Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks

[BigThunderMatt]

The lines I see and hear about in Tokyo dwarf what I see at WDW and DL, except on the busiest of days.

To be fair, I think the whole Tokyo line thing is a little overblown. I went in mid-July for a 3-day weekend and honestly, as long as you know how to work Fastpass, it's not really a huge hindrance on a visit. In fact, the Monday of the 3-day weekend I went to TDL and the place was no busier than a typical summer day at MK.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

I think it was a combination of the track and the concept of the ride. They just didn't go well together. Because they didn't want to bank the track, the cars had to slow down at every turn, which kind of defeated the purpose of the attraction.

We proposed it as off-world racing with more than one car side by side and banked turns, but to be it was still nothing more than a D ticket, so i fought it.

 

[_Scar]

I've never seen the Rocket Rods in action with my own eyes, but I have seen video.

Didn't the constant noise of a car racing by get on peoples nerves (especially the CMs working around there)?

 

[BigThunderMatt]

I've never seen the Rocket Rods in action with my own eyes, but I have seen video.

Didn't the constant noise of a car racing by get on peoples nerves (especially the CMs working around there)?

You mean in the once in a blue moon occasion where it was actually in operation?

 

[BigThunderMatt]

We proposed it as off-world racing with more than one car side by side and banked turns, but to be it was still nothing more than a D ticket, so i fought it.

It's a shame too because it could have been one of those attractions that defined Tomorrowland much more than the Peoplemover or TTA ever did or has. If Rocket Rods had been successful I think the Astro Orbiter wouldn't be in its current (inferior) location because Rocket Rods alone would have drawn people into Tomorrowland.

 

[_Scar]

It's a shame too because it could have been one of those attractions that defined Tomorrowland much more than the Peoplemover or TTA ever did or has. If Rocket Rods had been successful I think the Astro Orbiter wouldn't be in its current (inferior) location because Rocket Rods alone would have drawn people into Tomorrowland.

Why would Rocket Rods be more "Tomorrowland" than TTA. An actual ride system developed by WED to be used in the future....

 

[WDW1974]

According to several legitimate biographies, Walt was well-known for firing certain demographics on the spot. Not black or Jewish, though. That pretty much leaves just one left on your list.

Since I never met the man, I don't know.

No, I obviously never did either. But I'll take the words of folks who did and knew him very well over what's been printed. Of course I do wonder what he'd think about the strong push to make parks like MK and DL so ... so ... fey (not Tina!) :xmas:

 

[WDW1974]

Quoted for truth because it's 100% accurate.

Interestingly, the LoW outburst seems to be WDW's first major DVC/AP PR disaster in its history.

On an Internet level, I certainly agree. I find it a strange choice (even though I am upset they removed them) for the anger.

Personally, I have more anger for RC ... for PI ... for making Cindy's Castle into a place only little girls and their mommies could like ... for overbuilding the property and destroying so much natural beauty and taking away ''enough land here for all the ideas ...'' ... for making dining at WDW a chore instead of the joy it was ... for Walmarting the MK ... Imagination destroyed ... TT ... 20K ... I could go on, but there are so many things that anger me more.

I will say that when Toad was closed there was a vocal group that protested, but it was very small compared to what you'd get in Anaheim.

EDIT: I think the 60% estimate depends on the day and season.

yeah. that was a typo on my part ... the actual figure of tourists on an average day is 40% with 'locals' (defined by TDA -- and told to me by some dude with the initials GK -- as Santa Barbara to the Mexican border inland to Palm Springs ... so a VERY large area) averaging 60%.:xmas:

 

[WDW1974]

To be fair, I think the whole Tokyo line thing is a little overblown. I went in mid-July for a 3-day weekend and honestly, as long as you know how to work Fastpass, it's not really a huge hindrance on a visit. In fact, the Monday of the 3-day weekend I went to TDL and the place was no busier than a typical summer day at MK.

I think it certainly depends on when you go and how savvy you are with things like FP, but TDL does routinely have attractions with waits of 2-3-even 4 hours (and multiples ... you can have half a dozen major attractions all at multi-hour waits) ... I've never seen that at MK ... or DL for that matter.

But I'm sure it's ebb and flow and not like that all the time by any stretch. I hope it's like that for my visit next year! :xmas:

 

[TP2000]

Why aren't there 2 exits to help the guest flow out of DL?

There are two exits out of Disneyland; Main Street USA from the Central Plaza since 1955 and the Disneyland Monorail from Tomorrowland since 1961. Although the Monorail takes longer than just walking down Main Street even when it's crowded.

Check out the satellite view on Yahoo or Google Maps to learn why there isn't a third exit out of Disneyland USA.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Well Wall Street and TWDC seems to expect record profits, record attendance and record grown year-in and year-out.

