A Spirited Summer Special (AKA Phil Holmes Takes Anaheim!)

[lazyboy97o]

The Boathouse restaurant and Amphicar concept were brought to FL from Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota, so they are not a concept unique to DS. Another has been built in Shanghai.
http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-inspired-boathouse-to-open-in-shanghai-disney/375087661/

The Boathouse at Disney Town is nothing like The Boathouse at Disney Springs.

 

[sulli63]

At least he won't have to freak out every time someone leaks a story about turning the ToT into a cheap Marvel attraction (get in your rides by Labor Day to be safe, closing day looks to be 9/12 for reopening May of 2017)
.

From the new press release:
the haunts who reside year-round at The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror invite guests to “drop in” at Disney California Adventure Park.

 

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

From the new press release:
the haunts who reside year-round at The Twilight Zone™ Tower of Terror invite guests to “drop in” at Disney California Adventure Park.

It's California. The haunts are getting Ellis Act'ed.

 

[DznyRktekt]

The Boathouse at Disney Town is nothing like The Boathouse at Disney Springs.

Ok. Neither are Pirates or HM in Anaheim and Orlando, yet they are the same to many.

 

[Nj4mwc]

nah we even get better than that...well at least Air Force.

Hey all Coast Guard gets is ugly tan melamine plates

 

[choco choco]

Everything about Disney Springs screams Anaheim - from the retail mix, to the restaurant selection, to the architecture. This isn't L.A. folks. These stores may work fine with the Southern California cash flow

Downtown Disney in Anaheim does very poorly. Currently two stores are going out of business (the "GRAND CLOSING" sign posted all over the windows) and its anchor entertainment, House of Blues, is leaving. There have been a couple of storefronts there that have had constant turnover in the past 15 years (I can't even remember most of things that have come and gone nowadays).

None of the malls around that area do well. Gardenwalk everybody already knows about. The Block, about ten miles south, opened up as a high-end mall and has evolved into an outlet that barely stays afloat. The less written about the Santa Ana mall the better.

There was an interesting discussion on Micechat today (the first in ages) about how Disney got handed huge tax incentives for their new hotel they "proposed" a couple weeks back. It was revealed this planned hotel was going to demolish about half of the current Downtown Disney, which goes to show you how unsuccessful the whole Disney mall thing has been, even in very wealthy Orange County (nobody really calls it the OC).

PS It's also been reasonably argued that Disney took the tax handout just because, and that they really don't yet have serious plans to build the hotel. It's a compelling argument, not least because the people arguing it are right: the economics of it don't make sense.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Downtown Disney in Anaheim does very poorly.
There was an interesting discussion on Micechat today (the first in ages) about how Disney got handed huge tax incentives for their new hotel they "proposed" a couple weeks back. It was revealed this planned hotel was going to demolish about half of the current Downtown Disney, which goes to show you how unsuccessful the whole Disney mall thing has been, even in very wealthy Orange County (nobody really calls it the OC).

PS It's also been reasonably argued that Disney took the tax handout just because, and that they really don't yet have serious plans to build the hotel. It's a compelling argument, not least because the people arguing it are right: the economics of it don't make sense.

The tax agreement wasn't for the hotel specifically, it was that they have to spend a certain amount of money by a certain year. Disneyland already had an agreement that had already allowed for no gate tax, it was just kind of an extension.

 

[choco choco]

The tax agreement wasn't for the hotel specifically, it was that they have to spend a certain amount of money by a certain year. Disneyland already had an agreement that had already allowed for no gate tax, it was just kind of an extension.

??

It's specifically about revenues generated by a hotel (Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-million-from-city-to-build-450-a-night-hotel)

Are you thinking about the other tax break, involving spending 1 billion before 2024 (Link:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ax-deal-in-exchange-for-1-billion-park-pledge), because that's a whole separate tax break.

Don't even get me started on the city handing stuff out like this. Makes my blood boil.

 

[alphac2005]

Cedar Fair seems to be doing well -- revenue up 4% with a 3% increase in attendance: http://ir.cedarfair.com/newsroom/pr...Through-July-4th-Holiday-Weekend/default.aspx

I do think Disney and Uni have hit a wall based on pricing, but I think they hit that wall a while back with US tourists and are now just starting to hit it with other tourists based on falling exchange rates.

The US spending uptick is interesting, mainly Amazon, gasoline, and sporting goods: http://www.wsj.com/articles/online-gas-purchases-fuel-may-retail-sales-increase-1465907558. This implies to me more stay-cations (hey kids lets go play ball in the park) since many large retailers are still struggling (Walgreens, Macys).

