jaxonp
Well-Known Member
Universal sharping their blades today.
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News D23 Expo 2022
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
Universal sharping their blades today.
jaxonp
Well-Known Member
And it was a 7 year from announcement to opening cycle. It’s was 4 years too long. Meanwhile universal was well on its way to opening diagon alley in the same time frame.
el_super
Well-Known Member
Maybe on some level... maybe. Ultimately though the reason why it got built was because the numbers showed it would increase revenue.
That was under the old model of trying to increase attendance and length of stay by building out the parks. All indications now though are that kind of spending and expansion wasn't sustainable. Disney isn't in a position, especially in Florida, to just keep adding attractions and gaining revenue the same way.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I would think that’s “better”…
But from chair I think it’s kinda wishful thinking….in a bizarre sorts of way
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
But the price increases haven't hampered demand. They could have "more people, who spend more" if they had the square footage to park the bodies.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Wait…you’re disputing that?
I hope not. I’ve never seen anyone…around here on in “the business”…suggest Cameron and Pandora wasn’t a response to the potter salvo being fired.
Now…perhaps…Iger used of cover to justify spending on DAK when otherwise wasn’t Warranted? Very possible.
Fastpass+ was cover for an internet upgrade…and really not much more.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Trusting you the way I have grown to…I can’t honestly think you believe this deep down.
Wall Street doesn’t play that game. They say something but want “both”. Disney is retraining all their clientele…including about 15000 rooms of dvc on sight. And it’s working…
But then the left hook is coming too.
They’re like veruca salt…they want EVERYTHING. Because money never sleeps, Pal.
What was missing from the Disney D23 Expo Boundless Future presentation
What was missing from the Disney D23 Expo Boundless Future presentation
A look back at D23 Expo and what didn't make the cut for this year's Disney Parks presentation.
www.wdwmagic.com
el_super
Well-Known Member
Yes, because in the real world, companies don't spend billions of dollars in investment because of "salvo's being fired." That's not how it works.
Which is leading to this weird undue agitation that they aren't announcing anything big as a counter to Epic Universe. This isn't some weird analogue to an arms race. They will invest in WDW when it makes sense to do so, and it doesn't make sense right now. No one is owed anything.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
That’s not how it works in Orlando…so I agree with you while not actually agreeing with you.
Orlando is a different animal. So Disney has never needed to be “reactionary”…they’ve become rich beyond dreams by using the competitions moves.
But the timing on that one was different. Comcast had just bought universal prior and many analysts predicted they’d divest from parks…but they doubled down.
The last 4 years of Eisner were bad/stagnant park times…and the first 5+ of Iger were just as bad…because he was a creative stiff…so that I’m sure factored in.
The scenario that happened around avatar doesn’t fit your Econ 1 textbook for “companies”…because it almost always fits Disney the LEAST.
Which is why the real world was nuance.
I’d love to hear more ideas of how avatar wasn’t what it appeared and has been a speculated to be?
The eye test is pretty strong.
The great news is they really did a good job. Unlike other things.
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LSLS
Well-Known Member
Ok, I'm lost I think. Are you saying in the real world, companies don't spend a ton of money on research and development in response to what competitors do?
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
…I wouldn’t if I were you
el_super
Well-Known Member
I don't understand what you're trying to say here. Are you suggesting that Epic Universe will drive attendance at Walt Disney World without Disney needing to invest? That might make some sense. I seem to think that after Potter was built and opened, attendance and revenue at Walt Disney World kept going up and up anyway. I generally don't think Universal has had much of an impact on Disney's performance there, but maybe a case could be made for it having a positive impact? Certainly not a negative one.
I think the evidence more strongly points to them wanting to build out their ancillary parks, because of overcrowding at the Magic Kingdom. This was internal problem solving rather than reactions to external factors. Building Pandora in AK and building Star Wars in DHS, and then announcing the re-imagining of Epcot was meant to bolster those parks and move guests around more evenly. It was being done with the same goals of their operational changes: getting more out of what they already have.
They are still following this logic today: dealing with that exceptional demand.
