A Spirited Perfect Ten

[gmajew]

So what you are saying is if you don't like something, suck it up shut up, and never say anything about it. Ok riiiiight.....

No that is my flaw when I am in a restaurant as I am in the business and just have a different view.

My point was it is not just one experience that makes a vacation is a collective group of all of them.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

On a lighter note...
Gotta hand it to the guys at Parkscope. They nailed this one.
http://www.parkscope.net/2015/04/a-look-behind-magic-after-50-years-walt.html?m=0

Nailed it???? I really hope that you are kidding.

 

[PhotoDave219]

That can been seen on both sides.

Questioning everything is no more nuanced than questioning nothing. Unwavering doubt in everything that Disney does requires no more thought than blind acceptance.

Painting Disney as a pure a villain isn't any more complicated than painting them as a hero.

I paint them as neither a villain nor a hero; rather they are a business who is after mine and everyone else's dollars.

Some things I am not questioning - Frozen. I hate it personally but it makes some crazy sense. I just wonder what happens when the craze passes?

Trader SAMs? More plz.

The Poly & The Tiki? It's not what it once was. And I feel they could've done a better job with the lobby. And I despise the bungalows. But on the whole, i'll be going more now. Nice to have the parking lot back.

The hub - eh. It needed expanding, def., but I really feel they need some trees and shade and real grass for their gas so when the average temperature goes between 90 and 100° every afternoon for nine months out of the year. I'll go with it but it's not the world's biggest deal to me…

The pace of expansion and utilizing new attractions to drive growth as well as viewing the theme parks as a mature business? As the great Ricky Ricardo once said, "Lucy, you've got some 'splainin to do."

Juking the stats? (see season 3 of "the wire" for the reference or Google it) I feel this company plays too many games with numbers. They're more concerned with hitting their numbers then providing excellent guest service and have lost that focus on being the premier service company in the world.

Anyways.... I got off on a tangent or two.

I just want to see them be the premier family entertainment and guest service company in the world. They used to be. They have the potential to be. And honestly? They should be.

 

[Travel Junkie]

In overseas news TDR drew a record 31.38 million visitors in fiscal 2014 (I was happily of one those.) Universal Japan also set a record with 12.7 million visitors, a 2.2 million increase over last fiscal year. Hogesmede opened over there in July 2014.

 

[BrerJon]

On a lighter note...
Gotta hand it to the guys at Parkscope. They nailed this one.
http://www.parkscope.net/2015/04/a-look-behind-magic-after-50-years-walt.html?m=0

I love this quote:
"In our business, you can only rest on your laurels for so long; and after 20 years of doing exactly that, we needed to figure out a way to get guests to understand why everything is good just the way it is," said Matt Cleary, senior creative consultant for Walt Disney Imagineering.

Yup, sounds about right!

 

[Nubs70]

The question isn't "whether it's a business" but how they're running that business. How they treat their guests and how they go about getting new business.

Apparently asking questions somehow means you're against whatever you're questioning.....

Very true.

Pets.com was a business too.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I don't think anyone visits MK because of the Mine Train, they would go to the park anyway, but once they arrive the lines are long because it's the first new ride in years to come along with any level of thrill. When DCA expanded crowds grew massively, but there was enough new things across the park to spread the crowds out.

Personally, I think that anyone that thinks that anyone goes to WDW because of a single attraction is delusional.

So what happens when kids are rough housing and they skin their knee(s) on the concrete patches mixed in with the fake grass? Staph or no staph (or other bacteria or whatever?) that can still cause a potential problem with bloodborne pathogeons?

I do not know your qualifications or if you are even qualified to answer this but so far you have the best answer...wouldn't that alone be a reason for concern?

What happens when they do the same thing on "real" grass?

Agreed with that 100%. But until projection technology improves immensely, we'll never get the big trees back.

Or until the public loses interest in the projection show. I don't expect that to happen real soon!

 

[Lee]

Nailed it???? I really hope that you are kidding.

No....why?
It's the funniest thing I've read in a while.

 

[Funmeister]

Personally, I think that anyone that thinks that anyone goes to WDW because of a single attraction is delusional.


What happens when they do the same thing on "real" grass?


Or until the public loses interest in the projection show. I don't expect that to happen real soon!

Guests were not allowed to play/lounge on the real grass so I do not think it was ever an issue. I'm trying to think of anywhere else this occurs and the only other place was the NFL Experience at ESPNWWoS (now gone) and possibly the outside berm of the baseball stadium also at ESPNWWoS. Not sure where else there are grassy areas where guests people lounge for long periods of time for this same example to compare.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Personally, I think that anyone that thinks that anyone goes to WDW because of a single attraction is delusional.

