But how long before other parks start copying it?
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DHS Soundstage 1 Renovation - Toy Storia Mania expansion
- Thread starter danlb_2000
- Start date
But how long before other parks start copying it?
BrerJon
Well-Known Member
Have you actually been to the parks recently? Long lines at guest relations, people not able to get on rides because of failing bands, long standby lines because nobody can be bothered to work out the kiosks or use the app, cashiers asking people to take their bands off and write the number down because the terminals failed... it all may work fine on a quiet sunny day, but on busy days with bad weather, as Orlando has had recently, it comes across like a complete mess.
You just have to stand by a Fastpass+ kiosk and listen to the guest comments to see it's nowhere near as popular as Disney would have you believe.
BrerJon
Well-Known Member
They can't, according to the Blue Ocean advocates it's impossible to copy because Disney is so amazing they are competing in an area no-one else can touch.
Oh, except for all those water parks that use bands to pay with stuff of course. And all those restaurants that let you book online. And all those museum and other attractions in busy cities that let you book a timeslot to visit.
Erm... help me out here... LOOK! FROZEN!!!!
Yeah, and the parks that were doing this sort of thing 10 years ago.
Cosmic Commando
Well-Known Member
I know this is from six pages ago, but it's like nails on a chalkboard!
1. Sleeping Beauty Castle opened with the park in 1955 as Sleeping Beauty Castle. Any time where it was Snow White's castle was in pre-opening hypothetical la-la land. Sleeping Beauty was released in 1959.
2. Dinosaur was always a subtle tie-in to the movie; it was made much more overt later, though.
flynnibus
Premium Member
1 Disney isn't telling anyone they are choosing blue ocean
2 it's not about the bands or times slots.
Can't tell if you are trollin or really are this dense. It helps to understand the basics before playing critic
Lord_Vader
Join me, together we can rule the galaxy.
July 25th through August 6th this summer and overall we liked MM+, mostly the MM and FP+ (don't like 60 reservations as much as some but really liked making changes on the bus ride to park.) The lines in GR were about normal, there were a few with issues but not anything out of the ordinary. The few times we used a kiosk for additional FP+s the lines were 10-20 people deep but typically less than 5 minutes in and out which is about what we used to spend in line for FPs so net-zero additional wait overall for us...
The FP+ lines outside rides were a bit longer but shorter inside so overall a net-zero too.
We had very busy days, rainy days and all were very hot. In fact we were there the day the entire system crashed and to be honest it had very little effect on our day, the FP+s for the day were "backed up" as a screen-shot so we knew exactly when our windows opened up for each ride.
I just don't see MM+ as a total disaster, there were minor issues but there are always minor issues during a two week vacation.
The one major issue we had was last Christmas when my daughter's band quit being accepted anywhere... Not at kiosks for payment, restaurants or attractions but a quick visit (10 minutes total in and out) at GR fixed it. It was a total PITA to have to walk from HM area to GR during Christmas rush but all in all not the end of the world.
Terminals fail, whether they are credit card readers or RFID transceivers, an occasional hardware issue is a part of any operation this large. Are large numbers of these failures acceptable, not at all but we experienced very few issues that adversely affected our trips that were because of MM+.
IMO there are more important issues at WDW than FP vs FP+ regardless of the capital outlay TDO has invested.
Lord_Vader
Join me, together we can rule the galaxy.
My opinion... As soon as they see $$$$
BrerJon
Well-Known Member
I guess I'm really this dense. I just don't understand what they're doing that fits the description of the strategy; the only thing anyone has offered is MyMagic+, so that's the aspect I was commenting on and asking about, for those - like yourself - who understand Disney's motivations better.
Basically I don't care what it's called, I just want better parks, but when we're told we're not getting decent attractions anymore, and they're not even trying to compete with Universal, because of Blue Ocean, I don't think it does any harm to try to understand the logic a little instead of just assuming they know what they're doing and we'll all get better parks in the long run.
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BrerJon
Well-Known Member
Sorry to derail the thread. The reason I brought it up was Mike wondered why they didn't attempt to compete with Universal when they first learned about Diagon, and I replied it was Blue Ocean. I learned about Blue Ocean from this article, and none of the posts since have adequately explained why it's not an accurate portrayal of the situation.
http://micechat.com/62433-disneys-mymagic-failure/
GoofGoof
Premium Member
Cesar R M
Well-Known Member
flynnibus
Premium Member
I hope you know that is just a poster here who basically was writing an article about what he read here on WDWMagic.
Disney is employing strategies like this - but you're mangling it all up and hence getting the choices wrong while missing the grander schemes. Yes other people have bands, yes other people have reservations... but do others have the kind of platform and vertical integration Disney is now building across all elements of their theme park... from the pre-trip all the way through? Disney chose a path to invest in building out their platforms to support new products that leveraged the data they collect, the data people volunteer, the transactions people participate in, and much more. The vision pokes its head out into the guest's vision in many different places/ways.. but you have to see the grander vision and purpose if you want to judge.
Disney hasn't gotten it right yet.. but that doesn't mean they won't keep iterating and getting better. People moaned for ages over Disney's phone systems, etc... yet the world kept on ticking. What Disney is putting first in priorities is concerning .. more so than any delays on other spending IMO.
