A Spirited Valentine ...

[The_Jobu]

I really love how people try to put words in my mouth,

What ive said is Wall Street will not allow Disney to open TWO SWL's at the SAME time, And i still hold to that opinion.

I will not be surprised when in mid 2018 or so Disney announces there are issues with the construction site which will delay completion at least a year already insiders are saying 6 months after DL opens. My estimate for DHS SWL was 2022-23 as i recall

Ill enjoy munching popcorn while the fanbois breathlessly await DHS SWL to open.

Only time will tell as to the actual opening date

Do you think SWL will be as immersive as Streets of America/ToT? That is the paragon of immersion to me.

 

[GoofGoof]

I really love how people try to put words in my mouth,

What ive said is Wall Street will not allow Disney to open TWO SWL's at the SAME time, And i still hold to that opinion.

I will not be surprised when in mid 2018 or so Disney announces there are issues with the construction site which will delay completion at least a year already insiders are saying 6 months after DL opens. My estimate for DHS SWL was 2022-23 as i recall

Ill enjoy munching popcorn while the fanbois breathlessly await DHS SWL to open.

Only time will tell as to the actual opening date

Really? Still holding to 2022 or 2023 as your prediction? You do realize that 2021 is the 50th for WDW. They have numerous potential projects underway to gear up for that. There is a 0% chance they don't have SW Land open by the 50th. What benefit would they even gain by delaying it? The construction has gone vertical and money is already being spent. If they wanted to stall 4 or 5 years they would have never broken ground. The only thing Wall Street hates more than capital spend is capital spend on projects which won't bring cash flows back for 4 or 5 more years. It makes no sense.

I'm guessing SW Land will open in FL no longer than a year after the CA version and probably much closer. They already went to the street with an opening date on both coasts of 2019. They can maybe justify a delay to 2020 for construction issues but if it slipped beyond 2020 that would be perceived as a pretty major negative by analysts. No way Iger allows that. The stock price would suffer. If they fall behind (like they did with Shanghai) they will throw extra resources at the projects to get them both done relatively on time.

 

[Sue_Vongello]

I said nothing of the headliners if you're referring to me. Flight of Passage definitely outshines Gringotts. The land however isn't as effective as Diagon Alley as far as transporting me into that world. It appears far too manmade to convince me I'm on the beautifully lush natural world of Pandora. Even though it's nothing but "screenz" the headliner nails this to a T while the land outside, pretty as it may be, does not.

This biggest problem for Pandora and it's future prospects is the IP used. It's a beautifully designed land and the rides are fine but at the end of the day it's not a place any of us dream about nor is it based on characters anyone has an emotional connection with ... so it's a beautiful land but it lacks that extra piece that makes it overwhelming, lasting, or impactful.

That's exactly why Hogsmeade and Diagon Allet work and why Star Wars Land will work ... it's about that extra emotional connection which right now Avatar doesn't have so at best it's just a really wonderfully designed experience, superficial but not transformative.

 

[Kman101]

Because this thread always contains all rumors and even some non relevant info? cheer up! you're not a mod after all.

Exactly, they're not a mod. The spirit thread is a catch all. The mods speak up when necessary and delete posts when necessary. They don't need to constantly be bothered by someone reporting posts and complaining that a thread goes a little off-track. Threads drift, it happens. I've never understood making a big deal out of something like that.

 

[Kman101]

I really love how people try to put words in my mouth,

What ive said is Wall Street will not allow Disney to open TWO SWL's at the SAME time, And i still hold to that opinion.

I will not be surprised when in mid 2018 or so Disney announces there are issues with the construction site which will delay completion at least a year already insiders are saying 6 months after DL opens. My estimate for DHS SWL was 2022-23 as i recall

Ill enjoy munching popcorn while the fanbois breathlessly await DHS SWL to open.

Only time will tell as to the actual opening date

You're posts speak for themselves, as quoted by BrianLo. Insiders have said 2019. There's always a chance it falls into early 2020 but come on ... it's like six months behind Disneyland, it's not opening in 2022-2023. That's ridiculous. Please stop. I think you make valid points at times and when the company is cheap I too call them out but you're starting to become trollish at this point and I know you aren't a troll, so please stop creating your own narrative. I mean do you hear yourself? Some magical delay will prevent opening until 2022-2023? I've told you before but posts like these make you hard to take seriously.

