A Spirited Valentine ...

Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
BrianLo said:
So, who'd have thought 6 months ago the reception to Guardians of the Tower would go smoother than Volcano Bay? I really think Universal overcalled this one trying to co-launch against pretty much the biggest US Disney rollout since DCA 2.0 (including Pandora and Happily Ever After obviously). They absolutely rushed this in an attempt to grab the lime light, the park should have opened in June following proper softs.

Both companies have a serious fanbase issues, in my opinion. The Disney fanbase is critically irate and the Universal one too pixie dust fuelled, expectations for both would be better served somewhere in the middle.

I know forgiveness need always be applied to grand openings, but it sounds like this was a cluster, whereas Disney's near disaster Shanghai launched almost too smoothly. The park does look quite good, but the opening is bad PR. I guess we'll see how Pandora goes with the public...
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Doing anything to ToT is still a boneheaded move. Why not really show off what you can do and not limit yourself to a reskin? If they touch the WDW Tower, ooooooooh boy...
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Mike S said:
Doing anything to ToT is still a boneheaded move. Why not really show off what you can do and not limit yourself to a reskin? If they touch the WDW Tower, ooooooooh boy...
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The goal was always to do both, we've lost sight of that. Jealous of your D23 attendance, should be a good one.

Since Staggs literally had nothing on the go, it was to get a Marvel E ticket up and running in break neck speed. Ahead of a new build that still takes years even under a Vaughn free WDI. It's a success in the fact that yes, it's actually a good Marvel E, even if the exterior is what it is...

I'd still not worry about WDW simply for the fact you mentioned: if they reskin, they really are limited to what they can use there for a new build, unlike DCA. Second, by the time DHS could afford to take down ToT it's no longer a break neck speed.
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Goob said:
I love how Universal calls this the first "water theme park." It seems no different than Blizzard Beach and Tyohoon Lagoon. I'd say Blizzard Beach is the best themed.
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That's marketing for you. I think we can forgive the fandom for lapping it up though. They would have been much better set to market it as the worlds most thrilling water park. Would have been closer to the truth, at least in Orlando.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
BrianLo said:
That's marketing for you. I think we can forgive the fandom for lapping it up though. They would have been much better set to market it as the worlds most thrilling water park. Would have been closer to the truth, at least in Orlando.
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I'm getting worried about Super Nintendo World, then I remember that Nintendo and specifically Shigeru Miyamoto are heavily involved in the plans.
 
Q

Quinnmac000

Well-Known Member
Mike S said:
I'm getting worried about Super Nintendo World, then I remember that Nintendo and specifically Shigeru Miyamoto are heavily involved in the plans.
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It's weird with fallon actually thought of not to be good yet people are finding it to be fantastic and their favorite ride and on the other hand people were more hyped for VB and yet it ended up getting a rushed/more unpopular reception. (The biggest issue more likely was the lack of workers with everything being built in orlando at the same time using the same contractors and companies).
 
Kman101

Kman101

Well-Known Member
Quinnmac000 said:
It's weird with fallon actually thought of not to be good yet people are finding it to be fantastic and their favorite ride and on the other hand people were more hyped for VB and yet it ended up getting a rushed/more unpopular reception. (The biggest issue more likely was the lack of workers with everything being built in orlando at the same time using the same contractors and companies).
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I liked Fallon a bit more than I expected to. The interior is really very nice as well.
 
lentesta

lentesta

Premium Member
LuvtheGoof said:
So now I have to decide which writers and news organizations are simply making something up, and which ones are unbiased???? So who gets to decide that? How do you decide that? Or do we just always assume that Disney throws around a bunch of money and threats to anyone who dares write something negative?? Do you really think that?
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I ... kinda think that.

I got an offer to be someone's "+1" to the media event. The group doing the invite asked me not to write anything bad about Pandora, because they didn't want to jeopardize future access. So I'm reasonably sure that everyone understands the quid pro quo that comes with media events.

