A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Cesar R M]

There is no wishful thinking here. Your response says more about you than it does me.
I chose to be respectful and act as if I were standing in front of you speaking face to face. I expect to be treated the same way.
Common courtesy is a valuable skill that some just never seem to learn. I understand your need for humor and as long as it is not at the expense of others I have no problem with it. We all need to laugh. It is good for our health.

Lets not confuse 2 different therms...
courtesy and respect are different things.. on is expected based on education, the other is earned. not given.

As for common courtesy: there is a huge difference in speaking face to face.. with doing it online with someone who is in the other end of the world, distance which will affect you nothing after you close the browser.

but in general I agree with you. Unfortunately.. like many things said here.. the humour is always based on something. be it Iger, lifestylers or special individuals making fools of themselves.

 

[Cesar R M]

Which is directly related to many of the SPIRIT's complaints about current Disney leadership: none have any theme park experience and don't care about the actual product, only about how much money they can get from it.

Many companies just want the money without the work. Disney would prefer that guests just send them money and not actually show up (you know, like the local gyms, lol). This way they don't have to spend any money.

meanwhile.. Disney insists in removing benches that would have helped on the seating issues..
and they could pretty easily recover the "loss of revenue" by having vendors with themed mobile karts hanging icecream..etc..

I don't know that it's made people dumber, but it has created a checks and balances of sort that helps identify the dumb people.

I honestly believe the opposite.
Internet as let the people gain more information and the possibility of being informed and educated.
The bad thing is.. it also lets ALREADY BUMD people get DUMBER by letting them browse trash sites like 4chan.

You can TRY to help the dumb.. but it will always be the dumb's own initiative that saves them or dooms them.

 

[Cesar R M]

Yes that IS the law not as it's currently implemented 'We can't find anyone to do work which is worth 6 figures for 15/hour with no benefits so let's bring in workers from around the world who will do that'

the best part is.. if these outside workers complain. They can just cancel their visas and force them out of the country.
Some sort of convenient modern slavery. (just like many immigrants from Latin America are forced to work in horrible conditions)

Arent the visas that are granted to outsource companies limited? Im sure there are plenty of companies willing to pay some lobbyists to see it increase though.

And they are if I remember correctly.
Disney, Microsoft, Intel..etc.. they want to 4x the number of visas granted (in the minimum) if I remember correctly from an online article.

 

[hopemax]

Hey, serious question, do you think the Internet has made people (at least Americans) dumber?

Serious answer. Nope. I think it has exposed a lot of people to things that wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise. Cat pictures and memes aside, I think good stuff has gotten through too. But the flip side is you have to take the good with the bad, and so all the stupid people we could have gone through life without every knowing about...we know about...too much. I have become acquainted with people from all corners of the world, and so if something comes up, it makes hearing about it a little more "personal." When the earthquake/tsunami hit Japan, my thought wasn't an abstract, "that looks terrible," it was to wonder if people, who I had never met in person, or even had exchanged an email with, were okay, and I think I paid more attention because of it, unlike the earthquake in Chile. Maybe it's just learning some new recipes, or finding out certain places exist because someone had a vacation picture. I also wonder what it has done for literacy. People complain about how nobody knows how to spell, or grammar anymore...big deal, our English looks nothing like old English, language changes and always will, but people are communicating via the written word. There are people that never would have picked up a pencil to write a letter to their mother, but gosh, can they type volumes with complete strangers. I'm of the opinion that reading and writing is good, no matter what form it takes. Some people may not be learning the things we wished they learn, but I'd look a lot closer to home as for the reasons why.

 

[Cesar R M]

On March 10, 2015 you posted:


That is clearly not an example of having "knowledge about how media and journalism work in 21st century America". It is rather pure speculation and wishful thinking on your part. Almost three months have passed and yet Willow Bay is still the director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. And the "story" of which you speak seems to have started and ended on a Disney message board. Yet you still contend that it is all fact without providing even a shred of corroborative evidence. Clearly guesswork, speculation and wishful thinking are valid surrogates for evidence in your version of how this incident should be reported.

And contrary to what some people would have you believe, the article in question is still available: http://www.msn.com/en-sg/money/other/disney-ceo-fumbles-entry-to-china/ar-BBhJ56W?srcref=rss

Interesting to see it mirrored in MSN.com
But still gone from the huff?

