A Spirited Perfect Ten

[ChrisFL]

Interesting that "Magic Bands" showed up in Jurassic World

 

[Progress.City]

Just a thought ... but maybe the crazies could head over to that way kewl thread on all-new Tomorrowland and Frontierlands coming to the MK in time for the 50th ... in six years.

Don't worry, you'll have cupcakes and pins and a meet up with Cupcake to hold you over from the fact TDO will utterly ignore WDW's 45th next year. What would the theme be anyway: Celebrating 20 Years of Stagnation?

Oh, but thanks to the extra 200-300 pages of fluff, we are now over 1,000 pages because no one reads these threads and anyone could start them and keep them going. You aren't helping me, you are helping @wdwmagic and the site, so that's MAGICal!

Keep it up because this is almost certainly (always leave an out) the last!

I find your the tone in your post here unusual and disturbing... Just kidding... Lol... There is something odd and off-skelter about it, though, and I can't quite put my finger on it... Just saying...

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

Recently arrived back to civilization from the "cabin". I kept up with this thread for the most part on my phone. I wasn't logged in and forgot my password so I couldn't comment. I appreciate @lentesta providing the marketing demographic information. Some of the discussion was interesting and overall, courteous and well thought out.

Thanks also to those who posted recent article links.

I do have to agree with @WDW1974 that I did not notice a wealthier demographic in the parks. There was a huge mix of income levels on my last trip and was struck by the number of people who must have gone into debt or saved for years to attend. However, I did notice what appeared to be more "higher income folk" attending the premium hard ticket events (Illuminations dessert thingy, MNSSHP etc.). I can't comment on the Deluxe Resorts population and the demographic there however, I stayed at POP. I can afford it, but wouldn't stay at a Deluxe again unless it came in at under $200/night.

Thanks all for keeping me up to date. Now, to sign in on the iphone so I can comment very occasionally when appropriate.

 

[AEfx]

Well, some of us consistently try to get that information out there. Some refuse to acknowledge that the humungous cost for a night in the hotel is used mostly when you are asleep and you get the same experience of sleeping even if you slept in your car, except you might have more room... in your car.

Oh, absolutely. It's not a knock on anyone but Disney and the Pixie Dusters. You have to keep in mind - in terms of DIsney-fandom, we are the 1%, LOL. That's why people come to this board, because the signal to noise ratio here is pretty much the highest anyone will find on a Disney site. Even folks you vehemently disagree with tend to at least be well spoken and generally well informed. We may argue to high hell about what things mean, but we don't often disagree as to the facts themselves or have the fundamental difference in realities you see at other boards.

You've gotta step back, though, and realize that all of this information is completely foreign to someone who just sees a commercial and says, "Hey, let's think about going to Disney World!" Here's what happens:

1) They go to WDW website. That's what normal people do. That website is almost misinformation sometimes - kind of like how if you go to eBay and look at "Bidding Hints!" they tell you "Bid high, bid early - for your best chance to win!"

No, that's the way to drive the prices way up to all hell, and pay the absolute most any fool is willing to pay who gets caught up in it, and consequently...eBay gets a higher fee the higher it goes. Blatantly BS. But...people don't get that. If it's your first time on eBay, or the WDW site, you aren't a cynic yet, you haven't figured out "the game".

2) Some may venture further - google for sites about visiting Disney. Search for "VISIT DISNEY WORLD" and on that first page you'll see - the official sites, some pithy general articles from TIME or the Boston Globe that are really PR pieces talking up how fabulous MM+ is, and AllEars usually comes up higher than anything (which is often the more balanced of those types of sites - but is very on-site focused, and the comments on articles are usually full of zip-a-dee-doo-doo).

Even if you keep going, it's really difficult to find someone to tell you that off-site is really reasonable and cheaper, and for the most part the "benefits" of staying on site are overstated (and in a few cases misrepresented). That's just not the information out there wide enough that first timers or "I haven't been since I was a kid" folks are going to find it easily.

So at this point, they decide - OK, can we afford to stay on-site? A lot seem to be able to, so that happens at least decently often. But how many folks just say "eh, maybe in a few years" or "I could buy two vacations at this other spot we like for that price". For years, the word hasn't been out that there are other options. I honestly don't know why folks stay in hotels at all when you can get condos down there with your own private pool and hot tub for less than a "family suite" thing at the Values.