 

[Kman101]

This biggest problem for Pandora and it's future prospects is the IP used. It's a beautifully designed land and the rides are fine but at the end of the day it's not a place any of us dream about nor is it based on characters anyone has an emotional connection with ... so it's a beautiful land but it lacks that extra piece that makes it overwhelming, lasting, or impactful.

That's exactly why Hogsmeade and Diagon Allet work and why Star Wars Land will work ... it's about that extra emotional connection which right now Avatar doesn't have so at best it's just a really wonderfully designed experience, superficial but not transformative.

I get the emotional connection part but the land itself and the attractions stand on their own. An attachment can be gained from the experiences themselves. But I see your points and don't entirely disagree. Just offering another viewpoint. I personally never saw the Avatar movie and I thought the land was fantastic and the rides were great. But do I have an attachment? Time will tell I suppose.

 

[Kman101]

I said nothing of the headliners if you're referring to me. Flight of Passage definitely outshines Gringotts. The land however isn't as effective as Diagon Alley as far as transporting me into that world. It appears far too manmade to convince me I'm on the beautifully lush natural world of Pandora. Even though it's nothing but "screenz" the headliner nails this to a T while the land outside, pretty as it may be, does not.

I think the land is fantastic but at least you enjoy FOP.

 

[GoofGoof]

I get the emotional connection part but the land itself and the attractions stand on their own. An attachment can be gained from the experiences themselves. But I see your points and don't entirely disagree. Just offering another viewpoint. I personally never saw the Avatar movie and I thought the land was fantastic and the rides were great. But do I have an attachment? Time will tell I suppose.

I think it's a bit of the Harry Potter effect. Before Potterland opened you didn't need an emotional attatchment to an IP to make a theme park land or ride good. Now a lot of people just benchmark everything against Potter and if it falls short it's a fail. I do blame Disney for trying to use the Avatar IP the same way Universal used Harry Potter. There's not going to be a built in fan base for Avatar. The land has to carry the IP. I do wonder what would have happened if they opened this exact land but replaced the banshees and blue people with generic dragons and mythical creatures and called it beastly kingdom. I think some of the people who are a bit sour on the land because of disinterest with the IP would have gushed over it then.

 

[rioriz]

One reason i love this board the fact there are posters like @Kman101 and @Mike S whom i almost always agree with...

Whenever i wanna reply to someone, they've already done it and stated exactly what i wanted to say....and sometimes much better lol

 

[Kman101]

One reason i love this board the fact there are posters like @Kman101 and @Mike S whom i almost always agree with...

Whenever i wanna reply to someone, they've already done it and stated exactly what i wanted to say....and sometimes much better lol

Thanks! I feel the same about your posts.

 

[Kman101]

I think it's a bit of the Harry Potter effect. Before Potterland opened you didn't need an emotional attatchment to an IP to make a theme park land or ride good. Now a lot of people just benchmark everything against Potter and if it falls short it's a fail. I do blame Disney for trying to use the Avatar IP the same way Universal used Harry Potter. There's not going to be a built in fan base for Avatar. The land has to carry the IP. I do wonder what would have happened if they opened this exact land but replaced the banshees and blue people with generic dragons and mythical creatures and called it beastly kingdom. I think some of the people who are a bit sour on the land because of disinterest with the IP would have gushed over it then.

I often agree with you so no surprise I completely agree with this post. I'd like it twice if I could.

 

[Mike S]

I get the emotional connection part but the land itself and the attractions stand on their own. An attachment can be gained from the experiences themselves. But I see your points and don't entirely disagree. Just offering another viewpoint. I personally never saw the Avatar movie and I thought the land was fantastic and the rides were great. But do I have an attachment? Time will tell I suppose.

I think the land is fantastic but at least you enjoy FOP.

Watch the movie then compare it to the land.

Also as a bit of a silver lining if these are my views on Avatar imagine how scrutinizing I'll be with Nintendo if they don't absolutely nail it.

 

[Kman101]

Watch the movie then compare it to the land.

