And a Happy and Healthy and Love-filled Valentine's Week to all here.
I was hesitant to start a new thread as my time really is severely limited these days, but being away for a while has also allowed many topics to pop up. I also have made travel plans that include most of Disney's international outposts for 2017 (before the end of days, hopefully!) most especially Shanghai, so I imagine I'll have far more to say down the road anyway. With that in mind, let's talk about what's been going on and what will be and why.
I'd love to use little cupid emojis for each of the following, so if anyone can send me one, you can be my Valentine (we don't have to tell Angie if we play hide the Vinylmation!)
--- Ticket prices: as good as any place to start. I had heard DLR was raising them tomorrow, so not surprised to see WDW do likewise. This is how they make their P&R numbers look so shiny on a regular basis. They simply keep getting more income from roughly the same amount of visitors. You have to believe, even if The Weatherman and Chappie don't, that you can't do this endlessly. Even some bloggers/Lifestylers have either cut back on AP media or have stated the desire/plans to. All I know is the Charter/FL/AP that cost me $298 plus tax maybe a half dozen years ago is now costing $584 not counting whatever it goes up to tomorrow. If my significant other wasn't so enamored with WDW, I wouldn't have bought a pass this year to start with. Not even going to get into the one day argument as even the MK and DAK are not close to worth the price and the other two gates should be less than half what they charge based upon not having ... you know ... those pesky things ... what are they? Oh yeah, attractions.
--- Financials
isney is still a darling on Wall Street, but Iger is starting to get that "dusty" feeling that Eisner got. He still hasn't solved the ESPN problem, which isn't huge, but is significant. The Studios are firing on all cylinders, but again, that doesn't last forever. And with every film costing over $200 million to produce it doesn't take a genius to realize an extra bomb or two a year (or simply a film that makes only $750 million when the studio was counting on over a billion) and the view changes. That film coming soon might be the new Pirates film, although to be fair running it during the Super Bowl with country music in the background should have gotten many people fired. The Cars franchise also has a lot of wear on its tires despite this being only the third installment (those Planes films were 'inspired' by that world!) And what is it with Iger still refusing to answer a question from Richie Greenfield? What incredibly thin skin for the head of the largest media company in the world. He's just like a petulant brat.
--- New CM food discounts: Let's be blunt, the only people that Disney has less use for than its Guests are its CMs who make the MAGIC. Yet what did the new year bring? Real 40% discounts at many new and, formerly quite popular, dining locations. In addition to locations like Captain's Grill and Olivia's and ESPN Club that have offered 40% off for years now, CMs and their Guests get that at Garden Grill, Coral Reef (lunch only), Biergarten (lunch only), Kona Cafe (lunch only), Boma, Citricos, Jiko, Tiffins, and Skipper Canteen. They have never offered that type of discount at a character dining location.And to see it offered at locations like Boma and Jiko at DAK Lodge and Citricos at the Grand Flo is incredibly telling about their price points and that they have reached a point where they are not sustainable.When 40% off makes a meal realistic in the real world, something is very off with your business model. Oh, and this also tells you that the two newest dining locations are simply not doing well. You can't survive mostly on Bloggers and their government aid checks forever. Any CMs who want to take me to lunch or dinner with their discounts are free to PM!
--- Possible parking and resort fees: This is something WDW has been thinking of doing for years. At least since Meg Crofton was in charge. They have gotten very negative feedback, which has slowed things down. But I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen (THIS IS OPINION) soon. This is what they want to do. No, that 3.5-star $650 room at the Contemporary isn't enough, let's add a $25 parking fee and a $50 resort fee to that. It is utter greed. People should be calling TDO and emailing anyone and everyone from Georgie K on down. Again, you can stop some things if you push enough and push the right people. I haven't followed the ongoing discussion here, but as a DVCer, I'm immune. But they'll lose any dining revenue from me if I have to pay a fee to visit their resorts when I am not using my points. Point blank.
--- DLP Takeover: Ah, so Disney's evil plot of letting the resort rot and then buying everyone out and making debt disappear that I first mentioned was the plan as long ago as 2011 has happened. Don't know what to add really. I am glad the resort is seeing some love, but tourism to Paris has been hit like O-Town was back in the 2001-2004 era. The 25th Anniversary, which has more sparkle than substance will certainly draw an uptick in visitation, but how much? Hopefully, DLP will realize there are Disney fans in countries other than the UK, Spain and France (oh and our good friends in Russia too!) and start marketing to individual nations a bit more (yes, like Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands for starters). But at some point, you have to add attractions. A friend asked the other day if I thought DLP's neglect had actually helped save it from the dumb decisions of other castle parks (only Buzz Lightyear has really been added in a way that harms the consistency of story in the park) and the more I thought about it, the more it actually made some sense. I just hope when the new attractions finally start coming down the pipeline they are not the long-rumored TSMM or Soarin clones. You won't see Pandora even though this was the second location designed to get it. I know some people look at the attendance and think the park should pull in USA or Tokyo numbers, but that just isn't realistic. The price to visit DLP, which is currently a good value on APs, is so much more on a one day or two day basis than other operators. And parks like Germany's Europa, have far more attractions, offering more bang for the buck (yes, plenty are basic and unthemed).