In any case, because people are now seeking out Universal, and Universal hasn't done everything they can to make you think they are all that exist and try to entice you to stay walled in their garden, this is changing. People are figuring it out. But it's not benefiting Disney, because while folks like the 1% here or the folks lucky enough to know us might be mixing/matching - people just aren't doing it in general. They are making a choice between them, not looking how to exhaust themselves trying to do six theme parks in seven days.

I don't know how interested that they are in my business, but, they get it anyway. Once I am inside the parks the CM's don't know if I paid $1000.00 dollars a day to be there of $60.00 a day. I get treated exactly the same. So, that's what I do.

Tell that to the little kid that sees the top of Beast's Castle, makes a beeline for the building because Belle is her favorite character, and gets stopped by the Magic Police at the bridge and told she can't even cross over to see the outside and take a picture in front of it, let alone go in to enjoy a pre-made over-priced deli box lunch inside with Belle and Beast just like she saw those people casually doing in the commercial that made her want to come.

"But why Mommy, I thought Belle and Beast loved everyone!" she cries.

Maudlin? Dramatic? You bet ya. Ask some of those Magic Police about it.

Don't ask them if they have ever seen anything like that - that's a dumb question, they will probably laugh at you.

If you want them to answer, ask them how many times it's happened - so far that day.

 

[Phil12]

EDIT: Should have said NEW photo. The one pic that Disney was supposed to not release with Bob and the Stormtrooper was in the issue.
Second EDIT: Which really didn't require a first edit since the picture could have been taken anytime (it wasn't), but it was not taken as part of the opening celebration.

This one?

 

[WDW1974]

And now we'll get to see how well that "plays." Playground for the rich, but look in the shops or at the restaurant menus. Made in China, available back home toys, clothing of questionable quality.

Exactly. The rich ... the truly rich again, not the Iraq War vet who lived in a trailer in the Heartland, but wound up as a solider in a Blackwater private army for $300,000 a year, they don't shop at Walmart. They might send the housekeeper or nanny to Target, but more likely she'll be sent to a boutique location or even a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's for food. And when they buy toys for the kids, they aren't of the crap that fills MouseGear.

I'd love to have a really nice dinner at Coral reef, but seafood choices of salmon, trout or mahi? The pricing is for the rich, but it doesn't seem like much else is.

Yep, the monied elite of the USofA love seafood restaurants that have eight entrees and don't have lobster (they did back in the 80s and 90s) but will give you salmon, a chicken ceasar salad or a pork chop.

Does anyone remember how the Art of Disney at the Marketplace used to look in the 90's...the building is same as it every was (which at this point looks terrible) but it's far less interesting. We used to spend quite a bit on ornaments and other Christmas stuff, but even that is $20 for something with a horrible mold and paint job.

Yes, I do. Because that's when I spent thousands of dollars there, sometimes on multiple trips a year. I couldn't tell you when I last spent a penny there. It has been many years. ... Oh, and I love how warm it always is in there. Artwork loves 82 degrees and humidity ... sure ... or maybe just George Kalogridis and Keith Bradford and Co do.

 

[WDW1974]

But don't you think that part of it is a reflection of how he treats certain people here? I agree that no one should be attacked, but he has done so as well, sometimes without any provocation.

I tend to treat people as I'm treated, both in the real world and in the cyber. ... I will admit that sometimes tone isn't easy to translate through a screen. Although when I am called nasty things, those 'tudes tend to come through quite clearly.

And no, no one ever provokes anything ... not at all. Hell, not even in the last half hour!

 

[AEfx]

But what's the excuse from not having photos for an in-house cast only publication, one that likely isn't available anywhere in China? And certainly not available to the public.

So there was a picture of Darth Iger at one of the locations in the story that accompanied the article, which as everyone agrees is from that location (in spite of your remarks about it, I don't think you really believe it's not legit). Does that mean that this occasional 8-page publication shows pictures of each and every point in each and every story about Iger like it's an illustrated children's book?

Everyone seems to agree they weren't taken. Or if they were taken, not distributed. Except for the one that already we knew existed which supposedly was banned but now is appearing in that publication (so, they are getting "insider" info not out to the public, after all?). In either case, new ones of events that we don't even know pictures were taken at showing up in a fluff employee summary would be more odd than not (particularly since it seems non-Disney employees see it as well - you have).



You very likely are on to something with this China stuff, but the more you spin the wheels of LackOfPhotoGate, I think the more you are chasing up the wrong tree, or trying to dig a hole straight to China by sheer willpower to get to the opening. It's minimizing and distracting away from the important things that may be there, because it's coming across as less and less of a deal the more you keep harping on the lack of photos that no one seems to believe exist to begin with.

