DHS like it was dancing on a stage....

We have 8 days left in the quarter, I feel relatively comfortable enough to look at trends.

2015 is very similar to 2013 in the above average/below average distributions covering Q3FY13 and Q3FY15. Off peak crowds are better (now) and Peak crowds are up as well.

Numbers are up huge over the first six months of 2014 because the first six months of 2014 was an epic disaster. Jan-March was nearly identical in the above/below average distribution but 2015 showed more peak crowds and less average crowds.

The biggest change is in the quarter we're finishing up. April-June 2014 was indescribably bad, 2015 looks great by comparison. In reality, they're basically returning to 2013, only shifted slightly upwards. When the Studios were busy this year, they've been really really busy. They are growing in peak crowds from 2013. (I dont wanna put percentages/numbers out there because if DHS pulls 8 straight peak crowds, it will throw the numbers) You may thank Star Wars for 11 out of the 41 peak crowds at the Studios, YTD. Keeping Frozen seems to have stopped the bleeding.

Studios as a whole is still running below the park average. Overall, there may be some incremental growth but after looking at how the numbers from last year correlated to attendance numbers from TEA (hint: it didnt), we just dont have that data. Best I can as as an overall is that its very similar to 2013. There's a chance that there could be growth over 2013, clearly there is growth over 2014 but thats because of how far it fell.

Honestly, you can probably thank the show writers at DHS who came up with that sing-a-long over a weekend for saving the Studio's collective ***. (Maybe someone should give Michael Roddy a giant bonus in stock for this?)

Things are stablized for the moment. Hopefully the Board will do right by the park and grow it.

Do you think Frozen could possibly get a Mini-land to tie in the sing-a-long?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Do you think Frozen could possibly get a Mini-land to tie in the sing-a-long?

It is. At Epcot.

 

[ChrisFL]

Fair question. I think part of the problem is that the parks feel too crammed with attractions. (Imagine if we said that about Disney!). There are only a small handful of quiet spots because anywhere you may be, a major attraction is right next door. (Yes, I realise how stupid it sounds that I'm spinning this as a negative...) More pointedly, the food stalls etc seem to target a much lower-brow market than Disney.

Many of those criticisms don't apply to tWWoHP or DA, but those areas are way too busy to be enjoyable as somewhere to relax (and make no mistake, I do enjoy them for their theming). That leaves (for me...) NY/SFO as the "well balanced" areas of USF, and Lost Continent (and the lagoon bay) as the "well balanced" area of IOA. But ultimately, without wanting to sound like a snake-oil salesman, less is more.

More hotels provide lots of opportunity for tranquility, but I personally think tranquil experiences need to be mixed in amongst the theme parks. This balance is one thing that Disney does really well (in all its parks, WDW included). And it really would take a miracle to make the CityWalk a palatable place to spend time. I can totally see how UOR grew this way, but in a perfect world, having the 3rd Park (which is clearly just a matter of time given the proportional increase in hotels and water parks) earlier and spreading out the attractions more would have made the place much more enjoyable. Not only that, but it would have been much more of an 'elephant in the room' for Disney, as presently it can be dismissed as "a couple of parks... WDW has four" - whereas three parks with a show quality differential that big, and extensive landscaping between attractions... well, WDW would either have to build a 5th park, or (more sensibly) work on restoring the detail and show quality it has shown itself capable of.

Ok, I understand where you're coming from.

Honestly, I enjoyed IOA much more when it first opened compared to now, merely because as I'm reaching middle age, I don't want to get bumped around on every attraction, and IOA has very few experiences that are tame. IMHO, They need more slower attractions or sit-down shows (Poseidon's Fury is standing the entire time).

 

[the.dreamfinder]

From The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/article/disney-world-forced-euthanize-character-attacked-v-50738

 

[lazyboy97o]

I didn't get that from any of the posts

The repeated emphasis has been on a somewhat recent souring towards Iger. That agreements, such as the photo ops, are being pulled at the last minute, with the source of the itinerary post thinking that someone else caused Iger to lose face. And given the very personal nature of business conduct in China, it is definitely plausible situation.

