A Spirited Valentine ...

[Kman101]

Did...did you just refer to yourself and others as a group named after '74?

As for my "beef" yeah I do have an issue with sophomoric name calling and repetitive falsities and opinion presented as fact. It's a shame more of you don't.

I like this forum and it's a great source of news and rumors but sometimes it's tough to wade through the juvenile detritus to get to the actual information.

I used to get upset and speak out. It's picking and choosing your battles. Is the name calling, and juvenile rhetoric necessary? No, it isn't. I don't like it, but I take the information for what it is, appreciate what's given and go about my day. It's not really worth it to speak out against it because it won't change anything (and I know in theory that sounds bad, but it's the truth). Not telling you what to do, I agree with you, but like I tell others, sometimes you just need to breeze by it and I'm sure you do a lot of times ... speaking out just leads to pages of back and forth and continues the same behavior. JMO

 

[flynnibus]

You understand the effect but the pixie dusters insisys that its 'separate pools of funding' and ESPN has no negative effect on the Parks is why I keep repeating this in an effort to get it through their thick skulls

52 million across twdc is a drop in the ocean. The important thing about ESPN is about wall st exposure because it was such a cash cow and reflects business decisions and futures... more than it means accounting shuffles quarter to quarter to mask it. It's the canary issue, not a 10-q issue.

And we beat this to death 8months ago.... give it a freaking rest. Your just ranting to the open air right now and just being a distraction. I feel dirty even replying

 

[TiggerDad]

Any other questions?

Yes, I have a million other questions, but I'll save most of them for September. I'm assuming this will last through the anniversary year.
I guess the important question is about the ride itself. I'm assuming the new equipment makes for a less jerky ride, but will my DD be able to ride it? She loves EE now that she is finally tall enough but I'm not sure if she can grow enough to make 1.2m in four months. Need to measure her to see how close she is.

 

[Kman101]

The ESPN thing is a bit tired ... it's constantly brought up. But it is clear they have no idea what to do with it, IMHO (I'm basing this on things I've read and seen here from the people who actually know what's going on). But I don't claim to even know anything about behind the scenes things there. I don't even watch the channel (blasphemy, I know).

 

[rushtest4echo]

The trains are the biggest hint that this was supposed to be a return to De la Terre a la Lune, but I have a feeling the Walt Disney Company had a say in having them change it to Star Wars. Disneyland Paris did not announce how long Hyperspace Mountain would last, but it is not permanent from what I hear.

A return to the exact original ride would not be possible due to the covered waiting line and removed Moon Sweeper, but the rest could be upgraded nicely using the Mission 2/Hyperspace Mountain infrastructure. When they upgraded Phantom Manor a few years ago, the singing busts went from having huge projectors and film hidden from view to tiny digital projectors in a fraction of the space. In that optic, while the original spark trench with its spark machines cannot return, I could imagine they could add digital mapping to make them appear to explode. Today's technology could bring an amazing upgraded vision of the original Jules Verne story.

I want De la Terre à la Lune back so desperately! Combine that old theme and make the ride actually ridable with the new trains (I haven't heard about their comfort level, but I'm sure it's better than the older trains) and I'll probably book a ticket to Paris just to ride it. And this is someone who has refused to go to Paris for a decade despite being within a few hours of the place 4 or 5 times since then at other theme parks in the area. But seriously, give me original Space Mountain with decent trains and I'll be there stat.

 

[BrianLo]

ESPN loses 621,000 subscribers in a month. That kiddies works out to 53,000,000 that OTHER Disney divisions have to choke up to keep DIS revenue numbers shiny.

http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/e...cribers-worst-month-in-company-history-102916

And parkfans that means cuts and price increases for the Parks....

You are right, but also ignore the fact that other divisions can make up the small gap in many ways other than cuts - quarter on annual quarter.

International parks in this case. DLP is celebrating the 25th, HKDL has new E ticket this quarter (after bottoming out its attendance for the last year) and a certain resort is actually open and not sucking up millions upon millions because it is desperately behind schedule in the 13th hour.

 

[ford91exploder]

You are right, but also ignore the fact that other divisions can make up the small gap in many ways other than cuts - quarter on annual quarter.

