Disneyland's Marketing Strategy for 2020??? Because 2019 Was A Mess!

brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Perfection!

In TDA's defense, hindsight is 20/20 and we all thought the place would be drowned in crowds once Star Wars Land opened. But...

This summer was a mess for them, the cherry on top of a messy year regardless of what was happening with the "Frontierland Expansion" a la' @SSG.

You could write a business book on this whole thing and how not to market and debut a Billion Dollar expansion to the general public.

The silver lining here is that their big headliner E Ticket is a disaster of reliability and WiFi connectivity and software engineering. That gives them a six month reprieve to dog paddle before they get to relaunch this land again.

From the overheard casual conversations this morning in the Spokane airport to the ongoing and more enlightened discussions here in this forum, I'm now convinced that Bob Chapek's Parks, Experiences and Products Division:rolleyes: has totally bungled what should have been an easy win for both Disneyland and Disney World in a booming economy.

Let's see how they decide to fix this for 2020. They have their work cut out for them after the mess they made in 2019.
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I remember hearing years ago about Iger planning on leaving Disney as CEO on a high note with the opening of Galaxy's Edge. But that was before Disney decided to extend Iger as CEO much longer than expected.

I might get a little off topic, but at this point. I really hope either Iger or Chapek aren't still in charge by WDW's 50th Anniversary. Say what you will about Eisner, but at least WDW and DL used to go all out with their park anniversaries (Mainly in the 80's and 90's when they used to create anniversary parades) during the Eisner era.

Here's a brief retrospective of WDW and DL's previous major anniversaries.

Disneyland's 25th Anniversary (1980) (Pre-Eisner)


Disneyland's 35th Anniversary (1990)



Remember Party Gras Parade?


Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversary (1996)


Remember The Magic/Magical Moments Parade


This year's D23 gave a tease of Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary and even revealed the logo for 2021.

Walt-Disney-World-50th-Anniversary-Logo-1440x807.jpg

WDW's 50th deserves to go all out and not just another anniversary celebrated by just cupcakes and pins. I seriously hope they don't screw this up.
 
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Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
brb1006 said:
I remember hearing years ago about Iger planning on leaving Disney as CEO on a high note with the opening of Galaxy's Edge. But that was before Disney decided to extend Iger as CEO much longer than expected.

I might get a little off topic, but at this point. I really hope either Iger or Chapek aren't still in charge by WDW's 50th Anniversary. Say what you will about Eisner, but at least WDW and DL used to go all out with their park anniversaries (Mainly in the 80's and 90's). Even their older commercial felt charming.


Disneyland's 25th (1980)


Disneyland's 35th Anniversary (1990)


Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversary (1996)



Walt-Disney-World-50th-Anniversary-Logo-1440x807.jpg

I seriously hope they don't screw this up! WDW deserves to go all out and not just another anniversary celebrated by just cupcakes and pins.
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I trust that Iger has crunched the numbers and determined that they don’t make significantly more revenue on the anniversaries...the clientele is completely different now.

That’s why he’s never done one in Orlando.
Would that be the case if there was money in it?
 
Jones14

Jones14

Well-Known Member
Darkbeer1 said:
DLR is busy in January. The first week is still A cool break for many, followed by MLK, Jr. Holiday weekend, and the largest convention on the West Coast, the NAMM show.

Disney specifically timed the DL opening for the holiday weekend, to ensure that the lines are long for RotR. Question is, how long will that last?
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I think if the ride is any good, it’ll last for quite a while. Flight of Passage and Radiator Springs Racers still have the rope drop race every day, and when you add in the guaranteed hourly breakdowns, I think we’re gonna be seeing insane lines.

DHS crowds should ramp up through the summer as Mickey and Rat open up as well, and DL should be able to ride the Rise hype from Florida if it blows people away over there.
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
Darkbeer1 said:
One of the Nine Old Men....

en.wikipedia.org

Ward Kimball - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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365daysofward.jpg

Ward Kimball was a very unique member of Disney's Nine Old Men. He's best known for his oddball sense of humor and animation style. Like Walt he was also very fond of trains.

Here's his animation reel.


Here's more of his animations. (Warning some of Ward's animations seen in this video might be controversial by modern audiences. Remember that some of these were made between the 1930s and 1940s.)


Ward Kimball's only work outside the Disney company was the 1968 short "Escalations" (which I can't link due to the site's rules but you can view it on Youtube) which was shown at College campuses during the 1968 Election Year. While I don't want to get political, let's just say Kimball wasn't fond of LBJ. The short was also an indie project and made studio.

An upcoming biography book on him is set to release sometime this year.
 
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Travel Junkie

Travel Junkie

Well-Known Member
Darkbeer1 said:
I wish I could share what is being discussed in the Visit Anaheim/Chamber of Commerce/Non Disney Hotel Owners/city officials/SOAR and the TDA suits that attend these meetings. I guess I can say the mood and tone is not good, that serious errors have happened, and now they still are making downward plans.

I won't use the word panic, but it was close earlier this year.

Last Friday's DLR PR lunch to the movers and shakers was specifically done to try and calm us down. The CSUF study helped, but everyone is looking at lower income revenue for the rest of the year.....

Next year, you have SFMM finally opens West Coast Racers, USH opens Secret Life of Pets, and Knott's has its biggest Marketing plan for its 100th. With Disney AP's keep going up, and other parks are in the $100-200 range for SoCal residents, the tide is turning a bit away from the DLR to other options.....
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I'm pulling numbers out of thin air here for effect, but no one is disputing they are not hitting plan. They also don't have the for sale sign everything must go. Far from it.

For Q4 if they projected 15% year over year increase and they are only at 5% over then yes they will not be happy but also they are up year over year. Both can be true. The nature of financial people is to panic over every dollar. That is who they are.

On another note. I for one am very tired of the I wish I can talk about things but can't BS. Part of NDA's are not talking endlessly about having an NDA. Get over yourself.
 
D

DanielBB8

Well-Known Member
Rise of Resistance opening while Rise of Skywalker is still in theaters is the peak of marketing or disaster. So far, the buzz on Rise of Skywalker isn't good. They spent $250 million on the movie and still doing reshoots and graphics. This fiasco can definitely cause problems for Rise of Resistance since the Sequel Trilogy is tied too closely to the new land.

I wonder if they will offer the SoCal 2 day or 3 day pass as usually in the winter/spring (January to May). I originally expected them to skip out on them due to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge success, but maybe not this time. Getting the crowds in with 8 hours lines will be a good thing this time around.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Let's look at the last quarter's numbers released by TWDC.

Attendance was down both in attendance and income compared to 2018.

And the July through September numbers are also tracking below last year in both categories.

Disney did waive CM Block out days, the half price one day park hoppers for selected folks, brought back the Electrical Parade through the end of the Fiscal Year, handing out AP Magnets and buttons, and have implemented major cut backs in CM hours, especially in Entertainment, but also things like mid-day Monorail operations.

The numbers are not good at all. Now 2 quarter's that are not as good as 2018, even though they opened Galaxy's Edge.

To try and imply anything else is just wishful thinking and spin.
 

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