Do you think you would be a Disney fan if your first time was recently?

[DisneyDoctor]

I can't believe the people who said no. Why? Did you misread the thread or what? Or are you just so stubborn?

See what I meant about response bias..

 

[MinnieWaffles]

See what I meant about response bias..

No, and I don't care. I think it's a silly thread, really.

 

[erasure fan1]

Attendance is at an all time high..

And that is something I can't get. But I look at it like this. Most people don't notice the erosion until there is a landslide. He might not be hurting things in the short, but I believe there is long term damage being done.

 

[DisneyDoctor]

No, and I don't care. I think it's a silly thread, really.

It's very easy to respond with "I don't care." Try putting some more thought into your responses.

Anyways, my response to you was more to prove the point that response bias will affect the answers greatly. We all must really love Disney to have joined a WDW forum. Of course the vast majority of respondents will say 'yes.'

 

[DisneyDoctor]

And that is something I can't get. But I look at it like this. Most people don't notice the erosion until there is a landslide. He might not be hurting things in the short, but I believe there is long term damage being done.

I think your erosion analogy applies to most franchises, but I'm not convinced it applies to Disney. If WDW were a hill, it'd be analogous to Olympus. I'm not sure what could bring it down..

 

[LUVofDIS]

Purely anectdotal but in the past year I've visited with two separate families that had never been. Neither were impressed.

My sister and nephew went for the first time a few months ago. They only visited MK and AK. My nephew is 28. My sister loved/hated it. The thing that bothered her the most was the false times stated against the actual wait times in line. She has a tendency to complain about things though. My nephew cant wait till the next time he can go. He is all about tech, so I was a little surprised he loved it so much.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Attendance is at an all time high..

Yeah people eat up the IP rides, look at pixar pier for example.
Also Eisner made it a place for some first before Iger with his widespread implement of thrill rides.

Neither of those things assures that the damage isn’t/hadn’t been done. Time is the one uncontrollable constant.

It’s very easy to laud praise on bob iger right now...so much so that big mistakes/questionable decisions aren’t really discussed.

But he doesn’t control the ebb and flow of the world economy and that has a tremendous impact to Disney. It’s a blunt object/tool.

Things always ebb at some juncture...then you find out what you’re made of...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think your erosion analogy applies to most franchises, but I'm not convinced it applies to Disney. If WDW were a hill, it'd be analogous to Olympus. I'm not sure what could bring it down..

Been to Olympus lately? Or the Capitaline?

...they all fall eventually

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think iger has a negative effect on the company as a whole. But the shift to throwing non Disney IPs in the parks is all him. In doing that he is shutting down his imagineers innovative Disney IP ideas.

Plus his drive to price out the consumer. While I understand capitalism and it’s beauty, iger shifted the scope from Walt’s vision of a place for all to a place for some. It isn’t like they needed to do it to keep it afloat.

If you expand the discussion beyond parks but to ALL the Disney company is doing...that is the most rational conclusion.

 

[erasure fan1]

I think your erosion analogy applies to most franchises, but I'm not convinced it applies to Disney. If WDW were a hill, it'd be analogous to Olympus. I'm not sure what could bring it down..

When consumers turn, they TURN. They may end up being untouchable. But it wasn't that long ago that Disney was the theme park gold standard that couldn't be touched. You can't say that anymore. No matter what you think of the Potter franchise, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't think its as good as anything Disney has done.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I was just assuming the answer would be yes for everyone even factoring in how this is 2018 and the internet is cynical as it is. But it looks like there are some people that don't agree. For the record I would be a Disney fan if I went today for the first time for the simple reason that my wife first went in 2009 when she was 25 for the first time with me and loves Disney. It was all new to her. Our kids went last year for the first time and nothing against a carnival or a town fair but how can anyone say it is just a step up from those? Even the biggest critic wouldn't say that.

 

[DisneyDoctor]

Been to Olympus lately? Or the Capitaline?

...they all fall eventually

Mythical Olympus lol, my apologies.