International parks in this case. DLP is celebrating the 25th, HKDL has new E ticket this quarter (after bottoming out its attendance for the last year) and a certain resort is actually open and not sucking up millions upon millions because it is desperately behind schedule in the 13th hour.

That would be true if this was a one time loss trouble is ESPN continues to lose 10,000 subscribers daily and unlike all the other cable chanels out there.

ESPN has an annual 6 billion dollar nut to cover before they spend dollar one on salaries and other costs.

Within 4-5 years ESPN is going to need a subsidy from other DIS divisions just to cover its broadcast rights. Oh gee thats WDW's 50'th

Oh well it sucks to be WDW Sorry for the huge cutbacks at Disney P&R but we need to keep our sports rights...

 

[BrianLo]

In a surprising and fun move, Disneyland Paris started soft openings of Hyperspace Mountain August 29th... with a twist. As they had already sold tickets for two special events on May 5th and 6th with the promise of the first ever rides on Hyperspace Mountain, they found a different way to still have soft openings.

Basically, the whole show was turned off and the ride is in the dark with the Mission 2 soundtrack from Michael Giacchino playing. It allowed guests to experience the new comfortable trains and we finally saw close up pictures of the new cars.

I am fully impressed by how they look and I have a suspicion Hyperspace Mountain is not definitive and we will soon see the return of De la Terre a la Lune.

Look familiar?

(this picture come from a Space Mountain fan facebook page.)

Notice the Moon Archer engraved on the soft restraint. If this is not a reference to the original Discovery Mountain/Space Mountain De la Terre a la Lune, I don't know is!

P.S. If the replacement music would have been the original De la Terre a la Lune soundtrack, I'd be in Paris right now writing this message!

So legitimate thanks. I straight up ignored the ride for the last day and a half and rushed over to check after your post. This marks the first and last time I ever do anything remotely before most people on Magic.

Trains were comfy. Head still vibrates around but at least your ears don't hurt. Structure and Launch aside, I still prefer the non looped variety. Kind of cool without the lights on, although there were a few projectors with star field projection intermittently.

I'll share more on Paris, but figured this was actually something worth sharing now.

 

[rushtest4echo]

So legitimate thanks. I straight up ignored the ride for the last day and a half and rushed over to check after your post. This marks the first and last time I ever do anything remotely before most people on Magic.

Trains were comfy. Head still vibrates around but at least your ears don't hurt. Structure and Launch aside, I still prefer the non looped variety. Kind of cool without the lights on, although there were a few projectors with star field projection intermittently.

I'll share more on Paris, but figured this was actually something worth sharing now.

Thanks for sharing. Are the vests uncomfortable on your shoulders? I can deal with that, but I know lots of people have issues with the vest on various manufacturers digging into their shoulders. Is there still a "stalling" feeling where there's almost a constant push-pull on the train as the axles shimmy up any down? That was one of the worst things about the old trains.

 

[BrianLo]

Thanks for sharing. Are the vests uncomfortable on your shoulders? I can deal with that, but I know lots of people have issues with the vest on various manufacturers digging into their shoulders. Is there still a "stalling" feeling where there's almost a constant push-pull on the train as the axles shimmy up any down? That was one of the worst things about the old trains.

Neither I noticed. I'm 6"1. The straps are consistently tighter than a hard surface since they retract like an over the shoulder seat belt. But other than making you feel a bit more glued in, they don't dig. Granted, I'm wearing a sweater and a jacket.

 

[truecoat]

Netflix is like $14 a month and has literally millions of hours of programming.

Of course the average consumer isn't going to want to pay $20 for sports programming that will occasionally cover their team.

It's the very definition of a straw man argument.

