A Spirited Valentine ...

[UpAllNight]

Paid TV will fight back by reducing prices and tempting more free TV viewers to upscale. It's not a battle which is an inevitable loss that they have to accept.

 

[Mike S]

Pictures do no justice for the sheer ugliness of the Gauardians Tower

 

[Daveeeeed]

Pictures do no justice for the sheer ugliness of the Gauardians Tower

It's not perfect, but it is A LOT better at night. Thankfully a Marvel land should be coming.

 

[Mike S]

It's not perfect, but it is A LOT better at night. Thankfully a Marvel land should be coming.

I'd imagine so if it's completely dark so you couldn't see it.

 

[Daveeeeed]

I'd imagine so if it's completely dark so you couldn't see it.

 

[GoofGoof]

The difference between post 9/11 and now was that Disney did not have the giant fixed costs associated with ESPN, At WDW half or more of the resorts shut down. So Disney could respond to the change in business environment.

Now Disney is saddled with HUGE rights payments for ESPN which even if they shut WDW completely they would not be able to make up. ESPN's rights cost comes in at 600 Million/Month and the Leagues and players association are going to insist that the river of money keeps flowing.

That's the difference between then and now. Disney has enormous fixed costs in a declining variable return environment. Back in 2001 they could dial back the business to match cash flow now they cannot.

They also have revenue coming from ESPN. It's still very much cash positive. It's not like they have to use cash generated from the parks to pay for ESPN contracts. I'm sure in your doomsday scenario ESPN subscribers go to zero and they are stuck with all those sunk costs but it's just not going to happen. Again, we are talking about right now not some distant future. They are not cash poor today. Not at all. ESPN is on the ropes now, but not because it's losing money it's just not making as much money as it once did.

 

[lazyboy97o]

It's not perfect, but it is A LOT better at night. Thankfully a Marvel land should be coming.

A Marvel land won’t change how it looks.

 

[BlindChow]

The WDW's pooh ride has very wide pathways too compared to your traditional omnimover imho.

That might be more about recent concerns about people reaching out and interfering with the animatronics or scenery, in which case being trackless probably wouldn't make a difference.

But check out the Hundred Acres scene in this video (starts at 0:16):



The scenery is very close to the track, showing that it's at least possible, even if the lawyers/management are more cautious...

 

[Daveeeeed]

A Marvel land won’t change how it looks.

It would make it fit thematically. The left half looks bad but the ride looks a lot better. How they'll tie it into California is left to be seen, but I would not mind a changed park mission statement. At least the ride is on par with the old Tower of Terror. Makes it a unique attraction too which is cool.

 

[brb1006]

That might be more about recent concerns about people reaching out and interfering with the animatronics or scenery, in which case being trackless probably wouldn't make a difference.

But check out the Hundred Acres scene in this video (starts at 0:16):



The scenery is very close to the track, showing that it's at least possible, even if the lawyers/management are more cautious...

The Tokyo Pooh ride gives more life to the AA's compared to the cloned ones.

 

[October82]

It would make it fit thematically.

Well, no. It doesn't fit thematically. Marvel land doesn't change that, it just ignores the problem in favor of making it worse.

The left half looks bad but the ride looks a lot better.

What are you trying to say?

How they'll tie it into California is left to be seen, but I would not mind a changed park mission statement. At least the ride is on par with the old Tower of Terror. Makes it a unique attraction too which is cool.

There is no "mission statement" that allows for Guardians tower and Marvel land to coexist coherently with the rest of the park. The "canon" backstory here is that the collector has brought his collection to a Disney theme park.

 

[Gabe1]

You didn't see me. And I wasn't here if anyone asked. But since there was a monorail tale that was too rich to be ignored, I thought I'd drop this link ... interesting read from Asia:

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/soci...day-shanghai-disney-competitions-lining-crash

Hmmm....kinda what has happened in Florida. Slices of the pie.

 

[lazyboy97o]

It would make it fit thematically. The left half looks bad but the ride looks a lot better. How they'll tie it into California is left to be seen, but I would not mind a changed park mission statement. At least the ride is on par with the old Tower of Terror. Makes it a unique attraction too which is cool.

Marvel is a brand, not a theme.

