Bad news from our friends at MiceAge...

[wdisney9000]

Disney is banking on FastPass+ and MagicBand providing further gaps between the onsite and offsite experience, allowing Disney to once again raise prices on their hotel rooms.

Its working on some level. My brother just returned from a 7 night stay. He brought up the subject of returning for a big family trip in October. My sister suggested using DVC points to get a 2 bedroom Villa and the first thing my brother asked was "can we still use the magic bands if we stay DVC?" I have anxiously awaited his return to ask what their take on the bands were. I did not share my opinion of the bands with him before he left because I really wanted an unbiased report. He said overall the bands didnt make a big difference for their park touring style except for....wait for it.... they really like charging stuff with the band. I immediately told him he is no longer my brother! lol.

Seriously though, he said the kids loved them and they were great for room key and charge but they had major issues with FP+ because they had a party of 8 and he was the "manager" of all MDE accounts and the bands constantly had someones FP+ return time different from the group. He booked all FP+ selections himself and his phone would show the group together but when they arrived at the attraction there was always at least one band that wouldnt scan. He said he got very tired of visiting kiosks to have the issue resolved. Keep in mind he is an account manager with his IT company. He said the excuses for the problems were always something different. Some techs knew what to do while others required help.

 

[TP2000]

I'm no al fan.. But you are full of it. 1) they have had plenty of breaks including attraction and entertainment changes. Your claim is so ludicrous it's not even worth the effort to cite the examples 2) Al had been doing this since the 90s... George wasn't his only contact 3) he doesn't write the columns anymore because the guy is critically ill with Parkinson's disease.

Oh the irony of you trying to call them out over accuracy with total bs like this....

Thanks flynnibus. I was going to try to respond to that ridiculously incorrect post, but you did it much tidier and nicer than I could have.

 

[jlsHouston]

Its working on some level. My brother just returned from a 7 night stay. He brought up the subject of returning for a big family trip in October. My sister suggested using DVC points to get a 2 bedroom Villa and the first thing my brother asked was "can we still use the magic bands if we stay DVC?" I have anxiously awaited his return to ask what their take on the bands were. I did not share my opinion of the bands with him before he left because I really wanted an unbiased report. He said overall the bands didnt make a big difference for their park touring style except for....wait for it.... they really like charging stuff with the band. I immediately told him he is no longer my brother! lol.

Seriously though, he said the kids loved them and they were great for room key and charge but they had major issues with FP+ because they had a party of 8 and he was the "manager" of all MDE accounts and the bands constantly had someones FP+ return time different from the group. He booked all FP+ selections himself and his phone would show the group together but when they arrived at the attraction there was always at least one band that wouldnt scan. He said he got very tired of visiting kiosks to have the issue resolved. Keep in mind he is an account manager with his IT company. He said the excuses for the problems were always something different. Some techs knew what to do while others required help.

And honestly those of us that take Disney vacations are really a very forgiving bunch so it is just plain sorry that they roll out MM+ with all the IT issues pulling data from all the clouds of data banks still unresolved. We liked the MB for the kids being able to get in and out of the rooms because the grands are at the age where they want the KttW card but not really at the age of keeping track of it so well. MB's much easier for them to keep track of as long as it didn't pop off or they remove it for being tired of "wearing" the thing...

I personally found nothing special about using a MB for charging which only during my first stay at WL did I get that option anyways, because at BWV the MB's actually made charging impossible, they just would not link to the room properly.

And while FP+ had the benefit of structuring park rides and times without dashing too much....I'd rather prefer the option of paper FP as many as we could manipulate over the limit of 3 per day, 1 park and tiered..

I only hit the kiosks for the final stay at Dolphin because FP+ was rolled out for Dolphin by visiting the park kiosks. I didn't experience significant delays but there was a rushed manner about selecting my options...

 

[ParkMan73]

Its working on some level. My brother just returned from a 7 night stay. He brought up the subject of returning for a big family trip in October. My sister suggested using DVC points to get a 2 bedroom Villa and the first thing my brother asked was "can we still use the magic bands if we stay DVC?" I have anxiously awaited his return to ask what their take on the bands were. I did not share my opinion of the bands with him before he left because I really wanted an unbiased report. He said overall the bands didnt make a big difference for their park touring style except for....wait for it.... they really like charging stuff with the band. I immediately told him he is no longer my brother! lol.

Seriously though, he said the kids loved them and they were great for room key and charge but they had major issues with FP+ because they had a party of 8 and he was the "manager" of all MDE accounts and the bands constantly had someones FP+ return time different from the group. He booked all FP+ selections himself and his phone would show the group together but when they arrived at the attraction there was always at least one band that wouldnt scan. He said he got very tired of visiting kiosks to have the issue resolved. Keep in mind he is an account manager with his IT company. He said the excuses for the problems were always something different. Some techs knew what to do while others required help.

I don't doubt the MM+ has it nice points and I'm sure they'll fix the user interface problems. I just can't believe that it's worth 1B+.

