Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
Sooooo... Should I bookmark this post for down the road when it can be re-posted to prove you wrong again, or should I just do a search for it when the time comes?
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Disney(World) vs. Disney(land)?
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
Sooooo... Should I bookmark this post for down the road when it can be re-posted to prove you wrong again, or should I just do a search for it when the time comes?
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
Rasvar
Well-Known Member
They tried and failed. Disney has been doing everything possible since Universal started planning to keep people on property. Even before that they tried to lock people in. What was the original reason PI came about? Church Street Station. It was pulling guests off property. There is a reason Disney-MGM opened a year prior to Universal Florida. There is a reason Animal Kingdom opened a year prior to IOA. There is also a reason Disney began a free shuttle service to and from MCO for it's hotel guests and why it keeps building DVC and new hotels in a bad market. They do it to create the captive audience. NextGen is another step in trying to create that captive audience. That is not the sign of a company that is looking for a vibrant competition to thrive. You don't see Disney teaming up with other theme parks for package deals like Sea World, Universal and Busch Gardens do. As far as Legoland goes, I really don't think TDO cares one bit. It is never going to be a threat.
Now, Disney does react slow because it is organizationally bloated. It takes forever to make simple decisions because just deciding on a new design for napkins takes meetings in two different cities and four focus groups. Most of the problems still go back to the failure of EuroDisney and some of the purges and realignments that came from the fallout. You ended up with a lot of very conservative risk averse people in decision making positions. This is why the projects that have been undertaken have been low risk low reward. You are now seeing some less risk adverse leadership coming back in but you are correct the focus has been on fixing the disaster that was DCA first. There was an impression at high levels that WDW was able to run on cruise control. The fact that so much discounting has been going on that people now expect free dining show the resort is losing value. This is where the leadership missed the signal that the competition was raising the bar. There is some panic at TDO. The plans that they had are not meeting the expectations. This does not mean they are going to rush. I still contend the focus for WDW will be on a broad program culminating with the 50th anniversary. That is a nine year period. FLE was not part of it. It was a remnant. NextGen is going to be shifted to stopgap until bigger plans can be blue skyed and brain stormed. Avatarland is probably vaporware. That does not mean some of the blue sky items that came out of it won't see the light of day. They will probably see other life. But, you can be assured that the position they had planned to be in at WDW at this time is not where they thought they would be three years ago. Having a panic is not always bad if it acts as a wake up call.
First, second, third.........
asianway
Well-Known Member
I guarantee you there is no official policy that sets who gets what comps...
fillerup
Well-Known Member
Since this has become a discussion about whether WDW is doing worth a crap, is TDO panicking or supremely confident, there's this to chew on with respect to Disney 2012:
O'Sentinel, Sara K. Clarke, 8/16/12 -
Florida tourism headed for 2nd record year with 22.1 million visitors in 2nd quarter
"Florida's tourism industry is on pace for a record year in 2012, industry officials said Thursday as they released second-quarter visitor figures.
Visit Florida, the state's publicly subsidized marketing agency, said 22.1 million people paid Florida a visit in the three months through June 30, according to preliminary estimates, a 1.3 percent increase from the same period last year. Combined with the 23.7 million visitors reported for the first quarter, that puts Florida's visitor count this year slightly ahead of last year's total through the first six months."
Full Article Here
My observations are purely anecdotal, but nothing I've seen this year points to record crowds at WDW this year. Modest crowds mostly. Parking lots at numerous resorts both valet and self parking half to two-thirds empty month after month. Just sayin'.
O'Sentinel, Sara K. Clarke, 8/16/12 -
Florida tourism headed for 2nd record year with 22.1 million visitors in 2nd quarter
"Florida's tourism industry is on pace for a record year in 2012, industry officials said Thursday as they released second-quarter visitor figures.
Visit Florida, the state's publicly subsidized marketing agency, said 22.1 million people paid Florida a visit in the three months through June 30, according to preliminary estimates, a 1.3 percent increase from the same period last year. Combined with the 23.7 million visitors reported for the first quarter, that puts Florida's visitor count this year slightly ahead of last year's total through the first six months."
Full Article Here
My observations are purely anecdotal, but nothing I've seen this year points to record crowds at WDW this year. Modest crowds mostly. Parking lots at numerous resorts both valet and self parking half to two-thirds empty month after month. Just sayin'.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
But wait! I posted a few just for you!
I think people go to WDW for a vast array of reasons, no different than 20 years ago, except some of those reasons have changed.
