A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Cesar R M]

There is no limit to how much people will pay for anything that they perceive to have "snob" appeal. We are not the brightest species to inhabit the universe I'm afraid. I'm guessing that steak served at a high end restaurant probably has little tiny black ties attached to the grizzle to give it that extra shot of class. I think that I would probably die laughing if someday, like the commercial a couple of years ago, everyone finds out that they buy their meat at Walmart.

or iphones ?

 

[englanddg]

or iphones ?

The iWatch.

 

[englanddg]

is this supposed to lead into the 'Walt was a bad guy and he's no different than Eisner or Iger " debate?

Families fight. Families with major money fight even more. And very little of it ever gets out, even when they go to court against each other as frequently happens.

They were all different, but they also lived (and ruled their companies) in different times.

 

[WDW1974]

Apparently the new Kong E-ticket is getting some substantial changes... HTF says it will crush Soarin 2.0 (the planned Avatar E-ticket).

http://www.orlandounited.com/forums/showthread.php/8241-King-Kong-Speculation-Thread/page253

http://www.orlandounited.com/forums/showthread.php/8241-King-Kong-Speculation-Thread/page254

He has an account here. Perhaps, he'll drop in. I have heard of no significant changes of late, but I haven't asked either.

Personally, the KidZome replacements sound better to me ...and some of the ideas being pitched for Beijing are just phenomenal. Whether they get built is another matter.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Amazing what that tiny company could accomplish, yet this HUGE and massively profitable machine has become so afraid of taking risks and even spending money on the basics.

Well ...

Since I know you like my charts , there is one thing they are not afraid to spend money on under Iger:

 

[spacemt354]

I'll just say that the Avengers was the closest thing to a sure thing as they come. Fanbois have clamored for team films for years (that's why DC is finally doing it as well). These films are practically assured of a billion at the box office to start.

Eh, it would have made money with the following it had. But it wasn't assured to be that successful.

Die-hard comic book fans are the harshest critics. There have been films in the past that you'd think would be a success, yet simply don't pan out because the film's just a mess.

The Avengers was a first of its kind film that could have fallen flat on its face if not done properly. Thankfully, it didn't.

 

[WDW1974]

In case anyone missed it, The Boathouse reportedly will be offering a 32 oz Tomahawk Long Bone Rib Chop for 2 for only $115.

View attachment 89263

Looks mighty tasty right now. A nice late night championship game snack!

But really this is going to be given to the Lifestylers on the list that Dr. Blondie sent over to Boathouse's PR rep? Folks who order Big Macs without cheese and demand the 39 cents back? Folks who use 2 for 1 coupons at seedy locales on 192?

Amazing. Of course, I loved seeing folks who had never even walked into a Four Seasons in their lives having free meals there. Look, we know Disney has no standards anymore, but these other organizations?

 

[WDW1974]

Its not so mock.... here and I thought I was losing my mind thinking the price of steak had gone up.

Everything has gone up ...well, except for wages, but that wouldn't be good for Wall Street!

 

[WDW1974]

Quality is yet to be seen. It's not operated by Landry's it's going to be operated by Gibson's Restaurant Group which is the owner of the Gibsons Steakhouses in Chicago. If the quality is on par with Gibson's Steakhouse it will be better than Shula's.

Shula's is consistently very good. Morton's used to be my favorite in that sector, but then the economy collapsed, my finances changed and they were bought by Landry's. You should read some reviews nationally. I'd rather go to the Outback, like I did last week, and get a decent quality sirloin for $15.79 or a decent filet for $20.49, than pay expense account prices sans the account for a mediocre experience.

 

[Gabe1]

You're right, I just saw that. I knew the creative designers behing Rainforest and Trex we're on board and that Landry's already had a Boathouse brand, so I assumed it was Landry's.

Regarding quality of Gibson's over Shula's, I'll take your word on that. I say this as someone with a Culinary degree, almost a decade in the industry and a couple competition wins: I see little differentiation amongst the high-end steakhouses.

We have a Shula's and Gibson's equal distance between us, both are excellent but Gibson's is superior. The question I have is if Gibson can guard their reputation for quality and service at WDW. Shula's is not the same at WDW as it is up here, not saying it isn't excellent but once you change the dynamics of fine dining in an upscale area to a family theme park atmosphere it is often difficult to keep some of those standards as high especially with reservations and service. It is often such a different clientele. Gibson has been around for a couple decades up here and I hope this isn't too big of a leap for them.

 

[WDW1974]

The price of this steak to me through my meat provider is 75. The cost at lobels is 110 not cooked.

So the price for a 32 oz cooked is dead on.

I'm going out on a short limb and say that Disney and its major operating partners can purchase for less than you based on their size and volume.

When Le Cellier charges $44 for a sirloin steak (likely 8 oz as Disney always goes smaller than industry standards) a la carte for lunch, they are making a poohload of moolah.

After all, there is profit on a $1 burger at McD's or BK or Wendy's.

 

[WDW1974]

Agreed. It's hard for me to imagine the demand will be high enough to support multiple high end restaurants like this.

I do think that the Landing area could end up being a little less of a stroller-jammed, Mickey plush selling environment. I'm assuming these places won't be taking DDP. Paying cash and not having the obvious appeal to children that places like T-Rex and Rainforest have may turn off a lot of families with young kids and strollers. I'm not saying there won't be kids here or that having kids there is even entirely a bad thing. A lot of people want a more adult focused area at Disney Springs. Maybe that's what they are going for with this lineup of restaurants.