 

[Cesar R M]

As a non American I didn't bother with HoP for years. Finally decided to go in a couple trips back and loved it. great attraction indeed. May have to check out the American Adventure this time as well as I can't remember ever going in to see it in all my visits.

I actually wonder if the tour to check how the animatronics and backshow is still available.
I would have loved to check THE LAND and THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE offstage areas.

Not creepy enough.



There we go.

speaking of elsa...

someone in a fandom site has been changing the "baby faces" to more realistic proportions. the difference is night and day.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Wait, you didn't hear the latest spin? This is the intended state. The movement was an experiment during testing and development that didn't pan out.

Is this satire or true? And more importantly, what doe sit mean that I cannot tell?

 

[Bairstow]

I actually wonder if the tour to check how the animatronics and backshow is still available.
I would have loved to check THE LAND and THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE offstage areas.


speaking of elsa...

someone in a fandom site has been changing the "baby faces" to more realistic proportions. the difference is night and day.

Huh... that doesn't look half-bad.

I bet with the right software, a dedicated team of kids could edit the entire film like this.

This seems to be her (his?) tumblr: http://thenamelessdoll.tumblr.com/

 

[DDLand]

More Spirited TEA Musings:

I had a lot of time to think today, most of it not about theme parks but a bit was, and I think the point about Disney largely being a failure for not taking advantage of the 19 million Guests the MK gets to visit its other parks is really a key issues that NEVER gets talked about when these annual number releases become Twit fodder.

How is TDO not an abject failure for neglecting the resort year in and year out?

From a capacity standpoint EPCOT can fit tens of thousands of more Guests into it daily. And because of a smart layout, provided the Promenade is not full of festival kiosks, it can be a comfortable 'more' ... And that doesn't include all the dead areas that have been removed ... let's see we have the entire WoL pavilion, we have the second level of Imagination, we have a chunk of Innoventions, we have the Odyssey complex, we have the World Showplace, we have numerous retail locations in the U.K., in Canada, in France ... that are no longer open.

And the 'answers' for EPCOT right now are a third theater for Soarin and a toon replacement for Maelstrom.

I could go into all the ways The Disney-MGM Studios have been butchered. Or how DAK needs to keep expanding the best park at WDW. But why?

It's all about that Kingdom, bout that Kingdom, no where else (sung to the beat of one of @Lee's pop faves ''All about that bass.'').

WDW has six gates in the swamps along with a mall/lifestyle center and those 30,000 plus rooms. What the TEA numbers make absolutely clear is that looking at the WDW Resort as the standalone resort it believes it is (Universal? Disney knows not of what you speak? Sea World? Of couurse I can see all of the World from the beach at the Poly if I just sit on the patio of one of those 20 bungalow/huts. I Drive?Are you asking me if I have a license?) can only be described as a staggeringly underperforming asset of The Walt Disney Company. Just look at the numbers. You have a mall that needs to be reinvented yet again. And five of the six gates are glaring examples of Disney failing to capture and capitalize the VERY Guests it already has staying on its property and in its own owned and operated resorts.

Sure, the MK is doing great. No argument there. Nothing to debate. Some here might state that it's current often ghetto state is because it's a victim of its own success. As the resort is currently managed, the MK can only be viewed as the vibrant beating heart that it is. You know what the rest of the gates are? Well, you know that staleness that I have talked about ... that going out of business vibe that lingers in the air like the stench of desperation? Those are the rotting limbs that are on the body of the WDW Resort.

So, WDW Co., how far are you going to get when the only thing people are interested in is the myth of Dizzy World and the majestic fiberglass castle?

I guess to a certain extent I am a business person because I've never looked at these numbers quite the way I did this year. And if you work in P&R and the people above retail managers like George Kalogridis, then you should be very concerned. Not by all the great stuff your true only competitor in the market is is coming up with on an annual basis, but by the fact you can't get your own (already bought) customers that most of your resort is worth their time and vacation dollars.

Talk about lost opportunity. Do they even see it as they shutter more parts of more parks and limit offerings and just raise prices to make up for the New Disney Difference?

