A Spirited Perfect Ten

[Fe Maiden]

Sounds like the weatherman's presentation to the NFL wasn't what it should have been.

The reality is Kroenke's presentation was everything the owners needed to go back to LA. In some way it's not even about putting a team back there. The Inglewood project is meant to be the epicenter for all things NFL.

 

[ford91exploder]

Sounds like the weatherman's presentation to the NFL wasn't what it should have been.

In DisneyWars Eisner toward the end was worried about the weatherman's total lack of creativity, What is Iger's crowning achievement let's face it I bought a bunch of IP and pumped the DIS stock price.

Not the guy I'd want as an owner where you need creativity to market your product against competing entertainment options.

 

[DisDan]

In DisneyWars Eisner toward the end was worried about the weatherman's total lack of creativity, What is Iger's crowning achievement let's face it I bought a bunch of IP and pumped the DIS stock price.

Not the guy I'd want as an owner where you need creativity to market your product against competing entertainment options.

@ford91exploder I am beginning to think you don't like Iger a whole lot....

 

[rael ramone]

In DisneyWars Eisner toward the end was worried about the weatherman's total lack of creativity, What is Iger's crowning achievement let's face it I bought a bunch of IP and pumped the DIS stock price.

Not the guy I'd want as an owner where you need creativity to market your product against competing entertainment options.

Remember one of the 'making of' videos for one of the "Disney Renaissance" DVD's (IIRC The Little Mermaid), and they had the announcement in front of the castle with Eisner & Wells taking over. Eisner said that the board choosing them to run the company says that they want the company run from a CREATIVE viewpoint.

 

[ford91exploder]

@ford91exploder I am beginning to think you don't like Iger a whole lot....

I don't like him at all, And I think he's done more damage than good to TWDC, in that he's left nothing for the NEXT management team to build on. Massive underinvestment in all the parks, huge price increases which will leave the next management team at WDW few options for going forward.

The current levels of investment do nothing to reverse the years of underinvestment in infrastructure maintenance (monorails and transport infrastructure and ride maintenance WDW's Space Mountain being the poster child there) and the next team will not have the option to raise prices as much to finance expansion as Eisner did because that cow has already been milked dry.

Disney under Iger has become the poster child of what's wrong with American business, I really don't envy the next management team because they are going to have to make the case to Wall St that DIS P&R needs massive investment or the alternative is to sell it to a better financed organization because Disney is not like AAPL,CSCO or even NBCU all of whom have far larger cash reserves than DIS.

 

[ford91exploder]

It's an impressive roster, but one that should have been reconsidered once WDI realized the castle scale it demanded.

In a completely different direction, I like the idea of the gardens they're planting in front the castle itself. Do we have construction photos?

Thing is China CCP LIKES monumental architecture and it is the CCP's park, So the CCP is happy they have the biggest 'Disney' castle and I suspect the locals will like it too.

 

[RandySavage]

The SDL castle has been growing on me and will only look better as it is completed and framed by buildings, rockwork and trees. Its upper skin/surface looks like stonework - something that can't be said for the upper portions of the Anaheim/Hong Kong/Orlando/Tokyo castles. I think a lot of the negative opinions of SDL's castle will improve with time.

Regarding the mish-mash of styles... it looks like a pretty interesting meeting of western & eastern European Baroque, with a few Gothic touches - it's unusual, but as noted, growing on me.

Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant will retain its crown in terms of overall grace and beauty. Fortress Explorations is just as well rendered as Paris' castle, but defensive and masculine. Another advantage this Shanghai castle has is that it looks & feels the size of an actual castle! (whereas the petite-ness of Paris/Hong Kong/Anaheim castles don't enhance their believe-ability).

***
The new interactive 3-D park map on the official website is quite cool to peruse in close-up: https://www.shanghaidisneyresort.com/en/theme-park/maps/

 

[FigmentJedi]

Well, China's taking an interesting lesson from the new Star Wars...

http://qz.com/590693/dictatorship-b...hinas-moviegoers-are-learning-from-star-wars/

A galaxy far, far away has finally come to the Middle Kingdom.

Disney’s latest Star Wars franchise The Force Awakens debuted in China over the weekend, and took in an estimated $53 million, the “biggest Saturday-Sunday box-office opening” ever in China, the studio said.

