A Spirited Perfect Ten

[alphac2005]

DVC resorts (Hilton Head, Vero Beach, Aulani) all use "Disney Parks" also.

That said- I doubt they get much "economy of scale" price breaks between DL and WDW being combined. They are both so massive.

And they don't, that's why it makes the awful Disney Parks branding even worse. The scale of purchasing is so immense that Disney is paying the lowest per unit price on the cups, napkins, plates, etc. It should be noted that it's very likely that they aren't even using the same supplier for each type of item East Coast/West Coast, so that negates a supposed even larger purchasing power. Clueless executives that decided to bring Six Flags style branding to Disney theme parks is what this is all about and it's encouraging to hear that there is some struggle internally about this nonsensical change.

 

[71jason]

I was thinking this mixed with the fact that they know there isn't really a market for 25th anniversary merch. The only reason Disney religiously does anniversary celebrations is because they know lifestylers will line up for four hours to pay 25 dollars for a pin that marks a date on a calendar. Uni has a fan base but I don't see them being that crazy.

Nailed it. Universal did come up with a commemorative, AP-only pin. They only ordered two cases. Know your audience.

 

[71jason]

That's bananas.
Why not just throw their hands up make the garages free until they can fix them?
Surely they're losing more revenue from people not being able to enter the parks.

It was bad. Management (admittedly 3d party) was making attendants write down with a pen every AP's pass number. I guess they will check back today and if it wasn't valid, mail out $17 parking invoices?

Front gates were also a mess, had to use temporary scanners, were trying to route people everywhere. Express went down too. At least Universal itself seemed to quickly adopt the "scan then wink and let them go" approach, but lines still got crazy on a medium-crowd day. Internal phones were down as well.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

It was bad. Management (admittedly 3d party) was making attendants write down with a pen every AP's pass number. I guess they will check back today and if it wasn't valid, mail out $17 parking invoices?

Front gates were also a mess, had to use temporary scanners, were trying to route people everywhere. Express went down too. At least Universal itself seemed to quickly adopt the "scan then wink and let them go" approach, but lines still got crazy on a medium-crowd day. Internal phones were down as well.

That's baffling. Really, what are they going to do with all those slips of paper from the parking attendants? Bizarre.

But it's nice to see that, even when it comes to crippling technology failures, Universal can still be on par with Disney (Magic Bands not even necessary!).

 

[Bairstow]

And they don't, that's why it makes the awful Disney Parks branding even worse. The scale of purchasing is so immense that Disney is paying the lowest per unit price on the cups, napkins, plates, etc. It should be noted that it's very likely that they aren't even using the same supplier for each type of item East Coast/West Coast, so that negates a supposed even larger purchasing power. Clueless executives that decided to bring Six Flags style branding to Disney theme parks is what this is all about and it's encouraging to hear that there is some struggle internally about this nonsensical change.

Are we absolutely certain that the "Disney Parks" branding is about saving money and not born out of a harebrained notion that "Disney Parks" could become a well-respected name in its own right?

It smacks of the same foolishness that has them scotch-tape the word "Resort" to any sign after the word "Disneyland".

 

[Frankie The Beer]

wouldnt it just be easier to buy stock AFTER the split?

Absolutely not.

This is the basics of a stock split.

Say Disney stock was $100, its more than that but let me explain with easy to understand round numbers. So DIS is $100, and TWC decides to split the stock 4 to 1, meaning for each stock people own now, they will be getting 4 shares after the split, but they will also be lowering the value of the share significantly, so instead of the stock being worth $100 per share, it will now be worth $25 dollars. More or less, usually a little less but these are basics.

Do you see how this benefits the share holder?

So now that I have 4 shares instead of 1, and the four shares are currently worth the same value of that one share, I as an investor can make a significant amount of money if the stock price goes up. If the stock price climbs to $100 dollars a share, I now have $400 instead of the $100. For people with a large portfolio with a lot of Disney stock, or any stock being split, splits are Christmas, especially if the stock has a great future like DIS currently does. Once DIS gets over the $120 dollar range, which will happen, I can't see TWC holding back a split much longer.

TLDR, get a stock before it splits and smile if its DIS.

 

[JimboJones123]

Haha yes we are. So far done Magic Kingdom - got on most things other than Pan, Jungle Cruise....phillarmagic was the suprise of the day, it was a great little show. It was just too busy on the night for the fireworks.

Seaworld - Really enjoyable day. Manta is just one of the best rollercoasters Ive been on. Really beautiful park too with great landscaping. Shows were top notch.

Aquatica - Again really nice landscaping and Roas Rapids made the day memorable I could spend all day in them. We were going to pop over to seaworld for a few quick goes on the coasters but the weather put an end to that!