Long term, that just isn't going to work. And looking out just 3-4 years from now ... folks, let me put it this way: when you find yourself in a well after you ask yourself ''How did I get here?'' you might want to ready yourself for the inevitable SPLAT!

I've thought about this for a while, and have a few observations.
1) The traditional MK parks are the greatest achievement in theme park design ever. Walt Disney cracked something when he came up with his formula. The industry has worked for 60 years trying to achieve similar success to the Magic Kingdoms, and currently only one park has.
2) The MK domination is not a phenomena isolated to Orlando. DCA, WDS (this may not count...), and WDW Parks all have around half the attendance of their sister Castle Park. Even Tokyo Disney Sea, the park that has come closest to matching its neighbor has millions of guests between it and its MK. DCA which just had 1 billion+ dumped into it has half the attendance of Disneyland.
3) It's not always been like this, and it doesn't have to be like this either. Looking at attendance from the 1980s suggests there was greater equilibrium between Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Even into the 1990s Epcot continued to be closer to MK. Then things went sour. Tokyo Disney Sea proves that parks can be within the same league as MKs given enough time and money.
4) The Walt Disney World Resort is not a maximized asset by any stretch. Not even close. They have the potential to capture millions of more guest days with proper build out, appropriate management, and marketing. Enhancing existing parks are an incredible business opportunity. Unlike riskier foreign ventures they know the turf, new guests will benefit the sister parks, and it will help DS and the hotels. Fixing the other parks seems to be the clearer and clearer option everyday. Currently they're losing hundreds of millions of dollars from their inaction/slow action.
5) How many more people can MK hold at its current capacity? For the last several years they've relied on consistent natural growth. When does it just max out? Can MK continue to represent a growth opportunity?

 

[NormC]

Lets not confuse 2 different therms...
courtesy and respect are different things.. on is expected based on education, the other is earned. not given.

As for common courtesy: there is a huge difference in speaking face to face.. with doing it online with someone who is in the other end of the world, distance which will affect you nothing after you close the browser.

but in general I agree with you. Unfortunately.. like many things said here.. the humour is always based on something. be it Iger, lifestylers or special individuals making fools of themselves.

Respect is given to all until lost. It is not earned. Keeping it is earned. That is the problem today. People feel they do not have to treat others with respect until they earn it. That is wrong. Common courtesy applies the same face to face or online. The browser should not empower you to be rude or otherwise discourteous.

 

[Lee]

Is this satire or true? And more importantly, what doe sit mean that I cannot tell?

Well, it certainly isn't true...

 

[lazyboy97o]

Well, it certainly isn't true...

I wasn't asking if the test story itself is true, but if that reasoning now being given is true.

 

[Bairstow]

I wasn't asking if the test story itself is true, but if that reasoning now being given is true.

You mean, is it true that people are being given that story as an excuse?

 

[lazyboy97o]

You mean, is it true that people are being given that story as an excuse?

Correct.

 

[Cody5294]

Anyone know what the nighttime show at Shanghai will be like?

 

[DDLand]

More Spirited TEA Musings:

I had a lot of time to think today, most of it not about theme parks but a bit was, and I think the point about Disney largely being a failure for not taking advantage of the 19 million Guests the MK gets to visit its other parks is really a key issues that NEVER gets talked about when these annual number releases become Twit fodder.

How is TDO not an abject failure for neglecting the resort year in and year out?

From a capacity standpoint EPCOT can fit tens of thousands of more Guests into it daily. And because of a smart layout, provided the Promenade is not full of festival kiosks, it can be a comfortable 'more' ... And that doesn't include all the dead areas that have been removed ... let's see we have the entire WoL pavilion, we have the second level of Imagination, we have a chunk of Innoventions, we have the Odyssey complex, we have the World Showplace, we have numerous retail locations in the U.K., in Canada, in France ... that are no longer open.

And the 'answers' for EPCOT right now are a third theater for Soarin and a toon replacement for Maelstrom.

I could go into all the ways The Disney-MGM Studios have been butchered. Or how DAK needs to keep expanding the best park at WDW. But why?

It's all about that Kingdom, bout that Kingdom, no where else (sung to the beat of one of @Lee's pop faves ''All about that bass.'').

