Changes at DTD

wdwfan100

wdwfan100

Active Member
worldfanatic said:
Now, for me, that's a solid post. Love the fanboy comment!
Anybody can claim the AC was making or not making money.
Intelligent posts give reasons why it may or may not have.
How on earth was the AC making more money than the other clubs?
Higher costs, fewer drinks sold. Doesn't equate.
The comeback will be "Noooooo, but it was always busy!"

Sorry, nope. Too many people with stories of it being a dead zone. And with those few around not drinking.
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I believe there are many posts about it being packed and everyone doing there fair share of drinking too. The times I was there it had a good crowd and the drinks were flowing. I tend to believe Lee when he says it was holding its own.
 
wdwfan100

wdwfan100

Active Member
sittle said:
Do the "it's about money" people around here not get it.... are you guys for real?... wake up..

Shareholders is what got people into this mess in the first place.... They put a "money man" (Rick Wagoener, Financial Analyst) in charge of GM.... look where that landed them, they've made more versions of the same SUV (cause it's an efficient way of giving people what they want, and put them in black ink), put the Volt on ice (showing a clear lack of inspiration and foresight) and then went bankrupt cause they couldn't compete with foreign car manufacturers...

Chrysler in the 70's went through the same thing... how did they deal with it? They brought in Lee Iacocca, a trained and skilled engineer who then went into sales and marketing... His knowledge of the car coupled with his knowledge of sales turned that company around... then they put a money man in charge again (Robert Nardelli) who drove that company into the ground... It's on life support...

When you think soley about money, there is no vision. Sorry AndrewRnR, you just can't think about profit anymore...

As Lee said Show trumps efficiency.... So what if you make a lot of greenbacks???.... People don't recognize Walt Disney as a man that made a nice dollar, they recognize him as an innovator and entertainer... Carnegie made a lot of bread too, but people don't remember him for that, they remember the work he did to educate/inform and entertain people....

You can't buy a legacy like that, you can't buy an image.... Sometimes it isn't about money, you have to innovate and adapt and look ahead. You can't do that when you've got a bunch of chairmen and stockholders who are wringing their hands like old grandmothers, worried they won't be able to vacation on Maui if the company doesn't hit their forecasted profit margin next quarter...

I've been to AC at least on 4 different occasions, all off season, each time it was shoulder to shoulder, and the barkeeps were slinging the 7 dollar drinks, there is no way that place didn't make some cash.... No way. They simply need to give it a new home (at the Boardwalk or AKL) or a little bit of support (better clubs surrounding it) an presto, they would have been rolling in it... It's as simple as that, anyone with a few braincells left can recognize that this place was a good idea from the get go...It's not going to make hand over fist money, clubs don't do that unless they are selling illegal narcotics or buying cheap gut rot and watering down the drinks...

.... The sooner everyone in north america realizes that it is no longer about making a beautiful dollar, the sooner we will all be out of this mess... We don't make anything anymore, we've stopped taking chances and we've stopped inventing...
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While agree with part of what you are saying, I think it is an over simplification. I don't know much about Chrysler (except I would never own another one) I know GM's struggle to make a profit was impacted by more than a money man running the show. Governmental regulations, corporate taxes, Legacy costs, health care etc. that put a huge burden on the companies ability to make a profit. Even over the last couple of years when their sales turned downward they were no lower than the 2nd largest producer of cars. With Toyota narrowly out producing them recently. So volume and sales were not the primary issue. It was excessive costs in my opinion. I do agree that much of business today is operating on some flawed utopian ideal that they can make money with out actually doing something to create and design.
 
MichWolv

MichWolv

Born Modest. Wore Off.
Premium Member
sittle said:
Clubs make money slinging drinks, selling food... not charging a 5 dollar cover charge...

Again, the argument isn't about profitability, it's about the experience, Andrew...

Disney is working overtime to make immersive 4D attractions/experiences... They have one already in AC... It needs to be relocated or supported with other good experiences... Not just Dance clubs... TSM and Mi.LF are two attractions that they've just recently developed that are 4D and immersive....

Not everyone will ride TSM or Mi.LF they appeal to different segments of the markets, just like not everyone will ride TOT or Splash Mt. They (TSM and Mi.LF) don't draw huge crowd draws with rabid fanbases, but people appreciatate them and enjoy them just the same.

Would people attend the DHS to ride TSM if TOT and RNR weren't there...?.... doubtful...

Keep in mind the masses cannot all ride the TOT, this is a big ticket thrill rides with height & health restrictions... a family with a toddler can't use these attractions as easily as a family with a teenager.