I wonder if these locations were forced to take the DDP. One might guess it was in the contracts.

For fun sometime, ask the folks at HoB or Portobello what they think of the DDP and what it does to resort dining and the way they run their locations.

 

[WDW1974]

They were all different, but they also lived (and ruled their companies) in different times.

True enough. But it's also true that they had different world views and different moral compasses as well.

I truly believe that Bob Iger is a bad leader and a lousy excuse for a human being. I don't feel the same about Michael Eisner, someone I actually have known to some degree. And I certainly don't feel that way about Walt Disney who was dead before I was ever born.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Shula's is consistently very good. Morton's used to be my favorite in that sector, but then the economy collapsed, my finances changed and they were bought by Landry's. You should read some reviews nationally. I'd rather go to the Outback, like I did last week, and get a decent quality sirloin for $15.79 or a decent filet for $20.49, than pay expense account prices sans the account for a mediocre experience.

I just cook my own anymore. I want it between rare & medium rare, basted in olive oil with just salt & pepper on it.

Cooked over either charcoal or oak.

Preferably a nice free range black angus rib eye or filet.

Served with a nice Cabernet. Maybe a Camus or a silver oak but generally the Coppala Director's cut Cabernet.

Sweet potato. Fresh bread.

Dammit I'm hungry now.

 

[WDW1974]

@ParentsOf4 ...sometimes a chart says all that is needed!!!

 

[DDLand]

Yes and 2011 also includes a large shutdown necessitated by the Great Quake ...

I posted the link largely to show that both Disney and UNI go with a clear focus on adding things of substance and quality and that the bottom line bears this out for both.

I wasn't suggesting in any way that the OLC has gotten lazy, although I do not like the recent habit of adding cloned attractions (although if a three-hour wait for TSMM will get me on their ToT or JTtCoTE or 20K or Sindbad etc faster, I'm all for it!)

I do think I need to plan a visit in the middle of a typhoon as @WDWFigment did a while back!

Looking from the outside on TDL, few of their recent additions really have me impressed. (Not saying it's better at WDW, it's not) Near stagnation is how I'd describe it.

Then all of a sudden they announce this big logistical overhaul/expansion. This is after they had been saying they might go forward with other ventures, and Disney wouldn't be part of the picture.

What made them change their MO, and 180 into one of their most aggressive periods of Disney expansion in their history? Are they having MK like issues with too many guests? Are they threatened? Did they decide there was more money to be made?

Mixed signals...

One thing I did catch in their Annual Report, was them being completely caught off guard by their high attendance.

 

[Gabe1]

I wonder if these locations were forced to take the DDP. One might guess it was in the contracts.

For fun sometime, ask the folks at HoB or Portobello what they think of the DDP and what it does to resort dining and the way they run their locations.

My thought process for Gibsons. WDW is so out of league of fine dining. Beyond the amazing meat cooked to perfection, yes we can cut with a fork and question if that can happen at WDW, the service is tops and yet warm and relaxed...I'm struggling to see Gibsons pulling this off in a theme park arena and the more casual guests. We shall see how they adapt and what influence the 'mentors' guide them to becoming.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

On the discussion of a slower Easter/Spring Break period, I have to wonder if the snowstorms have forced schools in most of the United States to shorten their days off to make up for lost time affected travel plans.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

No offense to Universal fans (i mean that), but beating a ride now infamous by the title "Soarin 2.0" isn't exactly what i'd call an impressive milestone or achievement. Not that Soarin isn't a fun little ride (given more reasonable wait times and maintenance conditions i do enjoy it to an extent), but at heart it's really just a simulator and not that hard to overcome from a quality perspective. Also makes it sound like Kong won't have much in the way of physical sets or animatronics. Perhaps even less than Gringotts, Spiderman and Transformers? The previous plans supposedly at least had one major AA figure (rumored to be Kong himself), if not a small handful of others. I have to wonder whether the ride has been downgraded somewhat further, it already had a budget cut apparently since the beginning (which was rumored to have been one heck of an awesome sounding ride). Will say that HTF has recently gotten a little too overzealous in hyping other Uni rides, Gringotts in particular left some people wanting more after buying into the hype from what i've heard. Haven't seen @whylightbulb post in a while either, maybe he knows something about Kong's current state.

Heck as i've said before, i'm much more interested in the boat ride supposedly coming to Avatar Land. I've had quite enough of screen based rides, and especially simulators. Whether they're labeled E tickets or not. I'm interested to know why the Kidzone area has Spirit's attention, hopefully a ride with physical sets and aa's is on the table there.

I did see a tweet from @HTF not too long ago with a piece of Lord of the Rings movie art attached, with i think a hashtag indicating something Universal Orlando related, curious as to whether it meant anything. Seems a prevalent rumor in recent years but i'm guessing the Tolkien estate has to agree to it, they don't seem to be happy about the movies at all (it would surprise me if they'd be ok with a theme park attraction).

 

[PhotoDave219]

On the discussion of a slower Easter/Spring Break period, I have to wonder if the snowstorms have forced schools in most of the United States to shorten their days off to make up for lost time affected travel plans.

Some do. Some don't. Depends on each school district.

I can back up what @71jason & @WDW1974 are saying about the Spring Break crowds not materializing as heavily as forecast. MK's parking lot just didn't fill up as expected... which I'd say is significant.