See my follow up to that post. I don't think anyone goes to WDW because of a single attraction but I do think a single (new) attraction can lead people to pick the Magic Kingdom over other parks. It can also draw locals, passholders, and off-duty CMs.

 

[jakeman]

No....why?
It's the funniest thing I've read in a while.

Low hanging fruit and a little tasteless with the personal jabs.

I think they could have gotten the same effect by calling it the 10U and eased up on the photoshop.

It was just heavy handed. What could have been skewering satire ended up looking like a petty personal attack.

 

[Lee]

Low hanging fruit and a little tasteless with the personal jabs.

I think they could have gotten the same effect by calling it the 10U and eased up on the photoshop.

It was just heavy handed. What could have been skewering satire ended up looking like a petty personal attack.

Nah...that's what made it funny.

 

[jlsHouston]

You were served every entrée they currently offer. Pork is gone. I agree it is an example of another down grade from the past. I have friends visiting in a few weeks with Ohana reservations. I have not been there in a year or so and have warned them to lower their expectations.

Yah..when chicken left , I left...although to be truthful by the time I chowed the salad , the wings and the pot stickers down, I could barely stuff a few shrimps and a piece a chicken in me.

 

[truecoat]

I don't think anyone visits MK because of the Mine Train, they would go to the park anyway, but once they arrive the lines are long because it's the first new ride in years to come along with any level of thrill. When DCA expanded crowds grew massively, but there was enough new things across the park to spread the crowds out.

Plus the fact that it was designed to handle very large crowds from the beginning. Yes, they had high hopes on that PTOWAD.

(park that once was a dump)

 

[hopemax]

Very true.

Pets.com was a business too.

The first comparison I made to the "Disney is a business crowd" was Montgomery Ward. They were a very successful business. And where are they now? Kodak is far along its way to the same conclusion. Sears and JC Penny are doing their darndest to follow the path too. IBM, HP, PanAm the roads are littered with businesses that once meant quality that are shadows of what they were, or long gone.

Disney is not immune. And pretending they're not, isn't going to help them in the long run. To quote Edison and The American Adventure, "Discontent is the first necessity of progress." Necessity. I don't want Disney to be left behind.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Low hanging fruit and a little tasteless with the personal jabs.

I think they could have gotten the same effect by calling it the 10U and eased up on the photoshop.

It was just heavy handed. What could have been skewering satire ended up looking like a petty personal attack.

Well… That's exactly what it was.

 

[gmajew]

I paint them as neither a villain nor a hero; rather they are a business who is after mine and everyone else's dollars.

Some things I am not questioning - Frozen. I hate it personally but it makes some crazy sense. I just wonder what happens when the craze passes?

Trader SAMs? More plz.

The Poly & The Tiki? It's not what it once was. And I feel they could've done a better job with the lobby. And I despise the bungalows. But on the whole, i'll be going more now. Nice to have the parking lot back.

The hub - eh. It needed expanding, def., but I really feel they need some trees and shade and real grass for their gas so when the average temperature goes between 90 and 100° every afternoon for nine months out of the year. I'll go with it but it's not the world's biggest deal to me…

The pace of expansion and utilizing new attractions to drive growth as well as viewing the theme parks as a mature business? As the great Ricky Ricardo once said, "Lucy, you've got some 'splainin to do."

Juking the stats? (see season 3 of "the wire" for the reference or Google it) I feel this company plays too many games with numbers. They're more concerned with hitting their numbers then providing excellent guest service and have lost that focus on being the premier service company in the world.

Anyways.... I got off on a tangent or two.

I just want to see them be the premier family entertainment and guest service company in the world. They used to be. They have the potential to be. And honestly? They should be.

Standing ovation!!! This was a dead on post some good some bad!

 

[Katie G]

As to the Hotel's WDW once was a full service resort, At one time there was a program where you could pay a one time fee which was equal to one day's hotel stay and you could then take advantage of as many Sea Raycer, Horseback rides, Greens fees (carts still extra) and all that other entertainment for the length of your stay at any venue at WDW. Now all that stuff is charged by the hour.

There is still such a program, though I don't remember the cost. It is called the Platinum plan and it includes Dining and unlimited Tours and Recreation. There might also be one called the Premium plan which is Dine, and limited Tours and Recreation. It still exists.

 

[lazyboy97o]

If Walt Disney was alive today running the parks, I wonder how many threads there would be about him losing touch, and Disney needing a change in leadership?

Walt wasn't free of stupid ideas (Mickey Mouse Club Circus) nor was he the actual leadership of the company.

 

[NearTheEars]

No, I'm one of the guys who have to think about what happens if a fire breaks out in a key facility and how to move the functions to another one. I get paid to D&G

If that's what you do at work too, what do you do for fun?