Bob Iger at WDW now ... BoD to Follow?

[SYRIK2000]

Disney Hollywood Adventure

That would work.

 

[George]

Disney Hollywood Adventure

Let us go back to March of 2013, as I, the bestest insider on the boards has reported on the name change in real time as it has evolved.

The prime time special concept cracks me up. "And now, for a very special celebration at Disney's Magical Hollywood Park of Wonder that has no Relationship with Metro Goldwyn or Mayer, which will quite literally, blow your lid off."

I believe you've figured out why they are changing the park name to "Disney's Islands of Fun Stuff to do in the Greater Hollywood Area".

Ummm....I broke the news of the name (Disney's Islands of Fun Stuff to do in Hollywood) - http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...ns-thoughts-tres.865891/page-161#post-5553037 quite a while ago. The hope is that the word islands will make people think they are going to a theme park that is actually fun or a tropical paradise of some type, which is why they are purchasing beach chairs and cabanas.

Last trip I went into Disney's Hollywood Adventure Park of Islands of Fun with Vague Studio Sets park completely illiterate. Yet, I left the park after only 5 and a half hours able to read at a 9th grade level which is good enough to fully understand Reader's Digest! How do you explain that smarty pants?

You guys all are thinking to small. It is not just Marvel Disney is after in the theme park world. The name change to "Disney's Hollywood Adventure Fun Park of Vaguely Hollywood Related Offerings in a Fairly Safe Setting" is just the first step in theme park confusion as they fill the park with attractions similar to but just different enough from Islands of Adventure to create "Confused Tourist Syndrome" or CTS as they try and hide the existence of IoA altogether from the hordes of vacationers. I think they're going to start with "King Triton's Angry Fit".

I actually like the slowness. When I'm jogging along that path that connects Disney's Hollywood Adventure Style Park to the Boardwalk area resorts, I feel as though I'm fleet of foot and capable of super human heroics. Of course, if I enter the waterway and swim out to the boat to save all the aquatically transported guests from some danger that I am imagining, everyone gets all uptight and yelly and lectures me about "rules" and other rubbish.

 

[Nmoody1]

Disney's Hollywood Adventure.

Disney Hollywoodland

 

[PhotoDave219]

Let us go back to March of 2013, as I, the bestest insider on the boards has reported on the name change in real time as it has evolved.

Side thought... that path from Studios to Epcot is fantastic. Brutal walk at 2PM in the heat, but not as brutal as taking the slow, smelly, boat.

 

[betty rose]

Sorry for the off topic post. I apologize to all, including moderator. Please remove.....

 

[dumboflyer]

It's a sad day indeed when we can go 23 pages of discussion on Studios expenditures and not get a single comment, snarky or otherwise, about a proposed monorail expansion being included...

 

[betty rose]

Guys, please remain on-topic.

Any bit of useful information is just getting lost with post after post of off-topic talk. If some of you can't stay on topic, you will be banned from taking part in the thread.

Thanks moderator. As you will see later, I asked for post to be removed. My miss step. Sorry to all, if I wasted your time.

 

[MonorailLover]

As many times as I hear the BOD said not big enough it makes me very very happy! Glad that some realize what they have in Star Wars!

I think the issue wasn't the size, as @PhotoDave219 said, it's the ambition. They are two different things. They may mean the same, but ambition to me would mean not a good enough experience to compete with Universal, at least to me. If that's the issue, I frankly don't care how long it takes to build it (but let's be realistic, at least) if they would just officially announce it. I could see the stock rising a bit after that announcement, at least to 120.

 

[SYRIK2000]

It's a sad day indeed when we can go 23 pages of discussion on Studios expenditures and not get a single comment, snarky or otherwise, about a proposed monorail expansion being included...

That wouldn't be part of a DHS project.

 

[ford91exploder]

It's a sad day indeed when we can go 23 pages of discussion on Studios expenditures and not get a single comment, snarky or otherwise, about a proposed monorail expansion being included...

Or even increasing the housekeeping budget for them to get rid of the old gym shoe funk which currently is a feature of the monorail...

 

[betty rose]

It's a sad day indeed when we can go 23 pages of discussion on Studios expenditures and not get a single comment, snarky or otherwise, about a proposed monorail expansion being included...

Some how I missed the post about a monorail expansion, I'm all for that.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Or even increasing the housekeeping budget for them to get rid of the old gym shoe funk which currently is a feature of the monorail...

