OSUgirl77
Well-Known Member
Red Rock Canyon is beautiful, you'll enjoy it. Do make sure you get back to Grand Canyon someday. You really can't appreciate the vastness of it until you see it in person.
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A Spirited Perfect Ten
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
bcalltimandanna
Active Member
Anyone staying near Joshua Tree should check out the Joshua Tree Inn
hopemax
Well-Known Member
While I would love to visit every Disney Park, mainly as a "reason" to visit all the countries they are located in, visiting each National Park is my husband's and my actual "bucket list" goal. Alaska is a problem, as well as American Samoa, so we may make it a Continental USA goal.
We have both visited: Olympic, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Joshua Tree, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Channel Islands, Haleakala, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest and Saguaro. (15)
And I have been to Teddy Roosevelt, Wind Cave and Badlands and my husband has been to Glacier, Redwood, and Crater Lake.
Still have a lot of work to do, but since we live out West, there are several parks that we should be able to hit fairly easily.
We have both visited: Olympic, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Joshua Tree, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Channel Islands, Haleakala, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest and Saguaro. (15)
And I have been to Teddy Roosevelt, Wind Cave and Badlands and my husband has been to Glacier, Redwood, and Crater Lake.
Still have a lot of work to do, but since we live out West, there are several parks that we should be able to hit fairly easily.
Donald Razorduck
Well-Known Member
Pie in the Sky project for Norf Bama drops the Spirit of Walt in it's planning. True fantasy or will it happen? I say no way:
http://yellowhammernews.com/business-2/rumors-swirl-around-worlds-biggest-theme-park-coming-alabama/
http://yellowhammernews.com/business-2/rumors-swirl-around-worlds-biggest-theme-park-coming-alabama/
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
I was there once. I was killing time before a flight out of Las Vegas… absolutely beautiful.
TomP
Well-Known Member
@Nemo14 Great pics of the 'tees. We were there mid Nov (early in the manatee season) and the head count was over 100. For any Disney visitors, Blue Spring State Park is only about an hour away...worth the visit, the manatees are there mid Nov to mid March. We love FL state parks, and Nat'l parks too, and spend a week each month visiting a different FL state park.
Travel Junkie
Well-Known Member
If you don’t have the time to drive all the way out there but want to see the Grand Canyon, they have helicopter tours from Vegas to Grand Canyon.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
I had semi-decent season tickets for the Seahawks for a couple years in the Late Disco Era when Jim Zorn and Steve Largent livened up the otherwise dreary King Dome, back in pre-Grunge, pre-Microsoft and pre-Amazon Seattle, when the Space Needle was still the tallest building. But I didn't watch a second of the Super Bowl yesterday; instead I begged off a couple party invites and spent the afternoon cleaning out some shelving in my garage and filled a few boxes for Goodwill, then got dressed and met friends at a favorite Japanese steakhouse in Irvine. What do I win?
I didn't go, but my very reliable unofficial wait time app for Disneyland showed hour+ Standby waits in the late afternoon at Racers, Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, etc. It obviously wasn't empty at Disneyland on Super Bowl Sunday.
But then I didn't think we cared about football any more? I thought we had all turned in to soccer fans and that was our new passion? Oh, wait, that was just that one time cause everyone else was doing it...
TP2000
Well-Known Member
That's hilarious! I can't wait to hear what they announce at their media events next week. Obviously this will never get off the ground, and if it does it will be a small cut-rate thrill park like the doomed Hard Rock park in Myrtle Beach. But it's truly funny stuff. Websites are cheap and words are free, after all.
Although, speaking of words, I'm not sure what to make of the old tagline they dropped into their description of the planned park's environment a few times; "typical family values". I've lived in South Carolina, which isn't much different socio-politically from Alabama, and at least back in the 20th century the phrase "family values" was a code word designed to keep certain types of folks away. Maybe that phrase means something different in the South now? Hmm...
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Lee
Adventurer
Excellent post, posing excellent questions.
I don't want to come across as overly negative on the subject (Mostly since I know Spirit is friendly with the leadership over at Miceage and I don't want to step on his toes...), but I really can't get past the feeling that the whole Walt's birthplace thing is a little...off.
