Disney Springs Plans: What do they mean?

[PhotoDave219]

I see your point, but the difference here is that Tom does not own those leaked photos. They are not his property to claim. Once those photos are leaked, the only entity people have to answer to for posting them are TWDC, not the original person who posted them.

Now, I do think it would be wrong for someone to take the story word for word from his site, post it on their site and pass it off as their own. However, as far as the photos go, Tom has zero ownership of them, unless he owns the copyrights.

You shouldnt steal photos regardless of who owns them.

Most site owners work long and hard (steve included) to get unreleased artwork. "Right-click, save-as, repost elsewhere" simply is not cool.

..........And I'm done with that topic.

 

[DrewmanS]

Which is why I posted it. We aren't all negative all the time. I recognize what they are going for here and ok, I'm fine with it if they make it very nice. I used to visit as a kid in the 80s when it was Lake Buena Vista Village (or whatever name) so I'm fine with the shopping space.

I also visited PI in the 90s as a preteen and loved that atmosphere. What 12 year old would not love celebrating NYE every night? Made one of those corny music videos. Saw the stand up shows.

We will see what happens here. Something reimagined and new is a good start.

And this is part of the problem. We tend to remember the good times and envision them returning but ignore how the circumstances have changed

I too visited Disney Village as a child, but a similar experience today would be a ghost town. Think of how malls, retail outlets, and big box stores have changed since the 70's.

People tend to remember a certain phase of PI. With any "adult" entertainment, trends and crowds change over time. In Atlanta people lamented when the Buckhead bar district was razed. However, most people remembered the height of the area in the 1990s and not the crime, noise, and congestion that followed in the 2000s.

PI will NEVER return. The question is, can Disney come up with a concept that they believe will draw resort guests to nighttime entertainment that will avoid becoming outdated by trends, avoid crime or alcohol related violence, and mix well with other retail and entertainment options in DTD.

My guess is we will see more places that mix dining, entertainment, and nightlife, but the return of nightclubs or a street party atmosphere is not worth the risks.

 

[thehowiet]

You shouldnt steal photos regardless of who owns them.

Most site owners work long and hard (steve included) to get unreleased artwork. "Right-click, save-as, repost elsewhere" simply is not cool.

..........And I'm done with that topic.

I totally agree that it is wrong to steal photos, regardless of who owns them, but if we are to take that stance then isn't Tom technically stealing by posting photos that aren't his? I am also going under the assumption that Tom does not own those photos or did not have permission from the owner of the copyrights to post those photos. If I am wrong, then I apologize.

 

[dcibrando]

how many of us "stole" our profile pic? lol

 

[thehowiet]

how many of us "stole" our profile pic? lol

Excellent point, and I am definitely guilty of that.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I totally agree that it is wrong to steal photos, regardless of who owns them, but if we are to take that stance then isn't Tom technically stealing by posting photos that aren't his? I am also going under the assumption that Tom does not own those photos or did not have permission from the owner of the copyrights to post those photos. If I am wrong, then I apologize.

Apples and Oranges. What he does is what he does. We can't control what someone else does, we can only control how we behave or react to it.

 

[Alektronic]

And I am sure that the Brits will be thrilled to find a Topshop in Orlando.

I know indeed many people who do quite a lot of shopping when they travel to the US - but I always get the impression that it is the outlet malls where they spend the largest junk of their money.

Also, the willingness of the international guests to spend money does depend very much on exchange rate as well. Which is something that will fluctuate over the years. At the moment the dollar is rather cheap for many people, but who knows how that will be like in 5 years. So building malls with a view especially to international guests might not be the best bet...

I agree about he outlet malls, they are always packed and everyone is buying something like clothes, shoes, etc. Everyone is always carrying a lot of bags or buying luggage to keep their purchases in. That's the difference the Premium Outlet Mall just down the street on Vineland Ave. At the outlet mall, everyone is buying and at DTD everyone is looking around and maybe grabbing a bite to eat but I don't see that many people carrying much merchandise. At WOD, it is always crowded but most people are just browsing and not buying, there is hardly any lines at the cash registers. It seems like Disney is going to try to compete with the outlet malls more than like CityWalk.

 

[Figments Friend]

If Anaheim feels more exciting than Orlando's, then I'm afraid I won't like Orlando's. Anaheim's is not very exciting... At all.

