A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Cesar R M]

Anyone else thinking our driving force is again gracing us with his presence?

you mean the famous "T" and his giant bag of Disney shares?

The budget did not in any way dictate that it MUST be a clone.


So that makes it ok to make the largest expansion in the parks history less unique? And your 99% figure is ridiculous.

Its easy to throw percentages out of nowhere lol.
I can claim that 90% of the people agree with me right now.. I wont name agree with what... because that could make it less nebulous

 

[CaptainAmerica]

True, but comps went out in December and won't go out again until July. As far as I know CPs aren't getting them anymore, outside of holiday ones.

A nice "step one." Step two: revoke their maingates.

 

[Cesar R M]

Pirates, Mansion and Splash are not clones.

Still, clone isn't the issue. The ride is rather poor at both of it's instances. It's a combination of a variety of show elements clashing (I'm looking at you spinning starfish), poorly developed scenes, poor lighting in areas (I've read this has been fixed, so you can't see the ceiling anymore like you used to, or at least it doesn't stand out) and lackluster cosmetics...but certainly not something you'd expect from a state of the art dark ride, even if it is only meant as a D ticket.

Had those elements not existed, people wouldn't be complaining, clone or not.

That said, I'm sure the average guest enjoys it. My daughter adores it. So...to each their own.

The lightning was definitively the biggest turn off.
You could see a lot of the equipment in the ceilings.
Doesn't help that the too bright lightning, made the finale look awful (it washed down the fireworks effect)

 

[Mike S]

Not every place needs a true E-ticket. Fantasyland has never been the destination for true E-tickets.

It's a Small World, the Mickey Mouse Revue, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Three opening day Magic Kingdom E Tickets all located in Fantasyland. If Fantasyland isn't the place for E Tickets, someone tell OLC. Clearly they're doing something wrong.

And still more to come........

Edit: I see @englanddg beat me to it. That's what I get for commenting when I'm still 2 pages behind.

 

[Cesar R M]

All fact on the internet are 157% made up. Regardless of post count, or supposed academic credentials. Welcome to the forums....

lets not forget this one..

 

[RSoxNo1]

You think Little Mermaid is a better dark ride than Peter Pan?

yes

 

[Cesar R M]

For March - VGF - 129,116 points, for Poly - 75,649.

what is the price difference between points on each resort?

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

As Do I. I was really spoiled in 2004 and 2005. That was back in the day when the crowd was much easier to predict and there were dead and down times throughout the year. Those no longer exist.

A "slow" day these days? That's what A normal or busy day used to look like.

My last trip, I lasted about four hours in the Magic Kingdom. I just do not enjoy being around that many other people.

Right there with you. The post Sept. 11 lull in attendance was great for Florida residents. We came so often that a couple captains of the Friendships began to recognize us (hopped between Epcot and MGM quite a bit).

The biggest difference during slow times is not the shorter lines at rides (though that's certainly a big difference) -it's the shorter lines for everything else. For the monorail, for lunch at counter service restaurants, for the buses, at the entrance turnstiles. And there is never a problem trying to find a bench or place to sit.

Man I miss those crowd levels. Now it's pack 'em in as much as possible.

 

[Cesar R M]

They have all sorts of empirical data to backup their behavior in Orlando. Look at all the gate receipts, guest surveys about how successful MM+ is, and 3rd party media feedback like the Fast Company article on the great job they are doing.

Who cares if it actually makes sense? Especially over the long haul. When you are dealing with fiscal quarters and answering to the Street and not your guests, it's easy to do something different in 3 months.

BTW - it's easy to paint MM+ in a good light. Just ask questions like they do on the surveys. "Would your visit have been as enjoyable without MM+?" Of course the answer is no based on the way you ask the question. Add FP+ onto every attraction, make sure every dinner reservation is booked in advance, and then ask the question.

It's kinda like intentionally taking a guest on a cruise and then tossing someone over the railing and then give them a life preserver and ask "What would your cruise have been like without the life preserver?" Ask a guest that question that went on a cruise that didn't involve going overboard and you will get a different answer to that question.

Lets remember for a moment that the feedback and surveys at Disney are incredibly skewed.

I bet almost everyone who had complains, were driven away by the software or papers claiming "sorry, you're not the target demographic"

 

[Cesar R M]

First time posters are "naive" and aren't credentialed until they amass enough posts I guess. I've been part of a few communities around the Disney Parks sphere since the 90's and grew bored with it all. It got harder to deal with once industry experience showed how woefully uninformed people are about how the parks are run and how they make decisions, and how those people deify people like Al Lutz for taking endless fortune-teller style shots in a general direction and then brag about how right they've been.

But I digress, probably too arrogant and quite naive of me to assume that actual credentials don't fly on internet forums. It's fine though, lively discussion never hurt anyone and as stated- it's the internet. Feel free to ignore my reasoning or statements as I am free to do to yours.

well, theres the Martyr.

Interesting how things went the same way as expected.

Why would anyone who is a fan of WDW be against the company spending money on the park? The hotels have been at near 90% occupancy for several quarters now. Maybe it's time to think about building more rooms, expanding. Attendance is up despite healthy increases in prices. Why not reinvest some of the gains you are making to build towards future cash flows? Infrastructure needs improvement. I agree with that. It's not sexy or headline grabbing but it's necessary in a resort approaching 50 years old. They should also be looking to expand as well. Avatar and the plans for AK look promising but there are other needs too. DHS, and EPCOT in that order.

