A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Cody5294]

Just back from seeing it a few hours ago. I loved it. Dumb idea (not all comic heroes/characters are), but brought to life with lots of love. You could tell the entire cast was enjoying themselves. I probably liked it more than every Marvel film I've seen except GotG and possibly the first Iron Man. ... I even liked that it made fun of what I felt was was a ridiculous plot point from AoU.

It was just dumb fun done so well. No, I didn't need all the MCU references, but again that is Kevin Feige and his ego and his plans for 123 films.

Does he really have plans for 123 marvel films

 

[WDW1974]

You can always buy these.. just saying..

Just to be clear, I don't ever wear anything that looks like that dude's clothes.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Does he really have plans for 123 marvel films

Maybe not an exact number, but he does have at least 15-20 years of this stuff in mind.

 

[WDW1974]

Of course people won't be able to go into the park in Shanhai for free, but is there any information yet, or even informed speculation, on how much it will cost?

Nope. haven't heard a thing. Thought we'd get that info as well as an opening date last week ... but ...

When I was in China for business, admittedly quite a number of years ago now, the admission price for tourist sites was less (much, much less) for Chinese people compared to foreigners. Is that still common practice these days, and if so, will it likely be what we see at SDL?

In some places, yes. And, while there are always local deals at Disney resorts, I would hope that at opening that isn't the case in Shanghai, especially considering that locals will likely make up 85% of the visitors.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Something isn't adding up for me. I get that MK is pretty damn busy. But I also hear the other parks are largely not (including the UNI and SW ones). I am of the firm belief that numbers may not be telling the complete story here at all.

Yeah. Its driving me batty thinking about it. I need a better hobby

 

[PhotoDave219]

Just to be clear, I don't ever wear anything that looks like that dude's clothes.

Kevin Smith has lost a crapton of weight since those photos.

 

[WDW1974]

Is it just me or does this Gawker thing sound familiar? Spirit @WDW1974 ?

Talking about the outing of the married Conde Nast exec that has resulted in many heads rolling at Gawker?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Talking about the outing of the married Conde Nast exec that has resulted in many heads rolling at Gawker?

Yeah, thats a giant disaster. Apparently people quit after the piece was spiked and that decision came from above the editors in charge. Of course, begs the question if it should have ever been posted....

 

[WDW1974]

I think the big difference between discounts now and discounts from a few years ago, is that that the discount windows are very limited and there isn't a lot of notice to get into those booking windows. I think they are the equivalent of Flash Sales where they have occupancy holes they need to fill.

I think they are way too prevalent to reach that conclusion. I see discounts year round ... we now are in a summer discount period and then next month we move into late summer discounting with bigger percentages and then we'll likely have fall discounts at smaller levels. But they are still virtually year round.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Just back from seeing it a few hours ago. I loved it. Dumb idea (not all comic heroes/characters are), but brought to life with lots of love. You could tell the entire cast was enjoying themselves. I probably liked it more than every Marvel film I've seen except GotG and possibly the first Iron Man. ... I even liked that it made fun of what I felt was was a ridiculous plot point from AoU.

It was just dumb fun done so well. No, I didn't need all the MCU references, but again that is Kevin Feige and his ego and his plans for 123 films.

The film's original director, Edgar Wright, left the project because over disputes related to mandated MCU connections and some Disney suits may have been mucking around with Scott Lang's criminal background.

 

[WDW1974]

And The Spirit doubts me when I write that WDW will need a 5th theme park by 2025?

And support that statement with a graph?

View attachment 102282

Graphs are not (sit down for this and take your meds!) the answer for everything.