One of the groups who got into Pandora first shared with me the details of how Disney PR negotiated the coverage in exchange for access (allegedly). It was exceptionally specific (allegedly). The subject of the story was chosen by Disney (allegedly). Specific comparisons to specific Universal attractions were to be made (allegedly). Key words were suggested (allegedly). That sort of thing (allegedly).

I don't think Disney would try that with, you know, the NY Times. But an organization that's heavily dependent on Disney / special access for revenue?
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
the.dreamfinder said:
@ParentsOf4 , if Bob were to end the stock buybacks, how could he do it without hurting the share price?
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I wish I could provide a simplistic, pat answer but the reality is that no one knows for certain. If someone did, then that person should be running the company!

As @seascape writes, the best way to do this is to "invest in things that will make more money" but it's unclear to Wall Street what these things might be. Since Wall Street does not like uncertainty, they prefer Disney leadership that spends billions every year on stock buybacks.

Corporate Disney is in a bit of a pickle. They already have made the acquisitions that make the most financial sense while Iger & Co. lack the creative genius of Walt Disney or even Michael Eisner to identify organic growth opportunities. Frankly, corporate Disney has gone overboard with film sequels and theme park tie-ins and is out of creative ideas.

A new CEO is needed yet Wall Street would rather play it safe with the unimaginative Bob Iger instead of finding a dynamic leader capable of producing dynamic growth. Steady, 5.2% annual revenue increases (Iger's average over his first 11 years) are preferred to the 15.3% increases seen during the previous 30 years. After all, Iger's austerity (i.e. cost cutting) measures have produced annual net income growth that nearly matches the previous 30 years (12.7% vs. 13.2%). Why bother with creative investment when you can employ financial gurus to budget-cut your way to success? :(

As a result, I see no end to the multi-billion dollar buybacks for the foreseeable future. :(
 
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Kman101

Kman101

Well-Known Member
clemmo said:
As did I. Kong on the other hand besides the massive animatronic was imo a little underwhelming. I'm worried F&F will be much of the same.
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I think Kong is fun. I've been on it several times and guests on the jeep seem really into it. The screen usage is terrible in it though for the most part. It gets knocked a bit on here but I think it's better than some think it is.
 
LuvtheGoof

LuvtheGoof

DVC Guru
Premium Member
lentesta said:
I ... kinda think that.

I got an offer to be someone's "+1" to the media event. The group doing the invite asked me not to write anything bad about Pandora, because they didn't want to jeopardize future access. So I'm reasonably sure that everyone understands the quid pro quo that comes with media events.

One of the groups who got into Pandora first shared with me the details of how Disney PR negotiated the coverage in exchange for access (allegedly). It was exceptionally specific (allegedly). The subject of the story was chosen by Disney (allegedly). Specific comparisons to specific Universal attractions were to be made (allegedly). Key words were suggested (allegedly). That sort of thing (allegedly).

I don't think Disney would try that with, you know, the NY Times. But an organization that's heavily dependent on Disney / special access for revenue?
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Thanks Len. Well, I stand corrected and I was obviously wrong. It appears there is little chance of any objective look at anything new at Disney coming out of the media preview events.
 
FigmentJedi

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
Mike S said:
"Unfortunately?" I'd say it's fortunate. If Disney got Nintendo they either would've shoved it in the Japan pavilion or made something much greater in Tokyo and cheaper in WDW.
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I would much rather have outsider IP originating from the country in question in World Showcase then just shoving in Disney movies. Same reason why I wish they had done the Godzilla ride back in the 90s.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
Kman101 said:
I think Kong is fun. I've been on it several times and guests on the jeep seem really into it. The screen usage is terrible in it though for the most part. It gets knocked a bit on here but I think it's better than some think it is.
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It's the best thing they've done so far outside of Potter. Ride vs. ride it's better than Gringotts imo.
 

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