WDW has six gates in the swamps along with a mall/lifestyle center and those 30,000 plus rooms. What the TEA numbers make absolutely clear is that looking at the WDW Resort as the standalone resort it believes it is (Universal? Disney knows not of what you speak? Sea World? Of couurse I can see all of the World from the beach at the Poly if I just sit on the patio of one of those 20 bungalow/huts. I Drive?Are you asking me if I have a license?) can only be described as a staggeringly underperforming asset of The Walt Disney Company. Just look at the numbers. You have a mall that needs to be reinvented yet again. And five of the six gates are glaring examples of Disney failing to capture and capitalize the VERY Guests it already has staying on its property and in its own owned and operated resorts.

Sure, the MK is doing great. No argument there. Nothing to debate. Some here might state that it's current often ghetto state is because it's a victim of its own success. As the resort is currently managed, the MK can only be viewed as the vibrant beating heart that it is. You know what the rest of the gates are? Well, you know that staleness that I have talked about ... that going out of business vibe that lingers in the air like the stench of desperation? Those are the rotting limbs that are on the body of the WDW Resort.

So, WDW Co., how far are you going to get when the only thing people are interested in is the myth of Dizzy World and the majestic fiberglass castle?

I guess to a certain extent I am a business person because I've never looked at these numbers quite the way I did this year. And if you work in P&R and the people above retail managers like George Kalogridis, then you should be very concerned. Not by all the great stuff your true only competitor in the market is is coming up with on an annual basis, but by the fact you can't get your own (already bought) customers that most of your resort is worth their time and vacation dollars.

Talk about lost opportunity. Do they even see it as they shutter more parts of more parks and limit offerings and just raise prices to make up for the New Disney Difference?

Long term, that just isn't going to work. And looking out just 3-4 years from now ... folks, let me put it this way: when you find yourself in a well after you ask yourself ''How did I get here?'' you might want to ready yourself for the inevitable SPLAT!

A few more thoughts came to me.

Would I describe TDO as an "abject failure?" Probably not. They're operating the number one tourist Resort in the world, growing the business at a decent clip, and keeping guests for the most part happy.

Part of the reason MK is so much bigger than the other three parks is just its historic and powerful nostalgia. People love MK, and when people think of Disney World they see the Cinderella Castle instantly (some less nerdy Disney fans may see Sleeping Beauty Castle instead...) MK is a place and a theme park set apart from the rest. It's special, it's fun for the whole family, (some would dispute not anymore, but I think it's still true), and it's so quintessentially normal for all families to go. It's a pilgrimage all families must go on.

While I fully believe everything I wrote above, I also don't view it as an excuse either. The other parks are not living up to their full potential. Not even close.

Due to crappy allocation (or in many cases no allocation) of funds there's not been anything to support major growth in those parks. They're an undeveloped gold mine just waiting to be tapped. The failing to start growing attendance through those means is a pretty glaring issue. This will be something that negatively impacts earnings potential both short and long term. The problem with these assets is the money they're losing by inaction doesn't show up on a balance sheet, it's intangible.

So are they abject failures? No, you don't end up running four of the biggest theme parks in the world by being an abject failure. Are they however failing to use basic business savvy and capitalize on millions in potential business? Yeah.

This managment team has been so incredibly focused on maximizing profit, and have stopped at nothing to cut a few dollars here or there. Ironically they've missed out on one of the most compelling ways they can maximize their properties value, investing.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Anyone know what the nighttime show at Shanghai will be like?

There will be drones



but no Daniel Day-Lewis.

 

[DDLand]

There will be drones



but no Daniel Day-Lewis.

I wonder if they'll ever utilize projections? Seems like the perfect place to deploy it.

Edit: Would low visibility make projections impractical?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I wonder if they'll ever utilize projections? Seems like the perfect place to deploy it.

I can't imagine they wouldn't given the size of the castle. However, I would like to know how the park is going to approach seating for it with those sizable crowds.

 

[Bairstow]

I can't imagine they wouldn't given the size of the castle. However, I would like to know how the park is going to approach seating for it with those sizable crowds.

Wasn't the entire gimmick of the Shanghai Disneyland layout that it won't have a Main Street/Central retail corridor, and will instead have a wide, mostly-open space in front of the castle dotted with trees, gardens, ponds, and picnic areas?

It seems as though it's been designed to have more castle fireworks/projection viewing area than any Disneyland before it.