Things just dont work that way.

 

[WDW1974]

Well Wall Street and TWDC seems to expect record profits, record attendance and record grown year-in and year-out.

Things just dont work that way.

Wall Street doesn't live in reality.

That's why they took us to the brink ... and still may destroy our economy and nation unless some serious controls/regulation happens.

The MORE, MORE, MORE ... Greed Is Good mantra has to be taken down quite a bit. :xmas:

 

[tirian]

yeah. that was a typo on my part ... the actual figure of tourists on an average day is 40% with 'locals' (defined by TDA -- and told to me by some dude with the initials GK -- as Santa Barbara to the Mexican border inland to Palm Springs ... so a VERY large area) averaging 60%.:xmas:

Yeah, that sounds more realistic for DL.

 

[BigThunderMatt]

Why would Rocket Rods be more "Tomorrowland" than TTA. An actual ride system developed by WED to be used in the future....

Rocket Rods fit better with the theme of 'New Tomorrowland'. The idea of futuristic racers, especially the way they looked, was much more "the future that never was" than a transportation system that isn't exactly unheard of outside of Disney parks.

 

[kcnole]

Well Wall Street and TWDC seems to expect record profits, record attendance and record grown year-in and year-out.

Things just dont work that way.

The book Disney War discusses this a bit. Eisner came in shortly around the time of the Comcast scare and to combat this he had to make the company seem to be a growth company.

I hate this idea that Disney has to show a higher level of profits every year or it isn't doing well. Why isn't showing a strong profit every year enough? Why does every year require that your company have higher profits than the year before. It seems highly unsustainable and leads to all the myriad cuts that are made just to attempt to squeeze one more ounce of profits out of the company.

I'd much prefer to run a company that I can count on to give me a strong profit every year over one who I attempt to wring out every possible profit from, hoping to hit a higher total the next year, which requires me to start cutting quality to do so. It seems eventually you'll lose in that game, where just trying to have a strong product that performs the same every year would be safer.

 

[PhotoDave219]

The book Disney War discusses this a bit. Eisner came in shortly around the time of the Comcast scare and to combat this he had to make the company seem to be a growth company.

I hate this idea that Disney has to show a higher level of profits every year or it isn't doing well. Why isn't showing a strong profit every year enough? Why does every year require that your company have higher profits than the year before. It seems highly unsustainable and leads to all the myriad cuts that are made just to attempt to squeeze one more ounce of profits out of the company.

I'd much prefer to run a company that I can count on to give me a strong profit every year over one who I attempt to wring out every possible profit from, hoping to hit a higher total the next year, which requires me to start cutting quality to do so. It seems eventually you'll lose in that game, where just trying to have a strong product that performs the same every year would be safer.

Ive read that book many times. It should be required reading for these forums.

 

[kcnole]

It definitely changed my opinion of Eisner. Before that book I thought he was the most evil man to ever be in the company. After reading it I see that at times he was the greatest leader since Walt, then after his heart attack, Wells passing, and his issues with Katz he just wasn't the same anymore.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

It definitely changed my opinion of Eisner. Before that book I thought he was the most evil man to ever be in the company. After reading it I see that at times he was the greatest leader since Walt, then after his heart attack, Wells passing, and his issues with Katz he just wasn't the same anymore.

There was a time when michael was very engaged and was into what we were doing. After DLP opened and was a fiscal mess, he and Frank became a bit gun shy of doing visionary things. DCA and the budget parks was a reaction to that. AK was a project that was on the fence fiscally, but to his credit, Michael wanted to do it anyway and made it happen. As you point out, his era of 20% growth per quarter could not be sustained. I remember being told that certain ideas that were highly profitable would not be considered as they didn't meet the extremely high hurdles they had set themselves up for. Making "Truckloads of money" didn't cut it. It had to be a "Supertankers of money" idea. A good problem to have, I guess.

 

[Studios Fan]

It definitely changed my opinion of Eisner. Before that book I thought he was the most evil man to ever be in the company. After reading it I see that at times he was the greatest leader since Walt, then after his heart attack, Wells passing, and his issues with Katz he just wasn't the same anymore.

I agree. One thing that I also took away as well was he got so much power that he didn't trust anyone.

 

[Giraffe Lounge]

There's a great article about Steve Burke, possible successor to the new NBC Universal, at the LA Times http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-burke3-2009dec03,0,575935.story

In his 12 years at Disney, Burke launched the company's Disney Stores retail business. He was sent overseas to shape up the troubled Euro Disney theme park before running ABC's television stations and network. For a while, Burke even had occupied his father's old office at ABC headquarters in New York.

I'm wondering if you ever ran into him? Or have thoughts about if Comcast might make a better corporate parent than GE?