I think this is the most telling sign about the near future, foreign investors buying cheaper homes: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/06/foreign-buyers-flood-us-real-estate-but-buy-cheaper-homes.html.

However, take this all with a grain of salt. I would've bet the housing market would have crashed in 2006 and still can't believe it held on for another 2 years.

I'm not wishing any ill will on any company, but if your entire business model is built on a weak US dollar instead of giving your customers real value for their money...

The interesting thing that we've been hearing about and that data shows, even though gas prices have fallen, U.S. consumers have significantly increased their traveling. The pre-July 4th estimate was an additional 5-6 million travelers over the holiday weekend versus last year, which was really strong. People are going places, but maybe not to high priced theme parks. This year we're on pace for an all time high in miles driven, but thanks to a signifucant improvement in fleet MPG and other industries lack of petroleum demand, prices are slipping again.

Another interesting thing is that fast casual (e.g. Panera, Chipotle) have crashed and the consumer is fleeing to either lower prices fast food or quality sit down places. We took our kids (three boys) to Panera two months ago for dinner and it was $53! They had kids meals, we had salad with grilled chicken and fruit, it was crazy! Total buyers remorse on that one. We could have just gone to a nice sitdown place for that price.

No kidding with what happened with the housing. Housing bubbles are popping up again in certain markets. We could sell our house for $50k more than a year ago and have a contract within days. Not one house on our street has lasted seven days on the market including our friend's house, which they had an offer in 17 hours. History repeats itself when people don't take away anything learned from a disaster.

 

[NearTheEars]

That's not really the issue. The design of the place, while debatable, isn't why it isn't performing as Disney hoped. Disney Springs won't meet projections for its tenants because its opening was extremely ill-timed. If Disney had put on their big girl panties and fixed DTD right after decimating it in 2008 instead of waiting 8 years, they could have profited off of the recent boom times. But they didn't. They drug their feet and took forever, and now, the pendulum is swinging back. International tourism from Brazil and UK is trending downward, and those guests are Orlando/WDW's international bread and butter. They are the most likely to buy in these stores, and economic factors like exchange rates and prohibitive travel costs will keep that down.

WDW wants guests to overpay for hotel rooms ($129 for a motel room at A.S.S.!), food ($17 sandwiches in the MK!) and tickets. Unless you're in the wealthiest tax brackets here in the US, that doesn't leave much left to shop at luxury brand stores that you can find in most cities anyway. Domestic tourists don't go to Orlando for shopping, but international tourists make it a big part of their trip. Less of them means less money at Disney Springs. Little snack places like Sprinkles won't be affected on the scale that the large luxury brand stores will.

Did I miss a report about Disney Springs underperforming? It just reopened.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

??

It's specifically about revenues generated by a hotel (Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-million-from-city-to-build-450-a-night-hotel)

Are you thinking about the other tax break, involving spending 1 billion before 2024 (Link:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ax-deal-in-exchange-for-1-billion-park-pledge), because that's a whole separate tax break.

Don't even get me started on the city handing stuff out like this. Makes my blood boil.

Yes I apologize, I was thinking of the 1 billion before 2024. I didn't realize they gave them a separate one for the hotel.

 

[ANJ]

anything that doesn't involve the over-analysis of napkin selection.

And there lies the problem. You see it as talking about just a napkin. When its so much more.

 

[ANJ]

ps: how much longer are we stuck with George before a change or shakeup here?

Sooner then you think, I was talking about this subject not long ago. There were walls shaking in Burbank not long ago. Funny how Uncle Georgie was no where present in Burbank. Why was that I wonder You think because he is a long time DIs exec. He should know how the parks should be ran? He does, better then most. But like a good soldier he is silent. Again, no one wants the WDW job. The next person to hold the job will be a total surprise to everyone.

 

[Mike S]

And there lies the problem. You see it as talking about just a napkin. When its so much more.

Yeah. Who here remembers the great Tom Sawyer Island Paint Brush debate?

 

[Andrew C]

And there lies the problem. You see it as talking about just a napkin. When its so much more.

Problem for you maybe. To me, it's a napkin and adding any additional "theming" to it does nothing to enhance the park or the experience. It's only extra "detail" for the sake of someone being able to say "hey look! I added more detail to the park by printing something on a napkin!" I'm not buying into this notion that some have that "it's just another cut in a declining park" or "first napkins, what's next? We are going down a slippery slope". I know you disagree so I guess we can leave it at that.