8 bucks if you don't want HD.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Headline of a Bloomberg opinion piece yesterday - "ESPN can't afford to go on like this. It pays too much for content and costs too much for consumers". It's a good read from a business POV, and not a Disney-fan-posting-in-a-WDW-forum point of view.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-28/espn-can-t-afford-to-go-on-like-this

 

[flynnibus]

Headline of a Bloomberg opinion piece yesterday - "ESPN can't afford to go on like this. It pays too much for content and costs too much for consumers". It's a good read from a business POV, and not a Disney-fan-posting-in-a-WDW-forum point of view.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-04-28/espn-can-t-afford-to-go-on-like-this

The thing is... ESPN's predicament about fixed costs is term based anyways. If the model won't work for ESPN, the good news is it won't work for other competitors either. Thus, the bidding pool (going against ESPN) will also be shrinking. This isn't "ESPN can't afford to go on like this" Its "TV Networks can't Afford to go on like this..."

And unlike other networks that mostly pay to broadcast other people's content.. so they have little of their own.. or don't have a much larger sugar daddy to diversify them.. ESPN has a monster cushion to allow them to survive as they work through the transition, and have a ton of value of their own.

The hype is all about the 'party coming to an end' and not 'ESPN is on its death bed'. The biggest impact when your big cash cow goes away is the rest of the company loses it's aircover. Other subsidiaries will likely be forced to be more profitable margin wise, or be divested.

Remember when the death of the album and mp3s were going to kill Record companies and labels? Don't we still have a Music Industry, dominated by big record labels? Yes.. added with new players who have reshaped how the product is bought and consumed. The game changed... the numbers changed... but the people who still control much of the way people are exposed to stuff and promoted.. are still largely in charge.

TV Networks will change as well.

 

[ford91exploder]

The thing is... ESPN's predicament about fixed costs is term based anyways. If the model won't work for ESPN, the good news is it won't work for other competitors either. Thus, the bidding pool (going against ESPN) will also be shrinking. This isn't "ESPN can't afford to go on like this" Its "TV Networks can't Afford to go on like this..."

And unlike other networks that mostly pay to broadcast other people's content.. so they have little of their own.. or don't have a much larger sugar daddy to diversify them.. ESPN has a monster cushion to allow them to survive as they work through the transition, and have a ton of value of their own.

The hype is all about the 'party coming to an end' and not 'ESPN is on its death bed'. The biggest impact when your big cash cow goes away is the rest of the company loses it's aircover. Other subsidiaries will likely be forced to be more profitable margin wise, or be divested.

Remember when the death of the album and mp3s were going to kill Record companies and labels? Don't we still have a Music Industry, dominated by big record labels? Yes.. added with new players who have reshaped how the product is bought and consumed. The game changed... the numbers changed... but the people who still control much of the way people are exposed to stuff and promoted.. are still largely in charge.

TV Networks will change as well.

Disagree that ESPN has a cushion, ESPN does not even make it into the the top 15 channels, on survey after survey it comes in behind the WEATHER channel as a 'must have' and other studies have shown only about 6% of viewers are willing to pay for it. ESPN is rather a huge anchor around Disneys' neck and they really should sell it while it STILL has some value.

Yes TV networks will change, But what will be the net effect of ESPN's obsolete business model on DIS going forward who seems to think doubling down on the 'cable' model is good business while the rest of the market runs away from it as fast as their feet can carry them.

ESPN should have been streaming LAST year not 'planning' a mobile service this year, If the rights holders squealed a strategic bankruptcy would have been in order.

 

[rushtest4echo]

Disagree that ESPN has a cushion, ESPN does not even make it into the the top 15 channels, on survey after survey it comes in behind the WEATHER channel as a 'must have' and other studies have shown only about 6% of viewers are willing to pay for it. ESPN is rather a huge anchor around Disneys' neck and they really should sell it while it STILL has some value.

Yes TV networks will change, But what will be the net effect of ESPN's obsolete business model on DIS going forward who seems to think doubling down on the 'cable' model is good business while the rest of the market runs away from it as fast as their feet can carry them.

ESPN should have been streaming LAST year not 'planning' a mobile service this year, If the rights holders squealed a strategic bankruptcy would have been in order.

I had a big reply all typed out and decided to delete it because it's just not worth discussing if you're involved. ESPN has problems. ESPN will eventually solve them. Luckily, the other business units at TWDC are doing well enough to "float" ESPN through for at least a few years. By then, I'm sure they will have new deals that will allow them to be more nimble.