And, as I've said in response to this in other threads, you're only extrapolating continued increases in attendance based upon TEA numbers without taking into consideration other factors like:

1.) Every park including MK have HUGE areas that are dead and could contain large amounts of people if reopened or if new things were built on empty land. In other words, the capacity is there if properly utilized;

2.) Only the MK truly has major issues with overcrowding and this has been exacerbated by closing the other parks earlier, not adding reasons for people to chose them over MK, not properly utilizing all the space that is available (see #1);

3.) Adding parks largely takes Guests from other parks. Disney can build until they destroy all of the natural beauty that attracted Walt to the area to begin with, but it can't make Americans take 3-4 weeks to visit. So adding a gate isn't a smart financial move;

4.) The costs of adding a park and infrastructure that wouldn't be another 'half day' park would be at least $4-6 billion. On top of NGE and the recently funded projects, I don't see how that's financially feasible;

5.) By your thinking, WDW will simply wind up with the same problem after Gate 5 is open for awhile. Do you think they should then open sixth and seventh gates? Can you make any argument for why it's better to add new parks than add capacity at existing ones?

6.) You don't account for Disney Guests opting to cut further days from their trips to do UNI's parks or anything else (from Legoland to the O-Town Eye and all the new stuff over there on I-Drive).

I just look at TDR where you have two extremely popular parks and no dead zones in either and constantly add new things to see and do. People spread out. It's not like WDW where Studios or FW or DAK are often empty while MK is wall to wall in many places. Of course, they also take crowd control seriously. WDW believes masking tape on the pavement and a handful of outnumbered CMs screaming while wielding the kind of flashlights you could park a 747 with are the answer.

 

[StageFrenzy]

Talking about the outing of the married Conde Nast exec that has resulted in many heads rolling at Gawker?

Yeah, thats a giant disaster. Apparently people quit after the piece was spiked and that decision came from above the editors in charge. Of course, begs the question if it should have ever been posted....

Yeah that was a weird piece, I really don't know why they thought it was a story worth quitting over?

 

[WDW1974]

While I'm sure it's still a better deal than staying on Disney property, the Waldorf price doesn't include the $30 per night "resort fee." I'll go out of my way to avoid staying places that charge a nightly fee on top of their room rates.

I agree and hate resort fees with a passion. I think @WDWFigment feels likewise.

That said, until the evil government steps in and regulates the industry some they will continue (like making seats smaller on aircraft as people get larger).

$189 at the Waldorf (including the fee) is still much better to me than paying the same or more for a WDW moderate and worlds better than paying $300-800 a night for a WDW deluxe with no resort fee, just a huge pixie dust premium.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Yeah that was a weird piece, I really don't know why they thought it was a story worth quitting over?

Principle of the matter. Having the bosses start exerting control over editorial content.

However, my principles say you shouldnt out people like that.

 

[WDWFigment]

Graphs are not (sit down for this and take your meds!) the answer for everything.

And, as I've said in response to this in other threads, you're only extrapolating continued increases in attendance based upon TEA numbers without taking into consideration other factors like:

1.) Every park including MK have HUGE areas that are dead and could contain large amounts of people if reopened or if new things were built on empty land. In other words, the capacity is there if properly utilized;

2.) Only the MK truly has major issues with overcrowding and this has been exacerbated by closing the other parks earlier, not adding reasons for people to chose them over MK, not properly utilizing all the space that is available (see #1);

3.) Adding parks largely takes Guests from other parks. Disney can build until they destroy all of the natural beauty that attracted Walt to the area to begin with, but it can't make Americans take 3-4 weeks to visit. So adding a gate isn't a smart financial move;

4.) The costs of adding a park and infrastructure that wouldn't be another 'half day' park would be at least $4-6 billion. On top of NGE and the recently funded projects, I don't see how that's financially feasible;

5.) By your thinking, WDW will simply wind up with the same problem after Gate 5 is open for awhile. Do you think they should then open sixth and seventh gates? Can you make any argument for why it's better to add new parks then add capacity at existing ones?

I just look at TDR where you have two extremely popular parks and no dead zones in either and constantly add new things to see and do. People spread out. It's not like WDW where Studios or FW or DAK are often empty while MK is wall to wall in many places. Of course, they also take crowd control seriously. WDW believes masking tape on the pavement and a handful of outnumbered CMs screaming while wielding the kind of flashlights you could park a 747 with are the answer.