 

[DisneyDoctor]

When consumers turn, they TURN. They may end up being untouchable. But it wasn't that long ago that Disney was the theme park gold standard that couldn't be touched. You can't say that anymore. No matter what you think of the Potter franchise, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't think its as good as anything Disney has done.

It still is the gold standard. It's hard to debate otherwise.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I can't believe the people who said no. Why? Did you misread the thread or what? Or are you just so stubborn?

No, and I don't care. I think it's a silly thread, really.

Rejecting others valid opinions and questioning their motivations while responding to a thread asking for their opinions is very immature there, Minniewaffles

 

[DisneyDoctor]

Rejecting others valid opinions and questioning their motivations while responding to a thread asking for their opinions is very immature there, Minniewaffles

A quick search of her/his content reveals how glossed over their look at WDW is..

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I guess there's no real way to know. I posted this in the "Why do we keep going to Disney?" post but these are the reasons I go back:
1) Nostalgia (went as a kid and loved it, always had fun with the fam, and always loved Disney movies as a kid)
2) The brand values (being the best, attention to detail, immersive experiences, etc)
3) The new experiences (things are always changing)
4) All-in-one experience (everything from rides, shows, and food all self-contained in one place)
5) The familiarity of it (feels like home)

So if I didn't go as a kid, it would be taking away part of #1. I would still have the nostalgia of the movies/brand from childhood. And it would take away #5. But #2-4 still stand which is enough I guess!

#3 is the real point of contention...not for this particular premise/discussion...but for the differing opinions of parks of longtime fans. That’s hard to quantify how big that division is...but it seems to havs grown greatly over the last 20 or so years...

Everytime somebody says “it’s getting so expensive” out loud...the unsaid clause is “...for the same old stuff”

So #3 is a big deal...more than we tend to admit out loud.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

A quick search of her/his content reveals how glossed over their look at WDW is..

That was a response to an accusation of immaturity on another thread if you didn’t tow the company line...

It’s the standard, dull tactic. “Pay no attention to the accountant behind the curtain”

 

[erasure fan1]

It still is the gold standard. It's hard to debate otherwise.

Yes they are, but they are no longer the only gold standard. That was the point.

 

[DisneyDoctor]

Yes they are, but they are no longer the only gold standard. That was the point.

Universal is in no way close to topping them. There’s no possible way imaginable. Lots of pessimism.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Universal is in no way close to topping them. There’s no possible way imaginable. Lots of pessimism.

That’s true and there are a lot of reasons...the history of the property and the IP draw/legacy being the biggest two.

But this is also indisputable: Comcast has done much better (from a much lower starting point) job of making their Orlando property a draw over the last 13 years than Disney has...its hard to make a counter argument.

So disney got off it’s Butt give or take 5 years ago...and now that’s rolling out...so they could seize that thunder the next 3 years or fall behind. We don’t know. New fantasyland is nothing...avatar has exceeded all expectations...toy story land is being regarded as good, but just a necessary addition.

What if they underbuilt Star Wars land? What if the Epcot moves don’t get enough people there to draw crowds off the others?

Those arent moon-bat ideas...very legit chance.

So now...the next wave of big things is going to come from universal. They have more reason now than ever after the fox loss. That “full compound” plan could come ASAP. They could also go after big IP and ride systems to highlight them.

Disney is in a position to counter...again...but make no mistake they don’t want too. They don’t want to sink more billions in Orlando trying to expand their audience...because to do so would require re-embracing the “lower classes”. They want no part of that. But there is no pool of 25,000,000 high earners that havent gone to WDW waiting to be “convinced”. That number does not exist.

It’s a very interesting pickle.

I’ll say this: Comcast has become much more of an immediate threat/competition than I thought possible when they entered the fray. Disney’s complacency is largely to blame. The minute they bought potter and started expanding their hotels and service potential...things should have been put into construction. They were not...those responses are not built yet...they are 5-10 years overdue.

Fun to watch...good for the customers.