Epcot's 40th Anniversary

ElvisMickey

Well-Known Member
Creations had all the 40th merch today with none of the queues. Limits had been largely lifted too.

The blue T-shirt that sold out, is back in stock. More arriving too.
Yup! Was there this morning and walked right into Creations. Even got the poster on the way out of the park. The only thing that wasn’t available was the guide map from yesterday.
 

KevinPage

Well-Known Member
I missed the Beacons of Magic yesterday (had kids with me so didn’t even open the guide map to check 😂). Now I’m hoping they do it for rest of the month. Just booked Friday 10/07 with hope🤩🤩🤩
 

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
There’s 2 facing towards The Land and Seas that have most definitely been out since December. There’s been one in front that hasn’t been working with the star shaped lights since at least June, however it was only one. The several that were broken today are new. As of last week they were working fine
I was going to say there’s one on the Land side that’s been out for a while, I’m assuming something bigger than just burnt out. The ones on the front confused me during this show because it looked like they were burnt out in one of the scenes but then at the end they all lit up 🤷
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
I was going to say there’s one on the Land side that’s been out for a while, I’m assuming something bigger than just burnt out. The ones on the front confused me during this show because it looked like they were burnt out in one of the scenes but then at the end they all lit up 🤷
Because they're all made up of multiple lights, some parts of them work and others don't. The only one from the front that's truly dead is the one just above the left support. It never turns on at any point, and I think that's a fairly recent development. One of them turns the wrong color at certain points, though I'm not sure if that's because it's not syncing properly or because one of the RGB components is dead. The other five have a functioning front-facing LED, but the LEDs on the side that produce the starburst don't work.
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
Disney wants to have it both ways.

Cash in on the nostalgia of EPCOT Center with merch, events and "tributes", but rip out everything that made that park what it is.

They know people liked EPCOT Center, but they don't seem to understand why. A shame because there are people still alive who do and could modernize it for a new audience while respecting its heritage, but will never be approached.
True, though they ripped out almost all of the things they're now celebrating decades ago at this point. What is striking to me is how nothing they've come up with as replacements has really been that memorable. There are no songs, music, characters, etc. that they can now play people have any attachment to any later than the stuff that premiered for the Millennium celebration in 1999. This seems to be a longer term issue that began in the mid-1990s but seems almost unsolvable at this point. So at moments like this all they have to celebrate is a park that for the most part doesn't exist anymore.

I do wonder if to some extent the schizophrenia is related to the fact that those in marketing and merchandise as well as plenty in Imagineering know that the concept and attractions from the original EPCOT Center sell, but the way the parks are run under the IP mandate more or less precludes any effort to recapture that same spirit in new attractions. So, they're able to make nods to the aesthetics of old Epcot in the architecture and merchandise as well as playing the old attraction songs from time to time as more or less a marketing exercise, but once you get to the level of new shows or attractions they hit the brick wall of needing to be able to sell management on how it fits into the vision of the markets as a brand-building venue for their non-park IPs.
 

Sorcerer Mickey

Well-Known Member
Disney wants to have it both ways.

Cash in on the nostalgia of EPCOT Center with merch, events and "tributes", but rip out everything that made that park what it is.

They know people liked EPCOT Center, but they don't seem to understand why. A shame because there are people still alive who do and could modernize it for a new audience while respecting its heritage, but will never be approached.

Bob Chapek famously prefers WDW visitors traveling from Kentucky who might visit once or twice in their lifetime and spend a fortune versus the frugal AP holders. But then they do stuff like this - EPCOT Center 40th nostalgic merch, Figment popcorn buckets, etc. - that specifically target the latter group.

Here's how it works: first, you build the big $400m attraction that will get those out-of-towners to visit and spend hundreds on adorable Groot merch. Stop selling APs so those cheapos don't ruin the experience for the premium guests. Once things slow down, entice the penny-pinching Disney nerds into visiting the parks with the specific intent of buying limited-edition merch. "We see you, too," they'll say.

No you don't. You see my wallet.
 

SpectroMagician

Well-Known Member
Bob Chapek famously prefers WDW visitors traveling from Kentucky who might visit once or twice in their lifetime and spend a fortune versus the frugal AP holders. But then they do stuff like this - EPCOT Center 40th nostalgic merch, Figment popcorn buckets, etc. - that specifically target the latter group.

Here's how it works: first, you build the big $400m attraction that will get those out-of-towners to visit and spend hundreds on adorable Groot merch. Stop selling APs so those cheapos don't ruin the experience for the premium guests. Once things slow down, entice the penny-pinching Disney nerds into visiting the parks with the specific intent of buying limited-edition merch. "We see you, too," they'll say.

