A Spirited Perfect Ten

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I know not of what you speak.

I see what you did there.

 

[Cesar R M]

Nah, what's more puzzling is why WDW didn't get its own unique film in the first place. Not suggesting a Florida-themed film, but not California. It just seems odd. It's like telling the parkgoers that they picked the wrong state to vacation in.

perhaps cross-park advertisements?

 

[ParentsOf4]

Over the last few years, WDW has become horribly crowded.

Increasing TSM and Soarin' capacity is not sexy.

Instead, it's like the doubling up of Dumbo, the new bus stops at MK, or the hub redesign; it helps address overcrowding.

The capex being spent on these projects are 2 drops in a very large bucket. This is not stealing investment in new attractions because the amount being spent on these 2 projects is barely going to register. It's certainly not going to be enough to build something new, at least not something that's worth getting excited about.

If you want to beat up Disney for spending only 7.4% of domestic P&R revenue on domestic capex last quarter while Universal spent 25.6% and even the lowly Six Flags spent 9.2% in 2014, then I'm all for it.

However, please recognize that adding capacity to any ride, even if its schedule is ridiculously long, even if it's to address a FP+ deficiency, is a good thing.

 

[flynnibus]

My friend, its 15 degrees out. Wind Chill of seven. There's seven and a half inches of snow on the ground. And I'm out of tequila and whiskey.

I think i could handle 80 degrees inside right now.

Welcome 'home' Supposed to be really frigid this AM.. and I'm already in meetings at 6am. bleh

 

[Darth Sidious]

I do recall being in the subway near the Bird's Nest after they did a rehearsal night for the Opening Ceremonies and it was one of the only times in my life that I felt there could be a stampede. Just wall to wall people shoving. It took about 20 minutes, but we made it up stairs, walked a few blocks and got a cab back to our apartment. I do think many Americans would have wanted to cry for Mommy and hop on a plane stateside after experiencing that.



Beijing is beautiful when you do get blue skies ... I had quite a few days of them, but that was after six weeks of basically Orlando heat with worse humidity and horrific smog and no rain to cool things down.

My first day at HKDL was a beautiful sunny day ... but also wretchedly hot ... mid-90s, humid and no rain.

Didn't they also shut down factorys for a week or two to make for a "cleaner air" olympics?

My friend, its 15 degrees out. Wind Chill of seven. There's seven and a half inches of snow on the ground. And I'm out of tequila and whiskey.

I think i could handle 80 degrees inside right now.

Sounds like you've ventured to my neck of the woods. I'd trade with @WDW1974 and put my days of walking through slushy snow behind me! I won't miss nearly slipping everytime I walk outside the damn building despite the active efforts to prevent it! Only a few weeks until I escape to the Bahamas for an extended weekend!

Speaking of the Chinese they were in full swing the other day at my building (they just recently purchased it) and rolled out the red carpet for a renaming event. The execs had acrobats, spotlights and the red carpet for their event in the conference center! Quite a display to see as most American firms like mine wouldn't do that anymore or at the very least they wouldn't do so as explicitly expensive.

 

[ford91exploder]

Ahh well that explains it, they should be using the sarcasm detection system for these types of posts. There really isn't much irony in to be had in comments to these sorts of announcements.

That might work better but I'm pretty sure their Sarcasm detector was made at the same factory which built the irony detector...

 

[ford91exploder]

Welcome 'home' Supposed to be really frigid this AM.. and I'm already in meetings at 6am. bleh

You too my first was at 6:15...

 

[ford91exploder]

Didn't they also shut down factorys for a week or two to make for a "cleaner air" olympics?


Sounds like you've ventured to my neck of the woods. I'd trade with @WDW1974 and put my days of walking through slushy snow behind me! I won't miss nearly slipping everytime I walk outside the **** building despite the active efforts to prevent it! Only a few weeks until I escape to the Bahamas for an extended weekend!

Speaking of the Chinese they were in full swing the other day at my building (they just recently purchased it) and rolled out the red carpet for a renaming event. The execs had acrobats, spotlights and the red carpet for their event in the conference center! Quite a display to see as most American firms like mine wouldn't do that anymore or at the very least they wouldn't do so as explicitly expensive.

Yes pretty much everything within 150KM of Beijng was shut down for 6 weeks during the olympics they actually did the shutdown before the olympics so the air would clear.

