A Spirited Perfect Ten

[PhotoDave219]

So you had the F3 with the digital back, that was a BEAST,

Kodak insisted that customers do business the way Kodak wanted them to, Sound familiar MM+/ADR's anyone

Kodak never got into digital photofinishing like Fuji did with the Frontier line of mini-labs which not only processed C41 film but if you had digital media it could ALSO print it and since it scanned and made digital C-prints it could also turn your negatives into digital files.

Kodak could have OWNED the digital to print market they had all the Kodalux facilities but they refused to put the CAPEX in for the necessary network infrastructure and replace the optical enlarging systems with digital C-print systems.

It's either the F3 or the N90 with a digital back.

 

[PhotoDave219]

By the way, it's been months since they announced some new up charge event. What's up?

The epcot ones were cancelled because they were not successful

 

[asianway]

The epcot ones were cancelled because they were not successful

But, #Growth?

 

[lazyboy97o]

And this is what is wrong with WDW. Instead of using the expansion pad between Mexico and Norway for a state of the art Frozen ride they are gonna use it for a freaking Meet and Greet.

Neither should be used for either.

 

[thehowiet]

Excellent analysis, as always. And, for @WDW1974, this would probably be my shareholder question:

Investment in Disney Parks and Resorts, particularly at WDW, is at historic lows and, based on the margins over the company's history, the division has never been less successful. When is management going to start reinvesting at a historically appropriate level in the most iconic part of the company, especially considering that the last 10 years have demonstrated that failing to invest or investing at the current historically low levels has lead to diminished margins?

As @ParentsOf4 has consistently demonstrated, the lack of investment in the parks has has not only caused the loss of the parks we knew and loved, it has also hurt Disney's bottom line. I know Iger does not have an emotional attachment to the parks, but any smart CEO, especially a numbers wonk like Iger, should be concerned that Parks and Resorts is performing at an historically underwhelming rate of return.

I LOVE this question. I was playing with something similar in my head, but you articulated it way better than I know I ever could have. Great job. @ParentsOf4 has really done an awesome job of illustrating the lack of investment for some of us that aren't quite as savvy in this area, backing up what Spirit has been saying. It's hard to argue that domestically P&R hasn't been utterly neglected when you look at the numbers he presents. It would be great if this question, or at least something in the same vein, is asked at the shareholders meeting.

I'd love to hear what @WDW1974 thinks about a question like this. Would Iger and Co. just brush it off, or would this make them uncomfortable?

 

[Rasvar]

I did my share of on-property car free vacations, then realised Disney rooms were so overpriced, even when compared to the unofficial on-property hotels by Downtown Disney, let alone further afield, that when you roll in a rental car, or taking taxis everywhere if you don't drive, you not only still save a fortune in dollars, but you get from A to B far quicker than waiting for Disney buses.

Yet still the consensus persists that it's worth staying on-property and paying rack-rate because the convenience of transport making it good value. The ones who suffer the most from this is all those families paying a fortune to stay at the All-Stars, in the middle of nowhere with crowded buses, when they could stay in bigger rooms in LBV and take cabs and be at the parks much quicker for the same money, but, like with DVC, Disney exploits peoples ignorance massively.

On property is good value when you have several in a room and it's free dining, or if you're getting a large discount (although as rates rise many rooms are still way more expensive than their counterparts, even with discounts), but paying a couple of hundred extra a night to avoid a forty dollar cab fare? Crazy.

Having a camper is my only way I stay on property now. I can still stay off property at a bunch of hotels a little cheaper but my camper is still a nice way to stay. The hotel rooms are insane. I had not looked at the prices of the hotels in some time. The base rates are crazy. Staying at the Value resorts is like being on cattle cars for transport.

With gas prices dropping, it's not as painful to burn up a tank of gas driving to the parks as it was last year. (My car gets horrible gas mileage) Other than the campground, I don't see where there is a clear difference in the quality vs money that you get staying on property now. Even the Extra Magic Hours are really watered downed.

 

[wdisney9000]

The epcot ones were cancelled because they were not successful

Are you talking about the 'eat at world showcase after hours' events? (I cant remember the name of it)

 

[bhg469]

Are you talking about the 'eat at world showcase after hours' events? (I cant remember the name of it)

Maybe they will just keep world showcase open late in the future..

No likely... it's not like the competition stays open late but one could argue the in park offerings at wdw, epcot specifically, are better, or at least we're better. Universal could definitely do better in this area.

 

[Cesar R M]

While I love your thought, and agree it could be a great excuse to create new ride concepts, a valid argument against creating new rides in order to create movie franchises could be made by mentioning the following movies:

The Country Bears, June 2002, Budget $35 Million, Box Office $18 Million

Seeing how that movie did, it's rather a minor miracle that the Pirates film franchise was already in advanced development and en route to be released in July, 2003 after that turkey soured the punch. Then there was the next Attraction-Turned-Movie...

The Haunted Mansion, November 2003, Budget $90 Million, Box Office $75 Million

But the reviews were so awful, with the movie finally sinking Eddie Murphy's flailing career, that much of that box office was simply residual from the Summer '03 goodwill built by the other New Orleans Square E Ticket turned movie Pirates of the Caribbean.

