Disney made a choice in it’s marketing department to cater towards a specific king of guest, once-in-a-lifetimers and the super-elite. Once-in-a-lifetime guests don’t know the difference between what was there and what was not. Those people are currently (mostly) unable to enter the country. Elites are mostly doing safer outdoor activities now, especially because most upcharge events, D23 experiences, etc. are unavailable. They have purposefully let the middle, presumably those who love the parks going once yearly or every other year, or those that have some sort of annual pass, those that return regardless of up-charge events and that first-timer magic, drop out.
This is a conscious decision that Disney made, in hopes that by reducing overall experience options for the “middle” and adding more and more upcharge events (see the multiple Club 33 buildings, the Festival model’s many upcharge experiences, the way that queues were artificially inflated with Fastpass in order to increase the value of EMH and hotel accommodations that don’t their price, etc.). Now the parks are relying on the middle. This is not Disney’s choice, but it is what happened.
Fox was an unnecessary purchase, IMHO, and was predicated on the fact that once-in-a-life timers and elites would be a steady flow of income for the company. The only steady flow that exists now seems to be Disney+, and it makes sense that they are investing completely in it. I fear that Disney will not make back their money spent on Fox unless they truly utilize their IP. I hope that I will begin to see tangible returns from this company as a Disney Fan, but as of now there seems to be no payoff. I see this as a decision Disney made to cornerthe market on entertainment, and definitely not a a reason to “forgive Disney” for it’s cuts.
Shanghai Disneyland is beautiful, but as their investments in China wobble in time with politics and COVID-19 fallout (see the closure of Disney English), it will becomes more and more tenuous to visit that park, which I think is truly great from experience. Disney made this decision to become more entrenched in the Chinese market and to value the brand of Disney, which is not to me, as a fan, to “deal with all of it”.
Items like Galaxy’s Edge are wonderful, especially the true improvement in guest experience that is Rise of the Resistance. However, the new lands felt less like treats and more like reparations for allowing Disney to charge a full ticket price for a park that had a distinctly fewer number of attractions than others, especially if we do take away all entertainment. It still does not feel like the cost of that park, to me, is justified. And much of the land is laden with those up-charge events that were discussed earlier, like Savi’s and the Droid experience, though that’s neither here nor there. Disneyland’s version does not seem to me like an extra expense, but a value that allowed the company to decrease costs of possible design changes in the future at a location where big Star Wars content would likely be demanded several years after GE Studios’ opening. Building the two at the same time seems like a smart business move to save money to me, and not a reason to “deal with all of it”.
I am personally unsure of the numbers on Onward and Mulan, but this is largely result of the pandemic closing movie theatres, and will be surprised if there is a “box office success” anytime soon from any movie studio. They made the decision to release these films on Disney+, and cannot understand how being put in the same position as other companies makes Disney more of a martyr-like figure. This is not a reason to “deal with all of it”.
All of these decisions read to me as things that Disney has done to make money for themselves over the long-term, focusing on tricky business dealings, synergistic opportunism, and creating more market share for themselves. More importantly, these are all cold, calculated risks that Disney has made - and as such, they have made the decision to not invest in other things. I do not understand why we should forgive them for betting too much money on the wrong games and playing their cards in the wrong order, instead of investing them into more traditional shows of goodwill to the “middle”.
It is easy to become outraged with entertainment, but it is also important to remember that the company has laid off countless other employees, including many other aspects of the parks that make just as much “magic” as entertainment. For this I am angry, as other theme park companies put out close to their full slate of entertainment daily.
I can respect the decisions they have made to cut but I will not pay for a ticket until the value of a ticket remotely matches it’s price. We would not have had so much “less” would the company have realized between 2006 - 2017 (and whatever lead time they had from before) they needed new attractions and substantial entertainment offerings. While it is nice to see new things now, I can’t help but remember the bare-bones New Fantasyland, the crop up in Josh D’Amaro inherited a Disney World full of possibility that was cut at the knees. I can imagine him feeling excited to be the “good guy”, being able to completely refresh Epcot, shepherd the theme parks through major milestone anniversaries, and christen new Disney ships. Instead, he has, due to the choices of those before him that valued shareholders instead of guests, a slew aborted projects and apologies to make. Because I feel bad does not mean I will “deal with all of it”. I will “deal with all of it” when I feel that there is value in my ticket, and when I, ultimately, feel like this company values me.