What eats at me is:
- The parks are a cash cow the funds other parts of Disney
- The parks spends 1B+ on MM+.
- Any Disney attraction is much more expensive to build than at Universal.

So, as a result, we get very high prices, stagnant parks, and an erosion of things like upkeep. I see how this feeds the basic business model they are using right now, but it's frustrating that they don't see how this is contributing to brand erosion in the theme park market.

 

[michmousefan]

I'm not sure if call it extreme innovation. It was an oversized animatronic with a fast arm movement.

It was pretty darn impressive, and served as a fitting climax to the attraction. Now most first-time riders don't even see the Yeti unless they know where to look.

No, the "extreme innovation" has been taking place up I-4. Ever since the introduction of Spiderman, Disney hasn't been able to answer on a technical/engineering "wow" basis, at least not in Florida. They got further behind with Forbidden Journey and it sounds by all accounts that they will take another huge hit of imagineer street creed once the Gringotts ride opens.

I would absolutely love to see Disney regain the mountaintop position in ride engineering and design, but I frankly don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

[TP2000]

As I said earlier, I am very sorry to hear about Al Lutz's health issues. I used to enjoy reading his column onMiceage, and I shouldn't have assumed that he stopped posting because his main leak left Disneyland. I was wrong to do so.

That said, while Miceage is still an enjoyable read, the accuracy of its reporting is no where near as strong as it used to be since Lutz left the site, and George K left Disneyland. In fact, most of their rumors never come close to fruition.

Nice of you to apologize. It can be hard to keep up on the facts behind the online "personalities", and I also wish Mr. Lutz well.

As for the "accuracy", I have been reading Al Lutz and his Miceage team regularly since the old alt.disney.disneyland days around 1997. (That was the Internet pre-website days, kids) So as the guy who has wasted time on the Internet since Clinton was in office, I'll take responsibility for distilling the current rumors Miceage has on their plate now:

The current DL attraction rumors that Lutz and his Miceage staff have been tracking in the last half year are...
-Big tech upgrades to all five Fantasyland classic dark rides at Disneyland
-An aesthetic remake of the front half of Tomorrowland into a "space port" theme
-The full remake of the back half of Tomorrowland into Star Wars Land, with speeder bike E Ticket ride through Endor forest
-HD digital upgrade for Soarin' Over California with four month closure this winter/spring, including new in-theater effects
-60th Anniversary plans that are in flux, but latest is returning MSEP to Disneyland under a nostalgia campaign

None of that stuff has been hinted at by Disney (except the clumsy Star Wars props at D23), so let's see which of those things gets announced in the next few months, shall we? As just one example, the Soarin' closure still isn't on the planning calendar for February and Disney hasn't said a word, so Lutz's staff is way out on a limb on that one and the clock is ticking.

Disney would have to announce Soarin' first, followed by the Space Port retheme, and then Fantasyland dark ride upgrades, as I see it on the calendar. Star Wars Land and the 60th announcements can wait until 2015 or later.

Monstropolis for DCA got cancelled, along with Cars Land for DHS and now Star Wars for DHS is in the deep freeze (or dead?) according to Lutz/Miceage.

There's a few other minor rumors, like a goat-triggered dynamite explosion replacing the earthquake scene in Disneyland's Big Thunder, but that list above is the Top Five Rumors that Miceage is currently tracking. Also the Submarine rehab drama.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Giggle. You missed the sarcastic eye roll in the post. Yep I know when I'm being played by Disney.

I noticed. I also had something I to say, so I said it.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I sadly think unless the completely redo DHS we will not see any significant Star wars presence... too expensive for TDO

Universal is adding attractions. Universal is adding hotels. Universal is buying land. WDW is adding MagicBands.

The idea that WDW can just sit pat is hard to fathom. People come to WDW for attractions. Everything else is just a sideshow. WDW cannot prosper as a business if (for example) it’s running the same attractions a decade from now that it’s running today. That path leads to slow death for amusement parks.

WDW needs to build something eventually.

The questions are what and when?

The “what” is easy. Disney acquired 3 popular properties but WDW is boxed out of Marvel. Pixar has several popular franchises but nothing with the cross-generational appeal of Star Wars. It would take a complete idiot to pass on it. All opinions to the contrary, the folks running Disney are pretty smart. They know the next step after Avatar is to move forward on one or the other. With the next trilogy in the works, Star Wars is the logical choice.

The “when” is more complicated. Now we get into budgets and MyMagic+ has torn to shreds WDW’s budget. Between that, Cars Land, the New Fantasyland, and Avatar Land, corporate Disney is having a hard time stomaching yet another major capital outlay at one of its domestic resorts.

I give the BOD some credit. They’ve approved a boatload of cash in recent years. Whether you like the results is one thing but I can understand the desire to at least catch their collective breaths before approving even more spending.

No doubt, Miceage has a reputable source for their report. However, long term, it benefits no one at Disney to cancel Star Wars Land. At best, it will simply be delayed until corporate is in a better place. Right now, that’s most likely to happen once the budgetary pimple called MyMagic+ is popped.