Islands of adventure - great park. Hulk was rough and was a done once thing for us. Not quite sure what I found most impressive....the wizarding world or the fact people were spending $47 on an 'interactive' bit of wood (that from what i could see didnt do much!). Not that I will complain if they continue to use the revenues to knock it out of the parks on the likes of spiderman! Minor complaint, once we were done with the 3 waterrides and the rest of the party had decided no more, it was lacking somewhat in things to do. We had got there early and beat a lot of the ques. Raptor Encounter was simple but great....its the little things that make a day memorable and the lady of our group papping herself was definately one of those!

Studios - Transformers takes Spiderman to the next level. Gringgots was good and we could appreciate the detail and technology but it didnt have the wow factor of Forbiddon Journey for us.

Such an exciting vibe across Universal in general. We were down for a third day there today but we're all absolutely knackered so we will do that later on and have a day just chilling- unless I can convince them to go back to Aquatica so I can get back on my rapids!

We are both in the minority, but I think Transformers KILLS Spiderman too.

Fantastically fun attraction.

 

[Cesar R M]

I must be the only person who prefers plain napkins and the like. They break down the notion of distinctive places.

I have not seen the brown napkins. I always seen the disney parks ones...
Anyway... printed napkins absorb/clean less.

 

[mhochman]

So you're going to walk into a room and then suddenly troll a Flyers fan, a Sabres fan, a blackhawks fan & a lightning fan. Know what we all have in common? We all hate your team.

Haha, no. Meant it more as a joke...just excited to see hockey chat here. Yes, indeed I'm a die hard Rangers fan. But since we're out, I meant it light-heartedly. That said, the feeling is mutual...though not so much to Lightning and Sabres. I'm a huge Callahan fan (our dog is Callie) and I want to see him lift the cup. I also have a lot of respect for 'hawks.

 

[flynnibus]

Are we absolutely certain that the "Disney Parks" branding is about saving money

Yes, well documented and covered years ago. Homogenization efforts that have hit many angles of the parks, from ops, to HR, to IT, to merch, etc.

 

[Rteetz]

A kickstarted for a documentary on Ricky and Lou and people like them...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103877789/dream-finders-finding-the-magic-and-living-the-dis

 

[invader]

A kickstarted for a documentary on Ricky and Lou and people like them...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103877789/dream-finders-finding-the-magic-and-living-the-dis

Are we actually going to encourage this type of behavior... What the actual

 

[Rteetz]

Are we actually going to encourage this type of behavior... What the actual ****

Well people have donated money so...

 

[PhotoDave219]

Does this means we should expect pictures of Shirtless Putin as well?

He's not in the show....

 

[NormC]

lets agree to disagree.

So you disagree that you should treat people with respect and courtesy? OK. I will chose to treat everyone with respect and common courtesy until they give me a reason not to do so.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

George Lucas is way too busy with his new wife and baby and swimming around like Scrooge McDuck in his $4B...I don't really think he cares anymore.

Maybe not about the day to day minutiae anymore, but it's silly to suggest he doesn't care about the company. Almost all of his net worth is DIS and while he may not be giving that money to his three children, that money is very important to George. His long term intention has been to give the vast majority of his fortune*, read DIS, to his Education Foundation. Thus Disney's long term success ensures the future ability for his foundation to continue to do the work he intends for it long after he has passed.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-deal-george-lucas-will-384947
*note: due to the size of George's holding, if he were interested in selling his shares, he would have to do so over many, many years to avoid a hit on the stock price. (See Bass fire sale post 9/11)

 

[ford91exploder]

He's not in the show....

Cage match between Shirtless Putin and Beautiful Bob Iger, Now I'd pay to watch that

 

[flynnibus]

Since people seem to forget so easily.. I'm just gonna leave this right here..

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-deal-george-lucas-will-384947

“George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors.”

The guy already pledged years ago to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropy and reiterated that after selling LucasFilms.

 

[Mike S]

Cage match between a po'd Disney theme park fan and Beautiful Bob Iger, Now I'd pay to watch that

That's what I would pay for

 

[alphac2005]

Are we absolutely certain that the "Disney Parks" branding is about saving money and not born out of a harebrained notion that "Disney Parks" could become a well-respected name in its own right?

It smacks of the same foolishness that has them scotch-tape the word "Resort" to any sign after the word "Disneyland".

That was my point. It's not about saving money, it's a moronic group of individuals that see this as proper branding. They aren't saving money by using the Disney Parks branding as their purchasing power is enormous as it is and can't get much of any further discounting on production costs even if you put the two properties together for purchasing.