DHS CARS LAND

[Sped2424]

Maybe I'm just not getting it, but how could a meet and greet be expensive to operate? You have a location set aside with a CM dressed in costume and a few handlers. Labor costs can't be more than a ride which has multiple cast members too and you have no mechanical maintenance or safety costs. I guess if its an indoor location you have electricity for AC and lights, but that can't be nearly the cost of running electricity for a ride.

I believe someone already explained it on here! couple comments up!

 

[lazyboy97o]

I was sad when Jaws went, but what I think helped was that we will be getting a truly awesome replacement product. So I would say I do give Uni a bit of a pass in that sense. It's no Stitch replaces Alien Encounter for instance. If we were getting a crappier replacement then Id have issues but all signs point to that not being the case at all.

I will miss Jaws. It was an epic scale attraction of the sort that we will likely never again see built. But Amity just kind of sucked.

 

[mattie1985ariel]

You are very angry. Until Disney Animation gets a film to seriously break $200 million in the box office, you are going to just get more upset. Tangled broke it by just a pinch. The closest behind that was Ralph with $189 million then way back at Tarzan with $171 million.

There were 10 Pixar movies that made more since Tarzan. Additionally, outside of Tangled, none of the other movies from Disney Animation have brought in any additional merch $ than the Pixar films.

Face it, Disney Animation has been much more of a loser for the company than a winner. Remember Home on the Range? Treasure Planet? Chicken Little? Bombs. Seriously, the company would have been bought by Comcast long ago if Pixar did not carry it with TS2 and Finding Nemo.

Show a little respect.

Wow - erm - I'm looking in disbelief at my screen, I'm no way too angry, just voicing an opinion, I see the parks as a nostalgic celebration of new and classic , where the classic gets over looked..... I have my respect for the disney company and all of them hand drawn animations and always will. But I don't want to see all of the "non true disney" "bought into the family" franchises take over the parks.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Each ride or attraction has individual costs to operate. If MK was adding costs to operate new rides in LM and Mine Train they subtracted the cost of Snow White to even the spending out some. They are still adding costs in net. As others pointed out Snow White wasn't super popular and didn't have a cult following like COP or Country Bears so they could get away with shutting it down. Disney has more than enough land to build a new E ticket every year for the next 50 years if they wanted. It's not about lack of space or the footprint of an attraction it's the costs of maintaining and operating 50 additional E tickets. This is also probably why they are replacing attractions at DHS with new ones instead of expanding into the parking lot or across the highway.

Yes, I know that each ride has individual costs, but, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Each ride/attraction also is supposed to be a source of income overall. Snow White has not been the most productive, but with the FL expansion and a little upgrading to the SW ride, it might have gained some relevance again. To replace it with a Meet & Greet is absolutely easy way out, it does have character costs but so did the ride, it took more then one CM to operate it. What M&G doesn't have are maintenance costs which are probably the largest part of any after construction cost of any ride. It still didn't need to be closed down for a M&G. For a better ride, maybe, but not what has happened.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I was sad when Jaws went, but what I think helped was that we will be getting a truly awesome replacement product. So I would say I do give Uni a bit of a pass in that sense. It's no Stitch replaces Alien Encounter for instance. If we were getting a crappier replacement then Id have issues but all signs point to that not being the case at all.

I don't see any guarantee yet that the replacement will be less then crappy. Chances are good that it will be good, but then again, Disney thought that Stitch was an improvement, enjoyment wise, over Alien. Didn't turn out that way, but, I doubt that they went in with the thought that it wasn't at least on par with what had been there.

 

[bubbles1812]

I don't see any guarantee yet that the replacement will be less then crappy. Chances are good that it will be good, but then again, Disney thought that Stitch was an improvement, enjoyment wise, over Alien. Didn't turn out that way, but, I doubt that they went in with the thought that it wasn't at least on par with what had been there.

A revolutionary train ride, the Gringotts coaster, a whole new immersive land with shops and food, with nary a generic piece of merchandise in sight... Over a dated shark and a land with not that much substance otherwise. Sorry, but I'm calling the replacement better. I get the point you are trying to make, but it isn't exactly like we have no idea what Universal does with the world of Harry Potter. So your post just kind of comes off as really silly.

 

[danlb_2000]

A revolutionary train ride, the Gringotts coaster, a whole new immersive land with shops and food, with nary a generic piece of merchandise in site... Over a dated shark and a land with not that much substance otherwise. Sorry, but I'm calling the replacement better. I get the point you are trying to make, but it isn't exactly like we have no idea what Universal does with the world of Harry Potter. So your post just kind of comes off as really silly.

Yeah, I can't imaginge any scenario where WWoHP Phase 2 is anything but a major win.

 

[willtravel]

Yeah, I can't imaginge any scenario where WWoHP Phase 2 is anything but a major win.

And when does WWoHP Phase 2 open?

 

[JimboJones123]

That

And when does WWoHP Phase 2 open?

That's the big question.

 

[bubbles1812]

And when does WWoHP Phase 2 open?

Sometime in 2014 I believe... With early 2014 being the goal I think.

 

[HenryMystic]

And when does WWoHP Phase 2 open?

Next summer. Basically, around 1 year from today.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Universal does NOT get a pass closing Jaws. They would have been better off closing ET, Barney, and the play park,, but it did not work logistically with the Hogwarts Express. There was a pretty hefty outcry about Jaws closing.

They could also build a better Jaws for the third gate.