Pirates went on to create multiple sequels and become the 2000's pop cultural equivalent of Star Wars. But the two giant stink bombs that surrounded it, Country Bears and Haunted Mansion, still haunt the concept development meetings for any Disney Studios exec who dares to suggest an old Disneyland ride might be good fodder for a movie plot.

Id honestly blame Hollywood for changing too much on these franchises, So "they could release them" as movies.
Reminds me on how the executives destroyed AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER along with M. Night Shimalandingdang.

 

[Smiddimizer]

Another example of Disney Cruise Line's trademark customer service!

http://time.com/3668610/disney-cruise-rescues-man/

 

[Cesar R M]

Like I said everyone is entitled to their opinion. The world is ran by the laws of supply & demand and clearly Disney is giving people what they want otherwise they wouldn't be more successful now than they have ever been.

So.. you work for disney by any chance?

 

[Cesar R M]

Of the operational details I'm sure he knows next to nothing, However from a corporate capital standpoint he approves the budget and strategic plan for the business unit and with that he seems to be happy just milking the cash cow. Recall that P&R throws off a few BILLION in cash every year, most of which goes into stock buybacks not reinvesting in the business.

Iger is leaving NOTHING in the tank for the next executive team, No cash and no products in the pipeline.

no surprise he really wants to build his biggest bonus ever via stock inflation.

 

[flynnibus]

No, it doesn't.

But I always wondered. And one of her top pals in the Twitverse swore to me years ago that he knew she was really a he.

Bronnies tend to be males... but in this universe anything goes

 

[Cesar R M]

John was sacked by Disney. That's why they had to spend $7 billion to get him back.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW... :|

 

[wdisney9000]

there are two Disney's, and the 'Disney is a business' crowd will never get it, in the same way the old-school fans will never understand the Brandies.

The 'Disney is a business' crowd are just doormats. They get stepped on and they ask for more. The old-school crowd (i guess im in that category) recognize we are being stepped on and complain, but we keep going back anyway (most of us.) Its just a waiting game at this point. Im waiting out Iger and co. and hoping the next group will care more about theme parks. If not, then the only hope is wait for the whole thing to blow up in their face (if that ever happens).

I just dont understand the 'Disney is a business' crowd though. Many of them (not all) have only been visiting since after 2000 and refuse to listen to an old schooler who has been visiting for decades tell them how the magic has slowly deteriorated. They can only make claims of profits or attendance numbers and throw out buzz words. If POTC is up and running thats all that matters to them, they dont notice the problems. They dont mind $2 billion being spent on FP+ instead of new attractions because it allows them to book a FP for TSMM on their phone instead of being at rope drop. Instead of wanting a better product, they just want something NOW...RIGHT NOW!!!

 

[Cesar R M]

Did you read that blog article that was mentioned earlier in the thread? It rather neatly sums up why we seem to go round in neverending circles - there are two Disney's, and the 'Disney is a business' crowd will never get it, in the same way the old-school fans will never understand the Brandies.

You know how in internet arguments they say the first person to mention Hitler loses... I think we should have a rule like that here for anyone who says 'Disney is a business'.

Someone needs to make that maneouver.. as "The Disney Fallacy". Just like Hitler is "Reductio ad Hitlerum" or "Godwin's law"

 

[wdisney9000]

Disney is giving people what they want otherwise they wouldn't be more successful now than they have ever been.

Instead of 'giving people what they want' -Disney used to give people something they never even thought of. Thats what separated them from the rest.

 

[Cesar R M]

I agree, we always rent a car. It allows us to eat at some great restaurants (Columbia in Celebration for example or Bern's Steak House which is only an hour away in Tampa) at much lower prices than eating at WDW. Also of course it makes trips to Universal, Sea World, etc easy to do. I have found for the most part except during peak periods car rental prices are very reasonable in Orlando. Often we save more money on food by being able to eat offsite than the cost of the rental car. And we have so much more freedom.

I can understand why some people would rather not ever leave the bubble of WDW but for us it works well.

The issue is, not everyone can rent cars just fyi

 

[Rasvar]

I have pondered what if I was like my favorite gal 'Angie' ... what if my first visit to WDW was only in 2004 instead of 1974? Would I even like the place? How would it touch me? Would it affect me on the same level walking into Epcot that walking into EPCOT Center in 1982 did? Would my age matter ... meaning if I were a child in 2004 would I have been as wowed as I was back in '74? All interesting questions to think about.

I've always wondered this myself. It's the impossible to answer hypothetical. I'm sure my attention span would have been shorter and the longer rides and shows might have driven me crazy. Maybe the current Country Bears would be more appealing to me than it is now. Although, not sure ten year old me would have been allowed to just wander the park and ride what he wanted while the parents did other things with my sister in 2004 as I did in 1976. I think I liked the freedom I had more.

 

[OlympiaBinewski]

1.) A project that had been on the table dating to the late 90s that was greenlit ONLY because guests were falling below that MAGICal nine attractions a day threshold and the park was bursting at the seams (again, due to removing attractions, shops and dining locales, adding ODV, haviing FP dump people out of queues and renting double-wide strollers and ECVs to ever-larger guests):

New here (Hello All!), but was wondering what the MAGICal nine attractions a day threshhold is, although I can assume the meaning.