I'd rather just enjoy the land for what it is I think I benefited from not having preconceived expectations for it. I can see why it may not line up with what was in the movie.

 

[Mike S]

I'd rather just enjoy the land for what it is I think I benefited from not having preconceived expectations for it. I can see why it may not line up with what was in the movie.

You probably did. I saw it twice in theaters and more times on TV, DVD, Blu Ray, etc.

 

[Kman101]

You probably did. I saw it twice in theaters and more times on TV, DVD, Blu Ray, etc.

I just never felt compelled to watch it lol. Even though I think the land and attractions are great I still have no interest in watching it lol.

 

[Bairstow]

Do you think SWL will be as immersive as Streets of America/ToT? That is the paragon of immersion to me.

I know this thread has discussed this before recently, but do people really rank the old Streets of America up there with the Sunset Boulevard/Tower of Terror area?

 

[ford91exploder]

Really? Still holding to 2022 or 2023 as your prediction? You do realize that 2021 is the 50th for WDW. They have numerous potential projects underway to gear up for that. There is a 0% chance they don't have SW Land open by the 50th. What benefit would they even gain by delaying it? The construction has gone vertical and money is already being spent. If they wanted to stall 4 or 5 years they would have never broken ground. The only thing Wall Street hates more than capital spend is capital spend on projects which won't bring cash flows back for 4 or 5 more years. It makes no sense.

I'm guessing SW Land will open in FL no longer than a year after the CA version and probably much closer. They already went to the street with an opening date on both coasts of 2019. They can maybe justify a delay to 2020 for construction issues but if it slipped beyond 2020 that would be perceived as a pretty major negative by analysts. No way Iger allows that. The stock price would suffer. If they fall behind (like they did with Shanghai) they will throw extra resources at the projects to get them both done relatively on time.

The stock price for TWDC is being held up by one factor the massive stock buyback program which is artificially inflating EPS and pumping cash to wall street.

Disney has NO organic growth in any of its lines of business even with last years massive buyback program stock performance was at -6 percent.

All of Disneys earnings growth has been due to cuts and price increases.

Just think on that for a while and see where it takes you. And as the cable cutting gets worse over in Media Networks land you are going to see cuts at P&R which will boggle the mind

 

[The_Jobu]

I know this thread has discussed this before recently, but do people really rank the old Streets of America up there with the Sunset Boulevard/Tower of Terror area?

Yes.

 

[GoofGoof]

The stock price for TWDC is being held up by one factor the massive stock buyback program which is artificially inflating EPS and pumping cash to wall street.

Disney has NO organic growth in any of its lines of business even with last years massive buyback program stock performance was at -6 percent.

All of Disneys earnings growth has been due to cuts and price increases.

Just think on that for a while and see where it takes you. And as the cable cutting gets worse over in Media Networks land you are going to see cuts at P&R which will boggle the mind

None of this has anything to do with Star Wars Land. We already talked about the stock buybacks. They are excessive but they have been for many years now and that hasn't stopped Iger and crew from following through on P&R projects. Construction has gone vertical. How do they explain the millions they spent already on the land if they stop construction? Finishing the land and reaping the benefits of increased attendance is the goal now. If anything they would want to finish sooner than later to start cashing in.

Despite your wishes, TWDC isn't going under any time soon. They aren't strapped for cash and won't be for the foreseeable future. The issues at ESPN are real, but not as doom and gloom as some people try to make them out to be. Because of the Networks issues, the P&R division is likely to be more of a driver of growth going forward. Iger raves about the potential of Star Wars in the parks. I'm sorry, but you are flat out just wrong on this. I'm having a hard time believing you even believe it at this point.

 

[Sue_Vongello]

I get the emotional connection part but the land itself and the attractions stand on their own. An attachment can be gained from the experiences themselves. But I see your points and don't entirely disagree. Just offering another viewpoint. I personally never saw the Avatar movie and I thought the land was fantastic and the rides were great. But do I have an attachment? Time will tell I suppose.

I agree the land and the attractions CAN stand on their own, for sure ... but again, long term prospects, imagine if it were a universally loved IP that the land was built around ... it'd be a grand slam, instead of just a home run. Splitting hairs sure but in keeping with the terms of the baseball reference those 3 extra RBIs could be all the difference in a game.