 

[ford91exploder]

They also have revenue coming from ESPN. It's still very much cash positive. It's not like they have to use cash generated from the parks to pay for ESPN contracts. I'm sure in your doomsday scenario ESPN subscribers go to zero and they are stuck with all those sunk costs but it's just not going to happen. Again, we are talking about right now not some distant future. They are not cash poor today. Not at all. ESPN is on the ropes now, but not because it's losing money it's just not making as much money as it once did.

The problem is ESPN is on an asymptotic decline curve, yes they are cash positive now but in 3 years they will be deep in the red and they are showing no signs of a course correction. Yes they fired a bunch of on air talent. Which did nothing to fix their cost structure but tanked their ratings and that brought ad rates down as well which could be a good thing if advertisers buy more ads.

What everyone wants to ignore is in an american public company there is ONE pot of money.

A 'bad' division pulls down the rest of the company especially if senior leadership is bent on 'saving' it the funding diversions and cuts in the 'good' divisions eventually pull them down to the level of the failing division.

 

[Mike S]

The DCA version of Mermaid is definitely darker than the MK version.

 

[Quinnmac000]

The first look photos for wrinkle in time look incredible.

http://imgur.com/a/Wax9Q

 

[FigmentJedi]

In regards to news earlier this week that Muppeteer Steve Whitmire has left the Muppets and Kermit the Frog is to be recast, it sounds like it was less his decision and more that Disney decided to just fire him.

https://stevewhitmire-muppetpundit.com/2017/07/11/its-time-to-get-things-started/

Dear Friends,

In 1978 when I was asked to join The Muppet Show, the Muppets were the hottest thing on the planet. I was invited to sit at the feet of the true masters, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and Dave Goelz; working alongside them, absorbing different skills from each, as we, along with many talented others, contributed towards the same shared vision, the vision of one man. The result became a skill-set for myself that was sort of a compilation of the best of them all.

For me the Muppets are not just a job, or a career, or even a passion. They are a calling, an urgent, undeniable, impossible to resist way of life. This is my life’s work since I was 19 years old. I feel that I am at the top of my game, and I want all of you who love the Muppets to know that I would never consider abandoning Kermit or any of the others because to do so would be to forsake the assignment entrusted to me by Jim Henson, my friend and mentor, but even more, my hero.

As I am sure you can imagine, I have experienced every possible emotion since October 2016, when I received a phone call from The Muppets Studio’s executives to say they were recasting. Through a new business representative, I have offered multiple remedies to their two stated issues which had never been mentioned to me prior to that phone call. I wish that we could have sat down, looked each other in the eye, and discussed what was on their minds before they took such a drastic action.

I have remained silent the last nine months in hopes that the Disney company might reverse their course. Doing what is best for the Muppets is the lens through which all my interactions have been filtered. Given the opportunity I remain willing to do whatever is required to remedy their concerns because I feel my continued involvement with the characters is in the best interest of the Muppets.

For decades, you have been an invaluable partner in co-creating the existence of the Muppets, and I am humbled by your devotion to them. There is so much more for us to talk about so I have created this site as a place to connect and share on all things Muppet, past, present and future.

Please forgive any faux pas as I have not been active in social media previously and have a serious learning curve. I just want you all to know that I am sorry if I have disappointed any of you at any point throughout our journey, and to let everyone know that I am devastated to have failed in my duty to my hero.

 

[Nubs70]

It's not perfect, but it is A LOT better at night. Thankfully a Marvel land should be coming.

As was my 1st wife after a few beers.

 

[ford91exploder]

In regards to news earlier this week that Muppeteer Steve Whitmire has left the Muppets and Kermit the Frog is to be recast, it sounds like it was less his decision and more that Disney decided to just fire him.

https://stevewhitmire-muppetpundit.com/2017/07/11/its-time-to-get-things-started/

Yeah at 'Todays Disney' cant have anyone on staff who actually cares about the PRODUCT only the stock price matters. Sad really sad because this guys whole LIFE revolved around the Muppets.

 

[Bairstow]

Yeah at 'Todays Disney' cant have anyone on staff who actually cares about the PRODUCT only the stock price matters. Sad really sad because this guys whole LIFE revolved around the Muppets.

A quick forum search shows that a lot of people on this forum who are Muppet fans were not huge fans of Whitmire's performance.