AC is an experience that a family with a toddler can't use the same as the family with the teenager.

You can't build a themepark for the use of "everyone" because not everyone enjoys the same thing... You have to have diversity...

Furthermore, I think the disbelief and outcry is the reaction to the apparent side step Disney Parks is making with the AC. It's the experience that is interactive and could be more profitable in better surroundings at each Disney World (DL, DLP, TD and Hong Kong) themepark.... It seems to fly in the face of their main directive (4D) to remove the AC in Florida to Hong Kong... Why not start move it to a better area, (AKL or BW or the New and Improved PI) and get it working there then duplicate them elsewhere...
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In my letters complaining about the closure of AC, I used the same 4-D, Living Character Initiative, Immersive Experience, different attraction every time analysis. Felt very convincing when I wrote it. :(
 
Duckberg

Duckberg

Active Member
VOTE with your WALLET

VillanovaBlue said:
That's where I went last time I was there...and that's where I'll be going from now on for my After-Parks entertainment...

Taxi from the Disney hotel and back, plus CityWalk admission, still cheaper than what PI was anyway...or close enough...
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Your post highlights that WDW after dark for adults just is NOT working! Duckberg :brick:
 
A

AndrewRnR

New Member
sittle said:
Clubs make money slinging drinks, selling food... not charging a 5 dollar cover charge...

Again, the argument isn't about profitability, it's about the experience, Andrew...

Furthermore, I think the disbelief and outcry is the reaction to the apparent side step Disney Parks is making with the AC. It's the experience that is interactive and could be more profitable in better surroundings at each Disney World (DL, DLP, TD and Hong Kong) themepark.... It seems to fly in the face of their main directive (4D) to remove the AC in Florida to Hong Kong... Why not start move it to a better area, (AKL or BW or the New and Improved PI) and get it working there then duplicate them elsewhere...
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You say its not about profitability but go on to talk about how it can be more profitable? I know it is about the experience. I get it. But experience costs money. Money a lot of companies don't have right now. The argument has to involve profits because it takes money to run and operate. Attractions are considered investments for a reason.

Times are tight. Disney did lay off hundreds of people at WDW alone this year. I don't see how a company laying off hundreds of people could justify keeping open something that doesn't contribute to the bottom line.

I understand nearly everyone on this site worships the club. I get it. It is unique, etc. Believe me I'm all about show being very important I just look at it and think times are alittle different right now. Think the company my brother worked for many years for wanted to lay him off? No, but times are tough, things have to change. If Disney just posted big surges in profit, stock price was soaring high, casting was hiring and HR wasn't laying off, and people weren't getting offered 4-3 discount packages then I'd be all for "hey maybe it doesn't make a lot or whatnot but its unique lets keep it" argument.
 
Lee

Lee

Adventurer
AndrewRnR said:
I don't see how a company laying off hundreds of people could justify keeping open something that doesn't contribute to the bottom line.
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Same way they keep shooting off fireworks, towing those barges around Seven Seas Lagoon, and keep Streetmosphere characters wandering around Studios and Epcot. They don't actually equate to profits, but they add greatly to the show and magic of a Disney vacation.

AndrewRnR said:
I understand nearly everyone on this site worships the club. I get it. It is unique, etc. Believe me I'm all about show being very important I just look at it and think times are alittle different right now. Think the company my brother worked for many years for wanted to lay him off? No, but times are tough, things have to change. If Disney just posted big surges in profit, stock price was soaring high, casting was hiring and HR wasn't laying off, and people weren't getting offered 4-3 discount packages then I'd be all for "hey maybe it doesn't make a lot or whatnot but its unique lets keep it" argument.
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I see your point to some extent, but I don't feel it applies completely. The decisions to close the clubs at PI were made well before the current economic downturn. As reports are showing, guests are still going to DTD, now they just have less to do there.
Attendence was much lower after 9/11, and profits took a downturn then, too. However, I don't recall efforts to start cutting back on such things then.

It's all about making more money with less effort. That's how we got a mall on Main St., Hannah Montana merchandise in Tomorrowland, and more third-party (less Disney) offerings at DTD.
 
S

sittle

Member
Lee said:
It's all about making more money with less effort. That's how we got a mall on Main St., Hannah Montana merchandise in Tomorrowland, and more third-party (less Disney) offerings at DTD.
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..... Where is that "nail on the head emoticon"?? Exactly!

That's what their doing and it doesn't work.... That's the opposite of Show before efficiency.... That's the Universal way.... That's the six flags way... Anyone can do that... That's not a unique experience, that's cheap and fast.... That's not Disney!
 

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