No you don't. You see my wallet.
The thing is the family who one comes once or twice actually spends MUCH less than a family that is DVC members who come once a year and eat in all the nice restaurants. The people who have a tough time affording it and do not come often are not spending much money.

Disney should be catering to the DVC members and AP holders who come and spend much more money than the one off people.
 

Trekkie101

Well-Known Member
I think Chapek was largely paying to his home (American) crowd when he said Kentucky.

He really means he wants the international guests - the 14/21 day on site guests. That comes in at several thousands dollars minimum just for the rooms.

You can sort of see it in the ticket pricing, the UK currently pays around $500 for 14 days access, with hopper and waterparks. It looks like a comparable US ticket is an Annual Pass or $900 in tickets. This is likely due to the fact those guests are easier tempted to universal/seaworld. However you can more than make up the margin in room fulfilment with people who are there one/two/three weeks rather than a few days.

Selling rooms is where the money comes in. Especially premium ones.

The average vacation to WDW seems between 3-5 days for the US visitors vs 7-10 for the international guests.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
The thing is the family who one comes once or twice actually spends MUCH less than a family that is DVC members who come once a year and eat in all the nice restaurants. The people who have a tough time affording it and do not come often are not spending much money.

Disney should be catering to the DVC members and AP holders who come and spend much more money than the one off people.
You sorta slipped in "and AP holders" in the end there making them just like DVCers... and they're not.

AP holders who run into the parks at night after work to see the fireworks eat at home or locally. The Kentucky family spends money for all their meals in the parks.

AP holders who drop by weekly are only paying $20 per visit over all compared to someone who pays $100 for a day-ticket (more if you include the hopper benefit the AP gives).

AP holders with no blackout dates pop in during the peak holiday times and make the parks even more overcrowded, which impacts the vacation of the once in five years family.

The once every five years family doesn't have park warfare down to a science to know how to hit all the rides. "Sorry kids, Space Mountain was a 90 line and we didn't have time for it." Meanwhile, APers don't mind not hitting every ride every visit because there's always next week... or the next day, or the day after that.

If the once in every five years family winds up not having a good time in an overcrowded park, they tell everybody they know and it hurts the brand and discourages other possible once in every five years family.

And back to the premise that DVCers spend money in the parks for all their fine dining meals.... The DVC suites have kitchenettes, no? I've seen plenty of DVCers in these forums talking about buying groceries and preparing their own meals.
 

Vinnie Mac

Well-Known Member
You sorta slipped in "and AP holders" in the end there making them just like DVCers... and they're not.

AP holders who run into the parks at night after work to see the fireworks eat at home or locally. The Kentucky family spends money for all their meals in the parks.

AP holders who drop by weekly are only paying $20 per visit over all compared to someone who pays $100 for a day-ticket (more if you include the hopper benefit the AP gives).

AP holders with no blackout dates pop in during the peak holiday times and make the parks even more overcrowded, which impacts the vacation of the once in five years family.

The once every five years family doesn't have park warfare down to a science to know how to hit all the rides. "Sorry kids, Space Mountain was a 90 line and we didn't have time for it." Meanwhile, APers don't mind not hitting every ride every visit because there's always next week... or the next day, or the day after that.

If the once in every five years family winds up not having a good time in an overcrowded park, they tell everybody they know and it hurts the brand and discourages other possible once in every five years family.

And back to the premise that DVCers spend money in the parks for all their fine dining meals.... The DVC suites have kitchenettes, no? I've seen plenty of DVCers in these forums talking about buying groceries and preparing their own meals.
What you explained is such a simple concept yet many people still don't get it. Either that or they just refuse to understand it because they are locals an AP holder themselves.
 

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
What you explained is such a simple concept yet many people still don't get it. Either that or they just refuse to understand it because they are locals an AP holder themselves.
I'm an AP holder and not a local. I live out of state. There are thousands more like me. We stay on site, eat, drink and shop at the parks as well.

Yes, there are locals who live extremely close to the parks, but you make it seem as if all of them just go to the parks and ride attractions and leave. I know locals who live 15 minutes away and they often visit for just dinner and drinks and leave. Or when family comes in town, they spend the entire day at the parks and eat and drink there. They don't leave and go home for lunch.

And don't forget about the 47,000 vloggers who visit and buy every new cupcake, cookie, snack, specialty drink and do dining reviews. The vloggers alone keep the coffers filled, lol.
 

dreday3

Well-Known Member
So now that all the celebrations are over, we can move on to the biggest celebration yet - Earth Day at Animal Kingdom! 😂
 

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