As to the opening of a facility, In the west business has fallen to the level of naked greed and do the absolute minimum. There is a reason Greed is one of the seven deadly sins.

The Chinese while also wanting to make money want to build things that they are proud of and opening ceremonies like this are common in China AND their US properties. I've been to a couple and they have been amazing.

 

[ford91exploder]

The average 77-year-old Chinese woman could probably put a fanboi on the ground with a stiff arm.

Yup and a 30 something 'Tiger Mom' could probably flatten a NFL linebacker with the same trick. Yes the pushing and shoving is quite amazing for your average 'Murican

 

[ford91exploder]

I have never attempted to post there nor will I.

I did reply to yet another survey recently, however. It was for WDW APers and I just let them have it. And since you have to give your zip code there is no way they don't know exactly where those comments came from. I am really starting to think about whether to call it a career with my AP. The only thing holding me back is friends up there and sorta owning DVC.

WDW: Keep Paying More and Getting Less! But we has got MAGIC BANDS!

Oh you got one of those too, Think I liked about this one was you could actually rate things negatively

 

[ford91exploder]

True. But the Door Coaster was supposed to go where the third track is going.

Now, that project died in 2008 and wasn't ever likely coming back. But I think most people would have enjoyed that more than added capacity to a ride thru video game.

And that's a real shame Door coaster would have been amazing, When I saw Monsters Inc I thought what a RIDE you could make with the door conveyor system... Ah well Culture of good enough.

 

[mgf]

Posted by Disney Jobs on Twitter. Interesting tag line.

https://twitter.com/TWDCjobs/status/573890792592400384

 

[GrumpyFan]

As everyone's already said, great that they're adding more capacity, but it sucks that they're not doing it with new attractions.
The sad part in this, (and I'm just guessing here) is the fact that there are probably at least a dozen or so ideas at Imagineering that could and maybe should be built, but are being passed over for these easy (probably less expensive) expansions. It's just sad really.

Should we start calling this a new era for WDW? If so, I vote we call it Double Dumbo, since that's the one that started it, and it's a good description of Disney management's thinking, apparently.

 

[ford91exploder]

Posted by Disney Jobs on Twitter. Interesting tag line.

https://twitter.com/TWDCjobs/status/573890792592400384

Sadly @mgf I think this perfectly expresses today's Disney, It's not about the PRODUCT it's about the MONEY. Nothing abut the passion for what you do As generally people who are passionate about their product MAKE MONEY frequently LOTS of it.

 

[Kiff]

Over the last few years, WDW has become horribly crowded.

Increasing TSM and Soarin' capacity is not sexy.

Instead, it's like the doubling up of Dumbo, the new bus stops at MK, or the hub redesign; it helps address overcrowding.

The capex being spent on these projects are 2 drops in a very large bucket. This is not stealing investment in new attractions because the amount being spent on these 2 projects is barely going to register. It's certainly not going to be enough to build something new, at least not something that's worth getting excited about.

If you want to beat up Disney for spending only 7.4% of domestic P&R revenue on domestic capex last quarter while Universal spent 25.6% and even the lowly Six Flags spent 9.2% in 2014, then I'm all for it.

However, please recognize that adding capacity to any ride, even if its schedule is ridiculously long, even if it's to address a FP+ deficiency, is a good thing.

I would agree its a good thing from a capacity standpoint but certainly not the best option. I would go so far and say its about the worst way to add capacity. Looks great on a spreadsheet though.

As for the low cost, thats great and I could get behind it if it was paired with some new attractions. This just reeks of lazy and I just cannot praise it.

 

[JediMasterMatt]

Nah. I still think it sucks. And it DOES take money away from other projects. I like Soarin. I am not a fan of TSMM. I know they are both very popular.

But maybe ... just maybe ... they're so popular because there's so few actual attractions in those parks anymore? Maybe ... just maybe ... the answer is to add reasons for people to visit. No one is going to plan a $7,000 MAGICal WDW vacation because they have a better chance at riding TSMM multiple times.

My concern with both TSMM and Soarin's expansions is that WDW has the priorities wrong, even if their heart is in the right place.

Sure, getting 1/3 more people through each attraction is a good thing; but, the end result is after the guest is done the same problem that caused the initial issues with the high demand for both attractions - what other "alternatives" are there to do?