The film’s China performance is nothing next to its big triumph in the US where it generated over $238 million in the opening weekend. Nor is it comparable to the China opening of action movie Furious 7, which broke single day records for any film ever released in the country with a$63.2 million gross last April.

That’s in part because the Star Wars franchise was, until recently, a western cultural phenomena unfamiliar to many Chinese—it’s not uncommon for people to mix up Star Wars with Star Trek in China. When the first film of the original Star Wars trilogy was screened in the US in 1977, China was still recovering from the chaotic Cultural Revolution, and western movies were banned as “spiritual pollution.” When the second trilogy appeared in China more than a decade ago, its film market was much smaller than it is now.

So for many Chinese moviegoers, The Force Awakens is the first movie of the franchise they’ve ever watched.

Their feedback is mixed, judging from Douban (link in Chinese), a popular entertainment website that is like a combination of IMDB and Myspace.

“I just could not tell the exact story line… The first half made me dizzy. The foreign princess made me excited but the story somehow became a reunion of the middle-and-old aged?,” one blogger wrote, referring to Leia.

China’s loyal Star Wars lovers reminisced like US fans. “The opening background and the familiar but aging characters really bring back my childhood memories,” one blogger wrote. Another wrote “I wish I could finish watching the franchise in my lifetime.”

“The story is still about transmigration, the chosen one who saves the world, the undying starring characters and an over dramatic robot,” another one wrote, “but I am still a big fan of [screenwriter and producer] J.J. Abrams. He successfully combined his style with the Star War traditions!”

After it bought Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney began aggressively promoting the Star Wars franchise in China.

Four decades late, the original Star War trilogy was screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival last year. Stormtroopers will stand with Mickey Mouse in the new Shanghai Disneyland, and Disney named Chinese pop star Lu Han (often described as China’s answer to Justin Bieber) the official “Star Wars” ambassador and an honorary Jedi to tap his large fan base—mostly young Chinese girls. “Anything about you Lu Han, I will definitely go for it,” one female fan wrote on Chinese microblog Weibo (link in Chinese, registration required).

After all the marketing hype, many Chinese moviegoers are also viewing the other six films of the Star Wars franchise, legally on Tencent’s QQ or via pirated downloads. Some are learning that the saga is as much about politics and individuals fighting against a repressive government as light sabers and spacecraft—but the lesson they’re taking away isn’t what George Lucas may have intended. “A democratic parliament seems to be chaotic while a dictator-run empire seems to be stable. That’s worth our thinking,” one blogger wrote on Douban.

“The Republic cannot control the military and the parliament so it’s fallen,” another wrote. “What can democracy do? It still depends on weapons!”

 

[Cesar R M]

*removes sunglasses* "Now that....is one big pile of s***."

 

[Travel Junkie]

According to this article ESPN is way overvalued in the marketplace and trouble lies ahead. Basically their revenue model is unsustainable in the changing times.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/report-shows-espn-trouble-2-180012377.html

 

[PhotoDave219]

According to this article ESPN is way overvalued in the marketplace and trouble lies ahead. Basically their revenue model is unsustainable in the changing times.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/report-shows-espn-trouble-2-180012377.html

Yeah, I was trying to point that out yesterday but the castle and Jim
Hill distracted everyone

 

[Quinnmac000]

I get Disney is all for synergy now but I don't see how they get away with promoting a show on Disney Channel or why they are promoting a show (that is going to be on Freeform) based off a book series with incest, murder, genocide, and quite a bit of other questionable things not appropriate for their target audience. (Shadowhunters book series)

Its an example of Synergy gone wrong.

 

[Disney Analyst]

The SDL castle has been growing on me and will only look better as it is completed and framed by buildings, rockwork and trees. Its upper skin/surface looks like stonework - something that can't be said for the upper portions of the Anaheim/Hong Kong/Orlando/Tokyo castles. I think a lot of the negative opinions of SDL's castle will improve with time.

Regarding the mish-mash of styles... it looks like a pretty interesting meeting of western & eastern European Baroque, with a few Gothic touches - it's unusual, but as noted, growing on me.

Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant will retain its crown in terms of overall grace and beauty. Fortress Explorations is just as well rendered as Paris' castle, but defensive and masculine. Another advantage this Shanghai castle has is that it looks & feels the size of an actual castle! (whereas the petite-ness of Paris/Hong Kong/Anaheim castles don't enhance their believe-ability).

***
The new interactive 3-D park map on the official website is quite cool to peruse in close-up: https://www.shanghaidisneyresort.com/en/theme-park/maps/

Interesting. Tons of stuff we already have in the parks it seems (star wars launch bay, some sort of marvel universe HQ, Frozen sing along)

Strange having tomorrowland on the wrong side haha.

From attractions it seems we have:

Fantasia Carousel
Dumbo
Jetpacks
Buzz Lightyear
Stich Encounter
Tron Light-cycles
Mine Train
Peter Pan
Winnie The Pooh
HoneyPot Spin
Crystal Grotto Voyage
Once Upon a Time Adventure (walk through?)
Alice maze (Walk through)
River Rapids
Soarin
Canoes
and Pirates


Then some other experiences I don't quite know what they are.. A stunt Show... a ship to explore?

Not the worst list of opening day attractions.

 

[Andrew C]

I get Disney is all for synergy now but I don't see how they get away with promoting a show on Disney Channel or why they are promoting a show (that is going to be on Freeform) based off a book series with incest, murder, genocide, and quite a bit of other questionable things not appropriate for their target audience. (Shadowhunters book series)

Its an example of Synergy gone wrong.

Are you referring to the target audience for Freeform? Because it isn't the same as the old ABC Family....

 

[lazyboy97o]

June 16 is an incredibly ballsy day for the grand opening of Shanghai Disney Resort. IAAPA's Asian Attractions Expo 2016 is June 13-16 in Shanghai. While a Disney park is inherently a big event, this helps ensure that those who will take note of issues will be around.

 

[ford91exploder]

According to this article ESPN is way overvalued in the marketplace and trouble lies ahead. Basically their revenue model is unsustainable in the changing times.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/report-shows-espn-trouble-2-180012377.html

Yup plus ESPN is overpaying for rights, The other networks in total paid just a bit more for NFL + Supebowl rights than ESPN paid for just MNF ALONE with NO SUPERBOWL.

And howinthehell does one LOSE money on the college playoffs!!!!

 

[ford91exploder]

I get Disney is all for synergy now but I don't see how they get away with promoting a show on Disney Channel or why they are promoting a show (that is going to be on Freeform) based off a book series with incest, murder, genocide, and quite a bit of other questionable things not appropriate for their target audience. (Shadowhunters book series)

Its an example of Synergy gone wrong.

Disney now feels they have to COPY the CW network... What happened to being a 'CREATIVE' company, Instead of creating a pale copy called 'FreeForm' (soon to be in FREEFALL) why not just BUY the CW network it's what Disney does after all...

 

[ford91exploder]

Well, China's taking an interesting lesson from the new Star Wars...

http://qz.com/590693/dictatorship-b...hinas-moviegoers-are-learning-from-star-wars/

Oops, That's not quite the message we wanted to send (or WAS it?).

 

[ford91exploder]

Sounds like the weatherman's presentation to the NFL wasn't what it should have been.

Is anyone REALLY surprised by the outcome here,

Iger's preso.. Dear investors this is NFL football we'll buy stuff jack up prices and demand concessions from the City not to mention bring in H2B workers for the concession stands to drive down local wages and make lots of dosh because people must have their NFL fix at any price.

I suspect the other preso was a bit more nuanced and focused on benefits to the host city plus job creation etc.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Interesting. Tons of stuff we already have in the parks it seems (star wars launch bay, some sort of marvel universe HQ, Frozen sing along)

Strange having tomorrowland on the wrong side haha.

From attractions it seems we have:

Fantasia Carousel
Dumbo
Jetpacks
Buzz Lightyear
Stich Encounter
Tron Light-cycles
Mine Train
Peter Pan
Winnie The Pooh
HoneyPot Spin
Crystal Grotto Voyage
Once Upon a Time Adventure (walk through?)
Alice maze (Walk through)
River Rapids
Soarin
Canoes
and Pirates


Then some other experiences I don't quite know what they are.. A stunt Show... a ship to explore?

Not the worst list of opening day attractions.

Also the Camp Discovery which is basically Tom Sawyer Island with a ropes course