MORE ....
I was hesitant to start a new thread as my time really is severely limited these days, but being away for a while has also allowed many topics to pop up. I also have made travel plans that include most of Disney's international outposts for 2017 (before the end of days, hopefully!) most especially Shanghai, so I imagine I'll have far more to say down the road anyway. With that in mind, let's talk about what's been going on and what will be and why.
I'd love to use little cupid emojis for each of the following, so if anyone can send me one, you can be my Valentine (we don't have to tell Angie if we play hide the Vinylmation!)
--- Ticket prices: as good as any place to start. I had heard DLR was raising them tomorrow, so not surprised to see WDW do likewise. This is how they make their P&R numbers look so shiny on a regular basis. They simply keep getting more income from roughly the same amount of visitors. You have to believe, even if The Weatherman and Chappie don't, that you can't do this endlessly. Even some bloggers/Lifestylers have either cut back on AP media or have stated the desire/plans to. All I know is the Charter/FL/AP that cost me $298 plus tax maybe a half dozen years ago is now costing $584 not counting whatever it goes up to tomorrow. If my significant other wasn't so enamored with WDW, I wouldn't have bought a pass this year to start with. Not even going to get into the one day argument as even the MK and DAK are not close to worth the price and the other two gates should be less than half what they charge based upon not having ... you know ... those pesky things ... what are they? Oh yeah, attractions.
--- Financials
isney is still a darling on Wall Street, but Iger is starting to get that "dusty" feeling that Eisner got. He still hasn't solved the ESPN problem, which isn't huge, but is significant. The Studios are firing on all cylinders, but again, that doesn't last forever. And with every film costing over $200 million to produce it doesn't take a genius to realize an extra bomb or two a year (or simply a film that makes only $750 million when the studio was counting on over a billion) and the view changes. That film coming soon might be the new Pirates film, although to be fair running it during the Super Bowl with country music in the background should have gotten many people fired. The Cars franchise also has a lot of wear on its tires despite this being only the third installment (those Planes films were 'inspired' by that world!) And what is it with Iger still refusing to answer a question from Richie Greenfield? What incredibly thin skin for the head of the largest media company in the world. He's just like a petulant brat.--- New CM food discounts: Let's be blunt, the only people that Disney has less use for than its Guests are its CMs who make the MAGIC. Yet what did the new year bring? Real 40% discounts at many new and, formerly quite popular, dining locations. In addition to locations like Captain's Grill and Olivia's and ESPN Club that have offered 40% off for years now, CMs and their Guests get that at Garden Grill, Coral Reef (lunch only), Biergarten (lunch only), Kona Cafe (lunch only), Boma, Citricos, Jiko, Tiffins, and Skipper Canteen. They have never offered that type of discount at a character dining location.And to see it offered at locations like Boma and Jiko at DAK Lodge and Citricos at the Grand Flo is incredibly telling about their price points and that they have reached a point where they are not sustainable.When 40% off makes a meal realistic in the real world, something is very off with your business model. Oh, and this also tells you that the two newest dining locations are simply not doing well. You can't survive mostly on Bloggers and their government aid checks forever. Any CMs who want to take me to lunch or dinner with their discounts are free to PM!
--- Possible parking and resort fees: This is something WDW has been thinking of doing for years. At least since Meg Crofton was in charge. They have gotten very negative feedback, which has slowed things down. But I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen (THIS IS OPINION) soon. This is what they want to do. No, that 3.5-star $650 room at the Contemporary isn't enough, let's add a $25 parking fee and a $50 resort fee to that. It is utter greed. People should be calling TDO and emailing anyone and everyone from Georgie K on down. Again, you can stop some things if you push enough and push the right people. I haven't followed the ongoing discussion here, but as a DVCer, I'm immune. But they'll lose any dining revenue from me if I have to pay a fee to visit their resorts when I am not using my points. Point blank.
--- DLP Takeover: Ah, so Disney's evil plot of letting the resort rot and then buying everyone out and making debt disappear that I first mentioned was the plan as long ago as 2011 has happened. Don't know what to add really. I am glad the resort is seeing some love, but tourism to Paris has been hit like O-Town was back in the 2001-2004 era. The 25th Anniversary, which has more sparkle than substance will certainly draw an uptick in visitation, but how much? Hopefully, DLP will realize there are Disney fans in countries other than the UK, Spain and France (oh and our good friends in Russia too!) and start marketing to individual nations a bit more (yes, like Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands for starters). But at some point, you have to add attractions. A friend asked the other day if I thought DLP's neglect had actually helped save it from the dumb decisions of other castle parks (only Buzz Lightyear has really been added in a way that harms the consistency of story in the park) and the more I thought about it, the more it actually made some sense. I just hope when the new attractions finally start coming down the pipeline they are not the long-rumored TSMM or Soarin clones. You won't see Pandora even though this was the second location designed to get it. I know some people look at the attendance and think the park should pull in USA or Tokyo numbers, but that just isn't realistic. The price to visit DLP, which is currently a good value on APs, is so much more on a one day or two day basis than other operators. And parks like Germany's Europa, have far more attractions, offering more bang for the buck (yes, plenty are basic and unthemed).
MORE ....