 

[flynnibus]

The repeated emphasis has been on a somewhat recent souring towards Iger. That agreements, such as the photo ops, are being pulled at the last minute, with the source of the itinerary post thinking that someone else caused Iger to lose face. And given the very personal nature of business conduct in China, it is definitely plausible situation.

souring yes - the next step you took.. not what the narrative has been

 

[flynnibus]

(Poseidon's Fury is standing the entire time).

Still think that thing is way under rated. Imagine what some waterscreen upgrades and new video+projectors could do to that bad boy.

 

[doctornick]

Maybe Pepsi will let Club Cool continue to sell Coke products, only now all the pumps will dispense Beverly!

I was thinking about this: Pepsi isn't as big as Coke, but they have some different Worldwide products as well, right? If the Pepsi deal is in fact real, hopefully it would mean the Club Cool gets changed to worldwide Pepsi products.

Also, on a related note, there was talk about a "World of Coke" type store coming to DTD. Obviously, that won't happen if Pepsi takes over the Disney Parks contract.

 

[SandraAnn]

Haven't posted here in a long time, but always reading. I see Bob Iger is in Orlando this week! Hey, so was my family. We stayed at a DVC "Deluxe" Villa (booked through Disney, we're not DVC). It was really hot this week down there, whew! Nothing like a Central Florida heatwave to get you in the mood for summer. You know what was a super feature of the "Deluxe" villa though...The motion sensors that controlled the air conditioner unit for the villa. Apparently, when you don't move, you know, like when you are sleeping, after 20 minutes the thermostat reverts to a higher setback temperature which is determined by the hotel and is SECRET.

Here's how our nights went. Set thermostat to 70 degrees, go to bed, all is well. Fall asleep. One hour later, wake up in a hot sweat. Get up, go to the bathroom, trigger the motion sensor, cool air starts blasting. Fall back asleep, one-two hours later wake up in a sweat. Rinse and repeat. All. Night. Long.

Day One, we thought that we were just not used to the room. After Day Two, we were like what the heck. A quick google search of the "SensorStat DDC" thermostat, apparently the bane of travelers everywhere, and all was revealed. Tried the override hack, didn't work. The setback temperature must have been set high by Disney, I'm thinking at least 75. So Resort-y!

So after two nights of this, we called the "front desk." They put us through to housekeeping. The person in housekeeping listened to our complaint and put in a work order. We went to the parks, came back, villa felt warm. Called housekeeping and were told that the request was completed. Go to bed, same thing happens, hot cold hot cold. We wake up at 3 am and decide to leave. Not leave the hotel, we need to leave Orlando. Now. We change our flights and we are in the rental car heading back to MCO at 7 am for an early flight back home.

Honestly, the worst part is the mind games and the lying. If WDW wants to just put a lock on the thermostats like my slumlord did in college, that's one thing. At least I would know what I was dealing with. But to keep showing a lower number, while in the background it's going back to this secret higher setback temperature is just messed up. And I won't even get into the "work order" and assurance that it was completed.

Anyway, I can 100% declare that this experience has swore me off Disney hotels forever, so maybe it was not all for naught.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Haven't posted here in a long time, but always reading. I see Bob Iger is in Orlando this week! Hey, so was my family. We stayed at a DVC "Deluxe" Villa (booked through Disney, we're not DVC). It was really hot this week down there, whew! Nothing like a Central Florida heatwave to get you in the mood for summer. You know what was a super feature of the "Deluxe" villa though...The motion sensors that controlled the air conditioner unit for the villa. Apparently, when you don't move, you know, like when you are sleeping, after 20 minutes the thermostat reverts to a higher setback temperature which is determined by the hotel and is SECRET.