Nothing I can put my finger on...just that something doesn't feel right. Like there is something we don't know. Maybe it's because I've seen websites ask for "donations" (gifts?) in the past. Every time it seems to be a bad idea to get involved with. Never works out well.
I used to read Miceage on a regular basis, back when Al could be counted to regularly drop in a fun and (sometimes) informative article. Since illness forced him to step away....that site just doesn't have any appeal for me. It has really fallen behind, in my opinion.
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
Next time in Orlando, head out to Indian River and you can go on a guided manatee swim. American Diving is the place I believe. The things will swim right up to you. I even rubbed noses with one.
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
I hear what you are saying and your point is clear. Where we disagree is the dramatic impact of reducing share buybacks. First, they will not buy back as many shares as last year even in 2015. This is from the Year End Earnings Call at 9/30:
They are already planning on cutting back stock buybacks to more normal levels. We may get an update tomorrow on the Q1 call.
I also think that the impact of share buybacks on EPS is not as much as you think. During the 5 years from 2010 to 2014 TWDC's net income increased from $3.963B to $7.501B. This is roughly an 18% annualized increase in earnings. During that same time Diluted EPS increased from 2.03 to 4.26 or roughly a 22% annualized increase. If no shares were sold or repurchased during this period then EPS growth would have dropped from 22% to 18% per year. The point is that the bulk of the EPS growth is driven by actual increases in net income not stock buybacks. For anyone playing along at home these numbers are all on page 25 of the 2014 10K
If actual earnings suffer that's a different story. A major economic downturn impacting the parks or some big movie flops could hurt the stock price a lot. For the next 3 years before the weatherman moves on the company is planning to release 21 tentpole movies as opposed to the 13 they had the previous 3 years and those include some very likely hits like 3 Star Wars movies, multiple Marvel releases (Avaengers, Guardians 2, others) and some likely successful Pixar projects including sequels Finding Dory and Toy Story 4. All signs point towards a pretty nice 3 year run for Iger and Co. They could not buy a single share back over the next 3 years and if the economy stays good and the hit movies come through the stock won't miss a beat.
To your point on the Street punishing the company on reinvestment, I'm not sure thats totally true either. They do like the stock buybacks and increasing dividend, but the reaction to the DCA 2.0 project was pretty positive from analysts and nobody seems interested in questioning the magic band boondoggle. I would say as long as the earnings is solid and the hits keep coming analysts are not opposed to seeing theme park reinvestment.
Hey @GoofGoof I've always been a glass 3/4 empty kind of guy it makes me very, very good at what I do but optimism is an alien concept for me.
But your analysis also makes sense from a more optimistic standpoint but working for a public company in the tech sector everything lives and dies by the stock price and I've seen how we've been hit for factors both under and outside of our scope of control with the basic rule each quarter needs to be more profitable than the preceeding quarter.
I do recall how the 'Street hammered us when we started investing in a higher level of R&D. Analysts were calling for scalps etc etc etc.
In the end the Q1 call should be very informative but as they say only time will tell.
Nemo14
Well-Known Member
We've canoed next to them at WeekiWachee Park. They were so close to the canoe that we were sure they'd tip us over.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Isn't Joshua Tree National Park just otherworldly?!? Spectacular vistas out there.
There are some truly breathtaking National and State Parks a few hours drive from Disneyland. Cars Land is amazing, but can't hold a candle to stuff like this a few hours drive away...
Theme parks are wonderful, but my God, put those kids in the car and drive somewhere truly remarkable! A vacation to California where one only sees theme parks and movie studios should be criminal, especially if children are involved in the trip. And take away their iPads when you get there!
interesting post.
I have been baffled by the project myself. It just seems so forced. Kind of a bit of a vanity project to prove ones ultimate fandom. Also, as the Yesterland article that someone linked to alluded to: no one has an idea where Walt Disney was born. And there is a good reason for it: it seems like the birthplace did not really have a big influence on who Walt Disney was and what he created. I can understand the city of Chicago wanting to make it a landmark as it is always nice for a city to have many famous children. And putting Walt Disney as a feather on your hat is pretty good as feathers go. But for a Disney fan, what is the motivation?
Also, as @the.dreamfinder pointed out, it is really strange that there is only such vague information about what the purpose of that renovation is going to be. I was a bit shocked that this is not a not for profit organisation, but a private company asking for donations.
acishere
Well-Known Member
I always recommend checking Red Rock out for at least a few hours to anyone heading to Vegas. Even just driving out there to sit and watch the rock climbers is totally worth it.