 

[NearTheEars]

Problem for you maybe. To me, it's a napkin and adding any additional "theming" to it does nothing to enhance the park or the experience. It's only extra "detail" for the sake of someone being able to say "hey look! I added more detail to the park by printing something on a napkin!" I'm not buying into this notion that some have that "it's just another cut in a declining park" or "first napkins, what's next? We are going down a slippery slope". I know you disagree so I guess we can leave it at that.

As long as said logo-less napkins are still of a similar quality, I don't care.

I don't put too much thought into something I use to wipe the melted chocolate off my mouth from a premium bar unless it's too cheap to do the job.

 

[Captain Neo]

I absolutely can't wait for the day Bob Chapek visits Florida's Space Mountain. Disneyland's is not only in top shape, has onboard audio and still runs like new, but it also is a major source of advertising and merch sales because at Disneyland it is seasonly converted to tie into Star Wars,Halloween, etc. and the lines somehow double when they do because people want to ride the different versions.

Not only is Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain in total disrepair (I am still of the opinion it's actually unsafe to ride), it has a very rough track, a dilapidated queue/pre-show, no audio, and in its current state is unsuitable to modify into different versions (such as Hyperspace Mountain, Rock-It Mountain, Ghost Galaxy, etc.). Phil Holmes would probably be fired on the spot if Chapek learned how he completely bungled the refurbishment it got a few years ago because of poor decision making and mismanagement on his part.

Honestly if MK fans want to see real change in Orlando an easy place to start is by emailing or writing to Bob Chapek's office and complaining about Space Mountain.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Anaheim is not in Los Angeles. It's in a separate county, and Anaheim's shopping/food areas don't compare to those in Los Angeles. I've yet to see Disney Springs, but if compares to similar offerings in Anaheim, eh...

 

[maxairmike]

I said this about 18 months ago when I went for a drive past the ghost town that was, is and will remain Flamingo Crossing (at least until Disney builds cheap apartments for its slave labor force on some of it) and to a few miles west, area that remained almost totally unchanged since Disney arrived, and saw massive land clearing and housing developments going up on former citrus groves ... most starting in the high 300s to over a million. I even toured a few model homes because a favourite O-Town fanboi loves doing so and he's a good kid, just a little insane, so I indulged. I just would love to know where the people and the jobs necessary to buy and maintain a $898,000 lakefront estate home are coming from. Is this simply an excuse to allow wealthy Chinese and Russians a chance to buy up huge swaths of real estate after the next plunge? (something I saw happening hugely in Las Vegas in 2011)

Because even if you have a good by O-Town standards job, you can't afford this type of real estate.

In a way, yes, but I think it has more to do with wealthy Chinese and Russian (or any other person with the cash to do so) investors buying up the glut of "vacation rental homes" that are populating faster than bunnies. I suspect that this particular building boom is a too late reaction to the upswing and domestic tourists catching on to what foreign tourists already knew (you can rent a house where everyone gets their own room for less than even some off property hotels), and catching up to a boom in demand by foreign tourists. Unfortunately, despite banging out about 10+ homes a month in a development, it probably won't be fast enough to beat the coming bust. I'm surrounded by vacation home communities that have starting prices of $400k for floor plans that would start at $250k in a permanent residential community. Even the developments being designated as permanent residential are finding issues popping up with buyers whose real intention is to turn a buck on having them as vacation rentals, and the homeowners in established HOAs that are no longer under assistance/control of the builder scrambling to try and cope with the issues that come with unexpected uses as vacation rentals. The developers seem to get the mixed use short term/long term residential zoning for entire developments, likely to save their butts if they decide to shift focus if the original intended market isn't selling well, which leaves the permanent residence owners in a pickle once the developers are out of it.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

I absolutely can't wait for the day Bob Chapek visits Florida's Space Mountain. Disneyland's is not only in top shape, has onboard audio and still runs like new, but it also is a major source of advertising and merch sales because at Disneyland it is seasonly converted to tie into Star Wars,Halloween, etc. and the lines somehow double when they do because people want to ride the different versions.

Not only is Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain in total disrepair (I am still of the opinion it's actually unsafe to ride), it has a very rough track, a dilapidated queue/pre-show, no audio, and in its current state is unsuitable to modify into different versions (such as Hyperspace Mountain, Rock-It Mountain, Ghost Galaxy, etc.). Phil Holmes would probably be fired on the spot if Chapek learned how he completely bungled the refurbishment it got a few years ago because of poor decision making and mismanagement on his part.

Honestly if MK fans want to see real change in Orlando an easy place to start is by emailing or writing to Bob Chapek's office and complaining about Space Mountain.

Maybe he did and that's one of the core reasons why he's on TDO's case. And who better to reprimand first than Phil Holmes, the man who was instrumental to budget slashing the 2009 refurb.