I do believe there is an addiction factor for some (no, I know it, but am trying to be 'nice').
I do believe there is a lifestyle component (that didn't exist 20 years ago) of people moving to O-Town to avoid life and spend vast amounts of time killing life while oogling the construction walls in Fantasyland or walking around the World Showcase lagoon.
I do believe there is a nostalgia factor that is being played that didn't exist at one time, a nostalgia for past vacations at WDW and not nostalgia for Colonial America or the Wild West or the exotic Polynesia.
I do believe there are more people visiting WDW because while they have the funds to go elsewhere, they are afraid (I'm not even talking China or Germany here, I'm talking NYC or LA or SF!)
I do believe (actually I KNOW it to be true) that WDW and its marketing department have used all of the above to cultivate a stale product, one that doesn't get the tender love it requires, but gets the quick 'luv ya, peck on the cheek as you rush to the car!'
I don't believe WDW will ever be the place it once was. Can it be better than it was in 1999 or 2003 or 2007 or 2010 or now? Yes. But there's no going waaay back. Not possible. WDW is always going to be a lesser product than in its golden days because there is no going back.
Times have changed. People have changed. They are dumber than ever. They are more willing to play corporate apologists than ever. But I don't wish to start discussing society's ills ...
so I'll just end where I started the thread: WDW will get better in the years ahead, but it is due to others and not a fundamental desire to be the best, but it will come at a cost and you can expect more price increases and cutbacks as TDO desperately tries to not lose more market share and have numbers that don't look as bad as they really are.
You know I think us evil Disney Haters need to get together and decide once and for all who we're going to respond to.
Feeding the goats at the petting zoo can be fun for a few minutes (remember when they had one where FLE is going or at FW ... and how much fun they were!), but eventually you start realizing what you are stepping in and tracking around and it really smells and ruins your lime green sneakers ... and you just don't want that!
Take a step back ... I hear there's a Chick-Fil-A right around the corner from you. Go grab a sandwich and some waffle fries and relax. I am soooo hungry now.
I assume you won't place the name or publication out here ... but it won't stop me from asking ... and I always get what I want in the end!
misterID
Well-Known Member
So, basically I'll continue watching the growth of UNI Orlando in the coming years, while waiting around for WDW to catch up.... At some point somone at Disney is going to have to say, "enough is enough" and put someone in charge of TDO who has the passion for WDW that Lasseter has for DLR. If that person even exists.
It's also amazing listening to Imagineers, even Eddie to a point, and that there is literally no one I've ever seen, outside Joe R., who has the kind of affection for WDW that they do for DLR.
I'm optimistic still, but man....
Not quite ... I do know back in the 'old media' days they definitely had scales of deciding who got what, which I know they damn well have a version of with 'new media'
Now ... if Blogger A and two friends shows up for dinner at say Cape May Cafe, no there is no set policy on comping meals at all. But if someone knows Blogger A and is in a position to do so, they most certainly can simply make the check disappear.
They don't call it the MAGIC kingdom for nothing.
But wait! I posted a few just for you!
If you really want me to read something, feel free to link me to said post or send me a note.
I just saw what started early this morning and I want no part of it at all.
I've never known one Imagineer who has the passion for WDW that they do for DL ... but I'll say that with a caveat.
They don't let the really passionate guys (the ones who care about quality and like to spend on it) work WDW anymore.
I'd guess if Tony Baxter were put in charge of EPCOT, and given the proper resources, you might just see a whole different approach to things taken.
jt04
Well-Known Member
This is why the "pendulum" or if you prefer the "spirited change" is happening at WDW. They know they need to invest they just have had more pressing needs elsewhere. WDI is not a McDonalds Drive Thru either.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
No, not really. People are the same. They are the same today as they were 10, 100, or 1000 years ago.
The difference is Disney management has changed. You know the history of Disney well enough to know that Walt treated his customers with respect. That corporate culture continued for decades after his death. But then senior management (cough, Eisner, cough) changed and the culture within Disney devolved as people who believed in Walt's vision were slowly replaced by business suits with no passion, who were more concerned with their annual bonuses than with Walt's legacy. People who completely abandoned Walt's values as he expressed so eloquently:
jt04
Well-Known Member
They have not been "sitting on their duff" at TWDC. They had more pressing needs to attend to. They have and now they are turning their attention to WDW. Simple.
lebeau
Well-Known Member
Inaccurate, but simple.