Here's how our nights went. Set thermostat to 70 degrees, go to bed, all is well. Fall asleep. One hour later, wake up in a hot sweat. Get up, go to the bathroom, trigger the motion sensor, cool air starts blasting. Fall back asleep, one-two hours later wake up in a sweat. Rinse and repeat. All. Night. Long.

Day One, we thought that we were just not used to the room. After Day Two, we were like what the heck. A quick google search of the "SensorStat DDC" thermostat, apparently the bane of travelers everywhere, and all was revealed. Tried the override hack, didn't work. The setback temperature must have been set high by Disney, I'm thinking at least 75. So Resort-y!

So after two nights of this, we called the "front desk." They put us through to housekeeping. The person in housekeeping listened to our complaint and put in a work order. We went to the parks, came back, villa felt warm. Called housekeeping and were told that the request was completed. Go to bed, same thing happens, hot cold hot cold. We wake up at 3 am and decide to leave. Not leave the hotel, we need to leave Orlando. Now. We change our flights and we are in the rental car heading back to MCO at 7 am for an early flight back to Jersey.

Honestly, the worst part is the mind games and the lying. If WDW wants to just put a lock on the thermostats like my slumlord did in college, that's one thing. At least I would know what I was dealing with. But to keep showing a lower number, while in the background it's going back to this secret higher setback temperature is just messed up. And I won't even get into the "work order" and assurance that it was completed.

Anyway, I can 100% declare that this experience has swore me off Disney hotels forever, so maybe it was not all for naught.

The secret is to to buy a cheap helium balloon and tie it to a chair in front of the ac fan, the fan keeps it moving and the ac stays on all night.

 

[BrerJon]

Fair question. I think part of the problem is that the parks feel too crammed with attractions. (Imagine if we said that about Disney!). There are only a small handful of quiet spots because anywhere you may be, a major attraction is right next door. (Yes, I realise how stupid it sounds that I'm spinning this as a negative...) More pointedly, the food stalls etc seem to target a much lower-brow market than Disney.

I think the point about tranquil areas is a fair one, as Universal doesn't have as many areas to just sit on a bench, chill out and people watch, although Jurassic Park is pretty good for that.

Having said that WDW only really has Animal Kingdom, which is very relaxing, and World Showcase on a quiet day, but both of those are pretty impressive. Disney Springs is also more relaxing than CityWalk (as long as you don't try to drive there!), but MK and DHS are anything other than tranquil and compared to them USO feels as peaceful as a buddhist temple, mind you.

 

[SandraAnn]

The secret is to to buy a cheap helium balloon and tie it to a chair infron of the ac fan the fan keeps it moving and the ac stays on all night.

Well then maybe housekeeping should have brought us a balloon instead of lying to us that they put in an override.

 

[PhotoDave219]

The secret is to to buy a cheap helium balloon and tie it to a chair in front of the ac fan, the fan keeps it moving and the ac stays on all night.

Why the hell didn't I think of this! Genius!

 

[ford91exploder]

As a beancounter, I feel no joy.

Should have clarified for those beancounters high enough on the food chain to get options and RSU's they will indeed be joyful. The rest of you BACK TO THE MINES.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

USF has a few places to just chill. The lagoon side of Duff Gardens is nice. Lombard's deck is pretty chill. And I have spent way too much time holding down a bar stool in Finnagan's with my skinny backside. Also the Central Park area is pretty quite.

But my absolute favorite place to chill in all of Orlando (WDW included) is to share a bottle and a cheese board sitting harbor side with some friends at The Thirsty Fish at Portofino Bay. Blows WS out of the water in the relaxed themed entertainment environment category (mostly because WS is always so crowded).

 

[wogwog]

The secret is to to buy a cheap helium balloon and tie it to a chair in front of the ac fan, the fan keeps it moving and the ac stays on all night.

Yeah that really works great. I have also heard of people taking long streamers like "pom pom" material in their luggage and taping or tying them to the A/C vent.