Still, you seem to be operating under the delusion that ESPN would be able to obtain rights to stream live events all over the country. Nobody has those rights, not even the franchises or leagues within each sport have those abilities. ESPN pioneered live sports, especially over the internet with stuff like college networks and ESPN 3. They're simply hamstrung by all of the garbage deals that leagues are holding them to. Those deals will be renegotiated at some point.

 

[ford91exploder]

I had a big reply all typed out and decided to delete it because it's just not worth discussing if you're involved. ESPN has problems. ESPN will eventually solve them. Luckily, the other business units at TWDC are doing well enough to "float" ESPN through for at least a few years. By then, I'm sure they will have new deals that will allow them to be more nimble.

Still, you seem to be operating under the delusion that ESPN would be able to obtain rights to stream live events all over the country. Nobody has those rights, not even the franchises or leagues within each sport have those abilities. ESPN pioneered live sports, especially over the internet with stuff like college networks and ESPN 3. They're simply hamstrung by all of the garbage deals that leagues are holding them to. Those deals will be renegotiated at some point.

ESPN's problem is they OVERPAID for rights and by time 2019-2020 rolls around they will require a subsidy in the BILLIONS from the rest of TWDC. By 2019 according to the contract experts the contracts will cost 15 Billion dollars per year up from the current 6 and that's WITHOUT signing a single NEW contract

Which Disney cannot pay and keep up the share buybacks and the park enhancements. Disney really only has two choices 1 - SELL ESPN, 2 - Renegotiate the rights deals, The third option is bankruptcy. Now if Disney had piled up cash like some other companies this would not be a problem but Disney's whole business model has been pumping the stock price, If they can't do that any longer the result ain't gonna be pretty

Is the crappy Monday night football game WORTH 1.9 Billion dollars per year????, No I did not think so,

The problem with ESPN is that it has the potential to take the rest of DIS down with it.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

The problem with ESPN is that it has the potential to take the rest of DIS down with it.

You are so delusional it really isn't even funny anymore. Just stop.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The problem with ESPN is that it has the potential to take the rest of DIS down with it.

ESPN is still very profitable right now. Just not as profitable as it was before.

However, even if ESPN were to go broke and get into debt and steal a few billions from the Disney Company's purse to spend on coke and gambling, TWDC would hardly flinch, let alone be taken down.

If that were to happen, you and other investors would panic and sell of DIS stock. Then I and other smart folk will happily buy up their stock purchases at the heavy discount and have a good laugh about it five years later.

 

[ford91exploder]

You are so delusional it really isn't even funny anymore. Just stop.

Go take a look at the history of 'Sears Holdings', Almost an identical story to DIS right down to spending every spare dime on stock buybacks at the peak of the market to keep the share price shiny and refusing to spend on refreshing and modernizing the core business and being unable to leverage technology effectively. it's now at the end stage of failure having sold off all the iconic brands.

- Had they moved the catalog business to the internet, Amazon would have a major competitor instead sears closed it due to a lack of vision

I've watched more than one major company fail and they all fail the same way.

 

[rushtest4echo]

ESPN's problem is they OVERPAID for rights and by time 2019-2020 rolls around they will require a subsidy in the BILLIONS from the rest of TWDC. By 2019 according to the contract experts the contracts will cost 15 Billion dollars per year up from the current 6 and that's WITHOUT signing a single NEW contract

Which Disney cannot pay and keep up the share buybacks and the park enhancements. Disney really only has two choices 1 - SELL ESPN, 2 - Renegotiate the rights deals, The third option is bankruptcy. Now if Disney had piled up cash like some other companies this would not be a problem but Disney's whole business model has been pumping the stock price, If they can't do that any longer the result ain't gonna be pretty

Is the crappy Monday night football game WORTH 1.9 Billion dollars per year????, No I did not think so,

The problem with ESPN is that it has the potential to take the rest of DIS down with it.

You're completely wrong, as usual.

ESPN pays the NFL 1.9 billion for the entire NFL media package, which includes exclusive access to highlights, media access and other things. This is almost double what other networks pay, because those highlights are essential to Sportscenter, the afternoon opinion shows, their catalog of historical games, and their investigative journalism/documentary pieces. If anything, Disney probably pays less per game than the other networks when the costs are spread to those other properties.