I can't understand the mentality that they should just ignore investment since it's doing well financially. If Eisner followed that approach we would still have 2 gates and a handful of hotels. WDW is ripe for a new period of growth.

does that figure include the DVCs?
Because if they decrease the availability of rooms based on DVC sales, sure the expected occupancy rates will go up, even if the real sales of rooms go down.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I bet almost everyone who had complains, were driven away by the software or papers claiming "sorry, you're not the target demographic"

That doesn't make any sense. Disney isn't publishing survey results so they have reason to inflate them.

I'll concede the point that Disney is a soulless mega-conglomerate that only cares about money. Even soulless mega-conglomerates that only care about money also listen to feedback from their guests. The guests have the money that the soulless mega-conglomerate wants. Listen to the guests = make more money.

 

[wdisney9000]

Probably some time after Avatar, Star Wars, Frozen and New Fantasyland have slammed the parks full for the next decade.

So they should just ignore attraction capacity until:

Avatar: 2017 (at the earliest) most likely phased openings and quality remains to be seen

Star Wars Land: 2020 minimum (5 years + away)

Frozen attraction: LMF@O

New Fantasyland: Its not "new" anymore. 5% increase at best I would say which hardly requires any new infrastructure let alone what you claim they need.

So for the next 3-5 years you believe all the parks will need is the new Frozen attraction in Norway to sustain the always climbing numbers in guest attendance?

Ill ask again, please show me how exactly WDW's infrastructure would crash and burn if NGE had not been put in play?

 

[Mike S]

Ill ask again, please show me how exactly WDW's infrastructure would crash and burn if NGE had not been put in play?

Faith, trust, and a little bit of Pixie Dust.

 

[Cesar R M]

That doesn't make any sense. Disney isn't publishing survey results so they have reason to inflate them.

I'll concede the point that Disney is a soulless mega-conglomerate that only cares about money. Even soulless mega-conglomerates that only care about money also listen to feedback from their guests. The guests have the money that the soulless mega-conglomerate wants. Listen to the guests = make more money.

I have been target of reviews twice.. and I always get "turned away" when I even try to select any of the slightly negative opinions.
Others have already mentioned the "in person" skewed surveys (where there is no way to say a negative thing).

 

[realdizfan]

I don't believe I ever said it would crash and burn, but I'd like to avoid a situation like Disneyland is dealing with at the moment. Whether or not the parks will buckle under the crowds is irrelevant. What is relevant is that Disney is making billions in infrastructure improvements (including MM+) to facilitate long term growth that's around the corner with the billion+ being spent on new attractions. It's really not hard to comprehend.

And can someone find a family member not-so-into-Disney and have them explain the differences between Disneylands Mansion, Splash Mtn, Pirates or Peter Pan compared to WDW's? Or would they simply reply "they're the same aren't they?"

 

[englanddg]

I have been target of reviews twice.. and I always get "turned away" when I even try to select any of the slightly negative opinions.
Others have already mentioned the "in person" skewed surveys (where there is no way to say a negative thing).

When I took my MDE post visit (done at the resort by a research group with toughbooks, where theyvwere actively seeking out people with Magicbands, not the post visit internet survey) they lumped a lot of things together. I had good things to say about the app, mediocre things about FP+, and bad things about the site.

But, they often included them all as one question...making it very difficult to give precise feedback.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

what is the price difference between points on each resort?

It's the same per point right now. No incentives on either.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

well, theres the Martyr.

Interesting how things went the same way as expected.


does that figure include the DVCs?
Because if they decrease the availability of rooms based on DVC sales, sure the expected occupancy rates will go up, even if the real sales of rooms go down.

But, as stated by some here, Disney makes an obscene profit on a deluxe resort room, so why would you change those over to DVC units, if you are at 90% occupancy? I guess you can have it both ways!

 

[wm49rs]

I don't believe I ever said it would crash and burn, but I'd like to avoid a situation like Disneyland is dealing with at the moment. Whether or not the parks will buckle under the crowds is irrelevant. What is relevant is that Disney is making billions in infrastructure improvements (including MM+) to facilitate long term growth that's around the corner with the billion+ being spent on new attractions. It's really not hard to comprehend.

And can someone find a family member not-so-into-Disney and have them explain the differences between Disneylands Mansion, Splash Mtn, Pirates or Peter Pan compared to WDW's? Or would they simply reply "they're the same aren't they?"

You've moved on from generalizing about people on this forum to their families. Very high-minded of you. Sounds like another that's come around at the behest of TWDC....

 

[the.dreamfinder]

That doesn't make any sense. Disney isn't publishing survey results so they have reason to inflate them.

I'll concede the point that Disney is a soulless mega-conglomerate that only cares about money. Even soulless mega-conglomerates that only care about money also listen to feedback from their guests. The guests have the money that the soulless mega-conglomerate wants. Listen to the guests = make more money.

Individual groups within Disney do have an incentive to skew survey results so they can get their desired outcome be it Cockerell fries, MagicBands or closing Maelstrom.