 

[GoofGoof]

Yes, I know that each ride has individual costs, but, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Each ride/attraction also is supposed to be a source of income overall. Snow White has not been the most productive, but with the FL expansion and a little upgrading to the SW ride, it might have gained some relevance again. To replace it with a Meet & Greet is absolutely easy way out, it does have character costs but so did the ride, it took more then one CM to operate it. What M&G doesn't have are maintenance costs which are probably the largest part of any after construction cost of any ride. It still didn't need to be closed down for a M&G. For a better ride, maybe, but not what has happened.

You pay 1 price at the gate not per ride so I don't see how each individual ride is a source of income. The expense for maintenance and operation is directly related to each ride. This is why I don't understand the argument that meet and greets are expensive due to low capacity. If you look at it as a cost per guest that uses the attraction the cost may be high compared to a high capacity ride but that seems pretty irrelevant since revenue is not generated on a per ride basis.

Looking at it from the revenue side not many people would have bought a ticket just because of a meet and greet or just to ride Snow White. Neither adds to or reduces revenue. You have to look at it as a portfolio of attractions. Will MK with Mine Train, LM and Princess hall result in less revenue than if they kept Snow White? Probably not. So if revenue is the same but costs are lower its a net gain. Keep in mind they added rides so its not like they just replaced a ride with a meet and greet to save money. It was part of the overall plan to add attractions.

 

[GLaDOS]

That
That's the big question.

Not really. Summer 2014 has been announced.

 

[GLaDOS]

They could also build a better Jaws for the third gate.

Or a pretty awesome water park ride

 

[danlb_2000]

You pay 1 price at the gate not per ride so I don't see how each individual ride is a source of income. The expense for maintenance and operation is directly related to each ride. This is why I don't understand the argument that meet and greets are expensive due to low capacity. If you look at it as a cost per guest that uses the attraction the cost may be high compared to a high capacity ride but that seems pretty irrelevant since revenue is not generated on a per ride basis.

Looking at it from the revenue side not many people would have bought a ticket just because of a meet and greet or just to ride Snow White. Neither adds to or reduces revenue. You have to look at it as a portfolio of attractions. Will MK with Mine Train, LM and Princess hall result in less revenue than if they kept Snow White? Probably not. So if revenue is the same but costs are lower its a net gain. Keep in mind they added rides so its not like they just replaced a ride with a meet and greet to save money. It was part of the overall plan to add attractions.

If attraction A costs, for example, $10,000 a day to run and can handle 2000 guests per day, and attraction B costs the same to run but can handle 10,000 guests per day, wouldn't you say that the park is getting more value from attraction B then attraction A?

 

[Goofyernmost]

A revolutionary train ride, the Gringotts coaster, a whole new immersive land with shops and food, with nary a generic piece of merchandise in sight... Over a dated shark and a land with not that much substance otherwise. Sorry, but I'm calling the replacement better. I get the point you are trying to make, but it isn't exactly like we have no idea what Universal does with the world of Harry Potter. So your post just kind of comes off as really silly.

Silly? Really? There are other adjectives that you might have used, such as incorrect or not possible or something to that line of thinking, but, Silly? Unless you have a way of seeing into the future and can absolutely know for sure that what is coming is better, I would think that assuming it will be wonderful is...well...incorrect.

 

[Goofyernmost]

If attraction A costs, for example, $10,000 a day to run and can handle 2000 guests per day, and attraction B costs the same to run but can handle 10,000 guests per day, wouldn't you say that the park is getting more value from attraction B then attraction A?

Also since there isn't a way to accurately trace the generated revenue to an individual ride, wouldn't the overall availability of something to do/see be of more value then necessarily individual ridership. There isn't really a way for any M&G to ever surpass a ride, even an unpopular one, for numbers of people that might be moved through in a day. I don't believe that any attraction will ever, by itself, get people to pay that much money for a ticket. Something new is important, but one attraction cannot carry a park. The more things for people to do, and lets face it, not all of them can or should be blockbusters, is as important for overall revenue as anything you care to name. Universal right now is providing a lot of things for people to do and almost none of them involves standing in line to meet Sponge Bob Square Pants. Not everyone of Uni's attractions are wonderful, but they are there.

 

[Bocabear]

Also since there isn't a way to accurately trace the generated revenue to an individual ride, wouldn't the overall availability of something to do/see be of more value then necessarily individual ridership. There isn't really a way for any M&G to ever surpass a ride, even an unpopular one, for numbers of people that might be moved through in a day. I don't believe that any attraction will ever, by itself, get people to pay that much money for a ticket. Something new is important, but one attraction cannot carry a park. The more things for people to do, and lets face it, not all of them can or should be blockbusters, is as important for overall revenue as anything you care to name. Universal right now is providing a lot of things for people to do and almost none of them involves standing in line to meet Sponge Bob Square Pants. Not everyone of Uni's attractions are wonderful, but they are there.

Here here! There is no M&G that will ever compare with an attraction...period. My last trip to the Magic Kingdom we waited in a VERY long line to meet tinkerbelle...what a lackluster set...and a hum-drum experience. I would have much preferred ANY attraction over that experience. I have also done the M&G for the princesses and for Ariel in the past... none of them were particularly magical... In the end it just comes off as Disney extracting maximum profit and delivering cheap.

 

[bubbles1812]

Silly? Really? There are other adjectives that you might have used, such as incorrect or not possible or something to that line of thinking, but, Silly? Unless you have a way of seeing into the future and can absolutely know for sure that what is coming is better, I would think that assuming it will be wonderful is...well...incorrect.

Nope. Silly was the right word. Downright silly really. Unless you have been living under a rock in terms of watching WWOHP 2.0 developments, it's pretty obviously going to be worlds better than again, one outdated shark and a land without much substance otherwise. So silly your post was, and silly it remains.