 

[WDW1974]

There are some out there that might think WDW doesn't need to upgrade it's food service options, across the board, to serve a wealthier clientele because Shulas and a handful of other nice restaurants exist. So that's my point. That clientele is pickier, and used to real world options of a different sort, than what is usual for WDW.

Same thing for merchandise. The existence of a few nice options in World Showcase does not erase the volume of "made in China" products that line the shelves. I was so disappointed in some of the Co-op home goods merchandise, because the printing was so shoddy. This was at the Disney Store, but there was a cute Olaf shirt, and the flock material, whatever it is, wasn't even fully applied, so Olaf's belly and head weren't filled in, and so the pink stripes showed through. I wanted to buy my new nephew a onesie and the stitching was so bad, I knew there was no way my SIL would ever allow her kid to wear it.

The Co-Op largely sells disappointing low-quality crap (with images and themes that harken back to the days when WDW was a premium product) that they also sell all across property -- oh, and across the country at Disneyland too.

So damn cheap. Nothing like an Adventureland glass that can be sold at both resorts.

The merchandise is designed for the Lifestyler/Twitverse crowd. The folks who Tweet with Steven Miller ...

 

[AEfx]

This one?

But, but...that's...IMPOSSIBLE!!!

I thought it was Jedi-mind-tricked out of existence.

I blame it on the Muppets.

 

[WDW1974]

People are coordinating posts?

Sometimes you'd think so. But some of us wear Mouse Tinfoil Ears!

 

[WDW1974]

By EPCOT's opening date, the per-attraction ticketing system was retired and just a general single day admission system was used. From what it seems, the price at this point (1982 apparently) for a single day ticket to one park was $15. If this site is accurate anyways, i'm not sure the precise date when the ticketing system was discarded-
http://allears.net/ae/issue299.htm

That was a bargain even back then, especially for unlimited use of any ride you like.

WDW did away with tickets in 1982 in advance of the opening of EPCOT Center. Although if you have a COMPLETE book today they'll exchange it for a one-day, one-park of your choice ticket. But the thing is likely worth more to collectors. I have many individual tix (apparently, my family didn't use many 'B' Tix), but no complete books.

BTW, TDL used tickets up to 2001 in addition to all inclusive passports until they shifted with the opening of TDS.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Spirited Weekend China Musing:

Any of you familiar with the Disney Newsreel? It's a publication, usually about eight pages, of glossy inhouse PR for Disney employees. More at the corporate level. It's company wide, unlike WDW's Eyes and Ears or DL's Disneyland Line.

This week's edition had a page blurb on the opening of the Shanghai Disney Store and the topping off of Storybook Castle. What didn't it have? Do you really need to ask?

It didn't have one picture of Bob Iger or Tom Staggs at those events. Now, yes, I know the BS excuses thrown out by people here for various reasons (you'd have to ask them what their agendas are) about not wanting to wave their big American (blanks) in the faces of their Chinese partners and play it so cool you wouldn't have even known they were there.

But what's the excuse from not having photos for an in-house cast only publication, one that likely isn't available anywhere in China? And certainly not available to the public.

I've got my ideas. But I love watching people digging holes for themselves. I've found it makes things so much easier when you hit them over the head and push them in as you aren't winded from all that digging!

EDIT: Should have said NEW photo. The one pic that Disney was supposed to not release with Bob and the Stormtrooper was in the issue.

Second EDIT: Which really didn't require a first edit since the picture could have been taken anytime (it wasn't), but it was not taken as part of the opening celebration.

I think its the only photo they have. Alas, to me, its just reinforcing how China is calling all the shots. Literally, in this case.

They will continue to play tit-for-tat for any slight, perceived or not.

 

[Mike S]

WDW did away with tickets in 1982 in advance of the opening of EPCOT Center. Although if you have a COMPLETE book today they'll exchange it for a one-day, one-park of your choice ticket. But the thing is likely worth more to collectors. I have many individual tix (apparently, my family didn't use many 'B' Tix), but no complete books.

BTW, TDL used tickets up to 2001 in addition to all inclusive passports until they shifted with the opening of TDS.

Tokyo used them until that recently? May I ask what the E Tickets were before they got rid of that system?

 

[WDW1974]

So...... Anyone wanna talk crowd size? Dear lord, crowds are up.