In some ways, these expansions may compound the overall problem the resort has with that "alternative" to doing something in TSMM or Soarin's park may likely mean head over to the MK. This will definitely be an issue at DHS, where 1/3 more people knocking out TSMM quicker will cause more to head towards the gates. EPCOT will likely not have as much of an issue, especially with the underfunded Frozen attraction coming online next year and historically, EPCOT can still keep its crowds.

The priority of these capacity expansions is all wrong in my opinion. The priority should be to get compelling reasons to stay at each of these parks longer and not ways to get through the park quicker. At least at this point in time. If the mythical expansions come and each park can hold guests captive for a day - then ultimately, they both serve their purpose.

My larger fears are these expansions come in the worst way possible. The come in the form of being a compelling enough draw that new vacations are planned and scheduled; but, the amount of guests drawn to the resort and the parks with the expansions aren't offset by the native amount of capacity each land will generate. When Star Wars land comes, it better come with at least 3/4 of a day worth of compelling reasons to be at DHS.

Not to again rub WDW's nose into their competition down I-4; but, Universal Studios knew that Diagon Alley was going to bring in the crowds. They laid the foundation for what was going to be needed to satisfy that parks attendance bump for Potter by making sure that the capacity guzzling Transformers and plussed out Springfield could keep those new Potter guests satisfied. The last thing they wanted was all those Potterheads to knock out the Alley and Gringotts and jump the train back to IoA. They have successfully made Universal Orlando Resort a guaranteed complelling multiday visit with the added bonus of additional revenue from the need to park hop to experience it all.

All in all, the pessimist in me says that the TSMM and Soarin' capacity expansions serve as nothing more than the opportunity to put more FP+ reservations in the pipe, which in an of itself serves as the ultimate method of slowing guests down from completing a resort. "But, sweetheart, we can't leave now - we have a TSMM FP for later today".

 

[FigmentJedi]

Posted by Disney Jobs on Twitter. Interesting tag line.

https://twitter.com/TWDCjobs/status/573890792592400384

Sadly @mgf I think this perfectly expresses today's Disney, It's not about the PRODUCT it's about the MONEY. Nothing abut the passion for what you do As generally people who are passionate about their product MAKE MONEY frequently LOTS of it.

Well I guess they decided to be a bit more honest then just spouting off "Magic" buzzwords. Then again, it is ESPN.

 

[GrumpyFan]

Sure, getting 1/3 more people through each attraction is a good thing; but, the end result is after the guest is done the same problem that caused the initial issues with the high demand for both attractions - what other "alternatives" are there to do?

In some ways, these expansions may compound the overall problem the resort has with that "alternative" to doing something in TSMM or Soarin's park may likely mean head over to the MK. This will definitely be an issue at DHS, where 1/3 more people knocking out TSMM quicker will cause more to head towards the gates. EPCOT will likely not have as much of an issue, especially with the underfunded Frozen attraction coming online next year and historically, EPCOT can still keep its crowds.

The priority of these capacity expansions is all wrong in my opinion. The priority should be to get compelling reasons to stay at each of these parks longer and not ways to get through the park quicker. At least at this point in time. If the mythical expansions come and each park can hold guests captive for a day - then ultimately, they both serve their purpose.

Bravo Sir! BRA-VO! And, Thank you!

What if the shorter times also leads to less guest spending as well? If they're heading to the gates sooner, they're not spending money...

There is possibly one "plus" in this. Guest Relations CMs at DHS & Epcot will get some relief from the endless complaints of "the line was too long for us to wait in".

So, guest satisfaction will rise, but in-park spending/revenue will drop. This could be interesting to watch in a couple of years.
Short-term shortsightedness might very well be costly in the long term.

 

[ford91exploder]

Bravo Sir! BRA-VO! And, Thank you!

What if the shorter times also leads to less guest spending as well? If they're heading to the gates sooner, they're not spending money...

There is possibly one "plus" in this. Guest Relations CMs at DHS & Epcot will get some relief from the endless complaints of "the line was too long for us to wait in".

So, guest satisfaction will rise, but in-park spending/revenue will drop. This could be interesting to watch in a couple of years.
Short-term shortsightedness might very well be costly in the long term.

It always is costly

 

[Cesar R M]

Sadly @mgf I think this perfectly expresses today's Disney, It's not about the PRODUCT it's about the MONEY. Nothing abut the passion for what you do As generally people who are passionate about their product MAKE MONEY frequently LOTS of it.

I agree, the message in the past would have been about a company full of ideals, ideas and imagination. Now its all about the "multibillion".