THEMEPARKPIONEER
Well-Known Member
I’m glad Spaceship Earth wasn’t mentioned it needs some TLC, a few tweaks and minor changes and that’s all. A new ending would be nice but I’m not going to push it.
el_super
Well-Known Member
doctornick
Well-Known Member
Seriously. Just refurb it, but keep it the same. If they want to change the descent, fine. No matter what problems some folks have with the current script (personally, I think it's perfectly fine), we all know that if they change the ride en masse it will only end up worse.
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
I hate to break it to you. But the only thing coming at the 2024 D23 is wait until 2028 where we hint at what we might talk about in 2030.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Um…if they’re were attempting to “counter” Comcast…they would have started prep/construction in 2020/21.Been a long time lurker, yet being in the State where God's hand left the earth when He formed it... (hint--see User Name) I very rarely add to this board as I am a long way from the Parks. However, as a VP of Marketing in the midwest; I am of the opinion they were not unprepared. A Corporate VP does not go into something like this, even with your most ardent fans, unprepared. This was strategic and there are are very simple reasons behind it. Note---I am not saying I concur with any of it. Long term it should be a horrible strategy. Yet Disney seems immune. People, including me, have been saying the day of reckoning will come for years-- and it still hasn't. Yet the reasoning is easy, as the Brits say, to suss out why the panel looked as it did, including the HORRIBLE "blue sky" at the end..
1) PROFIT IS KING! In the Disney of Today-- Push all your chips to the middle in search of cash; "find" the highest price your audience will tolerate; deliberately cut spending on the all but "premium" initiatives; (DCL); Cheapen the experience for those segments of the company that will provide the biggest amounts of profit so that Disney can fund it's "strategic initiatives" (D+, technology, etc)---- The leadership of Bob Chapek isabout driving profits. Full Stop. When posters on the board say--- "Disney cares about Guest Scores" (see the end of HArmonious for example, or the semi return of HEA) they only care if it is a relatively inexpensive fix, and the fix is singular. Meaning Maintenance --a higher ongoing costt-- despite a lot of people complaining about it--gets nowhere near the corporate attention despite bad guest scores-- because it is too high a price for Bob to digest.
2) THE FUTURE IS NOT NOW! Disney is aware of Epic Universe, and they are keeping their gunpowder dry and in storage for the 2024 d23. The WDW world will get a ton of attention in 2024 or 2026 to offset the Opening of Epic. Personally, I would bet a lot of smoke in 2024 to deflect from the opening, with some things beginning to built (on the usual 4-5 year Disney timeline)==and then some more on 2026. I believe Disney siis content to ride on the coattails of Epic Universe... (in Bob's thinking-- "Hey let Comcast do the work of bringing people to Orlando-- I'll get mine and some additional days of yours." ) Personally, I think they looked at the Potterverse--something that out Disney's Disney--- and they only lost 5% or so of market share. I think Chapek is okay with that with his higher price strategy if it happens again, Very dangerous thinking--- but see Point 1! New things will be built to open by 2028/2030.
3) SOMETIMES YOU MISFIRE. The truth behind the strange panel? They thought they could get away with it. In a condescending smarmy way, they thought that a couple of songs from Tiana would distract like a bad minstrel show, from the lack of information about Tiana;s Bayou Adventure and other information the audience came for . "But we showed a model" and "Hey 63 other characters" (which probably includes a rock along the river, lol). The Disney of Today values their best clients-- they just value corporate profits wayyyyyy more. Disney values their Bonuses more. They value Synergy more, They value their ideologies more. They value almost everything more than their theme park fans. The panel disrespected the audience that attended--- except for the plants who were there on company dime,
Rhinocerous
Premium Member
Guests are no longer viewed as their customers. In the modern Wall Street model, the customer base is your stockholders and Board of Directors. Guests/clients/consumers are simply the machine which prints the money. Like any machine, they don't care about how it feels. It's entirely about tweaking parameters for optimal efficiency. Upgrades are just a means to that end. If pushing the machine to its limits leads to catastrophic failure in ten or twenty years, that's not their problem. Only "right this minute" matters. Just get me to the next quarterly earnings report.