Sadly, it's also a feature of every hotel room in Orlando and many peoples' homes as well.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It's a sad day indeed when we can go 23 pages of discussion on Studios expenditures and not get a single comment, snarky or otherwise, about a proposed monorail expansion being included...

Well, you ruined that streak.

 

[Mike S]

Warning, wall of text incoming!!! Sorry guys. This is how I reply when I get behind in a thread, and I was really behind this time.

The incredible @marni1971 posted this on another thread and thought I'd share it over here.
---------------


Pick a colour, any colour...

Every area that I've heard was considered for large-scale change over the last 3 years. No guarantee which will make the final chop. Other areas could be included but I can't personally confirm.



That's how potentially far-reaching and thorough the makeover could be. Note I said "could".
-------------

Thanks again @marni1971

Which thread?

I disagree vehemently. An E-ticket (as we think of them today) would have been a disaster in New Fantasyland. The footpaths in that area are completely overwhelmed as it is. When you're talking about Fantasyland, you want "sponge" attractions to suck up guests, not "magnet" attractions to draw people in.

Someone call the OLC and tell them they're doing it wrong............

Imo, the current capacity problems at WDW are a direct result of its stagnation with adding new rides. There's no reason we had to wait close to 20 years for a replacement of 20k. There's no reason AK had to wait 11 years after Everest for another substantial addition. There's no reason the last ride built at DHS was TSMM in 2008. Also, you know, Epcot. Need I say more? That's why MK is so packed now compared to the other parks. Over all these years they only did the bare minimum. So, naturally, people are gravitating towards the park with the most to do. It's going to cost Disney so much more money to fix this mess than if they just prevented it with a steady stream of additions in the first place.

I can't jump on that optimistic viewpoint. While I HATE to say this, Star Wars is a property that attracts people regardless of the effort involved. And unless they are extremely out of touch with reality, pretty much everyone in the Disney company, including the board, should realize how popular the IP is and how rabid the fanbase is for anything thrown at them. They've got themselves a cash cow to milk dry here...

Going big with Star Wars will obviously attract far MORE people (people who aren't even big fans of the franchise will appreciate a well-made theme park experience), but the board has shown itself to be reluctant to make initial heavy investments in improving the guest experience. And given the fact that Iger is the one pitching the ideas and budget to them, i'm somewhat more worried given that he's not interested in the creative or guest experience side of things, he's into Wall Street and the bottom line. He and the board may be satisfied with attracting simply "enough" people by doing things on the cheap, rather than giving it their all to gain the maximum amount of people. We'll see, but they've definitely created a track record of severe disappointment for quite some time regarding WDW.

Cars Land had a creative (Lasseter) with a lot of political power to threaten executives into doing it properly (he likely had a lot of dirt to use against higher ups). James Cameron is working with Avatar Land, he's infamously picky and a pain to work with when things don't meet his expectations (he could probably cause at least some PR trouble if he doesn't like what he sees). Though there have even been cuts with Avatar, notable the original third ride initially reported (some sort of coaster apparently) and later cut from the original budget. But I haven't seen anything to indicate powerful creative people are in charge of Star Wars to ensure it's done properly without value engineering. That's a problem if left to the bean counters to slash and cut to pieces.

Star Wars fans have no problem calling out crap though (see the prequels and the OT special editions). If Disney doesn't deliver, I can guarantee they'll get a mouthful about it.

I realize there is a lot of Frozen hate (and it's not my favorite movie by far) but DHS's Frozen Fever brought us back to that park twice on this vacation for a total of 3 half days+. The sing along is worth keeping in the former Idol theater for a while at minimum (and was the best show I saw this trip), and fireworks at DHS kept us there rather than park hopping. And honestly? They were spectacular fireworks, on par with Wishes.

And when you see all the little girls in Anna and Elsa gear, right now if Disney wasn't milking that cash cow I'd be worried.

I really did like the Frozen fireworks when I saw them last year. But now whenever I hear "Frozen" and "Walt Disney World," well, let's not go there This thread is about Star Wars and DHS

They need someone with Eisners ego and competitive nature...as that is what drove a LOT of what that man did for the company. He didn't like losing.

You can only imagine what he would've done as CEO after the success of Potter.......... Things would most likely be very different right now.

Don't tell anyone, but I like the Sing Along. The Royal Historians are hysterical.

I still haven't seen it. Maybe I should. If the lines aren't long that is.