 

[SJN1279]

Since Star Wars already has a strong presence in DHS, I could Star Wars additions being delayed, but I doubt that Star Wars land is "dead" as Miceage claims. Even in their best of times, their info for WDW was never as solid as their Disneyland tidbits.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

This is WDW's achille's heal -- and I think they know it. WDW's strategy has been to keep people on property so as to capture 100% of their vacation spend - park, hotel, food, and merch. If a guest leaves property, even if only for a day or two, everything changes as to where that guest may spend its money. As @ParentsOf4 has aptly pointed out many times, WDW is a hotel and timeshare businesses. An incredibly profitable one with exorbitant rates. To fill those rooms WDW operates theme parks and gives guests free transportation on property and to/from the airport. If a guest stays on property, Disney makes their lives easy (ok, well, not really but we'll debate the horrid state of the bus system later)

BUT, leaving property adds a new level of complication to the vacation plans. If a guest goes to Universal for a day or two, now they need a car (easiest way). Once a guest has a car, WDW's walled garden begins to fall apart. I completely agree that maybe in the short term the guest will continue to stay on property, but as more and more spend time off property, the perceived benefit of staying on property begins to quickly diminish, especially considering it is markedly more expensive, and maybe next trip the guest will go off property.

Furthermore, the profitability of that guest begins to drop rapidly too. Disney doesn't care about losing the park days -- afterall a 5 day ticket only costs a few dollars more than a 4 day ticket -- but is very concerned about losing nights spent at its hotels, as each night costs the same. As far as Disney is concerned, the fewer days a guest spends at the parks, the better, as the parks cost money to operate. I don't think Disney is concerned that Uni is building amazing theme parks that will draw guests for a day or two -- it welcomes that. But, I think Disney should be very concerned that Uni plans to significantly increase its hotel offerings as well. And, Uni is also building compelling reasons to consider its hotels, which are considerably less expensive that Disney's.

TDO loves when Universal builds E-Tickets. They get light headed and nauseous when they hear about new Universal hotels.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I'll never get Disney fans. They claim to be theme park fans yet they wet themselves with glee and excitement because they can open the hotel room door with glorified silly bands yet they loathe everything about Universal, especially Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

I'm beginning to see Spirit's assertion that it's some form of mental illness.

 

[vonpluto]

Maybe we're headed for:

 

[crispy]

Interesting. I'm curious about the wording and how the choices were laid out? Particularly for the section regarding Pixar, Harry Potter, Transformers, Star Wars, Universal and Disney World. Were these like a matrix list where you had to choose on a scale (1-5) how familiar/favorable they were to you or was it more of a ranking type of most to least favorable or some other way?

It was a matrix ( I think it was a scale of 1 to 9), and you were asked how favorable your opinion was of each with 1 being highly unfavorable and 9 being highly favorable. I am kicking myself that I didn't take a screenshot.

Did anyone else get one of the surveys? They may be able to remember better than me.

 

[Rodan75]

As I was reading Parentsof4's post, I thought much the same--Nick Hotel is as much a threat to WDW as Potter is. A Great Wolf Lodge along I-Drive could be a huge game-changer as well.

But as long as guests have a car anyway ... suddenly "the water park with the dolphins" or "that new giant Ferris Wheel" becomes a real option. Very quickly 2 days off-property can be 3, maybe 4. This isn't "Disney v. Universal." This is "WDW Property v. everywhere else around town."

I agree and UNI needs to be fearful of that as well. Pulling guests away from WDW doesn't necessarily mean allegiance to UNI. I think these first few years of UNI coming into their own has probably hurt Seaworld, BGT and the other local attractions more than Disney, but as folks invest in the tourist area (Fun Spot, Orlando Eye, local resorts, etc) the battle is going to morph into something new entirely.

 

[jlsHouston]

It was a matrix ( I think it was a scale of 1 to 9), and you were asked how favorable your opinion was of each with 1 being highly unfavorable and 9 being highly favorable. I am kicking myself that I didn't take a screenshot.

Did anyone else get one of the surveys? They may be able to remember better than me.

they probably know better than to send one to me...I didn't even get one of those normal surveys after this last visit on property....

 

[wm49rs]

Why are people on this site so negative about everything Disney does? I mean come on it isn't that bad.

Probably because this a discussion forum....

 

[xdan0920]

Probably because this a discussion forum....

h8r

 

[wm49rs]

h8r

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...the-magic-kingdom.875206/page-23#post-5871106

 

[wm49rs]

Indeed, it just seems like there are a lot of people complaining about silly things that really wont affect there trip to Disney world, such as the ground having a stain on it or one of the animatronics on top of the boat in the very corner behind a crate on splash mountain not working properly.

And maybe those same people seem to know that WDW can or should aspire to do better, and express that opinion....

 

[jlsHouston]

Why are people on this site so negative about everything Disney does? I mean come on it isn't that bad.

I don't think we are negative.. I gush and gush about things at the resorts and parks I love...