Where people should be concerned about Disney's strategy IMO is their intentions on squeezing more revenue from guests as a way of sustaining growth instead of actual growth in customers. The price hikes and 'premium' add-ons are way out of control and largely unjustified IMO.
jdmdisney99
Well-Known Member
1. 'Tis my mistake, long weeks hurt my brain. But it was officially referred to as Snow White's Castle before opening, not only in Blue Sky. The point still stands that they didn't set it up so far in advance. It was changed by Walt because Sleeping Beauty was indeed entering production around the time of opening (remember when animated features used to take so much longer?)
2. Similar character design isn't really a tie-in IMO. It was forced in around 2000 to push the movie into the mainstream and to generate publicity.
(3. Really hoping Disney can get their act together with TPFKaTD-MGMSaDHS. Star Wars, Pixar and thorough filling out of the park would be great by the end of Iger, though I know it's just wishful thinking.)
BrerJon
Well-Known Member
Fair enough, I can see how that integration can appeal to some people.
By making a statement that they're done with the attraction business, that the new attractions are the integration, platforms and data-sharing, Disney is also making a statement that a guest like me is no longer who they are interested in. I've been on every attraction many times, so I'm only interested in new things, and have no desire to plan anything more than a couple of hours out. Cut that out, and you cut me out as a potential guest.
But I'm in a small minority. Most people, it's becoming clear, would *much* prefer Fastpass+, MDE and MagicBands to a billion dollars worth of new attractions, I see that now, and I'm not selfish enough to think that just because I would prefer new attractions for all-ages, they should build them instead of pleasing the families who prefer Bands, infrastructure and kiddie-rides. But I am sad that these decisions give me no reason to plan another visit anytime soon, after decades of going regularly.
Captain Neo
Well-Known Member
adding new scenes and such isn't free. Star Tours 2 probably cost as much (if not more) than the little mermaid ride. They basically would have to overhaul everything again.
flynnibus
Premium Member
It's not supposed to appeal to people - the products it ENABLES and the customer experience is what are supposed to appeal to people. Like the idea of memory maker just showing up automatically.. or the idea you can guarantee an experience without worry.. or the idea of the all the park in your pocket on your mobile device, etc. Not everything has to be for everyone either.
Huh? Where are you coming up with this crap? They've made no such statement.. just like the last thing you attributed them to stating was wrong too.
Nice selective application there.. I love how people pick one thing they don't like and throw the whole thing under the bus for one thing.
Again... you're making stuff up to tear it down. NextGen wasn't funded in lieu of attractions.
Who here is saying the billion plus spent on DCA was done at the expense of WDW attractions?? Both were additional INVESTMENTS - not robbing peter to pay paul.
And whatever money they end of spending here at DHS is not going to be at the expense of adding a ride elsewhere.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
Oh come on, that's not true at all -- most everyone would love to have new attractions. But even with that, it is true that many (myself included) do like the functionality and benefits of the MBs, MM+, FP+, etc. I don't think it's fair or reasonable to complete condemn the features as stuff no one could like, which tends to be the prevailing attitude on this message board.
Lord_Vader
Join me, together we can rule the galaxy.
When did Disney state they are out of the attraction business? They haven't been the most aggressive, actually not aggressive at all over the past decade but things can change rather quickly. It seems to me that they are financing a huge infrastructure growth plan to support whatever is coming next. Next won't be next year but expansion must come to support the number of new visitors that keep streaming into the parks. They all need more attractions, especially DHS, EC & AK. Right now there are constructions projects everywhere, WDW is a giant construction project but is light on attractions but signals point to a greater expansion of new attraction build coming very quickly with Pandora, DHS Project whatever, Maelstrom and the expansion of Soarin' being rumored and so on. Disney Springs is coming along too, all to support the expected influx of guests, patience is hard when nothing has happen for a very long time, hopefully we will look at the past 10 years as the Disney dark ages.
I would prefer a billion in new attractions too but would absolutely HATE having to deal with even longer lines to get into the parks, longer lines waiting for them. I don't necessarily agree with Disney's spend on MM+ but cannot argue the need for an upgrade IT system, WiFi in the parks/resorts and many of the upgrades that were part of MM+ that nobody seems to complain about because they use them extensively. Nobody cares about infrastructure until it breaks down, then everyone complains that it should have been fixed. TDOs backend was in bad shape, truly needed replacement and it took a project like MM+ to get the board & Iger to fund the necessary upgrades. It used to take 1/2 hour to make a dining reservation at the parks, we had to either sit on the phone or wait in line for concierge service, now I can change it in MDE within a minute.
BrerJon
Well-Known Member
I think it's pretty much only me that doesn't like them, I realise that now.
The original question was why, when Disney knew what Universal was planning months in advance, did they not build anything to compete?
I thought the answer was because they were planning something guests would find far more appealing in the form of NGE. Other posters have corrected my assumption, and clarified that NGE had no impact on attraction spending and was never an alternative strategy.
So if the answer to the Universal question is not "we got MyMagic instead", then what is it? The original mystery is still unanswered... why did they do nothing, when they heard what Universal was planning?