Definitely need immersive lands. Make people feel they are in a Star Wars movie and people will lose their minds and their wallets.

I would absolutely love for that to happen. Not so much my wallet though.......

I do not know what things will look like, but an overhaul has been budgeted.

Tempering expectations accordingly until we know what will happen, if it happens.

 

[Jeffxz]

It's a sad day indeed when we can go 23 pages of discussion on Studios expenditures and not get a single comment, snarky or otherwise, about a proposed monorail expansion being included...

There was one, but it wasn't obvious unless you are familiar with the posters history of discussion about hidden footers.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Someone call the OLC and tell them they're doing it wrong............

Imo, the current capacity problems at WDW are a direct result of its stagnation with adding new rides. There's no reason we had to wait close to 20 years for a replacement of 20k. There's no reason AK had to wait 11 years after Everest for another substantial addition. There's no reason the last ride built at DHS was TSMM in 2008. Also, you know, Epcot. Need I say more? That's why MK is so packed now compared to the other parks. Over all these years they only did the bare minimum. So, naturally, people are gravitating towards the park with the most to do. It's going to cost Disney so much more money to fix this mess than if they just prevented it with a steady stream of additions in the first place.

You're making two completely contradictory points here. One of them is spot-on and the other one is exactly backwards.

Point A - MK is super packed because WDW is imbalanced. There's a discrepancy in how much you can do at MK versus how much you can do at Epcot, DHS, and DAK.

Point B - MK has capacity problems because they need to add new rides

Point A is completely correct, and is being addressed with Frozen (like it or not), Avatar, and whatever we're getting at DHS. Your Point B is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing. Adding rides to MK will actually make Point A even worse.

ETA: Your point about OLC is completely irrelevant because the operation is so drastically different. If you want to appeal to OLC for artistic and creative inspiration, I'm all for it. But they do not have the same needs, problems, or customers as WDW.

 

[Mike S]

You're making two completely contradictory points here. One of them is spot-on and the other one is exactly backwards.

Point A - MK is super packed because WDW is imbalanced. There's a discrepancy in how much you can do at MK versus how much you can do at Epcot, DHS, and DAK.

Point B - MK has capacity problems because they need to add new rides

Point A is completely correct, and is being addressed with Frozen (like it or not), Avatar, and whatever we're getting at DHS. Your Point B is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing. Adding rides to MK will actually make Point A even worse.

ETA: Your point about OLC is completely irrelevant because the operation is so drastically different. If you want to appeal to OLC for artistic and creative inspiration, I'm all for it. But they do not have the same needs, problems, or customers as WDW.

Never once did I say add new rides to MK right now. My implication is that if all the parks got a steady stream of additions instead of the stagnation that's been happening we wouldn't have these problems now. Since we can't go back in time, the best course of action right now would be adding to Epcot, DHS, and AK first and foremost. Doing it as fast as possible would help too, but this is Disney.

 

[alphac2005]

Bob has always been known to be an early riser. If you read Michael Eisner's book one thing Michael spoke of was the fact that Bob was always up at 5 or earlier on the treadmill. He said this worked for him because he could always call him if he needed him given Michael would routinely tie up memos at 3am Pacficic (6am Eastern) during the ABC-Capital Cities acquisition. This was back when Bob's office was in NYC.

It's always funny to hear about the executive that rises early and starts the day off with a run on the treadmill. The reality is that it isn't healthy for your heart at that time of the day. Just like the dolts that look like they're going to topple over on their peg legs at my gym as those types are blowing out their heart valves way early because of absurd lifting.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Never once did I say add new rides to MK.

Wh...

I said "An E-ticket (as we think of them today) would have been a disaster in New Fantasyland. The footpaths in that area are completely overwhelmed as it is. When you're talking about Fantasyland, you want "sponge" attractions to suck up guests, not "magnet" attractions to draw people in."

You said "Someone call the OLC and tell them they're doing it wrong............"

 

[Mike S]

Wh...

I said "An E-ticket (as we think of them today) would have been a disaster in New Fantasyland. The footpaths in that area are completely overwhelmed as it is. When you're talking about Fantasyland, you want "sponge" attractions to suck up guests, not "magnet" attractions to draw people in."

You said "Someone call the OLC and tell them they're doing it wrong............"

My point there was that NFL could've had an E Ticket: the SDMT. It acts as a magnet anyway regardless as shown by the lines it gets. Sadly it wasn't meant to be.