The average American vacation is decreasing in length, not increasing. Unless and until that changes (don't see that happening anytime soon), a 5th gate would cannibalize the other 4 gates to too great of an extent. Because of that, you do not add another gate, you add capacity to the ones you already have. That's the cheaper solution to dealing with crowds.

 

[WDW1974]

And the really scary thing is that we know the crowds will be heavily weighted towards MK, even with the construction in other parks. Imagine what the MK will look like in 2025! They need every penny of the $350M and the Frontierland money.

That's the problem.

WDW is suffering from a self-inflicted gaping wound. They caused it ... and it started a good 15 years ago (if not longer) by shuttering capacity at all parks and then shifting to a model that drove people to MK.

When WDW only had two, then three parks, they all did well, but MK wasn't packed while the others were often lightly attended. That is the circumstances today.

And think of how bad things would be if EPCOT didn't have three festivals a year to draw bodies in ... and even Studios has gotten a boost from two summers of Frozen and then the Lightacular at Christmas. Imagine if those things weren't happening. You'd have one total dead park, one park that was quite lightly attended and one that was packed daily from opening to close.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I agree and hate resort fees with a passion. I think @WDWFigment feels likewise.

That said, until the evil government steps in and regulates the industry some they will continue (like making seats smaller on aircraft as people get larger).

$189 at the Waldorf (including the fee) is still much better to me than paying the same or more for a WDW moderate and worlds better than paying $300-800 a night for a WDW deluxe with no resort fee, just a huge pixie dust premium.

I despise them much in the same as I despise airline fees.

 

[WDWFigment]

I agree and hate resort fees with a passion. I think @WDWFigment feels likewise.

That said, until the evil government steps in and regulates the industry some they will continue (like making seats smaller on aircraft as people get larger).

$189 at the Waldorf (including the fee) is still much better to me than paying the same or more for a WDW moderate and worlds better than paying $300-800 a night for a WDW deluxe with no resort fee, just a huge pixie dust premium.

I link to this letter sent to certain hotel operators by the FTC in every hotel review I write about a place with resort fees: https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/f...charges-may-be/121128hoteloperatorsletter.pdf

Too bad the FTC is toothless.

 

[WDW1974]

It has the unfortunate distinction of being released in the wake of Inside Out. Not an easy act to follow.

I know I'm in the minority, but the trailers just look like second- or third-tier Pixar to me. The character designs reminds me of Aardman claymation. The story that the trailer is telling looks awfully by-the-numbers. Hope there's more to the final cut.

To be fair, though, Disney's trailers have been lousy for years. Even Tangled, Frozen and now Inside Out didn't get people excited.

That said, Good Dino has had its 'issues' (not sure that any Pixar film hasn't) and it isn't a surefire thing.

 

[WDW1974]

The deal with IMG Worlds of Adventure predates Disney's acquisition of Marvel.

Some of the concepts have changed over the years to reflect what is popular in Marvel these days, but the licensing deal has not. Nothing hypocritical about it - unless you blame Disney for still allowing Marvel Island in IOA. I have similar thoughts on the gambling thing, but I stated that many moons ago in a distant iteration of Spirited thread.

The IMG project continues to chug along sllllooowwwwly, but it is being built.

I don't think companies should be doing business with repressive regimes like in the UAE. (Yes, I'm ready to hear about China next and I can easily make the argument why SDL isn't a smart decision) I don't know enough about the particulars here, but I know the original deal was for an entire Marvel park. I'd guess that Disney could have gotten out of this one if they desired and paid to.

The IOA and gambling issues are totally different. On the first, Disney had and has absolutely no say in the matter. On the second, Disney has lied and distorted because they don't want to lose their huge convention business to mega resorts on SoBe. It's protecting what they view as their turf ... not that it matters now because with Cuba opening up I'm quite certain the Vegas gaming companies would rather go in there and will!