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You might like it in the same way i did looking at Anaheim*s DtD.....in that the O-town version will seem exciting to your eyes because it will be *new* and *different* compared to the version you are already very familiar with. This is part of the reason why i prefer the Anahiem version...because of it being *different* from what i am already far too familar with.

There are lots of differences between the two, so it might come across as a bit more appealing.

 

[misterID]

I don't want to pile on here, because I think this is a good idea and something I'm shocked they haven't done a long time ago. But it seems like a continuing sad trend here lately that when Disney does invest in WDW it seems they feel more comfortable using their convenience card about investment in guests experience than they do about innovating and knocking something out of the ball park.

Again, I like the idea of this I just... I don't know. With Comcast investing so much into their Florida parks, and glimpsing some of the impressive ideas they're planning for the future of UNI, a lot of us hoped it would drive Disney into an arms race to see who was going to be the biggest and baddest of Orlando. That's something a lot of us were hoping for when WWOHP opened. Disney's response has just been along the lines of, "oh, that's nice... We're investing a billion in getting guests to purchase more merch."

It's just frustrating

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

Saw on this updated to Screamscape today: "Good news for fans of Downtown Disney’s Planet Hollywood. According to Screamscape sources who spoke with some anonymous Planet Hollywood peeps and the big globe restaurant will be getting an extensive makeover sometime during the next year or so, along with a slightly new name… but it will still essentially be the same Planet Hollywood you’ve come to know, with the same popular menu items. From this we assume that the structure will be visually transformed to appear less globe-like, and look more like a large themed observatory building instead. I’m also going to guess that the new name for the restaurant may be something along the lines of ‘The Observatory at Planet Hollywood”. Again, nothing major here just reiterating the Observatory restaurant concept. Basically just gives an idea of what kind of offerings this restaurant would give us. On a side note, it would be cool and weird if they make each well known celebrity a planet in the restaurant (Planet Gaga for lady gaga). But that won't happen. I trust this site more than S.S., so I'll treat their theory with a grain of salt.The best way to execute this here is to make it like your viewing/in a planatarium like venue. Then every half hour, a meteor shower would occur and you'd be able to look up to the ceiling and witness it. I hope from a thematic standpoint it mimics the work as seen in TREX and RFC which I'm sure it will. I hope at the very least this project gets mentioned at that Shareholder's meeting on Wednesday.

 

[Californian Elitist]

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You might like it in the same way i did looking at Anaheim*s DtD.....in that the O-town version will seem exciting to your eyes because it will be *new* and *different* compared to the version you are already very familiar with. This is part of the reason why i prefer the Anahiem version...because of it being *different* from what i am already far too familar with.

There are lots of differences between the two, so it might come across as a bit more appealing.

Hhmm, maybe.

 

[Lee]

Saw on this updated to Screamscape today...

Seems likely...the PH staying part.

The stuff I put up earlier includes a piece of Observatory art.

 

[Virtual Toad]

After I just complained how these threads always get derailed, here I go derailing it ...

But no. Would not fit at all. Would just exacerbate the trend critics tend to exaggerate of it becoming exclusively a hang-out for local hard core fanbois and CPs. Also much of the humor would cease to work. And after the intial rush of internet-inspired popularity, the place would start losing money.

I hate to agree to this but pragmatically, AC, as it was, needs a Pleasure Island-like environment to support it. AC wouldn't work so well in what these plans show, which is basically a yuppie-inspired outdoor lifestyle mall. I wonder if even Trader Sam's would be a good fit.

Which comes back to my biggest criticism of the plans. It's a mall-- with little to no charm, whimsy or adventure. It is not a Disney-inspired destination. It's a cookie cutter concept that could be (and already is being) built all over the world.

What DtD needs is a unique, wacky, FUN adult district with the true Disney touch. Such a district could exist alongside the generi-mall but it would need to have its own indentity and gate.

Wait, this is starting to sound familiar.

 

[flynnibus]

Now, I do think it would be wrong for someone to take the story word for word from his site, post it on their site and pass it off as their own

At the core - that's his tantrum. The photos are just a manifestation of that complaint. Hanging on the photo was just the way he tried to point the 'ah ha!' at - yet failed to recognize the photo could not have been a derivative of the one he posted.

Stories are traffic and audience builders - and if you undercut them by 'copying' the news you steal their thunder and their efforts to build their own following. Ultimately that's what he's accusing people of... Don't know/don't care if he's accurate or not. That's just what he's stomping about ultimately.