I wanna give this more thought and look at the numbers at the beginning of next month but HOLY COW. The resort be hoppin mad, yo. MK is riding a week+ straight of peak crowds.... and well if you o back to Memorial Day Weekend, the observed Data says one 5, one 6 and one 7. Take those out and its 3 solid weeks of peak crowds compared to last year when they had one peak day over the same time period. (And one of those three days were Rain). Past two years show a lot of above average crowds but not the Peak numbers they're showing. All parks are performing like crazy.

So when the resort has been busy? Its been insanely busy. For example, all of last year there were a total of 43 peak crowd days, or 11% of the time. This year? 36 or 22% of the year thus far. Seems to be shaping up a bit more like 2013's crowd distribution in the long term tho. Less average crowds, more peak days. Tho I would stake money we wont see a slow day until September.


So for those about to experience Disney World, I salute you - The nearest Publix Liquors is at 192 & 535.

I can tell just by looking at WDW CM Blockout days (I always call them blackout days, does that make me a racist too?) If you are a Disney CM, then you can't take your family or friends into MK on a maingate for basically all of June, July and August (until the 22nd ... FYI, the majority of Florida schools return either the week before or two days later). EPCOT is clear all summer except for July 4th.

Studios and DAK are open every day.

Again, it showcases the issues TDO is having because people only really want to visit one park and Disney has just made the situation worse for years and is in no hurry to make it better.

Oh, I've never seen a summer like this where you can't use your Disney Difference perk for MK for the entire season.

 

[asianway]

We were relaxing in the rocking chairs outside the exit of Hall of Presidents today (one of the few "benches" available in the MK), and were discussing the first time we came to WDW. In 1978, you could get an unlimited passport for $18/day. So for our family of 4, it was less than $100/day for tickets (substantially less). We were looking at people walking by, and wondered how they can afford today's prices? It seems unbelievable.

And on a totally unrelated topic, the music in this area is completely and totally inappropriate. The music is Sousa marches (circa 1900s), and not even close to Revolutionary Period music. The lack of concern for authenticity is complete. (We've complained about this to suits and at GR, and nobody cares.)

The LS BGM has been that version since 09 or so, no? They do bring the period music back for the Christmas loop

 

[PhotoDave219]

I can tell just by looking at WDW CM Blockout days (I always call them blackout days, does that make me a racist too?) If you are a Disney CM, then you can't take your family or friends into MK on a maingate for basically all of June, July and August (until the 22nd ... FYI, the majority of Florida schools return either the week before or two days later). EPCOT is clear all summer except for July 4th.

Studios and DAK are open every day.

Again, it showcases the issues TDO is having because people only really want to visit one park and Disney has just made the situation worse for years and is in no hurry to make it better.

Oh, I've never seen a summer like this where you can't use your Disney Difference perk for MK for the entire season.

whats that blackout day site again?

 

[WDW1974]

Dont forget what Staggs said in that WSJ article about how they were planning an attraction before the movie hit theaters. What a crock of pooh. Im sure at some point when EVERY Disney movie is being made that talk of an attraction comes up at some point, but for Stags to act like they knew it was going to be a huge hit and they were planning it all along is ridiculous. They will just do the same thing for any other movie that becomes a mega blockbuster. They will drag their feet until they feel enough money has been made, then build something quickly (2 years by Dis standards) and then act like it was planned out.

They are so timid with their own product yet when it becomes successful they act like they never doubted it. It makes me sick, I dont even wanna look at his face! *punches magazine stand

Robert A. Iger lies.

Thomas Staggs lies.

The PR voices of The Walt Disney Company, they lie too.

They can say whatever they want now about Frozen in an attempt to rewrite history (what is that saying about the winners being able to ...) but just weeks before release they were just hoping it would do Tangled numbers and maybe a bit better. They had no idea they had a mega-hit on their hand. To be fair, Eisner's Disney didn't think The Lion King would be the then-biggest animated film either. But it prepared like it would be highly successful. That's called having faith in your product.

Oh, and let's not even talk about Princess Tangled and how little faith they had in that one.

 

[WDW1974]

whats that blackout day site again?

https://blockoutdates.disney.com/

 

[WDW1974]

Went to the Disney Park Blogs Meet-up for Inside Out. I'd give it an A+. Most original movie you'll see all summer. It made me shed a manly tear or two. Dr. Blondie was there too @WDW1974

Of course she was. That's what she gets paid the big bucks (by Disney PR hack standards) for.
I sometimes have dreams where I'm riding Splash Mountain without my shirt and as my manboobs bounce, Cupcake is there singing 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah' as she feeds me cupcakes ... then I wake up.

But glad you enjoyed the film ...