I've done the helicopter tour as well and it is a good way to quick taste of the Canyon's beauty. You are going to want to go back and spend more time there on another trip. It whet my appetite more than satisfying it.
Get some incredible pictures out of it though.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Not uncommon in the crowdsourcing sense... but many people associate it with attempts that are a) seeking funding to get a product concept to reality (the payoff is the thing makes it to market) or b) funding ideas for 'common interest' kind of stuff... museums, etc. I mean, there are common crowdsourcing ideas (outside of kickstarter) that are more like donation drives... simply 'help us pay for stuff'... like gofundme, etc. An example being a local university movie theater that really needed modernization to stay viable but couldn't afford the capital. So crowdsourcing was looked to with the promise of 'the world is better with our place still in it in the future' or simply 'help save your memories...'.
So... not that unusual IMO... but is it a compelling enough idea? And who really believes 500k is enough to renovate a 100yr old place to commercial standards and be able to make something great out of it? We have places in our community that it's taking like 50k just to stabalize the place.. let alone bring it up to commercial building codes.
Preservation without much payoff, for a place of limited significance in his life story.. seems... like something that could only survive as a passion. These folks seem to be asking 'help us fund our passion'... which I guess is ok, if you are clear on that
Lee
Adventurer
That's exactly what is nagging me about it. Seems like we don't know the while story...
Spirited Housekeeping Quickees:
First, I love the National Parks and absolutely think they are a treasure beyond compare. From Denali to St. John, I have soaked in the beauty and all it has done is made me want to spend more time in them. My favorite is Yosemite although the Grand Canyon feels unreal, so awe-inspiring are its vistas. I will say that in my years of living in 90210, I spent most if my NP time in Sequoia since you can get there from LA in about four hours (sometimes less). I always stayed in tiny Three Rivers, which features one of the best Mexican restaurants north of the border.
I will never get why anyone would rather stand in a 75 minute queue of smelly tourists to ride Peter Pan's 1971 Flight for the 234th time versus being in our beautiful NPs, but there is no accounting for brains or tastes. So, no, @WDWFigment,, no problem with you giving a shout out to the treasures we have at all. Just don't want a long tangent on them.
Also, I apologize to you since I owe you multiple emails. Things have been crazy again, but I will write to you this week.
And thanks for the comments on the Rat ride. Consensus is that it is good, but not as good as it could have, should have, been.
Also, am so looking forward to the quarterly earnings report. Disney will report record profits and Wall Street will nod and silently pray that Bob doesn't slip in the shower and die and every management apologist 'fan' will somehow equate earnings with the real health of the company. OK, no, I am not.
A Super Bowl championship and snow days, it doesn't get any better for kids in New England.
Now, onto a dicey subject for me that is going to require a separate post ...
First, I love the National Parks and absolutely think they are a treasure beyond compare. From Denali to St. John, I have soaked in the beauty and all it has done is made me want to spend more time in them. My favorite is Yosemite although the Grand Canyon feels unreal, so awe-inspiring are its vistas. I will say that in my years of living in 90210, I spent most if my NP time in Sequoia since you can get there from LA in about four hours (sometimes less). I always stayed in tiny Three Rivers, which features one of the best Mexican restaurants north of the border.
I will never get why anyone would rather stand in a 75 minute queue of smelly tourists to ride Peter Pan's 1971 Flight for the 234th time versus being in our beautiful NPs, but there is no accounting for brains or tastes. So, no, @WDWFigment,, no problem with you giving a shout out to the treasures we have at all. Just don't want a long tangent on them.
Also, I apologize to you since I owe you multiple emails. Things have been crazy again, but I will write to you this week.
And thanks for the comments on the Rat ride. Consensus is that it is good, but not as good as it could have, should have, been.
Also, am so looking forward to the quarterly earnings report. Disney will report record profits and Wall Street will nod and silently pray that Bob doesn't slip in the shower and die and every management apologist 'fan' will somehow equate earnings with the real health of the company. OK, no, I am not.
A Super Bowl championship and snow days, it doesn't get any better for kids in New England.
Now, onto a dicey subject for me that is going to require a separate post ...
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