 

[flynnibus]

Pretty shopping is just that.. pretty shopping.

I think the problem is Disney lacking something COMPELLING to draw you in. Something that makes it entertainment in its own right. That's what PI was.. dining and entertainment wrapped together as a way of spending your evening.. and done in a Disney spin.

Shopping.. for too many people.. is just not an exciting thing you do.. no matter how cool the store. It's a practicality - not an experience upon itself. For some it is.. for many it is not.

 

[alphac2005]

Disney's response has just been along the lines of, "oh, that's nice... We're investing a billion in getting guests to purchase more merch."

It's just frustrating

That's it. They'll spend money only if it is designed to have their customers (The term guests shouldn't apply because they don't respect their customer as guests at the present in ORL) buy more objects or eat more food. To me, it's insulting that the high cost of admission to the theme parks doesn't equate to these fine managers in Orlando that they owe the customer, in the very least, a quality, fully functioning product. It's pathetic that just wanting the current attractions to be well kept and functioning would make me a much happier customer than I am now while also having the notion of them not building any new attractions. Talk about Kevin Yee's declining degrees. They'll make a lot of us happy just having things function and look tidy, let alone build anything innovative or groundbreaking.

One angle that I'd like to take on about the Disney Springs concept, which looks very much like something we have coming in our area in ATL, which is based on The Grove and several other similar style concepts, is what if there are more people out there than many of us think that once they start walking around the "new" Disney shopping zone and they have a negative connotation with it? You know, I can see it now, the dad that says it looks like all the other junk in mall and we're not paying to go to Disney to shop at the mall? It'll be interesting to see the take that people have.

I did see some mentions of locals and let me tell you that having been local in ORL, if you have the choice to shop at these places at Millenia in the air conditioning and with a much lower threshold of tourists and at Disney, it's a no brainer, Millenia. Heck, if you're not down in the tourist corridor, the idea of going down to the Disney area most nights, that's not so well liked by most locals. Additionally, the international tourist angle? Those folks are heading to the "outlet" malls. If any of the names from some of the floated image from @raven are the case, this is more about appealing to the higher income, yuppie that the property is trying to desperately to cater to today.

Well, under the premise that this actually gets built. Hyperion Wharf was supposedly a done deal... or not.

 

[Virtual Toad]

@alphac2005: The more this sets in the more I think this is WDWs "outlet mall killer." The same way AK was designed as the Busch Gardens/Sea World Killer. The way PI was the Church Street Sation killer.

It doesn't have to be great. Just good enough to keep people on property.* This does seem aimed at international guests and WDW is squarely focused on that market right now.

*Except PI was truly great.

 

[djlaosc]

I agree about he outlet malls, they are always packed and everyone is buying something like clothes, shoes, etc. Everyone is always carrying a lot of bags or buying luggage to keep their purchases in. That's the difference the Premium Outlet Mall just down the street on Vineland Ave. At the outlet mall, everyone is buying and at DTD everyone is looking around and maybe grabbing a bite to eat but I don't see that many people carrying much merchandise. At WOD, it is always crowded but most people are just browsing and not buying, there is hardly any lines at the cash registers. It seems like Disney is going to try to compete with the outlet malls more than like CityWalk.

@alphac2005: The more this sets in the more I think this is WDWs "outlet mall killer." The same way AK was designed as the Busch Gardens/Sea World Killer. The way PI was the Church Street Sation killer.

It doesn't have to be great. Just good enough to keep people on property.* This does seem aimed at international guests and WDW is squarely focused on that market right now.

*Except PI was truly great.

Well, then they (the shops) are going to have to charge outlet mall prices - and so they would have to sell a lot to be able to pay the DTD rent...

 

[marni1971]

Hardly an outlet mall killer with DTD prices.

Like many tourists, we know where to go for bargains.

 

[Bolna]

@alphac2005: The more this sets in the more I think this is WDWs "outlet mall killer." The same way AK was designed as the Busch Gardens/Sea World Killer. The way PI was the Church Street Sation killer.

It doesn't have to be great. Just good enough to keep people on property.* This does seem aimed at international guests and WDW is squarely focused on that market right now.

*Except PI was truly great.

But outlet malls are popular with the international guests because of the prices. Not because they are so magical. I don't expect the shops at Disney Springs to be known for their cheap prices.